End of RIAA Lawsuits (For a week at least)

Today there was some surprising news revealed by the RIAA. The RIAA has been involved for a long time in a public relations disaster, suing people that pirate and share the music of their artists. Protecting copyright in not necessarily a bad thing, but the RIAA really botched the whole process. From suing dead people to 10 year olds, to people who didnt even own a computer, they really have done a bad job. Today they announced that they would (finally) stop prosocuting individual file-sharers. At first when I saw the headlines, I expected (foolishly) an accompanying announcement about a rollout of a new, relevant, online store to purchase music at a reasonable price, or otherwise rearrange its business model to join the 21st century. Nope.

Instead what they are doing is outsourcing the bullying to the ISP. Not exactly the huge step forward that I was hoping for. But, at least it is change. And with a system as flawed as the RIAA, any change is good change. One of the best comments I've read about the change is included here:

Funny. Nowhere in the article did I see the RIAA:

1) Promoting better artists to make CDs with more than one good song
2) Trimming production costs to lower music prices
3) Increasing support for music format options (OGGs, AACs, etc...)
4) Increasing music licensing options (transferal from person to person, etc...)
5) Improved CD and online music libraries
6) Enforcing music source (i.e. iTunes) and music player (i.e. Zune) interoperability

I'm just sayin'... - amanojaku(DailyTech)

For those interested in finding out more about the in's and outs of the RIAA's new stance, see the excellent post here at torrentfreak.

And one more awesome quote to finish things off:

RIAA is like the doctor in medical dramas who just won't stop trying to
revive the patient and eventualy has to be pulled off the corpse. - DarthWader(Lifehacker)


Merry Christmas everyone!

Note:Image above courtesy of Engadget

Week 29 Pics

Now that I'm done with my training in Orlando, I can keep taking pictues of pregnant Shelley!

Shelley just finished week 29, so she is moving steadily along (suprise, suprise!)

She is still feeling ok, still has heartburn though :-(

Aliens!

I want to believe.......


Visual proof of aliens



Moulder would be so proud!

Gradumacation!

Gradumacation.....Rick Style!

My Professional Obituary

My Professional Obituary

On Friday, April 18, 2078 Richard Stephen Allison passed away from exhaustion. He was a great man, and will be missed by many of his associates. Richard will be remembered as a man who was always working on learning new things and improving himself. Throughout his career he gained knowledge that he used effectively to help those around him. He was well liked by his coworkers because of his ability to listen and understand their circumstances. He helped sort out many problems, both personal and professional. He was always a hard worker, willing to put in the time necessary to accomplish his assigned tasks. He was an example to his peers, and we wish we had many more workers like him.

For my ethics final we had to write the above paragraph, what we would like to have said about our professional careers. When I originally started typing it, I put 2088 as my death date, but then I realized that would put me at 105. Even 2078 puts me at 95, and I most likely won’t live that long… even 2068 is a stretch! It made me pause for a while, it’s crazy how short life really is…anyways, if someone’s planning my funeral, now they know what to say!

Happy St.Patricks!!!

Happy St. Patricks Everyone!!



Green potatoes of course

Green broccoli, with some extra green food coloring

And the final touch, green food coloring on the kielbasa!

Tagged!

Shelley tagged me a looooong time ago, and i'm finally posting :-)

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was 15 years old. Probably getting ready to start looking for a job and driving with a license.

5 things on my to-do list today: 1) Finish my stupid OB test 2)Study for my humanities test 3)Read chapter 6 for Managerial Economics 4)Get ready to take an accounting quiz tomorrow 5)have fun

5 Snacks I enjoy: 1. Cookies 2.Black licorice 3.snickers 4.wheat thins 5.applesauce

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: hmmmm, I'd pay of student loans and stuff, possibly buy another car so shelley and I could each have one, buy a not super big house but a decent sized one, build a new computer, then invest the rest. I'd invest half in probably regular stuff, and split some in between alternative energy sources, nanotechnology, and space technology (so i could reserve a seat in the first space hotel:-)

3 of my bad habits: 1. I like to sleep too much 2.I spend too much time on the computer 3.I never put away my school books

5 places I have lived: 1.Provo, ut 2.Cedar city, ut 3. Redlands CA 4.Long beach, CA 5.Boston, MA 6.Carlisle, PA 7.San antonio, Tx 8.Chihuahua, Mexico

5 jobs that I have had: 1. working in IT at the MTC 2.Custodial at the MTC 3.Dishwasher at legends grill 4.Summer sales for dish network 5.Arbys

5 Things people don't know about me: 1.I'm actually a ninja and have a very large sniper rifle 2.I'm always tired 3.I would build computers for a job if I could 4.I wish I had time to exercise more 5.I've toyed with the idea of trying to write some short science fiction stories

Now I'm supposed to tag other people to do this same thing, but I cant think of anyone to tag....so if you want to be tagged, consider yourself it!

I love Shelley

She is totally awesome and great. She makes me cookies and other good food. I've decided to give her whatever she asks for. Forever. Starting with that pony and bunny she's always wanted. And, I forgive the 10 million dollar debt she owes me.

Cheap Textbooks

So, the textbook buying season just passed, and the usual feelings of outrage and despair, coupled with desire to throw a few pounds of explosives at the school bookstore, have passed.

This year there was actually a little less pain then in years before, due to a pretty cool website I found, textbook price comparison bigwords.com

Even though this is a great website, there were still significant challenges in the quest to find my textbooks for a less tear-inducing, anger-causing price. At bigwords.com you can find the lowest price for your book, but only if you know the author and title, or the full ISBN number. And of course, the miserable BYU bookstore provides neither piece of critical information.

Here are a couple tricks that I employed to find the necessary clues.

1. As soon as you register for classes, go to the BYU booklocker and look up what books people are trading for your class. This can be somewhat helpful, although there are usually a few different books/editions for the same class.

2.Email around. I was lucky enough to be in quite a few classes as a lot of people in my major, so I could email around and ask if anyone had taken my classes before, and if they had information on the books that were required. Sometimes this is helpful, other times you will only get replies saying that someone has the books, and will sell them to you, but not give you any of the information. I politely declined.

3.Wait for the bookstore to post the information a few days before school starts. This is pretty much the worst option. Not only does the bookstore wait till the last minute to post any info on your books, the info that they do finally put up is not helpful at all. Abbreviated titles and authors, and lack of anything close to an ISBN make it impossible to find your books anywhere but at the overpriced campus bookstore. This really only leaves you one option.

4.Snoop around in the bookstore. Although the bookstore cannot post your book information online more then a few days before classes due to "the teachers haven't decided on which book to choose yet", they are somehow able to magically put the physical books on the actual shelves in the store. How do they do this? No one knows. This leaves the fearless hero with the opportunity to wander around in the bookstore with pen and paper hidden from the book Nazis, and hastily scribble ISBN numbers down when the Gestapo's attention is diverted. If you are unsuccessful, you will be "escorted" out of the bookstore, but if you do manage to smuggle the information out, you can go to the above website and save a bundle of cash.

After following these four steps, I managed to save almost $500 on my textbooks this semester. True, some of my books are only legal to possess in India or Bangladesh, but whats life without a little risk?