I've often wondered why car-makers (NOT the aftermarket!!) don't design for places like Miami rather than just Detroit/Tokyo/Munich and similar latitudes. Then they try to compensate for baking the contents of your car for hours with too much air-conditioning, which wouldn't be needed with proper design (and I'm not even a professional car designer, the following is off the top of my head!)
For example: I would LOVE to have a cartop solar cell harnessed to a fan helping to cool the car -- better yet would add an alarm system which cracks windows/sunroof slightly in hot weather BUT senses things like rain (we've put a man on the moon, you'd think it's possible...) or a criminal's fingers (I'd want my window/sunroof to do something that's probably-illegal here!).
There's already on the market a solar vent-fan device (and even 12volt hybrid battery versions!) that fits over standard sailboat vent-holes and it looks like a small dome. All of this would be trivially-simple to build-in atop a roof or trunk (or both!) and would drastically-increase the comfort of ANY brand's cars in the tropics. (Please, somebody at a car company, steal this idea -- you don't even need to pay me anything, I've been talking about it for years so just do it!!!)
Second of all, the same car-makers at those same latitudes need to beef up windshield wipers/motors for handling REAL rain, because at least here in Florida, it sometimes decides to rain HARD, and what car-makers call "high" should be labeled "medium" at most IMO, but that's a whole 'nother rant!:) JMR
I understand. Since I've always used my right thumb, until I had "my" keyboard, the left thumb just sat-there, but I can imagine this feature would be quite annoying if you're left-thumbed. Maybe that's why it didn't ever catch-on.
I'm also now so-used-to laptop keyboards that it takes about an hour just to adjust-back to a "normal" one. JMR
I have an ancient, IBM-style (keys click, built like a tank, non-mushy) "NMB The Right Touch" keyboard which has an innovation that I truly love which has sadly never become popular. The spacebar is divided into 2 keys, the right side is still a spacebar, but the left side is an additional "backspace" key. Saying it with fewer words improves anyone's writing, and this key encourages that by giving users a backspace key they needn't reach-for, which believe it or not makes a difference.
Once you get used to one of these, you'll begin to wonder why the rest of humanity seems to *want* both thumbs to be stuck with the same "space" option. I use Apple notebooks now, but I'd pay $100 extra to have my old left-thumb backspace key if the mod were even available. Oh well... JMR
Yes, but much like slaves throughout history, musicians need information to be truly-free.
If they/we think all that's out there is an evil RIAA quintopoly, that's all there will be. If, OTOH, we/they dare to dream of something with a halfway-decent contract where artists actually own their work, things might be different...We make our own reality sometimes.
The idea that a band can't control whether or not there's spyware on their CDs suggests that musicians (and music-buyers) need to think in new ways. I just wish Courtney Love had discovered Magnatune before she re-entered binge-mode, because her Salon rant about doing the music-math made sense. Magnatune's contract (artist keeps half and keeps title to the music, basically) is what she was asking for back when Courtney was still being coherent. JMR
Unlikely. It has been proven time and time again that trying to milk people who are drawn to a free service is like trying to herd cats.
Part of that proof is the historical crappiness of payment-methods offered by the formerly-free services, though...(I know, they try to ignore me all the time!) JMR
I hope you're right, but so far the popularity of cool things like Magnatune hasn't grown as fast as I thought it would. The deal they offer (to artists AND consumers) is great, but they don't have the RIAA's hype-machine so even though they also happily-lack the lawsuit factory (their slogan is "we are not evil" -- only in the music business!) of the RIAA quintopoly. JMR
The really weird thing (and I guess they just have a LOT of takes!) was seeing him act pretty well in the recent humorous Priceline commercial featuring Leonard Nimoy. I can't blame either for cashing in at this point, but it's funny to look at the original episodes with kids in my family who are jaded with special effects... JMR
Or in the case of Dr. Dean??? My point is, at least in part, the double standard you and/or the other person seem blind to, but obviously it's there. Dr. Dean and Dr. Paul are US politicians. They both went through a hellish med-school system and managed to survive it, so we don't call 'em "Mr." anymore. Either one. Deal with it!!! (Sheesh, all lefties CAN'T be this idiotic, right??!!) JMR
I said "Dr." because, frankly, he IS one (nobody calls Howard Dean "Mr." and gets away with it, so I don't really see your "point" all that well here!). Dr. Ron Paul is a real, went & passed med-school, Doctor just like Dr. Howard Dean is. I don't know if you've complained about Dr. Dean being constantly-called "Dr." before, but I seriously-doubt it! If you go through 6+ years of that hell, you get to call yourself that no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, so it might be best for you to simply "deal with it."
As for the association-with-nutjobs issue, if THAT's somehow a disqualifier for politicians, I don't even have time for the mixed Planter's Can of those on the tax-and-spend left.
What Dr. (there, I said it again, just to annoy everyone!) Paul stresses is an occasional reading of the Constitution, and it shows in his votes and in the bills he occasionally-sponsors. ESPECIALLY regarding the spending-issue and monetary stuff, more politicians should emulate Ron Paul. (And you should probably emulate me, and turn-off the ol' Karma bonus when posting off-topic IMO!) JMR
Speaking ONLY for myself (chances are Dr. (heh heh! I just did it again!) Paul might even disagree with some of what I've said above!)!!
Hi. I'm not a lawyer, and (despite the handle) I don't speak for e-gold Ltd. either, but here goes...
1. Gold is not only legal to use as money, it and silver are, if you actually read the constitution once in a while (which apparently rules-out all US politicians besides Dr. Ron Paul) you might find there are more problems with using green paper as money. I agree that the feds have a history of taking stuff away, that might be why e-gold Ltd. is a Nevis company instead of a USA one. I had no idea it was illegal to back loans with gold (might be news to some central banks!).
2. If "it will be shut down" how come e-gold has been chuggin' along since 1996? (2A. But why haven't I heard of you?? Because the news media were either too-clueless, or too busy covering "beenz" & "Flooz," -- both RIP -- which both spent LOTS of money on ads instead of concentrating on hiring smart geeks & doing money better than the Federal Reserve!) I'd agree that some individuals (especially at large banks) don't like thinking about an honest, weight denominated currency, but that's tough luck for them, I guess. BTW, not many folks seem to know this, but the Federal Reserve is (supposedly...) a private corporation -- insert Jefferson-quote about banks!
3. I pay my taxes, and (I guess?) you pay your taxes. e-gold is a currency denominated by weight, it's not a government (a good thing if you want honesty in money, IMO) or a tax-collector or a tax-evasion-mechanism. It's just Better Money(tm) and even though people tend to think in political terms about EVERYTHING these days, e-gold is IMO very apolitical (but I'll admit, it tended to appeal to libertarians like me in the past).
4. Markets fluctuate, it's a fact of life. The price of green paper in grams has gone from a bit over $8 to a bit under $13 per gram since I started working here, but gold's buying-power tends to be stable over time compared to fiat currencies like the paper dollar. And NOTHING keeps people from manipulating the price of gold except (we hope!) the marketplace! (As it is, there are constantly accusations of manipulation in the metal markets -- see www.gata.org or just google around for them!) That's why e-gold prefers LBMA "allocated, good delivery bars" instead of paper promises that you might be storing some "pooled" gold. JMR
EFF's solution has been to quietly accept e-gold since 1999. Freenet takes e-gold, too. http://102948-USD10.e-gold.com would give a gram to EFF (they had it working before, and now they've somehow managed to bust it! Sigh...).
We may not have the hype or marketing-budget of other systems, but we've been around since 1996 (and, frankly, Slashdot should have taken e-gold since at least a year ago, it's not like sci.e-gold.com is all that hard to use!). (And yes, I'll still click anyone from Slashdot a bit of e-gold to play with if you send me an account number!) JMR
Speaking ONLY for Jim Ray, the Barbarous Relic of the e-gold system!
e-gold would NOT be useful to Osama (they take orders from courts, unlike actual gold bars/coins) and I doubt Osama's word anyway. It IS interesting that he refers to gold as a currency (it is) denominated by weight, but that doesn't mean he's willing to use a traceable book-entry system to contract for murder.
Freenet doesn't do murder -- they do free speech, and I've given them e-gold myself. Sorry I'm so late to the discussion, but if anyone wants to try e-gold just contact me with an account number and I'll click you some, which you can then -- if you like -- click to the Freenet project. You're correct that this was all political, but I think it's safe to say that e-gold isn't nearly as political as eBay/PayPal seem to be. Thanks. JMR
Interestingly, www.magnatune.com reports their users DON'T pay the lowest prices they could choose (and Magnatune's what everyone SAYS they want because you can try before you buy, etc., so of course everyone's now busily-ignoring it!). JMR
No monitoring software or new taxes, and independents already use it right now. Magnatune, which features the 49%-sad & 51%-hilarious slogan: "We are not evil," and doesn't seem to have work very hard to explain such a slogan these days... If you want try-before-you-buy and think artists should benefit as much as publishers (say, 50-50!) you should check out Magnatune (their music's also surprisingly-good!). JMR
Speaking ONLY for myself (but yes, I'm commercially-biased, etc.)
How about if the artist got a substantial percentage of it, like at www.magnatune.com ? I think (and yes, I'm biased and financially-interested and greedy, etc.) that musicians need to take control of the money/contractual aspects of music, and INSIST on owning their own music -- like they can at Magnatune (which really rocks, IMO). I think online tipjars can also make a big difference for musicians, and I'd love to help make them work worldwide like they should.
I hope these particular mainstream artists manage to actually think outside the box (reading Slashdot's responses to what they've done might help, for example) but my brief experience with musicians suggests that we have our best chances before they've been infected by a single RIAA music contract... JMR
(I have no idea what he made, but...) musicians' stories (not just Courtney Love's pre-binge rant, either!) seem to indicate he wouldn't make very much. There's no way to tell, but chances-are a one-hit wonder like Norman's song was written under terms when the musician is legally at his absolutely-most-vulnerable (they are, by definition, a 0-hit wonder who can't afford a lawyer at that point) so I have to assume Norman got as-screwed-as-possible by whichever record-company in the quintopoly* got the song.
I'd love to know how much Norman Greenbaum made on Spirit in the Sky, but I'd also love to give him a tip of e-gold just for writing such a cool song. I've benefitted from the song for sure, but I never got the record, I've only heard it on the radio -- but it's one of those songs you just want to ruin your car's crappy speakers playing...
So if anyone knows Norman, please have him contact jray at e dash gold dotcom. Or if any other musicians or slashdotters want to play with a bit of the stuff -- I have a paltry promotional account for this kinda thing. JMR
* Actually, if Sony eats Bertelsmann's music division, I guess the RIAA will become a quadropoly. They're workin'-it down to monopoly every way they can, though, if we give them time...
REALLY speaking only for Jim Ray & nobody-else this time!:)
They'd have to trust the musicians to share, just as the musicians might want to trust the public to tip/pay. OTOH, I tend to tip wait-staff I'll never see again while travelling, and I think others do too.
The songwriters' advantage is that they'd have the good lawyers who were left (not EVERYONE in the RIAA would be unemployed in my scheme/dream, and presumably the musicians' union vs the songwriters' union would somehow sort things out, I guess) and they'd also have musicians with an incentive to be supplied in the future with more good songs.
I'm not promising utopia (it's certain there will be problems with everyone's scheme, e-gold is just a cheaper-middleman, but it's still there like credit cards/paypal/bitpass/etc.). I'm merely saying that taking control of the money-stream will -- if musicians actually DO IT -- be their real way to take control. It's all in the money-stream. Everything else is just-pretend, as Courtney Love outlined in her famous Salon-rant (too-lazy to dig-up the link, go google if you haven't see it).
Unfortunately, despite the fact that e-gold was between every line of Courtney's rant and despite the fact that I immediately-contacted her (well, her "webmistress") Courtney Love had unfortunately reverted to binge-mode, and I've had trouble (no budget) getting other musicians interested (music is a pretty conservative business).
Hopefully, that'll all change. Hopefully musicians will compare e-gold's fees (recently revised) to PayPal's (also changed recently) and Bitpass and all the others. We're already the leaders in micropayments, but we're sorely-lacking in hype (my fault). Also, being the leader in micropayments (see http://stats.e-gold.com if you doubt me) isn't as sexy -- or as lucrative -- as people tend to think. When payments get too small, they're too much of a PITA even with a very-efficient system. Various contenders have already found this out by going-bust. JMR
This site has the ancient "Snake Oil FAQ" maintained by the esteemed C. Matthew Curtin. Despite its age, I still find it useful for PHB-types, etc. JMR
Well said, but the RIAA is (IMO) way too fat in middle management to ever be able to give musicians the better terms we all instinctively know that they deserve. The answer (and yes, I'm both biased and financially self-interested -- but no, I don't speak for e-gold or anyone else but Jim Ray) is for musicians to "take-back the guitar-case" (the money is where the REAL control lies) and set up their own internet tipjars. It's been possible and easy for a few years, and finally they're going to learn to think in new ways about how to get paid by a planet-wide audience. They have had the technology for a while (since 1996 in some form or other).
Imagine a 'one-hit wonder' like Normal Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," garnering 7 million or so direct tips for a quarter worth of gold (most tips would probably be more, if you actually liked the song enough to bother tipping the artist, and Norman's old "Spirit in the Sky" tune kinda rocks IMNSHO). I'm talking about more than a million dollars -- AFTER taxes. I have no idea what Norman's made from the song, but I doubt he did that well... JMR
Mailing cash worldwide can be a bad idea for the recipient (but a good idea for the recipient's post office, it seems). We've got another solution, but nobody likes to look at our (incredibly-low, IMO) spend & storage fees, because e-gold is grams, and they also must think about independent exchangers' fees once they've gotten though that.
Anyway, if they get past all the admitted complexity of a new way to think about money, e-gold really-does work anywhere there's internet. I also really-do regularly offer Slashdot readers a free (small...) click of the stuff (just email me with an account number to try it). Surprisingly-few takers when I do this, though. JMR
I've heard the same promos (I also live in central FL). I'm not sure who they're trying to make fun of or what they're trying to say -- much like the anti-tobacco "Truth" stuff you can tell right away it's propaganda, but unlike the tobacco or anti-illegal-drug propaganda the stations aren't quite sure what to say. They KNOW people will continue to download music, and they can't directly insult those customers, but they also put on concerts (Clear Channel is a music-borg) and want to kiss (or seem to kiss) the artists' asses.
In other news, I coulda saved the old Napster (and probably killed the RIAA's legal team, but with kindness!) using tipjars. Sigh... JMR
Agreed 100% (but why do I NEVER have mod-points when I need 'em?). Oh well.
For some real second amendment fun, folks should check out http://www.jpfo.org the guys who had the temerity to place the 1968 Gun Control Act next to a translation of pre-WW2 Nazi-era gun control laws, and let folks see the similarities for themselves. Although the JPFO site doesn't advocate violence, I'm sure the censorware blocks it if they blocked the NRA (and believe me, JPFO & NRA aren't exactly buddies even though they're both "on the same side of the issue"!).
The ACLU is wonderful on freedom of speech, but there are various other rights (not just self-defense, either) they desperately-need to start thinking-about, or they'll continue to be pigeonholed as irrelevant leftists IMO. Economic liberty, for example, should not be just for the rich, and the ACLU could set a few examples to that end almost-effortlessly (while simultaneously tweaking the fans of that "Patriot" act nonsense which is sweeping the USA at the moment). JMR
Speaking ONLY for Jim Ray and NO other company/individual/entity/etc.
Have been possible since 1999 with e-gold, see http://mobile.e-gold.com for a demo. Not many customers actually use their phones as their primary interface, but it's possible, and e-gold doesn't discriminate against micropayments. I wish Slashdot would accept the currency, but so far no luck... JMR
Slashdot Mirror
I've often wondered why car-makers (NOT the aftermarket!!) don't design for places like Miami rather than just Detroit/Tokyo/Munich and similar latitudes. Then they try to compensate for baking the contents of your car for hours with too much air-conditioning, which wouldn't be needed with proper design (and I'm not even a professional car designer, the following is off the top of my head!)
:)
For example: I would LOVE to have a cartop solar cell harnessed to a fan helping to cool the car -- better yet would add an alarm system which cracks windows/sunroof slightly in hot weather BUT senses things like rain (we've put a man on the moon, you'd think it's possible...) or a criminal's fingers (I'd want my window/sunroof to do something that's probably-illegal here!).
There's already on the market a solar vent-fan device (and even 12volt hybrid battery versions!) that fits over standard sailboat vent-holes and it looks like a small dome. All of this would be trivially-simple to build-in atop a roof or trunk (or both!) and would drastically-increase the comfort of ANY brand's cars in the tropics. (Please, somebody at a car company, steal this idea -- you don't even need to pay me anything, I've been talking about it for years so just do it!!!)
Second of all, the same car-makers at those same latitudes need to beef up windshield wipers/motors for handling REAL rain, because at least here in Florida, it sometimes decides to rain HARD, and what car-makers call "high" should be labeled "medium" at most IMO, but that's a whole 'nother rant!
JMR
Speaking ONLY for me, as always.
I understand. Since I've always used my right thumb, until I had "my" keyboard, the left thumb just sat-there, but I can imagine this feature would be quite annoying if you're left-thumbed. Maybe that's why it didn't ever catch-on.
I'm also now so-used-to laptop keyboards that it takes about an hour just to adjust-back to a "normal" one.
JMR
I have an ancient, IBM-style (keys click, built like a tank, non-mushy) "NMB The Right Touch" keyboard which has an innovation that I truly love which has sadly never become popular. The spacebar is divided into 2 keys, the right side is still a spacebar, but the left side is an additional "backspace" key. Saying it with fewer words improves anyone's writing, and this key encourages that by giving users a backspace key they needn't reach-for, which believe it or not makes a difference.
Once you get used to one of these, you'll begin to wonder why the rest of humanity seems to *want* both thumbs to be stuck with the same "space" option. I use Apple notebooks now, but I'd pay $100 extra to have my old left-thumb backspace key if the mod were even available. Oh well...
JMR
Yes, but much like slaves throughout history, musicians need information to be truly-free.
If they/we think all that's out there is an evil RIAA quintopoly, that's all there will be. If, OTOH, we/they dare to dream of something with a halfway-decent contract where artists actually own their work, things might be different...We make our own reality sometimes.
The idea that a band can't control whether or not there's spyware on their CDs suggests that musicians (and music-buyers) need to think in new ways. I just wish Courtney Love had discovered Magnatune before she re-entered binge-mode, because her Salon rant about doing the music-math made sense. Magnatune's contract (artist keeps half and keeps title to the music, basically) is what she was asking for back when Courtney was still being coherent.
JMR
Unlikely. It has been proven time and time again that trying to milk people who are drawn to a free service is like trying to herd cats.
Part of that proof is the historical crappiness of payment-methods offered by the formerly-free services, though...(I know, they try to ignore me all the time!)
JMR
Speaks ONLY for Jim Ray!
I hope you're right, but so far the popularity of cool things like Magnatune hasn't grown as fast as I thought it would. The deal they offer (to artists AND consumers) is great, but they don't have the RIAA's hype-machine so even though they also happily-lack the lawsuit factory (their slogan is "we are not evil" -- only in the music business!) of the RIAA quintopoly.
JMR
:) Agreed...
The really weird thing (and I guess they just have a LOT of takes!) was seeing him act pretty well in the recent humorous Priceline commercial featuring Leonard Nimoy. I can't blame either for cashing in at this point, but it's funny to look at the original episodes with kids in my family who are jaded with special effects...
JMR
Or in the case of Dr. Dean??? My point is, at least in part, the double standard you and/or the other person seem blind to, but obviously it's there. Dr. Dean and Dr. Paul are US politicians. They both went through a hellish med-school system and managed to survive it, so we don't call 'em "Mr." anymore. Either one. Deal with it!!! (Sheesh, all lefties CAN'T be this idiotic, right??!!)
JMR
I said "Dr." because, frankly, he IS one (nobody calls Howard Dean "Mr." and gets away with it, so I don't really see your "point" all that well here!). Dr. Ron Paul is a real, went & passed med-school, Doctor just like Dr. Howard Dean is. I don't know if you've complained about Dr. Dean being constantly-called "Dr." before, but I seriously-doubt it! If you go through 6+ years of that hell, you get to call yourself that no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, so it might be best for you to simply "deal with it."
As for the association-with-nutjobs issue, if THAT's somehow a disqualifier for politicians, I don't even have time for the mixed Planter's Can of those on the tax-and-spend left.
What Dr. (there, I said it again, just to annoy everyone!) Paul stresses is an occasional reading of the Constitution, and it shows in his votes and in the bills he occasionally-sponsors. ESPECIALLY regarding the spending-issue and monetary stuff, more politicians should emulate Ron Paul. (And you should probably emulate me, and turn-off the ol' Karma bonus when posting off-topic IMO!)
JMR
Speaking ONLY for myself (chances are Dr. (heh heh! I just did it again!) Paul might even disagree with some of what I've said above!)!!
Hi. I'm not a lawyer, and (despite the handle) I don't speak for e-gold Ltd. either, but here goes...
1. Gold is not only legal to use as money, it and silver are, if you actually read the constitution once in a while (which apparently rules-out all US politicians besides Dr. Ron Paul) you might find there are more problems with using green paper as money. I agree that the feds have a history of taking stuff away, that might be why e-gold Ltd. is a Nevis company instead of a USA one. I had no idea it was illegal to back loans with gold (might be news to some central banks!).
2. If "it will be shut down" how come e-gold has been chuggin' along since 1996? (2A. But why haven't I heard of you?? Because the news media were either too-clueless, or too busy covering "beenz" & "Flooz," -- both RIP -- which both spent LOTS of money on ads instead of concentrating on hiring smart geeks & doing money better than the Federal Reserve!) I'd agree that some individuals (especially at large banks) don't like thinking about an honest, weight denominated currency, but that's tough luck for them, I guess. BTW, not many folks seem to know this, but the Federal Reserve is (supposedly...) a private corporation -- insert Jefferson-quote about banks!
3. I pay my taxes, and (I guess?) you pay your taxes. e-gold is a currency denominated by weight, it's not a government (a good thing if you want honesty in money, IMO) or a tax-collector or a tax-evasion-mechanism. It's just Better Money(tm) and even though people tend to think in political terms about EVERYTHING these days, e-gold is IMO very apolitical (but I'll admit, it tended to appeal to libertarians like me in the past).
4. Markets fluctuate, it's a fact of life. The price of green paper in grams has gone from a bit over $8 to a bit under $13 per gram since I started working here, but gold's buying-power tends to be stable over time compared to fiat currencies like the paper dollar. And NOTHING keeps people from manipulating the price of gold except (we hope!) the marketplace! (As it is, there are constantly accusations of manipulation in the metal markets -- see www.gata.org or just google around for them!) That's why e-gold prefers LBMA "allocated, good delivery bars" instead of paper promises that you might be storing some "pooled" gold.
JMR
e-metal® payment confirmation: Batch 36278290 .59 grams of Gold
Paid To: 1377420 (Joshua Wise)
Amount:
Memo: Play around with sci.e-gold.com !
From:
101961 (e-gold promotional account)
Actual payment weight = 0.018969 oz. (0.590000 grams)
Applicable Conversion factors:
1 oz. troy = 31.1034768 grams
Gold exchange rate = 381.70USD/oz.
The e-metal payment was successful.
Your batch number for confirmation is 36278290
Thank you for using e-gold.
EFF's solution has been to quietly accept e-gold since 1999. Freenet takes e-gold, too.
http://102948-USD10.e-gold.com would give a gram to EFF (they had it working before, and now they've somehow managed to bust it! Sigh...).
http://767764-USD20.e-gold.com
donates $20 worth to Freenet (or you can use their page at donate )
We may not have the hype or marketing-budget of other systems, but we've been around since 1996 (and, frankly, Slashdot should have taken e-gold since at least a year ago, it's not like sci.e-gold.com is all that hard to use!). (And yes, I'll still click anyone from Slashdot a bit of e-gold to play with if you send me an account number!)
JMR
Speaking ONLY for Jim Ray, the Barbarous Relic of the e-gold system!
e-gold would NOT be useful to Osama (they take orders from courts, unlike actual gold bars/coins) and I doubt Osama's word anyway. It IS interesting that he refers to gold as a currency (it is) denominated by weight, but that doesn't mean he's willing to use a traceable book-entry system to contract for murder.
Freenet doesn't do murder -- they do free speech, and I've given them e-gold myself. Sorry I'm so late to the discussion, but if anyone wants to try e-gold just contact me with an account number and I'll click you some, which you can then -- if you like -- click to the Freenet project. You're correct that this was all political, but I think it's safe to say that e-gold isn't nearly as political as eBay/PayPal seem to be. Thanks.
JMR
Interestingly, www.magnatune.com reports their users DON'T pay the lowest prices they could choose (and Magnatune's what everyone SAYS they want because you can try before you buy, etc., so of course everyone's now busily-ignoring it!).
JMR
No monitoring software or new taxes, and independents already use it right now. Magnatune, which features the 49%-sad & 51%-hilarious slogan: "We are not evil," and doesn't seem to have work very hard to explain such a slogan these days... If you want try-before-you-buy and think artists should benefit as much as publishers (say, 50-50!) you should check out Magnatune (their music's also surprisingly-good!).
JMR
Speaking ONLY for myself (but yes, I'm commercially-biased, etc.)
How about if the artist got a substantial percentage of it, like at www.magnatune.com ? I think (and yes, I'm biased and financially-interested and greedy, etc.) that musicians need to take control of the money/contractual aspects of music, and INSIST on owning their own music -- like they can at Magnatune (which really rocks, IMO). I think online tipjars can also make a big difference for musicians, and I'd love to help make them work worldwide like they should.
I hope these particular mainstream artists manage to actually think outside the box (reading Slashdot's responses to what they've done might help, for example) but my brief experience with musicians suggests that we have our best chances before they've been infected by a single RIAA music contract...
JMR
(I have no idea what he made, but...) musicians' stories (not just Courtney Love's pre-binge rant, either!) seem to indicate he wouldn't make very much. There's no way to tell, but chances-are a one-hit wonder like Norman's song was written under terms when the musician is legally at his absolutely-most-vulnerable (they are, by definition, a 0-hit wonder who can't afford a lawyer at that point) so I have to assume Norman got as-screwed-as-possible by whichever record-company in the quintopoly* got the song.
:)
I'd love to know how much Norman Greenbaum made on Spirit in the Sky, but I'd also love to give him a tip of e-gold just for writing such a cool song. I've benefitted from the song for sure, but I never got the record, I've only heard it on the radio -- but it's one of those songs you just want to ruin your car's crappy speakers playing...
So if anyone knows Norman, please have him contact jray at e dash gold dotcom. Or if any other musicians or slashdotters want to play with a bit of the stuff -- I have a paltry promotional account for this kinda thing.
JMR
* Actually, if Sony eats Bertelsmann's music division, I guess the RIAA will become a quadropoly. They're workin'-it down to monopoly every way they can, though, if we give them time...
REALLY speaking only for Jim Ray & nobody-else this time!
Good question.
They'd have to trust the musicians to share, just as the musicians might want to trust the public to tip/pay. OTOH, I tend to tip wait-staff I'll never see again while travelling, and I think others do too.
The songwriters' advantage is that they'd have the good lawyers who were left (not EVERYONE in the RIAA would be unemployed in my scheme/dream, and presumably the musicians' union vs the songwriters' union would somehow sort things out, I guess) and they'd also have musicians with an incentive to be supplied in the future with more good songs.
I'm not promising utopia (it's certain there will be problems with everyone's scheme, e-gold is just a cheaper-middleman, but it's still there like credit cards/paypal/bitpass/etc.). I'm merely saying that taking control of the money-stream will -- if musicians actually DO IT -- be their real way to take control. It's all in the money-stream. Everything else is just-pretend, as Courtney Love outlined in her famous Salon-rant (too-lazy to dig-up the link, go google if you haven't see it).
Unfortunately, despite the fact that e-gold was between every line of Courtney's rant and despite the fact that I immediately-contacted her (well, her "webmistress") Courtney Love had unfortunately reverted to binge-mode, and I've had trouble (no budget) getting other musicians interested (music is a pretty conservative business).
Hopefully, that'll all change. Hopefully musicians will compare e-gold's fees (recently revised) to PayPal's (also changed recently) and Bitpass and all the others. We're already the leaders in micropayments, but we're sorely-lacking in hype (my fault). Also, being the leader in micropayments (see http://stats.e-gold.com if you doubt me) isn't as sexy -- or as lucrative -- as people tend to think. When payments get too small, they're too much of a PITA even with a very-efficient system. Various contenders have already found this out by going-bust.
JMR
again speaking only for Jim Ray.
This site has the ancient "Snake Oil FAQ" maintained by the esteemed C. Matthew Curtin. Despite its age, I still find it useful for PHB-types, etc.
JMR
Well said, but the RIAA is (IMO) way too fat in middle management to ever be able to give musicians the better terms we all instinctively know that they deserve. The answer (and yes, I'm both biased and financially self-interested -- but no, I don't speak for e-gold or anyone else but Jim Ray) is for musicians to "take-back the guitar-case" (the money is where the REAL control lies) and set up their own internet tipjars. It's been possible and easy for a few years, and finally they're going to learn to think in new ways about how to get paid by a planet-wide audience. They have had the technology for a while (since 1996 in some form or other).
Imagine a 'one-hit wonder' like Normal Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," garnering 7 million or so direct tips for a quarter worth of gold (most tips would probably be more, if you actually liked the song enough to bother tipping the artist, and Norman's old "Spirit in the Sky" tune kinda rocks IMNSHO). I'm talking about more than a million dollars -- AFTER taxes. I have no idea what Norman's made from the song, but I doubt he did that well...
JMR
Speaking ONLY for Jim Ray.
Mailing cash worldwide can be a bad idea for the recipient (but a good idea for the recipient's post office, it seems). We've got another solution, but nobody likes to look at our (incredibly-low, IMO) spend & storage fees, because e-gold is grams, and they also must think about independent exchangers' fees once they've gotten though that.
e-gold fees http://www.e-gold.com/unsecure/fees.htm
Anyway, if they get past all the admitted complexity of a new way to think about money, e-gold really-does work anywhere there's internet. I also really-do regularly offer Slashdot readers a free (small...) click of the stuff (just email me with an account number to try it). Surprisingly-few takers when I do this, though.
JMR
Selling mod-points might be smart (and -- though it would be abused, will probably not lead to any more abuse than we see presently, IMO).
I just wish they'd broaden their payment-method-horizons a bit...
JMR
I've heard the same promos (I also live in central FL). I'm not sure who they're trying to make fun of or what they're trying to say -- much like the anti-tobacco "Truth" stuff you can tell right away it's propaganda, but unlike the tobacco or anti-illegal-drug propaganda the stations aren't quite sure what to say. They KNOW people will continue to download music, and they can't directly insult those customers, but they also put on concerts (Clear Channel is a music-borg) and want to kiss (or seem to kiss) the artists' asses.
In other news, I coulda saved the old Napster (and probably killed the RIAA's legal team, but with kindness!) using tipjars. Sigh...
JMR
Speaking ONLY for myself.
Agreed 100% (but why do I NEVER have mod-points when I need 'em?). Oh well.
For some real second amendment fun, folks should check out http://www.jpfo.org the guys who had the temerity to place the 1968 Gun Control Act next to a translation of pre-WW2 Nazi-era gun control laws, and let folks see the similarities for themselves. Although the JPFO site doesn't advocate violence, I'm sure the censorware blocks it if they blocked the NRA (and believe me, JPFO & NRA aren't exactly buddies even though they're both "on the same side of the issue"!).
The ACLU is wonderful on freedom of speech, but there are various other rights (not just self-defense, either) they desperately-need to start thinking-about, or they'll continue to be pigeonholed as irrelevant leftists IMO. Economic liberty, for example, should not be just for the rich, and the ACLU could set a few examples to that end almost-effortlessly (while simultaneously tweaking the fans of that "Patriot" act nonsense which is sweeping the USA at the moment).
JMR
Speaking ONLY for Jim Ray and NO other company/individual/entity/etc.
Have been possible since 1999 with e-gold, see http://mobile.e-gold.com for a demo. Not many customers actually use their phones as their primary interface, but it's possible, and e-gold doesn't discriminate against micropayments. I wish Slashdot would accept the currency, but so far no luck...
JMR