Helps you identify what albums / bands / label are on RIAA associated labels. There's also a BPI Radar for all of you non-USA folks.
Disclaimer: I don't run the site, but I just use the site to make sure that my entertainment dollars are *not* spent supporting 'trade organizations' that I don't agree with.
I've been buying CDs since about 1992. At various times since then, my purchasing has dropped off due to:
- DVDs. I never bought VHS movies, but if I can get a DVD for $10, or a CD for $12, the CD doesn't win out often.
- Video Games. This market has exploded. Money is being diverted from somewhere to spend on these.
- Cell phone. A 'utility' that I choose to pay for monthly.
- Broadband. Another utility that I choose to pay for monthly. It's no $9.95 a month dialup.
Nope, they were actual units. Usually behind the glass at Target or Meijer, or just sitting in a pile at Best Buy.
The first time I walked in Toys R Us and saw all the Wii boxes, I thought I hit the jackpot. But they were empty display boxes.
Maybe I'm a just a statistical anomaly, but I've been looking for a Wii since December 7th. I've waited in line on a few Sunday mornings, and have hit all kinds of stores at really strange hours and still no luck finding one.
In that time, I've seen probably 20+ PS3s just sitting on the shelves. At everywhere from Best Buy to Meijer to one of the guys in EBGames soliciting me to buy a returned PS3.
Maybe it's just a regional thing. I'm in the Midwest.
I looked at Scotttrade when I opened up my Roth IRA about... oh 5 years ago now. They were quickly scratched off my list when I asked if they allowed you to reinvest dividends for free. At that time, you had to pay the same commission ($7) to reinvest dividends for each stock, each time a div was paid out. Not sure if that's changed since then.
The last book Siegel wrote (Future of/for Investors) was a great read. Interesting points about how when a stock gets added to one of the major indexes, the stock automatically becomes inflated in price, since all the institutions have to buy the stock, therefore driving down returns of the whole index.
Maybe I just got extremely lucky, but I bought a shiny new DVD player in the spring of 2000 for $149 at Best Buy. It's a decent Phillips player with component video outputs that I still use to this day.
I hear this '$300 to $400 DVD player in 2000' figure on Slashdot all the time and it blows my mind.
If you have items in your basket that you know you will have difficulty with at the self-check line don't use the self-check line. It's not like they're forcing you to. It's there as a convenience to the shopper.
Ha. At the grocery store by my house (Meijer), the pod of 4 self-checkout lanes has replaced the section of 'express lanes'. So let's say you have 6 items. Do you want to get in a normal human lane, behind 3 carts that appear to be buying enough food for a small country, or do you want to get in the self-checkout lane behind an older person who has a whole shopping basket full of produce AND has her checkbook out.
Here's my 5 things about self-checkout lines that need fixed:
10/12 item limit. Some of the stores (Giant Eagle, Wal-Mart) don't have a posted limit on items.
Fix the 'effing scales, or at least give us some slack on items weighing less than X ounces. If I'm going to steal something from a store, it's not going to be green onions or chives. If you're worried about small, expensive items, just make that item be confirmed by a cashier.
If you have 'pods' of self-checkout lanes, have one queue for each pod.
Have more than 2 'scales' to bag on. Even with 12 items, it's pretty easy to run out of room, and then get stuck in the 'PLEASE TAKE LAST ITEM OUT OF THE BAG' loop.
Let the cashier ban people from the self-checkout lanes. Or beat them.
Maybe this was an extremely regional thing, but here in Central Ohio, the PSX launch was a disaster at every store I went to on launch day. Most of the stores got plenty consoles to fulfill pre-orders, but no one had enough memory cards and extra controllers. The one store manager I was talking was telling me how he got plenty of consoles and games, but only a few (~10) memory cards and second controllers. Nothing says fun like taking turns playing Toshinden. Or not being able to save times on Ridge Racer.
I think the card game that's being referred to is the rotating star/mushroom/flower card on the black background at the end of each level that you have to hit to finish the level.
I picked up (and still have!) the first 15 or so issues of NextGen when it came out. It was the best console game magazine that I could find, since GamePro was already a joke, EGM was circling the drain and DieHard GameFan was just too unpredictable with their reviews.
I actually stopped getting NextGen when they changed their paper/cover stock. I was also sad when DailyRadar.com went under.
I was reading the Trip Hawkins interview from 94 or 95 the other day and it's hilarious looking back. Keep on telling yourself you can sell a $700 'media center'. Sony should be taking notes.
I knew plenty of people that wanted to buy a Neo-Geo and even a few that were going to buy one.
But then they/we factored in the $200+ cartridges. That's what killed the Neo-Geo for even the die-hard gamers. The one video store here would rent out a Neo Geo with 5 cartridges for $40 for the weekend. Bargain of a lifetime.
In one way, I have to congratulate Sony for milking the early adopters, but the parents that see the PS3 for $600 this Xmas will remember that $600 when Johnny asks for it next spring or summer for his birthday. I remember the 3DO at $700, not later down the road at $500, or even at $399 when it was treading water in the worst kind of way. Initial pricing sticks in people's minds.
Doesn't MSFT pay out a dividend now? I don't recall how many shares he owns, but he's paying a 15% tax rate on those dividends each year. When you own a few million shares, that'll add up.
I play on a beer league ice hockey team and a lot of people use the USPS Priority tape to tape their ankles / keep their socks up with. It's amusing to say the least.
Matador (or a controlling interest anyway) was sold to Beggar's Banuqet last year. I'm not sure of BB's status with the RIAA.
The new Modest Mouse is only $7.99 at Best Buy this week. It's hard to find anything on a moderately sized indie for $8 new... Touch + Go, Drag City, Sub Pop, Kranky, etc.. all hover around $12 for a new disc. Most of the indie bands make most of their money touring anyways.
Oh yes... In college, my friend and I spent many nights playing AOEII, instead of more productive things, like homework and group projects:) If we played against each other, and no one won early, it would turn into a battle of cannon towers.
I had a 'killing zone' of 15 to 20 cannon towers mixed in with 3 or 4 castles that got destroyed by 4 or 5 waves of maxed out Samumari.:)
Sometimes I hear that 'attack' noise in my head, as well as the 'trebuchet' (sp?) 'launch' noise. The sound of buildings being lost.
We've played Age of Mythologies, but it's not the same.. The 'epic' games never happens because the Heroes usually win the game for whoever gets one out first, or they just ravage the other player's economy and make things painful for the other player.
Here in Central Ohio, Wal-Mart is about the only store that doesn't force you to use those BS 'customer care' cards in order to get anything at a reasonable price. Here's the grocery stores:
Kroger (card required)
Big Bear (card required, whole chain went under)
Giant Eagle (card required)
Meijer (no card needed)
Wal-Mart (no card needed)
I'm not worried too much about RFID tags or tracking via customer cards, but it's the fact these stores *expect* you to keep their cute little card on your keychain for the privelege of spending money at their store that really pisses me off. Hence, I don't shop at those stores.
Last time I was at the post office buying some stamps for mail-in rebate submissions, the mail clerk asked me if I wanted insurance/confirm receipt on any rebates I was mailing... I never thought about doing that before. But if you have a sizeable rebate, it might be worth the $1.20 or whatever to do it this way.
Or you can ask your credit card company nicely to help you get the advertised price.
Brand new SNES games ran from $39 for the budget titles such as Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest all the way up $74.99 for some of the 'large' 16/24/32 megaBIT games such as Mortal Kombat II, Secret of Mana and Street Fighter II Turbo. It seemed like the large majority games sold for $59 with the occasional sale putting some of the games around $49. Finding a good game for $45 was a rare treat.
Speaking of good holiday seasons gaming wise, I remember 1993 as a good year. I got Out of This World and Secret of Mana for the SNES. That alone is a good way to kill Xmas break. Throw in Doom on my shiny new 486 SX @ 33mhz with another friend over the blistering 2400bps modem and it was gaming nirvana. I was 14 too, so I didn't have a care in the world.
Ahh, I totally forgot about Cool Spot! Aladdin (the Sega version), a movie license ended up being a great platformer too. Along with Dave Shiny's Earthworm Jim.
Slashdot Mirror
Helps you identify what albums / bands / label are on RIAA associated labels. There's also a BPI Radar for all of you non-USA folks.
Disclaimer: I don't run the site, but I just use the site to make sure that my entertainment dollars are *not* spent supporting 'trade organizations' that I don't agree with.
I've been buying CDs since about 1992. At various times since then, my purchasing has dropped off due to:
- DVDs. I never bought VHS movies, but if I can get a DVD for $10, or a CD for $12, the CD doesn't win out often.
- Video Games. This market has exploded. Money is being diverted from somewhere to spend on these.
- Cell phone. A 'utility' that I choose to pay for monthly.
- Broadband. Another utility that I choose to pay for monthly. It's no $9.95 a month dialup.
Nope, they were actual units. Usually behind the glass at Target or Meijer, or just sitting in a pile at Best Buy. The first time I walked in Toys R Us and saw all the Wii boxes, I thought I hit the jackpot. But they were empty display boxes.
Maybe I'm a just a statistical anomaly, but I've been looking for a Wii since December 7th. I've waited in line on a few Sunday mornings, and have hit all kinds of stores at really strange hours and still no luck finding one.
In that time, I've seen probably 20+ PS3s just sitting on the shelves. At everywhere from Best Buy to Meijer to one of the guys in EBGames soliciting me to buy a returned PS3.
Maybe it's just a regional thing. I'm in the Midwest.
I looked at Scotttrade when I opened up my Roth IRA about... oh 5 years ago now. They were quickly scratched off my list when I asked if they allowed you to reinvest dividends for free. At that time, you had to pay the same commission ($7) to reinvest dividends for each stock, each time a div was paid out. Not sure if that's changed since then.
The last book Siegel wrote (Future of/for Investors) was a great read. Interesting points about how when a stock gets added to one of the major indexes, the stock automatically becomes inflated in price, since all the institutions have to buy the stock, therefore driving down returns of the whole index.
Maybe I just got extremely lucky, but I bought a shiny new DVD player in the spring of 2000 for $149 at Best Buy. It's a decent Phillips player with component video outputs that I still use to this day.
I hear this '$300 to $400 DVD player in 2000' figure on Slashdot all the time and it blows my mind.
Ha. At the grocery store by my house (Meijer), the pod of 4 self-checkout lanes has replaced the section of 'express lanes'. So let's say you have 6 items. Do you want to get in a normal human lane, behind 3 carts that appear to be buying enough food for a small country, or do you want to get in the self-checkout lane behind an older person who has a whole shopping basket full of produce AND has her checkbook out.
Here's my 5 things about self-checkout lines that need fixed:
Maybe this was an extremely regional thing, but here in Central Ohio, the PSX launch was a disaster at every store I went to on launch day. Most of the stores got plenty consoles to fulfill pre-orders, but no one had enough memory cards and extra controllers. The one store manager I was talking was telling me how he got plenty of consoles and games, but only a few (~10) memory cards and second controllers. Nothing says fun like taking turns playing Toshinden. Or not being able to save times on Ridge Racer.
I think the card game that's being referred to is the rotating star/mushroom/flower card on the black background at the end of each level that you have to hit to finish the level.
Run fast and jump at a 45 degree angle...
I picked up (and still have!) the first 15 or so issues of NextGen when it came out. It was the best console game magazine that I could find, since GamePro was already a joke, EGM was circling the drain and DieHard GameFan was just too unpredictable with their reviews.
I actually stopped getting NextGen when they changed their paper/cover stock. I was also sad when DailyRadar.com went under.
I was reading the Trip Hawkins interview from 94 or 95 the other day and it's hilarious looking back. Keep on telling yourself you can sell a $700 'media center'. Sony should be taking notes.
But then they/we factored in the $200+ cartridges. That's what killed the Neo-Geo for even the die-hard gamers. The one video store here would rent out a Neo Geo with 5 cartridges for $40 for the weekend. Bargain of a lifetime.
In one way, I have to congratulate Sony for milking the early adopters, but the parents that see the PS3 for $600 this Xmas will remember that $600 when Johnny asks for it next spring or summer for his birthday. I remember the 3DO at $700, not later down the road at $500, or even at $399 when it was treading water in the worst kind of way. Initial pricing sticks in people's minds.
Doesn't MSFT pay out a dividend now? I don't recall how many shares he owns, but he's paying a 15% tax rate on those dividends each year. When you own a few million shares, that'll add up.
I play on a beer league ice hockey team and a lot of people use the USPS Priority tape to tape their ankles / keep their socks up with. It's amusing to say the least.
Was Chimney Rock already rented out? What about Snake River? Stupid Oregon Trail :)
And to stop the bleeding on their stock price.
It can be legally downloaded for free at Archive.org.
It's an amazing release. It even comes with a huge PDF booklet explaining everything. Very cool.
I don't know what year it came out, but Pole Position in the arcade had 7-11 billboards on the side of the road.
The new Modest Mouse is only $7.99 at Best Buy this week. It's hard to find anything on a moderately sized indie for $8 new... Touch + Go, Drag City, Sub Pop, Kranky, etc.. all hover around $12 for a new disc. Most of the indie bands make most of their money touring anyways.
I had a 'killing zone' of 15 to 20 cannon towers mixed in with 3 or 4 castles that got destroyed by 4 or 5 waves of maxed out Samumari. :)
Sometimes I hear that 'attack' noise in my head, as well as the 'trebuchet' (sp?) 'launch' noise. The sound of buildings being lost.
We've played Age of Mythologies, but it's not the same.. The 'epic' games never happens because the Heroes usually win the game for whoever gets one out first, or they just ravage the other player's economy and make things painful for the other player.
Kroger (card required)
Big Bear (card required, whole chain went under)
Giant Eagle (card required)
Meijer (no card needed)
Wal-Mart (no card needed)
I'm not worried too much about RFID tags or tracking via customer cards, but it's the fact these stores *expect* you to keep their cute little card on your keychain for the privelege of spending money at their store that really pisses me off. Hence, I don't shop at those stores.
If you're an American, have a Canuck say these words for you: Against Out and About Organization And tell me everything sounds normal.
Or you can ask your credit card company nicely to help you get the advertised price.
Speaking of good holiday seasons gaming wise, I remember 1993 as a good year. I got Out of This World and Secret of Mana for the SNES. That alone is a good way to kill Xmas break. Throw in Doom on my shiny new 486 SX @ 33mhz with another friend over the blistering 2400bps modem and it was gaming nirvana. I was 14 too, so I didn't have a care in the world.
Yep, I should have made it clear the affordable 8x drives right now aren't +/-. I'm holding off for an 8x +/- and I'm in the DVD burning game :)
Hint: You can get the dual format +/- drives for about $105 shipped. Check out newegg.com. I think the 8x drives are only about $50 more too.
Ahh, I totally forgot about Cool Spot! Aladdin (the Sega version), a movie license ended up being a great platformer too. Along with Dave Shiny's Earthworm Jim.