Randomness Part Eight

What a weekend. The Panthers won Friday and Sunday giving us a total of four wins in a row. Yay, Panthers.

Next up, I'm sitting in Thomas' car on Sunday and he's driving. We're both wearing seat belts. Though I often give him crap for his driving, he's a pretty good (ie: very cautious) driver. So Saturday afternoon at around 310pm, we're leaving Office Depot, and he stops at a stop sign. He starts to go, but someone comes flying by at warp 30 in a car, so he stops again. They pass. He's in the process of looking both ways when some lady in a Black Honda Accord rear ends us at a high rate of speed causing us to lurch forward about 6 to 10 feet. We both get out and survey the damage -- most of which is to Thomas' car. They trade insurance info, though Timmy fails to get her driver's license number, and I got down her tag number. They decide not to call the cops. Thomas is fine, me not so much. As they're wrapping up I notice my neck is unusually sore on the left side where it joins the shoulder.

Thomas goes home (a five minute drive) and calls his insurance agent and their insurance agent. They want to talk to me since I'm injured. They ask me for my auto insurance details. Really. I refuse to provide it since I was not driving and my car was not present. I hate this already. In other news, gets worse as the hours tick by. I try to ignore it because that's how I am. Today it hurts more, sore to the touch. My back hurts a little and my right hip a lot.

Adrian cancelled skating on me today, which is probably for the best anyway. I went grocery shopping and then to Walgreens for some drugs. Yay, drugs. Doing laundry now.

Watched some of the Pens vs Capitals game on TV and some stuff on the science channel. I did a great deal of work my tax packet. I hate taxes. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE. So much work.

Had dinner with Jason last week. That was fun to see him, Jenny, and Erica again. We really have to do that more often.

UK newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Telegraph are reporting yesterday and today on an expected deal between Sir Paul McCartney and Apple, Inc. to bring the Beatles catalog to iTunes. According to the Telegraph, the deal could be worth as much as £300 million. An Apple Corps label spokesperson said that the date "has not yet been set." The deal has been much delayed. But industry insiders say that by the end of the year fans using iTunes will be able to buy songs from albums such as Help! and Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Former hits from albums such as Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the White Album, and Help are expected to top the download charts for several months on release. I envision the long rumoured Yellow Submarine iPod which I will purchase on opening day because I must own one.

Iriomote Cats, English Teachers, Yellow Submarine, and Bush Declares Martial Law

Today we have another random group of eclectic posts.

1. Way back in December 2006, I wrote about the Baiji Dolphin become extinct. Truly a sad thing, indeed. Well it's about to happen again to another species. Now, Japan’s Iriomote Cat is Headed for Annihilation
according to the latest news. I am far more saddened about this because I love kitties of all kinds. This has been reported in National Geographic. It's a beautiful cat, too as you can see.

2. I am trying to locate Karen Goff; she was my eighth or ninth grade English teacher from McMillian Junior High School in Miami, Florida. It's an off chance, but she was one of the best teachers I ever had -- and in a subject I am rather fond of. I want to thank her. If anyone knows where she is, that would be great. The school was of no help whatsoever nor was the local school boards.

3. In other disturbing news: I am not a conspiracy theorist, and I often ridicule those who are. Let's be honest, most of them are utter and complete crackpots. However there's a new one making the rounds that even my regular "upstanding citizen" type friends are subscribing to. And, I think I do too. As you know Dubya's term is coming to an end -- and he's not happy, nor does he understand why he's the least popular president ever. There are more and more rumblings being made about Iran from inside the administration, but nowhere else. What happens when he uses some random event -- you know the odds are in favour of an event -- to declare martial law and take over and remain in power? Will anyone be able to stop him? Will the military say no? It's looking more and more real to me every day. Him and his cronies are looking for a way to stay -- just like the Kremlin in its heyday. It scares me.

4. Next Wednesday, I am still predicting a Yellow Submarine iPod pre-loaded with the Beatles oeuvre. It will look similar to the current iPhone without the actual phone functionality. Further, regardless of what comes next, I bet you get a Bluetooth iPod so people have no more wires. You'll also get some form of the iPhone touchscreen. Apple has ordered way more screens than it needs for phones. There's really no other conclusion to be had.

Beatles on iTunes and iPod: One Step Closer?

Apple (Computer) Inc. has reached a surprise agreement with Apple Corps Ltd., the record label started by The Beatles in 1968, concerning the use of the name "Apple" and related logos. Under the terms of the agreement announced Monday, Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer) will own all trademarks and logos related to the name "Apple" and will license them to the Apple Corps Ltd. music company. This is a shock because basically Apple Corps (Apple Music as I call them) has conceded that Apple Computer is more known my the name than they are in all circles. They took money whilst there trademark still had good value. And it's a win-win situation for both parties.

This hopefully marks an end to the long-running and bitter trademark feud between the two companies. More importantly, it replaces a pre-existing agreement, from 1991, which forbids Apple Inc. from distributing music through physical media like CDs and cassette tapes -- an agreement that, needless to say, predated the advent of the digital music market.

In a statement, Steve Jobs said that "we love The Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks," adding that "it feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future." Yes, it's been painful for all of us. But here's to the iPod with the cover of your favourite Beatles album, or perhaps the Love-themed iPod.

There is no word yet on whether this deal will eventually lead to the sale of The Beatles' music catalog in the iTunes Store, as the songs of the Fab Four are still not available for legal digital download. Everyone, me included, expects this will change in the relatively immediate future. This may be one of the biggest ever announcements in the digital music marketplace.

Possibilities are endless. Buy Apple stock now :)

iPhone, iPod, Beatles, and Apple's New Name

Welcome, Apple Inc. That's the new name of Apple Computer, Inc. The word "computer" has gone missing as they foray further and further into consumer electronics. Today the announcement of the iPhone (surprising absolutely nobody) and the Apple TV unit were met with great reviews.

Shares of all rival phone makers plummeted an average of 6% today on the markets as Apple's phone which is an iPod and phone rolled into one. It runs Mac OS-X, has Bluetooth, iPod, phone, and other features. It's pricey as hell, but Apple's never much cared about that.

And, get this, as reported previously in this blog, the Beatles are coming. Really .Soon. Now. Sure, that rumour has been going around forever. However, there was a big, not very subtle hint dropped at the unveiling. What was the first song played on the new iPhone? Lovely Rita, Meter Maid from the most widely acclaimed album of all time: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The iTunes Store has officially sold more music than Amazon.Com and appears to be an unstoppable juggernaut.

Lots of other announcements, but the iPhone is apparently the big one, though right now it only works with Cingular so I have no interest. I expect after a waiting period, we'll see others come on board (probably one year exclusive deal). Your Mac running OS-X 10.4.8 already has iPhone drivers in it. Really. Go look.

Beatles: only on iPod via iTunes?

The whole article is here, but I am going excerpt from it.

Yes, the long rumoured move is about nigh! The Beatles come to your iPod. And that may prompt me to buy another iPod. I had one, you know, and then I sold it on eBay. Well, you've all seen the cool black U2 iPod. Can you imagine the funky Yellow Submarine coloured iPod with some Beatles logos on it? Yes, I'm sitting a pool of drool.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Click on the iTunes music store and punch in "Beatles" under artist search. More than 50 albums will pop up, including Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Play the Beatles, but none are the real deal. But that may be about to change. While details remain to be worked out, Fortune has learned that iTunes is close to a deal to bring the Beatles catalog online. Apple Computer is said to be angling to become the exclusive online music store for the Beatles for a limited window of time. Other music stores, have courted the Beatles over the years to no avail, but it appears Apple is close to getting first dibs on the band's hits.

If the deal goes through, it will mark a Nixon-Brezhnev-worthy truce - with the band's record label, Britain's EMI Group, serving as a peacemaker - between Apple Computer's Steve Jobs and Neil Aspinall, the one-time Beatles road manager who is now guardian of the band's business interests under Apple Corps.

At a recent industry conference, David Munns, head of EMI North America, said the Beatles would be available online "soon." The parties were hoping to make a splashy announcement to coincide with the Nov. 21 release of "Love," a mashup of Beatles songs that serves as a soundtrack to a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil production. That didn't happen.

According to a music industry executive apprised of the talks, the parties were discussing how lengthy a window of exclusivity iTunes might get and how many tens of millions of dollars Jobs - who is said to be personally involved in the discussions - will commit to an advance for the band and marketing costs.

Also being discussed is whether the band would be willing to take two steps at the same time and endorse the iPod by allowing its music to be used in a commercial. Another scenario making the rounds is the prospect of the Beatles following U2's example with a branded iPod. "If the Beatles were in an iPod ad, that would be humongous," this executive said.

The deal could well fall apart for any number of reasons, including the long-running legal feud between Apple Corps and Apple Computer over both their names and the similarities between the Granny Smith that appears on the label's LPs and the half-eaten apple that is Jobs' corporate logo. "The Beatles' position is that they don't sing jingles to peddle sneakers, beer, pantyhose, or anything else," a lawyer for the band told the Associated Press at the time. Notice he didn't say iPods.

This is enormous news. It'll kill that damn Zune right out of the door. Happily the Zune is getting pretty bad reviews from all facets of the press because it's bulky, counter-intuitive, and worse -- what do they expect from the twits at Microsoft, after all they produced Windows. If you own Apple stock, I wouldn't sell it just now. I think you'll see a huge jump.

One of the most famous bands of all-time, a group that changed the course of not only music history, but arguably human history -- coming to the iTunes store and your iPod. I'm hoping this works out -- even if it just ends those damn interminable lawsuits Apple Corps (Music) has been flinging at Apple Corp (Computers).