the stuff in my head

If you’re not familiar with Suncomm, they are the primary company the music industry uses to copy protect CDs.

I just bought Bloom, the new Sarah McLachlan Remix CD. I wanted to import it into iTunes so I can listen to it along with the rest of my music… but I can’t.

Suncomm won’t let me. They’ve intentionally crippled the Audio CD so it can’t be imported into iTunes.

But you can still listen to it on your computer…
Sure, if I use their lame little application that auto-launches and allows me to “play” my CD, as if I don’t already have seventeen different apps that can play CDs already.

But it lets you copy the tracks to your PC…
Well, it certainly does. In protected WMA format. Which means I can play them in WindowsMedia player. Except I despise WindowsMedia player and should not have to use it.

Since when is it OK for a company to tell me how I can use it’s product? I’m not pirating the disc, I’m not going to put it on a P2P network or share it with my friends… Sony/Arista/Sunncomm has simply assumed all consumers are pirates.

I just want to listen to the music I purchased in the media player of my choosing!

Is that so much to ask?

Apparently so.

(I’m restraining from using expletives at the moment)

And to top it all off… with mouth watering delicious irony:

I can buy the entire album in unprotected MP3 format from SarahMcLachlan.com.

So very, very wrong… but hilarious!

Click for full size

Why settle for a boring flat calendar when you can have a 3D 12 sided pentagon dodecahedron calendar?

God Squad man: God loves each and everyone of you! The Bible says–
Woman #1: The Bible says its 8AM.
Woman #2: Yeah, sit down and shut up.

–L train

Overheard in New York

See also: Overheard in the Office

I have Skype installed an occasionally use it to talk, but mostly to chat with a few people. Occasionally I get a call from a random person I don’t know. usually it’s someone from Europe looking to “make new friends” or something like that.

Today, it was someone looking for Leo Laporte’s skype name… as if I would know that.

Skype rings- incoming voice call…
(I don’t have my headset hooked up and I’m at work so I decide to chat instead)

[4:46:56 PM] Nick Ciske says: hi
[4:47:17 PM] Nick Ciske says: can’t talk at the moment…
[4:47:21 PM] Nick Ciske says: what’s up?
[4:47:28 PM] John Doe says: do you know Leo Laporte
[4:47:36 PM] Nick Ciske says: Not personally
[4:47:42 PM] Nick Ciske says: I know of him
[4:47:53 PM] John Doe says: do u know his skype name
[4:47:57 PM] Nick Ciske says: nope
[4:48:05 PM] John Doe says: ok then bye
[4:48:10 PM] Nick Ciske says: k.
[4:48:11 PM] Nick Ciske says: bye

Well, there went 5 minutes of my life. Sheesh.

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PS- It’s hard to type an echo