Better Living Through Introspection

So, the Allman Brothers, Cheap Trick, and others are suing Sony over royalties:

The bands allege on behalf of themselves and other class members that Sony Music is not paying its recording artists 50 per cent of the net licensing revenue received by Sony Music in connection with music licensed to Apple and other third party providers of digital downloads, as Sony Music is contractually obligated to do.

Full story via Firewheeldesign

Some families play games to maintain contact from far-flung towns; some parents play online games with their kids in the next room as a way of bonding with them. (from Far-Flung Families Unite in Cyberspace — And Kill Monsters on washingtonpost.com)

Then I stopped myself before stepping up on the soapbox because I realized we did this to some extent when I was in elementary school; only, we had an Intellivision. Not quite as high-tech, but the same principle. Dad and I would dog fight with WWII-era biplanes; I learned how to be a sore loser and a gloating victor; certainly not the best behavior on my part, but hey…I was just a kid. (I forget which title it was, but just thinking about how wicked those graphics were back then…woo!) I’m digressing. My point is that I’m sure the critics were saying the same things then as they are now. Which brings me back to the article, where a researcher admits his knee-jerk assumptions about videogames were wrong:

“The prediction that this was going to be an isolating technology turned out to be so thoroughly wrong,” said Gee, who sees the worlds forming in these games as a new type of public space. Gee started studying video games five years ago and ended up with a World of Warcraft habit of his own — he plays on a team with other professors and academics.

You’ll be tempted to rant about how this is not a real way to bring families together, how nothing beats personal interaction in meatspace, but I have to say, if it works, it works. And if you can kill a few hobgoblins at your next family reunion, well, that’s just icing on the cake isn’t it?

Just stumbled across this. Pretty interesting on several levels.

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But last night, what seemed to be the Loudest. ‘Copter. Ever. was flying circles around the neighborhood — occasionally, I could even see its searchlight through the blinds as I lay in bed cursing it. So, it turns out that I’m dragging ass today thanks to the cops keeping us safe from carjackers and other felons.

And yet, I still whine.

This is ridiculous. Only in America would this thing be banned. Kinder eggs were a highlight of my youth overseas in Italy and Germany. Somehow, my toddler brain managed to separate the idea of “edible chocolate” from “plastic toy”. I’ve always wondered why they aren’t available here. Now I know.

(And to think, Polish kids have no problem with them. There’s definitely a Polish joke in there…though, I understand that would be politically incorrect — not to mention out of vogue; I think Polish jokes were at the height of fashion…well, around the same time I was enjoying Kinder eggs.)

Hazardous egg Reappears on Store Shelves
The Consumer Product Safety Commission yesterday issued a safety alert, warning consumers about a candy egg that may be dangerous to children under 3 because it contains small plastic pieces that children might swallow.

The Kinder Surprise is a chocolate eggshell that contains a plastic capsule of small parts that assemble into a toy. Either individually or assembled, these plastic parts are so small that they can pose a serious choking or aspiration hazard to young children, the CPSC said.