I probably should write more often, since from my perspective there's plenty of interesting stuff in the world. Unfortunately, I get so tired at work and in general that I don't feel like doing anything. But I'll write something anyway.
The letter 'ё' has stopped working on my computer, which makes me very sad, because I'm an advocate of using it in writing.
LiveJournal community, Wikipedia
An advocate because I often don't know which words have it and which don't. And this is despite knowing Russian not too badly. Hence the conclusion - to know where this letter belongs, you either have to socialize with people who have a large active vocabulary, or look it up specifically in the dictionary. The first option seems even more implausible than the second. That's enough about the letter 'ё'.
I should also mention that Timo Reuber is a good musician. Despite some noisiness, his music is quite melodic and digestible. I even downloaded his new album on eMusic.com, though still on a trial period. This service lets you download DRM-free mp3s for a subscription fee. Granted, only independent labels are represented there, but this service has been around for a long time. Right now, though, the ice is slowly starting to break. Those in the know are already aware that more and more such systems are popping up, including ones from the majors. For instance, Amazon finally delivered, good thing EMI has been staying the course for a while, and Universal is running tests selling DRM-free formats.
On Amazon there is even the mainstream megarapper Kanye West, whose new album is pretty decent. The price isn't exactly pleasing yet, though, a dollar per song. Or 9 bucks for the whole album, which is more cheerful. On the other hand, on eMusic Europeans have to pay 19 bucks for 30 tracks a month. Or 30% cheaper if subscribing for a year. On eMusic.com there's the new album by the independent megarapper Aesop Rock, and it has 14 tracks, meaning $19 is just two of those albums, which is even more expensive than Amazon. But the funny thing is - there's no Kanye West on eMusic, and no fresh Aesop Rock on Amazon.
Overall - buying music on the net isn't worth it yet. The selection suffers, prices are still inflated, there's only one format and it's lossy, with no alternatives in the form of ogg/flac. All while downloading any popular music for free takes me a minute or two. Too bad there's no service for sending money directly to the musicians - let them share it with the labels themselves if they want to. And I would download wherever it's more convenient, i.e. on oink.cd. By the way, if anyone needs invites, and promises not to abuse them, drop a line in the comments.
And also today I passed my bicycle license test. 1 mistake out of ten questions, the whole process from start to finish took a little over half an hour, including getting the license. Competent bureaucracy we have here in some places, I must say.
P.S. Fixed the letter 'ё' - it was Vista's fault after all, it reset the layout switching settings to the tilde on its own, which is where 'ё' is located.
Miscellany
2007-09-26