Ice ice baby

Now that the 'net is acting a bit less flaky, I can write about it. Last night the area was hit with a winter ice storm (funny how they always happen in the winter, eh?) making for a chorus of crashes, tinkling, crackling and distant (and not-so-distant) sounds of arcing and explosions. Needless to say, I did not sleep well at all, and kept getting up to check on things and shut stuff off. We managed to escape any damage and long-term power outages, unlike a few years ago. I rolled out of bed, called work and told them I'm staying off the roads for the day and climbed back into bed. Since getting up later I've been doing household stuff and installing a new battery in the UPS connected to Jeff's PC.

It's times like this which make me not like winter very much.

A Wii fit

Jeff finally got his Wii Balance Board/Wii Fit today. The thing is a hoot. The exercises are simple, yet pretty effective, and the balance-oriented games a challenge. I can see us using this quite a bit in the future.

He bought the item from an eBay seller that had high marks. Well, her marks are going to take a dive after he's done with her. She misrepresented the shipping method, changed her story numerous times and sent the thing out much later than she originally said she would, using USPS standard shipping rather than the second-day UPS service she said would be used. This is yet another example of someone making up in shipping costs a lower-than-usual sale, of course. But far too much was changed after the sale, and sending the thing out a couple weeks after the sale rather than immediately does no good either. Anyway, we got the new toy, and some eBay seller is gonna take a hit in their rating.

I tried to post this a while ago, but LJ was completely inaccessible to me for at least an hour's time. I spent the evening putting in LAN segments and taking a nap. I could not help but think of the Great LJ Evaporation rumor. But, it's still here, imagine that. I'd miss you guys 'n' gals if the service were to go. I would not even care too much about losing a 'permanent' account because, in the long run, it's been worth it for me, and the friendships gained, stories told and read, the laughs and tears, it's all priceless.

Whither DRM?

Finally.

It appears that Apple will be selling all music through the iTunes store without DRM. It's about freakin' time. While the FairPlay DRM scheme used by Apple was one of the more flexible out there as far as restrictions and the ability to use your music on a number of computers and iPods, it was still not without it's problems. Those who failed to make proper backups or lost their original accounts by some means would have no access to their music (except through a one-time re-download from Apple), and could not use software/hardware not provided by Apple to play the songs they bought. Now people will be able to use the music they buy however they see fit.

Of course, there's bound to be an HUGE increase in piracy, right? Riiiight.

There will be, of course, a fair amount of 'sharing' going on. But it will be no different than what's going on currently, and that is no different than the countless millions of cassette dubs and what-have-you that had been going on for years prior to the 'net.

To be able to use however they see fit with their purchases is ultimately what consumers want. It's starting to happen, albeit slowly.