Monday, June 05, 2006
So the big media outlets have FINALLY found out and reported what the blogosphere and in-the-know netizens have known for a while now...that there's a little Russian website called Allofmp3.com where you can download songs not based on a flat fee but on the quality and data amount you download.
If you're not familiar with the site, let me break it down for you. The website is just like all other music stores like iTunes and Rhapsody where you pay for you downloads, but thats where all similarities end. Instead of paying 99 cents per track you pay about 2 cents or more per data, some songs come out to be less than 20 cents each while full albums can be as little as a dollar. So why are all the mainstream media reporting it now? Maybe it might have to do with the fact that about a year ago exactly Allofmp3.com was in the same situation, being reported on by the media (however internet-only) and was investigated by Moscow police into the legitimacy of the service. The United States trade office and RIAA claim the site is a safe harbor and prime example of internet piracy, however the Russian equivalent of the RIAA, ROMS, claims that the site is working under the digital law stated in Russia.
Users outside of Russia, specifically the United States where illegal downloading of music and films has become a media frenzy with college students and under-age internet users being sued for millions, might ask themselves if this service is legal for them. Though I cannot give you a 100% yes or no answer, (and I guarantee you the US government and anyone that is a big wig in the music industry will tell you that it is NOT legal) I can tell you there are some loopholes that may make it legal in a gray area. For example, because the music is stored in Russia and is technically located in a foreign country, the same idea of purchasing a CD in another country and importing it may apply here. If I buy a CD in Vienna, Austria and bring it into the states I'm not breaking any copyright laws because I legally bought it in a store. You are technically importing foreign-purchased goods into the United States.
Even though that may be one case, opponents still claim that ROMS is not paying the rightful royalties to the labels (many of them located in the United States and Europe) and the artists. ROMS has said they under the contract do not need to pay any royalties, and this is where it gets ugly.
As it stands right now, the website is in a gray area. Download at your own risk is what many are saying, and it should be noted that the website does state that you should check if the website is legal in your country before using its services.
All I can say is I whole heartedly wish that the record labels and companies would come to an agreement and make an EXACT version of this store in the United States without any legal problems. Because as it stands, Allofmp3.com is literally the world's perfect online music store.
playing on my iPod:
Songs I purchased
Posted by Ricardo at 2:23 AM - (0) comments
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
So Long Independence Air, I'll Miss You...
Unless you haven't heard it on CNN or the net, the amazingly low-cost friendly airline Independence Air announced on January 2nd that it will be ceasing operations on Thursday at 7pm (January 5th, 2006). We knew Independence was in trouble since it filed for bankruptcy in November, but people kept booking and booking. I just flew to Puerto Rico to see family on Independence's new SJU route at a price that was incredible during the holiday season.
I remember my first flight on Independence. I was flying from DC to New York for an interview and was recommended the airline by a friend. It was cheap, went where I wanted to go, and looked good. When I got on the plane the Saturdays was funny and upbeat, there was an audio dialogue that went along with her describing the safety measures and it was great. I had never really paid attention to the security examples by the flight attendants anymore because it was always the same. But this time, I paid attention because they did it differently...they were original.
Though this sounds like a stand-up comic's triumphant rise, think of it as a piece of why Independence Air is so different and so good. They are a young company that only started 18 months ago, very hip which is obvious with their brand design, unique interior design and employee uniforms (knee-high boots with retro looking jackets with sleek design!). Oh yes, I was in designer heaven. It's like the Apple of airlines.
The fares...who could beat their fares? Around $100 round trip or LESS from DC to New York, that's awesome! Or what about the promotion they did during the summer of 2005 where college students could pay up front $249 and fly UNLIMITED times to anywhere they wanted east of the Mississippi from June to August? They also had the full refund guarantee if you cancelled your flight within 24 hours. All these are examples of why the airline was just so damn great. They came up with things that no other airline had thought of before or considered doing. I'd like to see American Airlines do a student "Unlimited Flying" package. But they won't do it, only Independence would.
I read Independence Air is auctioning off all its assets and one of the big bidders is United, one of their longtime partners. Now what bothers me about this is that United itself is under bankruptcy-protection. It has been under this for two years! Why has the government bailed out such large companies such as American and United and let smaller low-cost airlines suffer?
Yes there are tons of others. JetBlue, Song, SouthWest, etc. However lets go round for round for each of them. I believe Song is a feeder for Delta airlines. It is operated by them right? JetBlue has had phenomenal success and has been around for years. So has SouthWest, but their not as pretty as the other airlines and don't offer the crazy perks like in-seat DirecTV, martinis, mp3s, and a bunch of other luxury items.
So that leaves us with two simple airlines...Independence Air and SouthWest. They stick to their guns and just do flying. One is stylish and hip and the other is just cheap (but this holiday season they announced they have added leather seats). Don't base any paper on this because this is purely my opinion from my experience flying on both airlines. The concept for both were pretty much the same. You don't get a full meal but you get a snack and a drink of your choice. Independence Air gave you the option of choosing which snack you wanted, sometimes between two or three options (something that I had never even seen before). Southwest did the regular pretzel bag thing.
All my bitching behind, I actually really will miss this company. They provided an excellent service at a price that couldn't be beat most of the time. I believe the last flight is 1777 leaving from White Plains, NY to Washington Dulles on Thursday, January 5th at 7:26pm.
playing on my iPod:
nothing
Posted by Ricardo at 12:30 AM - (6) comments
Sunday, December 11, 2005
It gets worse all the time. I hardly ever sleep, and its been a problem. Not just now in college, but back in High School my grades suffered from my lack of sleep. I don't remember going to bed before 3am. And I cannot blame anyone except myself. I mean, who is there to blame really for my own sleeping habits? My parents were late-sleepers, my mother still is. She sometimes stays up until 3am on the weekends, and having lived with her the majority of my life I feel I may have taken after her without even wanting to.
Of course I get physically tired like everyone, however my mind...it just never stops. I fall asleep when my body can no longer go on and my eyes must absolutely close. Trust me, I've laid in bed trying to sleep. Counting sheep, breathing exercises, clearing my thoughts; none seemed to help. I tried some sleeping aids such as Ambien for a time but they left me all messed up the next day. Melatonin recently has helped, but in school I can't use it because I need to be up fresh in less than a few hours and it leaves drowsy otherwise.
What to do? My friend who is into health has explained eating better, working out, etc improves sleep and helps to balance one out. However, that can be kind of tough to follow when your not as disciplined as you'd like to be. And honestly, thats all there is to it...discipline. I must admit that I'm not the most responsible person in the world. I set goals for myself but always tend to never complete them or do other things. It is like no matter how I plan it, it will always come out differently.
My music and my art are the two things I have for my future. My design work is basically my career, and the music I have written is mainly my diversion from stress of concious thought and deadlines. In the end, I have the means to relieve my stress and essentially sleep better, but I never use them how I should because I don't exercise responsibility with how I manage my time.
Now I arrive at the biggest problem in my entire existence, time management. Since I was in second grade I could remember just not wanting to do work. Now don't call me lazy because when there is something I need to do and truly want to, I will work overtime for it. Unfortunately it is not the case with everything I do.
So I've decided to do two things. One of which will be my own personal examination and my way of "keeping myself in check" by writing regular journals of my progress every week. The second will examine how I deal with the things that are keeping me from my goals, and how to improve them. You can choose to read them or not, they are online just for the sake of my friends assisting me, but you the anonymous reader can always chirp in.
But know this, it won't be posted here. It will be posted elsewhere where my name will not be listed. This is to be anonymous and by that I mean completely. Maybe an analogy for my situation will be used, or possibly just an abbreviation. Whatever it be, if you try to find it you will.
Regards.
playing on my iPod:
Posted by Ricardo at 5:32 AM - (1) comments
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Ok, I don't know if I'm crazy but does the new ATHF episode, "Boost Mobile" feel like blatant product placement? Or maybe they're just making fun of product placement, yeah, I hope that's it. I mean...It was funny. But seriously, a Boost Mobile phone that goes "Where you at?" every damn minute? I would have rather seen the Axe body spray bring throngs of women to the guys.
But of course downloadable switchblades are more fun than a wimpy can of men's deodorant spray.
even if it was spliced into the credits.
Bitch.
_"boost mobile" episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force premieres Sunday, December 10th on [adult swim]
playing on my iPod:
Friday Night Fix
Posted by Ricardo at 4:36 AM - (0) comments
Yeah, so today will go down in history as the day Chuck Norris jokes got out of hand on Facebook. My friend first IMed me at 2pm to tell me a joke, I thought it was hilarious so I told my friend. He got all annoyed for a reason I didn't know why and so I was like, whatever. I told my friends the jokes I found, they laughed and whatever. I get home and now check facebook and voila, what do I see? A shitload of comments on people's wall's with Chuck Norris jokes. I guess my friend from another school got the same deal and contacted me, or its just some huge coincedence that my group of friends at Pratt had the idea of the random category of Chuck Norris jokes at the same time as my friend that goes to a completely different college.
Well...lets see. If you had Chuck Norris jokes written on your wall on Facebook...comment, I'd like to hear about it.
This is for the day of December 9th - December 10th, 2005.
And here's one just for the hell of it:
Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of "beard". Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day.
The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus' obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths.
playing on my iPod:
Hot Chip's new album
Posted by Ricardo at 3:09 AM - (0) comments
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Hello. I haven't written on my blog for about 6 months now. Normally I don't go this long without an update but I was so upset about what happened a few weeks after my last post that I just didn't want to discuss anything online. I couldn't sleep tonight and I thought this would be the best way to clear my mind.
I don't know if I have ever written about my cat Garfield, but he was very close to me. He was one of those pets that you treated like a best friend. I'm sure many people will agree with me on this, not just dog lovers, but also cat owners, that there's a special bond between you and your pet that some people just think is ridiculous. You show kindness to your pet constantly, with love and care, and you feel the same in return.
I did this with Garfield, ever since I adopted him on June 28th, 1999. He was an orange tabby, with white under his belly and rings of dark orange on his orange fur. The cat wasn't small, at his peak he was 16 pounds. I say peak because towards the end he lost a tremendous amount of weight. He always wanted fresh water and was eating constantly, so when it came time to name him (and besides LOOKING the part) I decided to name him after my favorite animated feline.
Now I'm not one of those people who will admit to the whole world that I cooed my cat and told him that he was the most adorable thing in the world. But dammit, everyone at one point in their lives does it...and I did it a lot with my cat. He was freaking adorable, and he always purred when touched. He loved people and being held. He was the friendliest cat I have ever owned and known.
After I adopted him, I noticed some of the things I stated above...that he was drinking a lot of water, eating a lot, using the bathroom to urinate constantly, etc. I mentioned this to his vet and when they did his initial blood test they found out that he was, voila, diabetic. Now this came to a shock to me and my mother at the time because until then we had never heard of a diabetic cat. So you guessed it, for the past six years I've been injecting Garfield with insulin. The amount of units changed accordingly, but it wasnt like with a human where you could check the glucose levels all the time. We stayed on a schedule and normally checked his levels every month at the vet. He was king there, everyone knew him and loved him. Like I said before, he was a very social and friendly cat...all my friends that disliked cats loved him.
I'm starting to sound like those crazy cat-fanatic sites...you know the ones where the lady (yes its always an older women with three kids and 10 cats or something) talks about how important her cat was in her life. well...uh...ok...back to my story
For the first few weeks, Garfield stayed in an oversized carrier my mother bought. She initially wanted a dog, but after seeing that I badly wanted a cat and having had a "connection" as she told me with Garfield, we adopted him and kept the huge carrier for him. For a big cat, this was quite spacious. So it made sense to let him sleep at night in the carrier until he got used to the house. Eventually he was allowed out and then just became a part of the household family.
I remember in particular one day the first few weeks that something hilarious occured. My mother and I were preparing to go out somewhere and the cat was meowing constantly...he did this a lot (whether he was in pain or not then , I don't know. But I know he most likely was towards the end of his life). Well we were in a narrow hallway between the bedrooms and the bathroom, my mother was in the bathroom putting on her makeup and I was just standing in the hall. The cat walked into the hall and just sat down and stared at me, looking up at me with big sorrowful eyes that would shout "PICK ME UP PLEASE!" if they could speak. Well, have you ever seen There's Something About Mary? Ok, well you remember that scene when Ben Stiller's character confronts the dog in the bathroom, and the dog leaps at him? Well...just replace the dog with the cat and you have my situation. Garfield looked right up at me, meowed, and jumped right at me. He tried to get onto my chest and missed and one of his claws got stuck in my skin (right below my neck, thank God). So the next thing my mother hears is the cat screeching because he's dangling by a claw and me screaming because I had a cat dangling by a claw from my chest. Next thing I know, the cat falls down and runs away into the room in shock. Let me tell you, he never-ever did that again in the 6.5 years I owned him. He NEVER tried it again. So why did he do it? I figured later on that all he wanted to do was to lick my hair. Apparently Garfield had this thing about licking people's hair, he loved to do it. Eventually I just began carrying him like a baby and he would grab my face with his paws and lick my face and hair. He did it to anyone who carried him, it was quite cute.
Fast forward a couple of years and we get to the summer of 2004. After so many years of owning the cat we had become used to leaving him at the vet while we were away. However, this specific time we didn't leave him at our usual vet...a mistake I am upset I made. The reason was mainly monetary reasons, but the outcome now is more expensive than what we would have ever paid in boarding him in the first place. I left him with another vet clinic in DC (I wont say who but they were OVERPRICED and IMPERSONAL) until my friend could pick him up. She had experience working at the clinic and offered to take care of him. She had done it before and it was all great so I saw no problem letting her do it again.
We went on our trip and everything was fine, however the very last night of the trip something that I had dreaded since becoming close to the cat occured. While I was in Zurich, Switzerland I stopped to check my e-mail. I went through the messages and found a horrendous e-mail that stated "ABOUT GARFIELD!!!!". It was from my friend who was taking care of the cat, she stated in her e-mail that he had had a seizure and that I needed to give them permission to take care of him. It was a mess, especially because I couldn't get in contact with her easily. What followed was me begging the guy at the cyber cafe to let me use a computer longer, IMing a friend to CALL my other friend back in DC, then telling her everything I needed done. So you see, this was a really complicated thing to do from across the ocean and with my mental state falling apart.
When we arrived back in DC, everything was just about the cat. I rushed to pick him up, and was going to transfer him to my own vet clinic (because as the problem had occured my friend took him to her local clinic, the ONLY 24 hour clinic in the DC area). The ridiculous thing is when I got there to pick him up they told me the bill was a staggering amount. I won't mention the exact amount, but let me say it was nowhere near the cost of medical boarding. After being super pissed off, I took my cat who had a cather attached to his poor paw, shaved and super-drugged up, to my own vet. There they treated him excellently, improved his health. We were scared we were going to lose him there. However he lived on for another year.
In that time we took him with us for a second time to Puerto Rico (my family is from there) and he was happy there. The first time we flew with the cat to Puerto Rico the airline screwed something up and my seats were upgraded for free to first class. So Garfiled and I sat with two huge comfy seats to ourselves (yes the cat was with me the entire time in the first class cabin in his carrier). The second time around was in coach, which proved stressful for the cat, but he was always well-behaved even in the worst of times and never complained much. I remember coming back from PR the cat had to go to the bathroom and we were in the security checkpoint line. He took a crap in the carrier and let me tell you that when you carry a live animal through an airport security checkpoint they PAD DOWN the animal just to make sure he's not carrying any WMD's. Good thing, but not good for the dude that day because the cat was covered with feces. Yes disgusting I know, but try holding a crap-covered cat while a security guard pads you down (and your stuff is getting scanned in the background), while your plane is about to leave in 15 minutes!!
Yeah, exciting adventures.
So I went back to school to finish my sophomore year. The cat had a seizure in April but recovered and then had another one later on. My mother was so worried my aunt flew in from Puerto Rico, almost ready to put the cat to sleep. I came home to make sure everything was ok with the cat and luckily he pulled through. By this time I was out of school and summer vacation had begun. The cat was fine at the time, different, but happy. He was meowing more, doing less and less of the things he used to do such as climb the windowsill and look outside. He scratched the door more now, and he ate less and less. By June, he was very sick. He developed something on his eye that scared the crap out of me. I thought he had burst an eye or something, but you know when you sleep and you get that nasty eye crust? Thats what he had but because he was sick he had more of it and when it didn't get cleaned off it got into his eye. I eventually took him to the doctor and they did some blood work. Unfortunately, after they did that Garfield was even weaker. I had never seen him so weak, he didn't want to do anything, he looked depressed. He didnt even purr that much anymore. I treated him to his favorite treats like milk and grass from the yard (he loved eating grass, which I assume was because he never felt very well due to the diabetes). I don't remember if it was a few days or a week later but he became so ill it came time to make the worst decision I have ever had to make. He had stopped eating for several days and was very weak that he could hardly stand. This had happened before, but not to this extent. Before we had fed him through an IV, trust me it was bad but he lived and survived for a while. I couldn't continue to be selfish and keeping him alive for myself. I finally made the decision to end his suffering. So I picked the closest date and mourned.
Euthanizing a pet is never easy, and even after reading and mentally preparing yourself it is never easy. I knew that I wanted to be there when they did it. I knew I wanted to hold him while they did it because he was my pet, he was so special to me that he was such an important part of my life at an important phase in my life. I couldn't imagine not being there.
If you do not want to know what happened, skip the paragraphs with ****** above and below them and read the end. I will explain in detail what happened for those who are curious. If you're reading this because you are about to euthanize your pet, please understand that I am not writing this to scare anyone but to share how I felt. If you decide to euthanize your pet, take your doctor's advice and your personal feelings. I personally was in the room because Garfield was so important to me.
***GARFIELD***
So the day had come, Garfield was tremendously weak and hardly did anything except sleep. I hadn't heard him purr in days and was anxious about the following day. I hardly slept at all. That morning he got up from the foot of the bed (he normally slept with me and next to my head) and slowly walked to to the other end of the bed. He lied down next to me and put his head next to mine, slowly starting to purr weakly. It was the last time he ever purred with me. He put all his effort into that last time with me. He knew it was the end of the road and what was going on. So we lied there for hours. I looked at him wondering how the hell I could do such a thing to my best friend. When it came time to leave for the vet I took garfield in my arms, no carrier or anything, and got into my mother's SUV. Normally we would take my car but I didnt want to drive. The plan was to take him to the vet, do what had to be done, then take him to our home to bury him. Cremation was an option but I personally thought it was expensive and didnt provide the closure I wanted and needed.
When we arrived at the vet's office, I carried Garfield in. There was a lady that always worked at the vet's office that loved Garfield (as did the other staff), however I saw her cry for the cat when we were talking about euthanizing him. When we sat Garfield down into the room, the vet came in with the lady who cared for Garfield when he boarded there. He was still very weak and didnt want to eat anything. I brought a bottle of his favorite milk and he only lapped up a little. I was with him for minutes, it seemed like maybe 20 minutes. I was crying so much the tears flowed like water from me. I was about to lose my best friend, and it was my doing...but it was for the best because he was so sick. No matter how you justify it, its very difficult to deal with.
The vet came in with this thing called a butterfly. It had the stuff that would eventually put Garfield to "sleep". Think of it as a lethal injection, the person being injected feels nothing and just goes to "sleep". What really went down was that they injected him first with a tranquilizer, just like they would a human when they put you under for an operation. That is the only time Garfield made a noise. He yowled as he lost conciousness and control of his body...I screamed in concern thinking he was in pain. I wanted desperately to know how he felt (later that summer I got my wisdom teeth out and knew exactly how he felt going under) and hugged him. They explained it was just to make this easier, so he would be relaxed. He was more than "asleep". He was knocked out completely. I wonder if he heard us or dreamed things. It was a few minutes until they administered the injection. When they did it was fast acting, the site of the injection visibily showed the veins clotting, and his heartrate dropped and finally stopped breathing. I couldn't believe it...it was so disturbing. Someone who had been alive a moment before was now gone.
***********GARFIELD******************
So there was nothning left to do but make the decision of burial. I debated wherther to cremate or bury him myself and decided with the burial as it provided personal closure that I needed. My father had agreed to help me bury Garfield at home and after wrapping Garfield up in a blanket we were ready to go. What scared the fuck out of me was the fact that when I picked up his body and placed it on the blanket, I heard air leaving his body. Naturally, this was normal as there was still air in his lungs. However it made the fact that he was gone hit me even harder than before. We put the body in a box and drove to the house. There my father was waiting with a shovel and had prepared a beautiful spot underneath a tall pretty tree. It was perfect for him. We laid the body down and covered it with earth. Born of the earth, and returned to the earth. I said a few words and hugged my parents thanking them for everything.
It was probably the most difficult thing I had ever done in my life. Making a decision like that hurt me more than anything else. I am still not completely healed. I couldn't stay in my room for weeks and was very sad for a long time. Now that I have returned home for Thanksgiving I am saddened more to not have my cat with me. As I type this I sit on the bed where he would sleep alongside me every night and wake me up every morning with his soft purring. He was my best friend and though he is gone, I will never forget him.
Posted by Ricardo at 6:07 AM - (0) comments
Thursday, June 09, 2005
I was watching "The Machinist", which just came out Tuesday on DVD. Stars Christian Bale (yes!) as a Mr. Reznik who hasn't slept in a year and is literally a walking skeleton. We see a whole mystery develop around Reznik and he stars questioning who he can and can't trust. Really great movie. Interesting note, the story takes place in LA but it was filmed in Barcelona...mainly a Spanish crew. So why am I stating this? Because as I was watching the "making of" featurette I noticed the subtitles for the spanish speakers. I was completely shocked to see how badly translated to English it was (notice screen shot below). I picked up some stuff in the translation. They translated "physically" as "fisically" and "psychologically" as "psicoligically". Pretty funny on a professional release. But besides that, great DVD absolute must rent if not buy!
Posted by Ricardo at 4:34 PM - (0) comments
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
So you should know that iTunes has a really good selection of music, on top of that they have sub-genres for each genre of music (Rock_Metal_Death Metal)...it's really great. Now, under the Dance genre they have listed two styles that I'm really surprised to see side by side (and I actually listen to both, the latter more). Reggaeton (which contrary to what the mainstream believes has been around since 1994!) and Drum 'n Bass are listed on the main page of the Dance genre in iTunes. I think this is really great, one because both styles are garnering mainstream attention within their communities but also the artists they have listed are some of the best (the drum 'n bass genre could have more, but High Contrast, Klute, and Bad Company are a great start).
playing on my iPod:
Linkin Park - Figure.09
Posted by Ricardo at 4:28 PM - (0) comments
