Thursday, July 13, 2006

Welcome To The 21st Century, Hollywood

Remember Napster? I mean the original Napster from six years ago. The peer-to-peer software, created by a college student, enabled people all over the world to trade and download music for free. The music industry went fanatic. They complained, they sued and killed Napster. Of course, in this ever-changing digital world, other savvy copycat software companies, like Kazaa, popped up to take Napster's place. Well, the file-sharing landscape has changed dramatically since 1999. Virtually any kind of digital file, including movies are being exchanged legally or not, via Bit Torrent, thanks to the greater availability of high-speed bandwidth connections to the internet. DSL and Cable rates are more affordable for the masses. People want more, and they want it faster. We want the King Kong movie the moment it comes out in the theaters. Hollywood is afraid that it will suffer in sales the way the music industry did. So in a suprise move, the movie industry is cutting deals with BitTorrent and Guba to distribute films over the internet. As they say... If you can't beat them, join them.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Cape Cod (June 21-26)












Bike Ride After Flood

One of my first logs, posted a map of a rail trail that ran along the Delaware river. Mostly as a reminder to myself to go there when the weather permits. Well, it rained a lot, lately, and I am anxious to get outdoors. So Steph and I drive 75 miles to Frenchtown, New Jersey. There is evident damage to the river's edge and people's homes. One homeowner is draining out their house with a rented heavy-duty hose system. The water level is still very high and muddy-brown-colored. Amazingly, the flood did not damage the bike path. However, fallen trees, on the trail, are sawed apart.