Phlogiston

The International Herald Tribune has an article suggesting that the major record labels are finally beginning to see the light about DRM. This seems to be in keeping with a Yahoo! article I mentioned earlier. The big question is whether Apple will ever see the light on this? I suspect that one of the reasons the record companies are now beginning to back-peddle on this issue is they’ve only just realised that they’ve sold their souls to Apple. Of course it was them who insisted that an online music store would have to have DRM in the first place, and Apple were only too pleased to go along with them. But the upshot is that Apple now have an almost total monopoly on the MP3 player market and online music sales, and that clearly isn’t good for the record companies.

Cory Doctorow is the cool voice of reason in all this and I’ve blogged about him before here and here.

Update: France and Germany are joining Norway in challenging Apple over their DRM policy. Yay!

Another update: OMG. Norway have just become the coolest country in the world. They’ve outlawed iTunes! There’s discussion on Slashdot if you have the patience.

James has taken much hilarity and great delight in pointing out to me that the Google Ads on my Friendster profile are for “quit smoking” products and sites offering to help with your alcohol problem. Blimey. When I had a quick look the ads were even worse: “Patriot K-9 Services: Bomb dog teams experienced in Irag and Afghanistan. Available worldwide” and “Bomb Detection Dogs: VIP, Conferences, Executive Sniffer Dogs For Your Protection.” WTF? Apparently Google has gleaned from my Friendster profile that I am an alcoholic who smokes too much and is either a likely member of or likely target of a terror cell. Bloody hell!

Okay, so the picture of me is the only decent picture I have of myself, and it happens to be one of me smoking and holding a glass of Pimms in my hand. But how the hell does Google know what it’s a picure of? They’re basing the whole ad placement for my page on the caption—”Armed to the teeth with Marlboros and Pimms”? There’s a lot more text on that page than that.

And what about the creepy bomb-dogs-to-fight-your-war-on-terror ads? Well, I do describe myself as a “web standards nazi, liberal left-of-centre communitarian type” so clearly I’m a key part of the axis of evil.

No wonder no one wants to friend me on Friendster.

While messing around on YouTube I stumbled upon this fabulous video for one of my favourite New Order songs, “Temptation”—indeed one of my favourite songs full stop.

Directed by Michael Shamberg who made several videos for New Order it was made recently for a retrospective. It was filmed in Paris and stars Victoria Bergsman, lead singer of the Swedish band The Concretes, and was based on an idea of hers. Apparently the director and the singer met in Paris after a The Concretes gig. She’s not conventionally beautiful, but there’s just something about her. I think I’m a little bit in love with her.

Victoria Bergsman can also be heard singing on this Peter Bjorn and John song, “Young Folks”:

I’m normally allergic to jazz-rock fusion, finding it irredeemably naff, but this song “Streetcrawler” by The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex is really beautiful. Jimmy Chamberlin is the genius drummer from Smashing Pumpkins, and I freely admit that my judgement might be being swayed by the awesomeness of his playing, but there’s something haunting about that ringing guitar line repeating over the surging rhythm.

So, the iPhone has been revealed. Excuse me while I try and mop up some of this drool. This is a triumph I can hardly believe. In terms of user interface design, interaction design, and sheer bloody beauty this is a totally revolutionary device. I have never gotten excited by a phone before ever. Nor have I by an MP3 player, although I must admit to being completely seduced by the iPod Shuffle this Christmas—but that was more a “awww, it’s so pretty” thing, rather than a “oh my God, this will change my life forever” thing. As for handheld computers? I’ve never even owned one. (Although I did think the Nokia 770 was cool, at least until I saw the iPhone.) But this? This is one of the most exciting things I have ever seen. Everything about it is just new. A new way to do email, a new way to do SMS, a new way to Voicemail, a new way to interact with a device of any kind whatsoever. Hell, even the interface for making a call is new. And all of it is an improvement. It is simply one of the most amazing devices I have ever seen, and I can well imagine myself being one of those people actually queueing up to buy one when they come out here later this year. One thing is pretty sure: Blackberry, Palm and all those other has beens are pretty much dead in the water from this moment on.