Furth and Fortune blog by Will Murray

It seems that a company called SpiralFrog is betting that people between the ages of 13 and 34 love free music and don’t mind commercials. Their press release and an article in the Baltimore Sun indicate that users will be able to download as many songs as they want for free—legally.

There’s got to be a catch, right? Yup. If you want to download a song, you have to sit through a 90-second commercial advertisement. Then you are free to download the song to your Microsoft Windows Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) enabled computer or portable device (sorry Apple iPod users). Watch ninety seconds of commercials to gain unlimited rights to all the music you want? Might be worth it.

But there’s still another catch. Note that I said the music requires Windows DRM, and that means you do not have unlimited rights to your newly grabbed music. In fact, you LOSE your rights to your music if you don’t return to the site and watch more commercials on a regular basis. Ick!

Another thing that is not mentioned, but knowing a bit about DRM, I’m guessing that you can play the music ONLY on your Windows PC, Pocket PC, or Windows Mobile device with the appropriate version of Windows Media Player installed.

That means: no burning the music to CD, limited transfers to other devices (and only Windows DRM compatible devices at that), and the license automatically expires, so even if you backup your files, they become useless without returning to the site.

Honestly, I’d be tempted except that it uses Windows DRM. So far, I have not found anything redeeming about WDRM—unless you are a music studio executive. It totally handicaps legitimate uses of products you purchase. So, what’s the point?

While I applaud SpiralFrog and the music studio that agreed to this creative way to distribute the music, I hope that the Internet community rejects the product so long as WDRM is used as the protection mechanism.

Tags: DRM, Internet culture, music, music industry, songs, SpiralFrog.com, WDRM, Windows

Ok, there might actually be some deaths in ball pits, but not due to heroin-laced needles or copperhead snake nests inside of McDonald’s, Burger King’s, or Chuck E. Cheese’s ball pits.

Why should you believe me, when these stories sound so convincing? Well honestly, I don’t know any better than you do. But I do take the time to check the facts before I post stories like these for others to read. I also post links to debunk the stories that have been circulated so that people stop doing perpetuating these urban myths.

The best and easiest place I know to go to check if a story is bunk or not is called Snopes.com. I simply entered “ball pits” into the search box, and immediately found these two articles (which are the two referenced in the message I received):

Needlepointless Tragedy: A little boy dies after being pricked by a heroin-filled syringe in a playground ball pit. FALSE

Snakes in the Ball Pit: Venomous snakes lurk in the ball pits of fast food restaurants. FALSE

As both articles point out, there are some real concerns about such ball pits:

Though the tragedy described in “Lauren Archer’s” e-mail is fictional, the danger of a tot coming into contact with a discarded syringe in one of those play nests is surprisingly real. Ball pit play areas aren’t always kept in the best condition. Before letting your child loose in one, make sure the play area’s maintenance staff spot cleans the pit once a day and washes all the balls every week. Diapers come off in ball pits, and half-eaten candy is routinely found in there. More disturbingly, syringes and knives have turned up in ball pits. [Source]

In closing, it’s good to be careful with your children. If you look at the ball pits as an analogy to life, there are always hidden dangers lurking, but some of the scariest sounding ones are just symptoms of overactive imaginations. Use common sense. And always check your facts before passing along urban legends.

Tags: ball pits, children, death, fast food restaurants, heroin, hoaxes, needles, restaurants, snakes, Snopes.com, syringes, urban legends

Can microwaving butter flavored popcorn or a frozen TV dinner destroy your lungs and kill you?

Possibly.

However, no government agency appears interested in finding out—not even for the poor workers who are exposed to diacetyl, the synthetic butter flavoring agent. Diacetyl is used in margarine, faux butters, cooking oil, lard, and in thousands of frozen products.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared diacetyl back in the 1950s and 80s as a food additive, because 1) it occurs naturally in real butter, and 2) they tested it by ingestion (eating it). The problem appears to be that when diacetyl is breathed into the body, such as when you open that steaming hot bag of microwave popcorn, diacetyl produces a number of toxins that are very harmful to the lungs. So harmful, that “dozens of workers at a microwave popcorn plant in Jasper, Mo., developed a rare disease called bronchiolitis obliterans, which destroys the lungs” [Baltimore Sun]

Since the FDA already cleared diacetyl as a butter flavoring, and since it seems to only test things you eat (as opposed to inhaling), they don’t want to run any more tests. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted a few studies, but it is not releasing the information to the public. The EPA is responsible for air quality in the U.S.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), members of Congress, and the Teamsters and other unions requested the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set standards for workplace exposure. So far, no such standards have been set.

It looks like my mother’s good advice rings true: eat a variety of foods, and don’t go overboard on any one. She also advises me to eat my veggies, don’t stay up so late, and to drink plenty of water each day. She’s so smart.

Tags: butter flavor, death, diseases, EPA, FDA, flavorings, foods, governments, health, lungs, microwaves, OSHA, popcorn, toxin, TV dinner

Is anyone else not surprised to learn that nicotine levels in cigarettes have increased over the past six years? After all, it’s the nicotine that makes the habit so hard to kick and become so addictive in the first place.

One reason that this Massachusetts report is so interesting is that the machines used mimic the way most people actually smoke. In other studies, all the vent holes are left open and the “smoker” doesn’t smoke as rapidly as people actually do. In the Massachusetts test, the vent holes are partially covered, just like they would be when people hold a cigarette. Also, their machines puff a little faster—more like a smoker on a typical “smoking break”. The testing method used has remained the same throughout all six years. The cigarette manufacturers provide the sample cigs to a testing facility that reports the results to the state, so the results are unbiased (at least as unbiased as can probably be found in this heavily biased world).

One wonders why the tobacco companies are increasing nicotine levels, when the companies are paying (as required by laws in many states) to help educate about the dangers of smoking. Maybe the reason they are increasing the addictiveness of the cigarettes is to help maintain (or even increase) the number of smokers even as they officially advocate anti-smoking. (Isn’t that a bit like a serial murderer officially advocating pacifism?) Actually, one doesn’t have to wonder at all. One simply has to remember that big tobacco is bigger money. If it weren’t for all that money, cigarettes would be banned and stevia (a natural sweetener that does not affect blood sugar) would be the most popular sugar substitute instead of questionable artificial sweeteners. It all comes down to the money.

Tags: cigarettes, habits, health, money, nicotine, resources, smoking, stevia, sugar, sweeteners, tobacco

It’s actually 18 Ways to Stay Focused at Work and 10 tips for keeping your desk clean and tidy. The funny thing is that the two articles have opposing views about eating at your desk. One thinks its a great way to focus, and the other thinks it should be avoided due to the buildup of food related clutter and crumbs. Oddly, I agree with both. Hehe.

I don’t want to steal either blog’s thunder, but here are the top 10 items that I need to improve:

1. Write out a daily task list and plan your day.
2. Setup filters in your email.
3. Do not check personal email in the morning.
4. Clean up your desk.
5. Limit time on MySpace, news sites, and blogs.
6. Use a system to manage paper
7. Trash those printouts
8. Keep blank file folders and a label maker at your desk
9. Ritualize your reviews
10. Say no to swag

Tags: businesses, cleaning, offices, productivity, self help, small businesses, tips, work, workspace

PETITON: http://www.petitiononline.com/mbpav/petition.html
STORY: The Myrtle Beach Pavilion will close Sept. 24 taking with it a symbol of the beach for generations of vacationers. Developers plan to replace the landmark with high-end condos, hotel towers, etc.

I’ve gotten tired of using the blogs on other sites. Each one works a little bit differently, which is annoying. Then there is the fact that there’s not a single repository of my thoughts anywhere… I’m scattered here and there, and a little more over there. So I’m going to try this out and see how well it works for me.

Not that I generally post very much to my blogs. I guess that makes this a little bit of overkill then, eh? Oh well.

Tags: blogs, original works

These are great. Reposted – don’t know the year.

ANNUAL NEOLOGISM CONTEST

Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. The winners are:
1. Coffee (n.) the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.) appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.) to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.) to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.) impotent.
6. Negligent (adj.) describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v.) to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n.) olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.) a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.) a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.) the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n) a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.) a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.) (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.) an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post’s Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year’s winners:

1. Bozone (n.) The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Cashtration (n.) The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
3. Giraffiti (n) Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
4. Sarchasm (n) The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn’t get it.
5. Inoculatte (v) To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
6. Hipatitis (n) Terminal coolness.
7. Osteopornosis (n) A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
8. Karmageddon (n) It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.
9. Decafalon (n.) The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
10. Glibido (v) All talk and no action
11. Dopeler effect (n) The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
12. Arachnoleptic fit (n.) The frantic dance performed just after you’ve accidentally walked through a spider web.
13. Beelzebug (n.) Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
14. Caterpallor (n.) The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you’re eating.

And the pick of the literature:
15. Ignoranus (n): A person who’s both stupid and an a**hole.

Tags: English language, humor, neologisms

20 (Mostly) Funny Videos By or About Microsoft

I should point out that I am not a Microsoft employee, but I work for a Microsoft partner. That means that I work for a company that sells and supports Microsoft products. My opinions, and the opinions of the videos displayed and/or linked to from this blog do not necessarily (and in most cases almost certainly don’t) represents Microsoft’s official views, or even my own (except what I wrote in the comments). Some of these videos are legitimate Microsoft ads, some are spoofs, some are ads or jokes that I have no idea how they got approved by the corporate bureaucracy ("It’s better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission" mentality?), and some are jokes and parodies that others have made. I hope you enjoy some or all of these. Please post comments about what you like. Just don’t turn this into a religious discussion about how evil or wonderful Microsoft and Bill Gates are, how much better or worse Mac or Linux are (or OS/2 or any other system), etc. As I tell my clients, "I have no religious convictions when it comes to computers. I just recommend that you use whatever works the best for your particular needs given your particular budget." Now, enjoy the lighter side of Microsoft.

Punish Your Microsoft Developer

About 6 months ago, I saw the following video at a Microsoft partner event. I’m still waiting for the WSYP to be offered to the partners. Gotta love it!

Tags: advertisements, humor, marketing, Microsoft, videos, Windows, Xbox, YouTube

Ten things that start with “W”

1. Williamsburg – I was 2 years old when I was there. Apparently I cried my head off in a fancy restaurant, embarrassing my parents. Naturally, I don’t remember a thing. Really.

2. Walks along the beach – I used to live near Pismo Beach. It was fun walking along the shore, watching the surf roll in and out, the surfers making the most of the waves, the shorebirds dunking their beaks into the sand looking for goodies, and the salty tang in the air. Kite flying there was fun, too.

3. Wildlife – I’m a “save the rhino”, “save the otters”, “save the kittens” kind of guy.

4. Waterslides – I’ve never been down one. Not out of fear or anything. It just never has happened. Though I have been:
5. Waterskiing and
6. Wakeboarding. The less said about those pathetic attempts, the better.

7. Winnebago – Joey and I camped in his parents’ motorhome at a rocketry event once. Given the camping conditions, it was much nicer than tent camping there.

8. Wal-Mart – I shop there too much. I know, it hurts the little guys, they are anti-union, and all the rest. But their prices are so low and everything is so convenient… I’ve been assimilated.

9. WEST-Net – A network of computer bulletin boards (BBSes) that I started, along with Eli, Scott, and Travis. It grew to include several other BBSes, and Eli and Scott dropped out of it pretty quickly, but the name stuck for quite a while. It was based on FidoNet and RenegadeNet, if you know what those are/were.

10. White Chocolate – Something I do not like nearly as much as I love dark chocolate. It’s gotta have at least 60% cocoa, but 80%+ is even better. On top of that, it’s even good for you as long as you don’t go overboard.

Ok. Now it’s your turn. Write 10 things that start with the first initial of your name.

Tags: entertainment, fun, Internet culture, quizes, Will

I’m sure most of you have heard of Net Neutrality for some time by now. Please do not forget to stay current with your representatives’ view on this important issue. Your ability to connect to sites like MySpace.com, Care2.com, ACLU.org, or Eff.org could be at risk. Even if you’ve acted before, following up is important.

If you have not already done so (or if it has been a while), please do the following:

• Visit http://www.savetheinternet.com/ for background information on this issue.
• If you are in the USA, find out where your representatives in Congress stand.
• If you are in the USA, also sign this petition.
• If you are on MySpace, add SaveTheInternet as your friend.
• If you blog, sign up to join the corps of bloggers
  helping to save the Internet.

Nothing beats directly communicating with your government representatives. While the Net Neutrality laws being discussed are focused on the USA, this problem has worldwide impact. If you live in or work in another country, request your country’s government to apply pressure on the USA to insist on Net Neutrality — REAL Net Neutrality — so that your country’s access to Internet services is not harmed. Whether it’s a good thing or not (probably not), much of the world’s Internet is hosted and/or operated within the United States, so its laws are very far-reaching. Big companies like AT&T and Verizon with a global presence are pushing for relaxing or eliminating Net Neutrality. Contact them and tell them how much you are opposed to their efforts.

Below is the letter I wrote to my representatives in Congress:

I am a business owner and your constituent writing to urge you to vote NO on Senator Stevens’ telecommunications bill (H.R. 5252 / S. 2686) unless real Net Neutrality language is added.

I have been using the Internet since 1990, back before the World Wide Web was graphical. Years ago I helped bring the first community-based Internet service provider (ISP) to San Luis Obispo, California, and I have seen firsthand the incredible growth, promise, and potential of the Internet. I have seen the world shrink from an unimaginably big place to a place where I now have friends in probably over 50 different countries. I have seen small businesses compete, and often outperform, bigger companies that were slow to adopt.

Companies like Amazon.com, Yahoo.com, and Google.com have become part of nearly every person’s life on this planet. How did that happen? Because the Internet is the only place on this planet that is not fragmented and sectionalized into fiefdoms and regulated by profits.

Net Neutrality is vitally important to the ongoing success of the Internet. Without it, there will no longer be an Internet as we know it. There will be subnets where your ISP becomes your programming director. It won’t be blatant at first, but over time, you will get only what you pay for. To get more of the Internet, you will have to pay more ISPs for access to their preferred content. Sure, the companies are arguing that now, but without laws in place to enforce net neutrality, these companies’ guarantees are meaningless.

Do what is right for the world and the future. Please vote NO on Senator Stevens’ telecommunications bill (H.R. 5252 / S. 2686) unless real Net Neutrality language is added that prohibits network operators from discriminating against content and creating a tiered Internet. I will be following your actions related to this matter. Thank you for your time.

Tags: Congress, Internet, ISP, net neutrality, politics, SaveTheInternet.com, telecommunications, web design

This is one of those things you are supposed to clutter up your MySpace page with, but I didn’t feel like doing that. Instead, I posted it here. I thought some of the questions were good, a few were dumb, and the formatting sucked (I cleaned it up a bit). I hope you enjoy the thing. After all, I did it just for you.

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF – The Survey
Name:	Will
Birthday:	October 23 – Scorpio/Libra cusp
Birthplace:	California, USA
Current Location:	Sacramento
Eye Color:	Brown
Hair Color:	Auburn (reddish brown)
Height:	6′0″
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Right, though I can do most things (even using chopsticks) with both hands.
Your Heritage:	Scottish/Irish/English/German – not necessarily in that order
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Mostly my bare feet. Sandals briefly to walk the dog.
Your Weakness:	Delicious food, live theater (though I rarely go), and chocolate
Your Fears:	Fear itself is rather scary.
Your Perfect Pizza:	Chicken with sun-dried tomato on a white sauce; otherwise, surprise me!
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	That’s for me to know and you to witness.
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:
Thoughts First Waking Up:	Where’s the snooze button?
Your Best Physical Feature:	Take your pick
Your Bedtime:	I’d love to sleep from 3AM-11AM, but that doesn’t always work out so well
Your Most Missed Memory:	How can you miss a memory short of brain damage, amnesia, or the like?
Pepsi or Coke:	Vanilla Coke or Diet Coke with Lime, but usually prefer plain bottled water instead
McDonald’s or Burger King:	Jack in the Box or Del Taco. McD’s does have some good salads.
Single or Group Dates:	Dates? How about the kind you eat, not the kind you go on.
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	I love iced tea, but prefer to brew my own.
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Vanilla ice cream, but I love dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Eeew! Yuck.
Do you Smoke:	Eeew! Yuck. Besides, with my asthma, it’d probably kill me.
Do you Swear:	Usually for emphasis or if really emotional. I adapt to my surroundings.
Do you Sing:	In the shower.
Do you Shower Daily:	Pretty much.
Have you Been in Love:	Yep.
Do you want to go to College:	I’ve already been. I wouldn’t mind going back for some more computer or business courses.
Do you want to get Married:	I’d need to find the right someone first, but yes.
Do you believe in yourself:	Of course!
Do you get Motion Sickness:	Usually only on roller coasters or if I’m reading in a vehicle on a curvy road.
Do you think you are Attractive:	I’m sure there are people who find me so.
Are you a Health Freak:	Not so that you would probably notice.
Do you get along with your Parents:	They live with me, so it’s a good thing I do!
Best Clothing Style:	I usually go for business casual, but I also own a tux and several pair of shorts.
Number of Drugs I have taken:	Prescription & OTC: several over the years. Others: none.
Number of CDs I own:	Probably a couple hundred, but I’ve boycotted CDs since 2002 because I hate RIAA’s actions.
Number of Piercings:	Only an accidental one in 2nd grade involving a pointy drawing compass and my finger.
Number of Tattoos:	Zip. Zero. Nada.
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	I prefer to focus on the present and the future.
In a Boy/Girl..
Favorite Eye Color:	Doesn’t matter.
Favorite Hair Color:	I don’t usually go in for blue, green, pink, etc.
Short or Long Hair:	Short to medium, but it’s not a big deal
Height:	Probably somewhere between 3′ and 9′
Weight:	More or less proportionate to height is usually fine.

Tags: surveys

Only weeks after the Supreme Court declared illegal the Bush Administration’s military commissions, the White House is pushing Congress on an illegal proposal that violates the Supreme Court’s decision and abandons the rule of law. Read More at ACLU.org or Take Action at ACLU.org.

In summary, the Bush administration is attempting to strip away the rights of the detainees: no right to know what secret evidence is likely to convict them, who their accusers are, or even the right to adequately defend themselves in an open court. Further, confessions given under pain of torture would be considered admissible evidence. This goes against both the Geneva Convention and our own Constitution. And don’t forget, our founding fathers were in the midst of a war when they wrote those protections into the Constitution.

The following is the letter I submitted to my representatives in Congress (black=my words, gray=ACLU’s words):

Our Constitution was drafted by military minded people in the middle of one of the fiercest military battles in our planet’s history. These smart, militant people recognized one very important fact: all humans deserve basic human rights. That is why they built due process into the Constitution.

Sure, they could have added exemptions for war-times, for suspected criminals against the State, or other persons of interest to the government; it certainly would have been on their minds. However, they realized that EVERYONE must have the right to know what charges, what evidence, and what witnesses are against them. EVERYONE has the right to due process and a fair, unbiased trial. EVERYONE has the right to avoid self-incrimination, especially if such incrimination is made under duress and/or torture.

Our great military leaders of the past may have wanted to make exceptions for war times, but they had the decency and humanity to understand that we are judged not by how we behave in the best of situations, but in the worst. America has stood tall for over 200 years because it has done the right things. As Abraham Lincoln said, “right makes might”. The current administration seems to feel that “might makes right”, and this has resulted in America stumbling in the eyes of the world. Keep America from stumbling worse; otherwise, we will soon be falling into a terrible pit of despair from which so many veterans fought to keep us safe.

I strongly urge you to oppose the draft White House proposal regarding the criminal trials of federal detainees being held indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay and in secret prisons and torture cells around the world. This proposed legislation would violate the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice and would deny detainees being held indefinitely the most basic due process protections valued by all Americans.

The Supreme Court recently ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that President Bush had no authority to create his military commissions to try detainees held indefinitely at Guantanamo. The White House draft legislation would essentially ratify these illegal military commissions and take away the due process protections prescribed by the Supreme Court.

Specifically, the White House proposal would: gut the enforceability of important Geneva Convention protections; allow the use of evidence obtained through cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment during interrogations; take the unprecedented step of allowing the federal government to convict a defendant based on secret evidence; bar a defendant from being present at his own trial; and allow the use of hearsay evidence banned from every military and civilian court in America.

This proposal will undoubtedly be rejected by the Supreme Court and only delay convictions of those who committed crimes against the United States sending these important cases back to square one. Even the top Judge Advocates General from the four military services have come out in opposition to these provisions in the White House proposal.

I urge you to reject this blatant attempt to thwart the American value of justice and insist that that any legislation include the most basic due process protections valued by all Americans. We should not abandon some of the most important values found in our Constitution and federal laws.

Again, I urge you to help restore the rule of law by opposing the White House proposal to undermine the Geneva Conventions and violate the basic due process protections of detainees being held indefinitely by the federal government.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this important matter.

Tags: Abraham Lincoln, ACLU, Congress, Constitution, criminals, Geneva Conventions, George W. Bush, human rights, military, politics, Supreme Court, terrorism