He Is? Really? Squeee!

In the "This email speaks for itself" department...

Hi, Dawno .

Stephen Fry (stephenfry) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out Stephen Fry's profile here:

http://twitter.com/stephenfry


Best,
Twitter

If he comments on this blog I will probably faint dead away...

Yes, I know that he is very kindly looking at his follower's list and graciously following them as well. It's not like I'm special. But there are other 'celebs' I follow on Twitter who I've posted on their blog or been a member of their now defunct forum and thus might even have some tiny name recog. with them (doubtful, but in an infinite universe not impossible) and they're not following me on Twitter.

Like I said, 'squeee!!'

"E" mail and an Update on the Internet Radio Legislation

I was recently forwarded an email (a business email at work, by the way) where the writer of the original message referred to emails as "E" mail through out the message. I have this image stuck in my head now, of the person who writes "E" mail...he's somewhat like Dr. Roundbottom, or maybe T. Herman Zweibel, publisher emeritus of The Onion...and definitely could be a character in Wondermark.

In other news, remember the post I wrote about writing your congresscritter about the HR 7084, Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008? Here's what my representative, Anna Eshoo (well, probably one of her staffers) wrote back:

Thank you for writing to me about H.R. 7084, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. I voted for and the House passed this bill on September 27, 2008 and it has been sent to the President for his signature.

As you know, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which determines royalty rates for the use of music over Internet radio services, has prevented the growth of this innovative new music platform by assigning a royalty rate that is too high, endangering Internet radio. The Webcaster Settlement Act will allow private parties to agree on a deal to correct the faulty decision of the CRB by clearing a path for private negotiations to continue while Congress is in recess, allowing any and all groups to work out a settlement amongst themselves to replace the astronomically high fees set by the government with fees agreed to by all parties.

You may also be interested to know that I'm a cosponsor of H.R. 2060, the Internet Radio Equality Act. H.R. 2060 would modify royalty fees for webcasting. The Copyright Office Royalty Panel (CARP) recently established high royalty rates for music webcasts.

I'm concerned that the CARP ruling may have the unintended consequence of bankrupting many companies or forcing them to alter their formats to news and talk radio. This, in turn, will reduce the consumer's choice of streaming content, limit the diversity of streaming content on the Internet, and impede the growth of an increasingly popular medium.

On October 7, 2002, an agreement between webcasters and the recording industry was made and the full House passed the bill by voice vote. The change seeks to ensure that artist shares of the royalty payments for streaming digital music over the Internet would not be deducted against recording industry legal and administrative expenses. The agreement between the RIAA and small webcasters permits the small firms to pay a percentage of the revenue instead of the per song rates set by the Library of Congress.

H.R. 2060 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which I'm a member of, and I will continue to do everything I can to see that this important legislation becomes law.

Please write your congresscritter in support of HR 2060!

Hundreds of Penguins Returned to Ocean

More than a thousand juvenile Patagonian penguins have washed up on the northern shores of Brazil this year for reasons scientists have yet to comprehend fully. Over the weekend, hundreds of the stranded birds were airlifted to the southernmost tip of the country and released into the South Atlantic Ocean, close to their native territory. How exactly do you get that many penguins on a plane?

For the answer to that question read the article in Slate. For a heartwarming video of the penguins' return to the sea watch this:

This is the VP Debate I Wanted to See

Queen Latifa as Ifill - her expressions are priceless. I was laughing so loud my husband came from the other side of the house to see what was so funny...

Madly Waiting for Mad Men Episodes

Why does it take so long for an episode of Mad Men to show up on iTunes? I keep checking back and I swear it's been a month since a new one showed up. Probably not, since iTunes appears to be only two episodes behind the broadcast schedule. I really enjoy the show and do look forward to the new episodes.

I spent the day doing photography of my jewelry for my Etsy store, listening to the KQED live stream on my laptop upstairs, coming downstairs with the memory card from the camera, putting it into my laptop downstairs (which also had the live stream going, but oddly a few minutes delayed from the upstairs one) and editing and uploading my photograps for the new listings. I got through nine today. I have so many more to do, too.

Also had a pleasant time tweeting with several folk...topics were carnival food (fried, mostly), figuring out how to use a phone to do tweets and succeeding and miscellaneous chatter. I have come to appreciate Twitter for those little chats.

Well, back to work on my necklace - if you want to see and read about it, please visit my beading blog.

Must Listen Radio

Today, This American Life (on the radio, not the TV show) is doing a sequel to a show they did this May called "Giant Pool of Money". Show description of "Giant Pool of Money":

"A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money."

I recommend listening to both shows. The archive page at This American Life has a full episode feed you can listen to for free on your computer or download for 95 cents.

Did Palin Hit the Target? Just Read This

Hey There, Joe Six-Pack