I bought an album through Amazon MP3 and I am very happy with the quality and experience of buying digital music through Amazon. I particularly like that the store is web-based and the downloader (osx and win) integrates seamlessly with Windows Media and  iTunes (iTunes runs my home wireless audio network).

Amazon MP3 complements the other non-DRM stores such as Walmart.com mp3, Digital-Tunes and eMusic. Sometimes, you can also find digital music directly from the labels (usually indy) such as Bleep.

Individual songs at Amazon MP3 are between 89 and 99 cents each with whole albums given a large percentage discount over buying individual tracks.

The songs I bought were CD-quality VBR (~275 kbps : Heavy Metal) and encoded with LAME 3.97 Joint Stereo and included album art in the id3 tags.

The best part about this is how comprehensive the library is. Gratz' Amazon. As long as music I want is available at your store I will be shopping with you. Now, how do I determine if the songs are watermarked or not .

If Walmart.com mp3 and Amazon can woo even more of the music publishers from Apple, maybe Apple will either switch to mp3 or sell all music in the DRM-free AAC format and license AAC decoding for free.

technorati: amazon, mp3, music, store

Created 32 weeks, 1 day ago

I went to see !!! last night at Mezzanine SF. F'in awesome show!

San Francisco is still a bit warm as of late and it was a nice full moon; the perfect environment for as sweaty dance floor. !!! didn't go on till 11 PM. I left after midnight, so I don't know how long they planned on partying over a Tuesday night.


Seeing them in person made me realize how much Nic Offer looks a bit like Carrot Top (sorry Nic).




Created 32 weeks, 2 days ago

Helvetica the movie is coming back to San Francisco even before the DVD release date. It plays Oct 5-7, 2007 at the YBCA. I caught this in Spring with Ash when it was screened in San Francisco. I definitly suggest seeing it with others who enjoy movies about typeface.



Get tix @ http://www.ybca.org/tickets/production.aspx?performanceNumber=4332





Created 32 weeks, 2 days ago

Chevron, your soft ribbon-esque logo is blah. You sell gasoline not party supplies.




Is this your softer side or just a move to compete with the strange BP sunflower?












Created 32 weeks, 2 days ago

Ash and I took Friday off to travel to Tahoe to see The Killers at MontBleu. This is  our favorite resort/casino in Tahoe as they have an awesome spa-room setup, they give us awesome deals and the casino has some of our favorite games.

The Killers played to a sold-out house full of VERY enthusiastic fans. I thought the fans in San Francisco were excited to see The Killers; let me just say they have nothing on the people who showed up on Friday night. It-was-amazing!

We are mid-stride in our end-of-summer music/show tour. On Thursday we saw AIR play @ Bimbos and this week we catch !!! and a bunch of LoveFestival pre/post shows at various ultra-lounges around the city.

I need another vacation already!




Created 32 weeks, 4 days ago

Some of your might know Aaron from when I worked with him back at USAA in Texas. He has moved out to San Francisco to work at Ironport/Cisco (with me!).

This is Aaron's first week on the new job and its great to see his smiling face as I walk around the office! I hope that we can team up on Guitar Hero to beat the other departments if they challenge us to an axe-off.





Created 33 weeks, 1 day ago

I am back in San Francisco and what a beautiful day it is today. While I was in New York I was missing my Martha & Brothers coffee, so I took care of that fix first thing this morning.

But that's not what today is about. Listen up people, today is actually all about the music out at the Treasure Island Festival. And even better, Ashley and I scored some VIP tix to the event. We are just minutes away from heading out there for a day full of awesome music. Thievery Corporation, Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow, Honeycut, and more!

Afterwards, we are heading to the Mighty for the ESL Music Afterhours show with NICKODEMUS and Ursula 1000! Awww yea!

I will put up some pix tomorrow on Flickr or Ash will.

Created 33 weeks, 5 days ago

Ahh, I can't wait to get back, I miss San Francisco. I am just about to leave Manhattan for the airport. Aaron and Shannon finally made it to the city too so I have even more to look forward to.




Created 33 weeks, 6 days ago

I am up in New York for the week doing some customer visits and attending a conference.




Created 34 weeks, 1 day ago

Unless I am wrong, and I am never wrong, Aaron and Shannon are headed dead into the fire swamp out to San Francisco today via I-10 to LA then I-5 to San Francisco.

They are planning on making it a 4-day trip. A 1700-mile trip that I have personally driven in just over 1 day before. I am guessing they are going to stop and smell the roses all the way here. Of course, they are transporting a dog, a rabbit, a bird and who knows what other kind of pets. I am also hoping that they are transporting some authentic San Antonio Tex-Mex food with that cargo. Those of you who know what the difference between regional Mexican cuisines will understand.

The only bummer is that I was hoping for some travelblogging Aaron. I don't see any posts yet. Ahem.


Created 34 weeks, 4 days ago

Caught Octopus Project tonight at Bimbo's, they were opening for Stereo Total. Man I love that band, plus they have a new album out so check it out.

Speaking of Bimbo's, we have a bunch of shows coming up there including Air in a couple of weeks. Then in October, Tease-O-Rama.


Created 35 weeks, 8 hours ago

hehe.


Created 35 weeks, 17 hours ago

It's a great game (as NWN 1 was), so if you have been waiting to pickup a copy of NWN 2 for your mac, or you don't run BootCamp,  your wait ends this December 2007.  According to MacDailyNews, NWN 2 is being ported by Aspyr Media and will be released this holiday season.


Created 35 weeks, 17 hours ago

It's lame0 when dumb-ass things get you avoiding all kinds of things that bring you joy. Such as blogging, or e-mailing friends, or even calling home.

Let's blame it on Brad and the fact that I got busted by the police on the day before he came to visit me back in July. I took care of the registration, licence, fees etc. immediately. However, non-California registration related tickets cannot be 'fixed' over the Web or phone, so you have to go down to the City Court and take care of this stuff in person especially when you are 2 months behind in getting this stuff done.

Imagine what visiting City Court is like in San Francisco. Go ahead. Ill give you some hints. Imagine... inch-thick bullet-proof glass between everyone you talk to, person after person. Now dream up some of the people that caused them to install that glass. Now stand in line with them for a few hours. Oh boy!

So now my tickets are resolved, work has calmed down a bit and I can finally find some time to say 'Hello' again.





Created 35 weeks, 17 hours ago