Cote points out a heated discussion between the developers of JBoss and other PHP and Java developers about the benefits/ramifications of Nukes (the JBoss Group's Java port of PHP PostNuke if I understand it correctly).

Apparently, more people are getting fed up with the JBoss gang.  I ran across this guy ranting and raving about them just this morning.

So far I'm very impressed by Vonage.  They have sent me a confirmation e-mail, an e-mail letting me know that my order was being processed, and sent me the UPS tracking number when they sent out my Cisco ATA adapter.  Supposedly I will receive everything on July 31st.

They even sent me an e-mail letting me know that I had messed up and not included all the necessary information for my number transfer.  The best part was that the e-mail came from a real, live human being who gave me instructions on how to fix the mess.

I'll keep you guys posted on how the service is from here on out.

Can someone explain to me why I would subject myself to the "service" of BuyMusic or Apple's iTunes Music Store when they both have such crappy licensing restrictions?

Is if that's not enough, the BuyMusic search engine really sucks.  When I typed in a query for the Eels I got back results for E. Elgar and his related symphonic works!  Now, I understand that BuyMusic may not have access to the Eels body of music.  But in that case I would prefer you to recommend something that sounds like the Eels.  You'd think with recommendation engines and search engines being almost perfected by Amazon and Google, it wouldn't be that hard.  Hopefully, this snafu will improve over time.

My real issue has to do with the licensing restrictions.  BuyMusic has different licensing restrictions on each album, which places a lot of burden on the user to remember them.   I'd rather not bother.  Apple, meanwhile seems to want to limit my use whenever I leave the country.  This is utter horsecrap.  I leave the country about once or twice a year.  When I leave the country it's usually on a really long flight and that is usually when I want to listen to my mp3s the most!

It's just really poor marketing to take something which Joe Public can use unrestricted for free, via Kazaa or Morpheus or one of the other mechanisms out there, slap a bunch of restrictions on it and then try to sell it back to the consumer and tell them they're getting a deal.  Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so (yes, the link is satire, but the point is real enough).

I would love to buy mp3s a song at a time.  I don't really care whether they are $0.99 or $0.75 or whatever as long as they are under a $1.00.  However, once I buy them, they are mine.  I should be able to burn them on as many CDs as I want (provided I don't sell them), transfer them to as many computers as I want, and share them with as many friends as I want.

Until that day comes the music industry is offering an inferior product.  And I think people are sympathetic to the ethical dilemna of downloading songs for free (piracy) up to a point.  But when the recording industry isn't looking out for the interests of the people who have grown attached to their music, why should the people look out for the interests of the recording industry?

Update:  According to slashdot Apple is working to make the guy who couldn't play his mp3s in Canada happy.

Sony's Profit Falls 98% on Weak Demand. Sony reported quarterly profits plunged 98 percent. Nobuyuki Idei, the chairman, said the company has pledged to generate stronger profit margins by 2006.

Is it just me or don't you guys remember a ton of analysts saying about 6-8 months ago that the only thing holding this economy up was consumer spending, which was particularly strong in the consumer electronics area?  Oh yeah, and we had housing.  Housing will save us!  Long live housing!  Thank God there are no problems going on in that sector of the economy!  Whew!  via [New York Times: Business]