Blogs considered for this week.

The end of the CD era
annika.mu.nu

My parents grew up listening to the 33 rpm vinyl album. Their parents bought music in little boxes of 45 rpm records. I grew up in the CD age, which died last month on October 7th. ...

The original Tower Records was (and still is, for a few more days) located south of Downtown Sacramento, next to the Tower Theater ...

When I lived in San Francisco, I used to love walking to the Tower on Columbus and Bay, where the neighborhoods of Russian Hill, Fisherman's Wharf and North Beach all intersect, and where half my music collection was purchased. I can still remember the first time I saw Pulse's blinking red diode, it was in that store. ...
The most famous Tower Records outlet is, of course, the Tower on Sunset. My parents have a cartoony lithograph in their den, all in primary colors, of the Sunset Strip at night with Tower Records in the center under an Angelyne billboard. Tower Sunset was a music industry legend. ...

What killed Tower Records is what killed the CD; I blame Steve Jobs. The personal computer, and now the iPod have made music store shopping irrelevant. Despite the crackdown on illegal downloading, is there anyone who can't spare 99 cents for iTunes when there's a song that you just gotta have? And why fight traffic and parking when you can hit Overstock.com and get what you want at a huge discount, delivered to your door? I've been doing that for years. Of course now I feel guilty; I always thought Tower would be there.

Tower Records always had the best selection and prices of all the chain stores, and when I did go out to buy music, I never shopped anywhere else. It was the only place to buy classical and jazz CDs, because that's the type of music where computer browsing just doesn't cut it. For classical especially, I really need to hold the jewel box in my hand so I can compare the different versions of the same works. And in the jazz section, I'd always check the endcaps first. Invariably, there'd be a previously unknown gem for me to discover, on sale. Try that at Borders, or Barnes and Noble. Their jazz section has what, 20 artists? ...

It's a new era, and the music industry will have to figure something out. They've not been terribly good at understanding the market. But what really worries me is the fate of independent music, jazz and classical. Tower Records was their biggest ally, and I hope the music doesn't disappear from the face of the earth along with that great store.

SMF wants your art, forever and for free
sacramento.metblogs.com

While browsing for information on the Sacramento International Airport Web site, I came across a call for local photography. Amateurs and professionals are equally encouraged to submit shots of the Sac area to be used on the lobby displays when they aren't used for flight information. Sounds like a cool idea: just send them your stuff for consideration on a CD-rom, clearly labeled, in the requested format and size. No faces (likeness rights, you know). There's no pay involved ... but at least they attribute the photograph to the photographer. ... Here's the catch:

"Submitted photos will become the sole property of Sacramento County for all purposes. ... "

To my eyes, that means you'd be handing over, for free, an absolute license for SMF to use your photograph for anything it wants, including commercial use, for absolutely no consideration. Forget license, actually, you've just given them ownership rights since they say the photo becomes the "sole property" of Sac County. ...
I'd gladly send something in for their use, if I knew all they would do with it would be to scroll it on the display. But to gift the county intellectual property? No way. Not on those terms. Not on terms that mean I'd technically need their permission to use my photo on a Christmas card ...

Google sightseeing
troutunderground.com

Those who haven't played with Google Earth's satellite images are truly missing something. It's an ideal way to match those contour lines on a map with real images (and to help ferret out backcountry lakes). The Google Sightseeing blog ("Why Bother Seeing the World for Real?") explores this valuable new service to humanity by ... scouring Holland for satellite photos of naked people.
So much for science in the service of mankind.
Despite the awesome resolution of Google's satellite images, the people you see are mostly blobs. ... Still, it's an excellent illustration of Mankind's Ongoing Search for Truth. I support you, Google Sightseeing.

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