The RIAA continues to sue those trading songs using peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa. Their latest defendant is a 41-year old single mom whose 15-year old daughter used their computer to download music a year ago (when she was 14). While I agree that sharing MP3 files is a violation of copyright, I sympathize with the technically-challenged (read: most of the country) that are being served with these suits. It is highly unlikely that the 41-year old mom even knows what Kazaa or MP3s are. And expecting teenagers to be responsible is as naïve as expecting Democrats to lower taxes.

The EFF has posted a notice on their website titled “How Not To Get Sued By The RIAA For File-Sharing“. But even if you take all of these measures the EFF states that it will “reduce your chances of becoming an RIAA target right now” — not eliminate it.

There is a better solution for those wanting to download music. RipCast is a streaming audio ripper published by xotech. This program, which is available in a free version as well as a paid version (only $17.95) which includes additional features, will record audio from Internet radio stations of your choice. You can download multiple streams at once and RipCast will automatically split up the music into MP3 files labeled with the artist and title (it looks up this information for you).

Nothing could be simpler. You just set it to record, leave it for a few hours, and come back to a wealth of new tunes to store on your iPod or other MP3 player. Furthermore, the RIAA cannot track you since you are simply downloading streaming audio, not sharing files. From a legal standpoint, to me this seems analagous to recording FM radio to cassette tape — something that just about anyone over the age of twenty-five has done.

So, if you are worried about the RIAA knocking on your door in the middle of the night, check out RipCast and get rid of your P2P programs which are sure to catch their attention. Of course, if you really like an artist, be sure to purchase their CD or download the songs you want via iTunes.

Filed under: Internet
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Mark Cuban continues to offer lessons in business from his blog. One of the most compelling things he has written follows:

Everything I read was public. Anyone could buy the same books and magazines. The same information was available to anyone who wanted it. Turns out most people didn’t want it.

- Mark Cuban

I’ve been listening to a lot of Brian Tracy lately and I have to say that Mark’s comments echo his (or vice-versa). Information on how to be successful in your business or field is out there and available — but it’s up to you to learn it. Mark makes a great point — the information was available to anyone, but most people did not want to invest their time or money to read it.

Mark states in this same blog entry that he reads 3 hours a day! That’s quite a bit! But what does that tell you about the power of the written word? Here is a multi-billionaire who still reads several hours a day so that he can learn from other people’s experiences. If you aren’t yet a multi-billionaire, how much more do you think that you should be reading?

Filed under: Business
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An interesting article pointed out that TiVo users (and all DVR users in general) actually view more commercials that those without. The reasoning? That viewers without a DVR simply change the channel, while TiVo users fast-forward through the commercials.

A survey indicated that TiVo most viewers fast-forwaring through commercials “noticed” those commercials always (15%) or sometimes (52%).

This is a good thing for TiVo on an otherwise lousy day where they reported first quarter losses of $9.1 million. The good news is that the subscriber base has grown by 264,000 for a total of nearly 1.6 million users.

Filed under: Technology
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I’ve been using OneNote for a few months to keep track of notes and other miscellaneous things such as goals and good quotes, etc. It is extremely simply to use — just highlight text in another application and copy and paste, or drag, to OneNote. The formatting mostly stays the same and you can even copy and paste in photos, which is extremely convenient.

If you copy and paste from Internet Explorer, the URL of the site that you retrieved the information from is also recorded along with the data and time. This is great for doing research. Unfortunately, this feature does not work with FireFox.

Another great thing about OneNote is that it is seachable. One search box allows you to quickly search all of your notes. This is a lot faster than trying to fine where you stored some notes — in notepad, word, or something else…

If you haven’t tried it, give it a shot. Even if you are like me and don’t yet have a tablet PC, you will certainly find some useful ways to make use of OneNote.

Filed under: Technology
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I’ve started listening to some self-development CDs recently, such as Brian Tracy. So, the other day I started looking for audio CDs online and came across a great website: SimplyAudioBooks.com!

I signed up for their free trial, placed a few (OK, about 20) CDs on my “bookshelf” and a few days later received my audio CDs in the mail! Their service works like NetFlix — you get the CDs mailed to you then return them in the pre-paid envelopes. You never pay shipping either direction and can swap out CDs as often as you like. Also, their plan is not by CD, but by the set, which they define as up to 4 CDs. You can have 2, 3, or 4 sets out at a time depending on the plan that you choose.

I have to say that so far I am impressed and my bookshelf is up to about 50, so I have some serious listening to do!

Filed under: Personal
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