The Death of XM and Sirius

XM was a great idea when it first came out; take the cable TV model and apply it to radio. It was great - the content was fantastic, the selection was much better than anything on FM, and the quality was first-rate. To me, audio quality is very important, and I enjoyed listening to CD-quality tracks on XM much more than even the strongest FM signal. I loved it while I had it, but hated paying 12 bucks a month for the service.

About a year ago, I canceled my service with XM because I found other ways of getting the music I wanted and the quality I desired. I had been using Pandora for years, but not until the Pandora App arrived on the iPhone did I consider dropping XM entirely.

With AT&T's 3G coverage constantly increasing, the need for a satellite connection has become obsolete. One of the main features of XM and Sirius is the fact that you can receive a strong signal basically anywhere in the country. On my daily commute to work outside of Chicago, I get plenty of bars to get consistent playback on Pandora. Another feature that XM and Sirius claimed to have was the lack of commercials (I found this was not true, they just had fewer commercials). Pandora, on the other hand, only has a small banner ad at the bottom of the screen, and NO commercials in between tracks. Sure, XM and Sirius have hundreds of channels, but with Pandora, I can create and manage several of my own customizable stations. All of these reasons make Pandora a better option, audio-wise, but when you throw "its free" into the mix, its a no-brainer.


More and more internet radio stations are showing up in the iPhone app store and on other platforms (Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, etc), and they're all free. XM even has its own app on the iPhone, but why would you pay for the XM service when you can get a better app with free service? As Pandora, Slacker, NPR, Y! Music, AOL Radio, and more, become more and more popular, the need for a service like XM and Sirius will diminish.

There are plenty of arguments against the death of XM and Sirius. The company's stock has been going gangbusters in the market - up 40% in the last week (See Tech Trader Daily report here). The main reason for this is a product called SkyDock. Basically, this accessory plugs into your iPhone or iPod Touch and acts as a satellite receiver for XM and Sirius. Currently, the XM and Sirius apps use 3G for connectivity, and the audio isn't as clear as satellite. SkyDock will undoubtedly be sold separately and definitely wont come complimentary with XM or Sirius service. So, to put this in basic terms, I have two options:

1. I can buy SkyDock for $30 or $50 and attach it to my iPhone (which is a pain because now I have to carry this thing around). On top of the SkyDock expense, I also have to continue paying XM or Sirius for their service. At $12 a month, I would be paying close to $200 for the year.

2. I could settle for a hit in audio quality and use one of the many free internet radio apps. I don't have to listen to any long commercials and I don't have to pay for the service. I can customize my own stations and rate the songs I want to hear and the songs I don't ever want to hear. Aside from paying my standard AT&T service bill, this option is $0 for the year.

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that love satellite radio and don't mind paying under $20 a month for the service. For the Howard Stern listeners out there, Sirius is really the only way of hearing the show, so you don't have much choice there. I have used and loved satellite radio before, but now that I've switched to internet radio, I'm never looking back.

Lobster on the Maine Coast: Not as cheap as tourists might think

Remember last year when Black Friday rolled around and instead of celebrating cheaper flat screen TVs and Apple's only sale of the year, people stampeded and rioted and killed Wal-Mart employees? And it wasn't even the evil ones at the top of the food chain. It was that poor 80-yr-old greeter who just wants to be friendly and point you toward the easily accessible fire arms or the lead poisoned stuff from China. Sad. A tragedy really.

Well, apparently Mainers aren't too much more civilized. The lobster industry has taken such a hard hit over the last few years, that combined with rising fuel costs and increasing competition, Mainers are looking to other methods of protecting their territory and getting those Wal-Mart-esque returns on investments. Namely, they're shooting and drowning each other.

On a quaint island 22 miles out to sea, and nearby DownEast ME's tourist-laden Acadia National Park, there was a nearly fatal shooting on the docks one recent morning. The shooting occurred amongst the recent 3 lobster boat sinkings also plaguing the same port. Apparently there was even a pitchfork vs. fish gaff fight a couple of years back!

What gives? Just good ol' fashioned protectin' the "bottom." Main(e)landers aren't welcome to fish those island waters and some stalwarts are lettin' 'em know!

I have to say this all disappoints me a little. It makes me worry a bit about priorities and quality of life in our country. But then again, if I have to choose between two such disgraces, would I rather live in Long Island where people are Yankee fans and kill in the name of rolling back prices for Tickle-Me-Elmos or in God's Country where justice falls into the hands of those protecting what's theirs?

The King is Back

AMDAL has had a running infatuation with Burger King's The King for a while now. What's not to love? In previous commercials, he's been able to sneak into other people's beds, nuzzling them with his plastic nose and greasy treats. My favorite part is the look of pleasant surprise and not the expected reaction of indescribable horror and fear.

Well no longer - BK has just put out what looks like a real world reaction of someone who didn't quite get the memo from Corporate to "Be cool, baby, be cool."

Watch and enjoy. (Warning: It autoplays so put in headphones).

Spotify: It's about to Change Your Life

Have you heard of Spotify.com yet? It's a British Swedish** music service that allows you to listen to almost any music you can think of, anytime, with no lag time, for free. All you need is an Internet connection. Best of all, it's totally legal! If you don't believe me, please take the time to read this review; if that doesn't convince how awesome Spotify is, then nothing will.

So, I know you're thinking to yourself, "Okay, well this sounds too good to be true. What's the rub?" The rub is simple: it's not yet available in the good ol' US of A.

Or is it?

Apparently, there is a way to get Spotify in America, you just have to fool Spotify into thinking that you're in the UK. And trust me, if I had done it, I would probably tell you that it's totally easy to do. I'm not sure of the legalities, however, the service is legal, it's just not offered in the US. So, I'd imagine that the worst that could happen is that you'd piss off Spotify and they'd cancel your account. They don't know your name, your credit card number or anything, so I doubt there's any real recourse.

Long story short: if you like music, this is a pretty big dealzy fo' realzy . I'm not saying that I tried it, but if I did, I'd probably tell you that it's freaking amazing!

**Thanks Swede

Random Thoughts

I find it confusing that some movie critics use a “thumbs up - thumbs down” rating system while others use a four-star scale. Things would be so much simpler if they just agreed upon an industry standard. How about consolidating the two? Four spots in total, and each one gets a thumbs up, a thumbs down, or a thumbless fist (half a star).

This morning I finally vowed to get out of my current rut. So I got out of bed and made a list of productive things to do. But then I remembered SportsCenter’s on all day.

If you get a big embarrassing pimple between your eyebrows, wear sunglasses until it goes away. If someone asks why you’re wearing sunglasses indoors, just say something like, “Got a nasty case of pink eye. A lot of drainage.”

It’s not until the waiter actually brings the French Onion Soup to the table that I remember how much the roof of my mouth fears this stuff.

Sometimes, when I write the word “pyschotic,” I look at it for a few seconds, and then a little voice in my head tells me to switch the “y” and the “s” around. But right as I do another voice says, “Don’t listen to him. Karl can’t spell for shit.”

HUGE Hat Tip: Block

Shaq's a Big Douche

The venerable New York Post reports: "Turns out that Shaq may have stolen the premise for his new reality series, 'Shaq Vs.,' from former Phoenix Suns teammate Steve Nash. That's why Nash, who has no other experience in TV [actually, he was on Entourage last week], has been inexplicably listed as an executive producer on the show."

"In the ABC series, which debuted last Tuesday [ratings were lackluster], Shaq takes on a slew of pro-athletes in an attempt to beat them at their own sport. Upcoming episodes feature the basketball superstar going up against Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis star Serena Williams and beach volleyball Gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh."

"Apparently, when Shaq was first traded to the Suns in 2008, Nash told him that he was looking into doing a reality show centered around the notion that he would compete against other professional athletes in their own sports."

"Mild-mannered Nash didn't realize that his TV show idea had been filched until early last season, when Shaq boarded the team bus one day and announced that he would be starring in "Shaq Vs."

"You mean the idea you stole from me?" one Suns representative overhead Nash reply."

Two men enter!

The Forefront of Medicine

Well, I'm not even really sure what to say about this one guys, except that an MRI machine costs about $2 million and change and has saved an innumerable number of lives and I'm just glad some doctors are using it for what really matters.

I wonder if Obama would approve of this or if it's yet another example of the medical system ordering an array of potentially unnecessary tests in fear of our nation's excess of litigators?

Btw, they did win an Ig Noble Prize for this.

Say Goodbye To 20 Minutes Of Your Life

And say hello to a lot of fun.

Safe for work with headphones.

Random Thoughts

At a Yankees game I saw a sign that said “Boston Massacre 2009.” Instead of Massacre, why not go with Genocide? It’s like people don’t even want to make SportsCenter.

Here’s a tip for getting rid of those pesky fruit flies in your apartment: Find a piece of rotten fruit, stick in a cup and cover with saran wrap. Then, take a fork and punch tiny holes in the top so that the flies can get in. Don’t worry, they won’t get out. Instead, worry about finding that piece of rotten fruit. Under the bed is the first place I always look.

Sometimes people come up to me and ask, “How long does it take you to a write a Random Thought?” Honestly, it really depends. For instance, if you’re a hot chick I might say, “Not very.”

Baseball and golf are similar in that both have a great sense of tradition, neither has a game clock, and everyone dips. Actually, scratch that last one. I meant putts, not dips.

Whenever I hear someone say, “bow chicka wow wow,” it’s pretty obvious they haven’t ever seen a full-length pornographic film. As someone who has literally watched thousands – from beginning to end, I might add – I can assure you: the music never sounds like that. So please, stop embarrassing yourself.

Dartmouth-centric post

Few things matter more to either the aspiring graduates or the graduates of highly selective colleges than the annual US News & World Report rankings of the top American colleges and universities. Many other publications have recognized that ranking higher education sells magazines, and lots of new calculi have been published to rate various schools. However, the US News & World Report's ''America's Best Colleges'' issue remains the gold standard. When high school seniors at Exeter and Spence and T.J. want to know whether Dartmouth rates higher than Chicago, they're asking about the same rankings that seniors have been concerned about for decades, not the new-fangled rubrics drawn up by Forbes which indicate Dartmouth is the 98th best college in the land.

The latest and greatest rankings from the US News and World Report hit newsstands today. As the New York Times notes, "As usual, there are few major moves up or down among colleges this year, but the rankings remain a hot topic of debate among educators." Things went according to plan: Harvard and Princeton amicably resolved their annual battle royale for the top slot by agreeing to both be #1 (its always more interesting when a random school, e.g. Cal Tech a few years ago, leaps into the top spot); Williams was, per usual, named the #1 liberal arts college (I have often wondered how Dartmouth would fare in that category); and Dartmouth was ranked #11, pretty much in the neighborhood of Dartmouth's usual ranking. However, the US News & World Report introduced a new secondary category, ranking " commitment to undergraduate teaching." Dartmouth wins this new category. Now let's see if the football team can learn something from this. If we can't win any games, just make up a new sport you can win. Like best football team in the Hanover area.