May 06, 2004, 2:30pm

I know lots of friends who are waiting for Apple to get their shit together (or is it CIRA, the Canadian equivelant of RIAA, getting their shit together?) and offer iTunes downloading service in Canada.

But you know what? Fuck Apple. Fuck restrictive downloads. Fuck the new increased restrictions Apple has put on iTunes 4.5. If you want to download songs more or less legally, (well, it's very gray :)), check out All of MP3, the new Russian-govt and Russian Music Association approved, download by the pound (er, megabyte) service!

I just signed up yesterday and it Rox on many different levels.

• pick and choose your download formats, from ogg to even Apple's format (for your iPod).
  
• pick and choose your bitrate. Now that's sweet. I think ogg vorbis, at Q4 is almost perfect until you pick up a pair of $300 Sennheiser headphones)
  
• your cost is by the mb. 50mb costs $0.50.
  
• worried about giving your credit card info to the Russian mob? They also accept paypal!
  
  

You just gotta love global markets. Screw RIAA and restrictive downloads. :)

As a side note, in case you forgot, I'm all about paying artists for their work. If a band is independent or indie label, and I like their stuff, I always buy the CD.

I'm not so much for paying giant music corporations that don't properly compensate their hired musicians for their work, while making mega, obscene profits on music, and while they begrudgingly allow some kind of downloads where you are severely restricted on how you can use said download. Maybe if iTunes charged a buck a song, but said "do what you will with it, other than distribute it to others", I'd think a bit differently. But paying $10 for a CD, or a buck a song that is in a restrictive format? Fuggettaboutit, no matter how "liberal" Apple iTunes may be compared to services like Sony's new venture, or other proprietary, restrictive downloads.

And, in Canada, I pay a "levy" on every blank CD, DVD, cassete, or MiniDisc I buy. That levy,  from $0.30 to $1.20 or more depending on the media, goes to CIRA - the Canadian representive of big labels. Since my company plows through about 300 CDs a year for burning our data, not music, I figure I'm perfectly entitled to at least $90 of music a year. So I use Kazaa. I don't download much music though - in the last six months, probably 40 songs; I still like buying CDs.

But this new Russian service. The legalities are still very gray; they do claim that artists are compensated thru the global / Russian music industry watchdogs. I also found out recently that people in countries like Russia (or most Asian countries) pay a hella lot less for legit music CDs, and the studios take much less of a cut... but they still get their cut. I'm comfortable with the cut that Sony et al get from my new Russian friends. :)

Rock on!

2 comments | reply

Mixelania

Photos from Algonquin Park
Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers.

War Stories

Making Snow for the Fortress
One of the worst jobs I ever had... till I got out.

Webiffied

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iPod and iTunes Offline

iMark's iTunes and iPod isn't iPlaying anything right iNow.

Most Recent Songs

Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido

With arms open wide by Creed

truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band

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Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.

St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines

AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided

NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders

Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!

The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara

Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer

NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.

NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.

USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.

WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.

Reuters Interview
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CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.

CoffeeKid Website
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WebMotif Services
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Amazon WishList
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enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.

Google News
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DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.

Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!

Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.

MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.

Friends and Family Plan

Beata Blog
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Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly

Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr

Recent Acquisitions

Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.

Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.

Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography

Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.

Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D

Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs

28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography

Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.

Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.

Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D