Hollywood2020

On Location Direct from the 2006 TD Canada Trust Atlantic Jazz Festival VIP GALA

ON LOCATION AT THE 2006 TD CANADA TRUST ATLANTIC JAZZ FESTIVAL....okay here I am in Halifax, Nova Scotia....a great bartender in the Westin Halifax Hotel has saved the day -- or should I say the evening for this blogger Joyce Schwarz, HOLLYWOOD2020.blogs.com on location here. He gave me a VIP invite for the Atlantic Jazz Festival Gala...we'll post after and let you know how the OpenersKABA HORO combine Bulgarian, Gypsy and Turkish influences into modern jazz groove. We caught the start of the YO Festival (YO for youth this afternoon just by chance .... more on this later. I've seen everything from the MJQ (Modern Jazz Quartet) when I was a kid at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC to Woody Allen's band at the Algonquin Hotel...so it will be fun to see how this event celebrates the great American music of JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!!

STARPOWER CONFERENCE TEEN PANEL PROVES "The Kids Are Alright!"

WHAT DO TEENS WANT, LISTEN TO, WATCH &  BUY? ...moderated by Rob Souriall, VP Strategic Marketing & Promotions, Hollywood Records...this panel earlier this month proved an eye-opener for this blogger Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, www.joycecom.com , emerging media & entertainment consultant and author. Here's a quick recap of some of the highlights from the panel of teens -- watch for more in my upcoming article on the PMA Starpower conference at www.imediaconnection.com.

Click on thumbnail to see JPEG of the PMA Starpower conference live consumer panel at Universal Studios, moderated by Rob Souriall, VP Stretegic Marketing & Promotions, Hollywood Records.

ABOUT THE PANEL --NOTE: The panel of teens was recruited from Los Angeles and Orange County by Schlesinger Associates, an LA market-research firm. Tobey Belsky, facility director was kind enough to talk with me and tell me a little about their services. Also FYI -- I did see Tobey and her colleague handing out envelopes to the teens afterwards so I'm assuming that there was a reseach payment fee for the panelists that also included parking reimbursement.

INTERESTING PANELIST COMMENTS: Covering one of these live panels is always a trip -- so I've just included some of the comments made by the panelists and some general observations. I also put in a call to moderator Souriall @ Hollywood Records and was fascinated about how brilliant he is about this marketplace and what's happening in it and how they track trends in the making.

For more on that scroll down. By the way check out the www.hollywoodrecords.com site-- they're doing some kewl stuff and you can get some links to free sampler tunes too!

TEEN COMMENTS --HOT OR NOT STUFF & MORE

*HELP WITH GROCERY SHOPPING. Rather amazingly almost the whole panel of teens say they help with grocery shopping. Even those that don't make sure they give their parents (moms) their grocery list including according to one dude on the panel-- pasta, steak, PopTarts etc.

*THEY CARRY SHOPPING BAGS !PLUS almosts all the kids say they get roped into carrying the bags into the house--Blogger note -- as a marketer my first thought was -- kewl --put an insert in the bottom of the bags aimed at the teens -- free sampler CD or a sticker/label you tear off and check on the web for freebies.

*They are not too keen on sweepstakes-- they wouldn't buy Pepsi because they could win a million bucks-- most of the teens seem skeptical with these kinds of promos-- they prefer McDonalds Monopoly type promos where there is a 50/50 chance of winning --even something small like free fries or large soda. Blogger note-- the question wasn't asked what do they think of free stuff-- from what I understand -- this generation LOVES FREE STUFF....so if you got a free t shirt or cap for entering the contest -- that might be a kewl incentive.

*HOT WORDS/PHRASES?? What's hot and what's not? Asked about cool phrases they offered such words as " RAD  * CHILL *TIGHT *SWEET and *FINE.....*

*MYSPACE IS THEIR SPACE....going across the panel person by person -- it seemed that the average time spent on Myspace (and I believe everyone on the panel was on Myspace.com) was an astounding 3 hours or so -- some even spent 3 1/2 hours a day --and that's what they're admitting!

*THEY ALL ATTEND MOVIES -- yes, they go to theatres-- seems like most of them just want to get 'out of the house' but they like the community aspect of going to movie theatres versus just watching DVDs at home.

*They buy CDs -- yes, the buy MUSIC --almost the whole panel (who expressed an amazing diversity of music likes -- from Metallica to 'anything with a beat' say they buy CDs at stores. And yes, they buy tunes online...Blogger note -- it sure ain't the year 2000 or 2001 anymore...iTunes seems to be training the crowd that tunes cost at least 99 cents! This seemed to be a point of discussion later with some of the attendees who don't believe it's like that Back East -- they don't think kids are buying CDs anymore?

*They watch some TV -- Although surprisingly to this blogger no one admitted being a big American Idol fan or voter they do watch TV -- among the shows mentioned "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES" !

*Surprisingly they all have mobile phones but only a few had iPods...blogger note-- not sure if they're waiting for the video iPod or if younger teen iPod ownership is spotty still....They buy ringtones -- and change them regularly -- especially one chick who said that she gets free ringtones with her mobile service. And they text and text and text.....

Moderator Rob Souriall's call on the panel: A quick call by this writer to Rob Souriall got us right through to the man himself..here are some of his comments about the panelists and what's happening in music today....

*Sure seems like they are texting more on their phones than talking!

*You have mini-generations of teens-- this generation is getting used to paying 99 cents per song versus the free - downloading generation of 2000 - 2001.

This blogger was fascinated to find out from Rob that at Hollywood Records his firm is using a company called Big Champagne (check it out-- Marketing research focused on file-sharing networks, with "TopSwaps" charts of most-popular musical...(www.bigchampagne.com to track file sharing and music searches. Rob explains that they can even track downloads by song!

Rob is a research GURU

-- don't even get him started about Soundscan or BDS

--and here I am originally from Cleveland and still thinking that DJ's are influencers!

Between this panel and the presentation by Shawn Gold on MYSPACE's research and

strategy -- I'm convinced the audience got their moneysworth.

Blogger note-- it's funny, because more than once in the conference I talked to

my colleagues about Foote Cone & Belding's "KNOW THE CONSUMER" program --

where even the execs like me had to go shopping once a month in a store with

a real consumer...very informal deal--walk into a store and ask a consumer if you

can follow them around ...no comments just look/observe...I used to blame my boss

for that one -- of course I was the boss that I had to blame..but it made a good story.

New Media Analyst Joyce Schawrz Looks back at the Download Dilemma -- 6 years ago....Napster users say they WOULD PAY!

NAPSTER USERS SAY THEY WILL PAY.....and that was six years ago -- continuing the series of looking back six years ago to 2000 and the start of the new millennium by Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, www.joycecom.com, entertainment author, analyst and emerging media consultant.

Hollywood Discusses the Digital Download Dilemma

by Joyce Schwarz, 6/15/2000 (originally published):

---

“Computers are useless. They can only give you answers” Pablo Picasso (1880-1973)

The audience of more than 250 people at the iHollywood Music Forum Tuesday night wanted answers to the question of how emerging technologies will transform the music business.

But alas, most probably went home with even bigger philosophical questions like:

     Is technology good or evil?

           Why aren’t artists at the table to negotiate their online rights?

                What are artist’s rights?

                        And what is an artist? .

In the Q&A session, audience member Composer Russell Steinberg said, “Suppose there is no solution (to digital downloading), suppose you can’t own a long digital number?”

Following a long pause, panel speaker, Chris Otto, product manager for RealJukebox, Real Networks, reminded everyone that just a little more than 100 years ago there was no recorded music but there has been singing, dancing and music since the dawn of time. “There is just too much incentive to find a solution,” Otto proclaimed.

GIVING AWAY SOFTWARE AND THEN SELLING UPGRADES?

Fellow panelist Allen Kovac, CEO, Left Bank Organization and founder and CEO, Beyond Music, quickly queried, “Didn’t Real start by giving away it’s software and then selling upgrades?”

Moderator Michael Stroud, business/entertainment journalist and iHollywood Forum founder, queried as to whether there’s really a problem. “Can Napster and the music industry co-exist?” Stroud asked.

The evening quickly turned into a 21^st Century debate on entertainment industry ethics, practices and prejudices.

The subject ("MP3.com, Napster and the Future of Entertainment: A Dinner and Dialogue about Online Music") is a “hot” one, and reverberates far beyond music into intellectual property rights for all kinds of content including video, film, books and perhaps even patents. Indeed, the evening was even a media delight with ABC, Fox, CNN, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, KFWB (CBS radio), (and of course Joyce Schwarz) on hand to document the discussion. The event even made the 11 p.m. news—most unusual for a Hollywood trade function. 

ANYTHING BUT BLACK AND WHITE ALL OVER

As per usual industry attire, four of the five panelists were dressed in black and white, the fifth, Joe Fleisher, corporate vice president, MP3.com had on a pale blue shirt. But the night was anything but black and white all over

“If you come up here and take my glasses, that’s stealing,” said panelist Carol Bayer Sager, Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter and performer and founder and CEO of Tonos.com. Sager noted, “The new technologies that exist are spectacular.” She admitted to trying Napster and Gnutella and other digital systems developed to trade MP3 format files online. Trying to wear several hats as the new media and new economy demand, she admitted to being conflicted by watching her 14-year-old son downloading song after song off of his computer

WHO IS AN ARTIST?

Earlier in the evening Bayer Sager, who has written many of the tunes the mostly over 35-year-old audience probably sing in the shower occasionally, was the subject of loud boos and hisses when she questioned whether Rob Glazer, Real Networks founder, was an “artist” as referred to by Kovac in a passing remark.

WE vs THEY

Bayer Sager’s comment brought up the eternal “we vs. they” controversy of technology vs. content creators. As a founder of Tonos.com with “Babyface” and David Foster, she launched the industry’s first music insider’s network online in April. As the designated, “creative” on the panel, she found support from Kovac, whose career has included management of such major names as The Bee Gees, Duran Duran, John Mellencamp, Motley Crue, Vogue and others.

Kovac proclaimed that, “Artists need their own organizations to represent their rights.” He urged Bayer Sager to get together with the other 236 (referring to her as one of the 237 recording artists whose albums go gold each year out of 32,000 albums pressed annually.)

GASOLINE FOR THE RECORD COMPANIES?

At one point fellow panelist, Peter Standish, VP of marketing for Warner Bros. Records, who caged his bets by saying he was speaking for himself not his company, said that traditionally artists who make songs and CDs were seen as the gasoline for record companies. “The real challenge,” Standish said, “is to figure out how to fuel the new engines since the intellectual capital is NOT sitting at the record companies.”

As he noted, for decades, the record companies’ job has been to bank and distribute. All of the panelists and audience seemed to agree when he said, “A new paradigm is needed, a new way to monetize music”.

NEW PARADIGM -- NEW WAY TO MONETIZE MUSIC~

Fleisher responded by saying, “The country figures out how to make money one way or another.”

WEBNOIZE RESEARCH:

The hit of the evening was Dr. Ric Dube, senior analyst for Webnoize.com. The “babyface” Dube, who one audience member said looked 16, had the wisdom of a sage.

During his recap of a Webnoize research study of 4,294 college students on 10 New England campuses, he cut to the crux of the challenge by saying, “Demand created its own supply”. Dube reminded us that it’s not just Napster or Gnutella but scores of other digital download, MP3 and other file-trading Web sites that are at issue. He mentioned QMX, Wrapster, Amster, Bitch X, JNerve, MP3 Finder, Fury, Scour.com, Pornster and many others that make it possible to trade games, software, video and even full-length movies over the Web even on a 24.4 modem.

71 percent of Napster users say they will pay!

The most surprising statistic that Dube mentioned was that 7l.4 percent of the daily users of Napster said they would pay for downloadable songs. He also noted that 97.7 percent of the files are discarded after use.

After the panel, when this reporter asked if the “discarded” files were zapped because they had already been recorded to CD via compact disk recorders, he said he thought “discarded” did not mean that but it was open to some semantic questions The unanswered question was, even if consumers say they’ll pay for downloadable music, will they pay for it?

No Webcast was made of the evening and, unfortunately, the video company “forgot to do it” according to an iHollywood Forum spokesperson. Check your television listings for an upcoming CNN Showbiz Today program on the event.

PLANTATION MENTALITY?

On the way out, this reporter was asked by Kovac if she was a writer. She acknowledged she was and he surprised her by saying—well tell them the real story: “You asked why there’s no artist alliance, it’s because of a ‘plantation mentality”, because so many of the artists’ representatives and lawyers actually work for the recording labels.” When this reporter attempted to contact Kovac the day after the event to get him to expand on his comment, she was sent to one publicist after another at Rogers & Cowan but couldn’t get a hold of Kovac in time for her deadline. So perhaps if “her people” talk to “his people”, we’ll make that a subject of an upcoming column.

After all, isn’t that what the Internet is all about—of the people, for the people?

Joyce Schwarz co-wrote the first NAB book on convergence in 1993 entitled “Multimedia: 2000”. She works with old and new economy companies in creating a new digital broadcast arena. She is head of JCOM, http://www.joycecom.com/ and you can reach her in real time at [email protected]. She is located in Marina Del Rey, California.....and is always looking out on the yachts of the rich and famous while she toils away in the new economy :) .

MYSPACE -- $3/4 MILLION FOR

MYSPACE -- a pricey ad buy? Rumored to be $3/4 million per day for home page advertising Buried in an article on news.com.au MySpace looking for friends this blogger Joyce Schwarz,JCOM, emerging entertainment, www.joycecom.com, found a note that says "In an interview with Fortune magazine in March, News Corporation chief operating officer Peter Chernin said advertising on the home page alone was set to rise to $750,000 per day. The article adds "The scale of what we're doing in the [US] marketplace is pretty huge," MySpace senior vice-president of sales Colin Digiaro said. Mr Digiaro would not confirm numbers but said US deals ranged between "five and seven figures" depending on whether they were for banner campaigns, content integration or sponsorships of sections of the site. (note Hollywood2020 saw no ads on the home page but we did not sign in as users (yes, we have a password, no we don't have a myspace yet -- obviously we have to get one or more) Hollywood2020 did spot larger banner ads for Aquafina and Lowermybills.com on other sections of the site.

new on myspace.com -- sections for books, movies, horoscopes and a new section labeled comedy! *check out the crazy monkey! Of course, you've probably read about Fox's 24 show TV episodes coming to MYSPACE soon....TV on the web-- wow we all thought it was going to be the other way around-- the web on TV -- but that always has been the chicken and the egg question for interactive marketers hasn't it?

NEW AUSTRALIAN MYSPACE TO LAUNCH:

Why the Myspace news from Australia -- because they (FOX) are launching an Australian version of MYSpace.com soon (in fact, I didn't know a British version already exists). Hollywood2020.blogs.com got wind of the Australian version of MySpace.com after checking Amazon.com to see what books are upcoming in the Social networking space -- particularly about MYSPACE -- and guess what we found:

Hacking MySpace : Mods and Customizations to make MySpace Your Space (ExtremeTech) (Paperback) by John Pospisil Discount priced at $15.74.

Publisher: Wiley (August 28, 2006) Language: English ISBN: 0470045841

HITTING SHELVES THIS SUMMER -- HACKING MYSPACE, Wiley Publishing

Alas, the book doesn't look like it hits the stands until later summer-- what a shame because we can imagine every Myspace.com profile in the world could use an update while school is out! But it could be well-worth the wait. Here's what the Amazon.com promo page promises: *customizing a profile so it stands out in a crowd, *embedding everything from music videos to home movies into MySpace pages, *how to use HTML code to customize designs & more,* AND A COMPANION WEBSITE --containing hundreds of layouts, backgrounds, icons, buttons, code samples, and more. We posted a note on author Pospisil's blog asking for more details and maybe even an excerpt -- so let's see what happens-- hopefully he's not to busy bluelining the proofs to talk with Hollywood2020! Meanwhile check out the book at: Hacking MySpace : Mods and Customizations to make MySpace Your Space (ExtremeTech). The book promo links to his blog too.

AMERICAN IDOL BEATS GRAMMY RATINGS

AMERICAN IDOL SHOW BEATS GRAMMY RATINGS! .....really....THE LOS ANGELES TIMES has a great story about this and attributes the scores to the "virtual revolution" going on where the latest rivals are SPECTATORS VERSUS CELEBRITIES....call it Hollywood backlash if you want. The figures don't lie -- 28.3 million for AMERICAN IDOL versus 15.1 million for the Grammy show. A FAN BECOMES AN IDOL at the end or the competition..the ultimate dream for today's generation! THE LOS ANGELES TIMES calls this "mediational magic" - a phrase I've never heard of but then the author probably knows his stuff-- he's the HARPER'S MAGAZINE Guru Thomas DeZengotita, professor of anthopology at NYU. We lead mediated lives he maintains. And a recent newspaper report says it's kind of like the band "Bare Naked Ladies" says "we've seen it all before". That's why I blog so much about REAL versus REEL...as the popularity of virtual online communities and ARG (augmented reality gaming) continues to thrive and evolve, we become increasingly aware that the Media is the Message! OR IS IT?

Camarsaurus Dinosaur Comes to Life: IS IT ANOTHER FURBY?

By Joyce Schwarz, author & Hollywood columnist, www.joycecom.com

MEET PLEO  ....a superb example of 'organic robotics' revealed at Demo 2006 www.demo.com.

See more about Pleo -- at www.ugobe.com or see it "live" at www.demo.com  Could it be the next FURBY...or is it really just the perfect house-broken pet to take to work?

Modeled after a week old Camarsaurus dinosaur, Pleo's chief inventor was also co-inventor of FURBY -- you remember that little fluffy, talk-bot that took the world by storm in 1998 and toted up more than $50 million in sales not so many holidays ago.

PLEO VS REAL DINOSAUR

Surprising, when this blogger Joyce Schwarz looked up info on Camarsaurus dinosaurs on www.enchantedlearning.com (one of our favorite sites for this kind of research) we found that they say: "Camarasaurus was a sauropod, whose intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was the among the lowest of the dinosaurs". In fact, on the chart that Enchanted Learning shows the Camarsaurus is below the crocodile in his/her EQ.

AUTONOMOUS EMOTIONS.....

But that's not the case with PLEO who according to creator Chung is the world's first autonomous life-form (note lifeform NOT TOY) who is capable of autonomous emotions that allow personal engagement. Is it a he/she? Bloggers keep calling Pleo "he" but I called up Julie Crabill, one of Pleo's PR flacks and she says there are no identifiable biological factors that determine if Pleo is a girl or a boy. AND there's no real reason for the name PLEO either. Julie mentioned that there is a dinosaur type with that name but actually when I looked it up it's spelled Pliosaur meaning near reptile.

PLEO FACTS AND TRIVIA: See him at www.ugobe.com According to their website, UGOBE's designers and engineers recreated Pleo's physiology from the fossils of the original. His height and weight are consistent with that of a one-week old infant camarasuarus. The site goes on to explain Pleo is an authentic Life Form. Treat him gently like any other living thing. Your Pleo will let you know how he feels at any moment. That's because he is capable of actual emotions including joy, aggression, sorrow, and fear. He can also yawn, sigh, sniff, sniffle, snore, cough, hiccup, and sneeze. Note UGOBE is pronounced "you go be" -- as in you can go and be what you want....hinting at what might come from this company in the future perhaps?

PLEO -- Sleeps and dreams....

When Pleo grows tired, lay him down and attach his 'dream cord' so he can sleep, dream, and gather energy for more exploration. BLOGGER NOTE -- hmm maybe they can sell dream cords for kids -- to encourage bed-time!!!

PLEO has its own REGENERATION BED so that it can sleep and dream...reminds this blogger of a little bit like a Borg rejuvenation chamber! Star Trek is calling Pleo!

PLEO IS DEMOgod and INNY WINNER

UGOBE was awarded the honor of DEMOgod and was also bestowed an INNY award at the DEMO 2006 conference this week in Phoenix. The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose honors the INNY Awards to DEMO innovations that will impact people's lives and reinforce The Tech's mission to inspire the innovator in everyone.

SO WHO AND WHAT IS UGOBE? MAYBE THE QUESTION TO ASK IS WHO IS UGOBE?

Who is UGOBE is fascinating.  According to the press release, UGOBE's multidisciplinary team of robotics experts, animators, technologists, scientists, biologists and programmers are led by polymath toy inventor and Furby co-creator, Caleb Chung. Check out who's on the Board of Directors, it includes: Gordon Radley, former President of (what else) LucasFilms and Chauncey Shey, CEO/Softbank China Venture Capital and co-founder UTStarcom.

UGOBE'S ADVISORY BOARD: The Advisory board is equally as impressive-- it includes: Stephen Mayer, co-founder Atari Computer and Activision, Curtis Sasaki, VP Sun Microsystems and Phil Schlein, Partenr/US Venture Partners (USVP) and former president of Macy's California.

UGOBE -- NURSERY NOT A FACTORY.... according to Ugobe's press kit, they want us to think of the company's lab as a nursery for new life forms not a factory-- the firm is located in Emeryville and they say in their press materials that they are outside of San Francisco.

WHAT"S NEXT FOR PLEO? I saw somewhere that Pleo is going to do a debut at the San Francisco Zoo. Chances are the "life form" or at least his creators will show up at TOY FAIR opening next week. Pleo is set to retail at $199 about the same price as the Robosapien and other robotic wonders-- but I know Pleo is a LIFE FORM not a robot!!!

PALS FOR PLEO AT TOY FAIR? According to an Associated Press reports, lifelike robotic toys will be all the rage at the American International Toy Fair beginning Sunday in New York. The lineup includes a life-sized miniature pony that responds to touch, a Barbie doll that follows a child's dance moves and a robot made from a Lego building set that can be programmed.

Microchips have come down in price, so toy makers are able to make more advanced toys that are still affordable. At least 75 percent of the toys at this year's event will have some sort of microchip in them.

PLEO ON TV, BOOKS & MERCHANDISE? we saw no info on any licensing deals for Pleo --for TV, Books, movies etc-- but with board members and advisors from such firms as Sun, Macy's and Lucas Films -- Pleo may soon make his REEL debut not just his REAL premier.

COMSCORE RESEARCH PREDICTS $19 BILLION ONLINE SPENDING THIS SEASON

comSCORE.com predicts $19 Billion online spending this season --which they are predicting will be  24 percent increase over 2004. VERSUS THE HEADLINES THAT SHOW SHOPPERS IN REAL TIME FIGHTING FOR BARGAINS --- and Pepper Spray being sprayed at lines of consumers!!!....what a weekend it was/is.

STAND UP AND CHEER OHIO UNIVERSITY MARCHING 110 LEAD BAND FOR MACY'S PARADE

Stand Up and Cheer -- Ohio University's MARCHING 110 is the lead band in the Macy's Parade-- tune in to see them! As an OU alum (Bobcats), this blogger Joyce Schwarz encourages you to tune in early to see the Athens,Ohio based students head to Broadway!

Ohio University Marching110 prepping for their Macy's Parade leader position.

Bobcats to lead Macy's march
Chillicothe Gazette, OH - 18 hours ago
... The 210-member Ohio University Marching Band was invited to perform this year in the parade. Nearly a dozen Chillicothe and Ross County youths are in it.

Marching 110 Leads Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
WTAP-TV, WV - Nov 21, 2005
Thanksgiving is bringing a very special opportunity to a prestigious group of Ohio University students. ... "I used to go see the the band ever since I was a ... 

Noah Rabinowitz/ For The Post The Post Online, OH - Nov 9, 2005 ... will have a chance to see "the most exciting band in the land" perform in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Ohio University's Marching 110 ...

ORDINARY SCOTCH TAPE STICKIER THAN SONY/BMG DRM

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? AN ORDINARY PIECE OF SCOTCH TAPE (TM) CAN DISRUPT SONY/BMG'S DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.... "With a small bit of tape on the outer edge of the CD, the PC then treats the disc as an ordinary single-session music CD and the commonly used music 'rip' programs continue to work as usual." according to a story on TechWeb.com on Information Week and scads of other trade and mainstream media reports

Gartner research analysts Martin Reynolds and Mike McGuire say that  Sony's XCP technology is stymied by sticking a fingernail-size piece of opaque tape on the outer edge of the CD. That, the pair said in a brief posted online, renders "session 2 -- which contains the self-loading DRM software — unreadable. The PC then treats the CD as an ordinary single-session music CD, and the commonly used CD 'rip' programs continue to work as usual."

BLACK MARKER DISRUPTED DRM IN PAST -- low tech /no tech more powerful than high tech?

This isn't the first time that simple methods have defeated a Sony copy-protection plan. An earlier technology that Sony used could be circumvented by using a black marker to draw a line near the edge of the disc. "After more than five years of trying, the recording industry has not yet demonstrated a workable DRM scheme for music CDs," concluded the Gartner analysts. "It will never achieve this goal as long as CDs must be playable by stand-alone CD players." OTHER USES FOR SCOTCH TAPE (TM)-- okay so the researchers did not really say SCOTCH TAPE by brand-- I saw that they were careful to say "transparent tape" but since it's about the 75th anniversary of Scotch Tape (TM) I thought it would be fun to include this article. And of course this unusual use of Scotch Tape (TM)75 years of better living thanks to Scotch Tape TAPE NOSE TO FOREHEAD AND LOOK LIKE PIG: In 1985, Scotch Tape was voted the most indispensable product in the home in a national Roper opinion pole, and not just because you could tape your nose to your forehead and look like a pig (but it must have helped).

MP3 PLAYERS HOTTEST XMAS GIFT FOR 2005

All I want for Christmas is my MP3 player -- says millions of lists to Santa Clause for 2005 according to a recent Consumer Electronics Association. "Peace, happiness, health—and consumer electronics—are on the wish lists of Americans this holiday season" said CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo, in a statement. "Despite concern about the overall economy, consumers intend to purchase, as well as hope to receive, a plethora of consumer electronics gifts this holiday season. be humming a happy tune entering the New Year, as results show the MP3 player is going to be one of the hottest sellers."

HOUSEHOLD SPENDING UP TO $1430:

Overall spending is forecast to increase 14% per household, from $1,254 to $1,430, over last year, factoring in gifts, decorations, food, travel and other assorted holiday expenses, according to the Consumer Electronics Association's 12th Annual Holiday Sales and Forecast survey

Other items on consumers' wish lists included (in order of preference): plasma television, digital camera, laptop PC, big screen TV, desktop PC, video game system, high-definition television, DVD recorder and home theater speakers or system. The gift-giving list included: portable MP3 player, digital camera, video game system, cordless phone, home DVD player, portable headset CD, game peripherals, DVD recorder, cell phone and laptop PC.

CEA is the trade association promoting growth in the consumer technology industry through technology policy, events, research, promotion and the fostering of business and strategic relationships. The association represents more than 2,000 corporate members.