Earlier today, former senator George Mitchell released the
findings of his yearlong investigation on Major League Baseball’s problem with performance enhancing drugs. When you cut through the extensive verbiage of the report, you can essentially break it down to these components:
- a list of players with alleged evidence linking them to performance enhancing drugs prior to 2002
- the conclusion that prior to 2003, players, team executives, and MLB officials did not make a huge effort to make sure performance enhancing drugs were not used
- the conclusion that if the players union and MLB officials can agree to cooperate, they can lessen the the number of cases of performance enhancing drug use
- the recommendation that players named in the report not be punished for past actions
Obviously the most exciting aspect of the report is the list of players who have supposedly been linked to performance enhancing drugs. Unfortunately, the list is comprised of either evidence we have already heard before or hearsay. Mitchell’s report references the whole BALCO scenario from a couple years back, along with the more recent cases of players purchasing drugs via the internet. In both cases, the evidence was not considered concrete enough in order to convict players of wrongdoing. The more interesting allegations are of Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite. Former Yankees trainer, Brian McNamee admitted to injecting Clemens and Pettite with HGH and other performance enhancing drugs prior to 2001. Most of the evidence for the other named players are not more substantial than a “I heard that someone told him that he injected steroids.”
However, we have no way of knowing whether Clemens, Pettite, or any one of these players actually used performance enhancing drugs because they have never tested positive for any sort of doping. In fact, most of the drugs in question are not currently detectable by any means. The best thing we can do is finger point and say “This dude (who is probably saying what he has to in order to not go to jail) says he injected you.” In addition, the conclusions of the report, while they needed to be reiterated, were not exactly as enlightening as when the apple fell on Newton. Anyone with half a brain now can see what baseball was doing wrong in the late 20th century-early 21st century.
In other words, this whole report was a waste of time.
Read the Mitchell Report in its entirety [mlb.com]
That’s it. Geoff Johns is officially my favorite super hero comics writer. The former assistant to Richard Donner has scribed what is unequivocally the most entertaining story told in the comic medium this year.
I just finished Green Lantern #25, the final chapter of “The Sinestro Corps War,” and my mind is blown to bits of brain matter. Disappointing endings have become a disturbing trend in entertainment these days. Not for this epic space opera. It’s hard to imagine a better payoff to a 6 month storyline than what the Green Lantern creative teams have given us here. GL #25 may very well be the best single comic issue in years.
Troy Brownfield over at Newsarama has nailed down most of my feelings about the story in his review:
Green Lantern #25 stands out as an adrenaline-fueled kick. I can envision Geoff Johns pounding away at the keyboard, cackling with glee. This is a giant popcorn movie on paper, a summer film that ran all the way until Christmas. It’s probably not going to change the course of human history. It’s not Pynchon or Joyce. But it’s a very entertaining, action-packed burst of cathartic “it’s time for the good guys to lay the beat down” energy.
And then, of course, there’s the icing. The last two pages are reserved for what’s become one of Johns’s favorite tricks since Justice Society of America #1. If you see that trailer and don’t either laugh in appreciation at the audacity of it or drop your jaw in “That’s crazy!” admiration, then you’re no fun at parties.
Green Lantern #25 is exactly what it should be: a bold, splashy, unabashedly over-the-top cosmic super-hero entertainment of epic proportions.
If you enjoy any of the following: space operas, comics, super heroes, or action movies - you owe it to yourself to read this instant classic.
Read Newsarama’s review of Green Lantern #25 [newsarama]
In a move that even our British internet video friend would not accept, the RIAA is now claiming that MP3s that you have ripped from CDs you have purchased are unauthorized copies. That’s right, the very existence of digital music in the-file-format-which-must-not-be-named is an affront to all that is lawful and just. Forget about the fact that RIAA lawyers have already admitted ripping CDs for personal use is legal. Hypocrisy is only a speed bump on the path to oblivion.
I know I said I would not be surprised at anything the record labels do anymore, but come on. Really? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the real record labels have anything to do with the RIAA anymore other than in name. As clueless as the major record label heads are, there is no way any sane person can fail to see what a detriment to health of the music industry the RIAA is. What exactly is it trying to do here? Even if they win every pending lawsuit, do they really think people are going back to buying cartloads of $18 CDs just like the good ol’ days?
Nay, the RIAA is a monster that is out of the control of those who have created it. But unlike horrific human creations such as the Cylons or Terminators, the RIAA becomes less terrifying and more cuddly with each action it takes.
via [gizmodo]
via [recording industry vs. the people]
Naughty Dog’s inaugural Playstation 3 effort, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune has been hotly anticipated as one of the pillars of Sony’s 2007 holiday lineup for the embattled system. The creators of Jak and Daxter continue their tradition of creating new franchises for new generations of Playstation hardware by putting forth one of the best titles of the year on any platform.
Uncharted combines intense cover-based combat with fluid platforming to create a gameplay experience that’s just plain fun. It also doesn’t hurt that the game boasts some of the greatest graphics in a video game this side of Crysis, along with a stellar presentation comparable to a summer blockbuster film. The game is definitely the best single-player game released on the Playstation 3 thus far and a good reason to “play b3yond.”
Continue reading ‘Review: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune’
The Copyright Royalty Board just finalized the new royalty rates that satellite radio providers will pay for the next 5 years.
Under the terms of the CRB Satellite Radio Services, XM will pay a performance license rate of 6.0% of those gross revenues subject to the fees for 2007 and 2008, 6.5% for 2009, 7.0% for 2010, 7.5% for 2011 and 8.0% for 2012.
This seems like a pretty sweet deal for XM and Sirius, with a modest rate increase over 6 years. Gary Parsens, chairman of XM radio seems pretty ecstatic over the decision:
“Moreover, the music performance fees set by the CRB are in the range projected by many financial analysts who cover this industry.”
Now, while satellite radio isn’t a money printing enterprise, it sure as hell has a lot more revenue generation going on for it than internet radio. OEM partnerships with a multitude of automobile manufacturers, portable devices, aftermarket add-ons for existing automobiles, internet subscriptions, the list goes on. Would someone care to explain to me how on earth the CRB decided the internet radio royalty increases were the least bit fair in light of this? Not only is the CRB/SoundExchange imposing a higher royalty rate on internet radio, they aren’t even offering the option of a revenue-based royalty payment scheme.
wat.
Read more [money.cnn.com]
This morning, a wholly unexpected press release went out announcing that Activision and Vivendi/Universal Games (including Blizzard entertainment) are set to merge, creating the largest game-publisher in the world. The new company will be boringly named “Activision Blizzard”.
So now we have Activision Blizzard, EA, Ubisoft, THQ, and 2k Games.
Hmm… this uncannily looks like Universal Music, Sony Music, BMG, EMI, and Warner…
RUH ROH SHAGGY
Read the press release [busineswire]
Read the Blizzard FAQ [blizzard.com]
You know that “whoa” feeling you get when you’re watching the second season of a television series and a character or event happens that ties seamlessly back with the first season? This sort of payoff is a big part of what makes serialized content so appealing. Shows like Lost and The X-Files were always maligned for being impossible to jump in the middle of. It’s hard to cannonball into these shows because the creators have spent so much time building the mythos, that not knowing this history severely impacts the enjoyment one can derive from a given episode. Fans of these shows, though, will tell you that the payoff from these shows is infinitely more satisfying than from episodic shows (Law and Order), or even season-contained series like Heroes or 24.The reason I bring this up is because I just got caught up with Geoff Johns and Dave Gibbons’ summer blockbuster comic storyline,
The Sinestro Corps War. It’s one of the most entertaining experiences I’ve had all year in
any medium. The Sinestro Corps War is the comics equivalent of a well-done summer action flick. I found myself in an interesting position with this story because I’ve never been much of a Green Lantern reader. I’ve read one or two GL storylines in my life, but by no means am I a regular reader. However, the writers have woven in characters from previous DC mega-stories which I
have read. If DC’s goal was to get non-Green Lantern readers to start reading the books, they would have achieved it unquestionably.
Now, barely anyone I know reads comics, but almost everyone follows some sort of TV series. I sorely want to tell everyone I know about this story because I want them to experience the same sense of “fuck yeah!” I had, but I question what its impact will be on a person who knows nothing of the characters. In a sense, comics to the non-reader are like Lost to a non-watcher. It’s too daunting or too disorienting to start in the middle, but comics have an added problem of always being “in the middle.” Comics are essentially television series that have been going on for over 40 years. I imagine publishers are constantly trying to figure out a balance between appeasing long-time readers and getting new blood in, but I really don’t think you can truly duplicate a long-term payoff without diluting the experience.
It’ll probably have to wait until we can download experiences directly into our minds before I can fully share with others what makes comics so awesome.
Bloomberg recently reported that AOL, Yahoo!, and Pandora are considering shutting down their internet radio operations due to the continued refusal of SoundExchange (the arm of the RIAA that collects royalty fees) to lower their preposterous royalty rate increases for song plays.
Siding with the music companies, the board in March ordered that royalties be raised to 0.11 cent for each song listened to from 0.08 cent last year. The rate is scheduled to reach 0.19 cent in 2010.
“The current math doesn’t add up,” said Lisa Namerow, managing director of AOL Radio in Dulles, Virginia. “If the rates remain as they are, it would be very challenging to sustain a business that is profitable.”
It may seem trivial when we are talking about fractions of a cent, but keep in mind this is for each play of each song for each user. When you start multiplying millions by thousands, you’re talking about significant number of pennies per year. Don’t forget that the rates are essentially doubling in the span of a few years.
The thing that caught my eye was the revelation that both Yahoo and AOL experienced a 10-11% decline in users last month. The Bloomberg report says it was due to AOL and Yahoo not linking to their radio sites anymore, but I’m still able to see links from their respective music home pages. Perhaps both companies pulled advertising or intra-site promotions. Regardless, this development is very troublesome and a portent of doom for the nascent internet radio industry.
Continue reading ‘Internet Radio Sucks It From SoundExchange’
Odi et amo. I love and I hate. No blockbuster game this holiday season has created a big of a schism between gamers as Assassin’s Creed has. Much brouhaha has been unleashed upon the internet gaming community between the two entrenched camps of people who either loved the game or hated it. Regardless of critics’ opinions of the game, the fact remains that Ubisoft Montreal’s big-budget production is one of the most anticipated games of 2007.
From the time I viewed the incredible initial trailer of the game, I had it filed away under my short list of “must purchase” game titles this year. As release date neared, though, the increasingly negative buzz that emanated from early reviews and word of mouth nearly swayed my decision. However, after tempering my expectations and finding a great deal on the game ($39.99 from Fry’s), I took the plunge anyway. I’m not regretting the purchase one bit.
While being far from perfect, Assassin’s Creed is still a genuinely entertaining video game title. The presentation, graphics, animation, and plot are some of the best seen on the medium. However, several flaws keep it from being the true “must-play” experience it was hyped up to be. Nevertheless, Ubisoft has a great first entry in what should become one of their flagship franchises.
Continue reading ‘Review: Assassin’s Creed’
