Mad Fold-Ins

The New York Times has a nifty homage to the back cover fold-ins of Mad Magazine.

The page is in a slideshow type format; click on the right-hand side and "pull" the image to the left, folding it over as you would do the magazine to reveal the hidden message.

My mom used to buy Mad Magazines for me and my sisters when she would go to the grocery store. The mag was then a hilariously funny satire of popular culture and politics, but in the last several years has slanted so far to the left that, a few years ago when I showed my mom an issue I had bought, she threw it in the trash basket.

Mad Fold-Ins

Embedding a YouTube Video

May Cost You a Bundle in ASCAP Bills

Fresh off a court victory against Google's YouTube, ASCAP tells us it is setting its sights on users of the video-sharing site. Welcome to the exciting world of copyright licensing, blogger; you may already owe gobs of money!

ASCAP licenses the performance rights for music, collecting royalties for its songwriter members when their songs are played in certain contexts.

Those contexts now include a YouTube video embedded on your blog or website, assuming your site is not "purely" non-commercial and is deemed large enough by ASCAP. The group just sent a collection letter to internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis (pictured) for YouTube videos embedded on his Mahalo reference site. Based on what the group told Valleywag, other startups should be worried:

"ASCAP does not offer licenses to – or require licenses from – those who simply make their personal blogs available on purely noncommercial Web sites. Mahalo.com is a larger venture than simply a personal blog, and therefore ASCAP is engaged in discussions with Mr. Calacanis concerning the use of ASCAP members' music on the site."

ASCAP sent collection letters to other website owners in the spring; YouTube told recipients to refer the group back to YouTube. But then a judge ruled Google owed ASCAP $1.6 million while a court fight between the two sides over licensing drags on. At some point, website owners are going to start wondering how much longer Google will offer to handle all the legal complaints over YouTube embeds — and just how many songs they've embedded over the years and now owe royalties on.

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I'm not worried; they can't get blood out of a turnip, and my own defense would be this: How am I to know whether someone posting a YT vid has permission or not?

YouTube does a pretty good job of policing this stuff as seen in so many videos I've posted being taken down.

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You Tube has this to say:

There have been a few questions in the forum regarding ASCAP and we wanted to provide our perspective on the issue. We have become aware of yet another misguided effort on the part of ASCAP to double dip--this time by pressuring third-party websites which embed YouTube videos to pay royalties to ASCAP. We believe there is no legal basis for ASCAP's position because YouTube itself is currently licensed by ASCAP pursuant to its application made under the antitrust consent decree that governs ASCAP's operations. The license requested by YouTube covers all US public performances of ASCAP music in YouTube videos from YouTube's servers all the way through to the end user, regardless of whether a third-party website is embedding the YouTube player. We believe that YouTube has already cleared any necessary public performance rights for US playbacks of ASCAP songs, and ASCAP's attempt to collect an additional payment from another party for the very same stream is not credible.

Regards,

YouTube Team

Hail, South Dakota!

From Wiki:

Hail! South Dakota! (1943) is the official state song of South Dakota, selected by popular vote. It was written and composed by DeeCort Hammitt (1893-1970).

Lyrics (midi file, so you can sing along)

Hail! South Dakota! a great state of the land;
Health, wealth and beauty, that's what makes her grand;
She has her Black Hills, and mines with gold so rare,
And with her scenery, no other state can compare.

Come where the sun shines, and where life's worth your while;
You won't be here long, till you'll wear a smile;
No state's so healthy, and no folk quite so true.
To South Dakota we welcome you.

Hail! South Dakota! the state we love the best,
Land of our fathers, builders of the west;
Home of the Badlands, and Rushmore's ageless shrine,
Black Hills and prairies, farmland and sunshine.
Hills, farms and prairies, blessed with bright sunshine.

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What's this got to do with this blog, one more-or-less devoted to this part of Texas? Well, South Dakota is the only state that's not represented by a visitor since I put in the state Flag Counter at the bottom of the page a couple of months ago. North Dakota was the next-to-last state, but someone from there visited yesterday. (thanks for the heads-up, Barb!)

I don't know what it was that kept that part of the country from visiting; decency and good sense, I reckon.

Maybe, just maybe, Google will index this soon and someone from the state will be searching for the lyrics or melody and click on the link. If it doesn't, then I'll title a post "South Dakota Gay Dwarfs Who Love Their Sister's Feet".

That'll bring 'em from all over, betcha.

(although "out of the woodwork" isn't a state)

No Cap on My Luck!

I just won a bottle opener from Marlboro, similar to this one ->

I don't drink beer and the sodas I do drink are in cans, so....

Sure wish it could've been the gold, or the car, or even the box of meat.

Better that than a date with the Marlboro Man, I guess.

Anyway, I already have a similar bottle opener, only it's a Dr. Pepper one.

I thought it an antique, but...

...they're at Amazon for $7.95.

As long as I don't have to run in 'em

You Are Running Shorts

You are an energetic and hyper person. You are always on the go. You are driven and motivated. You can always make it to the finish line. You're confident and self-assured. You know you're not perfect, but you're pretty darn happy with who you are. You are conscientious and responsible. You are able to do the right thing, even when it's not the easy thing.

What Kind of Shorts Are You?

Short Shorts - The Royal Teens

Free Money!

From the site:

Fifteen different free printable play money designs that you can download and print. Teach your kids how to count money. Let them set up a pretend bank or store. Or print out a small fortune and roll around on the floor in it: it's not as valuable as the real thing, but it's much easier to come by!



Printable Play Money