Free B-Movies for IPod

Public domain Torrents has links to more than 500 movies in the public domain available for download via BitTorrent. Most are compatible with the video iPod.

There’s a lot of silent-era stuff, but also a rich vein of kitsch trash, including clunkers from Ed Wood (Plan 9 from Outer Space), George Romero (Night of the Living Dead) and a Russian psychotronic/cult/camp sci-fi oddity called Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women.

King of Kong Island seems typical. According to the IMDB review:

An Italian Spanish Co-production with America’s own Dick Randall involved in the ‘presenting’- King of Kong Island mixes horror movie, nudie-cutie and jungle adventure with toppings of National Geographic stock footage- all set to a jungle beat of exotica.

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Video Art On Video IPods

An exhibition of video art is to be presented entirely on video iPods at the Fine Art in Space gallery in Long Island City, NY.

PodART will feature the work of several multimedia artists whose work has been reformatted for the iPod, including MTAA and Marisa Olson.

The show is “the first group exhibition of video art intended to be viewed and sold solely on the iPod. Apple, the computer of choice by much of the art world is the inspiration for our new exhibition,” a press release says.

The artwork will be sold at the show, pre-installed on an iPod. “Each video object is a limited edition and is sold in iPod format with the player,” the release says. No pricing is given.

The exhibition runs December 9, 2005, to January 17, 2006. The opening reception is December 9, 7pm to 9pm.

(Thanks Walt)

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IPod Underwear

Underwear with an iPod pocket: the iBoxer — only $22 apiece.

The Play iBox Solid Boxer is an ideal knit boxer for trendy, gadget-savvy music lovers. Made from a cotton/spandex blend, this button fly boxer has a discrete front pocket which is perfect for holding your iPod, other mp3 players or your cell phone. This Play iBox Boxer is available in solid fashion colors and the solid waistband features a racing stripe and the Play logos. If you buy 2 pairs of the Play iBox Boxer, you’ll receive 3 free iTunes. iPod not included with purchase.

(Thanks Chris Uriarte)

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Money For Old Rope

What a great phrase “Money for old rope” is. And as writer/editor Giles Turnbull notes, half the new shows on the iTMS are exactly that — dreadful old crap with little but nostalgia value. And they’ll probably sell like crazy.

“The cost of licencing and converting old TV shows to a suitable digital format is a fraction of the cost of making new shows, or licencing the rights to use shows that are broadcast in peak time right now.

This is money for old rope. The iPod generation is being wooed into spending money on old content it has already seen and in many cases already paid for. Just as we bought CD copies of albums we’d already bought on tape or vinyl, and in some cases then bought the same tracks again on the iTMS. The same thing, purchased three times! That sort of brand loyalty makes record and TV company executives smile.

There’s a perceived value in nostalgia. People of my generation get a warm feeling when they hear those late 70s / early 80s new wave hits. And the same applies to some TV shows…”

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Forget Copy Protection, Bands Need P2P

Damian Kulash Jr., lead singer for the band OK Go, argues convincingly that in this day and age, file-sharing is essential for his band’s success.

In the New York Times, He writes:

“To be clear, I certainly don’t encourage people to pirate our music. I have poured my life into my band, and after two major label records, our accountants can tell you that we’re not real rock stars yet. But before a million people can buy our record, a million people have to hear our music and like it enough to go looking for it. That won’t happen without a lot of people playing us for their friends, which, in turn, won’t happen without a fair amount of file sharing.

As it happened, for a variety of reasons, our label didn’t put copy-protection software on our album. What a shame, though, that so many bands aren’t as fortunate.”

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IPod Jacking: A True Love Story

Eric Wolfe, a 17-year-old senior, met his girlfriend when he “jacked” into her iPod in a darkened cinema.

IPod jacking is when two strangers swap headphone jacks to sample each others’ music. It’s one way to discover new music, and can be used to break the ice. IPod jacking was a lot easier when iPods were rarer, and the white earbuds signified membership of an exclusive club.

Eric is from La Quinta, California, near Palm Springs. He met his girlfriend, Bailey Smith, at an outside mall called “The River,” which has a movie theater.

Here’s Eric’s story, as told via a recent IM-terview (which I’ve lightly edited to make it easier to read):

ERIC: so i was here at “the river” with a couple friends
i had my ipod on me, like i always do, (it’s as normal as taking my wallet)
and i saw a girl walk into the movie theatre with her friends….. i notice the famous white earbuds and knew she had an ipod.

i convinced my friends to move down a couple rows closer to the screen

so when i was walking down i plugged in my earbuds and put on a cute song real quick i thought she might like….. i sat 2 seats to her side
i waited till she glanced over at me( i was kidna lucky she ever did)
so i looked back at her and put on a small smile and said hi
she seemed friendly
so i asked what she was listening to while taking out her headphone and plugging in mine
she was a little confused at first but then laughed when she realized what i was doing

ME: cheeky

haha yeah…. i was kinda nervous but i pulled it off
we only had a couple minutes to introduce introduce each other and talk about music before the movie started
but that’s pretty much it…. i got her screenname
before we left

ME: what was the song you chose for her to listen to?

hopeless love by daphne loves derby

ME: and what was she listening to?

dark blue by jack’s mannequin

ME: so you approved of each other’s taste in music?

she liked what i had, i wasn’t too fond of jack’s mannequin, but its grown on me since

ME: how long you been going out?

3 months
a little over

ME: you have any other ipod jacking stories?

just one other… i “kinda” knew the girl though
she was an old friend’s little sister
i just used it to “break the ice”… it seemed more interesting than saying “hey, are you josh’s little sister?”

ME: so — you’re a serial jacker?

haha

ME: what kind of music do u like? name a couple of bands.

a thorn for every heart, boys night out, the academy is, armor for sleep, bloc party, brand new, dashboard confessional, the early november, emery, the faint, halifax, hellogoodbye, mae, matchbook romance, motion city soundtrack, northstar, panic! at the disco, park, the plain white t’s, the postal service, silverstein
typical ‘emo’ stuff
that was a bit more than a couple, but thats just off the top of my head

ME: so it’s a good way to approach girls?

most definitely

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Thin protection for iPod nano

This case for the iPod nano is swedish and designed by Johan von Konow.

It’s very thin – only 0.3 mm – which feels like a high priority for a case that surrounds a nano. Four colors to choose from, the three seen above and one transparent.

A smart feature is the holder for the earbud cable on the back of the case. Only available in Sweden right now, unfortunately.

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Dozen New TV Shows on iTMS

So I just woke up and see that Apple is offering about a dozen new TV shows for download from NBC, USA Network and the Sci Fi Channel. Sorry for being the last person on the Net to post this.

The new shows include:

NBC’s “Law & Order,” “The Office,” “Surface,” “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,”

the USA Network’s Emmy Award-winning “Monk”

Sci-Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica”

classic TV shows including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Dragnet,” “Adam-12” and “Knight Rider.”

Pricing is a bit weird. Entire episodes of “Law & Order” cost $1.99, but so does a 10-minute clip of Conan O’Brien.

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Sony’s Rootkit Could Convert Tunes To Apple’s Fairplay!!!!??

CNET:

The Princeton researchers that have done much of the work deconstructing SonyBMG’s recent controversial copy protection software have found an interesting new tidbit. According to their new findings, the Sony software had a hidden component that could convert songs from the CD, or other ordinary MP3s, into a file compatible with Apple’s copy protected FairPlay format.

That would mean that the songs could be played on iPods, which hasn’t been the case with copy protected CDs in the past. It apparently accomplishes this by using open-source, yet copyrighted code, a practice deemed a no-no in programming circles.

It’s not yet clear how this came about. Record labels have hoped to establish compatibility with the iPod for their copy protected CDs for some time, and EMI Music has even said that its CDs are close to reaching that point. Apple, for its part, denied EMI’s contention.

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Britain’s Indie Labels Embrace Podcasting

This is a big deal:

Britain’s independent music labels are about to make music available for podcasts, reports the BBC. Britain’s indie acts include Franz Ferdinand and The Prodigy.

Songs by acts signed to UK indie record labels are to be made available to podcasters on a trial basis.

The Association of Independent Music is selling six-month worldwide licence deals for its members’ music to be used on download radio programmes.

… “We believe there will be huge global demand for the AIM podcast licence,” (said an AIM spokeswoman)

As one of the BBC’s interviewees points out: “I see podcasting and subscription services as playing a big role in where the music consumer wants to go.”

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