the air

I know I have not posted in a while, but I can assure I will return. I am currently involved some matters that are preventing me from posting anything on this blog legally. As soon as the matter is resolved, I will provide further details. It is my hope to be able to provide intermittent explanations in the next coming days. I apologize to anyone who is inconvenienced by this. Thank you.

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For the first time, a major music label, EMI Group, has begun offering DRM-free music across its entire library and available through iTunes. The only downside to this move is the fact that you will have to pay US$1.29 for the DRM free versions. Should you wish to pay less, you may still purchase tracks at $0.99, but they will be hampered by DRM. Although I do not see this move countering piracy significantly because of price, I do expect more people to migrate to iTunes.

Essentially, this allows you to purchase EMI music from iTunes and use your own digital music player. You still will not be able to synchronize any music device, other than the Apple branded music players, with iTunes. However, you can buy music through iTunes and use your current software to upload music to your audio player. The biggest question is whether the other major labels will follow suit. I expect them to follow a similar path, perhaps cautiously and to test the waters.

The main obstacle here will be the price of the new DRM-free songs. Since both Apple and EMI have agreed to a higher price structure, there won’t necessarily be a dip in piracy. In fact, what these companies will see is the fact that most consumers who purchase music will probably opt for the DRM-free version and continue to solidify iTunes market share. In a way, I think this is a great move for Apple because it now allows them to cater to consumers who are unwilling to purchase an iPod. Additionally, the iTunes brand itself can now become a self-sustained business unit without depending on iPod sales. Could we see the beginning of iTunes connecting to other non-Apple branded products? I highly doubt that, but now Apple does have a marketing tool to say that you can buy your music from one store and take it across a multitude of products.

Thankfully, EMI Group has opted for the AAC standard and not some other bogus standard. As more stores are authorized to resell DRM-free music, you can expect formats to be in WMA and MP3, or even other formats. In my opinion, I really don’t care whether it is in AAC or MP3 since most audio players on the market can handle both formats. The only difference is that AAC is something that Apple pushes in its digital audio players. By allowing the end consumer more flexibility, the EMI Group and Apple have opened doors to a brighter future where more people may be inclined to purchase their music rather than download them illegally. Hopefully both parties agree on the fact that prices must fall considerably before anyone is willing to ditch free music.

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March has been quite an interesting month for me. Not only was it filled with some surprising moments, it also marked somewhat of a downturn in my blog. Much of the shortcomings for this month can be attributed to the fact that I became extremely busy with my school work and I could not afford to spare precious moments to write on this blog. I think it is significantly better to write quality posts rather than maintain a post-per-day that has absolutely no quality to it. To offset the possibility of losing all the readers, I decided to run a contest as well. Although there are some things that I wish I did a bit differently, everything about this month has been quite successful and I’m very thankful for that.

Failed Goal

I did not successfully accomplish my goal of having at least one post per day. Although I did average a little more than one post per day, I was unable to write daily. Throughout this blog, you will notice that I strongly emphasize the fact that every successful blogger should have at least one fresh post per day or maintain some sort of consistency. I chose my consistent platform to be one post per day. The biggest obstacle I have had in the past couple of weeks has been the amount of increasing work due to courses. I have so many projects due and meetings that sometimes, I have no choice but to start sacrificing tasks which are not essential to school. Even in the days ahead, I am looking at significant problems due to school and there is a strong likelihood that I will have no choice but to miss days writing posts.

March Contest

This is by far one of the most important highlights of the month regarding this blog. I started this contest as a way to not only alleviate the burden of writing daily, but also a way to increase traffic. All in all, it was a successful contest because I was able to increase the amount of readers and it taught me to have a bit of a thicker skin. Apparently, there were a few folks who thought my contest was a way of “trying too hard” to gain readership. It was even suggested that I run a contest once my blog is more popular. My only answer to that point is the fact that it does not matter when I run my contest. I’m not here to simply bribe people. Rather, it was my hope to create more awareness about my blog and it worked. Those who criticized my move were aware of my site and came to visit. In my opinion, my goal was accomplished and there is a lucky winner. I decided to give someone a gift certificate from Amazon because I feel they have some good deals and free shipping. Essentially, the winner of the contest can buy something and not pay a single penny for shipping. Overall, I am pleased and a huge thank you to Jennifer Lynn over at BrokeAss-Student for advertising my contest.

Blog Improvements

I also spent some time this month improving certain areas of The Air. Most importantly, I revamped the layout of the Must Reads section, which is now known as The World of Air. I realized that the older layout was simply too congested and did not present the material in a pleasing way. I also added a module to the sidebar known as The Air Club, which will basically link some of the best articles I feel I have written. Although the World of Air also has similar content, I think The Air Club will also be used to highlight posts of special interest. Generally speaking, I’m not quite sure where The Air Club will evolve into, but I am willing to try new things and see where they lead to.

New Technology

For the first time, I got a chance to try out both Microsoft Office 2007 and Windows Live Writer. Both applications (Word 2007 in the Office Suite) allow me to publish directly to my blog without the need to login to my blog and type away. The advantage to this is the fact that I can write several posts in advance and save them for later, all on my computer. I don’t think either application will completely replace the need to login to my blog since there are tons more administrative features on my blog that I cannot control through another application. I think using Word 2007 to publish my posts is a great idea since it checks spelling and grammar at the same time, unlike Windows Live Writer. I realize that although I am using Word 2007/Windows Live Writer, I am still unable to write daily. However, the spare moments that I do have, I do write partial posts and as soon as I complete them, I publish them.

Flights

The past two months have shown me great things about myself and this blog. I was able to win two scholarships, one for independent research and the other for academic merit. I am very pleased with the progress I have made academically and I thank everyone for playing a role in my success. You may not believe it, but you too have contributed to my success by just visiting my blog and encouraging (directly or indirectly) to continue writing and never giving up. As April swings into full motion, it is my hope to be able to post daily and see how things progress. I think some of my new goals for this blog will be to increase the number of readers, start moving up on the Technorati scale, and try to find ways so that there is more lively discussion in the comments section. I think I have a few ideas of how to go about doing so and I cannot wait to see how the month of April unfolds.

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Apparently my dad found out about my deal with the Los Angeles firm and he become very upset. I think what really irriated him was the fact that I wanted to buy a BMW and not pay off my loans. In addition, he called up the firm and threatened legal action, claiming that his son, me, is not mature enough to enter into any legally binding contract.

Thanks DAD!

I guess The Air is no longer dry. I shall return soon with more posts. Happy April Fool’s Day!

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Effective immediately, The Air has been purchased by a joint-venture based in Los Angeles for a rather large fee. They wish to use this blog as a way to talk about their products and services on cleaning the air. Unfortunately, due to legal bindings, I am unable to tell you the name of the firm, the produces/services they will/are offering, and for what price I sold them this blog. I want to take the time to thank everyone who has read my blog and I really appreciate you taking the time to visit.

Rest assured that I will return with a new blog that will be even better than this one. Unfortunately, the name The Air will be trademarked and I will not be able to use it ever again. For those of you who are wondering, I plan to have a new blog ready to go by the end of the month. Although it will only take me a few days to set up a new blog, I want to take the next few days and go on a small shopping splurge. My first stop will be Knauz BMW to buy my very first BMW 330xi. Luckily, I don’t have to take a loan on it. I still can’t drop out of school, but at least I can go to class in a nice flashy car. I’m also planning to replace my entire wardrobe with more fancier clothing.

Thank you once again and I look forward to seeing many of you soon. I had a blast learning about SEO and improving every aspect of my blog. Once my new blog is up and running, the company that purchased this blog has granted me permission to put a small notice of the change. Goodbye for now and god speed to everyone.

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