I have been a long time advocate of the brilliant website Last.fm. It wasn’t so long ago that I was listening to the site while writing a post on azureblues.com.

But now I’m a little suspicious.

A recent post on Tech Crunch asked the question, “Did Last.fm hand over listening data” to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). More specifically information about the playing of the new U2 album before it’s been released.

In a nutshell, the RIAA could track down people, by using Last.fm data, who have played the U2 album after “stealing” it via bittorrent.

That’s fair enough except for the fact that U2′s record companies’ Australian branch accidentally released it early for purchase online.

RIAA and Last.fm have since emerged to deny all of these allegations. But the damage is done.

Trust takes a long time to build in this internet game. I think in this case the mud may have stuck a little.

I’ll be turning off the scrobling software running on my pc (software that logs tracks you’ve listened to and uploads the information to Last.fm).

It was a great service while it lasted. But until I receive assurances (not just quotes in forums) from Last.fm they’ll not be getting my information. Broad usage data is fine. They can make all the money in the world from it as far as I’m concerned, but just don’t give unique data to outside companies.

Privacy is king.

It’s still a great site though.

Moving from analogue or film photography took a long and painful time for me. It was the smell as you opened the film canister. It was the satisfying click and motor sounds as you reel off each shot. The holding of the breath as you take your first peek at the developed images.

Digital doesn’t have the mystique. Don’t get me wrong. I love my digital EOS. But I really loved my old one.

I have fond memories of my Dad breaking out his pristine Polaroid instant camera and just marvelling as the photo developed as if by magic in front of our eyes. The colours were amazing.

All of that is gone now. We take our memory cards and wander down to the local department store. Load up a machine. Click to order. Done. No surprises.

That was until I found this. The Impossible Project.

These guys have re-leased a Polaroid instant film making factory and aim to bring it back in a newer, more advanced, more modern way. Their aim is to breath new life into the classic instant cameras of the past. And it appears they’re backed by photographic big boy Ilford.

Lovely.

They’re looking for help. Sign up at their website and they’ll let you know what they need. They’re aiming for 2010.

Any chemical engineers out their?

Again in my boredom or more accurately my pracrastinative state, I perused the venerable youtube. I came across some clips put together by people. Funny about that. This internet thing is so clever, but it’ll never catch on.

Anyway I digress. These clips were cut together pieces of movies under the title “funniest movie scenes ever“. Big call. They had the usual suspects – Mike Myers, that guy from Rush Hour (not Jackie Chan), Ron Burgundy, and some Monty Python. Funny? Yes. Original? Maybe not, except for the goonish Monty Python blokes.

So I’ve had another peek to see if I can find some of my favourites:

Peter Sellers asking about a dog

Sorry…Peter Sellers at a Party

Who’s on first?

Steve Zissou does his dance

Oh, I could go on, but I can’t find the clips.

Except for 1 of my top 2:

Fast forward to 4 minutes and see a slapstick master in action (the rest of the clips are great as well)

My other favourite is of Bill Murray’s Bob Harris character in Lost in Translation. He’s on some gym equipment and it’s running backwards while yelling at him in Japanese (if you find the clip send it to me!).

Anyhoo – I’m sure you won’t find my favourites as funny as your favourites, but that’s just taste. Enjoy.

I read on a blog somewhere, some chatter about Tomizone. Users of iiNet are likely to be aware of the link between the two. But if you have no idea what I’m talking about then here’s the abridged version.

• Take one broadband connection from a participating isp.
• Take one Tomizone compatible router.
• Load up the Tomizone firmware.
• Share your internet connection with the world.
• Earn 50% of the income generated by sharing said connection.

Now the earnings may be ok if you get a bit of traffic past your place, like near the MCG or a busy shopping strip. You’ll be looking at 1/2 of the $3 hour pass/$6 day pass/$30 week pass, as long as the user remains connected to your router. You get pro-rata otherwise.

When you sign up for Tomizone you appear on their map. Just type in your location and shazaam!

Then comes the problaymos!

I thought I’d give the system a go. I typed in my location and found some likely culprits. I then trundled around and like a stalker tried to connect to their hotspot.

Hotspot #1: No hotspot found. Nice. Great to see that the Tomizone map is up to date or could the signal be too weak? Hang on I’ll just climb their back fence and get a little closer. It Rubs The Lotion On It’s Skin. Nah, not doin’ it.

Hotspot #2: Hotspot found! Huzzah! Connecting…failed to connect…wait…connecting…Back fence again? Nah.

Hotspot #3: No hotspot found. Big dog peering through the fence. Definately no back fence action.

So there lies the erm…rub.

People shell out for these “Tomizone” routers and expect to recoup the costs. But the fact of the matter is that if you want to earn cashola you’ll need to upgrade the antenna and make sure you live in a decently trafficked area.

The other side of the coin is that if a road warrior wants to use your connection they have to park outside of your house like they’re casing the joint. Some people may not be comfortable doing that.

I reckon the most legitimate way to go is to get the big antenna or repeater and do a letter drop in to the neighbours. They don’t need to know it’s you but it may get you some cash from their casual use and they won’t feel like stalking.

When you should be doing some work on the old ‘puter, we all end up glazing over and clicking on random links and googling random things.

That’s when I stumbled across a great site called Etsy.

If you’re looking for a gift that is unique, or more particularly handmade, then this is the site for you.

The idea is that if you’re an “artist” you can create an account with these guys and set up your store. You then pay just 20 cents to list an item for 4 months. On top of that Etsy takes a 3.5% sliver for each sale. Nice and cheap.

What can you sell?

• Items handmade by you.
• Commercial and handmade craft supplies.
• Vintage items older than 20 years . Nice slacks!

Etsy.com also utilises some nice features on their site, one of which is the Shop Local feature. Just type your location (e.g. Melbourne ~100 shops) and it will search the ~170,000 shops to find the ones closest to you.

Or use the graphical Colour picker. This helps find gifts that match a colour. Nice touch.

All of these great buying tools are logically placed in the “Buy” section. Creepy.

Azureblues on Etsy.com

As for the selling side of things, I’ve already told you about the costs. As for the funcionality, I’ll try and find someone who’s using it and get back to you. But from the outside looking in, the “shop” Etsy provides is neatly laid out and I’m sure, easy to set up.

Well, check back at some stage and I’ll have a seller to chat to.

Overall, Etsy.com, Nice.