हिंदी में मेरी पहली ब्लोग। ब्लॉगर में अंग्रेजी के अलावा पहली भाषा हिंदी डाली गयी है।
बीबीसी से खबर है के एक संगीत ग्रुप ने एवरेस्ट (या सागरमथा) के करीब बुलंदी पे कांसर्ट पेश किया। पता नही अगर इतनी कम आक्सीजन वाली हवा में जाके इन कलाकारो की धुन भी ना बदल गयी हो।
ये वर्ल्ड रेकॉर्ड तोड़ने और चन्दा इकठ्ठा करने के लिए किया गया। आगे की खबर इस साइट पे है।
Right at this moment is occurring, what is being said to be, the biggest entertainment event ever held on the planet. It had to be this big because it's about the planet. Started by SOS (Save our selves), the messaging campaign and larger movement, Live Earth is a series of concerts all over the earth to be held today 7.7.07, over 24 hours following the dateline that traverses the earth. There are performances on all continents, starting with Sydney - Australia, then going on to Tokyo, Japan; Shanghai, China; Hamburg, Germany; London, UK; Johannesburg, South Africa; New York, USA; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; and some others.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore (The Inconvenient Truth) and Kevin Wall, founders of the SOS movement are behind this event. They have roped in some of the most famous names in World Music into this event, some including Madonna (see video below) composing exclusive songs for the concert.
Hey you - by Madonnna (official Live Earth Video)
A major aim of this concert, which Al Gore admitted is aiming very high, is to have 2 billion people worldwide sign on to the 7 point pledge helping the movement. The pledge reads:
I PLEDGE:
To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become “carbon neutral;”
To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
There's more in the Larry King Live interview of Al Gore available below
Note: the above video may become unavailable, then you can find it here.
Walking the talk A lot of people including the LiveAid concert founder Bob Geldof have criticised the concerts. There is a concern that the event itself is a sort of contributor to global warming considering all the energy used. The organisers though, are doing their best to 'walk the talk'. One of the initiatives has been to offer public transport vouchers with the concert tickets to all audience so they leave their cars at home.
Another very interesting thing I noted was that the official website www.liveearth.org is 'Green Hosted'. It's hosted by AISO.net which "is the only 100% solar powered data center in the world".
Still, I can't help being reminded of some lyrics, that one of my favorite singers, Sting (who, incidentally is also performing in this concert with his former band, Police), wrote in his album Soul Cages:
"A government saved a dying planet / when popular icons failed"
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, may have one of the most used DRM (Digital Rights Management) methods in the music industry, but he insists that he is against it. DRM is a little bit of software that is part of the music track, which determines whether the music track will play - on which player device, on which date, how many times etc. Due to these restrictions, frustrated users also call this (perhaps more accurately) Digital Restrictions Management.
Apple has been getting the flak for supporting this concept, by selling DRM-music on its iTunes online store. Various consumer groups in many European nations have started court proceedings to have DRM removed or else stop iTunes from operating there. Steve Jobs hates to be the bad guy, after all he's supposed to be customer friendly and cool. So he's written an essay, Thoughts on music, clarifying his stand, basically stating that it's not Apple's fault and it's the record companies that deserve the blame (some of which are, incidentally, European).
It's a case of the middleman griping at being the middleman. Between the music artists and their listening consumers lie a number of middlemen including agents, marketing firms, accountants, music video producers, record companies, distributors, retailers etc., each taking their cut of the profits. Now, Information Technology, by its nature always eliminates middlemen and middle-processes. So it should be no surprise that they are creating obstacles in the distribution of music such as DRM.
There have been many reactions to Steve's essay. John C Dvorak makes an important point that music is also a social medium. When people come together and share it, it's significance grows. By creating obstacles in the way of sharing, the music companies are running down their own sales.
I wonder how a Mozart or Madonna would have fared in a skewed market like this.
