The Electronic Frontier Foundation published a list of all known Sony-BMG products that contain the “rootkit” technology I’ve been writing about. Here’s what they have so far:

Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia)
Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic)
Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia)
Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia)
Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia)
Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia)
Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia)
The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia)
Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia)
Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic)
Amerie, Touch (Columbia)
Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic)
Horace Silver Quintet, Silver’s Blue (Epic Legacy)
Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy)
Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy)
The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia)
The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic)
Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)
Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia) (labeled as XCP, but, oddly, our disc had no protection)

Also of note, according to the EFF, “Sseveral other Sony-BMG CDs are protected with a different copy-protection technology, sourced from SunnComm, including:

My Morning Jacket, Z
Santana, All That I Am
Sarah McLachlan, Bloom Remix Album”

The best thing for you to do if you’ve purchased one of these titles but have not attempted to play it on your Windows-based computer: click here for detailed instructions on preventing infection of your computer with the potentially dangerous rootkit.

If you have already attempted to play one of these titles on your Windows-based computer, click here to download the patch which disables the XCP patch.

In response to public outcry, Sony BMG Music Entertainment has agreed to stop selling music CD’s that carry “anti-piracy“, or rootkit technology, to consumers worldwide. The anti-piracy features which Sony had been including on new music titles creates even broader security risks to those who use the CD’s, including leaving a listener’s computer vulnerable to hackers.

Since the discovery of the security holes on October 31st by Mark Russinovich, chief software architect at Winternals Software, the word of the technology leak has spread broadly throughout the tech and consumer world. The “XCP” technology, which affects users of Windows-based computers only, was intended to keep purchasers from making more than a certain number of copies of the CD. The technology also prevents users from loading the songs from the CD onto an iPod while leaving the opportunity open for loading songs to owners of Windows Media Player-compatible portable media players.

The extent of damage to home computer users is not known at this time, but the technology was only present on 20 popular music titles at the time the decision was made to stop including it. Fortunately, some leading antivirus manufacturers began including the Sony XCP technology for recognition in their virus definitions as potentially malicious, enabling it to be detected as a virus and to be disabled.

Sony has neither made admittance of wrongdoing nor has any offer for replacement or refund been made to any purchasers of CD’s which contain the XCP Technology. Thousands of the discs are still in CD stores at this time. Sony has no plans to recall those music CD’s at this time, but they began making a patch available for download on their website which purports to fix security holes left by the discs. But some computer experts have reported that the patch not only does not work but may cause more crashes and potentially further damage.

The best bet for all concerned: DO NOT PURCHASE ANY Sony/BMG products until they discontinue all copies of CD’s carrying this technology. Send a message back to the company that you don’t like being treated like a criminal for giving them your hard-earned money.

I’m sure by now, everyone is familiar with RSS Feeds and how you can have a desktop appliance to aggregate, or collect, updates from your favorite websites and blogs to your computer as they happen. Any good website or blog has an RSS feed. Yes, even I have one right here you can subscribe to my site with if you use an aggregator.

Well what if you’re far away and you don’t have your computer? What if you dont want to have to set all that stuff up again time after time? NetVibes handles it all for you. It’s a completely interchangeable web-based desktop aggregator that is easy to organize. Once you add a feed, you can arrange it in the order you want to see it by clicking on the feed, dragging it to where you want to view it on your page, and NetVibes remembers your personal settings.

It can act as your home page for your browser, complete with instant email checking, a number of excellent built-in options (including easy connectivity with your del.icio.us bookmarks, Flickr photos, or Gmail accounts), a feed directory you can browse through to find web feeds you’re interested in, and a customizable header.

Mind you, NetVibes is only a couple of months old — officially it’s still in Beta. But when you see how nice this webtop appliance is, how quickly it works, and how it is accesible from any place that has internet connectivity, you’ll want to play around with it and see how it works for you.

I like this thing a lot. No spam, no pop up ads, nothing (at least not yet). If you understand how to set up RSS feeds, then go set up your own NetVibes and check it out.

It appears that the hubris of the recording industry sees no end, and an ever-growing number of CD’s out there contain malware sufficient to cause damage to your home computer — PC or Mac. The list of CD’s out there containing music industry malware, or “copy-protected” CD’s, are not always disclosed to the general buying public. In fact, according to the Campaign For Digital Rights, many manufactured CD’s fail to contain any warning that they are copy protected, and a listening public turning more and more towards playing CD’s in places other than a stereo (such as their home computer) are stuck with the results: discs that won’t play, lock up your machine, or cause damage to the machine itself requiring costly repairs.

In the end, you may not even be able to get a refund on one of these CD’s from the retailer where you purchased it, meaning lost money from computer repairs and no guarantee of satisfaction as to the quality of the CD you purchased from the store.

You have rights as a consumer that are being violated, and nobody really seems to care. But there are lists going around on the internet that will keep you informed of what CD’s are listed as “Copy Protected” even if there is no warning label or sticker attached. Click here and here for two seperate lists that will help keep you from falling into the industry’s lack of consideration of the consumer and help you to enjoy the music you actually purchased.

As always, The Memphis Zoo honors Tennessee residents by offering “Tennessee Tuesdays” at the zoo! It’s a beautiful day outside, the weather is perfect, and starting at 2pm you can go to the zoo for free with your Tennessee issued ID.
I’m going to go get some Pho and then head over, you should take advantage of the nice weather and join me! See you there?

Starbucks, you can keep your overpriced yuppie drinks. One place makes coffee that’s just fine in my book, it’s cheap, the people are real, and it’s open 24 hours.

You know the place. CK’s Coffee Shop.

Flying so low under the radar, I can’t even find an image of it on the web, CK’s has been around for a long while. I have no idea who owns it, can’t find a website for it, and truthfully I’m not surprised. There’s no Wi-Fi access (to my knowledge), and it is only distinguishable from the road by its giant red signs with white lettering. But they do huge amounts of business, faring far better than counterparts like Denny’s and IHOP in many areas of the city.

If you’re wondering, I can be found spending an inordinate amount of time going to the CK’s on Poplar and Evergreen. If you’re not in Memphis, you don’t know about the CK’s Coffee Shop name, how it is indigenous to our part of the country, or how the CK’s Coffee Shops dot the landscape from one end of Memphis to the other. Some locations I would never eat a meal in again, some I miss if blink. But the Midtown CK’s has always held a special appeal to me for one noteable addition: a jukebox filled with the strains of great soul music.

Nothing in the world can seem as satisfying as a big ol’ plate of scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, toast, coffee and orange juice as when it’s being served to the overtones of Bobby Womack, Willie Hutch, Marvin Gaye, Denise LaSalle, Bobby “Blue” Bland, or any of the dozens of other choices their particular jukebox offers. It’s something unique to this one particular CK’s, and I love having that extra 5 dollars in my pocket that I can throw in before sitting down to a meal. That feeling is something words just can’t explain.

Here’s a little sweet soul brunch tribute to my favorite CK’s and their jukebox. Maybe this will make you hungry & you’ll head over for a big ol’ Paul Bunyan Breakfast. Just make sure you don’t tip some chintzy $0.92 or you’ll be just another Egg McMuffin eater in my book.

1698 Poplar Avenue (901)278-5404

“What Does Love In Action Look Like: the preface” will screen again, Tuesday November 1st, 7pm at the University of Memphis ROSE Theatre in conjunction with BGALA. Big Thanks to Will Carter and Robin Yow for their encouragement and participation with setting this screening up.

Please help spread the word to get a big crowd out for this.

Much love to my fellow crew and cast members for the great memories and fun times, both on the set and off. Enjoy the pictures and let’s do it again soon!

Click On The Picture Above To See All The Pictures From The Black Snake Moan Wrap Party/Halloween Party

If I don’t get a piece of house falling on me or something, I will be out of this movie in time for Voodoo Fest, Halloween, and a few other things. Crew calls generally require a 12-hour turnaround for everyone. Just to let you know how hard we are working, the show went from a delightful 9AM crew call at week’s beginning to a late afternoon crew call by today. It’s only Wednesday. The days are starting to run together. I actually find that I can’t sleep more than 5 hours a night anymore. I finally look my age. I think I caught about 5 years working on this project.

But it, and the people associated with it, have been nothing except wonderful. I’m going to miss all of them, and I can’t wait until we do it again next year.

Where it’s been tough, I’ve seen it as a chance to toughen up and learn something. Where it’s been easy, I’ve been grateful for the work.

So now what? In the wake of the film, I will be trying to rest, regroup, deal with some medical issues that have come up during the filming, and refocus my efforts. Going to work every day, I am reminded of how very fortunate I am to have had so many interesting events, occurrences, and situations just fall into my lap this year. Rather than it being an egocentric experience, it has rather been a humbling experience that has rejoined me with an important check and balance: humility.

I used to do this thing whenever I felt anger towards people, a thing where I prayed for them to have everything I ever wanted to have for myself in life. This experience has brought me to a checkmate on that relief point, namely, “What if the person I’m saying a prayer for already HAS everything I’ve ever wanted for myself?” This is a question I’m hoping to get an answer to soon enough.

I’ll have many fascinating stories to share in due time. For now know that though I am distant and busy, I am thankful to the people in my life for giving me the chance to become myself.

That gift is greater than any I could ever buy.