Seems to me that this problem of paying rights holders for music has largely been solved: http://blog.tunecore.com/2012/02/apple-imatch-the-first-royalties-are-in.html As far as discovery of music and books in stores is concerned, I'd consider that method to be dead. I don't mean just independent stores, but chain after chain is going away. Even the local Costco has shrunk the book (and music, and DVD) section and moved it off to the side behind the phone kiosk. And the last time I had the urge to buy a specific disk I went to the trouble of going to the nearest music store and trying to find exactly what I was looking for. And when that failed iTunes got my money, because my time has value. Amazon gets my money for Kindle books for the same reason. And Netflix gets its money for movies. And how do I find what to try next? I listen to podcasts, I've pared my twitter feed down to people I find interesting, and I read blogs. I've had better luck with those than going to a bookstore looking for a good read and finding shelf after shelf filled with vampire romance.

Best novel of the year? The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Second book of a trilogy, which frankly is a relief because In an era where some of the biggest cultural touchstones are fantasy (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) I would argue that getting to know the good stuff (and this is VERY good stuff) is as important as keeping track of whats considered to be important in the "literary" world

cat and girl won me over with this one http://catandgirl.com/?p=2142 if you like space opera, you should already be reading schlockmercenary.com

a tank at an oil refinery? the background pipes remind me the one in Martinez CA, which I used to drive by on a regular basis

While the viewsonic does seem nice, the new 27" apple display has more resolution for not a lot more $. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC007?mco=MTkwMzg2MDg#overview Just wondering how you chose what you chose Alex S

I think it goes beyond mere photoshoppery and into the realm of this filter: http://www.topazlabs.com/topazlabs/03products/topaz_adjust/

While I am not overly impressed by the video capability for video's sake, being able to capture a critical moment in a resolution useable for web work does interest me. Also, hopefully this is the precursor to better HDR capability, maybe being able to take multiple bracketed exposures at one time instead of having to wait for the mirror to flip for each exposure. (count me as another who would prefer more control over bracketing over video)