Free Music and eBooks

Here are several sites that offer free music or e-books:

1. Magnatune.  Most of magnatune's content is not free, although it is very reasonably priced.   However, they do provide a free song of the day.  I use Apple's Automator, triggered by iCal, to automatically download the song of the day and move it to my iTunes library.
2. Baen Free Library.  Free science fiction in a variety of digital formats from some of the top authors in the field.
3. Project Gutenberg.  Older books that are now in the public domain in the US.  Many of the classics are here.
4. Net Library.  I can access this through affiliation with the Virginia Beach Public Library.  Includes e-books and downloadable audio books.
5. iTunes Store.  Every week Apple provides a free single of the week.  Most of them, in my opinion, are worth the price, but there are some gems.  There's also free video content available.
6. Zoot Radio.  Free downloads of old time radio shows, including "X Minus One" and many radio mystery dramas.

Downloading and enjoying content from the sites above will not violate any copyright laws, so you can get this material with a free conscience.

Orson Scott Card on Illegal Immigration

At The Ornery American, Orson Scott Card wrote an excellent post on illegal immigration in June. It articulates a lot of the reasons that I have not been as bothered by illegal immigration the way that many people with whom I agree on other issues have been. While I don't think we do enough to cultivate an Americanization ethic in new immigrants, I also think that the Statue of Liberty represents a promise we make to ourselves and to the world.

What if They Made "24" in 1994?

Amusing video:

If the TV show 24 took place in 1994.

h/t: The Corner on National Review Online

American Accents

Interesting quiz to help you figure out what American accent you have, pegged me pretty well, I think, since I grew up in the northern half of NJ.

h/t:  The Corner on National Review Online.

Stockholm Syndrome and Numb3rs (spoiler alert)

In Friday's episode of Numb3rs, "Tabu", the kidnap victim appears to be coerced into cooperating with her kidnappers in an armed robbery.  I'm surprised that the FBI profiler didn't at least mention the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome in her analysis.

Yet Another Blog

My 3rd (or is it 4th) start of a blog.  2 of them were lost when I canceled my subscription to mac.com.  The name for this blog doesn't signify much, just a phrase that seemed clever to me a couple of months ago.  I don't remember the circumstances, but I think I wanted to express that something wasn't going to be allowed by saying "Welcome to Planet Kibosh".  Then I thought it might be a good name for a blog.

From dictionary.com:  "put the kibosh on, to put an end to; squelch; check."