Leapday

Today is February 29, a day that comes only 4 years (and every 8 around at certain times).

The reason we have a leap-year is that a year is really about 365 days, 5 hours, and several minutes long.  These extra hours add up and we need to compensate for it every 4 years by adding another date.  But if we always did that, we would compensate just a bit too much, so if a year ends in 00 it will NOT have a leap day UNLESS it is divisible by 400 (an example is the year 2000).

It would be interesting to be born on February 29.  Your birthday comes only every 4 years.  In Commonwealth Countries (such as the UK), on non-leap years your birthday is technically February 28, but in the USA they probably wouldn't let a 21 year old drink until March 1.  Looking at the list of famous people whose birthday is February 29, not too many come up.  Ja Rule turns 28 today.

Interestingly, on Apple's iCal calendar application, if I create an event on February 29 and tell it to repeat the event yearly, it does not show up again until 2012.

Still, the day usually only comes once every 1461 days so it is unique in its own way.  For example, it is the one day in which it is considered acceptable for women to propose marriage to men.

So, have a happy leap day, and we'll revisit this subject in another 4 years.

The Death of the CD

I've been predicting the end of CD's for a while.  Today's retailer news confirms that the CD is indeed dying.  Apple's iTunes music store has pulled ahead of Best Buy to take the #2 stop in music sales.  

Who is #1?  None other than the giant behemoth Wal-Mart.  

NPD predicts iTunes will be #1 very soon.  CD's will not go away right this minute, but within 5 years, buying a music CD could be like buying a cassette video tape these days.  

Already, computers are shipping with no CD/DVD drive.  The DVD is not immune to the death of the CD.  Music was ahead of movies in converting to an optical disc format, so I think that Blu-Ray will hang on for a bit longer.  But within 2-3 years, iTunes could very well be the #1 seller of videos too.  

Is this good news for consumers?  Of course it is.  iTunes now sells music with no digital rights management, the shit that prevents you from copying a song more than a certain number of times.  You can now buy a song and copy it as many times as you want.  Since each song costs only 99 cents, there's not much worry on having someone copy it and give it out to people.  

I use the CD player in my car to play MP3 CD's.  Most of these songs were downloaded in one way or another.  I also have iPod integration in my car, and anyone with a radio can do this as well.

1. Buy an iPod

2. Buy an "FM transmitter"

3. Download/buy music online

4. Put onto your iPod

5. Take your iPod with you in your car, listen to your music on whatever station you choose.

Almost Obsolete

With today's surprise announcement of new Macbook and Macbook Pro models, my Macbook is almost obsolete.  The only reason it's not quite there yet is that the base Macbook model is not as fast as mine nor does it have a DVD burner.  However, you could effectively get a computer that's better than mine for $200 less than what I paid.  Such is the price of loving technology.