New comic thread, Wednesday, 8/18/10

PwnanObrien · August 2010

Zonugal wrote: »

PwnanObrien wrote: »

Zonugal wrote: »

PwnanObrien wrote: »

Zonugal wrote: »

Man, radio rules are rough stuff.

Who has to right to tell me I can't talk about sodomy at 8 a.m.?

Straight up ridiculous...

Me and my best friend had a radio show in Gary Indiana where we would play electro on a station that was primarily jazz and christian music. We were a lead in for a conscious hip-hop show run by a pretty cool dude. We regularly swore and made references to drug use and internet shock sites like lemon party and tubgirl. We would constantly show up late and occasionaly do an entire show where our only interjections were making laser noises with our mouths.

The only complaint we ever got was when the one dude we would have call in and talk over the phone mentioned that Gary was the murder per capita capital of the nation.

What time did you broadcast in the day?

It was supposed to be from 4PM until 6PM but we were often late and the guy after us was often late. Also we never ran the PSAs we were supposed to except for once or twice when it was just my friend doing the first few weeks of shows and he spent half the time he was playing them making fun of how McGruff the crime dog sounds like a pedophile without the context of an animated dog.

We so should have been fired from there, but the station manager was actually sad when we had to quit doing the show.

For the first 9 months I did talk radio from noon to 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Than I quit one show and my other show got shifted so I was at 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. for the next 6 months.

During our music breaks I would run up to window and begin to show my bare chest to all who would walk-by, good times...

Having a radio show is so much more fun than listening to a radio show. Every one of you should try it. There's literally no bar of entry.

We once did an entire show in old timey format, speaking through cupped hands about "putting another electronic recording from those boys up in tin pan alley on the turnstyle."

That's the great thing about being damn near the literal last DJ. There's none of the conflict you would see in movies or TV where the station manager wants to shut us down or the RIAA or some other group comes in to protest. There's none of the rabid fanbase who want to hear your unique brand of non-commercial free think either. It's just nobody gives a fuck, have fun having a show with no format kids, nobody's listening anyway.

Zonugal · August 2010

Radio for me was/is exhausting. I typically put in 12-15 hours of prep a week before even broadcasting.

PwnanObrien · August 2010

Exact opposite over here. We just went about our week occasionally going "ooh this David E Sugar song's good" and then burning everything we were going to play onto a CD while already five minutes late to the show.

We did pre-record shows sometimes so we could go to houseparties and other events instead. That was fun because we could actually have a DJ play a set for the two hours and sound like a real electro show and not just two assholes masking fading in and out of songs using old studio CD players with "witty banter" about videogames.

Henroid · August 2010

NOT ON MY TAX PAYER MONEY, or whatever.

Monkey Ball Warrior · August 2010

My in-car audio sources:

iPod Nano: 90%
KEXP: 7%
KNDD: 2%
Other: 1% (usually either classical or NPboRing).

And this is in an enviroment traditionally dominated by radio.

Do they think that people don't listen to the radio because they don't have access to radios?

This is not it. It is the insufferable commercials and general horrible music.

Vivixenne · August 2010

I used to record my own radio show

I think every kid used to do that

all the songs I played on the show were the theme songs for the Disney Afternoon cartoons

Henroid · August 2010

That's kind of adorable.

SabreMau · August 2010

The deal has not been finalized, we're told. When it is, the two sides still need to convince Congress to go along, but they're hopeful something can be wrapped up late this year or early in 2011.

Update: NAB stresses to us that no deal has been finalized. "However, if there is a decision made by the Board of Directors to go forward and seek legislation, including radio-enabled chips in mobile devices in possible legislation seems to us to be a reasonable idea," says NAB's Dennis Wharton.

Ok, so this isn't even legislation yet. No wonder I couldn't find any votes on it. The actual bill they want to put it in has been processing in committees since last year but hasn't gone to any floor votes.

And I listen to radio all the time. Because that's where the live sports talk and play-by-play broadcasts are.

Tonkka · August 2010

Zonugal you do not even know the hell that was the old radio station in the old SUB.

Does Strange still DJ?

Vivixenne · August 2010

Henroid wrote: »

That's kind of adorable.

Blake and I are going up to Beijing in September to visit my parents

he has vowed to try to find the tapes

I am debating sending my mother urgent instructions to destroy every tape she finds in the house

I remember you used to be able to buy recordings of radio shows on tape

I loved those

Rhesus Positive · August 2010

The last time I listened to the radio out of choice was when I was watching the Ashes, as sports commentary on the radio is more interesting than on the TV. When it was obvious that the Australians weren't going to win, the Australian commentators got bored and started talking about fishing.

Tonkka · August 2010

The only radio I ever listen to is NPR.

mare_imbrium · August 2010

I still listen to the radio. I have listened to KROQ (broadcasts in the Los Angeles area) since I was 13 years old. But I am a crotchety old...ish person who doesn't like new things. I apparently get my new music siphoned to me slowly when I'm not paying attention. Most times I enjoy a song it has to play in the background a couple of times before I recognize that I like it. I was disappointed that ipods didn't come with radios. I actually bought the radio dongle bit for my old nano but the reception was fucking horrible. I had walkmans (walkmen?) and stuff when I was a kid but unfortunately after the ipod thing I gave up on portable radios.

Honestly after reading the article it sounds like a shady act balanced on top of a huge pile of shady acts. And as much as I enjoy listening to the radio the only reason we'd really need a radio in our portable devices is in case of Skynet or zombie apocalypse. I also think it is funny that they are pretending to champion the consumer when they spend most of the rest of their time completely ignoring them unless they think they can use the legal system to fleece them to prop up their dying businesses.

I do wonder a bit about the other side though. I mean, you can make a radio pretty small, so why aren't there radios in more devices? I just got a new Galaxy S phone. The European models have radio, but my U.S. version does not. Obviously they figured out how to fit it in there without breaking the phone or costing too much money. So the U.S. wireless companies must have asked them to take it out. Why?

ASimPerson · August 2010

Rolo wrote: »

http://www.dailytech.com/RIAA+and+Broadcasters+Look+to+Tell+US+Government+to+Mandate+Radios+in+Cell+Phones/article19374.htm

Spoiler:

RIAA and Broadcasters Look to Tell U.S. Government to Mandate Radios in Cell Phones

Why let the free market decide when the technology is so essential?

Whether it's suing dead people or simply suing living ones for millions of dollars for illegally downloading a few tracks, media watchdog the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) seems to gravitate towards controversy like a moth to a flame. The divisive organization is back at it again, this time demanding that the U.S. government impose a drastic mandate on cell phone production.

The RIAA will look to introduce a provision into Congress's pending legislation, the Performance Rights Act, which would mandate that all cell phones be built with FM radio receivers.

The seemingly bizarre mandate is the keystone of an elaborate game of financial chess between radio broadcasters and the RIAA, with the implied assumption being that Congress will do whatever the pair say.

The RIAA wants to cut the longstanding copyright exemption that allows radio stations to pay less than full performance fees to labels and artists (satellite radio and webcasters, by contrast, pay the full fee). The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) opposes this measure, but is reportedly near a deal with RIAA-led alliance musicFIRST.

Under the deal radio stations would agree to pay $100M USD more to labels and artists, but in exchange the RIAA would back the broadcasters plan to force all cell phones or other mobile devices in the U.S. to feature FM tuners. Speaking with ArsTechnica, musicFIRST commented, "As regards the chip, this is a key issue for the radio industry. musicFIRST, too, likes FM chips in cell phones, PDAs, etc. It gives consumers access to more music choices."

The Consumer Electronics Association, which represents the key players of the electronics industry, is ardently opposed to the plan which it says seeks to impose damaging restrictions on the free market. CEA president Gary Shapiro, "The backroom scheme of the [National Association of Broadcasters] and RIAA to have Congress mandate broadcast radios in portable devices, including mobile phones, is the height of absurdity [and is] not in our national interest."

The NAB says no deal is finalized, but NAB's Dennis Wharton comments, "However, if there is a decision made by the Board of Directors to go forward and seek legislation, including radio-enabled chips in mobile devices in possible legislation seems to us to be a reasonable idea."

They say the CEA's complaints about market regulation are just sour grapes, commenting, "It's no surprise that CEA opposes this, since trade associations generally always oppose new rules. CEA also opposed DTV tuners in digital television sets; the FCC decided that having DTV tuners in TV sets was a good thing, and passed a rule that gave consumers access to local TV stations on DTV sets."

"We would argue that having radio capability on cell phones and other mobile devices would be a great thing, particularly from a public safety perspective. There are few if any technologies that match the reliability of broadcast radio in terms of getting lifeline information to the masses."

So is mandating radio tuners in cell phones the same thing as mandating DTV tuners in TV sets? The RIAA and NAB seem convinced it is. And they seem equally convinced that Congress will do their bidding, should they choose to roll out a finalized version of their market regulation scheme.

Comparing radio to digital TV tuners is ingenious.

Also, stupid.

Rankenphile · August 2010

look, the real question is who stands to benefit the most from this mandate?

my guess is that it is the dread quasar hypnobeast of omicron persei seven

Rankenphile · August 2010

I mean

it just makes sense

and I, for one, am no fan of the dread hypnobeast

no sir, not I

Zonugal · August 2010

Tonkka wrote: »

Zonugal you do not even know the hell that was the old radio station in the old SUB.

Does Strange still DJ?

I have been educated in the history of the station but, as I feel there may be an age gap between our stays in Ellensburg, I do not know Strange.

Lord_Asmodeus · August 2010

Rankenphile wrote: »

I mean

it just makes sense

and I, for one, am no fan of the dread hypnobeast

no sir, not I

He's a HYPNO-beast. Your words ring tinny and hollow in my ears good sirrah, I must respectfully inform you that your word is in doubt by my esteemed self.

Wren · August 2010

death throes are often erratic and without direction

Blake T · August 2010

Vivixenne wrote: »

I used to record my own radio show

I think every kid used to do that

all the songs I played on the show were the theme songs for the Disney Afternoon cartoons

I never did this.

ASimPerson · August 2010

It would be really embarrassing if my parents still have the tapes I made like that as a kid. I actually recorded stuff off my Dad's record player, too.

I would guess that means they probably do.

FyreWulff · August 2010

Vivixenne wrote: »

I used to record my own radio show

I think every kid used to do that

all the songs I played on the show were the theme songs for the Disney Afternoon cartoons

I did too

A tape recorder was a BIG FUCKING DEAL to me and the fact that I was allowed to go outside with it was an even bigger deal

I'm pretty sure all the tapes are long gone though. Only reason I'd want to hear them is because my grandma could be heard on a couple, but this was way back in like '92 or '93..

maybe all the tapes are inside Gabe and Tycho's Mystery Murder Rug

Iskander · August 2010

gabe's pose suggests that he really badly needs to pee

lay down that rug and pee off the pier, dude

KalTorak · August 2010

Pony wrote: »

what's in the rug?

OH GOOODDDDDD WHAT'S IN THE RUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGG?! WHAT'S IN THE RUGGGG?!

Pony · August 2010

KalTorak wrote: »

Pony wrote: »

what's in the rug?

OH GOOODDDDDD WHAT'S IN THE RUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGG?! WHAT'S IN THE RUGGGG?!

yesssssss

neogodless · August 2010

Does anyone else get the sensation they are walking to the left, but the blood trail is in that direction?!

DekuStick · August 2010

Don't most phones have FM in them anyway?

Quoth · August 2010

Rankenphile wrote: »

look, the real question is who stands to benefit the most from this mandate?

my guess is that it is the dread quasar hypnobeast of omicron persei seven

NotASenator · August 2010

As a murder victim,

Couscous · August 2010

So they don't understand how DTV tuners in digital TV in order to allow access to shit most people expect from TVs is different from radio with cellphones when nobody really expects that nor is it actually related the whole cellphone thing like a DTV tuner in a digital TV is except that the cellphones are capable of having radio on them.

Squall · August 2010

cell phones receive some radio waves so they should probably receive all of them at the expense of everyone else right?

right??

pslong9 · August 2010

neogodless wrote: »

Does anyone else get the sensation they are walking to the left, but the blood trail is in that direction?!

Glad it's not just me. Looks like Gabe is walking backwards and Tycho is walking forwards, but the blood stain is in Gabe's direction.

Couscous · August 2010

I thought Gabe was walking backwards.

Quoth · August 2010

i must concur with what was said on the last page and note that i don't listen to the radio because i don't want to, not because i lack access

all i want to hear is my local NPR station and there's an app for that anyway

DouglasDanger · August 2010

This is a good comic.

I listen to the radio on the way to work, but only because I am too poor/would rather spend money on other stuff to get one of those satellite radio things. Classic rock, bro.