Episode #043

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Ownership Has It’s Options :

• – the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching and so is the start to the shopping season. Ugh!
• – making my lists and checking them more than twice to ensure I find gifts for those I love and care about, without spending a ton. That’s the challenge each and every year.
• News – Story 1: Creator of Operation board game can now afford own operation

– John Spinello created the board game “Operation” in the early 60’s; he sold the concept for $500, but kept the patent; didn’t get royalties over the years; he is now 77 and needing teeth surgery at the cost of $25k; Hasbro has stepped in and helping to pay for his surgery; there is also a crowd funding effort at Crowd Rise; also he has sold signed Operation games; raised almost $50k between all sources; always good to hear of these types of stories, especially when someone invents something cool like a board game, but wasn’t savvy back in the day to ensure he gets royalties; the original idea for the game came when John was a child and stuck a safety pin into an electrical outlet; kids, don’t try this at home… oh wait, on second thought.
– Link to article: Inventor of the Game Operation Now Needs Help Affording an Operation of His Own

• News – Story 2: Taylor Swift pulls her music from Spotify

– she sells a ton of albums, including over 1 million copies of her latest “1989”; but the concern of royalties vs. album sales got to Taylor and she pulled all of her albums and songs from the popular streaming service; since then, the back and forth of how much she made is anywhere from $500k to $6 million, depending who you ask; this “he said, she said” story got responses from Daniel Ek from Spotify and Scott Borchetta, who runs Swift’s record label, Big Machine; I’m not much on streaming music services, but I’ve been on Spotify for a while; I also don’t claim to have heard much from Taylor Swift; but the money that these artists have received from Spotify seems to vary, depending on how many streams each song and album had per artist; it’s such a random deal; the music industry has changed so much in the last 5 years; guess we’ll see how things play out for Taylor outside of the Spotify world.
– Link to article: Spotify says it paid Taylor Swift millions. Her label disagrees. Here’s the truth

• News – Story 3: Robert Plant turns down rumored $800 million deal for Led Zeppelin reunion

– there are recent reports that this didn’t happen, with denials from Robert Plant manager and Richard Branson via a post on his personal blog; but even if it didn’t happen, the last 7 years of reunion rumors are nothing to ignore; us fans wouldn’t mind another reunion tour, even if it’s for the money; but aside from the money, we want the band members to show up and perform; so when we hear about $800 million on the table, we perk up; that’s a lot of dough; merchandising would be involved; so would burying a lot of resentment; Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham (the son) last gave us a great show in 2007; I think if Robert Plant really wanted to do a proper reunion, he would; but he doesn’t; so we leave it at that, which is where Page and Jones are willing to let it go as well; age is not on their side, so if it doesn’t happen now, it won’t.
– Link to article: Robert Plant Reportedly Turned Down $800 Million for Led Zeppelin Reunion


• RANT: Senator Ted Cruz compares net neutrality to his hated of Obamacare

– so the senator from Texas tweeted the other day that Net Neutrality is like Obamacare; from that tweet, many deducted that he doesn’t understand either; his tweet was related to President Obama giving his support to reclassify the internet as a Type II utility, like power and natural gas; this would regulate the internet as a place that would be governed, but taking away the many reigns that the ISP monopoly has been building since 2002; I certainly would like to see that happen; my Libertarian friends want the internet to be free completely, without government intervention or regulation; for me, while that sounds nice, it goes too far in the other direction; we need a happy medium for treating all content equally; not how Ted Cruz and his ilk would like to see it managed.

• SHAMELESS PLUG: Sam Simon, co-creator of The Simpsons, is giving away his fortune

– in late 2012, Sam was diagnosed with colon cancer and is in his last days; he was only expected to live 3-6 months; but treatments have extended his life; he is worth an easy $100 million and after taking care of his family, he is planning to leave the remainder of his fortune to children and animals; the Sam Simon Foundation, which helps feed needy humans and animals; he is very much into animal protection, working towards reducing animal cruelty and abandoned pets; of course his biggest claim to fame is creating The Simpsons, along side Matt Groening; he will be missed, but he is leaving another legacy behind with his donations and actions; I can’t say enough nice about this man.
– Link to article: Dying ‘Simpsons’ co-creator, Sam Simon, to donate $100 million fortune

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