EFF, Babylon 5, Gameboy Advance SP, Books on CD better than Audible.com

by Mike Shea on 30 July 2003

You may have heard my rant that corporations with unlimited political power and unlimited legal funds and no concerns about individual rights are worse than any government oppression. I decided to act and gave money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation who seems concerned with such issues and is willing to do something about it.

Babylon 5 is the best science fiction show ever shown on TV. I've been Tivoing it for the last few months and every episode has been a pleasure to watch. The episode The Face of the Enemy has one of the best scenes of this best series, a scene of betrayal and persecution. It is only one of many such scenes in this evolving space opera. The Babylon 5 DVDs are worth owning.

I picked up a Gameboy Advance SP with Golden Sun, Advance Wars 2, Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, and Metroid Fusion. It is wonderful to be playing classic Shigeru Miyamoto games on such a small system for a pretty low price. It's an excellent system and well worth the cash.

I also picked up copies of the Gunslinger and Drawing of the Three on CD and stuck them in my iPod. I had tried Audible.com for Blood and Smoke and was disappointed. Books from audible.com are too expensive, low quality, and technically inflexible when compared to legally ripped MP3s from purchased CDs. Why sacrifice quality and convenience for bullshit security protections that offer no value to the customer and make the book sound like it was read by the tin man.