Quoteplaying

I just downloaded and uploaded quoteplay, a neat and free tool ($10.00 registration requested) from Matt Round that lets listeners point to a segment of an audio file. The idea is as follows. Say you're listening to a podcast, perhaps even the Bag and Baggage podcast. Something you hear prompts you to want to comment further, so you open up your blogging tool of choice and begin composing a post. Using quoteplay, instead of pointing to the entire audio file of the show, you can find the precise bit that interests you and generate a URL that, when clicked, will play just that portion of the audio. Neat, huh? Handy for blog posts and podcast show notes — both to let others use quoteplay on your audio and to point to segments of other people's quoteplay-enabled podcasts. In order for quoteplay to work with someone's podcast, the podcaster has to upload three files to his or her server. Having just done it, I can attest: even an idiot can figure it out.

So, without further ado, I give you the quoteplay-enabled versions of the Bag and Baggage podcasts to date. Here's an example of how it works: Cory Doctorow on the role of market forces in shaping DRM, from Digital ID World 2003. Future Bag and Baggage podcasts will be quoteplay-enabled too, so I'll leave the rest of the quoting to you. Have fun!

1. 2005.01.09 (MP3, 3.5MB); show notes; select a quote


2. 2005.01.12 (MP3, 7.8MB); show notes; select a quote


3. 2005.01.17 (MP3, 5.8MB); show notes; select a quote


4. 2005.01.24 (MP3, 6.3MB); show notes; select a quote


5. 2005.01.31 (MP3, 5.2MB); show notes; select a quote


6. 2005.02.03, Part I (MP3, 5MB); show notes; select a quote


7. 2005.02.03, Part II (MP3, 10MB); show notes; select a quote


8. 2005.02.03, Part III (MP3, 4.9MB); show notes; select a quote

Belly Up To The Bar Exam

Pugnatrix is documenting her battle with the bar exam, that little quiz designed to give its takers "hives, making them sexually unattractive and therefore less likely to pick up a rich mate who'll pay off the educational loans." Thank goodness for public schools.

By the way, I'm a little late in linking to Belly Up to the Bar V. [Via Kevin Heller]

Yentally Unbalanced

Tim Hadley: Wanted: well-managed small to mid-sized law firm. [Via Dennis Kennedy]

Powers Phillips (a small firm with a sense of humor that happens to be in Tim's neighborhood): Somewhere out there is a wacko, self-reliant Denver lawyer.

I've read Tim for a long time now, and "wacko" isn't the first adjective that comes to mind, but how do you not seize the chance to explore opportunities with the Bitches From Hell? (I think you'll both find my headhunter fee to be refreshingly reasonable.)

Smearily We Roll Along

Gary Kendra's second podcast provides a nice overview of defamation law and related privacy claims in the Internet context.

Good Question

Dave Winer, "$288 buys you what?" This really could (should?) be a lot simpler. Though the experimental ASCAP podcast-ready license is a welcome attempt to recognize and address new technological developments, the music royalty scheme could not be more confusing to the average person. It confuses me, and I'm a lawyer (albeit a blonde-ish litigator). Note the disconnect between the ASCAP FAQ for the new licenses and the actual frequently asked questions, a good cross section of which appear in the comments to Dave's post. Bret Fausett, if you have the time a more comprehensive follow-up would be super.