Have Laptop Will Travel will not be complete without the occasional dig at the RIAA and what the morons in the organization are doing to stop “piracy”.

Take for example, this statement from Jennifer Pariser, chief of litigation for Sony BMG, which was uttered during the trial of Jammie Thomas, a woman from Minnesota who was ordered to pay $220,000.00 by the court for sharing 24 songs online. Pariser testified that: “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” He added that when one makes that copy, it’s “a nice way of saying ’steals just one copy.’”

Pariser just said that even if you own a CD, copying it to your hard drive for your own personal listening purposes constitutes to stealing. Isn’t that just stupid? I’ve heard the RIAA has already modified their statements regarding this topic but nevertheless, that earlier statement just shows how blinded the RIAA can get just to protect their interests. They don’t even care if they alienate legitimate CD buyers.

I wish 2008 will bring the geriatric geezers at the RIAA to their senses.

Ab ig blow was dealt to the global torrent community today when the popular music tracker Oink.cd was shut down by authorities.

Oink was an invite only music torrent site that has acquired a reputation for having some of the best music releases on the internet. It has become a haven for hardcore music fans — the type who needs a daily fix of new music and who want to listen to albums first on MP3s before deciding to buy albums.

the raid was done by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which has an affiliation with the RIAA. According to the IFPI, they conducted a two year investigation into Oink before mounting the raid. I’ve seen a newsfeed from the BBC regarding this raid and that “two year” claim seems highly suspect. A number of accusations were so obviously erroneous. First, Oink did not ask members to pay for a subscription. Second, Oink was only a tracker and never released the music files themselves.

I have  very firm stand about the insistence of the music industry to desperately implement copyright issues in a world that has already changed. The music industry should change its old, and obviously outdated practice and begin to change with the times.

Oink, you will be forever remembered.

Talk about true portability and for sure you any group of people will not only talk about their notebook computers but also their iPods. The Apple iPod has defined gadget portability for the last few years. It has become an iconic totem of the portability revolution. Apple does realize the importance of the iPod to consumers all over the world and has taken great pains to make it constantly fresh and current by releasing updates almost every year.

This year is no exception either. In a recent press conference Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPod touch, the newest generation iPod in the market. The iPod Touch is basically a stripped down version of the company’s bestseller iPhone. It can play music, videos and photos and even has WiFi capabilities. Lest you think that the era of the physical clickwheel has just passed us by, Jobs said that the iPod Touch is actually an addition to the iPod lineup. All of the other product lines in the iPod family will remain although these will have significant changes. For example, the Shuffle will now come in more colors, and the Nano will have a slimmer build and a new interface. The same goes for the iPod Video, which is now called the iPod Classic, which will also sport the new interface, as well as a beefier capacity and battery life.

Christmas just got a whole lot messier.

I finished ripping about twenty CDs from my collection last night. That means I’ve still got, oh, 968 more titles to go before I finish this project.

I used to rip some of my CDs to an MP3 format, at around 192kbps. At that time, that setting suited my purposes of having a decent enough sound quality without the file getting too large. With the arrival of the iPod, I started ripping from between 256 to 320 kbps. I still used the MP3 format but there was a time I actually used Apple’s AAC format just to try it and because I knew it had a smaller file imprint. That experiment didn’t last long because AAC may be great if you only have Apple compatible machines. Put the file in an environment where “Apple” means a kind of fruit and you’re left with unplayable music files. I’d rather go for the more universally accepted format.

With this present batch of CDs though I am tinkering with a lossless format, specifically FLAC. I’m doing this for three reasons. First, I installed Rockbox on my iPod, which means I can now play practically any format. It’s liberating to know that you can dump OGG VORBIS, FLAC or even Monkey Audio into your Rockbox’ed player and be confident that it will work. My second reason for using Flac is that I’m looking at really archiving my collection for easy access and to protect my CDs from unnecessary scratches. If I want to play something from my collection, I’ll just get the FLAC file with no worries at all. Third reason? Well, with storage capacities at its largest and most affordable, it’s not a problem consuming such a large space for my music files.

What about you guys? What kind music formats do you use when ripping your CDs?

I love music, there is no doubt about that. I’m like a junkie looking for a constant fix of new music and new music genres that I can sink my teeth into. I’ve already built a very respectable CD collection and an ever growing digital music library that is currently about to hit the terabyte level. Unfortunately, because digital music is so much easier to handle, I have not used my CDs that much, in fact, I have not even transferred any of it into a digital audio format and, therefore, have not been able to load my favorite CDs on my iPod.

I have decided that ripping my CDs will be my pet project for the month. I’ve already set up my computer for maximum efficiency in ripping by downloading Exact Audio Copy (EAC) - the digital music connoisseur’s choice for best CD ripper. The funny thing about EAC though is that it has built a reputation for being the best ripper on earth because it is so damn complicated to use. There are just so many tweaks and settings you need to fiddle with in order to get the maximum efficiency for the rip. I bet the casual music fan won’t even be bothered to open the options menu of a strange piece of software when they can just use Microsoft’s built in Windows Media Player to rip their CD of Celine Dion or Beyonce Knowles. But I tell you the difference of the rips from WMP and from EAC are night and day (it’s like comparing Celine to, say, Martha Wainwright or Joanna Newsom). It really is worth the hassle and cursing because EAC’s output has top notch detail and clarity. No muddy quality for this baby. From here on out, I’m EAC’s man all the way.