After Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails bid farewell to music labels
Published October 10, 2007Trent Reznor from the official Nine Inch Nails website:
Hello everyone. I’ve waited a LONG time to be able to make the following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate. Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.
This is shocking news.
My wish is that all music artist will start to auto produce their own music using the web and show the majors who really is in control.
It is cheap, it is practical, it is quick, you don’t have to queue in a Virgin Megastore to get the album you want to buy and 90% of users prefer digital formats anyway. Who goes around carrying a CD player nowadays? It was about time something like this happened. Good luck to all music bands that will follow their example. The future is now :)
Free Wii controller case from Nintendo, yey!
Published October 9, 2007
The Nintendo Wii is an incredibly fun gaming console but, as shown in the “Wii Have a Problem” website, it can be dangerous if used without the due precautions.
I personally witnessed my friend Andrea nearly atomizing his thumb finger by smashing it on the wall while playing a match of Wii Sports Bowling, and trust me, it wasn’t that fun anymore.
Anyway, Nintendo is kindly offering to all Wii owners free protective casings, in an effort to reduce injuries caused by flying Wii controllers.
If you live in Italy, you can get yours here (I ordered four, oops :D ): http://wii.nintendo.it/22809.html
Who doesn’t want to be a millionaire
Published October 8, 2007This is quite old, but every time I look at the face of the poor guy after he blows the 100 dollars question I can’t stop laughing :D 
Back to Italy – Part 2 – Killer Scooters
Published October 5, 2007
I am driving home after a stressful day in the office.
There is a traffic jam ahead … oh well, I must wait in the line.
Wrooom. What was that? A big scooter speeds past my car in the emergency lane.
Yep, the one that should be used for … you know … emergencies.
Wroooooooom. Another one? Wrooom. Another huge motorbike nearly hits my car coming from the opposite direction, trying to get past the cars in the line.
What I am describing is not science fiction, it is a common occurrence in Italy when driving during peak hours.
I thought a lot about it, since scooters were nearly non-existing in England and I have always wondered why. I came to the conclusion that scooter drivers, in Italy, think that road regulations don’t apply to them because they learned to drive it when they were kids.
That’s right. In the Italian tradition, when a kid reaches the venerable age of FIFTEEN he is legally able to drive a 50cc motorbike on the streets. No driving license required. You go in the shop, you buy it, you then ask your friend to remove the speed limiter for you, and the result of all this is a child with a 70kg, 80km/h metal projectile capable of causing all kinds of road accidents.
About 44% of kids get a scooter from their parents, according to a national research, and 39% of these get into a road accident at least once.
The ones that survive, buy the “upgraded” 150cc version as soon as they become adults, but unfortunately they keep driving it like when they were young.
Thanks mum for never buying me one when I was little.
Back to Italy – Part 1 – Pedestrian Crossings
Published October 4, 2007
It has been one year and a half now since I moved back to Italy and I have to say, when you live for so many years in a foreign country, you begin to see many things that are just plain wrong in your motherland, but you have always failed to notice because you have been put in that context since you were born.
Definition of “Zebra crossing“: wide longitudinal stripes on road, often with belisha beacons; pedestrians may cross at any time; drivers must give way to pedestrians who demonstrate intent to cross.
So, now I wonder, why the hell in Italy, drivers never give way to pedestrians willing to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing?
And I mean, I am not talking here of just one or two occasional drivers, I am talking of 99% of drivers in the country.
I once stopped while driving my car to let someone cross the road and another veichle behind me started to honk furiously at me, like if I was mad or something.
Anyway, friendly advice to anyone coming to visit Italy: consider these stripes just a road decoration and don’t you dare crossing without making sure there are no cars coming your way.
You’ve been warned.