I bought a house!

... or so I hear.

Today I got a notice from my bank that my credit line had been cut roughly in half. This is okay - I rarely buy on credit - but they said their "decision was based in part on information provided by" Equifax. That sounds like I got a bad credit rating, which sounds like something I don't want.

So I went to Equifax's web site, to see if I could get my credit report without writing a letter. I was delighted to find that they offer credit reports online, and they don't even make it hard to find! I filled out a form with some basic identifying information, and then I got this:
( Read more... )

tonight I'm gonna pirate like it's 1999

Over on the Tin Cat blog I wrote an open letter to a mother concerned about file sharing, one of many published today by blogging musicians around the web. Her son thinks he shouldn't pay for music because the money all goes to the label, and anyway bands make their money on touring. His mother thinks not paying for music is stealing, and anyway he's a musician and what's going to happen when he needs to make a living?

My favorite response is David J. Hahn's:

My perspective on file-sharing is probably different that you would expect. I think that your son should download every track he can find. I mean it. Download every song out there and sift through them one by one. And not just the genre’s he likes - but everything - Creole bandeon playing, French rap, hymns, metal, classical, South African jazz, samba - whatever he can find.

Go read his post to find out why.