Money for nothing, MP3s for free

Cool: In a move that will revolutionize the music industry, The Guardian reports that major labels are embracing a concept in which music can be downloaded for free with revenue coming in from advertisements that are shown with each MP3 selected. Labels would in turn give artists a share of that advertising money. On Sunday, Qtrax announced its foray into this experiment by offering 25 million tracks for free.
  UPDATE: Attempting the free downloads from Qtrax was a nightmare today, between its software and licensing issues from major labels. See this story in thisislondon.co.uk. Thanks for the tip, Brad!

Scary: In an update on the terror threat posed to Europe during Pervez Musharraf’s visit, Northeast Intelligence Network reports that uncovered plans included “large-scale, coordinated bombings” triggered with cell phones on the transportation systems in Germany, France, Portugal and Great Britain.

Freaky: Henny Pennys of the world unite. Sometime between February and March a U.S. spy satellite “the size of a bus” and weighing 10 tons will plummet to earth, The Scotsman reports. This lovely space junk is one of 600,000 orbiting our planet. UK odds-makers place the chances of getting hit on the noggin by the dying spy at 20 billion to one, the Scotsman says.

Plain weird: Don’t drive your car in the shadow of the Empire State Building. According to a story by United Press International, cars within five blocks of the Manhattan landmark have been suddenly stalling out. Citywide Towing manager Isaac Leviev said “We get about 10 to 15 cars stuck near there every day. You pull the car four or five blocks to the west or east and the car starts right up,” UPI reports.

Just Plain Wrong: The Associated Press (via Breitbart.com) reports on an ASPCA raid of a home in East Texas where more than 200 animals were being housed. Rescued: “(26 hissing) cockroaches and (two) bearded dragons, … 68 dogs, 16 rabbits, 15 guinea pigs, 13 gerbils, seven doves, two dwarf hamsters, two hedgehogs, an opossum and a pink toe tarantula.” Hmm, bet that home smelled lovely on a nice hot day in July.

♣ Nation/world news tally in my local paper today: 1¾ pages