I joined TradeMe.co.nz recently to procure a Bluetooth dongle (no seriously, that’s what it’s called) for my phone. It went smoothly. In particular, I am impressed with the TradeMe website, which is very good. Let us compare it with the new TV3 website. It sucks. Their old one? Fantastic. Stupidity article the first.

I then realised that I needed a screen protector for my rather vulnerable slidephone. I searched and there were a whole lot of identical auctions, each with a starting bid of $2 and buy now price of $9.95. Aha! I thought cleverly. I’ll just bid low and wait it out. So I bid $2. Of course, this was less than the reserve. “Try making a higher bid,” TradeMe suggested. Well, I dunno. I’m not sure I see the point of that.

Then someone came along and outbid me. Why? You could have had a whole auction to yourself! Massively aggrieved, I outbid them, tripling my original bid. Aha! I thought smugly. I got them good.

Meanwhile a miscommunication with a colleague (”I thought maybe you meant, protect it from a massive attack”) led to another great idea, and I bid $3 on Mezzanine.

The thing is, I’m not really good at stuff like gambling or auctions. I don’t really understand the concept of giving up. I mean, I know what it means to give up. It’s the why that I have trouble with. For me, giving up is anathema to living. All so much nothingness. You might counter here with platitudes, like “pick your battles.” Well my friend, life is like a box of chocolates. I want them all.

So anyway, I get outbid again on the bloody screen protector. I have a rethink. And I bid $2 on one of the other identical ones. Stupid thing to do? I have no idea.

Then I get outbid on the CD. As on every occasion I am outbid, my reaction (and Azrael can do this much better than me, but) goes along the lines of “RAH! They bid $3.50? I’ll bid $10 000! That’ll learn ‘em!” Luckily I can’t click through that fast. Anyway, so far I’ve got up to $9 on pure anger. I tell you what, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Being on a roll and all, now I’ve found two auctions of Music For The Jilted Generation. I’m thinking I might bid on both. Stupid thing to do? I’m not sure where this is going to end up, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up thousands of dollars out of pocket for two copies of the exact same CD. Prodigy, though! Bargain.

But this tragic tale is not the only instance where music and stupidity coalesce.

• DRM Crippled CD: A bizarre tale in 4 parts [The Big Picture]
• THEIR HEEEERE! [Webfroot]
• California Class Action Suit Sony Over Rootkit DRM [Slashdot]

If I wanted to legally acquire music online - well, being in New Zealand, I believe I simply can’t in many instances - but if I did, it would come with some kind of DRM, or in other words, be inferior to the stuff that I could pirate. Maybe I’m missing something, but you know, it rather seems that DRM achieves nothing for anyone, at significant cost to both producer and consumer. So… why? I imagine that if you keep firing bullets into your feet, eventually you fall over.

And I couldn’t resist throwing this one in. Just stupidity, no music, but perhaps we could add sorrowful (but slightly ironic) violins, or maybe the tolling bell of doom…

• Robertson warns Pennsylvania voters of God’s wrath [CNN]

Since it is on theme…
Current music: The Matrix Reloaded - Track 4 (I believe it has a name, but all I can ever remember is that it’s track 4. Good song.)
Current drink: Bourbon and Coke Citra. Tastes like normal Coke. You bastard marketers.