All has been quiet here as of late as I've been focused on other topics, namely raking an insane amount of leaves, and running the October gauntlet with two very active boys.  We now return to your regularly scheduled blogging. ;)

A few days ago, iTunes went crazy on me with the black UI of death and I had to reboot to get it going.  After then, every time I tried to Sync, it would get stuck  - syncing for days if I let it. If I pulled the phone out, I had no pictures on  my iPhone. 

After trial and error through every conceivable sync option, I deduced that my iPod Photo Cache folder had somehow become corrupted. After going into my Pictures, viewing and deleting the hidden iPod Photo Cache folder on Windows (Tools|Folder Options|Show Hidden Files and Folders), everything works again.

First Radiohead, then Nine Inch Nails, then Oasis and Jamiroquai, now Madonna are all ditching their record labels. Some are going it alone, some like Madonna are signing a $120M deal with concert promotion companies. 

It's officially here- like "The Big One" threatening to fracture California, seismic events in digital media over the past seven years have accelerated the rate at which the industry has sunk into the abyss. In 20 years, I suspect all record labels will look like concert promoters and boutique firms focused on audience creation a retention through marketing instead of distribution.

TechMeme's Duncan Riley notes, "Madonna may well be the tipping point from where we will now see a flood of recording artists dumping record labels and where todays model will shortly become a footnote in Wikipedia."

My colleague Don Dodge, notes from his work with Napster, "Back in my Napster days there were several big name artists interested in working with Napster to sell their music directly to customers. ...Those artists who wanted to work with Napster were still under contract to the big labels. As soon as their contract expired they wanted to go direct with Napster and sell their music for $1 per song...a lot better that $1 per CD. Madonna, Green Day, Limp Bizkit, MC Hammer, Courtney Love, and several other artists talked to Napster about doing a distribution deal."

Without a doubt. Loved or hated, Madonna is once again blazing a new trail and I'd expect we'll start seeing other big defections. Somewhere, someone is working on a leaderboard with contract expiration dates for major artists and odds of them breaking with their labels.  This should serve as a warning to other industries- adapt to the digital age or whither. 

In what is sure to be a smart business move for TiVo, they've announced that they're bringing Rhapsody's music service and the ability to download any of four million digital track into the living room.

There are some limitations according to the New York Times- TiVo owners can't move music around their homes or transport songs from TiVo to a mobile device.  These are both well understood and limited issues given that most consumers will just save the music to a playlist, and then sync  from their PC. 

This is great progress to see for TiVo. Their support for application extensions has languished and ISV community fizzled in part due to the lack of rich graphical capabilities such as what Media Center + Xbox 360 extenders can offer.  First MTV, now this, Rhapsody seems to be building out a new playbook.  I have to wonder- does Rhapsody have a Media Center solution waiting in the wings?

My mother always taught me if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.  I decided to opt out of all the hype/buzz/drivel about the Zune 2 announcement here because quite frankly I've been underwhelmed.  But I seem to keep getting emails asking what I think.  Sure, I have friends working on it.  I've inquired, "Please tell me the player is much much improved" and was told, by a friend "Trust us, it will be".  After sending mail to some other friends in Zune-land stating, "I love the iPhone, will I like the Zune?"  The response, "Just wait".   Hey, I want to like it, but I'm not going to shill for it.  I just can't seem to get jazzed up about the product after v1 was such a let down for me personally.  Then the company meeting happened.  I waited for the big Zune demo and announcement all employees would get one (ala Steve Jobs + iPod).  Neither the demo or the rumored announcement happened.  How will this device get to escape velocity if we're not firmly behind it?

So I've been waiting, looking the space more as a general consumer than I've been for years.  The tepid comments regarding Zune 1 and somewhat quiet introduction of Zune 2 had me concerned earlier this week.  Now it appears things are changing.  First the team is smartly offering the free update for all customers who purchased Zune 1 - we'll get all the software features.  Second, the new devices are definitely a generation ahead of v1.  Now, I'm waiting and reading Steve O'Hear from Last 100's coverage on the 5 things Microsoft did right with the Zune 2:

1. WiFi music syncing.  Definitely a big plus in my book.  Fewer wires = goodness and my Zune can now sit in the kitchen/office
2. Support for audio and video podcasts. Finally!  Someday I'll write my memoirs on how hard we tried to get this into another player...
3. Windows Media Center TV recording transfer. Good to see, still skeptical until I see it in action. 
4. Social Networking. Zune Social and Zune Card will be interesting.  But I still want "Zune Finder" as a gadget/widget/mini-app that detects Zunes when I'm on my laptop and have my Zune WiFi turned off at the airport, at conferences etc.
5. Free update for existing customers. Yep.  This is great.
   
   To this, I want to add my own:
   
6. MP3 Store. It's about friggin' time.  I completely converted from WMA and iTunes DRM'd content to MP3-only earlier this year through a painful series of CD rips ;).  Now my iTunes, Media Center, and Sonos Libraries work in harmony.  I use MusicBridge (an awesome, must-have tool) to keep my playlists, ratings, and playcounts in sync and I'm good to go. 
7. Media Player Software that looks clean and usable again. The video clips I've seen of the Zune look outstanding.  iTunes has it's quirks, WMP hasn't kept up with my music library but does a better job at certain functions  like album art matching. 
8. FM radio. Often overlooked, I sometimes get bored with shuffle and my playlists and just want to connect with the outside world. FM radio still has it's place.
9. The new Zune 2. Touchpad is the way to go.  Single-handed use is still easy, something that is increasingly frustrating me about the iPhone.
10. Support for Apple's Podcast extensions are coming. First comes denial, then anger, then acceptance ;). Zunester seems to confirm this which is nice to see. Album art today, full features soon?

Will I be trading in my iPhone for a Zune 2?  Not likely, namely because I love the in-car integration I have with my VaisTech adapter in my Toyota.  But I will load up the new software on my Zune 1 and give it another whirl.

Looks like the rumors are true- Bungie and Microsoft are announcing a new relationship that apparently will give the game studio more creative control to the studio.  To be honest the relationship always seemed like an odd match culturally.  I've worked with Bungie in the past, and it was always clear they've maintained their independence through sites such as Bungie.net.  I've always respected their attitude.

If nothing else, this should ensure Bungie retains their uniqueness and enable them to continue to push the edge with new content while the Halo universe evolves simultaneously.  The press will be quick to ask if this is a separation or divorce with shared custody of the children.  Only time will tell.

Oh, and first-week sales for Halo 3 hit $300 million.

Update: Mary Jo Foley has a good assessment here.

Sorry- this is geek humor.  Jeff has the details here.

Hot on the heels of their latest release, the MSN Video and the Soapbox teams recently announced their plans to move to Silverlight.  In their latest blog post:

What about the future?  One topic we’re talking a lot about is offering MSN Video and Soapbox with Microsoft Silverlight.  Silverlight just shipped a few weeks ago with a lot of benefits, such as offering - up to HD quality video on the Web for Mac and Windows today, and will support Linux later this year.  We’re excited to move to Silverlight in the future and are working closely with the Silverlight team, stay tuned for more details. ;) 

You may have also noticed that Microsoft's flagship homepage, www.microsoft.com has started delivering interactive content exclusively in Silverlight as well.  This is just the beginning.  Moving forward, interactive content across the site will be presented in Silverlight.  This has been a concerted effort by all teams, and our hats off to our creative agencies, McCann Worldwide, and Wunderman (among so many others) for helping to make this happen.