Music royalties and Pandora’s box

By James Ledbetter – You might think in the nearly two decades since music first began streaming over the Internet that some kind of consensus about paying artists would have emerged. But about the only thing most Internet radio stakeholders can agree on is that the current system makes no sense.

The business stakes of this battle flared up again this week, when the New York-based indie musician Blake Morgan picked a public fight with Internet radio giant Pandora. more> http://tinyurl.com/ca7h9go

Robot Bartender Would Not Be Complete Without LEDs

By Keith Dawson – Rob Kaye and Pierre Michael, the two principals at Party Robotics, have been developing Bartendro for nearly three years.

As it turns out, dispensing liquids precisely and automatically is not easy. There were no suitable pumps available at hobbyists’ prices when Rob and Pierre started — they were all precision manufactured for medical or industrial markets, and cost hundreds of dollars each. So Pierre ended up procuring a CNC milling machine and designing and manufacturing pumps, valves, flow meters, and other parts for Bartendro in his garage. The partners claim that the current iteration of the Bartendro design can dispense liquids to within milliliter tolerance. more> http://tinyurl.com/d9gj79m

Related>

• Bartendro – A Cocktail Dispensing Robot, Party Robotics, kickstarter.com

Google, please be a benevolent internet overlord

By Dan Gillmor – Google is at the top of its game. It presides over, if not ruling outright, enormous swaths of modern life.

The company’s engineering culture assumes it will solve problems; that data is king; and that anyone with common sense will use the company’s solutions. It’s true enough, as Google notes, that its search dominance is always one click away from melting. Competition does exist. But the company’s culture has has been a factor in some bad ideas and worse moves, and I suspect it could be real trouble down the road. more> http://tinyurl.com/b32vu7b

Related>

• Google I/O 2013: Our complete coverage, Digital Trends