The Moose Pit

This item is the reason why I am so leary of purchasing authenticated autographs for my Phillies collection. It seems legit -- it's "authenticated by East Coast Collectibles" and "has a serial numbered tamper evident hologram and a certificate with a matching hologram." There's a small problem, however, that means I would never buy it even if it cost $0.01 with free shipping and handling.

The notation under Ashburn's auto says, "HOF '94."

He was elected to the HOF in 1995.

Given that he died barely two years after his induction, I find it incredibly unlikely that he would've messed up such an important detail in his notation. I'd love to add his autograph to my collection, but items such as this tell me I can't trust East Coast Collectibles for their authentication.

I think I'm starting to let my iPod dictate what I'm listening to. I know it shouldn't be that way... I'm the sentient being, the one who operates the controls. However, I noticed that my iPod is tracking how many times I play each track, right down to the date and time each last pulsed through the ear buds.

This shouldn't be that big a concern, but now I'm afraid Apple is monitoring my listening habits. It's not that hard to believe, is it? Each time I hook my iPod to the computer, there's a delay while it sinks up to iTunes. Boom, listening information downloaded to computer. Then, when I hook into the Apple Music Store... boom, Apple now possesses my listening information. Before long, that information is sold to the major labels, who all find out that I actually purchased The Spice Girls' "Say You'll Be There" and played it nearly 20 times since then*.

Before long, I can see Apple recommending music to me when I enter the Apple Music Store, ala Amazon.com, and I'll be inundated with suggestions to buy Joss Stone's latest. I actually don't know anything about her, but her face already seems to pop-up an awful lot when I enter the Music Store. Maybe the suggested selling has already started.

But it goes beyond that. I insist up and down that BNL is my favorite band, so why are so few of their songs in the 10-15 most played songs? I find myself loading up "Brian Wilson" just so that it maintains it's top 10 position. Don't tell me that the iPod is only tracking my listening habits since Mrs. Moose gave it to me for my birthday. That list is set in stone... well, metaphorically speaking that is... well, maybe not.

Regardless, my iPod is watching me, and I don't want it to make an inaccurate record of who I am (or maybe I really do -- there's a thought). I'm actually thinking of setting up a playlist of my favorite 50 or so songs and letting it play them overnight for a few weeks in a row, thus making the list look the way I want it to. Maybe then I'll stop seeing Joss Stone's face on the Apple Music Store.

I'm not being paranoid... or am I?

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* Sadly, this is not a joke. I do have the song on my iPod and I have listened to it more times than I care to admit. I feel so dirty.