Mike Masnick at Techdirt points to a fascinating piece that I also came across earlier today, which describes how a mathematician helped win a Grammy — by using algorithms to restore an ancient bootleg of legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie singing a tune. The recording was so old, and the device used to record it so fragile, that it had to be painstakingly reconstructed using a fascinating process.

As Mike notes, it’s ironic that everyone is so happy to have what amounts to an illegal copy of Guthrie’s song — and also notes how the Guthrie estate has been less than enthusiastic about sharing the legend’s music, despite Guthrie’s own views on copyright. But the thing that really struck me as ironic, as I mentioned in a comment on Mike’s post, is that I listened to both copies of the song, and I actually prefer the original.

Rolling Stone magazine has released the hotly-awaited (by me at least) list of the top 20 most annoying songs. Number one: My Humps by the Black-Eyed Peas. Yup, that sounds about right. Glad to see Who Let The Dogs Out and My Heart Will Go On in there as well, although I think Celine should have tied for first. The Crash Test Dummies (a fine Winnipeg band) also make an appearance for Mmm mmm mmm mmm or whatever it’s called, and so does Wham! for Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (hat tip to ListeNerd for the link)