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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

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Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic)

    • 6 out of 10
    • Alanis Morissette
    • Ten years after the original release, comes the traditional celebratory acoustic re-recording. The album has held up remarkably well. While it is not as meaningful to me as it was when I was sixteen,
  • An Evening with George Shearing & Mel Torm�

    • 10 out of 10
    • Mel Torm� & George Shearing
    • Of the three men who taught me how to sing, the last was Mel Torme. Apparently, Mel Torme is a joke to anyone more than a decade older than me, a living parody of a Vegas crooner. But I stumbled on th
  • Go Away White

    • 10 out of 10
    • Bauhaus
    • Go Away White is an album I've been waiting more than 20 years to hear, and the good news is that it was worth the wait.  The latest -- and last, no...for real this time -- album from

  • King James Version

    • 4 out of 10
    • Harvey Danger
    • The sophomore effort from Harvey Danger, I was really looking forward to this followup to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" Unfortunately, "King James Version" failed to deliver any of the bri

  • 8:30

    • 10 out of 10
    • Weather Report
    • This is Weather Reports quintessential line-up captured live. Jaco Pastorious and Peter Erskine join Wayne Shorter and, of course, Joe Zawinul to create this masterpiece.

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News

Wired News Looks at Apple Sweatshop Charges

In his latest Cult of Mac column, Leander Kahney examined the recent claims that the Chinese factories assembling Apple's iPods subject their workers to sub-standard conditions. Even if the factories meet international labor standards, he said, "Apple can expect a grilling from its upscale Volvo-driving fans in the months ahead."

Mr. Kahney looked at the charges closer, however, and noted that one of the iPod manufacturers involved is Foxconn, a company headquartered in Taiwan and part of Hon Hai Precision Industry, which is a major player in the electronics business. Hon Hai only employs 100,000 people in China, however, half the number that supposedly work at one of the plants.

In addition, Nicholas Lardy, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Economics, told Mr. Kahney that Hon Hai's reputation is excellent. And Christopher Foss of Social Accountability International said that one of Hon Hai's Chinese facilities has met international labor standards.

However, Dan Viederman of social research firm Verite said that while Chinese manufacturers "are getting better at environmental issues," they lag in labor standards and don't allow unions to form. Mr. Foss added that the sweatshop charges that have previously plagued other industries have now moved into the high-tech space because of the number of menial jobs available.

Mr. Kahney, who was unable to get a comment from Apple on the subject, wrote: "For Apple's demographic -- well-heeled urbanites -- human rights and labor practices are, presumably, important matters. They buy fair-trade coffee, but iBooks and iPods are not an issue?"

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