Tonight at 6PM ET on Sirius Octane (Channel 20), actor Jared Leto will be appearing on, well, 'Meet Jared Leto.'

Let's be fair, it's rare for decent actors to have decent bands, but I like the bits I've heard from '30 Seconds To Mars,' the band that he'll be pimping tonight. They have new album called 'A Beautiful Lie' that will be out on August 16th.

Here's a decent article on the band and Jared from MTV.com, and here is Jared's IMDb page, and here is the band's site. Whoo!

Laurie Duncan over at TUAW got an very interesting E-mail from XM.

Basically, it boils down this way. XM is asking certain subscribers if they would like a XM Digital Music Player. You would be able to use it in order to copy things from XM onto it and/or with a music download service containing over one million songs. Playlist management, too.

The catch is this -- As long as you keep your subscription, the music stays. As soon as you cancel your subscription, it will all disappear until you re-up.

It will also (again, this is all extremely hypothetical) let you search for specific songs.

The big question -- Would you be willing to get this new XM Digital Music Player if this feature would cost you an additional $9.95 a month on top of your current XM satellite radio bill, even if the New Device costs $199? The other thing they're throwing out is maybe trading in your old player and getting the new one for free, but still paying an additional $9.95 a month over the regular bill.

I've got to be honest here. This sounds totally lame. XM is charging me three bucks more than they used to, and now they're doing market research on a silly plan?

The bottom line for me is that I can already record off of my XM if I want to. If I hear a song I like, I can look at the screen and write it down and mysteriously procure that song on my own. And for the last time, I don't want an iPod. What do you folks think of this?

I just read an interesting article on the KHON website about the influx of cars coming into Hawaii with XM or Sirius on-board.

Just one problem... Neither XM or Sirius broadcast to the island. Neither XM or Sirius are going to shove more satellites into space just to get at Hawaii, but it is an interesting situation.

Nice blurb at the end about how people on Hawaii used to watch The Tonight Show before satellite television - It was the previous night's episode, delivered via airplane on magnetic tape from Los Angeles.

Hey, it's another piece in the avalanche of 'radio needs to change or die' articles, this time from the Miami Herald.

While I'll be the first to admit that terrestrial radio is incredibly painful to listen to, I can't help but notice that the 'old-school must change or die' attitude was brought to its knees in the dot-com bust.

Remember what people said back in 1999? We wouldn't go to the grocery store anymore, we would buy all of our heavy bags of cat food on the internet on the way-cheap! We would never go to bookstores ever again! We'd never buy a CD in a jewel case ever! It's a relic! A thing of the past! Brick-and-mortar must change or die!

Yes, radio needs to change. Will it change fast enough to stop satellite or internet radio from posing a threat?

Hey, folks! Harry Shearer is on this morning's Bob Edwards show on XM Public Radio (XM Channel 133). The show just started, so tune in now!

For those not 'in the know,' Harry Shearer played Derek Smalls in 'This is Spinal Tap,' and he also plays a gigantic list of characters on 'The Simpsons,' from Ned Flanders to Seymour Skinner to Waylon Smithers. Here is his entry on IMDb, here is his personal site and here is some more information on XM Public Radio and Bob Edwards.

Straight out of the history books, XM Radio Classics presents 'Tales of the Texas Rangers!'

I heard this on XM Radio Classics last night, and I liked it a lot. The original show ran from 1950 to 1952, and all of the stories are re-enactments from the real Texas Rangers casebooks, albeit with the names changed, and the hero staying the same the entire time.

Wheaties sponsored it back in the day, though I suppose right now it's sponsored by the thirteen bucks we're all coughing up to XM every month. A good deal, I think. Here is more information on the series.

Well, there's good news and there's bad news. You can get an XM adapter for your motorcycle. The bad news is that it's going to cost you at least $189 or much more, depending on what kind of bike you're riding.

There's a pretty good overview of the models and makes (and if they'll work on your bike) over at about.com.

By the way, I would strongly recommend keeping it tuned to Top Tracks. No one wants to hear you tear by on the highway while you've got your XM tuned to Radio Disney. Keep it classic rock, or turn it off!

According to the press release, XM will provide the first satellite radio broadcast of the Indy 500.

From the release:

"XM's coverage of The Indianapolis 500 will give a national radio audience the opportunity to enjoy minute-by-minute action, color and analysis of America's most revered annual motorsports spectacle," said Hugh Panero, president and CEO of XM Satellite Radio. "With our unmatched motorsports programming, XM subscribers with a need for speed have the widest possible menu of sports entertainment options."

Okay, okay, I get it, long-term deal with the IRL, cornering the market on things with brake pedals. But I am really tired of claims like 'FIRST SATELLITE BROADCAST of SOMETHING.' Mr. Panero, you've been on the air since November of 2001. Stop sending out press releases with lead lines that seem to indicate you have people walking on the damn moon.

The Seattle Times has leapt into the XM vs. Sirius fray with this piece by Mark Rahner.

From the piece:

Would I buy satellite radio? Not yet.

But if I spent more time driving — whether I was a trucker or just had a significantly longer commute — I'd whip out the credit card. As it is, getting a huge kick out of both test-drive units has moved me from Jack Benny stinginess to teetering on the fence. What would push me over: missing Stern when he moves to Sirius in 2006. But if I were more of a highbrow Bob Edwards fan ...

Another thing the article talks about is whether all of this is useless or not. He quotes Adam Jacobson, who calls Satellite Radio 'the eight-track of the 21st century.' Adam feels that everyone will have internet broadband in their car in the next ten years, so this whole 'satellite radio' business will be obsolete.

On the other hand, they've been telling me about free wireless broadband for years, and I've never seen it. My grandmom still uses a modem to check her E-mail.

Either way, this is a fairly good piece, but I'm really tired of people comparing the XM MyFi to an iPod. It's not an iPod. Just because you can wear it on your waist and it plays music, it's not an iPod. My cassette walkman, which religiously played They Might Be Giants 'Apollo 18' album when I was in junior high, was also not an iPod. Stop calling everything an iPod, journalists!

I realize I'm breaking from format here, but I've got to tell you about XM's 'Old Time Radio' channel, also known as 'Radio Classics' or 'Turn Back The Dial Radio.' Whatever it's called, it's Channel 164 on XM.

Last night, I listened to 'Gunsmoke,' two episodes of 'Suspense,' an episode of 'Fort Laramie' and an episode of 'Honest Harold.' The night before, I listened to 'This Is Your FBI' and 'The Shadow.'

This channel is absolutely awesome. I was out in the wee hours of the morning last night, driving around in my car listening to these great shows. This channel is highly recommended. One thing I would like to mention is that last night's episode of Fort Laramie (a wild-west cavalry drama) struck me like lightning. It went into how not all of the indians were murderers, and that not even the Army was right all the time. If most people saw this on television today, the producers would have been slammed as ultra-liberal activists. A great show, starring Raymond Burr.

In a piece from the Boston Globe, XM headliner Bob Edwards talks about the differences between satellite radio and working for NPR.

This is a good piece, because it's not just a fluff piece where the XM personality says how great XM is. It's actually a really nice change of pace from all the market-speak we've been hearing recently.

From the piece:

It's very exciting to work in a place where there's something going on all the time. I love talking to the guys who do the music channels. They're all refugees from commercial radio. Now they're free from formulas, focus groups, and play lists.

Don't worry, Bob talks about the negative aspects of being on satellite radio, too. A good piece. Check it out!

Oh, the water runs hot in the piece, called Satellite Energizes Radio, with a bunch of references to MTV in its infancy.

Interesting thing, I think. MTV effectively turned pop radio into the utter nightmare it is right now. If MTV turned pop radio into a nightmare, will satellite radio turn MTV into something useful?

From the piece:

And Tobi, the programming director for XM's ultra-eclectic college-rock station, XMU, routinely stays in the office until 1 a.m., adding 200 tracks at a time to her library from bands like the Decemberists and Maximo Park. "If I like it, I play it," she says.

Well, I'll tell you something, Tobi. If I hear the Decemberists on XMU, I'm switching right back to 'Fred,' okay?

There's a lot of good company-baiting in this piece, with XM saying one thing (we have deeper playlists) and Sirius denying it (no you do not, shut up). There's actually more focus on the two companies going at it than there is on actual content choices being made by either XM or Sirius.

Personally, I'm a little tired of the XM vs. Sirius debate, but everyone loves a fight. Remember when everyone said that they were tired of hearing about Bill and Monica on the news, but still watched the news for it anyway? Addicted to the OJ trial? This Michael Jackson thing? The runaway bride? We are drawn to the basest drama in the world, and we're watching two start-up satellite companies go at it.

At least I'm not hearing ads on XM or Sirius that say that the other guys are in contempt of court or whatever. If I do, I'll drop either like a hot potato.

Yay, it's the second part of the almighty roadtrip! Coming back from Minneapolis to Philadelphia, here's a sampling of what I listened to on the road back. Thanks for the comments on the first piece, feel free to rock them out on this one, too!

According to the press release, XM has over four million subscribers now. Even at the old rate of ten bucks a month per subscriber, that's forty million bucks a month in revenue. Ka-ching!

What is XM doing that Sirius can't seem to get a grip on? I haven't been able to figure this one out either, and I know that Mel Karmazin would probably pay me a whole lot of sweet cash if I knew the answer.

Don't let all the car stories fool you. XM claims that sixty percent of all XM automobile installations are aftermarket installations, which means they're not getting XM at the dealer.

On Friday afternoon, I dropped $69.99 on a car adapter kit for my XM Delphi Skyfi2. A couple hours later, and I was on an 1,181 mile roadtrip across the country to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I kept track of what I listened to on my trip (and what I thought about it), and here's the first part, from Philadelphia to Minneapolis. The return trip will be documented on Thursday.