Bwog on a Budget returns this week with a guide to making the most of your money and music collection. Downloading music can be confusing, risky, and worst of all, costly, so read this guide and amend your ways! Please let us know if we have left anything off the list!

iTunes: The Exemplar
Pros: Like most Mac products, iTunes is incredibly easy to use. If you buy into the whole Mac lifestyle -- i.e. own a iPod, MacBook, MacBook Pro, or any other Mac computer -- downloading music from iTunes' exhaustive library into your personal library is as simple as clicking a button. Also iTunes makes organizing your music or iPod very easy.
Cons: $0.99 per song is about expensive a downloading can get. Also downloading an entire album as opposed to individual songs usually is no cheaper. Furthermore Bwog has yet to come across any iTunes discount subscriptions.

Ruckus: A Case of Extremes
Pros: There are two big ones: Ruckus is totes free and legit legal! Also Ruckus offers video streaming from Ruckus TV.
Cons: There are many. Ruckus is not compatible with Macs or iPods. Yup, Ruckus only works with Windows. Also Ruckus has DRM, which means there is limited player support and absolutely no copying your songs (unless you burn them onto a CD). And Bwog's heard rumors that Ruckus' storage and track system often is quite inconsistent.

If you haven't had the chance to swing by their table for the cookies, stickers and flyers of information out on College Walk today, Free Culture @ Columbia is currently launching CU-LATOR, its new (and cleverly titled) software through its website.

Basically, CU-LATOR is a program designed to encrypt web activity on your computer so that it stays out of the sight of Columbia administration. Although the FCC software is being launched in response to the RIAA attacks, Free Culture founder (and B&W editor) Brendan Ballou tells us via e-mail that it's not about file sharing. "I don't download music -- in fact, a suprisingly small percentage of our club actually does," Brendan claims. "We're really just paranoids, who don't like the idea that Columbia can see what websites you go to, and that that information can be so easily shared with outside organizations like the RIAA, or the government. It's our belief that whether or not you've got something to hide, we all have the right to privacy."

Another interesting bit of information is that CU-LATOR is actually built off software used by Chinese dissidents and is the first of its kind to be used on a college campus, giving possible leeway to a national model of the program. Unfortunately, the software is not available for non-Apple users although one of the club's summer projects include designing a version for PC.

In the meantime, Apple kids should check it out -- you just might thank yourself for it later.

- MIP

Have you gotten your letter yet?

Spec reported on Friday that 20 Columbia students have recieved missives (PDF here) from the Recording Industry Association of America, which recently sent out over 400 to college students across the nation (Boston University received the most, with 50). They're not notices, exactly, but rather warnings: settle now, or we'll sue you later (in twenty days, to be exact). They've even set up a helpful site where you can pay your fine in advance.

Columbia isn't exactly in league with the RIAA, but they're definitely not taking a principled stand, either. The RIAA only knows you're downloading through your IP address, and depends on the University to forward you a letter threatening legal action (at $750 per song). So far, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the only school telling them to take their letters and shove off. Columbia sends students a list of attorneys they can hire, and sets up Ruckus, which half of us can't use (Macs 4Eva!!!).

What's a student got to do to get her groove on?