May 2008
22 posts
“Everything she knew about music didn’t come from being a fan; it came from what...”
– Joey deVilla, describing a meeting he had with a record exec back in 1996.
I think this perfectly sums up why the record industry is hurting so badly: it’s no longer run by music fans, it’s run by business people.
The Miracle Fruit, a Tease for the Taste Buds →
This must be a trip (so to speak):
The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy. […] The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids…
At ~$2 per berry, it’s a bit expensive, but this just sounds too...
"Millenials"
This cute little pejorative, one I’d never heard before, is how the generation of kids born between 1980 and 1995 is being labeled, and this 60 minutes segment (via marco) clearly doesn’t think highly of them:
They were raised by doting parents, played in little leagues with no winners or losers or all winners. They’re laden with trophies just for participating, and they think...
The Last Bite →
The New Yorker:
Now the “dark tints” have returned. The World Bank recently announced that thirty-three countries are confronting food crises, as the prices of various staples have soared. From January to April of this year, the cost of rice on the international market went up a hundred and forty-one per cent. Pakistan has reintroduced ration cards. In Egypt, the Army has started baking bread...
Nostalgia 1.0 →
Since I finally settled on a (minor) redesign for cubicle17 that I liked, I thought it only appropriate to release my previous design as a freely downloadable theme:
When I was still using [Nostalgia] on cubicle17, I had a number of requests to use it. Although it’s my personal policy not to release my personal themes while I’m using them, I’m no longer using this theme so I’m releasing it for...
Disconnecting Distraction →
Paul Graham talks procrastination-by-distraction:
Procrastination feeds on distractions. Most people find it uncomfortable just to sit and do nothing; you avoid work by doing something else.
So one way to beat procrastination is to starve it of distractions. But that’s not as straightforward as it sounds […]
Cubescape →
A nice little Flash JavaScript app that lets you create your own isometric pixel pictures. Expect to lose a few hours today watching the animations of other people creating their pictures, though. (via Simplebits)
100 Must-Read Books →
There are the books you read, and then there are the books that change your life. We can all look back on the books that have shaped our perspective on politics, religion, money, and love. Some will even become a source of inspiration for the rest of your life.
Although the list is ostensibly geared towards “manly” titles, I think there’s plenty here for everyone. A quick...
Extraview: Tuneage →
In addition to the contest, Richard and I get extraviewed in our capacity as “those idiots behind Tuneage”:
What made you guys get together and start a tumblelog about music?
Bill: Oddly enough, I kinda remember how it happened. It was around the time Tumblr introduced the public groups feature, and since Tumblr only allows 1 audio upload per day, a group tumblelog that lets...
Tuneage is Giving Away Free Stuff!
To celebrate clearing the 1,000th-Follower milestone, Tuneage is running a contest/giveaway:
We want you to make a Muxtape. But we want a Muxtape with a theme: the perfect Summer mix. Interpret the theme however you like, and make a Muxtape out of it.
It’s been a crazy 4 months, and we couldn’t be happier or more excited to do this. So head over to Tuneage, check out the prize...
Pirate Music, Lose Your House →
Los Angeles County just added a new category to the rule that allows it to declare property a public nuisance. Under this law…
The county retains the right to shutter a property for up to a year for [engaging in music/video piracy] and also gives local authorities the right to bring a civil action to “temporarily restrain, preliminarily enjoin, and/or permanently enjoin the person...
The Anomalous Platypus Genome →
If it has a bill and webbed feet like a duck, lays eggs like a bird or a reptile but also produces milk and has a coat of fur like a mammal, what could the genetics of the duck-billed platypus possibly be like? Well, just as peculiar: an amalgam of genes reflecting significant branching and transitions in evolution.
Fascinating.
Tumblize →
Richard Dunlop-Walters:
Wow, lots of buzz around Tumblize today. Those guys that, for “just $999” will supply you with a brand new theme for your tumblelog. No, seriously, it’s just $999. For a one-page design. […]
Personally, $999 seems like a lot of money for a Tumblr theme; however, for that amount of money, I would hope these guys weren’t making the kind of mistakes Richard...
DINO * RUN →
The gist of the game is this: you’re a dinosaur, an asteroid has hit the Earth, and you have to outrun the devastation. Not only is there a fun single-player mode, but there’s a multi-player mode as well.
Sound like a game you’ll be losing an afternoon to? Yep, me too. (via Waxy.org)
Hahlo 3 →
I’ve been trying out a beta of Hahlo3 for last week or two, and it’s a vast improvement over version 2. In my opinion, if you have an iPhone/iPod Touch and a twitter account, you should be using Hahlo.
As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars →
“It’s easily the most dramatic segment shift I have witnessed in the market in my 31 years here,” said George Pipas, chief sales analyst for the Ford Motor Company.
With gas prices new hitting record highs almost daily, I suppose this news shouldn’t surprise me, but Americans have historically been very stubborn where their SUVs are concerned.
Guitar Hero embeddable widget hits web →
I will, without a doubt, lose the rest of my afternoon to mastering this.
Stop using Ajax! →
A recent post from the Opera Developer Community makes a case for why Ajax isn’t the great-and-wonderful thing it’s cracked up to be:
Striving for better things is not good enough, if in the process we lose some of our users completely. I think of progressive enhancement like a hierarchy of objectives: where accessibility is the highest, most important thing, followed by usability,...