Subscriptions
More entertainment industry jackassery
According to this story in the L.A. Times, M. Night Shymalan is not a big fan of the growing demand for simultaneous theater and DVD releases.
"I came here to tell you that what you do is something sacred. Nobody has benefited more from DVD sales than me. I bought my house on DVD sales from 'The Sixth Sense.' But take away my house. That's not why I do what I do."
"If I can't make movies for theaters, I don't want to make movies," Shyamalan told The Times. "I hope this is a very bad idea that goes away."
Mark Cuban has been campaigning for simultanious releases for a while now, and the idea makes sense. Like the music industry though Hollywood is too afraid of losing the "sure thing" to take a small risk that offers significant rewards. Look at the resistance to release movies on videotape in the 1980s, legal digital downloads of music, and Tivo. The entertainment industry has fought every single one, and each one has (or soon will) made them richer than they could imagine. Sometimes I wonder why we fight so hard to keep them from shooting themselves in the foot by passing their anti-technology legislation and wrapping everything in layers of DRM. Maybe it'd be for the best to let them try it their way, and when that fails miserably step in and do it right.
Also, what do you think Shymalan bought with the profits of his last fim? I'm guessing something that costs between a lottery ticket and a bootleg movie.
Link from Paul Kedrosky
Technorati Tags: movie music MPAA RIAA technology businessThe Clientele do it right
Merge Records is releasing The Clientele's new album Strange Geometry on CD and LP, with a special twist that every record label should adopt this very second. If you buy the vinyl, they give you a free download of the entire album. This is great as it seems that music fans (at least the "indie" variety) are beginning to realize that CDs have no advantages over digital files and that if you want a permanent physical artifact with great fidelity, vinyl is the way to go. By combining the two formats together, it saves me the trouble of buying the record then feeling like a thief when I go download the same album to listen to on my iPod. I don't know what kind of files the "digital download" consists of, but if these are DRM-free MP3s, I think Merge has hit a home run.
edit: Catbirdseat has an interesting idea how to make Merge even more awesome.
Technorati Tags: music business mp3Mediaeater
I can't remember where I found it, but there is a great del.icio.us link blog called mediaeater that has tons of daily links about music, the internet, and all sorts of great stuff. Really, it's the link blog I wish I was responsible for. I highly recommend you subscribe to it pronto.
Technorati Tags: web2.0 rss feeds music internet linkblogCompany
Earlier this year Brooklyn's Oneida created their own label with help from Jagjaguar called Brah Records. It's a pretty awful name even by record label standards, but their first full length release makes up for that. Company plays folky '70s-influenced rock much like your Magnolia Electric Companies and your Will Oldhams and your what have yous.
Sun Kil Moon
Mark Kozelek has to be on of the top musical influences in my life. I bought my first Red House Painters cd after hearing "Summer Dress" playing on the stereo in a record store at the tender age of 15, and immediately connected. Mark Kozelek has never been afraid of daring covers, and his AC/DC covers are pretty legendary. On November 1 he is releasing Tiny Cities, a collection of Modest Mouse covers that are just as unique as the AC/DC covers. After listening to it I've had to go back and listen to the Modest Mouse originals to check they are in fact the same lyrics.
MP3 Sun Kil Moon - Ocean Breathes Salty (from stereogum)
Technorati Tags: music mp3 mark+kozelek modest+mouse sun+kil+moonElliott Smith
I didn't realize it until just now, but today is the 2nd anniversary of Elliott Smith's death. I was lucky(?) enough to be at his last show, and it was clear he wasn't doing well. I prefer to remember him from the first time I ever saw him play, and he played an amazing cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper", complete with cowbell. I hope everything is ok for him now.
MP3 Elliott Smith - Don't Fear the Reaper
Bonus: There is a link to 90MB+ of unreleased Elliott on The Rawking Refuses to Stop.
Technorati Tags: music mp3 elliott+smithA (slightly) more detailed look at Flock
Here is the more detailed look at Flock I promised earlier. Most of these are shortcomings, but overall I'm pretty pleased with it, and excited about the potential Flock is hinting at.
1. HTML produced by the blogging tool is awful.
2. I'd like to see better integration with the blogging services. Right now the blogging tool is multiples weaker than the WordPress dashboard. For example, there is no easy way to do technorati tags or specify post categories from the blog tool.
3. Also, when I tried use my own HTML from the blogging tool, all my formatting got stripped out when I posted.
4. I think I like the Shelf, but I'm not really sure what to use it for yet.
5. Flock adds itself to your del.icio.us bookmarks. This also makes for an interesting way to see how many people have set up their copy of Flock to work with del.icio.us (1316 at current count).
6. Similarly, it is way easier to add a site to your favorites than it is to access your favorites from flock, as evidenced by the 688 people who have bookmarked the Flock Favorites Manager.
7. Every time I start up the browser, it asks for my del.icio.us username and password. Not a huge problem, but kind of annoying.
Overall this is pretty solid for an Alpha-level software build. To be honest I was expecting a bit more based on the unbelievable levels of hype Flock has recieved, but that isn't really Flock's fault. I'm going to be sticking with Firefox for now, but will continue to keep an eye on Flock in the future.
Technorati Tags: flock review web2.0Flock Developer Preview
Flock just announced the developer preview of their new browser. I figure if they let me download it, they are letting anyone download it, so here's the info (from Flock) you need to get started:
We can't wait any longer. Today, we are pleased to invite you to try what will very soon become the Flock Developer Preview.
"Developer Preview?" you ask?
Well, let's put it this way. We know there are some good ideas
already baked into Flock -- inspired by the way we all already use the
web. And we've been busting our butts to get the code out there so we
can start getting feedback from the bleeding edge.We are working as fast and
as hard as humanly possible to get the browser to a quality to support
users, not just developers and we are putting the infrastructure to create an open
community where we hope everyone will feel welcome. We are a small team
and would love your assistance in making this happen!So there you have it, in the spirit of open source, here's how to get the Flock Developer Preview.
DOWNLOADING
Log in here:
http://www.flock.com/developer/download/preview/ username: caveat
password: emptorFollow the link to download what's right for you: Windows, Linux, or Mac.
I'm posting this post from Flock, and so far it's more interesting than I thought it would be. I (and about a gazillion other people) will have a more detailed review tonight. Happy flocking!
p.s.- If you are from Flock and don't want this posted, just drop in a comment.
Technorati Tags: flock bloggingDanger Doom
MF Doom. Danger Mouse. Adult Swim. Album of the year. There is really nothing else to say about this.
One place I don't want to see the word "beta"
I've come to the conclusion that attaching the word "beta" to your fancy pants new website is less a commentary on your development status than a badge of honor, that you are down with Web 2.0, that you are new and different and exciting. And probably that you want money. This fad is generally pretty tame, and I've come to accept the fact that every new web service that launches will be a beta. One place however that is probably best served leaving the beta tag off the front page is the recently launched Healthline.com. Maybe I'm crazy, but if I am researching scoliosis treatments, I think I'd want a resource a little more advanced than some beta product. That being said I'm sure that healthline.com is a solid resource, and if you had scoliosis you'd be lucky to have such a fine website at your disposal.
Technorati Tags: beta web+2.0