berkleebassist

So I came across this article a short time ago, and found it to be evidence of something I've felt to be true for some time now: that only the labels and the "big business" model of distributing music lose when music is free. Times Online, the online arm of The Times of London, has the full story, but here's some highlights:

This is the graph the record industry doesn’t want you to see.

It shows the fate of the three main pillars of music industry revenue — recorded music, live music, and PRS revenues (royalties collected on behalf of artists when their music is played in public) over the last 5 years.

[…]

The most immediate revelation, of course, is that at some point next year revenues from gigs payable to artists will for the first time overtake revenues accrued by labels from sales of recorded music.

Huge stuff, and I'm willing to bet that the same holds true (albeit in larger numbers) for American artists. There's some great graphs that clearly demonstrate the trend included with the article, go check it!

(via Times Labs Blog)

The epitome of FAIL:

(Via FAIL Blog)

So the whole retweet system in Twitter has always seemed sloppy, with two sets of syntax:
RT @berkleebassist
and
(via @berkleebassist)

This new system, proposed by Chris Messina, the same gent who came up with hashtags (you know, #hashtags), is quite elegant in its simplicity. The whole entry, New microsyntax for Twitter: three pointers and the slasher, can be read for greater clarity, but it basically comes down to this:

/via is for basic quoting, as in:

Here is a tweet /via @berkleebassist

/cc is like the classic email carbon copy, meant to catch someone's attention even though you’re publicly tweeting something:

Here is a tweet /via @berkleebassist /cc @diabola

/by is a direct quote that's not a retweet (RT) or overheard (OH), as in something you’ve lifted from someone's blog or a longer-form item (news article, etc.)

"It’s more like the cite or blockquote HTML tags" http://lessn.jeffbyrn.es/d /by @chrismessina

The whole thing came to my attention because of a great bit on atebits support on the new native retweet feature that’s built-in to Tweetie 2.1 for iPhone. Apparently, Tweetie 2.1 has already adopted this excellent set of microsyntax, which I think is great. Kudos to atebits!

(Via FactoryCity by way of atebits, makers of Tweetie)

This is a hilarious & scathing page, showing the back & forth between a designer & a client looking for work on spec. Check out It's like twitter. Except we charge people to use it.

The site also features another favorite of mine, The ducks in the bathroom are not mine

So, I was perusing i use this, one of my daily stops for finding nifty software, and came across WiFiPad. What a brilliant, awesome idea! Works wonderfully for emulated console games.

(Via the pursuit of happyness)

So I just read an article over at Salon, Camp Lejeune whistle-blower fired, and it absolutely blew my mind. I mean, I don’t expect our military to be perfect, especially at things beyond the battlefield, but seriously? Battle is traumatizing. Nobody’s gonna argue that seeing your buddy get turned into mist is something anyone would be ok with. I’ve known enough former and current soldiers & sailors to be aware that they’ve seen some awful things, and they need not only our understanding, but our help. I mean, both of my grandfathers wouldn’t even speak of their experiences in WWII or the Korean War to me, from which I can only surmise that they never wanted to even revisit those memories.

And while the issues facing the marines of Camp Lejeune are completely different from those that appeared to have afflicted the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, that does not mean that we should ignore them. Rather, we should grab hold of the focus that the Fort Hood incident has created and use it to shine a spotlight on the poor care our veterans receive for the invisible wounds they receive on the battlefield.

A friend of my family recently was attacked while in convoy in Iraq back in June, and nearly lost his life. A roadside bomb exploded, the soldiers sitting in the front of the vehicle were killed instantly, and our family friend was injured (he was blown right out of the vehicle.) Amazingly, he suffered no serious physical injury, and was released from the hospital within just a few days, but I cannot imagine the effect just that one event might have had on him. I mean, he was a mere few feet from death; had he opted to sit in a different seat in the vehicle, he’d be gone. He was awarded the Purple Heart, and continues to serve in Baghdad today. It sickens me to think that if he returns home with injuries beyond just the physical ones he’s suffered, that he’ll be treated with indifference at best, and derision at worst by the very country and military he’s sworn to serve.

And yes, the headline is meant to provoke. I’m a huge proponent for mental health care, having enjoyed its benefits in my own life.

(Via Salon.com)

This made me laugh uncontrollably, just because it's SO random:

Suddenly, Hebrew: How in the world did this happen?

(Via ~stevenf)

Google Providing Free Airport Wi-Fi for the Holidays:

Google Inc. today announced that it is working with airports across the country as well as Boingo Wireless, Advanced Wireless Group, Airport Marketing Income and others to provide free Wi-Fi as a holiday gift now through January 15, 2010. The gift currently includes 47 airports, including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Houston, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Louis and Charlotte. Additionally, as a result of this project, Burbank and Seattle airports will begin offering airport-wide free Wi-Fi indefinitely.

Pretty brilliant. Shamelessly using the same quote as Gruber (thanks!)

(Via ★ Daring Fireball)

So, the series itself is one of my all-time favorites, and the most recent incarnations (The Sands of Time, Warrior Within, & The Two Thrones) are really brilliant games with a marvelous storyline which snakes back on itself due to the madness of time travel.

The movie appears to take the idea of the Sands of Time and the Dagger of Time, but goes in a slightly different direction. However, the maddeningly awesome acrobatics of the Prince and his manner appear to have been lifted directly from the games’ story. We’ll see how it turns out, but I’m excited.

In the meantime, enjoy the teaser trailer at Apple's Movie Trailers website.