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Too Much “Concept,” not enough “Album”

blackribbonscoverShooter Jennings has a new album out.  On a scale from 1 to 10, it’s fair to middling.

For the uninitatied, Shooter Jennings is a musician, and the son of former outlaw country star Waylon Jennings.  I say “former” because Waylon sadly passed on about 8 years ago.  Nevertheless, his music continues to rock and roll me today.

But this post is really about Shooter, and his new concept album “Black Ribbons.”  SavingCountryMusic.com has a thorough and interesting review on the album, as well as some interpretations as to what Shooter was, well, shooting for in this opus. The author sort of vacillates between not really loving it and trying to acknowledge that Shooter was trying to do something big,maybe even something epic, with this effort.

ShooterJennings-796080I can’t do as good a job as they did in interpreting what Shooter was aiming for, why it’s important politically, socially, or to the annals of Country (and other) music.  What’s more, I don’t really care to analyze it that way.  I like Shooter’s music, particularly his 2007 album, The Wolf.  I like his voice, I like his arrangements, I like his melodies, and I like the fact that he cheerfully injects a bit of cheesiness into his rock.  He doesn’t didn’t take himself too seriously – that’s shone through his music like a ray of molten sunshine peering into the south end of a north-bound donkey.

Black Ribbons doesn’t feel like that.  According to SCM.com Shooter is intentionally leaving “Country” behind.  That’s cool – I like good music, of whatever stripe, flavor or variety.  And Black Ribbons isn’t bad music.  It just feels a little confused, a little angry, and sometimes a little boring.  I’m not trying to bash on Shooter (though I guess I kind of am bashing) or his music. Hell, I can’t make a rock album, angry or otherwise.  But I’m just not that into this one.  I’ll keep listening to it, but it’s probably not going on my iPhone. I only have 8 gigs after all.

In the end, this album (which is clearly a concept album) is a little too heavy on the concept, and  a little too lite on the album.

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Facebook? MySpace? Friendster? Pssshaw. How about Tagworld?

Picture yourself in 2006.  Social networking was… nascent?  Maybe.  At the very least the whole space was still figuring itself out.  Lots of different networks were available.  MySpace was the biggest kid on the block.  Facebook was for students only – and only students at certain schools.  Bebo, Hi5, even Friendster were all big deals.  You know who else was in the mix?  Tagworld. And they were kind of a big deal.

Screen shot 2010-03-18 at 3.08.43 PMToday, all most of these networks have a place.  Obviously Facebook is kicking ass. MySpace still has tens of millions of users, many some of them active. Even Friendster, for instance, is insanely popular in the Philippines.  Orkut, Google’s social network is very big in Brazil (though Facebook’s presence is growing there.) But what has become of Tagworld?  Nothing good.

Tagworld was a big deal at one point – big enough to secure $7.5 million in VC funding form Draper Fisher Jurvetson.  They differentiated via their widget platform (among other features).  Tagworld morphed into “Social Project” in 2007, and was later purchased by Viacom who also had a stake in the company.  Today, Social Project primarily focuses on a product called Flux, which “lets content creators build unique, customized, connected communities to grow their audience.”  Whatever.

tagworldWhat’s interesting is that some people do seem to still visit Tagworld – to me though, the site seems effectively dead.  If you visit the home page, you’re greeted with a stunning bit of verbiage (look to the right.) To me, between the lines this says: “we’re over it – if you want to keep using it, run it yourself.”  Some members do seem to visit and update their profiles – many of the public profiles on the homepage have updates newer than the last 24 hours.  One of these has a post that’s only 20 hours old.  Interestingly though, her most recent comment says: “I will never understand tag world :[ soooo confusing"  Ha!

Tagworld turned itself into Social Project, and got bought by Viacom to make a product called Flux.  Ok, cool.  Got it.  But the fact is, Tagworld is done.  Users don't know how it works. They've turned over operations to the user community.  There isn't any link to "About Us." And if you look at Compete scores, they're below 15K uniques. (Forget about Social Project [thought it wasn't intended to be a destination site seemingly.])  It’s bigger than 1to10, but not real good for a social network.  If anyone at Viacom is listening (unlikely) just close it down.  It’s done.  Stick a fork in it .

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Google Fiber-Optic Service Should Come To Foster City

I read in Techcrunch today about Google’s plans to offer broadband Fiber-Optic service to select communities.  Google has requested that people offer submissions advocating for their communities (they suggest pictures, YouTube links, etc.)  I thought, what better way to advocate for Foster City (where I live) than a blog post.  :)

“Hey Google!  Foster City gets a 10 out of 10.  Give us Fiber-Optic Broadband.”

Here’s a satellite view of Foster City (from Google Maps):

View Larger Map

And here’s the statement I wrote about our community, explaining why Foster City should become a test-bed community:

Foster City is a vibrant, multicultural community in the heart of Silicon Valley.  Adjacent to San Mateo, and located squarely between San Francisco and San Jose, Foster City is a family-oriented neighborhood filled with Latino, Indian, Asian and Caucasian nationalities who mingle together seamlessly and provide color and culture to the entire community.
A strong fiber optic network would in no way enhance the safety, multiculturalism or flavor of the community.  :)  However, because the population is both diverse and largely employed in the technology sector, Google would have a fantastic test-bed of users who represent different ethnic backgrounds and simultaneously understand and work in the technology sector, and are therefore equipped to provide useful feedback on the deployment and effectiveness of the service.

Foster City is a vibrant, multicultural community in the heart of Silicon Valley.  Adjacent to San Mateo, and located squarely between San Francisco and San Jose, Foster City is a family-oriented neighborhood filled with Latino, Indian, Asian and Caucasian nationalities who mingle together seamlessly and provide color and culture to the entire community.

A strong fiber optic network would in no way enhance the safety, multiculturalism or flavor of the community.  :)  However, because the population is both diverse and largely employed in the technology sector, Google would have a fantastic test-bed of users who represent different ethnic backgrounds and simultaneously understand and work in the technology sector, and are therefore equipped to provide useful feedback on the deployment and effectiveness of the service.

Come on Google.  Let’s make it happen. If you want to contact me, feel free to email me at david [at] 1to10reviews [dot] com (via Gmail on Google Apps for small businesses.)  Foster City would be a perfect test bed, and you know it.  Bring it on home.


Foster City on the 4th of July

Foster City on the 4th of July

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011110 – Palindromes are sweet

On a scale of 1to10, palindromes are neat and a little trippy. Since we’ve been talking about dates anyway, and my buddy Jim just brought this to my attention, I thought I’d share it with you. Today is January 11th, 2010. 01/11/10

011110

Sweet. I’ve always liked palindromes. For the uninitiated, they’re words that spell out the same way in either direction. Simple ones are words like mom, or dad. A favorite one of mine that I learned in the 10th grade goes as follows:
“Satan oscillate my metallic sonatas”

Do you have a favorite palindrome or word game? If so, please share it in the comments so we can all enjoy. In the meantime, enjoy this great example of Nerd Rock by They Might Be Giants: “I Palindrome I” (notably not a palindrome, which is part of the fun.)

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The entirely non-exclusive and barely official unboxing of the Google Nexus One Android Phone

On a scale of 1to10, the Google Nexus One is a sexy bitch.  Sol decided to pick one up on the way to Vegas (he lost his iPhone in Kettleman City) and had a Nexus One overnighted to our hotel in Las Vegas where we’re staying for the Consumer Electronic Show (CES.)

This is our 5th CES in a row, and it’s our annual tradition to drive.  We stopped for some lunch and Sol lost his phone, which is normally a panic-inducing nightmare of an experience.  But Sol stayed pretty zen about it (he’s in a good place right now.)  As it turned it out, it wasn’t really lost, and because I’m a genius we found it in about 20 minutes. But by then the Nexus One was ordered, and it only seems right to have one. After all, we’re at CES and we love shiny new phones the way little kids love puppies, or the way gravediggers like a good exhumation.

Below is the video of our unboxing. Ours is non-exclusive, non-exhaustive, and only mildly interesting. You can find much more professional (and informative) unboxings on Into Mobile, on Engadget, and on Ubergizmo (among others.) But Sol is better looking that anyone at those other pubs, so we’ll add ours to the mix anyway.

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1/2/10 – an opportunity lost

IMG_0652

On a scale of 1to10, I deserve a 2. At best.

On January second of this year (about a week and ago) an amazing opportunity arose. My good friend Jeremy pointed it out to me. The date, January 2nd, 2010. Or, written another way: 1/2/10

So cool. Our blogging namesake there, right in the date. On the evening of the 2nd, Jeremy and I were hanging out, and he suggested that I blog about it, use it as an opportunity to reflect on the blog, on life, etc. I agreed, went out to sushi, drank too much sake, and forgot to write a post. And I’ve been so busy I never followed up.

That’s been the story of this publication for a while now, and it’s a bummer. I like writing, and I like 1to10. I’m at CES right now (the Consumer Electronics Show) and being around so much gadget porn and so many bloggers is making me want to write. I missed a cool opportunity on 1/2/10, but I’m going to try and make the most of 1to10 in 2010. :)

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The Bissell Spot Bot for pet stains…

On a scale from 1 to 10, I’m talking about cleaning up poop.

51MY853YTHL._SS400_We got a dog recently, and adorable Golden Retriever puppy we’ve named Cash. He’s a part of this family, and 100% awesome.  But he’s got a weak tummy (or worms) and he’s lost control of himself a couple of times, both at the office and at home in our bedroom.  Cross my fingers, we’ve so far avoided any squishy toes (thanks to Ron H. for that lovely and descriptive term.)

In deference to those incidents, and in the interest of a clean home and good relations with my co-workers, we decided to get some help with cleaning up aging diarrhea stains.  Enter the Bissell 1200A Spot Bot Pet – a portable, spot cleaning vacuum.  This sucker uses water and cleaning solutions to pull out aging (and gross) stains better than I could ever hope to with a spray bottle and a rag. We used it on three spots so far and the thing seems to be pretty darn effective.  The reviews on Amazon are pretty compelling as well.

The thing is pretty brain-dead simple to use too.   Fill up the reservoir with cleaning solution and water, place over the stain in question, plug it in, and hit “go.”  ”Go” = one of two choices, either a “fresh stain” setting that runs for 3 minutes, or a “set stains” setting that runs for 6.  I opted for the 6 minute clean.

And it works.  At $130 it isn’t super cheap, but not excessively expensive either, especially compared with a couple of visits by Stanley Steamer. Of course, I need to keep buying cleaning fluid too, but hey, Bissell’s gotta eat too.  And this vacuum is reassuringly heavy and solid – doesn’t feel like a cheap piece o’ crap.  And it’s kind of fun to watch it washing, rinsing, gurgling and scrubbing away in the magic viewing window.

Seriously, if you have (or anticipate acquiring) a number of small, contained stains on the carpet, this thing might be a darn handy tool to have around.  Here’s a video of the Spot Bot Pet in action at the office, working on week-old diarrhea stains:

Poop Be Gone. on 12seconds.tv

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Is Facebook turning into MySpace?

On a scale from 1to10, I’d say probably not all the way.  But still, spam accounts are becoming more prevalent on Facebook.

When I first joined MySpace in 2005, it was relatively new, and allowed me to connect with a lot of people I hadn’t seen a long time.  Facebook was only available for college students.  Social networking was still a young-ish enterprise, and no one had ever tweeted. Ever.  Hard to believe.

MySpace quickly became less fun as more and more profiles turned janky, and more and more fake profiles started asking me to be their friend.  You it’s relatively easy to tell when a fake profile wants to friend you, because it will have a profile picture  that looks like a model’s head shot, and they have only 3 friends.  The same thing happens on Twitter – same kind of profile pic, and though they’re following 3,000 people, they in turn have only 7 followers (hapless schmucks who most likely have auto-follow turned on.)

FB_Spam_screenNow, for the first time since I’ve been using Facebook (~3 years) I got a MySpace-style spam friend request.  See picture on the right.  I’m pretty sure I don’t know that person – I’d remember a stunningly hot woman named Miles Michaels.  And I notice that the fan pages “she” is following are both for clubs in Las Vegas.  Huh.  What do you know.

I was surprised to get this request, and kinda bummed.  I don’t spend as much time on Facebook as I used, but as it becomes pervasive enough for even my Dad to to have a profile, it’s increasingly useful as a way to share information (like pictures of my new dog, Cash.)

If I had to give this a rating between 1 and 10, I’d call it a 2.  Spam is lame in all it’s varieties, and Facebook is no exception.

Post Script:

If anyone believes that I’m wrong, and Miles is actually a sensitive, passionate woman who deserves friendship like anyone else, here’s her info.  Have at it:

Basic Information:

Sex:
Female
Birthday:
February 14, 1981
Hometown:
Manhattan Beach, CA
Relationship Status:
In an Open Relationship
Interested In:
Women
Men
Looking For:
Friendship
Dating
A Relationship
Networking

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Best Buy Kiosks are rad. Right up until you freeze on the BIOS screen.

photoOn a scale from 1to10, this Best Buy kiosk is experiencing a serious fail.

The Best Buy Kiosk is a great idea.  People like to make awesome, spur of the moment gadget and electronics purchases.  Those not least when traveling and on vacation.  Doubtless Japan has been doing this for many years.  Damn they’re on the ball.

Essentially (in case you live in 29 Palms, CA and you’ve never seen one) these kiosks are like a self-serve gizmo vending machine.  iPods, camcorders, headphones, and other fun items are ready to hand for spontaneous shopper.   They are un-manned, which is obviously a huge costs savings in labor.  Right up until Windows goes into a tail-spin spiral of death, and/or DELL chokes on the BIOS screen.

At the airport I ran into a Best Buy Kiosk that was in excessive FAIL mode.  On a scale of 1to10, this scores a 1 on the “success” meter.  (It looked like this for at least 25 minutes, FYI.)

photo1

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HG Wells, eat your heart out (or, my time machine is bigger than your time machine)

On a scale from 1 to 10, Time Machine can really save your bacon.

Mac has a very cool program that fits seamlessly into September’s theme on data backup and protection. Not September anymore you say? Well, things have been busy. :) Nevertheless, for those who haven’t heard of it (both of you) this software merits a little blog love: Time Machine.

From their website:

“Never again worry about losing your digital files. Time Machine automatically saves up-to-date copies of everything on your Mac — photos, music, videos, documents, applications, and settings. If you ever have the need, you can easily go back in time to recover anything.”

As with many Apple products, Time Machine is built well and built smart.  It will regularly remind you if you haven’t backed up recently.  And it’s simplicity itself to open the program, pick a day / time that you want to restore, and it will revert your computer to the state it was in at that time.  Cool?  But it gets better.

I might lose a file, delete a photo, or even corrupt my iTunes library so that it shows only gibberish instead of my meticulously labeled and organized music.  Any of these issues are incredibly frustrating, but I might not want to revert my entire computer back to two weeks ago, cause I’ve gotten new emails or shot new pictures since then, or who knows what.  Time Machine will let you restore an individual file or an individual program, without affecting anything else on the computer.  Now that’s cool.

So how do you use Time Machine?

- Well, to start with you need an Apple computer – Time Machine only comes with Mac OS X.

- Second, you need an external HDD – I use my Seagate FreeAgent Desk as my dedicated Time Machine backup drive.  You can use a variety of different external storage devices, including setting aside a partition on a RAID or in your NAS box, or even in your DROBO, but I decided to have a dedicated disk for TM.

-  Third, you’ll have to plug the drive into your Mac (or connect over your wireless network) and open Time Machine – it’ll walk you through the steps of how to format the drive correctly.  They do a good job of holding your hand through it.

And that’s pretty much it.  If you always leave your drive connected (or you’re always connected to your Wifi network) it’ll keep backing you up automatically.  If not, then you’ll get regular reminders that you need to backup your machine.  Plug in and it will back up without any fuss or muss.

One note of caution – if you set it to backup too frequently (like, say, hourly) then you will quickly fill up even a very large HDD.  The Time Machine is smart enough to only note the changes to your computer since you last backup (as opposed to making a complete copy of everything – overkill considering that 90% of your files don’t change much from day to day.)  But still, even those relatively small changes can start to add up quickly, and you will discover that your HDD is full before long.

If I were forced to give Time Machine a numeric rating between 1 and 10, I’d call it a 9.  It’s a great piece of software, it comes free with your Mac (as long as you buy one with OS X or above) and it works perfectly. Huzzah!  Huzzah!  Huzzah for Apple.  :)  (Like they need more kudos, self-inflated as they are.)

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