What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

The David Foster Wallace Audio Project

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:46:42 -0600

The David Foster Wallace Audio Project

"Apple going aggro in another biz domain. Does one spot a pattern?"

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:03:22 -0600

“Apple going aggro in another biz domain. Does one spot a pattern?”

- Tim Bray, in response to this.

Apple stepping up pressure on music labels to snub Amazon

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:56:00 -0600

Apple stepping up pressure on music labels to snub Amazon:

Apple has allegedly been pressuring music labels to ditch Amazon MP3’s “Daily Deal” promotions, lest they be excluded from being promoted through the iTunes machine. According to anonymous executives speaking to Billboard, Apple has always been uncomfortable with the labels double dipping with both iTunes and Amazon, but the company has ramped up its complaints lately in an attempt to retain its lead in the online music market. Though Apple still remains in the number one spot among all music retailers, the move is indicative that Apple takes competition from Amazon very seriously.

Emphasis mine.

Not to turn into the anti-Gruber, but this is starting to get out of hand. First Apple goes patent troll on HTC for things that are either (1) obvious or (2) not even original to Apple, and now they’re using their monopoly position in the online music space (because that’s basically what it is) in an anti-competitive way.

Here’s an idea, Apple: work on making your products better and more reliable. Remember what happened the last time you quit worrying about your products? Because I have a Performa 578 that does.

It’s official, now. As an independent musician, someone who has no real access to the iTunes Store simply because of my lack of a record label, this is the last straw. My next computer will not be an Apple, and the only reason I will ever use an Apple product after that point is so I can record my music with the program I know how to use, and once I find a Linux-based alternative to that that produces quality product, I’ll be done with that, too.

I’m not going to support a company that relies on pressure tactics to advance its corporate position, a company that treats its retail employees rather poorly (speaking from experience), a company that is seemingly going out of its way to drive third-party service providers out of business, a company that, no matter what fantastic advances in computing they’ve brought about or will continue to bring out, obviously doesn’t give a damn about Doing The Right Thing.

Steve Jobs sure loves being a bully. Takes a lot of nerve to stand up and bad-mouth Adobe and Google for their strong arm tactics while giving record labels and competing phone manufacturers the Heisman Pose.

London Sperm Bank brand designed by Silk Pearce

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:20:24 -0600

London Sperm Bank brand designed by Silk Pearce

Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 iPhone patents

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:27:00 -0600

Apple sues HTC for infringing 20 iPhone patents:

This is yet another reason I’m probably not going to be buying a Mac the next time I need a laptop. It’ll be Linux on a Thinkpad for me. This sort of bullying behavior is something I’m not willing to have my money support, especially when user interface patents (mostly for stuff that’s obvious) are involved. Way to go, Apple. Your never-ending quest to control everything continues.

Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:42:41 -0600

Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth:

The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth’s rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.

The computer model used by Gross and his colleagues to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved Earth’s figure axis by about 3 inches (8 cm or 27 milliarcseconds).

We’re all doomed.

I changed the font in the Dead Llama logo earlier tonight. I...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:44:00 -0600

I changed the font in the Dead Llama logo earlier tonight. I like it better now.

I swear someday I’m going to make money off of making boutique effects pedals. Until then, I’ll just squat on the domain name. It’s a great one.

This is now my main guitar: a 1987 American Standard...

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:36:00 -0600

This is now my main guitar: a 1987 American Standard Stratocaster, in Pewter, with a 1984 serial number due to Fender buying itself back from CBS and not making guitars for a year or so.

Has the David Gilmour EMG pickups in it.

I see myself playing this guitar for as long as my fingers still work.

"I think the problem with our economy is that most products are complete and utter crap."

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:30:22 -0600

“I think the problem with our economy is that most products are complete and utter crap.”

- Scott Adams, The Problem With the Economy 02/12/2010

The Mariana Trench To Scale

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:20:42 -0600

The Mariana Trench To Scale:

Absolutely insane.

"In eras past, mainstream culture was blandly, blindly complacent, so underground music was angry and..."

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:44:54 -0600

“In eras past, mainstream culture was blandly, blindly complacent, so underground music was angry and dissatisfied. But now, mainstream culture isn’t complacent, it’s stupid and angry; underground culture reacts by becoming smarter, more serene. That’s not wimpy—it’s powerful and productive.”

- Michael Azerrad in Paste, February 2010 issue (via Frank Chimero) (via marco)

Dana Kirk’s world-famous “wrong way play”....

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:41:32 -0600

Dana Kirk’s world-famous “wrong way play”. Basically, at the start of the half, you run the inbounds play under the wrong basket, and when the other team falls for it, you run down and dunk on the correct basket.

It only works at the start of a half, but it worked every time he ran it.

Video

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:26:11 -0600

"If rock n’ roll had another name, it would be Chuck Berry."

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:25:38 -0600

“If rock n’ roll had another name, it would be Chuck Berry.”

- John Lennon

My Univox Super-Fuzz, which I’m going to sell. (via...

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:43:27 -0600

My Univox Super-Fuzz, which I’m going to sell. (via epilnivek)

Here’s what Les Paul thinks of these new Gibson Robot...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:35:25 -0600

Here’s what Les Paul thinks of these new Gibson Robot guitars.

Thomas Blug - Strat Magic

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:40:50 -0600

Thomas Blug - Strat Magic

"This is a world of hypocrisy and false values, a world that needs love but does not know how to find..."

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:48:00 -0600

“This is a world of hypocrisy and false values, a world that needs love but does not know how to find it. The people who use the word love are all phonies, starting with that jerk Bono.”

- J.D. Salinger (apparently).

(via Taki’s Magazine, edited by Taki Theodoracopulos)

Another Saints fan from the Bad Old Days.

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:15:25 -0600

Another Saints fan from the Bad Old Days.

On the Saints

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:59:00 -0600

I never thought this would happen in my lifetime—until about three weeks ago, I didn’t think it was even possible, that the forces in the universe would ever all work together to make it happen, and yet, somehow, the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. Which still, even as I watch SportsCenter’s recap of the game, seems impossible. I’ve suffered and anguished and been laughed at and taken all kinds of verbal abuse (especially at my upper-middle-class private high school where everybody was a Titans or Colts fan and those teams were dominant then) for being a fan of this football team, and I have kept rooting for them and kept rooting for them time and time again, even as my hopes were dashed year after year—sometimes two or three weeks into the season. After Katrina, I remember the serious discussion of whether or not the Saints would stay in New Orleans—the N.F.L. has been needing a Los Angeles franchise ever since the Raiders and Rams left town, and here they had a team whose stadium had literally been ruined—and I remember thinking that if this team gives up on itself and leaves town, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to watch an N.F.L. game again.

Well, they didn’t leave town. After going 3-13 that year (and playing in New Jersey and Baton Rouge and San Antonio and everywhere else they could find a field) they’ve been on a monumental tear, and the team whose fans literally wore bags on their heads at home games to hide their shame in how awful the team was, whose fans (even as they held a 14 point lead with 40 seconds left in the Super Bowl) never allow themselves to expect the Saints to win until the game is over, have won a championship, and the whole thing still seems impossible.

So. You know what? I don’t care if they never have another winning season. God knows I’ve cheered for them for year after punishing year of losing. I love my Saints, and I always will.