A Moore’s law for razor blades? This relationship suggests shavers are going to get more blades whether they need them or not
Archive for March, 2006
I like to think I’m into music. And because of this thought I like to keep track of what I’m listening to, and find ways to compare my listening habits to others, thus opening a path to discover new music. Perhaps a year ago Rooney informed me of Pandora. It was an impressive piece of software, but it didn’t do much to track my habits — it was a place where I could find new music based on a band or song I enjoy. This past January I finally got turned onto last.fm. Since I’ve started a blog it seemed like the logical service to use. It tracks what songs I play and also provides a method to publish that data here. I never liked the badges last.fm supplied so I went out to find other methods. Some fantastic people wrote some great programs that utilize the API of last.fm. I was happy. But this past week I have noticed the upgrades to last.fm and one of those upgrades is the ability to attach a play button to the songs/artists in the lists generated by last.fm. I think this is fantastic. Now people can actually hear without leaving my site music samples from bands I enjoy — and it’s no extra work for me or them. So today I implemented the last.fm badges that I think fit best with the site. Simple and clean. So, feel free to click the little green circles next to the band/song to hear a clip. Also note if it is a gold circle then you can steam the entire song/album.
CRIA’s Own Study Counters P2P Claims. In summary, CRIA’s own research now concludes that P2P downloading constitutes less than one-third of the music on downloaders’ computers, that P2P users frequently try music on P2P services before they buy, that the largest P2P downloader demographic is also the largest music buying demographic, and that reduced purchasing has little to do with the availability of music on P2P services.
The flight home was relatively empty, so most seat arrangements on the plane left the centre seat of the centre isle empty. I had this arrangement. It is grand. Typically when I fly into and out of Toronto it’s overcast/cloudy/rainy. This was the first trip where none of those applied. On my flight out of Toronto we flew east out over Lake Ontario and I was treated to a wonderful view of Toronto at night. Also since it was a short flight to Newark in a smaller plane they tend to fly lower then the big jets. On the flight home we came up over Lake Erie. It took me a moment to figure out what I was seeing. I knew it had to be some great lake. I was trying to get my bearings. It was then that a landmark caught my eye — Niagara Falls. I’ve never seen it from the sky before — well, with my own eyes at least. I’m not sure if Google Earth has made flying better or worse. It’s nice to be able to cross reference locations, but it also makes the views a little bit “been there, done that”. No matter, I took out my camera and decided to get a photo to help Google make their service better.
I believe this was also the first time I landed at Pearson from the west, thus we flew over my parents house, and my childhood romping grounds. It’s fun to be able to pick out places you recognize from 10,000 feet in the air. All in all it was a grand trip, and nicely bookended by a hassle free flight into Toronto.
Saturday in London, day 6. This being my last full day in the wonderful city I jumped a train to head out to Eton and Windsor to see Windsor castle — the longest continuously occupied Castle in the world. I don’t have to much to share about this day; it was just a lovely day weather wise, and rather laid back. First I Walked the main street on the north side of the Thames through Eton and Eton College. Eton College is the famed education institution of the Royal Family, but anyone can go there if they meet certain standards. It’s an all boys school. An interesting place because they still follow old traditions in dress. The students tend to wear full tail suits, and teachers/scholars wear robes. Continue reading ‘Windsor – My First Castle’
I ran across an article today in The Toronto Star (and found another source on the clickz from a few weeks ago). HBO has a new series “Big Love” that centres around a polygamist and his three wives in Utah. What HBO has done is partner with Webshots to insert images of the cast into the online slideshow of users albums AND also insert real prints when users order photos from their albums. Imagine the surprise when you receive your photos in the mail and while flipping through them you run across images that are not yours. Your first thought is that someone made an error. On further examination you might recognize one of the cast members (Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloë Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin). They also include a card in the set of photos informing you of the program, with the hope that you will understand why you have photos that are not yours in your set. Some of equated this advertising with junk mail or flyers, but I think it is a most intriguing use of emerging technology. It still needs to be fine-tuned, as currently it’s a blanket instead of a targeted hit on consumers. It will be interesting to see where this goes next.
This is Friday in London; also known as day 5. It was a big day for me consisting of a lot walking, a lot of tube riding, and a fair bit of photo taking — and I was up for it. My first stop was Leicester Square to pick up a ticket for the nights show of The Producer, as I decided to meet up with Jenny and her roomates/friends, see the show, then go out for pints. To accomplish this I made my first stop Leicester Square; an extremely touristy square just west of Covent Garden and just east of Piccadilly Circus. It’s the place to go to get day of theatre tickets at a discounted price. Keep in mind the discounted prices they quote on the signs are typically obstructed view seats, so you’ll be paying more. After obtaining my ticket I decided it was time to keep the shine on the bar with the sleeves of my coat. That’s right. Leicester Square is off of Charing Cross Road. For those of you feeling a bit confused please recall the lyrics to Home For A Rest by Spirit Of The West that are not the chorus.
We arrived in December and London was cold
So we stayed in the bars
Along Charing Cross Road
We never saw nothin’ but brass taps and oak
Kept the shine on the bar
With the sleeves of our coats
If Rooney were dead he’d be rolling in his grave. We all claim to go see indie bands, and enjoy indie bands but let’s be realistic. Every band we tend to see has already been written about in some popular publication (cough, pitchfork) and has that buzz, and we also tend to see bands that play genres that we enjoy. It really makes the most sense. Last night I left my comfort zone. Last night I went out for Canadian Music Week and saw an ‘abstract progressive thrash with a touch of skronky jazz’ band Red Blanket. Ya. Crazy. Did I enjoy it? Not especially. Did others enjoy it? You betcha. I can claim that I throughly enjoyed about 23 seconds in the middle of the set where the drummer played 3/4 time, the lead guitar played a single note, and the 2nd guitar played notes — not noise. I liked this part because I could hear it fitting into other music I listen too. So, if you enjoy abstract progressive thrash I can highly recommend checking out this band. They will be embarking on an east and west coast tour of Canada this summer.
As this is CMW I wanted to catch Meligrove Band up at Lee’s Palace but as I was going sans-wristband didn’t think I’d make it up in time for the set. Continue reading ‘Canadian Music Week and My Bubble’
London is one of those historic cities. You know the kind. Been around for thousands of years, seen change upon change, yet survived though the ages. I’ve already touched upon one pre-historic site I visited. This time I would like to share a few sites that Londoners see everyday.
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On Thursday night after a day of walking in the steps of The Beatles I ventured out to take some photos of the city at night. I focused by trip to the Parliament area, as it provided a few lovely light up structures — Big Ben, The Parliament Buildings, Westminster Abbey and that crazy Millennium Wheel. As old a city as it is it will for the foreseeable future be the home of constant repairs on these old buildings. By the by it was a nice night of wondering around snapping photos. See the complete set of night photos on my flickr.
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