Commanding Chaos for Coworking, Open Source and Creative Communities

January 2006 Posts

Belle and Sebastian

Tue, 01/31/2006 - 10:06 -- rprice

Funny thing about bands releasing new albums, everybody has already heard it before it comes out. Bootleggers and engineering interns all over the world spread the album around as soon as a final mix is delivered, and UK sensation Belle and Sebastian is no exception.

In expectation of their new album, The Life Pursuit, the band has released a single called “Funny Little Frog”. Incedentally, I know a number of people who have heard not just the single but the entire album. They downloaded it off of some P2P site, and they have already reviewed it and told their friends its merits and misgivings. What I like is the preemptive response they posted on the front page of their official website:

IF you happen to be going to one of our UK shows, AND you happen to stumble over our lp somewhere on the net, you MAY have a listen… we wouldn’t want you to arrive COMPLETELY unprepared! You’ll want to own it when it comes out anyway. Wont you?

This is a pretty modern outlook on a potentially harmful situation. Here we have the talent, who doesn’t make much money on the record sales anyway, saying, “If it will enhance your experience seeing us live, we are ok with you SAMPLING our work, but please be first in line on release day, OK? If you’re not going to support us in concert, kindly wait your turn like a good lad or lass.” That’s a good way to put it. They make a lot more money off of concerts and merchandise than they really do off of record sales, so let them sample it while it’s not in stores, especially if it means they will share it with their friends and get more tails in the concert hall.

I think this is why lots of artists have a live taping policy. If people percieve the live shows to be entertaining, they’re more likely to shell out the cash when the band comes around. You also get to download a little souvenir of the band’s visit to your humble borough. What could be a better keepsake? (except of course a show poster)

I’m sorry that piracy is so abundant. I don’t understand why people can’t wait until the album is released. What’s the rush? If you work for the press, shouldn’t you be able to get an advance copy anyway? Seriously. I don’t want to hear any complaints. I buy my albums, especially for bands I want to see stick around, and Belle and Sebastian falls into that category. Totally.

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Jason Calacanis is my Hero

Wed, 01/25/2006 - 20:05 -- rprice

First of all, this guy has started two successful media companies. That deserves respect. Secondly, he has guts, and he speaks his mind, and he is adamant about his causes, and he likes to get into meaningful discussion and debate. A simple Google search will show dozens of stories about Jason, I'm sure, and I bet most of them give him praise.

I read Jason's blog, calacanis.com regularly and I think people can really get some good direction from this guy. I wouldn't reccomend doing exactly what he did, because he does what he does extremely well, but he has some great principles. He lets his writers keep their words, he doesn't censor the bloggers, he pays people based on effort (and other things), he never builds a company to sell it, and much much more.

In a recent blog post about Jeff Jarvis, a famous blogger from about.com and other places, he was challenged by a commenter about insulting Jarvis, and he was asked to apologize. In response, he wrote:

"I don't expect people to sugar coat it when they come after me for my statements and positions--BRING IT ON! I love it... let's debate it, let's fight it out... that's how business/society/people move forward. I'll debate any one, any time... and if I lose the debate I'm a winner because I've learned something. That's really how I think... if I'm being an idiot and someone can prove it, well, good for both of us!"

I like that way of looking at a debate. It is something I would say if I had that thought. I am a huge porponent for learning something new every day, no matter what the source. And on sugar-coating, I can say that if I feel comfortable, I will simply be blunt, to the point of being insulting, just because I feel better expressing a raw thought instead of trying to filter it. While I would like to express myself in this way more often, because I feel like I am being more honest, I know there are some situations where a small amount of tact is required.

I'm sure the future will bring many more quotes and insights from the Jason Calacanis blog, interviews with Jason and his company WIN (Weblogs, Inc.).

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Podcasting Podventure

Thu, 01/19/2006 - 18:08 -- rprice

For the past 3 weeks or so, I have been involved with a very interesting experiment into the world of podcasting. I decided I wanted to become more intimately acquainted with the local Orlando art scene, and maybe I wanted to have some intelligent discussion too. A good friend of mine, who has taken to calling herself Myla Goldberg on the show, does the show with me, and we call it "You Can't Spell Crapface Without PFA". What does PFA stand for? Well, "if you have to ask, we don't care", but it is the Pretentious Fucks Alliance. We are self-important twenty-something kids with something to say, and we want to get some creative and interesting people on the show, talk about what they do, and have some honest intelligent discussion.

If you are thinking this is your kind of show, you might be right, but you might not. One of the goals of the show is to make it exactly what we want, which could mean we alienate some people in the process. At the present time, we don't have recorded intros, theme music, skype conversations or any of the features that so many podcasts have adopted in the past 18 months. We are just ourselves.

One thing that is a bit different from the TWiTs and Pottercasts of the world is that our show is actually trying to help the positive creative and expressive curve in our community. We are trying to get people excited about local music, film, art and anything else we believe in. Has anyone else done this before? Maybe, but I was never entertained by their offerings. One thing you have to consider - will someone subscribe to it? I certainly hope so. I think we will find our audience.

For more info, and to download the shows directly, please visit pfalliance.blogspot.com. If you use an RSS reader or a podcatcher, here is our RSS feed. If you use iTunes or Yahoo! Music, you will appreciate the pcast:// RSS feed. We also have an email address for recieving comments, questions, topic or guest suggestions, or requests from you if you want to be on the show.

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Facebook Announcements puts advertising in the hands of college kids

Thu, 01/19/2006 - 16:57 -- rprice

I am a semi-recent college graduate: I have been out of school for almost 2 years now. After I left school, all of my friends got into this social networking site called the Facebook. The facebook has been featured in several technical and business publications, and that kid Mark Zuckerburg is worth millions of dollars now. It's a nice tool, but I noticed something very interesting about it today: any student can post a bulletin, but here's the kicker - you have to PAY for them.

In order to be on the Facebook in the first place, you must have an email address from your college (or high school). This means the user base is tightly restricted to students and staff. The original idea behind the service was to be able to see a picture of everyone you had class with, in case you needed some notes or their email. When you log in to the service, you are notified of any private messages you may have recieved, any event invitations people have extended to you, birthdays, and "pokes", which is a way of getting someone's attention without sending any text. On that same login screen is an announcement box, letting you recieve a message only your schoolmates can see.

Facebook AnnouncementsFacebook has no other form of mass email or bulletin sending, unless you are in a group, in which case you can send a message to all the group members, and then only if you are an administrator of the group. Several other social networking sites have bulletins you can post to everyone on your friends list, but none of the services I know of allow you to broadcast a message to an entire demographic group in a small geographic area.

Clearly, the Facebook gods see the incredible advantage such a service offers, not to mention most Facebook users log in to their account one or more times per day to check for messages and pokes (they say most announcements will be view 3-6 times by each person on a given day). They have therefore chosen to charge an amount per day for Announcements based on the number of eyes that will see the message. For UCF, they assume 53,000 fresh faces, so you pay $16 for every day your announcement runs. Smaller schools are less expensive, but few schools cost more, since UCF is so large. Some schools are as high as $18 to $20 per day, but most schools can expect to pay $9 to $11 a day.

Did I mention you can make your announcement to as many schools as you'd like? The form allows you to add other schools besides your own to the list, making this a great advertising tool, or just a good way to get 53,000 people to hear about your party. The possibilities are limited only by your wallet. Good work, Zuckerberg

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Show Topics

Tue, 01/17/2006 - 05:38 -- rprice

Well, it’s Tuesday, and we haven’t seemed to secure a guest star yet…. ::Hint Hint::

Here are some topics:

  • Guilty pleasures - John Mayer for me
  • Richard Cheese - iloverichardcheese.com
  • Marc’s Birthday
  • Cassette is dead, but Vinyl will endure
  • SonicFabric.com
  • Emily’s new Computer
  • Crash and Bailey crashandbailey.blogspot.com
  • How to get on the show
  • The Tao of Kermit
  • Big labels vs. Indy labels
  • Upcoming showsScottish Highland Games
    Saturday the 21st - 8:00AM to 5:00PM
    Cetral Winds Park, Winter Springs
    434 near 419
    flascot.com

    Heathens with the Wynn Brothers
    Friday Jan 27th at Backbooth
    myspace.com/weareheathansYip Yip with Voice of the People, Reign of Terror and Madd Happy
    Jan 31st at Island Oasis
    $5

    Band Marino, Yip Yip and Country Slashers
    Friday Feb 11th, Will’s Pub NORTH
    Buy tickets in advance!
    Moustaches!

  • Emails

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Listenable Fabric

Sat, 01/14/2006 - 08:35 -- rprice

I read about Sonic Fabric in a feed from WIRED magazine today - WOW!

They take old vinyl from audiocassettes and weave it into fabric, and apparently with a lightly modified walkman, you can drag the playhead across it and get an actual sound! There is this dress than the drummer from PHISH wore and performed with somehow. I would love to get a video of that someday.

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Two new Podcast Episodes

Sat, 01/14/2006 - 03:42 -- rprice

Emily and Ryan recorded two new episodes of “You can’t spell crapface without PFA” this week, and they are now both online and in your feedreader. We also have an email for our show at pfalliance@gmail.com.

Listen to the show, write in with a comment or suggestion, ask for a guest starring role, or give us presents because you love us and you want us to be happy!

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Possible show topics

Tue, 01/03/2006 - 17:18 -- rprice

I was thinking of a few topics for the next show in case we do not have a guest.

  • Cassette is a dead medium, but vynil will live on
  • Richard Cheese
  • Any cool recent music
  • Upcoming shows
  • Places to catch live music on a regular basis
  • What do we do for a living (or intend to do)?
  • Tourist Orlando vs. Everyday Orlando
  • Buying Emily a new computer
  • How to get on the show
  • How do we record a skype conversation?
  • Anything from LJ
  • Things you can only do as a pair
  • The Tao of Kermit
  • The Adult Swim Generation
  • How to use PFA in a sentence
  • Difference between Big Labels and Indy Records

I just listened to my first Dawn and Drew show, and I realised I never want my podcast to become that popular with people that stupid. Hopefully the PFAitude will keep it more highbrow. I’m not knocking the show, but the messages they played from the people that called in were… less than intelligent.

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Podcast - in the past

Mon, 01/02/2006 - 14:13 -- rprice

Some of us are pioneers. Some of us smell bad. Some of us like brocolli. This pre-ipod-podcast captures swearing and bad singing, somewhere around a whole year before podcasting even was pod-vented. Back then the only pods were in our pants and in our peas.

fudge

HA-HA

Penis.

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