February 2012
It’s Time for Another Turntable.fm Pivot →
The headline is a little dramatic, but it hits an issue that I’ve been thinking about quite a bit recently. I’m in favor of the rise of “listen with” services, but in an online setting they’re much more complicated than they seem.
Erin Griffith points to one key issue:
Part of the problem is that group listening, and Turntable in particular, is too intensely...
Évariste - Connais-tu l’animal qui inventa le...
How to Embarrass Yourself Out of a Competitive... →
I’m genuinely fascinated by how consistently Microsoft’s marketing is tone deaf and hamfisted. As my wife noted after watching the Windows 7 party video linked below, “I like how it shows that you can use Windows 7 even if you’re old, black, or a woman.”
interactioned:
Microsoft’s got a long history of producing terrible, cringe-inducing videos. The marketing...
I Tried To Watch Game Of Thrones... →
sawickipedia:
rickwebb:
parislemon:
Hollywood’s core piracy “problem” is perfectly captured in this one cartoon by The Oatmeal.
In fact, I’ve had this exact debate with myself. I really want to watch Game of Thrones. But I’m not an HBO subscriber because I’m not a cable subscriber and unfortunately, the two go hand-in-hand, no matter what I’m willing to pay.
[whit snipped content here]
I...
Stream the new Plants and Animals record "End Of... →
Wood May Become Plastic On Coney Island Boardwalk →
“Mr. Burstein, who lives in Brighton Beach, was offended that his neighborhood could not have wood. ‘What are we, chopped liver?” he said.”
Wow. Really? Wow.
“And while Spolsky laments managers that become “ultimate decision makers,” he...”
– Make It So: Joel Spolsky Gets it (Sort of) Wrong
Critical point from ensignau. Spolsky glosses over the issue that the staff of gigantic brains each has their own area of expertise, which means that the “right” or “best” thing to do in any given situation isn’t...
White Fence - Swagger Vets and Double Moon
...
Playfic →
mrgan:
Andy Baio made a new thing. You should stop reading here and click on the link, but I’ll keep typing for some reason. Playfic is a website where you can play, make, and remix interactive fiction games, a.k.a. text adventures. This stuff is the grandpa and grandma of every story-oriented game you’ve played since, and it hasn’t lost any of its charm or magic. For more info, read Andy’s blog...
Wye Oak - Holy Holy
If, for some reason, I were...
The Replacements - I Will Dare
I love...
“It’s really hard for charity and art to sit side-by-side. So if you’re saving...”
– - Yancey Strickler, co-founder of Kickstarter (via beautyinbreakdown)
The final sentence of this quote — “we already feel too bashful about pursuing what we actually care about” — is one that I haven’t been able to get out of my head since hearing it however many...
“No one can sing a Leonard Cohen song the way Cohen himself can’t.”
– cited by Jesse Kornbluth in Leonard Cohen, King of Pop?
“When our parents sent a letter in the mail, nobody was allowed to open it to...”
– I Don’t Care About The Entertainment Industry’s Profits, And It Enrages Me That You Think I Should - Falkvinge on Infopolicy (via rafer)
Breaking News
After a day on which two separate Kickstarter projects set new funding records, each receiving more than $1MM in pledges, sources close to the company report that “more than a million” is also how the company’s collective hangover is being described on a scale of 1 to 10.
The Alabama Shakes - How Many More Times (Led...
How Tumblr Should Do Promoted Posts
I like David’s idea here. Having a radar-like box that displays posts that your Tumblverse has paid to highlight adds a nice element to the mix: persistence.
Scrolling back through my dashboard I see that a number of people have used post highlights today, but I wasn’t there to see them; if in addition to (or, you know, in place of) the little snipes in my dashboard, highlighted...