One day someone is going to have a greatest album cover contest. I’ve already found my entry, and here it is.
This gem from jazz trumpeter Jonah Jones seems to have contained some good music inside. It won a Grammy in 1960 for Best Jazz Group Performance.
Via the highly recommended LP Cover Lover.
Two of my pals posted two very different takes on Windows Phone 7 and its less than stellar sales figures so far.
James Kendrick asks if Microsoft can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. JK uses some quotes by hardware partner LG to show that maybe Windows 7 has stumbled out of the gate:
Even though typical of smartphones today, Microsoft’s hardware requirements for WP7 are apparently seen by LG as raising the bar too high for the market. “There is a lot of skepticism at the moment, but once Windows Phone 7 handsets that are mid-tier to low tier start appearing the market share will grow. Right now it’s only exclusively present in a high tier, because of its hardware requirements, and that’s limiting growth.”
JK goes on to wonder if Windows Phone 7 will end up in the bargain bin. Sounds sort of like a possible Kin sequel.
Steven Hodson, on the other hand, says Window Phone 7’s lack of traction is not Microsoft’s fault, and that the carriers and sales outlets are not doing their part to market the phones.
I tend to agree with Steven that the marketing has been lacking. In fact, I haven’t seen this little marketing buzz surrounding a similar product since the Palm Pre was tossed out there and thudded to the ground, never to be heard from again. Having said that, I don’t know that the lack of marketing isn’t Microsoft’s fault. Clearly it bears some of the blame.
I’ve been saying for a long time that Microsoft needs a major paradigm shift in the way it names, releases and markets its products. Seriously, could the name Windows Phone 7 be any less exciting? They could have picked a random name out of the dictionary and it would have been better. Want me to prove it, hold on. I got a dictionary, closed my eyes and picked a word: “knuckle.” At least there’s imagery with that.
Maybe if Microsoft created an air of true 2011 era (and not Victorian Era) excitement about its products, the carriers and resellers and users and tech bloggers would get excited. It’s kind of hard to get excited about Windows Phone 7.
I continue to believe that Microsoft’s marketing is like Masterpiece Theater. It’s high quality, but boring as hell. And I don’t always understand what they’re saying.
I just want everyone to stop talking about it.
Nothing amuses me any more than when someone who knows someone who has a friend who knows people at Spotify cuts a fart and the entire world goes nuts claiming that the glorious sound of flatulence means, for the thousandth time, that Spotify is just about to launch in the United States.
Look, I’m a tech blogger, a music blogger, a songwriter and musician and a huge music fan. So demographically speaking, no one should be more excited about Spotify than me. But, after all the half-starts, bluster and overreactions, I could not possibly express how little I care if Spotify launches or doesn’t or if the whole thing is some long con by the Onion.
I just don’t care. Either launch or don’t. But please, please, please…stop talking about launching. Really.
But today, there was more. A possibly off-hand comment by an anonymous music industry “executive” (what does that even mean in 2011) causes the entire internet to grab its collective headphone and proclaim that this, finally, may be the day the music is reincarnated. It was a virtual conga line, over nothing more than the latest unattributed hint that maybe one day Spotify will actually be available on this side of the Atlantic.
For what it’s worth (and I hate to talk about Spotify in the US as if it’s anything more than vaperware), I don’t think it’s too late. Pandora’s six skips an hour limit is killing me (mainly because on connected DVD players, at least, it seems to be per hour of playing time, as opposed to an hour of real time). I love Slacker’s caching and unlimited skips, but the mix I get with Slacker isn’t as good as on Pandora. I’d rather yank out my ear drums with rusty pliers than use Rhapsody, and I don’t know what MOG is.
Spotify could be huge. If it ever happens.
Until then, can we all shut up about it?
Here are the apps, hacks and updates I found interesting over the past week.
Comodo Time Machine. A simple but powerful system rollback utility that lets users quickly restore their computer to an earlier point of time. Supposedly more robust than Windows System Restore.
Add MP3 support to Audacity. Audacity is great. Audacity without MP3 support is useless.
SnipSnip. Easily share a snippet from a YouTube video. This will be very useful, if it works. I tried it, and it started at the selected place, but it didn’t stop at the selected place.
VidCoder. This Handbrake powered encoder now has a 64-bit version.
Hamster. While we’re on the topic of video, I’ve started using this free video converter.
Heytell. I can’t overstate how much I enjoy this app that basically turns your iPhone or Android device into a walkie talkie. This may become one of my most used app, if I can get my family to give it a chance. Unlike Flickr, which they still don’t use. Maybe they were right.
DnD Renamer. I’m always trying to find easier ways to batch rename files. Particularly photos.
TuneSwift. I know from first hand experience that moving iTunes from one computer to the other can be perilous. I haven’t tried this app, but if it works, it rocks.
That’s it for now. If you’re a developer with a neat app, hack or update we should feature, let us know. We’d love to check it out.
After I pooped all over the WordPress app the other night, I was pleased to see that an update was released today.
Version 2.6.4 allegedly fixes some bugs. That’s good
It is now easy enough to insert, if not place, images. It is still a huge pain to insert links. My best tip here- use a URL shortener to save some typing. For those like me who keep forgetting how to do links in the app, type http: and the form will pop up.
The next thing WordPress should do is allow for a default URL shortener to be set, so all you have to do in the link URL form is type the shortened link code. That would save a ton of time.
I wrote this post on my iPhone, and it wasn’t a completely horrible experience. Let’s see how it turns out.
What WordPress should do is opt for a bookmarket equivalent, with a browser-based implementation of the “Press This” app that renders a minimal, but usable, web-based editor.
Just to see if I can do it, here’s a random image.
So how’d it do?
Update: It did OK. I like two spaces between sentences, and those didn’t make it. But other than that and a few small screen related typos, the post came out pretty good.
This is what I meant the other night when I said that Microsoft needs a paradigm shift in the way it names and markets products.
The inclusion of SkyDrive- legitimate cloud storage- could give Microsoft a real advantage in the education market (since Google still hasn’t provided any). But I can’t tell what’s what based on the information and quotes Microsoft released.
One thing I know for sure: there is no reason to have five separate versions of Office 365 for education.
Paul Thurrott tries to clear things up in his post (linked above), but there’s only so much he can do. What could have generated interest generates only head-scratching and shrugs.
I genuinely believe that Microsoft has some compelling products. I just can’t tell what they are.
Microsoft needs to greatly simply everything. Every thing.
OK, get ready for a big helping of awesome. Here’s how to create a custom sharing domain. In about 15 minutes.
Step One: Get a Cool Domain
Maybe you already have one you want to use. If not, pick one out and register it with your preferred registrar. I use Network Solutions, but any service will do. I chose newsome.cc. Get it? Like copying you on a an email or one of those old timey letters.
Step Two: Get a Bit.ly Pro Account
I’ve been using Bit.ly as my default and preferred link shortener for a long time. Their new Pro Accounts, which is required to make this process work, are free, but still in beta. I signed up on Sunday and got my acceptance email this morning. Excellent.
Registering for a Pro Account doesn’t affect your previously shared links. All existing data remains in place. The Pro Account merely adds features. Once you have the Pro Account in place, you are presented with a Settings page, where you insert your custom domain name, and receive instructions on configuring your domain. This is an easy process that consists only of changing your domain’s A-Record. Make note of the IP address Bit.ly provides. You’ll need it in a moment.
Step Three: Configure Your Domain
As noted above, I use Network Solutions, but the process should be very similar for all domain registrars.
Go to your Account Management page or dashboard, and select the applicable domain (in my case newsome.cc). Select the link to edit your DNS settings. At Network Solutions, it is “Edit Advanced DNS Records.”
Then the link that allows you to edit the domain’s A-Records.
Then replace the “www,” “@ (None),” and “* (All Others)” records with the IP address Bit.ly provided you on the Settings page.
The editing form will tell you that it can take hours for the DNS change to take effect. In my case it happened instantly. Literally.
Go back you your Bit.ly Settings page and confirm your custom domain by clicking on the button. Easy peasy.
Now, when you shorten a link via Bit.ly (I use the Bit.ly Chrome extension), instead of the bit.ly domain, your shortened links will use your custom domain.
Very, very cool.
Step Four: Set Up a Google Reader Send To
Now that we have our custom sharing domain up and running, we need to create a way to share links from within Google Reader.
From Google Reader, go to Settings. Then Send To.
Click on “Create a custom link,” near the bottom of the page. Fill in the blanks as follows.
I put “Interesting” before my shared links. You can change that to whatever intro you’d like, or delete it altogether. If you don’t want any intro, the last part would read “&s=${title}”.
Bit.ly Pro rocks. I love, love, love it. In a day or so, I’ll tell you about some of its features. And being a good beta tester, a couple of features I’d like added.
Why not set up a custom sharing domain right now, and test it out by sharing this post!
I read with interest Paul Thurrott’s post today on the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and Microsoft’s underwhelming presence there.
While I completely agree with Paul’s recent theme regarding Microsoft’s dire need to pick up the pace and raise its game, to keep up with new evolution cycle and the rapid migration to the cloud, I don’t know that I agree with Paul about the prospects for Windows tablets.
Paul says:
This year, dozens of companies will ship Windows 7-based tablets and they will all fail. Instead, consumers will continue buying iPads, and they will buy Android-based tablets (and, possibly, the RIM PlayBook), because those products, unlike Windows tablets, have been created specifically for that market.
While it may very well be in spite of- and not thanks to- Microsoft, I think there is a real chance for Windows-based tablets to succeed.
Why? Three reasons.
Better Content Creation
iPads are great for consuming content. They are very, very bad for creating content. Sure, you can read a Word document, but anything more than minor revisions are extremely difficult. Tracked changes (which are mandatory in corporate America)? Forget it. Microsoft keeps hinting that it may one day bring Office to the iPad, and maybe if Microsoft does blow the Windows-based tablet opportunity, it will. As plan B. Because I think the fact that it hasn’t yet is very telling: as slow and insular as Microsoft can be, even an old dog knows that Office on a tablet- in any semi-workable form- would be a good selling point.
Consuming is one thing. But creation is king.
And it’s not just corporate documents. I knew that I would never be able to manage my flow of Word documents via iPad. I did think, incorrectly, that I’d be able to blog via one. To call the WordPress iPad app horrible is a vast understatement. It’s simply unusable. Even if they get it fixed, the lack of useful copy and paste and the inability to easily acquire, insert and place photos will always be a frustration. Live Writer on a tablet? Sign me up!
The creation hurdle has clearly affected my iPad usage. I have noticed that the number of days I carry my iPad with me to work has slowly and steadily declined since I bought it. Now, it’s about one day every two weeks. That does not sound like a mission-critical device. Frankly, more than half my iPad usage these days is playing Words With Friends.
Greater Enterprise Acceptance
Like all tech bloggers, I love new technology. But my company is still running Windows XP and some ancient version of Office. I’ve only seen one other iPad in my office. Ever.
A Windows-based tablet, with software that we already have, has a much bigger chance for Enterprise acceptance than the iPad, Steve Jobs and coolness factors notwithstanding.
User Convenience
Again, I’m a tech blogger. I have Windows computers, Macs, an iPhone, an iPad, several Apple TVs and one (currently highly content deficient) Google TV. But the large, large majority of people out there in the real world use Windows-based computers. It would be much easier for a new customer to choose the known- Windows- over the unknown- IOS. Better does not always trump convenient.
Microsoft clearly needs to be more nimble, and certainly needs a paradigm shift where application naming and marketing are concerned. But I think the tablet space could be a big win for Windows.
Shoot, I had a Windows based tablet six years ago.
That little tablet can still create content easier than my iPad. All it needs is a few tweaks here and there: an option to use the stylus or touch; a leaner version of Windows; wireless broadband; a better display.
I’d give it a try. Wouldn’t you?
The third episode and season finale of Deacon Blues has been released.
In this tense and thrilling episode, a prospective new member inquires about the Deacon Fight Club and its purposes and challenges.
Episode 1 is here. Episode 2 is here. There may be future episodes, if WFU continues its downward spiral and the show gets renewed for another season.
Note: All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated…..poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone.
Obviously, this is satire and humor. No offense to any person, real or fictional, is intended.
Link for feeds.
For the Love of Pandora
I have been a loyal and devoted paid user of Pandora Radio since it was first available back in 2005. I use it almost every day, in one form or another. In fact, I may even buy a new truck when it becomes available in-dash, just so I can get my alternative country music fix without having to suffer through the unbearable Mojo Nixon.
While Pandora’s Music Genome has pretty accurately mapped my musical tastes, Pandora is not perfect. The biggest problem by far is that, thanks no doubt to the idiotic music label cartel, you can only skip 6 songs an hour, even if you’re a paid user. Even worse, that hour seems to be of playing time, not just of the passage of actual time. I use Pandora almost every night for the last part of my workout (more on this when I start my “Nerd on the Run” series later this month). Often, I’ll try to skip a song for the first time that night, only to get the 6 song limitation message- even though it’s been over 20 hours of real time since I last skipped a song. This is a horrible drawback to an otherwise awesome service.
The Once and Slacker King
Nothing is as good for consumers as choice. I tried Slacker Radio a couple of years ago. Even then, it had unlimited skipping for paid users. I liked Slacker Radio, but I eventually went back to Pandora and stopped using Slacker altogether.
It looks like that may change.
Today I read that Slacker Radio is about to release an on-demand streaming plan, called Slacker Premium Radio, and a related iPad app. This app will reportedly give you on-demand access to Slacker’s entire song library and playlists. This feature will work on the web, and with lots of mobile devices, including iPhones, iPads, Androids and BlackBerries.
With my renewed interest in Slacker Radio, I listened briefly to my classic rock station, Kent’s Vinyl, and The Rancho Room, my alternative country station. I heard some good stuff, including excellent but obscure songs by Old Crow Medicine Show, Luna and the Scud Mountain Boys. I also heard some ads, which is a no-go for me. If I start using Slacker again, I will immediately buy a subscription. Premium subscriptions currently cost $48 a year. That’s a little more than Pandora’s $36, but it gives you both unlimited skipping and mobile station caching- the ability to cache your stations for offline play.
Web of Confusion
One thing Slacker badly needs to do better is explain the differences between their current and forthcoming offerings. It seems there has been some manner of on demand streaming available since late 2008, under the same name: Slacker Radio Premium. It sounds good, until you read this cautionary note: “Saved songs are based on licenses, not all songs are savable to your Slacker Library or Slacker Portable Radio Players.”
The most important question to ask when you hear the phrase “on-demand streaming” is “of what?” The biggest issue with these services is their ability to provide access to the major label catalogs. I assume this new service will be a meaningful expansion of the existing premium service, but we won’t know, well, until they tell us. Notwithstanding the web of confusion currently surrounding Slacker’s new service, I’m definitely interested and on the lookout for details.
Pandora’s Device Advantage
Hopefully this flurry of life by Slacker Radio will spur Pandora to make some significant improvements to its service, including unlimited song skipping. Pandora is not without weapons in the battle for our ears. It has a much bigger brand. More importantly, it has made its way onto just about every online media box or service this side of Apple TV (bad call by Apple that will eventually make me all Boxee all the time). Every newish TV and DVD player in my entire house will play Pandora. As will a couple of my audio receivers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Slacker Radio on any of them. To reach the top of the hill, Slacker will need to find its way onto more devices.
I know, for example, that it is much easier to listen to Pandora in my home gym, via my DVD player, than it would be to access Slacker Radio. When I finish a DVD, it’s a two click process to bring up Pandora. I would have to get off the treadmill and change all sorts of settings to get to Slacker Radio.
Either way, competition is good for us. So let’s rock on.
Newsome.Org 