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“The premise of Saturday afternoon’s 7th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride is simple: people ride the subway without their pants on in cities across the country.”
Where you at?
Funny video. [via Peter B]
Ah, a new conference schedule
It’s a new year and I am looking at my Spring 2008 conference schedule.
This year I had no interest in CES or Macworld. I did want to go to Digital Lifestyle Day. But, again, I could not make it due to conflict and running out of travel days (watching myself).
I did find out today that I am more likely to hit other conferences, though now my _wife’s_ schedule is conflicting. Bugger.
I do think I can make LIFT and will bug Laurent as soon as I know. And I thought I could make World Mobile Congress, but may have to pass. Ugh.
Not the same shutout as last year, but not so different yet. Hm.
Link [from last year’s whining]: Lifeblog: There goes the conference schedule:
I wanted to go to CES.
I wanted to go to Macworld.
I wanted to go to DLD.
I wanted to go to LIFT.
But I can’t.
Long story.
links for 2008-01-07
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[Brand new old phone. Works with Twitter out of the box!] This website has been set up to cater for individuals and corporate customers looking to purchase the ever so successful Nokia 6310i phone. The Nokia 6310i is one of the most sought after, disconti
Karma – it’s a circle of social networking life kinda thing
Twitter Karma allows you to get a view as to the reciprocity of the following and who is has posted recently, providing a tool to see who is participating or lurking or what (see link to creators post on it, below).
There are some folks, each with their own reason, who use social network tools to link up with as many folks as allowable. For me, each social network tool I use has a purpose that determines the number of connections, activity level, and shared material.
As you probably know, I am very particular as to who gets on my Twitter stream. As my Twitter profile says, ‘Birds of a feather twitter together – you’re in, or you’re out.’, meaning you need to participate to remain on my list and that I am quite careful in adding new folks, no matter how wonderful they are. Hence, my list of Tweeps is small.
I suppose it all points to karma. In as many days, that word has popped up twice in relation to folks participating in a social setting. I suppose it’s a ‘you reap what you sow’. And I think this concept is strongly related to the ‘me and mine’ of services such as Vox, Jaiku, and Twitter (we see it a lot in our research, too). It’s related to mutual grooming, to the building of trust, to social assurances.
Link [via Alex] Dossy’s Blog: Need help managing your Twitter Karma?:
So, what is it? The other day, @StephAgresta said, “Twitter desperately needs page navigation on followers / following list. Also sort functionality by type (reciprocated or not) is a must.” I suggested a simple mashup that implements this and started hacking on it. Three days later, it has enough functionality that Stephanie said she thinks I should release it publically.
David Byrne on the Music Business
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the spasms of change the music industry is suffering these past few years. To me, it’s a proxy for so many other media and publishing models that have grown in the past few centuries who are also under similar pressures (books and newspapers being the ones closer to my domain).
David Byrne wrote a great article in Wired (see link below) on the different models the music business has adopted to deal with the decrease in the price of production, distribution, and marketing, and the digitization of music and artist challenges for more control.
The article provides examples of successful artists for each business model and is very even-handed, not stressing any over the other. I like it that he points out the value of performances, partly because that is what being a musician is about, but also because it can also be a good source of revenue if done right. And, having been involved in producing and performing in different types of events, I’ve always wondered why musicians didn’t try to rely more on shows.
Byrne also gives some advice about what is important, regardless of the business model – keeping the rights to your creations (“This, for a songwriter, is your pension plan”). Something to keep in mind in the world of creative works.
The quote below is the closing of the article.
Link: [via Stuart Mudie]: David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars:
No single model will work for everyone. There’s room for all of us. Some artists are the Coke and Pepsi of music, while others are the fine wine — or the funky home-brewed moonshine. And that’s fine. I like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man.” Sometimes a corporate soft drink is what you want — just not at the expense of the other thing. In the recent past, it often seemed like all or nothing, but maybe now we won’t be forced to choose.
Ultimately, all these scenarios have to satisfy the same human urges: What do we need music to do? How do we visit the land in our head and the place in our heart that music takes us to? Can I get a round-trip ticket?
links for 2008-01-01
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[I’m a long-time fan of Cringely. Did you know he build airplanes? He’s not an aero-noob.] “With the help of Tomas and the rest of Team Cringely we will within 18 months land on the Moon and claim the Google Lunar X Prize. Doing so — and doing it at a pr
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[via Thomas Ho] “Today I’m unveiling a new service that I put together over the last 48 hours. It’s called hoosgot.com. Hoosgot (pronounced “who’s got…”) is a simple way to ask who’s got what you’re looking for.”
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[been doing this for years] Aerva Inc. and LocaModa Inc., both of Cambridge, have created technology that lets people use cellphones to send messages or pictures to video screens scattered around late night hot spots and other venues where people socializ
Out with 2007 and in with 2008
Yep, it’s the end of the year again. And what a year it has been for me, especially tacked on to the year I had in 2006.
I’m looking forward to next year, since it is promising to have a little bit of everything for me. Many interesting things cropped up at the end of 2007 that will have repercussions far into the next year, if not longer. With a Zen Calm, I await to see how things develop.
As for all of you, thanks for stopping by. I expect to show up in more places next year, so I hope I can catch up with many of you.
Ah, I hear the Date Line rapidly approaching (indeed, my tweeps are popping off in synch). I’m going to step away for a bit to set off some fireworks, sip something nice, and think of what 2008 will bring.
Happy New Year. Feliz Ano Novo. Onnelista Uutta Vuottaa.
And see you on the other side.