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Awesome
Posted by db on Nov 7, 2009 in 100% Irrelevance
Played for a fool by one of my best friends.
I’m Famous – Google Street View
Posted by db on Oct 7, 2009 in Life
Today, I made my debut.
Check this out:
No bigs. Click to go to the street view
How sweet is this? I’ve honestly been waiting for over 4 months for this. It was like a dream to see the Street View car go by, and now that streetview actually got released, I’m so stoked.
Word. Life.
db
Is this a bad Apple?
Posted by db on Oct 5, 2009 in Life
The catch and chase model isn’t new to Apple, and depending on what reports you’re inclined to read, you may know that they’re soon to embark on undefined territory once again. This time, reports say, Apple may be in a position to revolutionize the way that we interact with print media.
Now, let’s take a step back and look at what has happened in the past.
Music
Music > digital music movement > mp3 players… {read Music > iTunes > iPod} all of which were (arguably) led by Apple. Now people bitch and moan about how Apple has dominated the market… how they have such a firm grasp on the recording companies, on bands, the list goes on. But, then again, nobody really does anything about it. There are others in the market to sell music, but what do they do differently? Nothing. They may charge a couple of pennies less per song, but they still take the majority of money away from the artists. Are they any better? Why do people pirate music.. because people (or at least I) would rather not pay Apple (although they do have many expenses from a sale – think server costs, bandwith costs, even credit card charges), and I would rather not pay the handsome fee that recording companies charge their artists. I want to pay artists. And it’s just that – I am all about supporting artists, but until they actually receive the money that I’m willing to give them… pass. The industry has to change. It has to change because the model is built on an old system… a system that doesn’t exist today! The cost of producing music isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago, or even 15 years ago. Take a look at John Mayer and his upcoming album that he appropriately named Battle Studies. He’s producing an album by himself (and his band) and doing the work himself. He doesn’t need a giant label with high-paid execs to create an album, and no band really does anymore. An artist does not need to pay these now-obsolete people, but are because the model doesn’t support otherwise.
Please read this great article that Eric Karjaluoto wrote regarding this very thing
He states:
________
The problem with [the industry], however, is that the people who should actually get paid are instead screwed. This is a shame. While few of us care about the recording industry, no music lover wants to steal from the artists.
________
It’s an excellent article, and a very worthwhile read.. here’s the link again, in case you missed the first one. Anyway, he goes on to mention a few different approaches and models that would solve the issue.
Now here’s my main point:
Print Media
Ohh… the dreaded print media. The story that has been in the news for weeks… months, even. This medium of information is too stubborn, too far back on the curve to change their model, to remain successful and to stay afloat. The internet has changed things, nobody can deny, but not many people know how to approach the issue of changing and even more so, are hesitant to do just that.
So, enter Apple. The same company that brought the music industry to what it is today. Apple has apparently been working on a tablet since 2003.. and more recently news surrounding this tablet has been brought forth. They’re saying that Apple is planning to “redefine print media” by offering interactive media placed on this mystified tablet. Is this by any means a bad thing? Isn’t it a God-send to save a dying bread of media? More people are inclined to purchase a mid-priced tablet that’s transportable everywhere, with content delivered to them, anywhere, than to wait for the paper to come to them in the morning.
So, is this a bad thing? Well… it depends on how you look at it. Apple is doing something that others aren’t…. again. And that’s the thing… with Apple’s secrecy, they’re years ahead… 6 years, in this instance. When Apple comes out of the gate, they fly at mach speed, and it takes 2 or 3 product cycles for others to catch up. Look now! Phones today are just catching up to what the iPhone introduced over 2 years ago – and one cannot deny that the whole mobile industry hasn’t improved because of it all.
Now, this is the thing… the print industry is fighting back (if you want to put it that way).
________
Ad Age reports that the print industry is not sitting idly by while it becomes increasingly obvious that Apple is planning to enter the tablet market. In fact, these traditional publishers are worried that Apple may quickly dominate the industry in the same way they dominated the music industry with iTunes and the iPod.As a result, publishers are discussing the creation of an industry-wide digital storefront to allow customers to purchase digital content and subscriptions in an effort to bypass whatever solution Apple might provide.
“It’s true that magazine and newspaper publishers are eager to sell digital editions tailored for the tablet and other devices — but they’re just as determined to prevent Apple from getting between them and their readers along the way.”________
Yeah, Industry, you fight back… but guess what, if Apple hadn’t created the vision, you wouldn’t know where to go. As with any leader, Apple included, there are pros and cons. Yeah, Apple holds monopoly-like market share in a lot of areas, but without Apple, there probably wouldn’t even be a market, or for at least a few more years.
So, isn’t it a good thing?
Word. Life.
db
Googelios Wavios
Posted by db on Oct 3, 2009 in Uncategorized
Just to add to my previous post on Google Wave, I came across the following video in my RSS feed today..
Hopefully it’ll shed a little light on how potentially revolutionary Google Wave will be!
Word. Life.
db
Google Wave Invite Paaleeasee.
Posted by db on Sep 30, 2009 in Uncategorized
So, it’s out. While it’s not quite out to the masses it’s out to the first 100,000 lucky people.
Already the folks over at lifehacker have put up a screenshot Tour of Google Wave, and to be honest, I’m a little bit envious. While I am drooling over certain features like the Ribbit conference call gadget (everyone inserts their phone numbers to a wave and a conference call gets made inline), it’s the potential that really gets me going. As I sit here now, I’ve got 4 google-related tabs open: Google Reader, Calendar, Docs, and Picasa).. imagine a streamlined page…. 1 page that contains all of your ‘online conversations’, your interests and your google related doings. Life will be simpler, no?
But! As the writer acknowledged, such innovations and collaborative tools are only as good as how many of your friends use it. The same holds true for the present, what with the social aspect recently added to Google Reader, the shared-calendar feature in gCal and even so in Docs or Google Talk! You don’t get to use half of the functions of these programs unless your friends are as into it as you.
Soon though, soon. It doesn’t take much to convert people to the good side, and over time I’m finding people to move back to the simple things like RSS, and some of those people will share calendars, and some who will log into latitude every once in a while. It’s a start.
What’s your thoughts?
Word. Life.
db
Remember When I Saved the Dreaded Pictures
Posted by db on Sep 16, 2009 in Life, Photography
Thanks Photoshop, I owe you one.
In reference to my recent post, where I claimed all of my pictures were ruined because of some kind of wormy-ish thing in the corner, I have to admit that I ‘saved’ a picture or two.
Here they are:
Click for bigs.
Click for bigs 2, I dare you
So Mr/s. Photoshop, this Iced Tea is for you.
And to you, world, I can still take pictures.
Word. Life.
db
Technical note: These pictures are HDRs…. aka 5-9 photos taken at different light levels, seperated by an f-stop or so, and then combined to make one photo.
Moses
Posted by db on Sep 15, 2009 in 100% Irrelevance
Yesterday I found out my teacher’s name was Moses (hehehe).
In an attempt to stay on the good side of said historical figure, I showed up to my 2:35pm class with Moses a whole ten minutes early.
“Great,” I thought, “I’ll inform the world of my class with Moses” as I took out my iPhone and opened up the WordPress App.
I hurriedly write it before the professor enters the class, and it goes something like this:
I’m starting my class today with Moses – he got called back down to the minors.
No more preaching the Ten Commandments to the masses.. he’s back to the basics
of International and Comparative Management.
Oh… and Moses wears Airwalks.
Ohhh the humor!
Worry not, the story doesn’t end there. First, background on the App.. it’s default action whenever you write a post is to store it locally. Oh, and!!! whenever you forgetfully store it locally instead of posting it immediately, and you go to your local drafts folder, you’ll notice that it’s not there! Yay! WordPress bugggg.
So this is my attempt to the world to make up for what could have been, but all I know is that it wasn’t/isn’t/never will be.
Word. Life.
db
The Hot Corner
Posted by db on Sep 14, 2009 in Life
Eh! Check it out!
Reppin’ from the East Coast, Ryan McKenna runs a weekly podcast over at Sports Super Station. I got the call and the invite to be a part of this week’s show, episode 18, over on The Hot Corner. Of course I said yes, and was subject to a fury of questions regarding pitching in the NL and AL, and my prediction for the World Series (Bo Sox… I mean, come on!).
Anyway, it was a great opportunity to spread some love, so be sure to check out The Hot Corner with host Ryan McKenna!
Word. Life.
db
Remember?
Posted by db on Sep 14, 2009 in Photography
Gather ’round! A lesson for all!
Remember when I took a whole bunch of (potentially) sweet pictures yesterday? Remember how I was really stupid and didn’t check my lens to make sure it was clean? Remember how it has that weird, potentially wormy thing, all up in there?
Good one Dylan. Nothing like adding more work for yourself.
ugh.
Life.
