these are my twisted words

New Radiohead. Free download.

And create your own Twisted Woods art.

wifed up

And then she asked for my hand in marriage. Right after I saw her Facebook ad.
Do these things deserve their own blog?

nailed it

Right on the head.
Again, kudos to Facebook for their behavioral targeting being ON.

Remember, youth group meets on Wednesday evening after the all-you-can-eat pasta potluck.

And don't forget to take home mom's crock pot, you scatterbrained silly-billies.

schmap!

I've now had two of my photos posted on Flickr included in Schmap online guides. Easily updated and customizable with user-generated content. Pretty cool stuff. You can use them online to research a city or download them as widgets or for your iPhone.


Verona

Minneapolis

i want my mtv

MTV gets their own online music channel. Good stuff, lots of classic 80s.

facebook and i wear leotards... together

Who knows more about you than Facebook? Who monitors your activities, reads your personal messages, views your drunk photos, and shows you the ads for the products and services that you crave most?

I'm glad to see their behavioral targeting is paying off. They've really hit the nail on the head with me.

rockin' the myspace

Ben Folds Five reunites to play "The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner"... on MySpace.



MySpace has always been the key to reuniting lost bands. Who else can they peer pressure into a reunion concert with fake friend requests to bolster their shattered egos and loads sex spam to revitalize their withered labidos? My top 3 choices:

1. Hammer... reunited with his parachute pants, gold jewelry, and fly back-up dancers. And disunited with faith and religion.

2. Some ABC-Dexy's Midnight Runners-Fine Young Cannibals-A Flock of Seagulls-Toto-Men At Work combination/super-group. Each could play one hit.

3. Falco, while technically not a reunion AND this would also require resurrection, just take a look below at Exhibit A, seen at Munich's Oktoberfest, to know how alive and well Falco truly is. Notice he's been keeping it real in the shadows of the bumper cars alongside other non-Austrian living and deceased rap/hip-hop/R&B greats like Brandy, Biggie, Puffy, Tupac, and of course Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz. Deja Vu, Uptown baby.

Exhibit A:

f-f-f-franz

Awesome design, great new Franz Ferdinand music.

gobbledigook

Get 'er fer free here.

Plus watch the pornographic/artistic video featuring sock-wearing Icelanders romping through the wilds. Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust is due out 23 June.

The sound seems more up-tempo and poppy while less dark and moody than previous Sigur Rós work... plus last track is sung in English. Can't wait.

pepsi.com got leopardized

It now resembles your iTunes, Leopard operating system, and Front Row media viewer. But with a sweeter beat than anything in your music library.

'sɪːɣʏr rouːs

viva gratis

Let's change the way we release music again.


Download Coldplay's new single Violet Hill for free. Only for a week though, and then you have to pay.

amazing places

I want to see every single beautiful place in the world.

live tv online

RedLasso now has a search for recently broadcast TV and radio with news, sports and entertainment clips from the major networks and stations like ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, BBC, Comedy Central, E!, Food Network, and NPR.

You can search by date, time and location of airing and then edit your own clips to post or share. It's only in beta now but there isn't any added advertising... yet. Although it still includes ads that appeared in the broadcast but you can always just fast-forward.

The extensive search looks inside broadcasts to find specifics like names, phrases, and other details. For example, if you search "Colbert Report" you get the whole episode, but if you search "Colbert Oregon" you go right to this part (which I edited myself):


And you can even navigate between a whole hour of TV to watch the Daily Show and Colbert Report back to back.

internet killed the record label

Back in November I asked how many people actually paid for Saul William's album when given the choice to download it from his website for $5 or free.

Now Trent Reznor, Saul's collaborator, has revealed that approximately 80% of didn't pay. I was one of them. And he was "disheartened" by this.

Saul on the other hand is quite content with the results, understanding that it was an experiment of sorts and that this innovative method actually liberated him from dealing with record labels and allowed him to keep any profits made. He also states, "You're dealing with myself, an artist not everyone has heard of and not everyone is going to necessarily try if they have to pay for it." He then tells us most of artists' revenues come from touring anyways.

Exactly. I am in that camp. I didn't want to pay for something that I had no idea what it was other than Trent Reznor telling me he liked it. And now, given the opportunity, I would go see Saul Williams perform.

As Saul says, his album is now on my iPod and when the album was first released, I sent the link to lots of friends. And that was the most important thing... just getting that initial exposure and generating some buzz.

Now Reznor is again modifying and expanding his technique with the new Nine Inch Nails album. After dumping his label, he has released Ghosts I-IV on the web, even uploading Ghosts I to BitTorrent himself and encouraging others to share it for free.

The first one's free and you are encouraged to buy Ghosts II-IV for $5. But even the free version comes with extras like a 40-page PDF, backgrounds and web graphics so you too can shamelessly post it to you blog this and do his advertising for free.


Now come the important questions. This model may work for established groups like NIN and Radiohead... and it is innovative to give a little something away for free. How do you think they talk you into buying the whole Hickory Farms gift basket? First they let you try the summer sausage.

But does this really change anything? Will those who download for free be encouraged to pay $5 to get it from the artists' website? I think this is great for smaller acts... anything to take control and money away from the record label and put it in their own hands. But Saul Williams is still a very unique case. Not all groups have the help, friendship and expertise of Trent Reznor on their side.

All in all, this is a move in the right direction... let's see where it takes us.

good music, cool widget

Now for some music from an independent European record label that has Sondre Lerche on its roster. The stuff on here is great... mostly mellow.


You could waste your whole life playing with widgets.

cool ny times content

The New York Times' website has been reinventing how we read the news, and lately it has featured plenty of cool, alternative, and interactive content, including this awesome piece of animation.

Done by Jeff Scher, check out more on his NY Times blog.

backwards-ass blogging?

Bloggers write about new products that they're interested in or passionate about... take all the Apple evangelists and their respective blogs for example.

Companies also want to promote their new products and stir up conversation, opinion and debate among influential bloggers to spread the word about their latest and greatest.

But here's a blurb from The Wall Street Journal:
Marketing site uses pay-per-click model to reward bloggers
"French Web site BlogBang, whose major investor is Publicis, is a new channel for marketers that rewards bloggers who write about particular ads with a commission based on the number of times users click on the ads."

This sounds like pretty touchy ground here... experimenting with the whole nature and existence of blogs being individual, user-generated content, opinions and reviews. To what extent will the advertising go? And will it ruin the whole blogging atmosphere by making it just another paid advertisement online?

Read the whole article here.

tv online

Here's 3 cool way I've found to watch real, broadcast TV on your on your computer.

1. Joost
A free, downloadable player where you can see tons content from around the world including music, sports, news, and cartoons. It has a contract with Viacom to show things like MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.

2. Hulu
A joint venture between the parent companies of NBC and Fox, which offers full episodes of their programming including the Simpsons, Family Guy, Saturday Night Live and The Office. You watch it in your internet browser and it's got an embed feature like YouTube. But it's available by invite only for now.


3. Slingbox
Slingbox allows you to watch your home TV from anywhere. Buy the box (which may cost you a bit) and download the free browser. Then you have access to your local, personalized home programming from anywhere in the world, including your recorded programs. Pretty cool for watching your team or favorite shows while traveling.

Which one of these will be the next YouTube? None. YouTube still provides free, user-generated content. But these new programs (especially Hulu and Joost) are trying to figure out the best way to get network or copyrighted programming online where people demand it... and of course, trying to make the money for themselves by removing any middlemen, like NBC did with iTunes. All of these programs do require an internet connection and this is where downloadable content still trumps the competition. You can watch it anywhere at anytime and it will never skip, freeze or be taken offline. Regardless, this is still some pretty cool technology and high-quality content.

free music from artists

Do musicians approve of giving away their music on the internet now?

Many artists post new or demo songs, live performances, or other free music downloads their websites. Record labels are teaming up with magazines, like the Bloc Party vs NME CD where their new single "Flux" is remixed and the CD is attached to the cover of the magazine.

It's a great way to promote unknown artists and get cheap exposure. Everything from famous to obscure is posted on Spinner.com.

And Radiohead has the clout to subvert iTunes or any record label to sell their album by themselves on the internet. They even let fans pay whatever they want for the album.

So Saul Williams is following suit. But Saul doesn't have the reputation of Thom Yorke and Co., so you can get it for free... or 5 bucks.


Saul does create a cool hip-hop/rock fusion that is backed by producer Trent Reznor and features him on vocals in several songs. This is the most involved Trent has been in an project outside of NIN for a long time, so it's worth a listen for any fans out there. Plus, it's got a kick ass cover of Trent singing "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

Now I'd like to know the return on an endeavor like this. How many people pay upfront? How many download for free? How many pay after-the-fact because they liked the album so much? You decide. And in the meantime, check out Saul Williams... for free or throw him a couples bones.

Here's another innovative promotional piece that I grabbed from Saul's website. The content changes and you can download the album right here.