Tag Archives: Technology

Cre8ive Abstract, Entertainment, Hip-Hop

The DJ

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The DJ

Evolution of the DJ: the Playlist DJ

Wikipedia says

“a disc jockey (also known as disk jockey, DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc referred to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the source”

DJ’s today are not like the one’s we grew up to via real life and media; with programs like Virtual DJ, a heavy mp3 library, and a Macbook, anybody can create a playlist from home, setup the cues, and the program will automatically blend and match BPM’s. The hip-hop purists (the hip-hop snobs) frown down upon this new breed of the DJ, but the partygoer doesn’t really care – as their main concern is getting in that last drink before the bar stops serving liquor.

Now, on to the DJ Art …


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Whatever type of DJ you may be, just keep one thing in mind – move the crowd.  Don’t play for the minority, play for the majority.

.:: LiBM ::.

Social, Technology

Defining an Era or Error: Pagers

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The Pagers

Still has a use after the cellphone

A pager (sometimes called a page, beeper or bleep) is a simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. A one-way numeric pager can only receive a message consisting of a few digits, typically a phone number that the user is then expected to call. Alphanumeric pagers are available, as well as two-way pagers that have the ability to send and receive email, numeric pages, and SMS messages.

Until the popular adoption of mobile phones in the 1990s, pagers fulfilled the role of common personal and mobile communications. Today, pagers mainly support the “critical messaging” markets. They are the ideal solution for very quick, very reliable personal or group messaging. Unlike many other mobile communications networks, they continue to work in times of emergency or disaster as they do not suffer from network overload as has been proven many times (September 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina). For this reason, they are still very popular with emergency service personnel, medical personnel, and information technology support staff.

If you still have a pager now, hopefully you are in some medical profession because it will be very hard to find a payphone.

.:: LiBM :::

Social, Technology

Defining an Era or Error: The Walkman

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Defining an Era or Error: The Walkman

A look at the first portable music device

The Walkman was an essential item to have growing up in the 80’s and 90’s; it was today’s equivalent to the iPod. The Walkman allowed one to bring their music with them in a handy portable device, as the popular format of the day was the tape cassette. The tape cassette was, and still stands as a unique format that allows for easy recording and playback. Think about it, to record music to a CD, you got to start your computer, load CD Burning program, wait for it to write – for a tape cassette, just put it into the tape player, connect to an input source, and hit record. Voila, you have an instant portable piece of music. I think that the tape cassette will be around for a few more decades as it is still useful, and since car manufacturers have only stopped building tape decks from around 2005, they will still be relevant.

A bit of history for the Father of the ‘iPod’:

Walkman is Sony’s portable audio cassette player brand, now used to market its portable audio and video players. The original Walkman introduced a change in music listening habits, allowing people to carry music with them. The device was built in 1978 by audio division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent transpacific plane trips. The original Walkman was marketed in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan, the Soundabout in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman

Sony was the obvious pioneer for the portable digital music player, and I believe the brand name (Walkman) still lives on in Sony’s line of digital music players (competing with the iPod) and their partnership with Ericsson Mobility (bringing the Sony Ericsson Walkman phone). But Sony is far, far, far behind Apple’s iPod as they got on the digital music player bandwagon too late – if Sony had marketed their iconic Walkman brand as a digital music device a bit earlier, they could have maybe impacted the affect of the iPod, and garnered a greater share of the billion dollar digital music industry that Apple dominates.


I still have my Walkman, and it still works, but I mess with the iPod Touch … sorry Sony!  Another fail – as Sony is currently losing a market that they CREATED.

.:: LiBM ::.

Technology

Artifical Brainis 256GB of Apple Hate – Nerban’s week in tech July 24/09

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Nerban’s week in Tech – July 24/09

Its been awhile, but better late than never right? Some interesting links from the world of technology to keep you up to date on the ever changing technological landscape for better, faster, and quicker access to the things we love (__________ insert that here).

Artificial brain ’10 years away’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8164060.stm– Just a precursor to when robots will enslave us, and then every race will have had that ‘slavery feeling’

256GB Memory Drive
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/20/kingston-unveils-256gb-thumb-drive-for-well-heeled-memory-fiends/– It would be like carrying a hard drive on your key chain, for some it would mean and endless supply of adult entertainment

World’s First 3D Webcam Tested
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/16/2213224/Worlds-First-3D-Webcam-Tested– Never really was a webcam person, never had one, but for those that are on lonely nights on dating sites – I am sure they will find some perverse use for this

First Microsoft retail stores to open this fall
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10287499-56.html
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=3358– Trying to go at Apple’s neck, but until they get the ‘cool’ factor, people will still be fascinated by the Apple Store

Apple demands Microsoft stop its Laptop Hunters ads
http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/07/apple-demanded-microsoft-to-stop-its-laptop-hunters-ads.ars
– Apple is crying like little b*tch*s over Microsoft’s clever ads; I don’t recall Microsoft crying foul over the “I am a Mac” ads, they just clapped back

.:: LiBM ::.

Entertainment, Logic, Media, Popular Culture, Social

Unconfirmed Sources Confirmed

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Verifying the Unverified Reports for Confirmation

The role of sources in a lightning fast news environment

With the whole aftermath of the passing of the King of Music (no, not ‘King of Pop’, King of Music mofo’s), on June 25, 2009, there will sure be a debate on the issue of ‘unconfirmed’ and ‘confirmed’ reports/sources. Like everyone, I started to receive txt msgs, Blackberry messages, tweets about Michael Jackson being hospitalized; so immediately I wanted validation, my first instinct was to tune to CNN. At CNN they had confirmed that he was hospitalized, in parallel, TMZ was reporting he had already passed via their ‘unconfirmed report’. The BBC, CBC, all rushed to change graphics to that he was ‘dead’, and they cited ‘unconfirmed reports’. However, CNN didn’t follow suit; they did mention the ‘unconfirmed report’, but they always followed up with “CNN has not confirmed”. At this time, BET was already dedicating 106 & Park to MJ, Fox News was saying he passed; all based on an ‘unconfirmed report’; now allegedly not from TMZ, but from the L.A. Times (where their site went down due to traffic).

Unconfirmed vs Confirmed

I deduce that an ‘unconfirmed report’ is little more than ‘hearsay’ or ‘gossip’; originating from someone that is not an ‘official’ or ‘professional’, or has not been validated by secondary and/or external sources. As like many, I was flipping news sources to see any variations and/or similarities in the coverage, then something happened that cemented why CNN can really stand by the moniker ‘The Most Trusted Name in News’, CNN’s I-hate-immigrant-workers Lou Dobbs personality chick had a live interview with the L.A. Coroner’s office that gave the official statement – confirming the ‘unconfirmed’. Of course, as we have all found out, the ‘unconfirmed report’ was accurate
This is important in an ultra fast paced news dimension of tweets, internet, and cable news where information travels lightning quick; one’s sources are paramount in lending validity. I am sure CNN felt mounting pressure to follow their cable news network peers, but doing so would of undermine their journalistic integrity – as I am sure for many news networks and websites, the goal was to get the information first versus getting the information that was correct & confirmed. I have a new respect for CNN as they have help protect the journalism community, as with life as it is with journalism, “A man is nothing without his word”, exchange the obvious with ‘news organization’ and ‘sources’.

 

.:: LiBM ::.

Technology

Wk in Nerban’s Tech: Google Earth Thugs, Twitter on the High

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Google Earth Thugs, Twitter on the increase, f-bomb video game on the Wii!

Week in Nerban’s Tech March 21, 2009

House of Dead says f-word more than any other video game
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10198183-62.html

– What makes this a story is not only  that they say the F-word a couple of hundred times through out the game; its the fact that this game is on the family-friendly Nintendo Wii Console – talk about irony

Surprise! Google Earth used for robbery
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10196830-71.html

– Got to give these thugs credits for using technology to increase their efficiency in thuggery.

Twitter fastest growing community, according to Nielsen
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/nielsen_twitter_was_fasting_growing_community_last_month.php

– when everyone from every show on CNN started getting their own personal Twitter accounts, and even Larry King is shouting them out, you had to expect that it would explode


Flying car passes first flight test
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/18/1633253

– I am more so upset that we are NOT at this stage already; I seriously, seriously thought that we would be flying already

.:: LiBM ::.

Technology

Nerban’s week in Tech 2009-03-15

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Web turns 20, Venezuelan cell phone for $14

The Web turns 20
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-10195512-60.html

– Look how far we have gone since 1989, all thanks to our demand for porn
Venezuelan cell phone for $14
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/03/09/venezuela-to-get-a-14-cell-phone/

– Launched by the government of Venezuela for its people; may be equipped with GPS tracking software
NY Times could save money by giving everyone a Kindle
http://www.businessinsider.com/2009/1/printing-the-nyt-costs-twice-as-much-as-sending-every-subscriber-a-free-kindle

– Unfortunately, the newspaper as we know it may be disappearing very soon.


Kutiman Mixes YouTube
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2009/03/11/kutiman-mixes-youtube/

– Someone has a lot of time on their hands as they have taken sounds from various videos and created a mix video

Technology

Alternate iPhone App Stores

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Touch My Apps

For all those that have jailbreaked iPhones and want to explore the further capabilities of their device, check out:

http://www.touchmyapps.com/

More and more of these stores are appearing to loosen Apple’s monopoly on the control of applications, and to increase the amount of applications that are available, but have been refused entry into Apple’s iTunes store. Apparently, Apple rejects many apps on a daily basis for a multitude of reasons, and if you are a software developer, it can be frustrating to be always getting rejected.

Social, Technology

Nerban’s week in Tech – Google domination and $99 iPhone

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Source: http://metasurfing.blogspot.com

The Nerban’s week in Tech

Week ending Feb 14 2009 – Google drops a whole load of features for Gmail, Google Meter, $99 iPhone

I know you all are digging the dope retro technology picture.  Anyhow, this week in technology for the Nerban sees an affordable iPhone, and Google’s continued pursuit of world domination.  I said it once, and I will say it again, Google offers the best services for the web (email, search, google docs), but Google is essentially an advertising service for companies – they offer free products, and slap adsense wherever possible.  Twitter, take note, as you may need a business model soon, anyway, here are the best links:

Google Sync for mobile devices (iPhone, Symbian OS, Blackberry)
http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/02/google-sync-beta-for-iphone-winmo-and.html
– A convenient way to sync your contacts and calendar over the air; another attempt for Cloud computing – looks like it will be better than Apple’s ‘MobileMe’ which just continues to be littered with problems.

Google deleting Blogspot posts with no warning
http://www.laweekly.com/2009-02-05/music/google-39-s-new-killer-app-why-are-music-bloggers-39-posts-disappearing-and-who-is-deleting-them/all
– Even though it is in your TOS, Google is deleting any posts at its will, if you have copyright content such as music or video; specifically from a media company (Universal, Time Warner etc.). The quick way to resolve this, is to self-host your own blog, and don’t rely on Google’s BlogSpot service.

Google Power Meter
http://www.google.org/powermeter/howitworks.htmlhttp://www.google.org/powermeter/howitworks.html
– Another attempt of Google trying to look more ‘green’, but also attempting to get beyond your home computing needs, and monitoring a household’s energy consumption.

Gmail knows where you are
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-in-labs-add-your-location-to-your.html
– A Labs feature that tells your recipient where you were when you sent the message … somewhat intrusive, but there may be some use for it, can’t figure out how it could be useful though.

$99 iPhone
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10161368-37.htm
– As everyone is feeling the pressure in this battered economy, Apple posits itself to release an affordable iPhone; if successful, they could go at the neck and take out some cheap alternative smartphone models (HTC, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung)

Mac Clones
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9127579&intsrc=hm_list
– Soon, could we see Dell and other traditional PC manufacturers deliver computers with the Apple Operating System??

Until next week …

Peace,
.:: LiBM ::.

Technology

A look @ the Pre

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A look @ Pre

Many people are excited at the new Palm Pre that was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January ’09. As an avid Palm user, first with the m505, then to the Zire 72, I have witnessed Palm rise in the field of personal digital electronics – for awhile, they were very much the leaders of the class as business people and the average consumer used Palm products to organize their lives and be productive. The Palm was the first device to have an ‘app store’ (like the iTunes store), and developers made a plethora of handy apps for the device. However, eventually the popularity of the iPod and the subsequent iPhone, and the Blackberry, made Palm somewhat obsolete, as Blackberry made smartphones that have great PUSH e-mail and telephone capabilities, while the iPod was a user’s digital media dream as it could play music, video, and store photos. The current line of Palm all support these features, but they hit the bandwagon a little late.

The new Palm Pre (below), however may create some converts: those Blackberry users who don’t like Blackberry’s sometimes difficult interface, and those iPhone users who don’t want to be paying a $100 a month for service. If the Pre can establish itself as a viable alternative from the two, and align itself to the market of the business professional with a social life, then maybe Palm can be saved. However, with an expected retail value of $399; in this recession, Palm will have an uphill battle trying to win consumers from opting with the iPhone 3G at $199 and the Blackberry Bold & Storm at a similar price.

.:: LiBM::.