The story of imeem...and why you should use it

Remember Napster?

Napster was the first popular digital music service that brought people to the web for the explicit purpose of downloading and listening to free music. For an 18 month period (from 1999 to 2001) it was a magical place - for the very first time any music by any artist could be found and downloaded for free. There'd been nothing like it before. It was the first time people began to see the opportunity for free content distribution that the web could provide.

Napster (in its original form) was shut down by legal challenges in 2001, due in no small part to the band Metallica realizing that people were getting their music without paying for it.

A contingent of programmers who worked on Napster started imeem...a social networking/music website that has one big change from Napster. Though you can also find almost every song ever written on imeem (much like Napster) this time you can listen to them with the blessing of the four major record labels (Sony/BMG, EMI, Vivendi/Universal and Warner Music Group).

Of course there are other differences: imeem allows you to befriend your favorite bands and meet other people who are into the same music you are; imeem allows to listen to your favorite music anywhere you can access the internet, and imeem allows you to create playlists for other people to enjoy. In essence it's a grown-up, officially sanctioned Napster.

That said...what's to stop people from downloading music off of BitTorrent?

Where do you get your music? Lemme know in the comments below...

The Philip DeFranco show

Twenty-three year-old Philip DeFranco (AKA sxephil) has been doing his brand of online newscast since 2006...and it's led to a considerable bit of success.

Each newscast is honest, funny, fast-paced and entertaining: there's a little editorializing, a genuine request for viewer interaction, and review of the big stories of the day told mostly WITHOUT B-Roll!

Though these webcasts violate the gospel rules of TV news (speak slowly, avois bias, use pictures to tell the story) he's extremely popular. His newscasts have totalled over 11 million views (the 'cast embedded below had nearly 400K views in only 3 days) and he's the 9th most subscribed YouTube submitter of all time (and the leading news submitter, unless you count the What The Buck Show, which focuses mainly on celebrity news.)

The show has popular current stories, and includes links that allow viewers to go more in depth if they so choose. They cover some hard news, but mostly the talkers of the the day...and the format allows each show to be produced quickly...making them very topical. In addition to the YouTube platform, he has his own blog where content that compliments the show is posted.

Maybe this is the next iteration in the marriage of news, entertainment, and the internet? Take a look and tell me what you think:

Rides of State

It’s Friday again, which means it’s time for something fun and random from the web.

Not to worry, I’ve been delving deeper into the Nieman Reports, and I’ll have a lot more great content and notes from that in the coming days, but today I wanted to shine the spotlight onto the most original and interesting thing I’ve found this week.

The author of the blog Tamerlane’s Thoughts, named only as “kashgar216” decided to compile a list of the vehicles driven by the heads of state of every nation in the United Nations…all 196 of them.

The project took him to obscure media outlets, propaganda videos, and a good amount of detective work. This wasn’t a quick, fly-by night project (as evidenced by sentences like “After examining the roofline, the shape of the rear view mirror, and the shape of the headrest, I have concluded that this is a Merc S-class.”)

The collection is pretty impressive, and just more evidence that if you’ve ever wondered about anything in the world, there’s some guy somewhere on the internet who has likely figured out the answer.

The uses of Twitter

Twitter is being used in more inventive ways all the time. Amanda Congdon, formerly of Rocketboom.com has a Twitter feed that informs subscribers when she’s doing her next live online broadcast or has posted new content to her website. iJustine uses it in the same way…although iJustine extends the reach and content of her Twitter account by using associated applications (like Twitpic) that allow her to link to pictures she takes while out in the world. It's much more work than I'd ever do...though I too have a Twitter account I update from time to time.

Some uses are incredibly helpful for newsgathering: The Alaska Volcano Observatory is the scientific outpost currently monitoring the situation at Mt. Redoubt…a volcano that is likely to erupt over the next days or weeks. In addition, public safety agencies (like the Scottsdale, AZ Police Department or the LA Fire Department) have been getting on Twitter as a way to distribute small bits of vital information to several media outlets quickly and simultaneously.

However, other uses are not nearly as pragmatic…the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had a story this morning about Gen. Lee Beauregard’s Twitter page. General Beauregard is no military hero mind you…he’s Georgia’s groundhog answer to Punxsutawney Phil.

This is yet another example that the development of new technology and the uses for that technology often develop independently of each other.

Urbandictionary.com

Have you ever come across that little bit of slang that everyone seems to recognize...except for you? Maybe it's a clever acronym being used on a website or in a forum (like NSFW - meaning Not Safe For Work) or something a bit more crude being bandied about by the IT guys (RTFM for example...something NSFW, btw). Maybe it's just some expression that part of the slang at your new job or school, or a team name being used at a game of trivia at the bar.

Urbandictionary.com is here to save the day.

Just as Wikipedia has become the default place to go when seeking out common knowledge, UrbanDictionary is the place to go when seeking out common language.

In addition to an extensive database of words, expressions, and acronyms the site also has a 'word of the day' email that can range from political (see obamama) to business (like blind transfer) to topical (like 'Land it in the Hudson').

To accommodate the multiple interpretations that slang words can carry around the country (and the world) there are multiple entries for many words...and each one is voted up or down by readers...so that the most popular definitions rise to the top.

BE WARNED - Like most slang, there's plenty of foul, inappropriate language used on the site. That said, it can be an invaluable reference...especially when you're faced with the situation of not knowing what a slang word means and are too embarrassed to ask.

Kthxbi!

BitTorrent

The use of torrents has exploded over the past couple years...and it's done so for good reason. BitTorrent is way to download huge files (like movies or software) quickly and easily. However, most of the explanations I've read on how torrents work are extremely hard for non-technically minded people to understand. For example, here's the start of an entry in Wikipedia:

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of data. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and by some estimates it accounts for about 35% of all traffic on the entire Internet.^[1] The initial distributor of the complete file or collection acts as the first seed. Each peer who downloads the data also uploads it to other peers, even after they have dismounted the original seed. Because of this...

Look at these words: file sharing, protocol, files, distributor, seed, dismounted...no wonder people who aren't technically minded are scared off by all this talk.

In a way, the people who use bitTorrent like it that way - the inexperienced user won't look past all this complicated jargon to fully understand how powerful and useful this system is - and the users who *DO* get it will be left alone to do whatever they want.

The fact is that BitTorrent is simple to use, once you have a very practical understanding of how it works.

There are two pieces that you need to start downloading files using bitTorrent - the software and the torrent file:

Software - this is a program (like uTorrent...my personal favorite) that can read a torrent file and download what you're looking for. This is also referred to as a "client" or "client software"

Torrent file - This is the file that tells your computer where to get the file you want. You can download torrent files from any number of free sites (such as isohunt or torrentscan) or membership sites (like Demonoid)

As an example - let's say you want to download 'America's Army' a free video game created and distributed by the US military. First, you would need to download some torrent software (assuming you haven't done so already), then just do a search on a torrent site (like isoHunt), find the torrent for 'America's Army,' download it, and open the torrent file with the software. That's it!

There are some illegal applications for torrent use, such as downloading files that aren't free or things you haven't already paid for...but those are issues for the lawyers to handle, and I'm no lawyer.

Though there are some drawbacks; the files don't download instantaneously, which could mean a wait of hours or sometimes days depending on the size of the file. Also, sometimes you'll get a bad torrent - especially if what you're looking for is obscure - and the file may never show up at all.

That said, it's little wonder more and more people are using bitTorrent.

Can graphs be fun?

Yes...just ask the fine submitters at Graphjam.com

Its Friday, so its time for something fun from the interwebs.

Graphjam is a site where really creative people have found ways to merge the boring, generic excel graphs and have morphed them into clever pop-culture references.

Submissions are voted on by visitors to the site...and the very best submissions take a minute for you to decipher. Like a personalized license plate, but more clever. Check it out.

Help implementing your devious plan

Let's say you're an up-and-coming Dr. Claw (from Inspector Gadget) or Brain (from Pinky and the Brain) and you need some kind of start screen for your computer. You need way to monitor the world in advance of implementing your plan for domination of it...what do you do?

Well, if you were on VSL daily email list, you'd already know where to go - henchmanshelper.com. The site is a collection of live cameras from Dusseldorf to Prague and atmospheric conditions over areas of the US...even a world sunlight map so you'll know when to implement your devious plans so they happen under cover of night.

VSL (which stands for Very Short List) emails a daily collection of clever and interesting links, cleverly captioned pictures, and interesting (albeit sometimes bizarre) products. Yes, VSL has ads, but they are very clear about what is sponsored and what they really like.

The concept behind VSL is to find a way to shine the light on interesting sites or products on the internet that you may not have otherwise known about. In their words they point "to excellent new (and sometimes vintage) entertainment and media that haven’t been hyped to within an inch of their lives."

Like most successes, it isn't rehashing information you already know...instead it points out deals and links you may have likely missed out on otherwise. Most refreshingly, it is presented in a fun, casual way that makes their regular emails fun and worthwhile reading...which is, really, the way the intarwebs were supposed to be, right?

The future of journalism...

There's a fascinating series of articles from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism about the future of the medium. The first section appears to be geared mostly to newspapers...but, seeing as newspapers are in more dire circumstances than local TV, they are the most likely to take on major changes (and thus, eventually learn the lessons that local TV will be forced to endure in the near future). I'm still working my way through it all, but here are a few highlights from what I've read so far:

"The future of journalism is selling expertise, not content...We are operating in the most creative phase of the media industry’s history. A time when broadcast, text and social media are colliding." - Edward Roussel (To Prepare for the Future, Skip the Present)

It is the nature of disruptive technology that we almost always get it wrong when we try to guess the real use and impact of a new invention. The debate is over. Hand-inked bibles, horse-drawn carriages, pagers: A few still exist, but they have mostly been overtaken by newer technology. The same is true for the monopoly of the publisher. Journalists no longer control the message. -Katie King (Journalism as a Conversation)

[Jeff] Jarvis, who teaches at the City University of New York, argues that journalism today is a “process not a product.” Journalists must sift, sort and curate the news, he contends. “Do what you do best. Link to the rest.” The question Jarvis poses is this: Do we need more information or do we need, as a society, journalists dedicated to finding the gold nuggets amidst this raging river of content? -Katie King (Journalism as a Conversation)

I also came across The Daily Beast as a result of my reading these pieces. They call themselves 'curated news aggregation,' both a fascinating term and a potential model for the future. Its definitely something worth checking out...

Radiolab

Radiolab is a radio show from WNYC, New York Public Radio, that deals with science and technology...but to couch it in that way makes it sound like NOVA or some other super-boring public programming. By their own definition, however:

Radiolab is a show about curiosity. Each episode is an investigation - a patchwork of people, sounds, stories all centered around one big idea.

The show is primarily produced by two people - Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich. I'd first come across Robert Krulwich when I was learning about how TV works. I'd gotten my first job at WOFL in Orlando, when I'd started shadowing the people in the different parts of the newsroom. Throughout this self-imposed training, I'd learned how hard it is to write stories, shoot video, and craft words and pictures together into something poignant and useful.

After realizing how hard it was to do such a thing, I sought out places on TV where news was presented in a clear, intelligent, and entertaining way. The search led me to two places: Frontline on PBS (which is some of the most amazing television being created right now...almost without equal) and Nightline. This is Nightline several years ago, when they would take one issue and focus on it in depth for the entire half-hour.

Robert Krulwich did a story about the 2004 election and how political parties had shifted their focus from trying to convert people into die-hard party members (and make them vote) and instead to focus on people who were leaning towards their party and bring them solidly on their side. He told the story with interviews and personal stories, of course, but also with the use of animation to explain exactly what was meant by a "wobbly two" (essentially someone who is leaning in favor of a party, but neither die-hard nor neutral). I was hooked.

Krulwich has a way of distilling the very complexities that make up human existence in a way that not only make them clearer, but let you feel like you've been in on the joke the entire time.

Jad Abumrad is a radio producer...though he doesn't care so much about news as he does about SOUND. Abumrad is an audiophile in the purest sense. He isn't the guy who spends $40,000 on audio cables, but he's the guy who lives to expose people to sound in a way that tells a story they would have never expected to notice or appreciate.

The first time I came to truly appreciate the way Jad thinks is when I was exposed to the opening of Radiolab's Morality program in which he asks two questions:

First scenario: There are five men working on a railway, and a train is bearing down on them - they don't see it, and you can't shout to them to warn them. If you do nothing, the five men will die. However, next to you is a lever, and if you pull the lever you will make the train shift tracks onto a track where one man is working. He will be killed, but the five other men will be saved. Do you pull the lever?

Second scenario: Ok, same thing, the train is coming, and five people are working on the tracks...however this time, you're not standing next to a lever, you're on a bridge overlooking the tracks. Next to you, though, is a large man, and if you throw him off of the bridge, the conductor of the train will see him, and stop the train, saving the five men.

Most of the time, the people who are asked if they should pull the lever say they would pull the lever, but they also say they would not push the man off of the bridge. Why? It's the same accounting, right?

The way this is presented got me hooked on the combination of the talents of Krulwich and Abumrad. There's really nothing else like it. Other amazing introductions he's crafted are for the show on Emergence (a topic now close to my heart, thanks to this show and Steven Johnson), Choice, and this week's episode Yellow Fluff and Other Curious Encounters.

I can only ask (if I could beg you in person, I would) to take 3 minutes of your life, to listen to the introduction to the show, Time.

This intro gives me chills and hits me in a way that lets me know there are brilliant people who see the world in a beautiful way...and can convey it to you in a way that may improve the way others see the world.

A second amazing thing about these shows is how they stand up to repetition. In the book "Everything bad is good for you" (again with the Steven Johnson stuff) Johnson points out that the shows that have a lasting imprint on contemporary culture (Simpsons, Seinfeld, Family Guy, even) stand up to multiple viewings. They each have such an amazing attention to detail in the crafting of the show that on the second and third go-round you absorb more from the show than you did the first time. Radiolab has this endearing characteristic as well...so that even if you like it the first time, you'll like it even more on each successive listen.

Radiolab - what can I say about it that hasn't already been said about Leonardo da Vinci?

Jake and Amir

There's something so refreshing and stupid-funny about Jake and Amir, a video blog/web series about two real co-workers at CollegeHumor.com who sit across from each other: Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld.

Like most funny, popular things on the web, its attraction is hard to describe. Amir is the hapless, kiss-up poser who idolizes Jake, the everyman, regular guy. It's essentially your typical comedy duo with Jake as the straight man.

The best way to describe it is to show you a few of their episodes (which each run about two to three minutes) so you can see what it's like for yourself. If you don't see them here, though, CollegeHumor just signed a deal with MTV, so you may see them there soon.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Ace from Jake Hurwitz on Vimeo.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Nutrition from Amir on Vimeo.

What's that song??

There's a classic episode of Married With Children from 1991 in which Al drives his family crazy while he tries to remember an old song. The problem? He only knows a tiny bit of it, and sings that part to anyone who'll listen. Here's the clip:


A website I was just told about today, midomi.com, is here to actually solve this problem. Hum a bit of that song that's been stuck in your head all day and Midomi can identify it for you! I tried two songs...a random Billy Joel song that's been stuck in my head, and an Outkast song. It worked on Billy Joel, but not Outkast (though, maybe the software would just prefer I let 'Kast bust flows on their own).

A little favorite section of mine is where people record themselves singing popular songs. It's just as cringe inducing as karaoke, without all that awkward eye contact. They even have an application for the iPhone.

Just another great way that the internet is working to make our lives a little bit easier...