I saw this in someone else's blog and I was intrigued. Basically, you download their software, and it "scrobs" (their word; I've no intention of ever using it again) your computer as you play music, to log and keep track of what songs you play.
Why would you want to do this? Damn if I know, but I thought it was cool.
There are some pretty grave limitations-- like, it only works with a couple of music players: (iTunes yes; Quintessential CD player (click that) and Real, no. But if you want to see what you're listening to, what patterns develop over time, if say 5 years from now you want to see what you were groovin' to the week we invaded Iran, and if like me you are endlessly fascinated with your own behavior, then by all means, download the ap and learn how to use it.
For now though, you can get a first- (well, second-) hand glimpse into what we're listening to here in the APW offices. There are a bunch of charts you can show; I've opted for our 10 most recently played tracks. Of course, its only our most recently played tracks through iTunes, but we've been leaning that way lately.
Beyond the neatness of the self-reporting, though, I find the idea of the "online social network" to be foreign. Yes, I know that all the kids are on MySpace (last count, 100 MILLION of them.) But I guess I'm old fashioned, because my attitude is, when I need to use an online network to socialize, kill me (or, if applicable, help bust me out of prison.)
Be sure to come back often and see what obscure power pop bands, Ryan Adams bootlegs, or 70s burn-out rock we've been playing here at APW. And if you see something interesting on the list and ask real nice, we may even post it as the song of the day. But if you want to socialize, just call us.
Labels: The tunes
Become one of them, or they will kill you. But whatever you do, don't call them violent. They HATE that!
Labels: The politics
--Alexis de Tocqueville
Labels: The politics
It would be a shame if the Democrats so badly misread the current political zeitgeist that they continue down the path of anointing “Hillary ’08” with funds and resources (she's running virtually unopposed here in NY, but raising money like a mofo.) Hillary is, at best, Kerry in a skirt. Or, depending on the day, Gore in a sensible pants suit. She is a mistake waiting to be made.
If we know one thing about the Dems, it is that they are incompetent; so it stands to reason that the Big Democrat frontrunner for ’08 is probably a stupid choice.
There are, however, good choices. In 2008, after 8 years of Bush, the American public will have a rare and voracious appetite for someone who Sounds Like He Knows What He’s Talking About. Not someone who “talks tough.” Not even someone who hits the mark on “family values.” No, for a brief shining moment that we may never see again in our lifetimes, the American public will actually want to elect someone who seems to know what’s he’s talking about. Someone who, say, knows history, believes in science, doesn’t think dinosaurs walked the earth 6,000 years ago, reads a newspaper, can pronounce “nuclear.”
Someone like Joe Biden.
Check him out on this morning’s ABC This Week With George "Stubby" Stephanopoulos (you’ll have to sit through a commercial first). Because here at APW, we’re endorsing him right now for ’08.
Listen to what he says from about 8:05 through about 8:30 or so, then compare that to what we wrote here. For framing the question properly-- "Are we safer now than we were 5 years ago?"-- Biden is our guy.
Labels: Joe Biden, The politics
