Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

Via Boing Boing. Cool.

So it warms my heart to read stories like this one:

…the attempt in Australia by the PPCA where some of the rate changes would rocket up from figures like $125/year… to $19,344/year. Well, it looks like it’s already backfiring badly. Reader Dan alerts us to the news that the organization that represents night clubs and similar businesses in Australia, appropriately named Clubs Australia, has set up a system whereby the organization will specifically go out and seek music by artists not covered by the collections effort, and distribute that music to clubs and other establishments. Then, these clubs, gyms, restaurants and the like can tell the PPCA to take a hike, and still play music.

Good for those Australian clubs, bars, restaurants, etc. Beyond fighting back in a very logical and smart manner, they’re doing a wonderful service for all those independent musicians in Australia who now get their music heard by a much wider audience.

As a bonus, after reading this I came across this nifty little service: the RIAA Radar. It helps you find music and albums not covered by the RIAA. Rock on.

Reposted from a friend’s Facebook page.

USC at Oregon from Kendall Hunter on Vimeo.

There’s just not much else to say about this win. Wow.

I actually generally like the Justin Long/John Hogdman “I’m and Mac/I’m a PC” ad campaign ads – they can be reasonably funny, and frankly it’s fun to see such a classic rivalry between two companies get the direct treatment.

However, I’m thinking these ads are starting to wear a bit thin. The latest, well-timed to coincide with today’s public launch of Windows 7, say basically nothing at all positive about Mac’s, and just take swipes at Microsoft that drip with bitterness.

Compare them to the iPhone and long-running iPod TV spots – fun, light, often musically magic displays about the utility and excitement of the products. OSX is a wonderful OS, my personal preference for daily use. It has so many positive things to show off that a set of ads that ignore them and instead just poke fun at the competition, competition which, btw, just got much much better, seem like wasted opportunities.

My disclaimer: I worked at Microsoft for a number of years, including on Windows, though I left in ‘07. Family and friends still work there. On the flip side family and friends have or currently do work at Apple, and I mostly use a MB Pro running OSX. So I’m basically saying I’m biased in both directions, and I’m hoping it all cancels out.

Avalanche Skier POV Helmet Cam Burial & Rescue in Haines, Alaska from Chappy on Vimeo.

See the full story over on Gizmodo.

Alright, this is just plain insane. NHL runs a twitter promotion via their @NHL account, and decides to fill the entire background with legalese.

That is compelling branding and makes me want to just dive right in. Nice work guys, go tell the attorneys to have a beer for such outstanding effort.

And this is just about the funniest thing I have seen in years.

Marty (along with Jodi, of course), for me, was about the only radio personality worth listening to outside of NPR. His 5:20 funnies, Mountain Music Lounge, genuine connection with listeners and real love and appreciation for good music and musicians made 103.7 a permanent fixture on my radio presets.

I can only hope the management at KMTT had some amazing numbers behind this decision, because from this fan’s perspective (and many, many others), this sucks.

Good luck to Marty and Jodi. Looks like my morning drive time will be filled with iPod playlists rather than KMTT from now on.