BLADAM: Life, Liberty, Love and Stuff - (summary feed)

Great ways to discover and (legally) listen to music online

2008-03-30T02:11:00Z

Here are a few thoughts on music services I’m in love with online. CAVEAT: Many, if not all of these only work in a limited number of countries due to lame licensing complications… typically the United States, often coupled with Canada and/or the UK. And it’d be wrong, oh so wrong to use proxies to get around this .

* * *

I just learned that on Last.fm you can not only play tons of (full length!) songs on demand now, but do so without even having an account. This makes it a great service to share neat music finds with others!

Here’s an example:
The short, catchy, and wordless 47 Reasons, from the charming and often hilarious a cappella group, The Bobs.

Downside: Individuals are technically only supposed to be able to stream a song full-length three times.

Other music services online that I love:

An example of (usually) effective communications

2008-03-02T03:51:00Z

I recently joined an interesting little aggregator / life-streaming sort of service called FriendFeed. I’m finding both the service and the customer service to be admirable. Here’s a recent set of comments on their support list from one of the founders:

That is a very good point [...] this was unintended [...] This was a bad decision, and we will undo it promptly today. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

And then soon after:

This issue has been fixed and pushed [live to production]

This, typically along with other communications from the company, contains several core components of what I feel is (typically) effective customer service communications. The note…

- Thanks the user for the feedback.
- Acknowledges the problem.
- Expresses regret.
- Specifies action that will be taken.
- Confirms the action, reiterates the appreciation, and closes the loop.

Or, more succinctly, here’s an often-good cycle for similar situations: Thank, Acknowledge, Apologize, Promise, Provide closure.

So why don’t more companies communicate in this way?

What I’ve been up to

2007-07-30T03:49:00Z

As many friends have reminded me, I haven’t blogged for a while.

Here’s a refresher on what I wrote a while back about why I blog.

And here are a few reasons why I haven’t been blogging for a while:

Scrubbing
I had to prepare my apartment for a parental visit. ‘nuff said.
Traveling
I visited Seattle, Ottawa, and Toronto… which involved preparing presentations, doing my first-ever TV interview, filing expense reports, escalating/acting upon tons of awesome webmaster feedback, recovering from staying in a tiny room above a Mexican restaurant (which cost nearly $150 a night!), helping a friend break up, and beforehand personally booking plane rides, train rides, hotel rooms, and more. Trips are a lot of work, especially those that combine business and pleasure.
Recovering
I spent time recovering from having many bits of glass fly into my head. This was associated with an accident involving me, my parents, my new car, and a very, very stupid and/or suicidal skateboarder who ignored a stop sign at a busy intersection and collided at high velocity with my slowly-moving vehicle. While my parents and I are thankfully all healed up, I’m still dealing with financial and legal ramifications… and my car is still in the shop. Upside: I’ve been getting lots more exercise from walking and jogging and have lost two pounds of fat .
Practicing and performing
I recently performed on stage at the huge Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. What a scary and exhilarating experience!!! I hope to have a recording that I can post here in the near future.
And yet more travel-planning
I’m planning trips in the remainder of this year to Dublin, Seville, Louisville, Los Angeles, Chicago or Las Vegas, Viernheim, Mannheim, and Caracas. I’m excited but stressed about this, as you can imagine.
Working
I’m heading up two major events at Google, taking on new responsibilities, attending Search Engine Strategies San Jose in August, and much more.
Apartment searching
Though this has been temporarily put on hold while I’m carless, I have been scouting out a new place to call my own closer to the Googleplex to eliminate the generally-comfy-but-time-consuming daily commute from San Francisco to Mountain View.
Facebooking
Facebook has both taken time away from my blogging and has dried up much of my drive to blog. With Facebook, I’ve been able to share what’s going on in my life with friends, highlight interesting articles, ask questions and get answers, show off music and photos, and learn what’s going on in my communities, in my friends’ lives, and so on. Still, though, Facebook isn’t (yet) a complete replacement for self-hosted blogging as I see it, so don’t count on me shuttering BLADAM just yet .

* * *

I always have tons of stuff I want to share… continually have blog drafts bouncing around in my noggin. But now you understand why those have remained mental drafts for the last months.

So… no promises that I’ll blog more often—sorry. But be assured that I’m not just belching in front of the T.V.

Free hugs and the beauty of human touch

2007-06-02T20:08:01Z

I just learned from BLADAM member Flathead in the Netherlands that there’s a worldwide movement involving Free Hugs. I just watched a few snippets, and this just totally made my day!

It also brings to mind some thoughts I shared in an early blog entry (”Non-sexual Healin’” )

[...] It was then that I realized how much the whole concept of touch means to me and likely many of my Lindy Hop crazy friends. There’s such a comfort and warmth in—if you’ll forgive the modified Moulin Rouge reference—holding someone and being held in return.

At least in my case (and I suspect, for most others as well), this is all not really about sex or even necessarily flirting. As a heterosexual fella, I still enjoy hugging my friends regardless of their gender, and I likewise appreciate being a follower in Lindy Hop, even with guys.

Sure, there’s sometimes an underlying sensuality in dancing, especially when blues-dancing with someone you are attracted to from the way they look or the way they dance, and so on. But I still think that the overall non-sexual pleasure of touch is one of the leading factors that contributes to folks’ joy in dancing, and this also highlights just how much closeness our American society often lacks.

In much of Europe and Latin America, for instance, there seems to be less perceived overlap between friendly touching and sexual overtures, and I really like and respect that. When I lived in Europe, I found that I was encouraged to give and receive friendly hugs or even snuggle with others without ulterior motives or expectations.

Anyway, thanks, Flathead, for the neat link and good feelings .

Provincial half-wits okay, but no Goddamned atheists!

2007-05-29T01:35:01Z

In the marvelous The Week magazine (March 2007 edition quoting a USA Today / Gallup poll), it was disclosed that 53% of Americans wouldn’t vote for an atheist for U.S. President (and, unsurprisingly but just as sadly, 43% said they wouldn’t vote for a homosexual, either). Barring a horribly worded poll question—which, I concede, isn’t out of the question—I’m guessing the real percentage of Americans who are prejudiced against atheists is even higher; assuming the poll was done by phone or in person, I can imagine some people thinking to themselves “Well, darned if I’d ever support one of them goin’-to-hell types, but I gotta sound enlightened here and not admit it!”

You know, I don’t care what people believe in: the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Boogie Man, or—my personal favorite and Savior—The Flying Spaghetti Monster… nor do I care whom they sleep with (men, women, or even The Flying Spaghetti Monster Himself, though I admit that could get messy), as long as no one gets hurt. For instance, a pediatrician saying, “I’m sorry, son, I can’t see you today unless you pledge allegiance to Harvey, my invisible rabbit"… that would be wrong. And weird… though (IMACANSHO) not a jot weirder than lots of other belief systems out there.

Personally, I’d actually be happy to elect anyone as President—regardless of his or her religion or sexual habits—if he or she would fulfill just some very basic criteria:
- Has visited at least four countries in three continents. And not just on business.
- Can read—and speak—at higher than a sixth grade level.
- Is respected by more than half a dozen world leaders. And not the machete-wielding ones, either!
- Has publicly admitted to being wrong… and apologized!
- Has an innate sense of curiosity about the world… including people, science, the arts, etc.

And, most importantly…

Second Life doesn’t want me as a member

2007-05-29T01:03:01Z

A while back, I tried Second Life and wrote about it.

Many months went by, and—after getting a new graphics card—I figured, hey, why not try Second Life again?

I actually remembered my old SL name though wasn’t sure of the password. Guessed a couple of times, wasn’t able to log in, so I clicked on the Forgot Password link. Ah ha… I knew the answer to that secret question, got a link to reset my password, and figured I was all good to go.

Except that I still couldn’t log in. I waited a few hours and tried again, but still no-go.

This, indeed, was just the beginning of my ridiculous adventure.

Would “Required Donation” work?

2007-05-26T22:07:00Z

I am an avid fan—and financial supporter—of KQED, the Bay Area’s public radio station. And once again, I’ve been massively annoyed by the most recent (and seemingly monthly) pledge drive.

A few thoughts have sprung up into my head:

Damn, this sucks.
I already donated; why do I have to continue to listen to this?!
Wouldn’t it be awesome if somehow those people who donated got to hear actual programming, not the pledge drives?
I hope those regular listeners who can afford to donate but haven’t end up with a flock of bloated pigeons presenting a large splattery “gift” on their cars. Daily.

As I continued to think about this situation—independent of the actual technical constraints associated with limiting the broadcast to only paying members—I felt a bit guilty… recognizing that not everyone could afford to be a member at even the basic $40-a-year level.

But what if…

Embedding a chat room with Meebo… just testing.

2007-05-20T23:47:00Z

Intriguing. I’m attempting to embed a Meebo chat room below. I’ll keep this window open for a while, and will make sure to be here at 7pm PST (10pm EST) today, Sunday.

Katamari Damacy - Why is the music so hard to find?!

2007-05-15T17:21:00Z

This morning at work I was chatting with a colleague about my morning commute, and I don’t know what got into me… but for some odd reason I confided that I wished to be a big katamari ball, rolling my way to work and grabbing everything in my path.

Then, adding to the strangeness and freaking out my poor katamari-less colleague, I started singing “Na NAAAAAAAAA na na na NA na na na, na Na na na-na naaaaaaaaaaa!”

* * *

What… you aren’t familiar with Katamari Damacy, the psychedelically funky and happy video game in which you, Little Prince, must help out your hungover King of the Cosmos dad by rolling up everything on Earth to make stars that your daddy accidentally splatted during his previous nights’ bender? If you have a PS2, *go out and get this game now!* You won’t be sorry, except perhaps for the temporary loss of productivity and your embarrassment from singing jazzy goofy charming jazz/j-pop tunes to all your friends.

And, indeed, the musical score is that great. Listening to it is just bound to cheer anyone up.

Unfortunately, trying to actually buy the soundtrack is not nearly so pleasant. Amazon? Nope (they’ve only got a misleadingly-labeled CD that’s inspired by the Katamari tunes… it doesn’t actually contain the songs!). iTunes? Nope. Yahoo Music? Sorry. Rhapsody? Sadly, no.

So far, I’ve only seen it via Play Asia… >$30 for the CD + shipping :-(. I’m actually willing to pay that much, but not very pleased about the idea.

Anyone know:
1) Other places to get this CD for less money?
2) WHY such a charming, beloved score is not available via an American label?
3) Why Amazon.com and other American retailers would carry the game, but not the soundtrack?

All “friends” aren’t created equal! (why we need better relationship marking in social networks)

2007-05-14T02:29:02Z

I’m planning on quitting twitter. Flickr—at least as a social site—is getting frustratingly unwieldly. You know why? Because pretty much all social sites like this treat all my friends, co-workers, acquaintances, online buddies the same, and it’s a big, stupid, completely off-putting mess!

Sure, these services want to reduce complexity… they know that many folks may not want to take the time to put friends into groups. And eventually, some really smart service is going to actually do it automatically for me ("Hmm… Adam only looks at Fred’s pictures once in a while, but he looks at Mary’s photos minutes after he’s notified of her updates...").

Look, I’m not an insanely popular guy. But I have over 600 people in my personal contacts folder. I regularly interact with tons people at work, and sincerely care (personally) about at least a dozen or two of ‘em (to the point where I want to see their travel photos, want to know when they’re excited or depressed, etc.). But when people have “friended” me on Twitter or Flickr, I’ve often unselectively reciprocated… and now I’m just getting overloaded. Too much info. Too much info I do not care about.

And this is where nearly all social services seem to get things wrong. At risk of being callous, I could pretty much care less if a distant acquaintance is having an off day or just uploaded photos of his Aunt Elda’s wedding. But I sure as hell want to know if my office mate is about to arrive at work grouchy or an awesome friend in a different timezone is having a rough week, and so on. To the extent that social services of all types can eventually alert us to events and feelings that mean a lot to us, that’s a huge win.

This is an occasion. Let’s toast it! (The cover of Life Magazine!)

2007-05-12T23:28:00Z

They say the meek shall inherit… and I’m hep to the jive!

So, yes, Terry, I did have to go ahead and blog this (it’s one of the damn coolest birthday cards I’ve gotten… thanks!)

[e-card below, via Plaxo’s neato ecard offerings]

How to pick an apartment (with the help of a damn cool Google Spreadsheet “wiki")

2007-05-12T07:03:00Z

I’m in apartment-hunting mode, and have amassed a set of criteria for my search that I thought you might benefit from… and be able to easily add to!

With the new release of Google Docs and Spreadsheets (horrid name, super product), I can now do all sorts of cool stuff! For instance, I’ve embedded the spreadsheet below for you to read… but I’ve also included links at the bottom for you to:

EDIT ONLINE: Load up the spreadsheet online in edit mode! Your changes will be reflected within five minutes on the document AND this page, so please be both thoughtful and nice (I can revert as necessary, of course).
EDIT OFFLINE: Download the CSV and load it up in Excel or Excel imitator .
VIEW: ...as PDF, HTML, TXT, and in other formats as well.
SUBSCRIBE:… view Atom or RSS

Pretty neat, eh? And now, on with the show!

Zap ridiculous disclaimers, reform CEO pay in one fell swoop

2007-05-07T00:42:01Z

Stupid disclaimers. You know ‘em, and you probably either ignore them or laugh at them. Slightly enhanced samples that are either spoken at 420 words a minute or that take up a bazillion lines of tiny tiny text on the back of ads in news magazines.

“Warning: Stunt driver on stunt track in stunt car. Do not drive like this [except in Rome]”
“Warning: Medication may cause sniffling, itching, numbness in extremities, permanent paralysis, or death. [+ 31415928 more lines that no one bothers to read]
“Remember, drink responsibly! [Also, be nice to your mom. Put up the toilet seat. Don’t be prejudiced. Love a geek today.]
“Results not typical. Your results may vary. [Let’s face it… 99.9999% of people on this diet don’t lose an ounce. We just managed to find the one freak who had liposuction after taking our product.]

Completely useless, aren’t they? Somehow I don’t think we’re gonna hear stuff like this from beer-bongin’ frat boys:
“Hey Sarah, I’m concerned about you! I mean, Mr. Jose Cuervo insists that we drink responsibly, and I just don’t think you are! Can I get you an orange juice instead?”
“Whoa, dude! Didn’t you listen to that ad? It said DON’T drive like this! Come on, pull it back to 55 man!”

* * *

And then there’s the seemingly unrelated issue of corporate compensation.
Forbes magazine lists some of the worst (most unproductive) CEOs and notes their compensation, including:
- Richard M Kovacevich, Wells Fargo, $72.04 million
- Edward E Whitacre Jr , AT&T, $49.01 million
and, brace yourself:
- Barry Diller, IAC/InterActiveCorp, $295.14 million (over half a BILLION dollars in the last 5 years, and ranked as one of the 15 most unproductive CEOs in the entire survey)

Which raises some questions:

Stop being a twit on twitter!

2007-05-06T22:14:00Z

Don’t get the wrong idea. Despite having a cold and ironically being hot in an apartment with no airconditioning, I’m not unhappy with my life. True, I’m a bit cranky again, but I’m not deeply bummed. Just ornery and snotty.

Today, it was just a little thing that triggered my annoyance: For perhaps one of the last times, I read yet another asinine tweet on Twitter. In an effort to not call out a specific (normally nice and sensible) fellow, I’ll slightly obscure it thusly: “Going to the bathroom.”

Going to the bathroom. We all do it. We all know we do it. It’s not particularly exciting—at least typically—and it’s hardly the thing a normal person would announce unless there’s some particular need-to-know (roomies in a one bedroom apartment, little kids asking to be excused from a class, etc.). But make it Web 2.0 and, wheee, suddenly people believe that they need to share such crap with others… or that others have even a faint interest in reading such banal nonsense.

So, Adam, I imagine you retorting, chill out and just unsubscribe from those people that tweet lamely. I would, except every once in a while, these same folks refreshingly tweet something interesting or useful… or even a note or question directed specifically @me.

It’s like how your Aunt Frida (hopefully no longer) sends you teeth-gnashingly stupid forwards. Bill Gates is gonna give you a million bucks. P&G supports satan worship.

Frida is a good person, a well-meaning lady, but sometimes she just doesn’t THINK before she hits “send.” And, clearly, you don’t want to filter her notes into your junk mail because at least one out of every ten notes she sends is something you really *do* want to read… a happy-birthday wish, a sad revelation about her health, or even just a simple cute “I’m thinking about you .”

Thankfully, nearly all of my friends and relatives have gotten smarter about e-mail etiquette. When are (normally quite intelligent and thoughtful) people gonna wise up about Twitter?

At risk of being told, “Dude, who the bleep do you think you are to tell us what to do?” I’m going to, well, suggest what I think is optimal Twitter usage. You sure as heck don’t have to conform to my personal views on Good Twittering, but I’m more likely to read / less likely to unsubscribe from your tweets if you do .

[Blippet] The Case of the Changed Chairs

2007-05-01T18:26:00Z

I work in a small office with three other Googlers. That’s pretty typical around here; I don’t know of a single person that has their own office, though we’re always free to roam to a quieter place with our laptops and ubiquitous wireless access.

It’s also a delightfully multicultural office:
- One Croatian fellow.
- One Chinese guy.
- A Bulgarian guy.
- And me, the boring American.

We often will break up the day with little chats about cultural issues… food, linguistic confusion, traditions, etc. Today, though, our heads-down work was interrupted when P came in, sat down, and looked a bit concerned.

P: Something is wrong with my chair.
[silence]
P: Did someone change it? Something’s off.
Y: [taking notice] Hmm… my chair’s kind of funny today, too. Maybe someone took both our chairs?
P: It’s too low. This is strange. [pauses, looks out the door of the office, as if to catch the chair thief / chair transmogrifier]
Y: Mine’s kinda high. Doesn’t feel right.
Me: [finally paying attention] Um, guys. Maybe you just got each other’s chair?
[P looks at Y. Y looks at P. They swap chairs.]
[contented brief silence]
Y: Ah, mine’s the black one. That’s right!
P: Yeah, that’s better!
[shaking head]