Tuesday, January 04, 2005

In this post by Apophenia - there is the sense that Genrefication is the solution - but I think the "would you make me a dub-mix" line is the key - it is the play list you want to listen too - not just the Genre's - genre's cannot be specific enough if there's only one field of information - even within one artist - there's too much variety to pack into a single genre, let alone mood, and setting. Someone in a position of authority (read Steve Jobs? or an appropriate iPod minion) needs to think about this for a while and come up with a  list of fields - 2.0.  I know there are a few solutions out there, but none seem to do it quite right.  So maybe there's an opportunity for Apple or Creative, or Red Chair, to come up with the solution that will take this whole thang to a new level. ==================================== music genres and moods. One of the reasons that i loved Napster was that you could see how people labeled their music, particularly the genre. In music, i use genre like i use tagging in Gmail, del.icio.us and Flickr, only i'm a bit more obsessive about keeping them organized. My playlists are all automatically created based on my idiosyncratic genre labels. The labels are not for you, but for me and i don't care if PsyChill doesn't really exist - it's the label that ties together things like bluetech and Shpongle. Due to 1) my new iPod, 2) the barfing of my Mac, 3) the scanning of CDs and 4) my obsession with last.FM, i am diving deeply into my music collection to re-genrify things. It is this attribute of last.FM that is given me the greatest curiosity. Last.FM is full of people with - shall we say - "interesting" tastes. I'm sorry but there is no playlist in the world that should have Gwar and Nina Simone together. Wrong wrong wrong. And why is Elliott Smith on the top artists page of the genre Breaks? No no no. Of course, i'm part of fucking this up. I love Elliott Smith and i love breaks. Since i am in the breaks group, my listening to Elliott Smith is affecting that genre page. This is a problem. I know better when i manually genrify my music. Elliott Smith is is the MaleNeuvoFolk genre (which is effectively equivalent to Sadcore except can also be listened to when not depressed). I would never recommend Elliott Smith to a breaks aficionado. I'm worried that this diverse listening pattern is messing up all the data. After three days of listening to non-stop chillout, goa and breaks, i should not be getting recommendations for Rancid and Ludacris. The problem is that there's a big gap between Beth Orton and Son Kite and i fear that trying to resolve those two listening patterns will result in abysmal results. The system should know that i'm listening with two different faceted patterns - the chill danah and the dancey danah. When i ask a friend for music advice, i don't simply say "give me anything you listen to." I know better. But i would ask "could you make me a dub mix?" or "what would complement Dr Toast?" Or think about the Back to Mine series (collections based on what musicians chill out to). I want my last.FM to understand that there are moods. All of my playlists get this. All of my genrification gets this. Now it's time for last.FM. I should be able to play everything that userx thinks makes for "coding music" or for "chill out" or for "getting ready to go out." I want to be able to cluster my music. I want to be able to inform Audioscrobbler to only tell the genre group "PsyTrance" about things that i've marked Full-On, Melodic, Scando or PsyChill. Or tell them about a playlist or two. Tag the genres so that i don't blush when i see my love of Johnny Cash appear as appropriate for other Trip-Hop fiends. [apophenia] 2:09:50 PM

Monday, August 09, 2004

Werner and I met at BloggerCon 2003 - where we stood outside and had a cigarette with Adam Curry.  Since then, I've been following him via my aggregator and those of people around him who know him better than I do. Hope to reconnect at some point - but this position sounds like it could be really cool and fun! ==================== Go Werner!. Go Werner! Werner Vogel's heading to Seattle to work for Amazon as Director of Research -- I'm thrilled for him. [Halley's Comment] 7:31:52 PM

Sunday, August 08, 2004

Must Do in Schedule, Pattern interrupt! You are a font of Museful Ideas!   Monday Thing. Monday Thing I have this theory that people try to get 85% of what they need to do for the entire week done on Monday. This makes them half nuts and very unpleasant to be around. (Once I started working on my own, I realized this was a good reason to crank up rock and roll very loud around about 9:00am on Monday and spend the first hour of the week dancing. This, correlated with the fact that the highest rate of heart attacks take place allegedly at 9:00am on Monday, seemed a much more healthy response.) When I worked in real offices, Monday mornings were often spent in sales or marketing meetings where the boss was yelling at the staff like an angry dad and the staff was stuffing themselves with pastry and coffee to feel better like unhappy children eating sticky treats. Then on Tuesday, people do the last 15% of their week's work and fix mistakes they made from rushing around like crazy people on Monday. Then Wednesday, they see what really matters that week and what they would have been better off focusing on right from the beginning to be really effective. Thursday they rest because they start thinking about the weekend. Friday they don't do anything because it is Friday after all, Thank God! [Halley's Comment] 7:38:07 PM     Halley, you are always expressing thoughts that so many of as have-but fail to Say! i woke up in a hotel room this morning, and flipped on the TV after getting out of the shower.  there was this movie w/Sean Connery, where he plays an author.  He is helping maybe Denzil Washington to learn to write, and spends the whole fame saying: Write Don't think! Something I need to do!  In this way You Capture raw ideas and at least say staff that ends up being meaningful to your self, your family and as you do anther post-tell people they mean something to you. Even of you don't do what you say yon should or ought to do. Wouldn't It Be Nice?. Wouldn't It Be Nice? My Monday mornings, as much as they get jam-packed full of things to do and places to go and people to see and ALL THAT, are still emotional and lush and human. But even on those hustle bustle Monday mornings, I would like to remember to let the people I love know one thing -- that I love them and appreciate all the nice things they do for me. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all take time to do that? [Halley's Comment] 7:22:10 PM

Friday, April 23, 2004

Monday (Patriot's day for those of you who are from MA), my daughters were home and decided to go outside and rollerblade.  I suggested they dig out their wrist guards, etc...  No of course not, they are tough, they don't need no stinkin' wrist guards!  While guess what!!? I got to spend a big hunk of yesterday hustling one of em around from Pediatrician to Hospital to Orthopedic guy, and now we have a broken radius, ulna and and big honking pink cast.  No not the lovely delicate waterproof gore-tex cast, but the huge, above-the-elbow fiberglass (looks like the old plaster type I had when I broke my arm) type.  And Pink - Oh my God!  It's practically neon.  How do you sign a cast like that...  Oh well.  Live and Learn.  Sometime's Dad knows what he's talking about. At least the general level of embarrassment over actually having fallen and hurt herself kept her from wimpering too loudly or complaining about the consequences.  It was her own damn fault.  And in fact she was tough and did show great courage.  Coming in the house, getting an ice pack and taking tylenol - all before informing me of the injury at all.  Quite stoic!  She is a cool kid. Now the gym teachers who were having her do LONG-JUMPING before I picked her up for the trip to the pediatrician will think twice when a kid says they can't participate because they hurt themselves - jees, can you imagine if she had landed on her broken arm during gym!  Wow! 7:12:13 AM

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

The list has been moved to here: Social Networking Sites and Software sorted by name Please note that YOU can edit this list yourself to make it more accurate and up-to-date! I am not personally maintaining this list anymore, I am counting on all of you to continually keep it updated. Thanks very much. Websites Ryze: business ecademy: business LinkedIn: business itsnotwhatyouknow: business Friendly Favors: business ZeroDegrees: business (corporate) Accolo: jobs RealContacts: jobs Eliyon: business, jobs Friendster: friendship, dating Sona Matchmaker: friendship, dating (India) Huminity: friendship everyonesconnected.com: friendship Ringo: friendship PalJunction: friendship, business, dating, roommates Tribe: friendship, business, dating, roommates, classifieds Club Nexus at Stanford - need URL: alumni, article MeetUp: in-person Buddy Zoo: IM social networking analysis *PayDemocracy: political groups *classmates.com: alumni *.reunion.com: alumni *InfoSpace: yellow pages (references) *SwitchBoard: yellow pages (references) *Match.com: dating *People on Page: friendship, dating *all of the other dating sites People Aggregator: ??? *= could easily cross over into social networking Software: Spoke SW: business (corporate) Visible Path, business (corporate) **wwPlaxo.: contacts **GoodContacts: contacts **Accucard: contacts ** contact software could easily add social networking features as they have all of the necessary data Blogs with some features of Social Networking livejournal: blog Expressions: visual blogging Fotolog: visual blogging Question Marks WisomeBuilder NetDiva Preliminary Analysis It seems pretty clear that not all of these social networking sites or software will survive. Clay Shirky states "The *only* thing these services have to base a business on is lack of interoperability". I believe there is another part to the value proposition that they offer users -- the ability to go beyond 1 degree of separation. However, it's really difficult to think of situations where going more than 2 degrees of separation is worthwhile, unless you are a contagious disease - see my whitepaper Links and Nodes in Social Networks. Unless >2 degrees of separation and node secrecy are valued by users (maybe not everyone but an interestingly large set of users), an "open" networking service will make these proprietary services and software obsolete. before they've made a penny. Acknowledgements Thanks to the many people who helped me compile this list including: Clay Shirky Danah Boyd Doug Rush Sean Murphy Debi Jones Patti Anklam If I left your name off let me know and I will add it. - posted by Cynthia @ 9/14/2003 09:49:58 AM 6:11:51 PM     OK OK - you are endlessly fascinating - juxtaposing posts - On The Perceived Hermanetics of Didactic Fundamentalism and then this one...  I am hot just imagining you in your bikini - pink hat - darjeeling dream And Great Link to Daniel Day Lewis as Cecil - talk about contrasts - Room with a View and then Last of the Mohicans - don't underestimate the flexibilty of us tweedy guys... ============================================== Cock-A-Doodle Do. Cock-A-Doodle Do Rise and shine, guys. Let's go. It's getting late. 5:22 am here I suppose that rooster noise is what woke me, figuratively, metaphorically, not literally, as there is no strutting bird anywhere in sight, but in my mind's eye, which is to say a rather sexy dream woke me, what's a girl to do, but stagger out of bed, say ... "hmmm" about that, put a light on, shuffle into the kitchen, grab the counter for balance, flip the switch on the teapot, reach for the Darjeeling to bring her back to Earth, and with spring battling winter and my dreamy landscape a hot summer beach, I don a most inappropriate but perfect costume, last summer's black and white bikini, a black cashmere sweater, a pink faux fur hat. You can't take this life too seriously you see. I think, "Who Was That Masked Man?" Maybe ... him? Maybe ... him? Maybe ... him? Maybe ... him? Maybe ... him? No, must have been ... oh yes, he's the one. [Halley's Comment] 11:13:45 AM     Thank you Halley - once again for keeping me on my literary toes.  My introduction to Uxor comes from an a capella song I sang back in high-school.  It is a very sophomoric tribute to latin lessons by John O'Keefe: Amo, Amas AMO, amas, I love a lass As a cedar tall and slender! Sweet cowslips' grace Is her Nominative Case, And she's of the Feminine Gender. Rorum, corum, sunt Divorum!    Harum, scarum Divo! Tag rag, merry derry, periwig and hatband,    Hic hac, horum Genetivo! Can I decline A Nymph divine? Her voice as a flute is dulcis! Her oculi bright! Her manus white! And soft, when I tacto, her pulse is! Rorum, corum, sunt Divorum!    Harum scarum Divo! Tag rag , merry derry, periwig and hatband,    Hic hac, horum Genetivo! O, how bella Is my Puella! I'll kiss sæculorum! If I've luck, Sir! She's my Uxor! O, dies benedictorum! Rorum, corum, sunt Divorum!    Harum scarum Divo! Tag rag, merry derry, periwig and hatband,    Hic, hac, horum Genetivo! John O'Keefe Note the line above - "if I've luck sir, she's my Uxor."  In other words the beautiful woman he is singing about will become his wife!  Or, at least will perform some "wifely" activities...;-) Thanks again======================================================= Uxorial. Uxorial I used this word "uxorial" today on the phone with someone who knows a lot of words and he didn't know this one. It's a great word. I have nothing but avuncular or perhaps, fraternal feelings for this guy, btw. And he is not particularly uxorious either. He simply needed to ask her a question before we could plan an outing. [Halley's Comment] 10:56:33 AM

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Only Rave Reviews 9:40:09 PM

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

Last night I got home to learn that our daughter had sobbed herself to sleep.  Her illusions shattered - the enchantment broken.  Fairies are not real. A few months ago, she came home all excited.  At her school, she and a friend of hers had discovered a fairy tree!  This tree had little seed pods that contained fairy seeds.  She immediately wanted to construct a little fairy play-world and incubate the little seeds until they hatched. So, we encouraged this flight of wondrous imagination.  On a trip, my wife discovered two beautiful cards with images of angels or fairies - so we cut them out from the cards and one of the seeds magically "hatched."  Her new friend, Arabella, was conjured from fancy. Arabella was a source of the most intense and imaginitive play our daughter had ever experienced.  She created whole histories and worlds for her to inhabit.  She wove magical tales rivalling the best fairy tales I know.  Some were a bit of a leap, or included mundane bits of household stuff - Dead leaves, tupperware swimming pools, PollyPockets. Soon a sign appeared: Dont come in there is a reel fairy in heer! She is very shie and She dosint like to be desterbed. SSShhhhh! Thank you And so it continued....  They began a correspondence.  She would spend hours composing notes, asking about the fairy world and details about Arabella's life as a fairy.  Her anticipation and delight at receiving a response was palpable!  She encouraged a friend at school to hatch a fairy, and so the enchantment spread. Once, early on, she asked an adult whether fairies were real.  The adult said No, she did not believe in fairies. But she had the story of the Polar Express (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0395389496/104-5362871-9229543?v=glance) in her head.  As you may recall, the story ends with the adults and even the little boy's sister unable to hear the silver sleigh-bell that Santa gave him.  "It's broken" they say.  But those who believe can still hear it. My daughter made a quick connection, and concluded that adults, and some of the kids, just couldn't hear the bell anymore - and this became shorthand for explaining the fact that she knew Arabella was real, and others didn't. A few months later, she had a birthday party.  Her favorite gift was a Christmas ornament that Arabella gave her.  It was delicate and beautiful, and had fairy dust sprinkled in a spiral pattern around it.  She loved it. While we were planning to have Arabella migrate or hibernate for the winter - so that the enchantment would slip into memory, and form an oasis of magical memory for her to tap into - this had worked with Santa, who she concluded was no longer real on her own, and with no trauma. Unfortunately it was not to be. She discovered her letters to Arabella in my wife's nightstand last night.  She walked out and held them out in front of her - searching, hoping, wanting an explaination that made sense, that would not break the spell!  But my wife was so startled and unprepared that she blurted out the cold hard truth.  Arabella was not real.  Mommie had written the letters (and in some cases Nana).  It was a cruel lie.  She was terribly sorry.  She never meant for it to become so elaborate. Then the wailing began.  The unconsolable crying of our daughter at the tearing down of her world.  What about the fairy tree.  Just a regular tree with seed pods.  What about the pictures she had sent.  They were cut from magazines and greeting cards.  What about... The Christmas Ornament!  It was really a gift from Mom and Dad.  And the fairy dust sparkling on the ornament.  Not really fairy dust...  On and on it went.  What about her friend's fairy - it wasn't real either... Sobbing and Disillusionment - the light ebbed from her eyes.  We had hurt her deeply. That's when I came home - Oh how I wish that I had been the one she confronted.  Now my wife is sorry to have let it get started in the first place!  Later when putting her to bed and saying prayers - it felt very empty.  Would she lose her belief in God too?  Didn't it diminish our own!?  Telling the truth may be hard up front - she says - but then we're not confronted with this devastating experience later.  No - I don't agree at all!  But I wasn't there, I can't criticize my wife after she just went through this.  Yet, I believe that it was a tremendous and good thing!  Imagination and fantasy must me nurtured and explored.  Deep down, she knew.  Even if she didn't, she did believe that one day she would not be able to hear the bell ring anymore.  Why not let that ringing be a quite memory - not a dull clang of reality setting in. Now we need give her some space - then to help her to reconstruct a new lenchantment.  A deeper level of magic for her.  There are things beyond our understanding.  Dimensions we cannot percieve.  Things seen and things unseen that we profess to believe in.  Each time we learn that one enchantment was not sufficient, we must not give up on enchantment all-together!  We must allow a newer deeper, real-er muse to lead us to a world that we want desperately to inhabit.  A world with magic, with spirit, with emotion, with enchantment. So, muse, sing me and my daughter and my wife a new song.  A song that will weave a new spell, a good spell, a spell we can test and not find wanting - for now and perhaps for always. 9:46:07 AM

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