Koda

This seems like deja vu.

It’s spring break, so theoretically I should be blasting through all of those wonderful things I put off until the end of the semester. Clean the room, send the emails, get out more. You know. Yet paradoxically, it seems that when I have more free time I get less free time things done. This happened before over the winter break. I suppose that when I shouldn’t be doing them, I pace myself better…

That is not to say that I’m not getting some interesting things done in the mean time. I’ve be You might notice some incremental aesthetic changes here and there. I’m busy tweaking! Also, I’ve got a Calculus II final coming up tomorrow, so there’s (supposedly) been some studying towards that. Wish me luck!

Lately, I’ve become rather hopelessly addicted to Last.fm and it’s internet radio service. It’s such a pleasure to see a service that give some serious attention to it’s Linux client, and does it in a very open-sourcy way. Unfortunately, my Internet connection can barely keep it up, but that doesn’t stop me from using it. I used to be a LAUNCHcast listener, but the bloat, annoyance of their service (audio ads!), and eventually a lack of interest drove me away. There’s one really way to keep listeners, and Last.fm got it: community.

Their site is what I would call an exemplary example of good web (and community) design. They do some really neat things with javascript and subtle flash. I flirted with posting one of their auto-generated profile images of my listening statistics over on the sidebar, but I don’t think they really belong there. It’s really great to see a legal music service that actually seems to have some life in it. The tag station system is also fantastic - now I can say I’ve truly experienced christian, german, and japanese hip-hop, and some other frighteningly funny subgenres of music.

My home though has been their “Piano Rock” station, which I was surprised to find myself enjoying a lot. Their service has been so effective that it’s motivated me to purchase some new CDs, which is something I haven’t done for quite some time. I wish the music industry would catch on that this is the way to go. The thing is, without cultivating a market for discovering music on the Internet, there will be no motivation from customers such as myself to have an interest in the media. I won’t be ripped off on DRM-infested downloads, and will buy the real thing if it’s worth it - but without knowing what I like, there is no “worth it.” Now all I have to do is wait for my Amazon order to arrive…

deviantART seems to be going in some funky directions in the mean time. I’m not sure whether to love them or hate them at this point… honestly it’s all been kind of funky since the two co-founders have gone. At this point, I feel I’m there for the fantastic people I’ve met and the free hosting - not much appreciation for the company or staff itself. This is kind of sad, as around this time last year things were quite different. There seems to be a real difference between the attitudes of the corporate/administor staff and the community/artist staff members - and I can’t say I like it. The fact that they always have to overcompensate for their changes is enough of a red flag. I’m also not sure I like the idea of their allusion to “professional portfolio” services… seems to me this will have to take away some of that kooky egalitarian atmosphere I’ve always loved.

In other news, the Orange project is nearing it’s March 24th movie premiere. If you have not heard of it, the Orange project goal is a professional quality open Blender movie. And they did it! They’ll be premiering it in Amsterdam in just a few short days. How exciting! Definitely a site to watch over the next few days.

Well, I told myself I’d sit down and write a 15 minute post, but this has become a bit of a long one. Ah well. It’s time to do a little more studying and sleep. I hope this has been at least a little bit interesting.