OK, it took a few tries, but I think I've got this subscription concept whooped.
Click here to join a Group that is established solely for the purpose of notifying readers of new blog entries. I will also be adding this link to the links on the right of the blog.
http://groups.google.com/group/Somewhere-Between-the-Bosque-Brazos-Subscribers
Friday, December 30, 2005
Coming Soon: Rudimentary Subscription Service
Soon, you may be able to subscribe to this blog. I'm testing a scheme that might work now.
If it does work, you should be able to email me a request to add you and as soon as I get the message, I will add you to the distribution list. It's not going to be automatic, but should work for those of us who remember punch cards and real floppy discs.
If it does work, you should be able to email me a request to add you and as soon as I get the message, I will add you to the distribution list. It's not going to be automatic, but should work for those of us who remember punch cards and real floppy discs.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Think everlasting box set in a digital music world
When I have to fly on an airplane for longer than an hour, I always want something to read. Takes my mind off the underlying anxiety of flying and opens my mind to some new ideas.
I have a specific list of things I like to read: the in-flight magazine, Wired magazine, and Fast Company magazine.
Wired and Fast Company are not magazines to which I subscribe. [aside: I tried subscribing to Wired once and used their on-line subscription tool. It didn't work, which is just damned ironic if you ask me.] Rather, Wired and Fast Company are two of my out-of-the-box mags. I read them because they tend to have a good variety of stories on topics I don't typically read a lot about, but which I probably would if I were a more voracious reader: technology and business management.
Apart from being disappointed by its embarrassing failure to seize the power of the technology it espouses, Wired almost always delivers content that I find to be future-looking and engaging.
Fast Company tends to have a lot of stories on innovative approaches to business leadership tha I find interesting. A story in the latest issue helped me discover the true topic of today's post: Pandora. Now this is cool.
Perhaps you've come across on-line music channels that customize the music for you, such as on Yahoo, where they recommend music based on some initial selections you make, but then primarily populated using the formula of 'people who listen to [this song or artist] also bought or listened to [this song or artist].' Amazon has made recommendations for book buyers in much the same manner.
I actually have enjoyed the My Station feature on Yahoo Messenger. I do tend to think it gets a little repetitive at times because while the songs may be different, the same artists appear over and over. But overall, it's not too shabby.
Pandora is another beast altogether. Rather than using guilt by association to recommend music, Pandora goes a little more analytic on the music's ass. It actually analyzes the song musically and compares it to other music you say you like to find music with similar traits.
I tested it and it seems to work fairly well. Not perfect, but I noticed it tended to be a little more transendental in selecting music than the other types of services: meaning that Pandora would recommend something I've never heard of much more frequently than the other 'associative' methods. In other words, it helps me find new music a little more than the other method.
It does require an open mind and ears to listen to the unfamiliar recommendations, rather than skipping ahead because it's not something I recognize. As a human, I think that's a natural reaction to look for familiarity. But that don't populate the CD collection, ya know?
Give Pandora a try. It does only allow a certain number of songs to be recommended before they ask that you register (which is free). They also only allow skipping a set number of songs each hour. They have a paid status which helps avoid advertisements. But I don't mind ads. I actually listened to them on Yahoo Messenger every three or four songs. The only thing that bugged me there was that they were the same 2 or 3 ads over and over and over.
I recommended Pandora to a friend of mine who is a big music fan. He gave it an initial thumbs up, having entered Rush and gotten music he thought complemented that well. See what the box brings you and let me know how it goes.
I have a specific list of things I like to read: the in-flight magazine, Wired magazine, and Fast Company magazine.
Wired and Fast Company are not magazines to which I subscribe. [aside: I tried subscribing to Wired once and used their on-line subscription tool. It didn't work, which is just damned ironic if you ask me.] Rather, Wired and Fast Company are two of my out-of-the-box mags. I read them because they tend to have a good variety of stories on topics I don't typically read a lot about, but which I probably would if I were a more voracious reader: technology and business management.
Apart from being disappointed by its embarrassing failure to seize the power of the technology it espouses, Wired almost always delivers content that I find to be future-looking and engaging.
Fast Company tends to have a lot of stories on innovative approaches to business leadership tha I find interesting. A story in the latest issue helped me discover the true topic of today's post: Pandora. Now this is cool.
Perhaps you've come across on-line music channels that customize the music for you, such as on Yahoo, where they recommend music based on some initial selections you make, but then primarily populated using the formula of 'people who listen to [this song or artist] also bought or listened to [this song or artist].' Amazon has made recommendations for book buyers in much the same manner.
I actually have enjoyed the My Station feature on Yahoo Messenger. I do tend to think it gets a little repetitive at times because while the songs may be different, the same artists appear over and over. But overall, it's not too shabby.
Pandora is another beast altogether. Rather than using guilt by association to recommend music, Pandora goes a little more analytic on the music's ass. It actually analyzes the song musically and compares it to other music you say you like to find music with similar traits.
I tested it and it seems to work fairly well. Not perfect, but I noticed it tended to be a little more transendental in selecting music than the other types of services: meaning that Pandora would recommend something I've never heard of much more frequently than the other 'associative' methods. In other words, it helps me find new music a little more than the other method.
It does require an open mind and ears to listen to the unfamiliar recommendations, rather than skipping ahead because it's not something I recognize. As a human, I think that's a natural reaction to look for familiarity. But that don't populate the CD collection, ya know?
Give Pandora a try. It does only allow a certain number of songs to be recommended before they ask that you register (which is free). They also only allow skipping a set number of songs each hour. They have a paid status which helps avoid advertisements. But I don't mind ads. I actually listened to them on Yahoo Messenger every three or four songs. The only thing that bugged me there was that they were the same 2 or 3 ads over and over and over.
I recommended Pandora to a friend of mine who is a big music fan. He gave it an initial thumbs up, having entered Rush and gotten music he thought complemented that well. See what the box brings you and let me know how it goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)