May 10th, 2009
My tweets this week
- Thinking it’s time to cut down on a LOT of social networking that gives me NOTHING in return. I should have done this ages ago. #
- Thinking it’ll be strange to watch “Efterlyst” tonight, a national TV-show, partly about a former class-mate who is shot dead. #
- Listening to The Courteeners’ “Cavorting” on the way home. The sky’s ill foreboding but I care not! Picture: http://bkite.com/07cmL #
- One film that I’d love to see turned into reality; Gondry, Clowes, Chappelle: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412978 #
- Cat with glitter necklace, a chew-toy for somebody’s dog. Blah! Picture: http://bkite.com/07c5J #
- Thinking about watching “Blue Spring” again. It’s such a great film. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309291 #
- I’m apparently shit at dice, too! “Nobody ever gets yahtzee, anyway.” WHUT! Picture: http://bkite.com/07b3c #
- Life ain’t nuthin but…losing like hell in cards! Picture: http://bkite.com/07aXu #
- Laughing at “Svengali”; check 05:36 where Carl Barât’s being hassled re. reuniting with Pete Doherty: http://bit.ly/1FPwG – hygiene away! #
- Weather’s cold in Stockholm, but the scents from these trees are wonderful. Picture: http://bkite.com/07abR #
- The kitties seem to get along just fine while I’m paying Will Shaff for Mia’s brilliant papercut! Picture: http://bkite.com/078TV #
- Wishing there would be some way to avoid ass-cracks and fans of Metallica on the subway. Both? Impossible! #
- I now know why everything I touch with my right hand partly feels like it’s been dipped in flour: I’ve burned my right index fingertip. #
- Working: reinstalling computers, reading up on Windows 7 and talking to users. I’m also hungry and won’t see Eddie Izzard live in December. #
May 11th, 2009 at 09:27
OT – really surprised to see your blog hasn't weighed in on the changes to last.fm??
May 12th, 2009 at 06:26
Hm. Any real changes I should be aware of?
May 16th, 2009 at 19:52
i was referring to the loss of free radio by any country outside the us, uk and germany. http://blog.last.fm/2009/04/22/radio-subscriptions
i think it brings up some interesting dilemmas. from a commercial standpoint, i have no problem financially supporting services i use and enjoy. but this is the first time i’ve seen a web service offered free to select countries while the rest of the world pays?
i found a lot of excellent music through the last.fm radio – swedish post-punk, russian surf rock, spanish yéyé… will this prevent new swedish, russian, spanish listeners from joining, and old users from scrobbling local music i’ve never heard? a lot of users have already deleted their accounts, or threatened to at least.
will this skew the radio even more toward the us, uk and germany? granted, i don’t listen to much music from germany, but canada is already overwhelmed by american and british culture. canadian law requires at least 35% canadian content on the radio, otherwise canadian artists would have no market.
as someone who willingly gave last.fm data for years, how do you feel about them now selling it back to you?
May 18th, 2009 at 10:05
Oh, that’s really drab. I seldom listen to radio myself, but I gather that international radio often suffers this dilemma; I remember how Pandora got shut down for every user outside the USA, and since Hulu started blocking proxied solutions, it’s even drab-er. I know, last.fm, Hulu, Spotify and their likes really want people to be able to use their services, but I think the main problem lies in now-ancient licensing issues. Pap.
I strongly dislike last.fm selling me my own data, and I also dislike cultural quotas being enforced by law, as I think there can be other, more intellectual ways of letting local content reach people; censorship has never been my bag.
Are you cancelling your last.fm-account?