Shared posts
Byrne on bypassing waffling
David Byrne on his remote collaborations with Brian Eno:
The unwritten game rules in these remote collaborations seem to be to leave the other person’s stuff alone as much as you can. Work with what you’re given; don’t try to imagine it as something other than what it is. … The fact that half the musical decision-making has already been done bypasses a lot of waffling and worrying. I didn’t have to think about what to do and what direction to take musically — the train had already left the station and my job was to see where it wanted to go.
He goes on to ask:
Is writing ever NOT collaboration? Doesn’t one collaborate with oneself, in a sense? Don’t we access different aspects of ourselves, different characters and attitudes and then, when they’ve had their say, switch hats and take a more distanced and critical view — editing and structuring our other half’s outpourings? Isn’t the end product sort of the result of two sides collaborating?
I like this. Collaboration as the caretaking and guidance of two parts of a moving train.
Bike headlight displays speed
My friend Matt Richardson made a system for his bike that projects a spotlight with data onto the street. It's currently set up to display speed, but it can also be used to project other kinds of information (like turn-by-turn directions). He's going to write about it for MAKE so you can build one, too.
Standalone HBO Go Inching Closer To Reality
Millions of people love HBO Go. Unfortunately, lots of these people don’t want to pay for cable and Internet access and HBO just to get the service. But now it looks like the network is dipping its toe into the standalone waters, trying to figure out if there is a way to offer HBO Go without poking a stick at the cable companies it depends on.
The big issue, as I pointed out back in June, is that while there may be a lot of people willing to shell out a monthly fee to just get HBO Go without having to pay the $100+/month for cable packages, HBO is still making a ton of money from its existing subscription customer base. Offering a standalone HBO GO could push many of them to ditch cable completely, meaning the Comcasts and Time Warner Cable of the worlds would see a drop in revenue.
Additionally, HBO would suddenly have to deal with all the billing and customer service that cable providers currently handle.
Now HBO CEO Richard Plepler says the company is now considering offering HBO Go as an add-on to Internet customers’ monthly packages. So, in theory at least, a customer could order Internet-only access from Comcast or Verizon FiOS and then tack on another $10 to $15 to get HBO Go through that same provider. This would keep the money flowing through the cable provider (since most of them are also the dominant broadband providers in their areas) and relieve HBO of having to deal with the cost and hassle of billing subscribers.
But don’t look for this to happen anytime soon.
“Right now we have the right model,” Plepler told Reuters. “Maybe HBO GO, with our broadband partners, could evolve.”
One huge stumbling block would still be the cord-cutting implications for a standalone HBO Go. While it might get some cord-cutters to pay more for Internet access, it will inevitably lead others to reduce or eliminate their cable package entirely. This could have a ripple effect that would harm HBO’s Time Warner Inc. siblings — CNN, HLN, TNT, TBS, among others — that rely on subscriber fees and ad revenue. More cord-cutting means fewer viewers, means fewer fees collected and lower ad rates.
“We would have to make the math work,” said Plepler.
Another issue would be DirecTV and Dish, both of which represent a large chunk of the paid-TV market, but neither of which offer a fixed broadband service of its own. So if a DirecTV customer drops HBO and pays his Internet provider a few bucks extra for HBO Go, there is no benefit whatsoever to DirecTV.
So while it seems inevitable that a standalone HBO Go will someday be made available, it’s going to take a lot of number-crunching and negotiating — plus definitive proof that there is a large enough audience to sustain the business — to make it a reality.
[via AVclub.com]
Oh Willy... On Elevision
Happy to see these two got together and I'm quite intrigued to see what Elevision brings to the table next.
“À tout à l’heure,” a brand new song by Bibio
Photo by Mads Perch
Ever since Ambivalence Avenue dropped four years ago, Stephen Wilkinson aka Bibio can safely be considered a TFIB fave. Blending atmospherics, Nick Drake esque guitar, dazzling intricate electronic sequences, and his prodigal, reverb drenched voice, few artists have such a defined aesthetic. Folktronic? Sure. Why not.
This is what makes the new track “À tout à l’heure” so perfectly magical. While his previous record Mind Bokeh felt constrained in its aural differences, it was apparent that Bibio made huge steps forward in songwriting. Working on the new release Silver Wilkinson, he remarked:
After working long and hard on an album, however, I crave change… like you might crave spring after winter. I love seasonal change, it affects me a lot. I like the idea of comparing albums to seasons – they stand alone yet are part of a bigger story. They complement each other. So this album, to an extent, started out with the desire for a new ‘season’, contrasting somewhat with the previous.
If the calendar is anything to go by, a new season indeed. “À tout à l’heure,” roughly translated into “a moment ago” or “see you soon,” moves from silky guitar arpeggios into a bouncy, uplifting rhythmic beat. The atmospherics slide in but this is undoubtedly an uplifting pop song, one for the season ahead.
Don’t you think dreams and the internet are similar? They are both areas where the repressed conscious mind vents
http://bibigreycat.blogspot.com/2012/12/voeux-2013-h-de-pilllpat-agence-eureka.html
I was six years old when my parents told me that there was a small, dark jewel inside my skull, learning to be me
VHX on the State of Media Distribution
“The State of Distribution” is a short animation that looks at the current state of media distribution and the potential role the Internet could play in the near future. The animation was produced by online media distributor VHX and animated by Erica Gorochow.
submitted via Laughing Squid Tips
Kinder Surprise Egg Marriage Proposal
Whenever the conversation turns to marriage proposals, I have to share the story of my friends Lori and Matthew which entails a Kinder Surprise Egg. Matthew painstakingly took apart the chocolate egg and replaced the toy inside with a small robot figure and illustrated instructions on how to assemble him into a tiny MatthewBot on bended knee. Also inside was the ring! He then reassembled and rewrapped the egg to look virtually untouched. Fabulous, right?
Over the last few months, I had the pleasure of collaborating...
Over the last few months, I had the pleasure of collaborating with my friends at VHX on this video. It provides context for the company’s mission: a glimpse into how film has changed and how distribution should change with it. The truth is, the future of the film business merits more than one minute and 45 seconds. Two talks worth listening to are by Jamie Wilkson, a co-founder of VHX, as well as Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, who made Indie Game the Movie. (An awesome movie, btw).
I loved working on this video because I believe in its purpose. Whenever a job requires me to think and write and ask, “Why are we making this?” and “What is our actual goal?” — I relish the opportunity. The challenge here was definitely how to boil it all down, to voice the most tangible and urgent aspects of film distribution today.
I hope this video stirs you to think that self-distribution might be viable — either as a filmmaker or a consumer. I think self-distribution can work. For me, it taps into the same ethos that makes kickstarter tick. As pirating persists and it has become cheaper to deliver movies to my home (1010101 vs. DVDs), I want to think of spending money as a way to reward and sustain the work I enjoy.
I don’t think everyone will choose to solely self-distribute in the future. I love netflix, will always be surrounded by pirating and will always go to the movies. Rather, self-distribution is an additional option. It has a shot at making “indie” more viable — for both an emerging filmmaker as well as someone more seasoned who seeks a no-strings-attached way of working. Just as there are box office flops, self-distribution won’t necessarily provide a golden key. It comes down to giving those who make more leverage: meaning filmmakers absorb more risk and a broader workload, but stand to gain larger returns.
To be an optimist — especially about technology — is an active choice. Craig Mod, a popular guy on the internet who talks about publishing, put it well:
I believe technological change is like a freight train of a certain unstoppable momentum and we have two broad choices:
> Stubbornly stand in front of the train and try to push it back or
> Accept the train and be a force laying railroad ties which place it on a nourishing course
I choose the second option as often as I can, without buying into too much hype or losing sight of what’s being sacrificed. If I believe anything, it’s that VHX is trying hard to genuinely embody that second option.
Thanks to Casey, Jamie, Kathleen, Adam, Chad, Michael, Steve and Kevin at VHX. They are an amazing group of people, who frankly, know their stuff. Big thanks also to the talented Ross Wariner and Cody Uhler who worked on the music (as Upright T-Rex), as well as Bryan Pugh who mixed the sound.
The blueprint for media coverage of mass killings
GorociaoCharlie Brooker is a genius
From a few years ago, Charlie Brooker's Newswipe takes on the media's reaction to mass killings, similar to what Roger Ebert was getting at.
(thx, daniel)
Tags: Charlie Brooker crime journalismSongs For Paris
Gorociaolove this.
WBYK
Rolu 4 Ommu
GorociaoBeen loving this blog, as of late. Leans heavily towards certain minimal design trends... but hey, they are trends I like.
Great use of colour and draggable elements give this site for Rolu 4 Ommu a lighthearted, playful feel which nicely reflects the pieces themseles. Watch/listen out for the scampering dog!
View Rolu 4 Ommu on Hover States
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Daniel Frost
GorociaoFirst Share!!