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The new CNN.com, or, A Lovechild of Blog & Wiki

Sunday, October 25, 2009

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CNN recently redesigned their site, and I have to say it makes me a little sad. Usually these big corporations have the money to put in to serious design, and news agencies especially are looked to as sources of innovation, since their bread and butter is typography and layout. CNN’s new design, on the other hand, looks like a customized (maybe even ’slightly customized’) WordPress theme.

Three-column home page, two-column sub-pages. I know that blogs have become albeit sometimes questionable sources of information that have seeped into the world of journalism, but that the blog “design vernacular” has made it’s way to the forefront of one of the internet’s most popular websites is just, well… sad.

One upside: CNN’s taken a cue from the wiki-world and now has keywords linked to “topics” (used much like blog categories) in their articles, which can be handy if you’re interested in more recent stories on a particular topic. I’ll wait for the next round of design and hope for some innovation next time.

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Why last.fm is better than Pandora

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Now before you start sending angry emails, don’t get me wrong. I love Pandora. I’ve been using it since the beginning, and have rode along through all it’s trials and tribulations. A music genome project? Awesome! There was a time when my hard drive with all my music on it was out of commission, and with my stations on Pandora, it felt like I was listening to my own library, almost creepily at times!

LRHB at Last.fm

But I’ve also been using something else for a long time. It used to be called iScrobbler, and what drew me to it was that it would keep track of what I listened to in iTunes, allow me to check my own personal charts, and then recommend things to me based on my musical preferences. Somewhere along the way, that idea developed into what we have today as Last.fm.

Here’s what I’ve been listening to lately.

The charts are still there, but the site has expanded incredibly to not only let you know when bands you like are coming to town, but to let you know what’s new, what you’re likely to like, and, my favorite, what your friends are listening to. For the last 3 days I’ve been listening to my friends’ “stations” and it’s been awesome. With the desktop app, you simply double-click your friend’s name, and it starts to stream music from their charts. You can also listen to music from what they call “neighbors”, people who have tastes similar to yours, as well as a “recommendations” stream which has already introduced me to some music I never would have found otherwise.

Pandora is great, and it definitely still has its place, but if I were trapped on a desert island with a laptop, internet, and solar power, last.fm would be my iTunes replacement of choice.

Check out last.fm here.

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LA Public Library retools backend. What were they thinking?

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I logged in this morning to check some holds I’d requested on my library account, and I noticed they’d made some improvements. Emphasis on the word “some”. The website for the Los Angeles Public Library isn’t bad, it’s got a nice, welcoming, library-esque feel to it as seen here:

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Not horrible. The bit you get to once you sign in always irked me. The functionality was odd, but workable. Why then would they make the back-end look like THIS:

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Seriously? Some of the additions include linking to Amazon reviews of books, being able to more easily see what branches have a copy of the book you’re interested in, and more cover images of the collection. They’re in dire need of some formatting, and clicking on a Library Branch under Holding Information gives you a screen with nothing but a map of the library. Hmm…

It looks as if the services provided to the LA Public Library come from The Library Corporation which, according to their website, do provide services that aren’t butt ugly, which begs the questions:

1) Is it ok to provide a steamy pile of design poop to a client who doesn’t have the money to pay for something “better”?

2) Is this re-tooling simply unfinished?

If you have any more info on the redesign please leave it in the comments… I’ll be keeping an eye on this, since I use the service all the time, and I’ll report back if any new developments occur!

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Etsy Finds: Roll & Tumble Press

Thursday, August 6, 2009

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There’s plenty of printed work to be found on Etsy these days, but Roll & Tumble Press stands out for their sense of color and type. Everything is hand illustrated, carved, set, inked and printed. Check out their many fantastic posters here.

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Dealing with Duplicates: iPhone & Gmail Contacts

Saturday, August 1, 2009

I’m working on migrating away from MobileMe, which I used for it’s big feature, keeping everything in sync wirelessly. My web host allows me to set up my own WebDAV, which replaces iDisk nicely, but synching contacts and calendar was still an issue.

Thanks to changes in Leopard’s Address Book app, you can now choose to sync up Gmail and Yahoo! contacts, which then makes it very simple to sync up your iPhone through iTunes. That works great for synching via the USB cable, but what about wirelessly?

Enter Google Sync! Google allows you many ways to sync up your BlackBerry, Windows Mobile device, and of course, your iPhone. Instructions on setup are here, but the jist of it is that you’ll set up a Microsoft Exchange account on the phone using Google server info. It’s that easy, and it works great.

Well, almost great… one issue I ran into was that the way my phone was set up, I ended up with duplicates of all my contacts, which I’d seen a million times before in other people’s synching issues. I worked with the settings for a bit and found a quick fix.

In Address Book, set up a new Group titled Blank, and leave it empty. Then in iTunes, with your iPhone connected, under the Info tab you can choose to sync only the Blank group, and still choose to sync your Google contacts. This way your iPhone syncs wirelessly with Gmail, and your Address Book syncs with Gmail, and then the two synch with one another! Not too shabby…

Hope this helps someone out there, because I know how frustrating some of these issues can be. Good luck!

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Music I Like: Agent Ribbons

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I’ve had a MySpace account for a while. A good, long while. In all of those years, I have never once been solicited by a band or musician I actually liked. But alas, after all that time, a miracle has indeed occurred! Ladies & gentlemen, I preset to you Sacramento’s own Agent Ribbons (minus the newest addition, violinist/cellist Naomi):

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Actually, I should say two miracles. Not only are they good, but they’re also from Sacramento to boot! It’s like they say, the strongest of trees grow on the harshest of mountain tops. The lead singer Natalie’s vocals, while a little Cat Power-y at times, take us on a delightful journey of the ears, sounding like she’d be a good fit in some Eastern European burlesque troupe. Their music has sprinkles of punk, jazz, and folk, and would be a good fit on the playlist of those who have a taste for Gogol Bordello, Mirah, and The Decemberists.

Sample a song off their 2006 LP “On Time Travel and Romance”:

Agent Ribbons – Obituary

If you like what you hear, chances are they’re coming to a city near you! Check out their tour dates on their Myspace page, or give a listen to the other songs on their playlist.

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SweetFM, LastFM’s stylish, Open Source cousin

Friday, July 17, 2009

Chocomoko's SweetFM

Software makers Chocomoko has pushed their stylish LastFM companion app SweetFM into open source waters, and you can find the free download here on Google Code.

LastFM allows you to keep track of what you listen to in iTunes online, adding a social aspect to your musical tastes. Once logged in, you can see your own top artists, songs, and albums over different time periods, and find other music like it via recommendations, friends, or “neighbors”. SweetFM provides a desktop interface to all this magic, allowing you to stream music and save the songs you like to iTunes in listenable, but albeit 128kbps quality. Perfect for tucking away those tracks you’d like to buy later through iTunes!

Between this an Pandora, I’ve found tons of music I never would have otherwise. What I like best about LastFM is it’s large international community, so you can stumble across some kid in the Ukraine’s favorite local gypsy punk band, classic chanson from France, or indie music from Philly. If you like music but find yourself without the time to go hunting for the good stuff, LastFM + SweetFM is a good combo.

You can sign up for LastFM here, and download SweetFM here.

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