San Francisco Music - All Shook Down

In the Game of Foursquare, S.F. Wins

By Alexia Tsotsis in Tech, internets

Monday, Nov. 16 2009 @ 6:39PM

Since we've moved up to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, we've noticed a strange phenomenon. Our new friends have an easier time finding each other and the places they've decided to congregate.

Suspecting that perhaps this is because San Francisco checks in on the geo-locational social gaming App Foursquare more than any other city, SF Weekly contacted Foursquare founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai to get the scoop.

"SF is most active city right now, [with] London growing quickly," Crowley confirmed in an email. But lest New York (where Foursquare was founded) starts shaking in its high-heeled boots, Selvadurai added that "SF has more daytime check-ins, like at coffee shops," while NYC owns the night.

When a Techcrunch reporter dons a costume of your App, you know you're in a good place.

Those in doubt of the growing popularity of the platform and iPhone App might cite the fact that a number of people dressed as Foursquare for Halloween including Techcrunch uber-blogger MG Siegler. And MG was not alone. Selvadurai reports that someone had dressed as the Foursquare Girl in New York as well as the check in button (!?).

Well where exactly are we checking in? Below are the top ten Bay Area check-in locations, via Social Great.

1. San Francisco International Airport

2. Cento

3. Epicenter

4. Facebook HQ

5. Dolores Park

6. AMC Loews Metreon

7. Zeitgeist

8. AT & T Park

9. 21st Amendment

10. Digg HQ

While it looks like most people checking in at S.F. locations are either coming or going (hello SFO!), it seems as if the corporate headquarters of Facebook are taking the Digg offices to the mattresses in terms of user engagement. Needless to say SF Weekly HQ did not make the leaderboard.

Selvadurai explained the appeal to S.F. urbanites as such: "We all live in big cities we're pretty young but we all do the same thing over and over again." Describing checking in as "hacking into your city," Foursquare's plans for the future are ambitious: "the more we're seeing all this data, the more we will be able to pin-point exactly what you will need." When we remarked that we really need is a Douchebag badge for S.F. (New York has one, which you receive if you check into places like the Princeton Club), Selvadurai laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do."

Tags: Alexia Tsotsis, Dennis Crowley, Foursquare, MG Siegler, Naveen Selvadurai, Techcrunch

Robert Scoble, In Gif Format

By Alexia Tsotsis in Tech, internets

Wednesday, Oct. 28 2009 @ 5:24PM

We are at Jeff Pulver's 140 Characters Twitter conference in L.A., where Twitter user earthxplorer has turned noted Internet evangelist Robert Scoble (who moderated the "What's Next?" panel today) into a gif.

We don't know whether or not anyone has done this before, but in the grand tradition of "Operation Sticker Scoble", it's a concept whose time has come. Follow us on Twitter at @alexiatsotsis and @sfweekly.

Tags: Alexia Tsotsis, Robert Scoble, Twitter 140 conf

Raise Your Hand if You Didn't Do a Deal With Twitter This Week

By Alexia Tsotsis in Tech

Sunday, Oct. 25 2009 @ 2:51AM

Raise your hand if you didn't do a deal with Twitter at this week's Web 2.0 Summit at the Westin Hotel in downtown San Francisco.

With Microsoft Bing launching a Twitter search and Marissa Mayer from Google revealing that they too had a deal in the works, it was in partial jest that Federated Media CEO John Battelle asked mySpace CEO Owen Van Natta whether his company had also done a deal with the popular micro-blogging service.

As Battelle himself wrote in the Web 2.0 White paper, "The era of Web 2.0 [is] a race to acquire and control data assets."

Sources tell Sfweekly.com that Microsoft beat Google in the race to aggregate social data by a couple of hours. And picked up the big prize by pinning down both Facebook and Twitter for their search function. But the most interesting puzzle piece is that according to Facebook COO Cheryl Sandberg no money exchanged hands between Facebook and Microsoft perhaps due to a big investment from the latter, whereas both Microsoft and Google paid Twitter for the use of its API.

Twitter Founder Evan Williams yuks it up with Federated Media CEO John Battelle

This excerpt from the White paper might explain the content smile on Twitter founder Evan Williams' face during his talk, in which he basically showed who was sitting in the Web 2.0 catbird seat, despite the recent slow-down in the company's growth.

From the Web 2.0 White paper:

If a company has control over a unique source of data that is required for applications to function, they will be able to extract monopoly rents from the use of that data. In particular, if a database is generated by user contribution, market leaders will see increasing returns as the size and value of their database grows more quickly than that of any new entrants.

Truth be told, Senator Ted Stevens was correct in his estimation of the Internet as a series of tubes, or as Unix geeks are more likely to analogize, pipes of data. Twitter (for the moment) has the biggest pipe in the business, turning it into a fire hose of information, and the "earliest source for many people to learn about what just happened."

Perhaps the smartest guy in the social networking room, Napster founder and Founder's Fund managing partner Sean Parker was more than correct in his estimation of the microblogging service's dominance.

He who controls the pipes ...

Tags: Cheryl Sandber, Evan Williams, Facebook, John Battelle, Marissa Mayer, Microsoft, Twitter, Web 2.0

What Do Teens Want? Their Moms Off Facebook

By Alexia Tsotsis in Tech, internets

Thursday, Oct. 22 2009 @ 4:31PM

With ages ranges ranging from 13 to 22, the "What Do Teens Want Panel?" at this week's Web 2.0 Summit was a sample of teen consumer behavior and a possible harbringer of what the web will look like when post-millennials come of age. With questions like "How important is email?" (Answer "If it's a Yahoo! address it's over" and "Hot girls use Hotmail.") the panel was an IRL version of the onslaught of media articles sensationalizing the fact that teens don't use Twitter.

Photo via Geekologie

Moderator Safa Rashtchy played a word association game with the panelists, mentioning the names of companies and asking for a response, to the delight of every marketer in the audience.

Microsoft : Xbox. Windows.
Google: Yahoo? Internet.

AOL: Chat.

Yahoo: Google. To which Rashtchy responded, "You guys are weird."

Twitter: Boring.

mySpace: Outdated.

Wall Street: Journal.

Second Life: Game? (None of the panelists knew what it was.) Reincarnation.

Apple: Donut.

Windows: Would be a great prison guard, because it always locks up.

iPhone: Takes too long to load. No picture messaging.

Continue reading " What Do Teens Want? Their"...

Tags: Alexia Tsotsis, Audrey Michels, Facebook, Microsoft, Tokbox, Twitter, Web 2.0 Summit

CitySourced: Changing the World, One Pothole at a Time

By John Boitnott in Tech, internets

Monday, Oct. 19 2009 @ 6:16PM

Blogword Expo in Las Vegas highlights some of the latest trends in online culture, at the forefront of which is Gov 2.0. I didn't even know there was a Gov 2.0 until I met David Kralik, who heads an emerging Bay Area-based company called CitySourced.com. The idea behind the company, to put it simply is, if you see a pothole on your street, take a picture of it, tweet it, and it is sent to the appropriate city department, which then fills the pothole. All of this is possible with the help of a smart phone, and adown-loadable application. According to Kralik, CitySourced is really an effort to get ordinary citizens more involved in their city, and hopefully, improve their community.

The company didn't just do well at the recent TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. It finished third in voting out of all the companies there. The conference has essentially become a place where angel investors look for the next big thing and they may have found one in CitySourced. The company, which didn't even exist six weeks before the conference, now has a contract with the City of San Jose and it's iPhone application is used by people in 1900 cities nationwide.

At first you wouldn't think Kralik, who speaks passionately with his arms flaring out into various directions, would ever be involved with anything "new media." He worked with Newt Gingrich on Capitol Hill for years, and identifies himself as a conservative. Digg a little deeper, and you find that he actually also worked at a tech start-up of sorts called American Solutions, founded by the former House Speaker, with one of its main offices on the Peninsula. Essentially, Kralik worked as an internet scout, scouring the Bay Area and California for emerging trends and methods to build online community for conservative causes.

That led him to a Google conference in Southern California where he and a partner began thinking about potholes. Potholes and iPhone apps. Kralik left American Solutions and Gingrich behind, and set about changing government.

Continue reading " CitySourced: Changing the World, One"...

So You're Leaving San Francisco

By Nick Douglas in Tech, internets

Friday, Oct. 16 2009 @ 3:48PM

Image via 2composers

Writing about a major city with any kind of authority is tough. However long you've lived there, someone's lived there longer than you, though in all that time they haven't learned to properly spell "go home ignorant jerk-wad" in a comment thread. Luckily for me, this post is directed at people leaving San Francisco, who usually have lived here just long enough to not catch the 22 outbound.

So if you like San Francisco, or even if you don't but you're still planning on staying, this article is not for you. Also, if you're the type who sends angry emails to writers, or basically if you're going to judge this article based on the facts I present and give me anything but fawning encouragement, you should just close this window. Well, first you should refresh the page and maybe click an ad, then you should close the window.

If you're thinking of leaving the city, maybe it's because you've read "So You're Moving To San Francisco," the controversial article by Alex Payne, a developer at Twitter, and you're tempted by his argument: That the cultural advantages of San Francisco don't outweigh its inherent filthiness, the lack of stuff to do, and the fact that you have to wait in line for the little good stuff there is.

These are kind of fair accusations! But I want to ask you: Have you really explored all of the city, and have you sucked the marrow from its bones? And then have you thrown those bones into the compost even though you're privately unsure if bones count as compost or normal trash?

Continue reading " So You're Leaving San Francisco"...

Tags: alex payne, nick douglas, Orphan Andy's, San Francisco

Got the Wrong Bob? (Hopefully) Not Anymore.

By Aubrey Sabala in Tech, internets

Wednesday, Oct. 14 2009 @ 2:17PM

Imagine the following scenario: You're emailing your closest friends about a night on the town, but purposefully exclude your ex-boyfriend Jon after he recently dumped you for that trashy 21-year old dancer at the Gold Club. (Hypothetically, of course.) You're including a big group, and in your haste, you unintentionally include your ex instead of your brother Jon, making things a bit uncomfortable when he reads the snarky line you included about moving on to "better...and BIGGER." AWKWARD. Well, Gmail is trying to help prevent you from this latest bout of societal mortification with their latest Gmail labs feature, "Got the wrong Bob?"

Catchy name aside, this feature is not only helpful, but smart. Here's how it works: Gmail has begun detecting (and likely saving) your emailing patterns when you email multiple people. For instance, if you're usually emailing Kevin Smith with Ryan and Joe, it recognizes this, so if you inadvertently include Kevin JONES with your note to Ryan and Joe, it will attempt to alert you before the email is sent. Note that this only works when you're emailing a group, and only through the actual Gmail interface (not through IMAP or POP settings if you direct your Gmail to a local client). While not perfect, it certainly can help prevent you from some uncomfortable - and if used in the workplace - possibly terminal, situations.

Continue reading " Got the Wrong Bob? (Hopefully)"...

Tags: Aubrey Sabala, bob, gmail, got the wrong bob

Sonos Makes It Even Easier to Sing in the Shower

By Aubrey Sabala in Tech

Tuesday, Oct. 13 2009 @ 10:58AM

San Franciscans love their gadgets. In fact, recent Forbes articlenamed San Francisco the US city with the most tech-savvy residents. When you take into account the city's obsession with live music, it's no wonder that many of these gadgets enable you to rock out from the comfort of your own home. Today's new product launch by Sonos made it even easier to do so, and affordably, to boot.

Sonos strives to make music easily accessible from any room in your house. They offer a suite of products - called ZonePlayers - that allow you to stream your music either from a computer or directly from the Internet. The coolest part is that you can have different music in each room (or Zone), or merge two or more to create a synchronized listening environment. This especially comes in handy when entertaining as people migrate from one room to the next. And they make it easy to control this experience from either their Sonos remote, or most recently, through their free iPhone app.

Continue reading " Sonos Makes It Even Easier"...

Tags: Aubrey Sabala, Bose, shower, singing, Sonos

Drew Carey's Price is Right...at $1 Million

By Aubrey Sabala in Tech, internets

Wednesday, Oct. 7 2009 @ 12:06PM

What's a Twitter name worth? For Drew Carey, possibly one million dollars. Sound ludicrous? Read on.

In an exclusive interview yesterday with CBS' Shira Lazar, Carey pledged to donate $1 million to LiveStrong if his Twitter account - currently @drewfromtv - gets one million followers by the end of the year. In fact, he's even willing to pro-rate this; he'll give $500,000 if he hits 500,000 followers, and so on. Watch the video below to hear his thoughts:
Watch CBS News Videos Online

Carey's involvement was prompted by Drew Olanoff's challenge to sell off his @drew Twitter account as a way to raise money for LiveStrong. Olanoff, recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, has gained fame in the Twitter community after launching BlameDrewsCancer.com, where users can blame anything from losing their keys to bad weather on his cancer. Users simply add the hashtag #BlameDrewsCancer to have their tweets show up on the site, and sponsors have pledged to donate funds per tweet. This last fundraising effort is just an extension of the same project.

So far, Carey's plan is working. He is well on his way to meet his original offer - $100,000 if he reaches 100,000 followers - as he's already surpassed 50,000 followers, adding over 10,000 just yesterday. And with this latest goal, we'd be surprised if his bank account is quite a bit lighter in 2010...to the tune of a million well-spent charitable dollars.

Tags: Aubrey Sabala, CBS, Drew Carey, Shira Lazar, Twitter

Legacy Locker: Death Goes Digital

By Aubrey Sabala in New Media, Tech, internets

Monday, Oct. 5 2009 @ 4:54PM

(Credit: eShopAfrica.com)

Death goes mobile.

We spend a lot of time protecting our online identity; namely, making sure our passwords are secure so nobody can hack our accounts. (Hey you, maybe it's time to chuck that Post-it with all of your passwords written on it. You'll thank us later.) But what happens when you actually NEED to let others have access to your accounts? Namely, what happens to your online identity and assets when you log off for the final time? A San Francisco-based business, LegacyLocker.com, is helping you tackle this most morbid - yet important - of subjects. When we make a will, we ensure that our physical assets are accounted for. Houses, cars, bank accounts, offspring. Tangible parts of our lives that will need tending to when we're no longer around to do it ourselves. But with much of our life now happening online, many people are overlooking a huge part of their assets: their digital ones.

Legacy Locker aims to make this easy, by transferring your login credentials to your named beneficiaries in the event of your death. You can choose who would receive access to each account; perhaps you send your spouse your eBay information but your work passwords to your colleague. And it's not only online services; you can also keep encrypted versions of important documents - such as stock certificates, the deed to your house, contracts, and even a "Legacy Letter" or video to your loved ones - safeguarded to be sent to your beneficiaries posthumously. Because you always have access to this information, this service doubles as an easy way to keep a safe copy of your personal artifacts, such as your ID or credit cards, for quick access should they get lost or stolen. For those of us prone to 'misplacing' our wallets, this feature is worth the $30/year (or $300 for a lifetime account) price tag alone.

Continue reading " Legacy Locker: Death Goes Digital"...

Tags: Aubrey Sabala, Death, Jeremy Toeman, Legacy Locker

Over the Weekend: Are We Ready for Valley-wood?

By Maya Baratz in Over the Weekend, Tech, internets

Sunday, Oct. 4 2009 @ 11:45PM

This past weekend, San Francisco was a playing ground for several of its annual shenanigans (between Oktoberfest and LovEvolution fest we didn't have a second free) . But there was a more subtle love fest which you likely missed - one that didn't involve people donning butterfly wings or banana costumes. Well, sort of.

SFWeekly's Maya Baratz, Current's Melody McCluskey, CNET's Caroline McCarthy, Facebook's Randi Zuckerberg at GAFFTA
You see, among other things, San Francisco is quickly emerging into a breeding ground for an odd little romance between technology and commercial art. Perhaps it's the growing saturation of startup-driven tech in our everyday lives (read: Facebook , Twitter, Foursquare , etc.) that's lead to a blurring of industry lines. Whatever the reason, last Thursday night's launches of the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts (GAFFTA) and Justin Timberlake-backed, SF-based startup Robo.to illustrated yet more instances of these two worlds getting it on.

Continue reading " Over the Weekend: Are We"...

Tags: Caroline McCarthy, GAAFTA, LovEvolution, Maya Baratz, Melody McCluskey, Randi Zuckerberg, Robo.to

Flux Summit Brings Together Electronic Music Industry Pros

By Eric Arnold in Music, New Media, Tech

Wednesday, Sep. 30 2009 @ 11:44AM

Tomorrow's Flux Summit promises to be a watershed event for SF's electronic music scene. Held at Pyramind Studios, it's an industry mixer, panel discussion, and music review session all rolled into one. The inaugural event in what could be an annual happening, the Flux Summit will address a hot topic: "21st Century PR for Independent Labels and Artists," moderated by Tomas Palermo, Managing Editor of WireTap magazine and KUSF DJ. According to the press release, "The discussion will cover effective marketing and promotion campaigns, online tools, how to engage media outlets, what methods are relevant these days, and what a decent campaign should cost. The discussion will also touch on digital promo servicing, web presence, social networks as well as the differences between doing PR independently and using professional services." The Flux Summit also includes a music review session run by TestPress and software demos by PreSonus . Best of all, the Flux Summit is free to attend, though an RSVP is required. Click here to register.

Tags: electronic music, Flux Summit, Tomas Palermo

The Lovemakers' Big Score

By Eric Arnold in Music, New Media, Tech

Wednesday, Sep. 16 2009 @ 10:49AM

Who's Makin' Love?: The Lovemakers

Oakland indie-pop darlings and double-entendre addicts The Lovemakers hit the jackpot when their new single "Love is Dead" registered more than 400,000 digital downloads on iTunes -- in just one week. With numbers like that, who needs brick-and-mortar retailers, major-label infrastructure, or commercial radio? The new Lovemakers album, Let's Be Friends, was released in physical form yesterday (September 15). Listen to the entire CD online here .

Tags: Let's Be Friends, Love is Dead, The Lovemakers

Stripmall Architecture Plays Café Du Nord Thursday

By Eric Arnold in Clubs, Music, Tech

Wednesday, Aug. 19 2009 @ 11:09AM

Hey shoegazers! Yeah, you. Up here. That's it. Do you have a hankering for trance-inducing, dreamy indietronica? Does the mention of a band somewhere in-between Sigur Ros and the Cocteau Twins make those little hairs on the back of your neck tingle? If so, you owe it to yourself to check for Stripmall Architecture's show at the Café Du Nord on Thursday. Rising from the ashes of defunct San Rafael outfit Halou, Stripmall Architecture has emerged to give you your musical opiate fix--no syringes or spoons needed. You've got to love any band whose description of their music on their MySpace page reads "Birds. Angry, angry birds," or for that matter, any band with a song titled "And Then Crazy Kills the Fun." The SA album won't be out for another month, but you can catch a preview here. And if you're a fan of the band's last incarnation, don't despair: Stripmall Architecture will be playing some Halou stuff at DuNord, along with newer material.

Tags: Cocteau Twins, Halou, Sigur Ros, Stripmall Architecture

NoisePop Curates Cal Academy of Science's 'Nightlife'

By Eric Arnold in Clubs, Free Tickets, Music, Nerds, Tech

Monday, Aug. 17 2009 @ 7:00AM

Beryl Fine

DJ Swayzee

It's actually kinda cool that museums--normally a refuge for bratty kids on school trips, visiting tourists, and stodgy nerds--are making an attempt to be hip. If you haven't yet attended the Cal Academy of Science's 'Nightlife' event--in which the building "is transformed into a lively venue filled with music, provocative science, mingling, and cocktails, for visitors 21 and older"--this week (Thursday, Aug 20) might be a good bet. NoisePop curates, and they've lined up DJs Swayzee and Mr. Wrong, plus acoustic act Ryan Auffenberg. In addition, Science in Action Café will host "The Physics Circus," hosted by Zeke Kossover, which should provide an opportunity for would-be quantum mechanics to test their skills, relativistically-speaking. NoisePop is also giving away a pair of free tickets; (email here with the subject "NightLife" and your full name and phone number in the body of the email on or before 1pm on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 for your chance to win! Winners will be notified by email.)

Tags: Cal Academy of Science, DJ Mr. Wrong?, DJ Swayzee, Nightlife, NoisePop

5 Products Probably Not Launching at the Apple Keynote Event

By Kiala Kazebee in Tech, internets

Friday, Aug. 14 2009 @ 3:12PM

New iTablet?

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Less than a month until the (possible) Apple Keynote! What will we wear? Who will be speaking? Again, WHAT WILL WE WEAR?

Engadget and Mashable reported rumors yesterday of an early September Apple keynote event, causing mass hysteria (sort of) in the tech world over whether or not the mythical iTablet will be revealed and/or the mythical Steve Jobs will make an appearance. It sounds like the event is being held the week of September 7th and will precede Microsoft's rollout of the new Zune. Poor Bill Gates, foiled at every turn by the sexy Jobs and his Machiavellian machinations. Or, you know, his ability to use an iCalendar.

Anywho, other than the magical iTablet, shiny new iPods, and Le Jobs himself, we're wondering what else could possibly be planned for the rumored Apple gathering. And where there is wondering to be done, there is a make believe list to be made. Behold!

Continue reading " 5 Products Probably Not Launching"...

R.I.P. Les Paul (1915-2009)

By Eric Arnold in Music, Tech

Thursday, Aug. 13 2009 @ 11:08AM

The Legend: One of Gibson's signature Les Paul guitars

The Associated Press has reported that guitar innovator Les Paul died today at the age of 94, from pneumonia-related complications. Paul helped to popularize the electric guitar in the 1940s, and his use of multitracking, overdubbing, phasing, and effects processing was a key ingredient in the rock 'n' roll recipe. In 1952, Gibson guitars rolled out the first Les Paul signature model; Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page famously played a Les Paul, and the guitar became identified with rock in the classic sense. Other masters of rock identified with the Les Paul guitar included Slash, Richie Sambora, Steve Miller, and Peter Frampton. A true icon in every sense of the word, Paul's contributions to music as both a player and a technological advancer--he was often called "the wizard of Waukesha"--were numerous. It goes without saying that he will be missed. Click here for the official Les Paul website, and click here to hear excerpts from Paul's radio show with free MP3s.

Tags: Gibson guitars, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Les Paul, Richie Sambora, Steve Miller

Olivia Munn: A Follow Up Post

By Kiala Kazebee in Nerds, Tech, Television, The Twitter, internets

Wednesday, Aug. 12 2009 @ 2:41PM

Via Wikipedia Commons

Olivia Munn

UPDATE: I have been contacted by Kristina Levsky Senior Publicist for G4 who says Olivia Munn is NOT leaving AOTS. Rumor Quelled.

A rumor* has been circulating on the interwind that Olivia Munn (recently written about here) was leaving or had left G4's Attack of the Show. I have found no evidence to corroborate this piece of gossip despite an exhaustive, minute long search on the Googles. I even looked at Wikipedia. I CARE THAT MUCH.

Anyway, Munn was on vacation in Europe the past two weeks (according to her blog) and while she was in Italy buying tiny bikinis and jumping into Italian pies (heh) or whatever, Playboy Playmate of the Year '07 Sara Jean Underwood co-hosted the show along with Web Soup's Chris Hardwick aka the Nerdist aka Mr. Kiala Kazebee. This, along with the prior appearance of guest bikini wearing host Carissa Walford, may have been the source of the gossip although I'm not so sure as the rumors have been flying around the nerd blogs for the better part of this year.

I will NOT get into another discussion about the qualifications of these people-women hosting this particular show. Instead, I present to you a choice bit of information found during my scientific and super-professional research process - this tweet from Ms. Underwood...

Continue reading " Olivia Munn: A Follow Up"...

Energy 92 Sold to New Owners

By Eric Arnold in Music, Tech

Monday, Aug. 10 2009 @ 10:50AM

Yesterday, Chron radio columnist Ben Fong-Torres reported that Energy 92 (KNGY) has been sold. As far as I know, the station was the only major commercial station in this market to actively target gay and lesbian listeners with its programming. It was a bit of an anomaly in the world of commercial radio with a playlist based around electronic dance music and club hits rather than Top 40 songs. Though it played its share of songs by Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga,, Energy also broadcast underground material, remixes, and songs which didn't get much play on other stations. At this time, Fong-Torres reports, it's unknown whether the new owners will keep the same format or start over from scratch.

Continue reading " Energy 92 Sold to New"...

Tags: Citadel, Clear Channel, Cumulus, Energy 92, Jerry Del Colliano, Kevin Ross, LGBT, urban radio

10 Reasons Sightglass Coffee Has Not Returned My Emails

By Kiala Kazebee in New Media, Only in SF, Tech, The Twitter, internets

Friday, Aug. 7 2009 @ 4:23PM

Image Source: Juliale on Flickr

I have been trying to get someone from Sightglass Coffee (270 Seventh Street @ Folsom) to talk to me for well over a month now - to no avail. Who does a person have to touch inappropriately to get in contact with these guys?

Sightglass, according to Twitter, appears to be the darling of the SOMA/web 2.0 set - frequented by the likes of Kevin Rose, Jack Dorsey, and Alex Payne. My guess is the owners are friends of these internet superstars. They even have their own Flickr group (Sightglass be all cloud computing and s**t)! I haven't had a chance to get down to the space in person because I'm a tech blogger and I don't get out of my pajamas for less than 6,000,000 hits a day, but from the pics it looks great with marbled cement floors, shiny expensive machinery, and the requisite exposed brick of all 2.0 ventures. It appears to be everything a Twitter/Digg clientele would want in a schmancy coffee shop. Unfortunately, they must have placed some sort of Kiala Kazebee embargo on the place because, as I stated before, no one will get back to me. Therefore, in lieu of a proper interview, I've created a list of possible reasons the Sightglass people continue to shun me.

Continue reading " 10 Reasons Sightglass Coffee Has"...

10 Things To Do While Twitter Is Down: A Twitpocalypse Handbook

By Kiala Kazebee in Tech, The Twitter, internets

Thursday, Aug. 6 2009 @ 10:52AM

Image Source: Aidan Hughes

Twitter went down this morning and the world stopped. Apparently, the micro blogging site fell victim to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack possibly related to the DefCon Hackers Convention. Whatever the reason, not being able to tweet about our Splinter Cell cosplay dream was just horrible and we are not ashamed to say we began looting immediately. And hoarding. We have been reassured by our therapist* this is a perfectly normal reaction to such a traumatic event.

If Twitter ever goes down again (DEAR GOD NO), we would all benefit from a little Twitpocalypse Disaster Preparedness - if only to keep the looting and hoarding and burying of bodies in the backyard (oh like you people haven't done something out of the ordinary during a crisis) to a bare minimum. Therefore, we have compiled a list of stuff to do while you wait for the long national nightmare of Twitterless-ness to be over.

1. Panic. Get it out your system. Indulge yourself in a solid five minutes of shirt-rending, hair-tugging, sobbing, and shaking of fists at the sky.

2. Read a book. HA! Kidding. We don't even know what a book is - is it like Facebook? If so, read that. Unless it's down too, in which case see number one.

3. Google "twitter is down" and comfort yourself in the knowledge that others are suffering the same plight. Clutch Mashable close to your bosom and whisper softly into it's ear, "Don't leave me, I feel so cold, so very cold."

Continue reading " 10 Things To Do While"...

LiveNation/Ticketmaster Merger Raises Congressional Concerns

By Eric Arnold in Clubs, Music, New Media, Tech

Tuesday, Jul. 28 2009 @ 10:35AM

Pissed Off: Bruce Springsteen

The proposed merger between concert venue conglomerate Live Nation and ticket hub mecca Ticketmaster (announced last February) has already resulted in catcalls from The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who wrote an open letter to his fans after Ticket Master upsold tickets for his "Workin' On a Dream" tour , basically accusing the nation's largest concert vendor of scalping. Now lawmakers are joining in the refrain.

As reported today by Rolling Stone, Reuters, and Billboard, the chair of the Senate antitrust subcommittee and 50 U.S. House representatives have sounded the alarm to the Justice Department about the deal, raising potentially grave concerns about the impact of the merger on the music industry.

According to Senator Herb Kohl, the merger is a monster whose creation would result in "an enormous, vertically integrated entertainment giant, which will control everything from artist management, concert promotion, concert venues, and merchandise sales to primary and secondary market ticket sales...The combined entities would be a company of unparalleled size and scope without equal in the market."

In other words, fair competition and competitive pricing for concert tickets could become a casualty if the deal goes through as planned. It's not immediately known what the impact will be in the Bay Area, where independent promoter Another Planet Entertainment and AEG subsidiary Goldenvoice collectively control more local venues than LiveNation, but it stands to reason that LiveNation's 360 deals with big-ticket artists like Madonna, when combined with Ticketmaster's virtual stranglehold on ticket sales, could effectively squeeze the smaller players out of the market by attrition.

Tags: Another Planet, antitrust, Goldenvoice, LiveNation, music industry, Ticketmaster

Internet Garage Sale is Invite Only - FOREVER

By Kiala Kazebee in Nerds, New Media, Tech, The Twitter, internets

Friday, Jul. 24 2009 @ 1:53PM

Craigslist will get you killed, Ebay could rip you off, and estate sales require putting on pants and leaving the house. The horror.

So what is an internerd with too many USB cables and not enough, I don't know, other nerd junk to do? My advice is to beg, plead, and cajole your way into Steven Frank's Internet Garage Sale a "members-only, trust-based online auction site" created to help honest people buy and sell stuff on the web.

Frank is the co-founder of Panic- an insanely popular Portland, OR based Mac software company. On his blog Frank says "as a gadget hound I accumulate tons of tech that I eventually need to get rid of to fund the purchase of newer tech. Tired of Craigslist and eBay, I put up a static HTML page with a few items, and asked people on Twitter to check it out and place bids if interested."

Continue reading " Internet Garage Sale is Invite"...

DJ QBert Opens Skratch University

By Eric Arnold in Arts, Music, Tech

Tuesday, Jul. 21 2009 @ 9:46AM

Hey DJs, and wanna-be DJs! I know you just got (Serato/Traktor/other vinyl-emulation software) last month and your laptop sets are in full freakin' effect for rockin' super-fresh mash-ups at house parties.

But what I really wanna know is, how's your skratch technique? You can crab, flare and juggle blindfolded with one hand behind your back, correct?

Wait, what's that you say? You thought flares were only used for roadside emergencies? Crabs are something you overheard your older sister say she had? And juggling is something you've seen clowns do at the circus?

No sweat, son. All-universe turntablist DJ QBert has your back. The original Invisibl Skratch Pickl, Dr. Octagon collaborator, former DMC World Champion, and animated movie auteur recently opened up a virtual school of scratching, Qbert Skratch University, which breaks down everything you always wanted to know about how to make that wiki-wiki-wiki sound, but were afraid to ask.

QSU's curriculum consists of "his entire method and everything he's learned in the last 20 years," and includes video lessons in Vinyl Skratching, Digital Skratching, a "Training Dojo," and Master-level classes, plus tips on setup and gear. Registration is $60 for three months, and according to QSU staff, the school currently has students from over 20 different countries. To register, click here; sample lessons (including the basic "Baby Skratch," the Flare or "two-click Orbit skratch," the "Tazer," and the "Swipe Family") are here.

Tags: DJ lessons, DJ QBert, Invisibl Skratch Picklz, turntablism

Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone Selling Home: Tweet Crashes Listing Site

By Kiala Kazebee in Tech, The Twitter, internets

Friday, Jul. 17 2009 @ 11:21AM

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is selling his Berkeley home for a mere $575,000 - a price point which is meaningless unless Stone can figure out a way to monetize real estate.

However, after looking at the pictures of the Wurster cottage the Stone family calls home, I can see why they would want to move from such a monstrosity. Gleaming hardwood floors? Soooo 2008. Secluded hillside property? Bah! How is one supposed to pose topless for the paparazzi if one can't be seen? Other amenities? I have no idea as the real estate website crashed about three minutes after Biz tweeted the listing.

In lieu of actual pictures or information about the home I've made a quick list of imaginary details one might find in the half million dollar house of a Twitter founder.

Continue reading " Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone Selling"...

Weekend Web Wroundup: Part II

By Kiala Kazebee in Nerds, Tech, The Twitter, internets

Monday, Jul. 13 2009 @ 10:50AM

Welcome to week two of the Weekend Web Wroundup™ - our new Monday morning blog dedicated to catching you up on the weekend's most important* interweb shenanigans.

Without further ado, let's get to the wrounding.

Fifteen Year Old Morgan Stanley intern tells it like it is. And what "it is" apparently has nothing to do with iPhone apps. Steve Jobs weeps into his morning cup of diamonds.

Douchebags everywhere high five themselves as news of Calvin Klein sunglasses with a USB drive (you read that correctly) hit the fashion blogs. I wonder what that Morgan Stanley kid thinks about these?

Continue reading " Weekend Web Wroundup: Part II"...

G-Unit A&R Added to Bay Area Producers Conference

By Eric Arnold in Music, Tech

Thursday, Jul. 9 2009 @ 11:12AM

Kace Logik

Blowin' up: the Demolition Men

BAPC's Mario Flores has big news to share for all you up-and-coming rappers looking for some industry hookup: Andre "Dre" McKenzie, A&R of G-Unit Records , has just been added to the July 25 event. Confirmed panelists thus far include DJ Fresh, Box Kev, the Demolition Men, Erk Da Jerk, Jahi, Big Rich, Beeda Weeda, JT tha Bigga Figga, Rick Rock, Tone Capone, Traxxamillion, and One Drop Scott. A complete list of panels and panelists is here . BTW, $45 early-bird tickets are still available--they're $100 at the door, so don't snooze. For more info, click here.

Tags: Bay area Producers Conference, Beeda Weeda, Big Rich, Demolition Men, G-Unit, Jahi, Rick rock

Weekend Web Wroundup - Part I

By Kiala Kazebee in Tech, The Twitter, internets

Monday, Jul. 6 2009 @ 12:04PM

Welcome to our first installment of what may (possibly) be a regular feature here on All Shook Down - the Weekend Web Wroundup. GET IT?

You see, the name mimics the "www" of the "world wide web" and therefore it...oh FINE. I couldn't think of anything better so Weekend Web Wroundup it is.

The WWW (see? it's working!) will "wroundup" the weekend's most interesting tech and social media news in a convenient list form. Feel free to print this list out and tape it to your internet portal device. Or, you could just del.i.cious it if you wish to save trees and also, if you don't live in 1997.

Without further ado, let's get to the wrounding up!

Continue reading " Weekend Web Wroundup - Part"...

Tweetcraft: Yet Another Excuse for Warcraft Nerds to Avoid Reality

By Kiala Kazebee in Nerds, Tech, Video, internets

Friday, Jul. 3 2009 @ 9:32AM

Image via Tweetcraft

So you've recently defeated a horde of Orcs in the Outland but before catching the next Zeppelin back to Azeroth you'd like to tweet about your battle. Prior to yesterday, your victory tweet would've had to wait until you logged out of World of Warcraft and onto Twitter, thus leaving your elf mage (or whatever) vulnerable to attack.

Lucky for you (nerd) Tweetcraft, a new in-game Twitter client for WoW, is here to help you out in your time of need.

According to the Tweetcraft website, you'll be able to:

* Send/receive Tweets in-game (Immediate sending reloads your UI)
* Queue Tweets to send when it's more convenient for you
* Upload in-game screenshots using TwitPic
* AutoTweet when you log in, enter an instance or get an achievement
* Extensible so that Add On authors can register messages or events to AutoTweet

Imagine the possibilities! No, seriously, you nerds go ahead and imagine the possibilities. I'll be busy, oh I don't know, not living in my mom's basement and not having a virtual relationship with a warrior dwarf healer wizard thing.

Preview video of Tweetcraft behind the cut:

Continue reading " Tweetcraft: Yet Another Excuse for"...

eMusic Raises Rates

By Eric Arnold in Music, Tech

Thursday, Jul. 2 2009 @ 11:13AM

As of yesterday, eMusic rates went up (the basic package is now $11.99, while the Premium package is now $20.75 monthly), while the number of songs subscribers can download has decreased (from 40 to 30 for Basic; from 75 to 50 for Premium). That basically amounts to less music for more money. The reason for the change? Many are pointing fingers at eMusic's deal with Sony, a classic good news/bad news scenario.

On one hand, the addition of catalog tracks from the Sony vaults allows music fans access to songs older than two years from recognizable acts. On the other hand, it tweaks the eMusic model a bit, which had established itself as a purveyor of new, indie, and otherwise cutting-edge material not easily available everywhere. The move has been a bit controversial, although this isn't the first time eMusic has raised prices. Still, many subscribers are pissed.

Are you an eMusic subscriber? If so, we want to hear whether you think this represents added value, or just another corporate rip-off. Post your thoughts in the comments section below.

Tags: digital downloads, eMusic, Sony