D.A.'s Wild Ride

Lil Kim TIME mag cover.

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:48:17 -0800

Lil Kim TIME mag cover.

MIA - “Bad Girls” Video

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:02:41 -0800

MIA - “Bad Girls” Video

The Scale of The Universe (Click for link)

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:29:31 -0800

The Scale of The Universe (Click for link):

This is really amazing. (via LB)

Dope Balenciaga video set to LCD.

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:08:06 -0800

Dope Balenciaga video set to LCD.

President Obama is now on Spotify!!! barackobama: Behold: the...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:15:41 -0800

President Obama is now on Spotify!!!

barackobama:

Behold: the official 2012 campaign playlist on Spotify. What would you add to it? (No casting aspersions on Earth, Wind, & Fire, now.)

"Spotify's Secret Weapon" - Forbes (Click for Article)

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:19:00 -0800

"Spotify's Secret Weapon" - Forbes (Click for Article):

Nice piece in Forbes about the work I’ve been doing with Spotify.

Jamie Woon - “Spirals” I love this song and album.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:04:16 -0800

Jamie Woon - “Spirals”

I love this song and album.

Roy Hargrove | Hip-Hop vs. Jazz (by irockjazzmusictv)

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:40:07 -0800

Roy Hargrove | Hip-Hop vs. Jazz (by irockjazzmusictv)

Ian Rogers' SOPA Solution

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:07:00 -0800

Very thoughtful proposal from Ian Rogers. Read it all here.

“There is a solution which curbs piracy, grows the industry overall, gives equal opportunity to all content holders, and allows for exponentially more innovation in the digital media space than we’ve seen in the past fifteen years. My proposal:

In brief:
A content registry where copyright holders can express the rules governing the use of their content and a legislative requirement sites dealing in media respect the rules expressed by the rights-holder in the registry.

In more detail:
A central organization or consortium would construct a content registry software solution and service. Copyright holders would place their media along with all the rules governing the use of said media, in the registry. These machine-readable rules would contain the prices for various uses of the content, from download and streaming to inclusion in subscription or other services. Any application creators willing to abide by the registry’s rules would be welcome to utilize the content, though rights holders could still opt in/out of specific services via the registry, too.

If you are building a sites with legitimate uses which could also be leveraged for piracy then you use the registry for a different reason, testing to see if the content uploaded by a user is available for the use in question. For example, if I upload a file to Rapidshare for free download, Rapidshare does an Audible Magic-style identification on the file then checks the registry to see if this content is available for free download. If so, awesome. If not, kick it back to the user. This is a non-trivial development challenge with many questions about who would build and maintain it, but it’s not science fiction. The technology exists. YouTube has very sophisticated recognition and rights management technology today. Similar systems have been built by countless companies over the years. Look under the hood of services such as MediaNet, 7digital, Rhapsody, and many others and you’ll find independently-developed versions of such a registry managing rights, paying rights-owners based on varying kinds of usage, etc. This solution would make a similar registry and technology available in a non-proprietary way.”

"The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision or contempt,..."

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:38:04 -0800

“The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.”

- Salman Rushdie (via apoplecticskeptic)

My Thoughts On The SOPA Protests

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:15:39 -0800

This is probably an imprudent post given my friends in tech, but I must admit to being slightly annoyed by the SOPA protests. I don’t know its particulars well enough to weigh-in on the legislation itself, but the faux-bohemian aesthetic of the resistance, conjured up by these internet millionaires and billionaires, rubbed me the wrong way.

I am all for a free, uncensored, rapidly evolving internet, but it’s simply disingenuous how so many tech players hide behind the DMCA’s ISP loophole while building fortunes off the backs of the creative class. As a society, I think it’s imperative that we protect those who commit themselves to making beautiful things, and it is sad to me that Silicon Valley doesn’t seem to take seriously the importance of reducing piracy.

I’ve pirated music, software, TV shows, and movies like everyone else in my generation, but usually only because convenient legal alternatives were not available. I’m never “proud” of stealing, though, and I would never publicly belittle the rights of the folks who made the things I’ve stolen.

I’m sure SOPA sucks, and more power to every citizen who wants to voice their opinion about a policy. But when you accumulate vast money and power, you sort of lose the license to be a countercultural freedom fighter. Yet that was the posture of those shutting down sites and blocking out comments in response to SOPA. Meanwhile, they have been funneling millions to lobbyists, currying favor and influence with political elites, and living like kings.

Just imagine all of the investment banks getting together and making a similar public fuss over their lobbying agenda. Wouldn’t we all find that pretty unbecoming?

I have nothing but love for my friends in the technology World, but I do think that they could be more sympathetic to those who make the art that drives users into their digital empires.

"What You (Really) Need to Know" by Larry Summers (Click for Article)

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 10:36:00 -0800

"What You (Really) Need to Know" by Larry Summers (Click for Article):

Good essay by Larry Summers on some probable changes in higher education. (via SG)

President Obama singing Al Green. Badass.

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:39:01 -0800

President Obama singing Al Green. Badass.

Mos Def - Niggas In Poorest

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:34:52 -0800

Mos Def - Niggas In Poorest

Amazing graph of effective taxation by income today. Great...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:52:56 -0800

Amazing graph of effective taxation by income today.

Great article about this here too.

ozap: shitfuckcockballs: stacks on stacks on stacks on...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:09:58 -0800

ozap:

shitfuckcockballs:

stacks on stacks on stacks

on stacks

Stackin cheddar is 2011. All about your produce now. Get your produce up.

Until 2009, the human clitoris was an absolute mystery (Click for article)

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:06:35 -0800

Until 2009, the human clitoris was an absolute mystery (Click for article):

Pretty remarkable if you ask me.

One of my mentors, Paul Pierson, discussing “Winner Take...

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:44:31 -0800

One of my mentors, Paul Pierson, discussing “Winner Take All Politics” on Bill Moyers. This is important.

Rick Ross Feat. Nas - Triple Beam Dreams

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:19:39 -0800

Rick Ross Feat. Nas - Triple Beam Dreams

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes! (by wendyslookbook)

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:40:54 -0800

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes! (by wendyslookbook)