Pandora...best website ever!
Ok. In my top 5 anyway. Have you experienced Pandora? I ran across it through a magazine article and I visit it almost every time I am on the web.
Ok. It is part of the Music Genome Project. What's that? Well...
Inigo Montoya: Let me 'splain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Buttercup is marry' Humperdinck in a little less than half an hour. So all we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the princess, make our escape... after I kill Count Rugen. --The Princess Bride
A group of "musicians and music-loving technologists" came together to analyze music and try and separate it into genes--or attributes. If you give them a song, they will find similar songs.
Frankly, it is quite amazing. I have several stations that I have created, but I really only listen to one. It is my Power Pop station.
"What is Power Pop?" I sense you asking. Here is the definition from wikipedia:
Power pop is a musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop music.
The music is characterized by strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are kept to a minimum, and blues elements are largely downplayed. Recordings tend to display production values that lean toward compression and a forceful drum beat, most often in a dance vein. Instruments usually include one or more electric guitars, electric bass guitar, a drum kit, and perhaps electric keyboards or synthesizers.
Badfinger's "No Matter What" (1970), The Raspberries' "Go All The Way" (1972), and The Knack's "My Sharona" (1979) are some of the most commercially successful singles of the power pop genre.
While its cultural impact has waxed and waned over the decades, it is among rock's most enduring subgenre.
My personal definition is one that I have been using for years; before I really discovered power pop. A song that makes you sing, you can dance to it, it has a great chorus and it us under 4 minutes.
Ok. back to Pandora. You visit the website and create a free account. Name the radio station you want to make. Put in a song that you like. Listen to what Pandora suggests. Click on the "I Like it" or "I Don't Like It" thumbs on the CD art. Pandora will then play something else based on your input.
I amazed at the music that I have discovered. And the artists. You can visit my profile page to see some of the new groups and songs that I have bookmared.
My two new favorite bands? The Rocket Summer and The Marvelous 3.
Try it out. Seriously...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Friday, November 17, 2006
Blind Spot
We were watching Grey's Anatomy last week. The show centered around the theme of blind spots. Not the actual blind spot, but things that we can't see or that we refuse to see.
I was thinking about what kind of blind spots that libraries have.
I have been keeping up with a lot of different blogs about libraries and they seem to fall into three camps:
1. The Library Mavens--they push the edge of what libraries can and should be doing,
2. The bloggers that report on what the Mavens are writing about and doing and
3. The bloggers that are complaining about their jobs or libraries.
Some of my favorite library blogs are in the Maven category. I find myself thinking about the posts from Michael Stephens of Tame the Web, Michael Casey of Library Crunch, Jenny Levine of the Shifted Librarian and Stephen Abrams of Stephen's Lighthouse on a daily basis.
I enjoy the Library Mavens because of their enthusiasm. They preach the good that libraries are doing and they spend their time inspiring us to take that step. Even if it means leaving our comfy library world and exploring something new. I was fortunate enough to see Michael Stephens and Michael Casey at the Learning 2.0 event at the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Public Library. I went with the Assistant Director of my library. We both left inspired and ready to make some changes.
What we liked about the presenters were their enthusiasm. Not just for web 2.0--but for libraries doing their very best to build community. To meet the patron wherever the patron is. To offer services because they make sense for the patron. Granted, Michael and Michael are on the edge. They have to be extreme in order to get the point across. We can't do everything that Michael and Michael suggested, but we can add services, make changes or try out some things. Take a few steps.
I guess this leads to blind spots. Are we so trapped in the traditional library mode--through staff, patrons and governance--that we can't see what is needed? Could all of this talk about library 2.0 be a blind spot? Are some of us so hyper-focused on new technologies that we are leaving our traditional patrons behind?
My current job has a lot of freedom. My previous job didn't. I am finding tremendous growth in my new position. Although, I am allowed to do whatever I think necessary to get the job done, I still have to think about the whole picture--and be 'mature' about my decisions. I have been given the opportunity to try new things. If I fail, then we all learn and we try something else. Our biggest motivating factor is to have people like the library. That encompasses a lot. Not only finding the books they want, but having a helpful staff, having computer access and a great library space.
What about my blind spots? I get bored easily. I tend to be too nice to people. I want everyone to like me. I often choose technology over simpler things. And I overanalyze everything.
Seriously.
What about you?
We were watching Grey's Anatomy last week. The show centered around the theme of blind spots. Not the actual blind spot, but things that we can't see or that we refuse to see.
I was thinking about what kind of blind spots that libraries have.
I have been keeping up with a lot of different blogs about libraries and they seem to fall into three camps:
1. The Library Mavens--they push the edge of what libraries can and should be doing,
2. The bloggers that report on what the Mavens are writing about and doing and
3. The bloggers that are complaining about their jobs or libraries.
Some of my favorite library blogs are in the Maven category. I find myself thinking about the posts from Michael Stephens of Tame the Web, Michael Casey of Library Crunch, Jenny Levine of the Shifted Librarian and Stephen Abrams of Stephen's Lighthouse on a daily basis.
I enjoy the Library Mavens because of their enthusiasm. They preach the good that libraries are doing and they spend their time inspiring us to take that step. Even if it means leaving our comfy library world and exploring something new. I was fortunate enough to see Michael Stephens and Michael Casey at the Learning 2.0 event at the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Public Library. I went with the Assistant Director of my library. We both left inspired and ready to make some changes.
What we liked about the presenters were their enthusiasm. Not just for web 2.0--but for libraries doing their very best to build community. To meet the patron wherever the patron is. To offer services because they make sense for the patron. Granted, Michael and Michael are on the edge. They have to be extreme in order to get the point across. We can't do everything that Michael and Michael suggested, but we can add services, make changes or try out some things. Take a few steps.
I guess this leads to blind spots. Are we so trapped in the traditional library mode--through staff, patrons and governance--that we can't see what is needed? Could all of this talk about library 2.0 be a blind spot? Are some of us so hyper-focused on new technologies that we are leaving our traditional patrons behind?
My current job has a lot of freedom. My previous job didn't. I am finding tremendous growth in my new position. Although, I am allowed to do whatever I think necessary to get the job done, I still have to think about the whole picture--and be 'mature' about my decisions. I have been given the opportunity to try new things. If I fail, then we all learn and we try something else. Our biggest motivating factor is to have people like the library. That encompasses a lot. Not only finding the books they want, but having a helpful staff, having computer access and a great library space.
What about my blind spots? I get bored easily. I tend to be too nice to people. I want everyone to like me. I often choose technology over simpler things. And I overanalyze everything.
Seriously.
What about you?
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Keeping up with the Blogs...
If you spend anytime reading blogs, you understand the trouble of bookmarking, remembering and keeping up with the latest posts. I attended a Library 2.0 conference at the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Public Library many moons ago. Michael Casey and Michael Stephens both shared "get your library butt into gear" or else presentations with inspiring images, words and general library goodness. At the time, the idea of web 2.0 was foreign. I have taken small steps and big leaps since then. It is feeling more like home.
One of the tools mentioned was a blog aggregator. This is a piece of software that keeps up with your blogs and will track posts that you have read. When you log in or launch the software, it will list all of the blogs you subscribe to and let you know which ones are new. Bloglines is one that I have been using for several months.
You can see my list of blogs here. Of course, they are mostly library related.
If you spend anytime reading blogs, you understand the trouble of bookmarking, remembering and keeping up with the latest posts. I attended a Library 2.0 conference at the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Public Library many moons ago. Michael Casey and Michael Stephens both shared "get your library butt into gear" or else presentations with inspiring images, words and general library goodness. At the time, the idea of web 2.0 was foreign. I have taken small steps and big leaps since then. It is feeling more like home.
One of the tools mentioned was a blog aggregator. This is a piece of software that keeps up with your blogs and will track posts that you have read. When you log in or launch the software, it will list all of the blogs you subscribe to and let you know which ones are new. Bloglines is one that I have been using for several months.
You can see my list of blogs here. Of course, they are mostly library related.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
My Flickr set. Flickr is a great Web 2.0 tool for sharing your photo's. If you go PRO, you can upload archival copies of your pictures. It is a great way to back up you pictures online and share with friends and family!
www.flickr.com
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