SearchFest 2010 in review

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Today I am at The Governor Hotel in Portland, Oregon. I had to leave at the crack of dawn to make it to SearchFest 2010 on time. Which means I was awake at dark o’clock. This also means I got to see the sunrise. That almost never happens.

This is the fourth annual SearchFest, which is Portland’s largest search engine marketing conference. But this is my first time attending the event. Topics include Social Media Marketing, Advanced Search Engine Optimization, Local Search, Analytics, Paid Search Marketing and so on. See SEMpdx.org or follow @SEMpdx for more information.

I am most looking forward to the late morning session on blogging with the very funny Matt Inman (AKA The Oatmeal). I usually live blog about the sessions I attend at WebVisions each year, so I’m going to try to do that here as well. See my notes from WebVisions 2009, 2008 and 2007.

Below is a quick, in-progress overview of the SearchFest sessions I am attending, with links.

Keynote Presentation – Stefan Weitz (Bing)
(8:30 am – 9:20 am)

Bing’s search engine market share is growing. Bing is a “decision engine.” And that isn’t just a cheap marketing term. Except that it is. Lots of shared stats about how Bing is actually usable and growing.

So, what is the future of the Internet and of search? The Web is moving away from text and toward a “web of objects” . . . spatial search . . . semantic modeling . . . emerging modes.

Web of Objects: Real-time Firehouse, Services, Multimedia and Devices. Search can expand what is possible and should “deliver knowledge by computationally understanding user intent.” The goal is to try to disambiguate a very ambiguous query. A search engine result shouldn’t always be a list of links. Attempt to structure, assemble and filter the returned services and objects in an interesting way.

Spatial Search: The Large Hadron Collider as an analogy to search engines. There is a small chance that Bing might destroy the planet. Oh, wait. This might not be the point he’s making. The point is: How do we save Rachael Ray from the wave of Higgs boson particles? Well, by taking all of the data on the Web and mashing it back into the real world . . . by giving it context and reassociating it on interactive maps (physical context). Geolocating tweets and stitching user photos/videos into an interactive canvas.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted on March 9, 2010 | Length: 391 words
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Hip-hop mixtapes at 8tracks

Sunday, February 7, 2010

On the heels of my first three 8tracks mixtapes, I created a couple of hip-hop mixes at 8tracks. One is an alternative hip-hop mix with a sci-fi/samurai theme using songs from my college days (1995-2000). The other is a Definitive Jux label retrospective (2001-2009).

12 Memories: Futuristic Flow 2000
Twelve tracks including music by Del Tha Funky Homosapien, DJ Shadow and Mos Def. An alternative hip-hop mix with a sci-fi/samurai theme from my college days. Songs released 1995-2000.

  1. GZA (Genius) – Liquid Swords
  2. RZA – Samurai Showdown (Raise Your Sword)
  3. UNKLE – Guns Blazing (Drums of Death, Pt. 1)
  4. Dr. Octagon (Kool Keith) – 3000
  5. Deltron 3030 – Things You Can Do
  6. Del Tha Funky Homosapien – Offspring
  7. Mos Def – Mathematics
  8. Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli) – Thieves In the Night
  9. The Roots – Adrenaline! (Feat. Dice Raw & Beanie Sigel)
  10. Handsome Boy Modeling School – Magnetizing
  11. DJ Shadow – Midnight In A Perfect World
  12. OutKast – Chonkyfire

12 Memories: Definitive Jux 2010
Twelve tracks including music by Aesop Rock, El-P and Cannibal Ox. El-Producto announced in early February that the Definitive Jux label is going on hiatus and he’s stepping down as artistic director. So, here’s a 2001-2009 retrospective of some favorites.

  1. RJD2 – The Horror
  2. Aesop Rock – Night Light
  3. El-P – Delorean (Feat. Aesop Rock)
  4. Cannibal Ox – Raspberry Fields
  5. Cage – Blood Boy
  6. Despot – Look Alive
  7. RJD2 – Clean Living
  8. El-P – Smithereens (Stop Cryin)
  9. Despot – Get Rich or Try Dying
  10. Cage – I Never Knew You
  11. Aesop Rock – Frijoles
  12. Cannibal Ox – Pigeon

Definitive Jux Records is definitely my favorite underground hip-hop label. El-P, founder of Def Jux, is a master of unique, complex beats with a futuristic and progressive feel. As a rapper, El-P has a very raw, personal lyrical flow. He is one of my favorites, along with Aesop Rock. Some refer to the kind of music on the Definitive Jux label as art-rap or prog-rap. Not sure how apt this description is, but I seem to enjoy many artists that get classified as such.

In addition to Def Jux and all of the artists above, I have also gotten into a number of Anticon artists, such as Doseone and Sole. I listened to a lot of cLOUDDEAD a few years ago. Was obsessed with Quannum Projects (DJ Shadow, Blackalicious, Latyrx) for a couple of years. DJ Shadow is still one of my favorite artists. Just to mention a few more: Glue, Anti-Pop Consortium and Bliss N Eso have all put out excellent music. And so on and so forth. There are a lot of great artists out there, hiding outside the Top 100 charts.

With labels like Definitive Jux around, at least there’s an alternative to assembly-line hip-hop and exploitative, materialistic rap. Here’s hoping Def Jux and all worthwhile record labels figure out a way to reinvent themselves in this era of the dying music industry. (For more thoughts on the music industry, see this post from a couple of weeks ago: “Conan O’Brien and City Lights Records: A eulogy?“)

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Posted on February 7, 2010 | Length: 506 words
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Three 8tracks mixtapes

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The death of the cassette tape I used to create mixtapes and CD compilations all the time, but in this era of streaming music and MP3s I had gotten out of the habit. However, since sharing user-crafted mixes online keeps getting easier (and legal) with new service providers, I thought it would be fun to start making mixtapes again.

(That reminds me: Feeling nostalgic for the days of cassette tapes? Watch the award-winning short film Mixtape by Luke Snellin. I love the moment where the kid exits his house and the Heart song kicks in. Brilliant.)

This month I evaluated various free online services for streaming music and creating social playlists. I was looking for a simple, legal way to share and discover music through online mixes. Most sites I looked at were recommendation-based radio (like Pandora and Last.fm), which was not what I wanted.

(If you want to do your own research on mixtape sites, these two articles are good starting points for further exploration: “8 Best Ways to Share ‘Mix Tapes’” (October 26, 2009) and “Social Music: Top 5 Sites to Build a Playlist” (February 9, 2009). Also see: Quarkbase.)

8tracks Anyway, after all that searching, my favorite service for creating and sharing personal mixes is 8tracks. And this weekend I got a chance to upload some MP3s to my new 8tracks account. I created three mixes of 12 songs each. The track listings are below. Most songs were released in 2008 or 2009.

What I wrote in my 8tracks profile is true: “Music is how I remember time.” Have a listen.

12 Memories: Autumn 2009
Twelve tracks including music by Camera Obscura, The Twilight Sad and Zola Jesus. Some songs I’ve been listening to since the weather turned.

  1. Florence and the Machine – Dog Days Are Over
  2. The Duke Spirit – This Ship Was Built to Last
  3. Holopaw – Abraham Lincoln
  4. Fruit Bats – When U Love Somebody
  5. Ben Folds – You Don’t Know Me (Feat. Regina Spektor)
  6. Meiko – Boys with Girlfriends
  7. Camera Obscura – Away with Murder
  8. Zola Jesus – Sink The Dynasty
  9. Gina Young – The Boy on the Bus
  10. Bye Bye Bicycle – Footsteps (Pt. II)
  11. Noah and the Whale – The First Day of Spring
  12. Twilight Sad – At the Burnside

12 Memories: Sasquatch 2009
Twelve tracks including music by Crystal Castles, The Decemberists and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Studio songs from my favorite artists that played on Saturday at Sasquatch 2009 in Washington.

  1. The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid (Feat. Shara Worden)
  2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Down Boy
  3. Crystal Castles – Courtship Dating
  4. Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
  5. Animal Collective – Fireworks
  6. DeVotchKa – Head Honcho
  7. Blind Pilot – Go On, Say It
  8. Doves – Kingdom of Rust
  9. M. Ward – Headed for a Fall
  10. Crystal Castles – Untrust Us
  11. The Decemberists – The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing (Feat. Shara Worden)
  12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Runaway

(Read my blog post about last year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival.)

12 Memories: Bumbershoot 2009
Twelve tracks including music by Metric, Mirah and Say Hi. Studio songs from my favorite artists that played on Monday at Bumbershoot 2009 in Seattle.

  1. Metric – Empty
  2. Anomie Belle – How Can I Be Sure
  3. Say Hi – Northwestern Girls
  4. Mirah – The Garden
  5. The Cave Singers – Dancing On Our Graves
  6. Soulsavers – Revival
  7. Modest Mouse – Little Motel
  8. Franz Ferdinand – Die On The Floor
  9. Mirah – Cold Cold Water (Electrosexual & Abberline)
  10. Anomie Belle – Down
  11. Say Hi – November Was White, December Was Grey
  12. Metric – Help I’m Alive

(Read my blog post about last year’s Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival.)

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Posted on January 31, 2010 | Length: 586 words
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Someone must stop Pay-Per-Click Caveman Jesus

Friday, January 29, 2010

Why are advertisers using this guy’s photo? Caveman Jesus (as I like to call him) is apparently becoming the ShamWow! Guy of pay-per-click ads.

Ah, we meet again, Pay-Per-Click Caveman Jesus!

Yesterday I disabled Greasemonkey to unblock Facebook ads for a few minutes because I wanted to test something. Guess whose face I saw in the Sponsored area? You got it. This guy’s, all the time. I guess Caveman Jesus is cycling through Flickr’s homepage too. Bizarre.

Dear LowerMyBills.com and ClassesUSA, what are you doing? Are your target markets enthusiasts of GEICO caveman commercials?

I’m not going to click on your crazy crap, even if Caveman Jesus might be having a hard time paying his bills. Seriously. WTF.

I wonder how many banner ads there are of this guy. I found another one, with extra hairy chest pixels: Calculate New House Payment Caveman Ad. Also, a friend tells me that he’s seen a terrifying animated ad where the caveman’s hair grows.

I’ve seen enough. I hereby decree this an Internet meme. Long live Caveman Jesus!

(Screenshot of the Flickr ad via @chrismessina.)

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Posted on January 29, 2010 | Length: 176 words
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Conan O’Brien and City Lights Records: A eulogy?

Saturday, January 23, 2010

I'm With Coco I’ve been tweeting about these things for a few days now, but I haven’t posted anything here for a month, so let me collect and plagiarize some of my recent thoughts.

I’m feeling sadness for Haiti (text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti) . . . and also for the following two “trivial” events because they represent and reflect larger cultural issues for me: City Lights Records closing and Conan O’Brien’s last show.

Conan O’Brien

Last night most of America tuned in to watch Conan O’Brien’s last show on NBC. Conan’s grateful closing monologue and “Free Bird” finale was a perfect ending to “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.” He went off the air playing his guitar with a huge grin on his face. That guy’s a class act.

Too bad “The Tonight Show” is dead now. Feels like a nail in the coffin. Is anyone really going to watch Leno again? Really? When we have the Internet, Letterman and so many other TV channels?

I was inspired by this quote from Conan’s closing monologue:

“Please don’t be cynical. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

Dear Internet, Conan is today’s everyman. “I’m With Coco,” yes. (I’m also a little sad that the world is losing Conan’s Super Mario Bros. set backdrop.)

Where will Conan end up? On a late-night talk show on another network this September? On the Internet? For Conan O’Brien’s core audience (age 18-34), “the time slot is being replaced by a URL.” Read more: “Bye, NBC. Hello, Internet?”

City Lights Records

The end is near. I haven’t lived in Pennsylvania for over eight years now, but this is still important to me. My favorite independent record store, City Lights Records (off Penn State campus), is closing after 25 years. It’s sad, but not unexpected. City Lights is (was) State College’s last record store. I spent countless hours there. The closing of the store is the closing of happy memories that I won’t ever be able to revisit physically.

City Lights Records Read local coverage in The Daily Collegian and The Penn Stater (with video).

This comment by a user named Chuck really resonates with me: “I have mixed feelings towards the digital revolution. And it’s obviously here to stay. But there will always be a soft spot in my heart for those stores that influenced my listening habits.”

Late night comedy

Similarly, I have a soft spot for those creative comedians who were funny enough and cared deeply enough to influence my own sense of humor. “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” was a staple of my television consumption during high school and college. Though, during college, my TV watching started to approach zero. I also enjoyed David Letterman on both NBC and CBS for years, throughout my childhood and adolescence.

Even though I didn’t watch much of “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” until January of this year, I am eager to know where Conan will land next and will probably tune in (if only on Hulu or similar). It’s strange how all this controversy between millionaire entertainers and network executives created such a genuine outpouring of support from the American public (working class). Strange that it even caused me to watch a network television show for the first time in a long while, if only for two weeks. But, I have to say, it was really fun, enjoyable television.

Michael Ian Black argues that Conan O’Brien has inexplicably become a modern representation of Norma Rae—someone who stands up and does the right thing in the face of corporate injustice. I think most of America feels that way. An unlikely hero, sure.

Digital revolution

As for independent music stores, if Penn State University and State College, PA can’t even manage to support one small basement record store anymore, then I can no longer deny that the halcyon days of rifling through stacks of obscure CDs (and vinyl, for some) and discovering new music via artwork and physical forms have ended. Those days ended years ago, of course. Plastic discs are a dying medium.

I can’t remember the last time I actually bought a music CD. I always hated how much physical space my huge music collection took up. But I also have such fondness for these days gone by. Each collected disc was potentially precious and meaningful. Albums mattered. Today I have more MP3s than I know what to do with. It’s hard to give any artist or album the proper amount of attention . . . and the gigabytes of MP3s continue to grow. The solution is to keep buying bigger hard drives on which to store all of this music and figure it out later.

I guess right now I’m feeling a little nostalgic for the illusion of simpler times. (And I’m starting to veer off topic.) I’m thinking of days before presidential administrations agreed with the RIAA and openly supported “file sharing damages of up to $150,000 per track.” The time we live in is certainly a transitional period for all media industries and entertainment products. But so long as independent artists are able to survive this cultural turmoil and continue to inspire our lives, we’ll come out all right. I could ramble some more about these issues, but instead maybe I’ll give one of these MP3 albums a second or third listen.

See you in September, Coco.

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Posted on January 23, 2010 | Length: 912 words
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Graphic design, photography and Krampus

Thursday, December 24, 2009

January calendar There are some good ideas here (whether you’re into “resolutions” or not): “51 New Year resolutions for graphic and web designers.”

More ideas and inspiration to be creative: “Design Something Every Day!”

Interesting: “Eight cool social media infographics.”

These sites are fascinating: FFFFOUND! (image bookmarking), grain edit (modern graphic design inspiration blog) and Black and WTF (seriously, WTF).

Flight 1549 and marine animals

This animation (with audio) is based on all currently available data concerning the US Airways Flight 1549 crash: Flight 1549 3D Reconstruction, Hudson River Ditching Jan 15, 2009. Hard to believe it’s been almost a year now since that Hudson River landing. Even though you know the plane lands safely, it’s still a tense experience to hear the audio again, especially in the context of the flight animation. Worth watching.

Check this out: A pod of bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Florida have developed a remarkable hunting strategy in order to catch fish: Life: Bottlenose dolphins mud-ring feeding.

This is amazing: “Solar-powered sea slug harnesses stolen plant genes.”

These photographs are stunning: “David Liittschwager – Marine Micro Fauna (8 pics).”

Holidays

Greetings from Krampus More photography: “A Very Tesla Christmas.” Take a Tesla coil and a super-long camera exposure and you can have an “electrifying display of holiday cheer.”

From Stereogum: “New Indie Rock Christmas MP3s For 2009.”

I bought a pineapple to eat over Christmas break. I’m also thinking about trying to grow a new pineapple using the crown of the old one: “How to Grow a Pineapple at Home.”

Krampus

Speaking of holiday cheer, I really like this Shirt.Woot t-shirt designed by Missmonster: “Greetings from Krampus.” It celebrates the annual return of Santa’s old pal Krampus.

Happy New Year!

(In case you need it: press in dire situations.)

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Posted on December 24, 2009 | Length: 285 words
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