Twitter In The Classes I Am Creating

The Almost-100, Arnold Schoenberg, and the not-so-sad omission of business, communications and the arts

One of my pursuits these days (August 2014) is creating, designing, reconfiguring, ratcheting up a few new courses in intellectual property, a survey of the music & entertainment industry, social media & marketing in music/video/IP, and business and legal issues helping and hindering music get created, disseminated and experienced.

All of these classes will deal significantly with technology, business, law and music (how could they not?).  I could add words like “communication” and “arts” too but I often use words like “technology” to subsume “business” and “communication,” and “entertainment” to subsume “art” and “arts.”  (With my classical music pedigree, I should NEVER associate “art” or “arts” with “entertainment.”  One of my heroes, Arnold Schoenberg, in his past writings set me straight on that (but I veered off the ranch twenty + years ago):

“If it is art it is not for all and if it is for all it is not art”

or something similar but identical in sentiment.)  (One of my favorite Schoenberg compositions is “Summer Morning By A Lake,” the third of his “Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16” from 1909.

________________________________________________________________________

In my Twitter account, I have created eleven (11) lists that cover all of my interests.  Since 2008 I have required students to read what certain Twitter users post.  I provide a list of these Twitterers in each syllabus.  What I want to do now is create a shortened master list of Twitterers from which I can extract subsets that would work in any one, two, three or more of seven or eight classes.

The “rules” and “preconditions that must be met” in order to fall into this list of less-than-100-favorite Twitter authors include:

1.  It intrigues me.

2.  I find it compelling (out of Spinal Tap context, “compelling” can have positive associations).

3.  I’m inspired to act and think (refined people “think ” and then “act”).

4.  I might disagree with what is expressed but it is original and/or important.

5.  It came to mind first when I thought to compile a list of less-than-100.  (Spontaneity, impulse and fast matter when it comes to action, wonderment and ponder-ment.)

(However:  A few of these Twitterers are not at all inspiring (and perhaps pompous and verbose) but most people of a field seem to read these and it is OK sometimes to have some things in common with most people – these form a sort of vernacular canon.)

Here are The Almost-100:

twitter.com/adage

twitter.com/Adweek

twitter.com/alisternburg

twitter.com/allsongs

twitter.com/AppStore

twitter.com/arslaw

twitter.com/arstechnica

twitter.com/bbosker

twitter.com/beatallica

twitter.com/berkmancenter

twitter.com/BigChampagne

twitter.com/BIInsights

twitter.com/billboard

twitter.com/Billboardbiz

twitter.com/BoingBoing

twitter.com/BradPaisley

twitter.com/BrightTALK

twitter.com/CenCom

twitter.com/CopyrightLaw

twitter.com/davekusek

twitter.com/deborahfgoldman

twitter.com/Digg

twitter.com/Digitalmusicnws

twitter.com/disco_project

twitter.com/EdFelten

twitter.com/eff

twitter.com/emh2625

twitter.com/Entlawupdate

twitter.com/FCC

twitter.com/future_of_music

twitter.com/Gizmodo

twitter.com/Gleonhard

twitter.com/Grooveshark

twitter.com/GuyKawasaki

twitter.com/Harvard_Law

twitter.com/HarvardBiz

twitter.com/HowardKnopf

twitter.com/Hypebot

twitter.com/IndustryEars

twitter.com/InternetLaw

twitter.com/IPHandbook

twitter.com/IPLawAlerts

twitter.com/ipwatch

twitter.com/Jasonkincaid

twitter.com/kisbell

twitter.com/KristNovoselic

twitter.com/Larrymagid

twitter.com/Lefsetz

twitter.com/lessig

twitter.com/ManagementTip

twitter.com/mashable

twitter.com/mgeist

twitter.com/mollywood

twitter.com/MosesAvalon

twitter.com/MrChuckD

twitter.com/MusicRow

twitter.com/NME

twitter.com/nprmusic

twitter.com/Nytimesarts

twitter.com/Nytimesbits

twitter.com/nytimestech

twitter.com/Pitchforkmedia

twitter.com/Pogue

twitter.com/redbull

twitter.com/ResourceMusic

twitter.com/ReverbNation

twitter.com/RollingStone

twitter.com/rosannecash

twitter.com/SAI

twitter.com/shadesofsolveig

twitter.com/sivers

twitter.com/Slashdot

twitter.com/SonyLegacyRecs

twitter.com/spotify

twitter.com/sree

twitter.com/StitcherRadio

twitter.com/Taylorswift13

twitter.com/Taylortrask

twitter.com/tbquirk

twitter.com/TechCrunch

twitter.com/Tedtalks

twitter.com/Terrymcbride

twitter.com/ThatEricAlper

twitter.com/theonion

twitter.com/THR

twitter.com/THREsq

twitter.com/Timwestergren

twitter.com/tmbg

twitter.com/torrentfreak

twitter.com/variety

twitter.com/verge

twitter.com/waltmossberg

twitter.com/wired

twitter.com/WSJD

twitter.com/ZDNet

twitter.com/zittrain

________________________________________________________________________

And with extra-special secret code placed to the right, The Almost-100 looks like this:

twitter.com/adage Tech
twitter.com/Adweek Tech
twitter.com/alisternburg IP
twitter.com/allsongs MusEnt
twitter.com/AppStore Tech
twitter.com/arslaw IP
twitter.com/arstechnica Tech
twitter.com/bbosker Tech
twitter.com/beatallica MusEnt
twitter.com/berkmancenter A 3
twitter.com/BigChampagne Tech
twitter.com/BIInsights Tech
twitter.com/billboard MusEnt
twitter.com/Billboardbiz MusEnt
twitter.com/Billboardglenn MusEnt
twitter.com/BoingBoing Tech
twitter.com/BradPaisley MusEnt
twitter.com/BrightTALK A 3
twitter.com/CenCom Tech
twitter.com/CopyrightLaw IP
twitter.com/davekusek MusEnt
twitter.com/deborahfgoldman IP
twitter.com/Digg A MT
twitter.com/Digitalmusicnws MusEnt
twitter.com/disco_project A 3
twitter.com/EdFelten Tech
twitter.com/eff IP
twitter.com/emh2625 A 3
twitter.com/Entlawupdate MusEnt
twitter.com/FCC Tech
twitter.com/future_of_music MusEnt
twitter.com/Gizmodo Tech
twitter.com/Gleonhard Tech
twitter.com/Grooveshark MusEnt
twitter.com/GuyKawasaki Tech
twitter.com/Harvard_Law IP
twitter.com/HarvardBiz Tech
twitter.com/HowardKnopf IP
twitter.com/Hypebot A MT
twitter.com/IndustryEars MusEnt
twitter.com/InternetLaw IP
twitter.com/IPHandbook IP
twitter.com/IPLawAlerts IP
twitter.com/ipwatch IP
twitter.com/Jasonkincaid Tech
twitter.com/kisbell IP
twitter.com/KristNovoselic MusEnt
twitter.com/Larrymagid Tech
twitter.com/Lefsetz MusEnt
twitter.com/lessig A 3
twitter.com/ManagementTip Tech
twitter.com/mashable Tech
twitter.com/mgeist IP
twitter.com/mollywood Tech
twitter.com/MosesAvalon MusEnt
twitter.com/MrChuckD MusEnt
twitter.com/MusicRow MusEnt
twitter.com/NME MusEnt
twitter.com/nprmusic MusEnt
twitter.com/Nytimesarts MusEnt
twitter.com/Nytimesbits Tech
twitter.com/nytimestech Tech
twitter.com/Pitchforkmedia MusEnt
twitter.com/Pogue Tech
twitter.com/redbull MusEnt
twitter.com/ResourceMusic MusEnt
twitter.com/ReverbNation MusEnt
twitter.com/RollingStone MusEnt
twitter.com/rosannecash MusEnt
twitter.com/SAI Tech
twitter.com/shadesofsolveig Tech
twitter.com/sivers A MT
twitter.com/Slashdot Tech
twitter.com/SonyLegacyRecs MusEnt
twitter.com/spotify MusEnt
twitter.com/sree A MT
twitter.com/StitcherRadio A 3
twitter.com/Taylorswift13 MusEnt
twitter.com/Taylortrask A MT
twitter.com/tbquirk A MT
twitter.com/TechCrunch Tech
twitter.com/Tedtalks A 3
twitter.com/Terrymcbride MusEnt
twitter.com/ThatEricAlper MusEnt
twitter.com/theonion MusEnt
twitter.com/THR MusEnt
twitter.com/THREsq A 3
twitter.com/Timwestergren MusEnt
twitter.com/tmbg MusEnt
twitter.com/torrentfreak A 3
twitter.com/variety MusEnt
twitter.com/verge A MT
twitter.com/waltmossberg Tech
twitter.com/wired Tech
twitter.com/WSJD Tech
twitter.com/ZDNet Tech
twitter.com/zittrain A 3

Perhaps the above should be annotated so as to make for more clarity.  In fact, I began but never finished or published an annotated post about great Twitterers to follow more than a year ago.  I think I will save those thoughts for class and spend that writing-annotating time better.

I can imagine negative reactions to a few of The Almost-100 above:

Just why should anyone read Taylor Swift?

Doesn’t Bob Lefsetz assault us enough every day?

Why read a young lawyer who has not even passed the bar?

Read Torrentfreak?  Are you pushing crime or somethin’?

________________________________________________________________________

Wishing everyone everywhere a happy Sunday.  Annuit Coeptis.

State of the Music Industry – My Tweets from 2013 NMS

twitter-bird-blue-on-white 1

New Music Seminar

S T A T E    O F    T H E    I N D U S T R Y      P A N E L    

(Monday, June 10, 2013)

On Monday, June 10, 2013, I attended the first full day of the 2013 New Music Seminar.  I brought my iPhone 5 and my iPad.  I had not planned on tweeting the event or even one panel but things changed and I started to tweet.  It was not the best environment for tweeting because…

There was no wifi for the audience.  No doubt, that could have been a factor in preventing many from tweeting – why should someone use up valuable metered data just to tweet about an event?  Tweeting is still far from the norm at a music industry conference – by that I mean only a minority of an audience or participants in music industry events tweet about the events at the event.

The first session I attended was the first of the conference – State Of The Industry.  The speakers were Frank Cooper (Global CMO Consumer Engagement, Pepsi Co), John Sykes (President, Clear Channel) and Rio Caraeff (CEO, Vevo).  I did not look at my program so I did not use their names in my tweets.

What follows are my tweets about the panel.  Text in parentheses were my opinions and not necessarily of any of the speakers.  The italicized text that follows some of the tweets below are my comments now on specific points of the panel or additional points of mine.

________________________________________________________________________________

 Twitter

1.  At #nms13 at the New Yorker Hotel. Much better conf venue than Webster Hall but no still wifi. Little Korea & Hell’s Kitchen, however.

(I speak at every IBS Radio & Webcasting Conference in NYC each year.  One of the benefits is that the NYC IBS conferences are held at the Hotel Pennsylvania which is at the edge of Little Korea.  To me, this means getting to have great bibimbap for lunch.  The New Yorker Hotel is at 34th & 8th, a block or two from Little Korea.  And Hell’s Kitchen includes my favorite NYC Brazilian bar, Brazil Grill, three blocks from where I used to live.)

2.  State of the industry w/speakers from PepsiCo, VEVO and Clear Channel. Frank Cooper of Pepsi not using slides – yea! #nms13

(I have a strong bias toward the non-music companies and how they use and promote music as well as how they better engage with their customers via music, video and mobile.  Music conferences need to have a strong non-music component.  In fact, the non-music companies shouldn’t really be called “non-music,” should they?)

3.  Value comes from connecting w/brands & ppl who’ll add value to fan experience. Pepsi’s aspiration. #nms13

4.  NMS used to take place on the upper East Side? Glad that’s in the past. #nms13

5.  Radio is 3rd to TV & Internet for American consumers time. Radio No. 1 means to discover music – Sykes of Clear Channel #nms13

(My best way to discover music is friends, students and YouTube.  Radio, for me, comes from an app in a mobile device, or from the radio in my Acura.)

6.  #nms13 iHeart apps used soon by 200 million.

7.  85,000 online promotional mentions of Justin Timberlake album. iHeart. #nms13

8.  How to make Justin Timberlake album break out through clutter? iHeartRadio efforts – artist integration program #nms13

9.  Artist ads run for 4 weeks. iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party got 860 million impressions. #nms13

10.  CCE demonstrating extremely successful artist promotion campaigns w/iHeartRadio. Artists noticing other artists as well. #nms13

________________________________________________________________________________

11.  38 artists now in Artist Integration Program. #CCE #nms13

12.  Q. Where is radio going? A. Digital is small in revenue – that’ll change. Radio will have TV shows. (Of course) #nms13

13.  Mobile ads & sponsorship need to catch up with Mobile music. Mobile shift has been very fast. #nms13

14.  Product brands outside mainstream need to partner with music brands outside mainstream – Pepsi speaker at #nms13   

(Finding the right partner is extremely important – I liken that to having the right opening act for a band at a concert.  The opposite of that has happened (and sometimes been disastrous) when bands opened for seemingly unrelated headliner acts:  Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention opening for The Monkees, Jimi Hendrix Experience opening for The Monkees, King Crimson opening for Al Kooper, etc.)

(Bad brand partnerships?  Tiger Woods with any brand, for a period of time anyway;  Oscar Pistorius and Nike and any brand;  OJ Simpson… you see where this is going!)

15.  NMS and VEVO want to work with unknown and new artists according to Tommy Silverman. #nms13

16.  Lift – most successful new VEVO show, partnering with McDonald’s, to promote new artists. #nms13

17.  Breaking new artists is essential to VEVO – a mission statement of sorts. #nms13

18.  Developing R & D in a company is similar to constantly developing new artists for a music company – Sykes iHeart #nms13

19.  For Pepsi, creating/sponsoring live events is comparable to digital. Very active in international music & events. #nms13

20.  92% of Americans listen to radio every month. (Many more radios than people.) I’m surprised it is not higher. #nms13

________________________________________________________________________________

21.  Pepsi wants to fill spaces without interrupting listening experiences. #nms13

22.  The experiences “have to be right there.” Immediate and without effort. Pepsi, CCE etc want to fulfill #nms13

(The “immediate and without effort” is often called, “frictionless.”  Yes, frictionless is good buzz word, a cliche but accurate and one’s person cliche is another’s proud moniker.)

23.  Most ppl want to watch, some want to comment, others want to make (video) New experiences give more interactive possibilities. #nms13

(Read Lawrence Lessig’s excellent book, REMIX.  Those that want to remix are not RO – “read only.”  RO is for those who primarily engage in one-way communication.  They read, they view, they listen.  They are of a more traditional culture.  They do not interact or re-author or remix.  Those who remix/re-author, etc. are of the “RW” culture.  RW is “Read (and) Write,” i.e., interact, re-author, repurpose, etc.)

24.  One touch should replace one-click in immediacy and simplicity. #nms13

(I look forward to “one thought,” and involuntary at that, replacing one touch.)

25.  Music subscription – original albums better represent an artist’s legacy than trad sales models #nms13

26.  Give choice to consumers but how are services providing choice and being monetized?  Used to be how do we stop the Internet? #nms13

(The anti-technology people in the “content crowd,” i.e., those who pride themselves on being songwriters who hate the technology, mostly waste their time espousing a knee jerk “sue-the-criminal-bastards” strategy.  Technology and consumers (the market) always win.  Rather than bemoan, litigate and try to legislate, it is better to work together and/or find a business solution.  Study Steve Jobs.)

27.  Choices in digital seriously began with iTunes. In last 3.5 yrs, mobile has provided easy to use ubiquitous choices. #nms13

28.  Networks partnerships/relationships with carriers & their (carriers’) willingness to market music. #nms13

29.  In Norway and other EU countries, bundle with cable. Their 4G is stronger and more available. #nms13

30.  Music adds high value service to telco’s services. Economic benefit partner receives should funnel down to artist. #nms13

________________________________________________________________________________

31.  Customer base for telcos have not always been music savvy. Push customers creating playlists for better engaging. #nms13

32.  Plans & bundling outside USA can be daily, weekly, monthly. (That’s new to me.) #nms13

(ISP and cable service plans in this country should be much better and less costly.  We have little competition and our government does not in the slightest way assist U.S. customers in their lonely usually fruitless skirmishes with U.S. ISP’s and telecoms.  In more and more countries, Internet access is becoming a basic human right and fast speed Internet connections are becoming mandated by non-USA governments.)

33.  Create new kinds of premium products. Again, more choice is key. #nms13

34.  How will Google and Apple streaming services impact others? Other ideas – partner with Weather Channel, ESPN & non-music. #nms13

(Excellent – there are many ESPN outlets nationally and internationally, and they use a great amount of music.)

35.  How to handle Big Data? That trite term – BIG DATA – will assist in delivering better experience for listener. #nms13

36.  Winners in digital will be “those who can get to scale.” There’ll be consolidation across the industry. #nms13

37.  Investors in these companies are big media companies-gives players “superior access” into other areas. #nms13

38.  Spotify rollout strategy – in 28 countries in 4 yrs. careful to partner with right companies. Pay attention to local music. #nms13

39.  Global and local rollouts simultaneously. #GLO-CAL. #GLOCAL without hyphen. (Great expanding language). #nms13

40.  What needs to happen in US? Mass marketing. Look at how Apple does it. Non-Apple products are not well marketed. #nms13

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

The Russian Monster Fill, Bath Bombs, Tervis, Twitter + the letter “B”

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Having fun here in Nashville.  Fun party two nights ago with great friends and one of my best friends who also doubles as one of the music legends in Nashville and the USA.  If you missed that last link, here it is again.  Listen to Bill Pursell Rachmaninov Marty Robbins.  I just used “Rachmaninov” as a powerful and intrusive verb to describe what Bill does to Marty Robbins’s straightforward 3-chord country song, “Take Me Back To Tulsa” (by means of his sextuplet laced Russian monster fill).

Started out the morning at a coffee shop – the Frothy Monkey.  Then to do some business and the business for a friend.  That was fun as it took us inside the magnificent Schermerhorn Symphony Center in downtown Nashville, one of the best halls acoustically anywhere.  (I had the great opportunity to hear Peter Serkin perform Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, and a few weeks later at Schermerhorn –  Schermerhorn is a much better venue).  We made an embarrassing 7-8 minute video, starting onstage and then progressing/regressing through some backstage fancy rooms.  Fancy fancy.  I should link or upload the video to this blog but not if good sense and adequate judgment prevails.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Last night I learned about bath bombs and Tervis shakers.  The bath bombs excited my excessively girly girly friend, while the Tervis shaker we found at Bed, Bath & Beyond in mall-infested Williamson County, was a Patriots shaker.  I’ll now be able to make my Irish versions of caipirinhas here in Middle Tennessee using my new New England Patriots Tervis shaker.

Back to these are a few of my favorite Twitter things.  When the dog bites, when the bee stings.  I’m still stuck on that Mary Poppins’ song.  This time  – the letter “B.”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Dr. E. Michael Harrington

www.emichaelmusic.com

emh2625@gmail.com

Resources:

Twitter:

My Favorite Twitter Accounts:   The letter “B”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

BBC6MusicNews

Good tweets but I’d rather they get more stiff, uptight and British.  Must BBC6 Music News like “gossip?”  Huh?  “Your music news fix, including exclusive interviews with all the big names, the latest gig news, behind the scenes insights, festival updates and gossip.”

bbosker

Insightful technology writer for Huffington Post.  I’m on her Vibrate My iPhone 5 Now list and always look forward to her articles.  And she had the wisdom to interview me once.

beatallica

Beatallica started as a concept – “what if Metallica were a Beatles cover band?”  That was brilliant and so was the manifestation of what Beatallica does  –  a brilliant parody/mashup of both groups but performed live.  I became good friends with Beatallica in my role as their expert witness.

berkmancenter

“The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University – exploring cyberspace, sharing in its study, and helping to pioneer its development.”  What’s not to love about that mission statement?

bethanysimpson

Bethany Simpson is “LA Media Director with equal interest in creativity and logic.”  And she follows me on Twitter and is a joy to read.

BigChampagne

They count, quantize and know what’s what and who’s who on P2P networks.

biggayicecream

Big Gay Ice Cream is how to

1. run an ice cream truck (trust me – I spent 3 summers as an ice cream man)

2. do gourmet ice cream

3. travel to great neighborhoods in Manhattan (what isn’t a great neighborhood in Manhattan?)

4. interact with the public by means of Twitter

5. be gay

Billboardbiz

If you have that music/music industry affliction, you have to pay some attention to Billboard and its Twitter accounts.  Damn shame when that happens.  : )

Billboarddotcom

I’ll write it again:  If you have that music/music industry affliction, you have to pay some attention to Billboard and its Twitter accounts.  Damn shame when that happens.  : )

Billboardglenn

The 3rd time is the charm:  If you have that music/music industry affliction, you have to pay some attention to Billboard and its Twitter accounts.  Damn shame when that happens.  : )

BoingBoing

Boing Boing is wicked cool –  always featuring things you didn’t know you’d love to know.  Today’s top two (2) headlines:  “Porcupine Bites Skier” and “Malls Are Dying.”  (I’m sorry to hear about the skier, but I hope the mall story is true.)

BostonSymphony

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is the world’s best orchestra.  Calm down you Chicago and Berlin types.  You’re great too but….  Where was it I grew up?  Chicago?  Berlin?  No, Cambridge and Framingham.  The Boston Symphony Orchestra was our hometown team.  Ergo, we win.

BradPaisley

Brad Paisley is an extremely-talented songwriter, guitarist, musician (usually different than the other nouns I’ve provided in this sentence), singer, lyricist.  And he does Twitter very well.  Exceedingly well.  (I’d guess that this is the first time in my www.emichaelmusic.com world that I’ve used the word, “exceedingly.”)

brewster_kahle

From his Twitter account:  “Digital Librarian.”  Kahle is just a digital librarian in the same way that Gonzalo Rubalcaba is just a pianist.   http://openlibrary.org    http://brewster.kahle.org  

BrightTALK

“Webinars and video for professionals and their communities.”  I especially like them because I was one of their one-hour webinars.  (E. Michael Harrington at BrightTALK, June 9, 2009)

businessinsider

“The latest business news and analysis.”  Business Insider is always a great read.  Even if you have no interest in business, you will enjoy BusinessInsider.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

As always, I welcome your feedback on best Twitter accounts, as well as recommendations/suggestions for music, tech, law, communication and business ideas.

 

Humans Acting Out In Business, My Favorite Twitter Accounts – the letter “A”

file0001871681518

Awhile ago I published a list of Resources that I intend to update, i.e., a living, breathing document.  It is what could be called a “Bibliography,” and I used to call it that until I received the very good advice to change the name, “Bibliography,” to “Resources.”  Those Resources are a list of websites that relate in some way to the music and entertainment industry  –  they are connected to the music and entertainment industry in my mind.  It is my belief that every musician and person in the world of music and entertainment must know more than music.  Law, technology, business, film, video, television, advertising and communication, especially 21st century style communication by means of social media, are some of what should go into/be shot into/forced down the throat of/taught to a musician or person living in these post-Mayan times.  We need to confront and try to master what is represented by those social media proper nouns –  those companies and services –  and verbs formed by speaking nouns as if they were verbs.  For example:

We Facebook

We FB

We Tweet

We Google Plus

We G Plus

We G +

We G+  (with “G+” rather than “G space +” we assume that long distance is not as good as close distance)

We Pinterest

We Pin

We Social (spelled, “we so.cl” – any Microsoft-inclined people reading this?)

We Tumblr (4 ya)

We WordPress

We Blog

We Microblog (this is not the same as calling a physician because a blog lasts more than 4 hours)

 *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

My Resources will include new categories and lists beginning with “these are a few of my favorite Twitter accounts,” whether “the dog bites” or “the bee stings.”  These are meant to make you not “feel so bad.”  For now, they are websites.

Here is a glimpse (not “Glympse,” the app) of one of the future coming attractions  –  my long list of Favorite Twitter accounts.  For now, this post will be an annotated list of my favorite Twitter accounts that begin with the letter, “A.”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Dr. E. Michael Harrington

www.emichaelmusic.com

emh2625@gmail.com

Resources:

Twitter:

My Favorite Twitter Accounts:   The letter “A”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

AJEnglish

Al Jazeera English is a great resource for news of the world (oops – not that “News of The World.”  Al-Jazeera is not a terrorist organization.  Did I need a paragraph for separation between News Of The World and “terrorist organization?”)  Al Jazeera:  Good.

Alleyinsider

Want to find out what’s happening in the world of computers/computing/digital this and that?  There’s AlleyInsider.

allsongs

National Public Radio does so many things well.  This is a great place to hear music of many styles, places and genres.  “NPR’s online and on air music show. Dedicated to finding music you’ll fall in love with.”  Yes, this is an exceptional statement and one which “can get away with” ending a sentence with a preposition.  

AMAnet

The American Management Association, not the American Medical Association.  Good straightforward articles about the world of “humans acting out in business.”  I will take credit/blame for that “humans acting out in business” phrase.  Catchy, eh?  Says the Canadian.

anildash

Anil Dash has a good brain and sense of humor.

annkpowers

Ann is a “writer, a-mama, poptimist trying to eat right and live present in a high-fructose world.”  Very insightful and smart talk about music and life.

AppStore

Something to do with Apple and applications?  Promotional but some of the promoted material is worthwhile.

arslaw

Fun times in the world of technology, law and policy.

arstechnica

Described on their Twitter profile as, “original news and reviews, analysis of tech trends, and expert advice on the most fundamental aspects of tech and the many ways it’s helping us enjoy our world.”   I agree.  I love that they love to “enjoy our world.”  It’s also good that they used “it’s” to mean “it is.”

artbrodsky

Very good stuff from an attorney/thinker/Internet advocate and blogger for Public Knowledge.

artistshouse

“Helping Musicians and Music Entrepreneurs Create Sustainable Careers.”  That is a damn good calling as musicians are often lambs led to 1. wolves, 2. slaughter, 3. cruel biological experiments, 4.  numbers 1, 2 and 3 at once.  The Artists House Music site is the best resource for musicians who strive to know more than potted plants, and AHM is in desperate need of funding.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

In future blog posts:

1.  My Favorite Twitter accounts – the letters “A” and “B”

2.  More about the foolish lawsuit against Alicia Keys.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

Johnny Cash, Danzig, Life in Vizify, Today is not 12/12/12, Social Media Reveals I’m 65/132 Brazilian

 

12/12/12 Twelve Twelve Twelve Zwölf Zwölf Zwölf is now gone.  I want to wash that 12 right out of my hair.

Q.  Best way to get rid of 12?  A.  13  Welcome to December 13, 2012.  There will only be one of these.  This is probably the best day to get engaged or give birth.

Time for a thirteen (13) song:   Johnny Cash  –  Thirteen

There are other thirteen songs  – Frank Zappa, Bata Kanda, and Chuck Berry, but I want to hear Johnny Cash sing Danzig.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

I got my Vizify account, 2012 version, on Tuesday.  They were wise to get it out before 12-12-12.  If we have social media, we must have social media metrics.  And bells and whistles.  Vizify does all of that well, and fortunately, our lives can be reduced to a few pages.

Before I broadcast my life in Vizify, I should note that Facebook has now taken to their version of metrics a la the encapsulated annum-in-review model.  If all goes right with this bit.ly link, and if Facebook will allow you access, here is the Facebook version of my 2012 life in Vizify.

All of this Vizify activity  –  the entire 11-page report  – could only happen if I was very active in 2012 in

Foursquare

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

and I granted the app permission to these four (4) life measure-ers, and remembered all four (4) of my very long alpha-numeric melodic passwords.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

A  C  T  I  V  I  T  I  E  S

S   H   O   P   S         &      S   E   R   V   I   C   E   S

This objectively shows that I have my life in order as I’ve taken more trips to liquor stores than banks, pharmacies or “others.”  I’m proud that I’ve been to more “record shops” than gas stations, liquor stores, pharmacies, banks and “others.”

Grocery store  –  292

Gym  –  117

Electronics  –  73

Bookstore  –  41

Record Shop  –  40

Gas station/garage  –  36

Liquor store  –  28

Other  –  Shop  –  26

Pharmacy  –  22

Bank/Financial  –  21

A  C  T  I  V  I  T  I  E  S

F  O  O  D

My taste in food is superb.  I think of myself as, to borrow a now-famous adjective, SEVERELY Brazilian.  But via social media snooping-metrics, I am only ALMOST Brazilian.  By these snooping standards, I am barely more American than Brazilian by 67 to 65.

And then my next outside-the-home eating is pizza, Middle Eastern and so on.  It’s best to just list it:

Coffee shop  –  190

American  –  67

Brazilian  –  65

Pizza  –  55

Middle Eastern  –  41

Greek  –  40

Seafood  –  37

Bakery  –  32

Mexican  –  29

Sandwiches  –  24

Italian  –  23

A  C  T  I  V  I  T  I  E  S

O  T  H  E  R

The rest of the year is completed by this compilation.  When I wasn’t eating pizza or trying to pass for a Brazilian, here’s what I did:

Home  –  473  (To create & recite a completely original expression – “There’s no place like home.”)

Medical  –  215   (I was spending great time with my Mom.)

Hiking Trail  –  151  (Most of this was at Callahan State Park in Framingham.)

Road  –  142   

Academic Building  –  123

Park  –  106  (If not 820-acre Callahan, it would have been Ramapo Mtn State Forest in New Jersey.)

Bridge  –  92   (This was mainly the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River.)

Hotel  –  47

Dog Run  –  44

Hospital  –  43   (Precious time with my Mom.)

Church  –  38

We live life, share our activities and interests, measure them and then broadcast what we’ve been sharing all year along with the Vizified measurement.  This year’s activities are made to look nice.

I love people and social media but still don’t reveal everything.

May your 13th be wonderful!