Author: vanevery

The joy of statistics – Music sales actually up

RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter
The labels manipulate the numbers showing declining sales as a result of peer-to-peer file sharing. In truth, there are other reasons for the numbers and music sales at stores are actually up.
From the article:
Now here’s where things get interesting: The RIAA forecast a 7 percent decline in recorded music sales for 2004, but data from market research outfit Soundscan, which measures point-of-purchase sales, shows a 10 percent increase in music sales when comparing the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2003…

What is the dominant party where you are right now?

Red | Blue from Gravity Monkey
Good illustration of some of the interesting software that may be developed with cell phones as they start integrating various technologies and bridges between them with J2ME.
From the site:
red | blue (pronounced ‘red or blue’) is a free Java app that figures out where you stand, or perhaps more accurately, where you are standing in our politically polarized country.

Healthcare, grants and other services for artists

Fractured Atlas – a Non-Profit Arts Service Organization
Like the site says:
Fractured Atlas provides services, resources, and support to liberate a nation of artists. From healthcare to publicity to collaborative production grants, we supply critical tools for independent artists and arts organizations so they can focus on their creative responsibilities. By nurturing today’s vital but underrepresented voices, we hope to play a role in fostering a dynamic and diverse cultural landscape of tomorrow.

The truth about the H2 (Hummer)

FUH2 | Fuck You And Your H2
From the site:
The H2 is a gas guzzler. Because it has a gross vehicle weight rating over 8500 lbs, the US government does not require it to meet federal fuel efficiency regulations. Hummer isn’t even required to publish its fuel economy (owners indicate that they get around 10 mpg for normal use). So while our brothers and sisters are off in the Middle East risking their lives to secure America’s fossil fuel future, H2 drivers are pissing away our “spoils of victory” during each trip to the grocery store.

Open hosting

Metawire Network open hosting
Sort of an open source model for server hosting.
From the site:
Metawire.org is a collaboritive effort between Daniel Selans and Eric Harrison to provide free shell, email, and webhosting at a quality of service unheard of on the Internet today. Metawire.org offers the most storage space, a diverse selection of domains to choose from, and a great underlying OS (OpenBSD) to power a new generation of free hosting services. Metawire offers unrivaled levels of service, poising itself high above any and all existing competitors.

The empty black cube

On Tele-absence
Elliott has a nice write up on the concept and ideas behind Tele-absence (the opposite of Tele-Presence, something I have been spending the majority of my time on).
From the site:
I recently, along with Anees Assali, created a large black cube that sits motionless and visually impenetrable in a gallery space. Beyond its simple physical structure, the cube is also a web server with a fixed address. When viewers choose to visit the web site broadcast from the cube, they see a live video stream of its interior, which is empty. The cube does nothing other than serve up an empty space