The Daily Haggis (Vox Mirror)

10 Things I Love: The Internet

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 05:32:01 -0500

No, it has not been four months since I last posted. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Moving on…

Continuing with the series of “10 Things I Love” we reach the next item on the list, something that without which you would not be reading these very words:

THE INTERWEBS.

Yes, as lame as it sounds, I love the Internet. It’s completely changed my life and managed to make things both more efficient AND take away hours of free time at the same time.

Where did it all begin? Where did this fascination of wanting to be online and interacting with complete strangers come from?

Follow me as we take a short detour to my teenage years.

My first exposure to the open publicity of the Internet was before it was even widely available outside of college campuses. I was an avid user of Dial-Up chat boards, back in the days of the BBS - Bulletin Board System. For those who have no idea what that is, it was basically either a single person or a small company who allowed people to call into their computers via the phone lines. Once connected, it was a small site that had message boards or text games.

The larger systems had multiple phone lines so that you could chat with other users, and the chat boards were born. In Houston we had a few that I would regularly call and stay online with until the wee hours of the summer mornings. Off the top of my head the ones I visited most were: Houston After Dark, Houston Teen Beat (once we were all kicked off HAD), and later on Colors of Chat. There was also Matchmaker, but it was not only expensive but also was a haven for the dark side of the scene (there always is one).

Once dial-up Internet hit the world, and I’m not talking about America On-Line, I had a whole new world to explore. At the time there wasn’t much but E-Mail, Usenet, and IRC, but then Netscape Navigator debuted and gave us the World Wide Web and it was a whole new game.

Over the years I’ve found new obsessions birthed by the Internet: Napster, Blogs (since 2002!), YouTube, MySpace / Facebook, Social Networking, MMORPG’s, and much much more.

Here’s a few of the things that I primarily do because the internet allows me to better than ever before, and the tools I use:

Balance My Bank Account & Pay Bills

Mint / Yodlee

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Online Banking? Whatever. I need more than just my bank balance. I need to be able to enter in manual transactions, see how I’m doing on my budget, set saving goals, and reoccurring transactions. And I also need this available wherever I am going.

Enter Yodlee Moneycenter and Mint, both really good applications that are taking online banking to the next level. I’ve been testing Mint for about eight months now and it’s pretty great in its beta stages, but lately I’ve been gravitating over to Yodlee simply because it offers much more.

Mint and Yodlee both allow you to set budgets, see your spending habits, and set budget/account alerts, but Yodlee allows you to import not only your bank account but also Loans, Electricity and Utility bills, and even reward systems like the Best Buy Reward Center.

If you have doubts about security, then fear not: Yodlee is the major engine behind almost all of the bank’s online banking. The security to login is almost annoying but understood; this is my money we’re dealing with.

Keep My Life in Order

Remember the Milk

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I am a complete scatterbrain. If I don’t write something down, typically I’ve forgotten it by the time it’s crossed my — ooh look, a bunny!

Uh.. nevermind. The moral of the story is, I need something to help me. Not just remember things like my friends and families birthdays, but also things like thinking I need ketchup, only to discover the two other bottles in the pantry upon return from the grocery store.

Enter Remember The Milk. This simple task service allows you to make any list you wish, whether its just a simple grocery list (with priorities), birthdays, bill payment due dates, or simply adding upcoming events.

While opening Notepad and writing a list is easy enough, RTM allows interfacing through several methods: through a plugin for Firefox/gMail/Google Apps, text messaging services, Twitter direct messages, and even a Google Talk account.

Find Old Friends

Facebook/MySpace

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I check my E-Mail about ten million times a day, and probably check Facebook and MySpace about half that. When I joined MySpace I was suddenly being contacted with people I hadn’t spoken to in 5-10 years, sometimes more. The list only grew once Facebook opened up for more than just college students.

It’s been a little easier and less time-consuming with great tools like Digsby, which allow me to update my status and check on friend updates without making me go to the websites. Facebook I don’t mind so much, but MySpace — new design or not — looks like ass, so I avoid it as much as possible these days.

Watch TV

Hulu / Windows Media Center / iTunes Store

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Remember the days when if you happened to miss an episode of your favorite show, you had to wait until summer to watch the rerun? I do, and it was terrible. Luckily there were a lot more non-linear shows around back then, but it was still a hassle to deal with.

With the internet, if I miss a show I can pop on one of the network websites and watch it the next day, sometimes hours after the original broadcast. Miss an episode of LOST? Pop on ABC.com and watch it in HD. Want to take it with me? Go on iTunes and download the episode for $1.99 and I can watch it on my iPod anywhere.

Not only does this apply to new shows, but older shows are finding new life on the internet. Recently several networks joined together and created hulu, which catalogs both new and old series ranging from fan (and personal) favorite Arrested Development to classic television like Buck Rogers.

Also available on Windows Vista and Windows Media Center Edition is the Media Center application from Microsoft. The Vista version has direct links to several online providers of television and film content, as well as full-length movies.

Play Video Games

World of Warcraft / Halo 2

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As I spoke about in the first “10 Things I Love” list, I do so love video games. Even more than playing them by myself, I love to play them with friends even more. The social aspect of playing games always makes them that much more fun, whether you are fighting against each other, or helping to achieve a shared goal.

MMORPG’s are the ultimate in shared experience games. I’ve made several friends among those in my World of Warcraft guild, many of which live hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles away.

Video game consoles have also benefited from online multiplay. Halo is a fun game, sure, but it’s so much more fun when you can play with four of your friends online from the comfort of their own couch, and you don’t even have to share the screen with your opponents. It’s even brought the “trash talk” element to the console with voice chat.

Discover New Music

Last.fm

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Music, which is going to be the feature of its own “10 Things” article, is something else that is very important to me. There is hardly a time in the day where I don’t have music playing, either in concentration or just simply background noise.

I’m pretty good about discovering new artists and new songs on my own, but there have been times when I’ve used the aid of one of my favorite social networks, Last.fm. What started out as Audioscrobbler, a tool for sending your music listening statistics to show how much you listen to what, eventually became Last.fm, a full social network for people who love music and want more of it.

It started with recommendations. A click on the artist profile you are listening to shows you “Similar artists” based on the listening habits of other users who listen to the same band or song. Then came the playlists and user radio, which played back streaming songs picked right out of your own tracks and other artists like them. Last.fm’s latest allows paid subscribers access to full-length tracks and videos by several recording artists out there.

I’ve so firmly immersed my life with the Internet it’s difficult to imagine a world where it doesn’t exist. The one thing I haven’t decided on though, is if my life would be more or less productive. While I’ve been good about listing productive services (not counting Facebook/Myspace) I use, I also spend an equal amount of time on sites like Fark, Twitter, and my Google Reader RSS feeds.

Regardless of productivity or not, the Internet continues to shape and change the way I do ordinary tasks. I don’t want to be part of a world that isn’t connected.

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Can’t Wait for April

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:11:27 -0600

Who has two thumbs and is going to see FEIST at Stubbs BBQ in Austin on April 15th?

(Points thumbs back at self)

This guy!

(Who’s goin?)

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Endless Clock Watching

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:59:20 -0600

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Clockwatching
by Jason Mraz, “Mr. A-Z”

Take off both your shoes and clothes I’ll follow
Undo corkscrew drink from the half of a broken bottle
Lately we’re running out of time, aren’t we?
Smoking often and calling out our guilty pleasures
Let’s keep talking anything to stop clock watching
Lately we’re running out of time.
aren’t we crazy for running all the time? Maybe
Let’s forget we’re running out of time

I’m off like an aeroplane
I’m licking your postage stamp again
I’m using my right brain and I’m praying that we don’t crash
Who knew I’d come so fast?
So what if a two pump chump can’t last
But I made it to three and I foreclosed a five-minute fantasy
On a short lived flight making love on economy

No jumping conclusions
I don’t think there’s no solution
Let’s get backwards and forget our restless destination
Let’s live in the moment just this time could we
Just take one moment of our time maybe
Let’s forget we’re running out of time

I’m off like an aeroplane
I’m catching my second wind again
I’m using my left-brain and I’m righting all my wrongs
I’m yearning to turn you on
I’ve been working on getting you off so get on board

But how I guess by the subject of the best predicate is left unsaid
When the matter is too delicate my loneliness is evident
And it’s You. You’re running through my mind
And it makes me crazy

Lady dreamer you might be the soundest sleeper
Tonight sleep tight and build your nest upon my shoulder

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Flashback Friday: Sonic Youth

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:47:06 -0600

When you look up “hip indie music” in the dictionary, Sonic Youth’s band picture is shown. Their bizarre/catchy song Bull In The Heather off of the Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star album released May 3, 1994 is the focus of today’s Flashback Friday.

The album this track appears on was my first Sonic Youth album, and even then I only had a marginal understanding of the music. I was just starting to get into alternative and independent music, and I felt so.. hip listening to them. Kinda like the kids that listened to Dinosaur Jr., I felt by knowing who Sonic Youth even was added cool points to me. Ahh the simplicity of the teenage years.

From their Last.fm Bio:

Initially inspired by the experimentation of Glenn Branca and The Velvet Underground and the heavy garage rock of The Stooges, they are known for using a variety of unorthodox guitar tunings, and for applying screwdrivers, drumsticks or other preparations to guitars to alter the instruments timbre.

Members of the band have released books of poetry and prose (a beatnik influence is evident in both their writing and lyrics), produced, written and performed in films (such as “1991: The Year Punk Broke”, “Perfect Partner”, “(this is known as) the blues scale” and “last days”). They have staged shows of visual art, and curated the All Tomorrows Parties music festival. They’ve even appeared in and performed a version of the theme song for “The Simpsons”.

In addition to their 21 albums as Sonic Youth there is much material recorded and performed with other artists, solo albums, and side-projects. It can be said that Sonic Youth are an artistic collective just as much as they are a traditional rock/pop band.

Big plus to Thurston Moore himself for uploading their videos to YouTube. Enjoy!

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Flashback Friday - Suzanne Vega

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:25:02 -0600

Suzanne Vega’s 99.9F° is today’s Flashback Friday, off of the album of the same name. Suzanne Vega had a few major breakout hits in the late 80’s/early 90’s, including “Luka” and of course the remixed “Tom’s Diner“. FYI - The original Tom’s Diner was a capella!

The track and both the album were phenomenal, but only received lukewarm airplay compared to previously released tracks. Other standout tracks on the album were “Blood Makes Noise” and one of my personal favorites, “In Liverpool“.

A little more about Ms. Vega from Last.fm’s artist bio:

Suzanne Vega (born Suzanne Nadine Vega, 11 July 1959, Santa Monica, California) is an American singer-songwriter noted for her eclectic folk-inspired music. She lived most of her life in New York City, attending the New York City High School of the Performing Arts (the school seen in the feature film musical Fame), where she studied modern dance.

However, Vega realized that her talent in dance was not sufficient to make her living doing it. While attending Columbia studying English, she penned many songs and performed in the Greenwich Village area.

She was discovered in 1984, releasing her eponymous debut the following year. However, it was not until her sophomore effort, Solitude Standing, that Vega hit the big time.

Have a great weekend!

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Flashback Friday: Baz Luhrmann

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:00:17 -0500

Today’s Flashback Friday comes courtesy of my friends and former roommates, who managed to pull this gem of a track out of my memory. The song is Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen), by Baz Luhrmann off of the Everything For Everybody album, released March 31, 1998.

Baz Luhrmann is probably best known for his directorial skills in such films as Mulan Rouge, however in 1998 he released this collection of songs that included extended version and remixes of other popular songs from several different eras covering everything from Prince’s “When Doves Cry” to Doris Day’s “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps.” The most notable song off the album is this track, which got some serious radio and video airplay when released.

The legend says the wording was from a graduation speech at MIT while in truth they were a journalist writing what she would say at such a speech, but either way their insight isn’t lost. The lyrics were actually taken from a column published in The Chicago Tribune in 1997. The song even had a seal of approval from the Bishop of Liverpool who said at the time that he believed ‘Everybody’s Free’ carried an important moral message.

Enjoy the track, and remember to wear your sunscreen!

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Flashback Friday: Presidents of the United States of America

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 18:33:48 -0500

I thought i’d take a turn from the jaded slacker music of the 90’s to something a little more upbeat, if not completely ridiculous. Today’s Flashback Friday is none other than the three-member Presidents of the United States of America doing their biggest hit, Lump, from their self-titled debut released on July 25, 1995.

PUSA had quite a few hit tracks off the album, including Boll Weavel, Peaches, and one of my personal fav’s, Kitty (on my foot and I wanna touch it). They released two more albums which received lackluster sales but high reviews from critics before breaking up in 1998. The members were involved in several solo projects and collaborations with other artists before finally reuniting in 2000, and launching their own record label in 2004.

Enjoy the video, and have a great weekend!

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Flashback Friday: Cornershop

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:00:30 -0500

Today’s Flashback Friday is a happy little tune from Cornershop called “Brimful of Asha” off of the When I Was Born For The 7th Time album, released in 1997.

Cornershop is a rock band from Leicester, UK, consisting of Tjinder Singh (singer, songwriter, and dholaki player), Ben Ayres (guitar, keyboards, and tamboura), Anthony Saffery (sitar, keyboards and harmonium), Nick Simms (drums) and Peter Bengry (percussion).

Their name comes from a term that refers to indian immigrants that move to england, in that they often own street corner stores.

Along with this breakout track from their album, Fatboy Slim remixed the song a year later which shot the track to the top of the charts once again. The band has released a few albums since When I Was Born.. but has failed to receive much radio airplay.

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Flashback Friday: Frente!

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:05:42 -0500

Today’s Flashback Friday is a cover of Bizarre Love Triangle by the Australian based band Frente! off the Marvin The Album LP.

Bizarre Love Triangle was originally written and recorded by the fantastic New Order in the late 80’s, but Frente’s somber, quiet version lets you really appreciate the beautiful lyrics in the song. Gone is the heavy sampled techno beat from the original, replaced only with an Acoustic guitar and frontwoman Angie Hart’s lilting voice.

Formed in 1991, Frente! emerged from a radio playlist of jaded grunge rockers dominating the scene and became something of a hit with their first few singles, including another Frente! fav of mine, Labour of Love, Accidentally Kelly Street, and Ordinary Angels. Their second produced album, Shape, failed to sell and the band soon broke up afterwards.

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Flashback Friday: Chumbawamba

nobody@vox.com(Haggis) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:00:35 -0500

Today’s Flashback Friday is a track you love to hate, Tubthumping by Chumbawamba. The one-and-only track ever widely played on commercial radio by the band, Tubthumping is a classic modern drinking song.

The band was actually formed as far back as 1982, but their only real commercial success comes from when they signed with EMI, which was ironic especially due to the band’s general hatred for the music label. They even participated in a compilation a few years previously called Fuck EMI.

Chumbawamba has released a few other albums since the 1997 release of Tubthumper, eventually jumping ship at EMI and formed their own label, MUTT Records for UK Distribution. The last the public heard from the band was their performance at London’s Glastonbury Festival in June 2007.

Enjoy!

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