strange things are afoot at the CBC?

While listening to RadioEscapade on the CBC I heard mention of a few new CBC websites. I was surprised and pleased to find that the CBC has produced three very cool and surprisingly relevant music and arts based websites. Unfortunately they have mistaken cutting-edge technology (Flash in this case) for just-plain-cutting edge as the sites are heavy and require a fast connection. That said, I have a fast connection and some patience when it comes to finding good Canadian music.

NewMusicCanada.com
dedicated to showcasing Canadian bands. a nice ‘if you like [popular international group] then you’ll like [canadian group] feature’ that helps narrow down a list of bands you may not have heard of before. the quality is good but the quantity is lacking. I hope to see more bands up here soon.
 
JustConcerts.com
audio and video of live concerts and live CBC studio sessions. again, not much in terms of quantity, but starting with The Flashing Lights and Starling is pretty impressive.
 
120seconds.com
the self-proclaimed “home of Bite-sized Entertainment”. animation, video, games, etc. a bit of style over substance but worth a visit.

Some unsolicited advice for the CBC:

  • don’t go overboard with the technology. these sites are cool but be weary of style-over-substance. The Flashing Lights live in session is cool enough on it’s own. Just make it easy to get to.
  • upgrade your servers. streaming audio and video is only as good as the servers and bandwidth available. many of the video and audio clips I viewed on the three sites were choppy and dropped often while I can enjoy streaming media in surprisingly good quality from sites like Cnet.com and Launch.com
  • promote these sites. despite the problems I mention here they are good websites and deserve an audience.
 

re: milleniyumyum

re: milleniyumyum

matt has clearly missed the point of my “milleniyumyum” post.

allow me to explain: I was cleverly disguising my inability to spell the word millennium correctly (thanks Word) by poking fun at the many unfortunate misspellings we have endured during this millennial transition (thanks again Word). Also, it was inevitably influenced by an advertisement I had seen somewhere this year that used the term ‘millenni-yum-yum’.

however, as a someone who respects the principles of our pseudo-democracy (is there a word people like that?), I will submit to the winning punishment as voted by you, the people.

 

commercial WIRED musings

WIRED stats

Some interesting (or at least I thought so) stats from the latest issue of WIRED Magazine. Of the total 366 pages, a little over half, 200 are advertisments. Of the remaining 166 pages of ‘editorial’ content, 16 are basically unpaid ads for the products the cover.

I haven’t compared these numbers to other magazines, and I’m not really complaining (no one forced me to buy it), but it seems that WIRED is the Christmas Wish Book of the new milllenniyumyum.

About 50 of those editorial pages are dedicated to a fine history of the U.S. vs. Microsoft case which I would recommend reading (I’d like to it if it existed online – sigh).

 

I’m am a guilt free high roller

Here is a sample of the thoughts of a typical person entering a casino:

“Even though I know that the vast majority of people who go to casinos obviously lose money, otherwise they would close, I am smarter than everyone else and will somehow manage to gain financially.”

I, on the other hand, actually am smarter than everybody else. On my last trip to Halifax, I went in with $10 and came out with $16.50. Hello free Combo at Wendy’s! What’s that? Biggie size it? Why not! It’s free!

Bottom line is: Casinos are sad.