tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25245633130375151342012-02-16T13:46:04.867-08:00technology, the music business, big ideasTony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.comBlogger1331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-3693775941249359912009-10-25T19:39:00.000-07:002009-10-26T09:59:56.887-07:00

Check out the LA Time's interactive look at U2's amazing new "The Claw" stage setup:And here are some great pre-show pics from U2's 10/24/09 stop in Las Vegas by John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun (click each pic to bring it up on TwitPic):And... a post-show overview from CNET.With a CNET photo gallery here:

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-13249109865853465332009-06-08T01:23:00.000-07:002009-06-08T02:22:53.635-07:00

I got the chance to chat with Billy Ray Cyrus for a few minutes after his 6/6/09 show at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, WA.Check my Tweets from that night for comments about the show and some more pictures at Twitpic.(Quick side note about the Emerald Queen: before every show an announcement is made asking all the veterans in the house to stand up for a round of applause. Classy, and quite

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-56252114273801880472009-06-02T00:21:00.000-07:002009-06-02T01:02:07.964-07:00

My son went through his "Toy Story" phase a few years back where he literally watched Toy Story or Toy Story (or both) every day for months. He (and I) have easily seen both films 100+ times. And they're both STILL awesome. Can't wait for June 2010!

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-52342416623003354102009-05-19T14:19:00.000-07:002009-05-19T14:33:29.642-07:00

Love this from Google's interface guru Marissa Mayer:Be an information fountain.Tell everyone everything, the more valuable the better.Sharing leads to connections.Connections lead to collaboration.Collaboration leads to creativity & innovation.Creativity & innovation are what change the world.From her 5/16/09 Commencement Address at the Illinois Institute Of Technology:See two other 2009

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-55827797556956755822009-03-18T10:21:00.000-07:002009-03-18T14:33:24.352-07:00

If you have a compatible Blackberry, you're going to want to try out the free streaming music services from Slacker and BlackBerry.Slacker's app has been out for a little while (and just got a version update), Pandora's is just out.My take?Slacker: the "now playing" screen has the album art for the cut that's playing, plus images in the background of the last 2 items that played, and the cover

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-56101254970172024652009-03-08T14:17:00.000-07:002009-03-08T14:51:06.356-07:00

Thanks to Mark Ramsey for posting my notes* from Seth Godin's presentation at CRS 2009 in Nashville.* (my notes are from my Tweets from CRS, hashtag: #crsnash).

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-83728860223845899852009-02-19T10:17:00.000-08:002009-02-19T10:31:52.516-08:00

"Rascal Flatts is teaming up with retailer JC Penney for a wide-ranging marketing and promotion deal which includes tour support, merchandise, advertisements and in-store play, Billboard.biz has learned. The deal kicks off with the April 7 release of the band's "Unstoppable" (Lyric Street) and will continue for at least two years, with an option to extend for additional years at the end of

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-70519686046793372442009-02-10T12:34:00.000-08:002009-02-10T12:45:04.639-08:00

My son and I have had a blast watching Cartoon Network's animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series together. Variety reports there will be more to come.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-57255362035178174902009-02-10T10:36:00.001-08:002009-02-10T12:44:15.739-08:00

The technology behind this works very, very well. Have fun with it!

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-41585143280351075872009-02-06T00:54:00.000-08:002009-06-08T20:38:34.641-07:00

For years this has been my favorite exchange of pilot-to-tower communication:But that's now a distant second to this (trouble starts at 2:23):Listen to it along with this excellent overview of what happened from this piece in Vanity Fair.More here.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-10919701299246767602009-01-09T01:05:00.000-08:002009-01-30T10:12:35.418-08:00

Whew, it takes a lot of behind-the-scenes effort to make that yellow line appear (click the image to play):

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-65907383241597092472009-01-08T11:39:00.000-08:002009-01-30T10:05:58.500-08:00

The press release says: "Songsmith software automatically composes accompaniment music for whatever tune a singer belts, hums or whistles into a microphone, regardless of skill level."Besides the singing "family" bit in the demo, this is pretty amazing.You can use the demo download for 6 hours for free. I don't see any restrictions in the EULA on using the final musical output, do you? Update:

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-24595420537680026622008-12-17T16:26:00.000-08:002008-12-17T16:45:25.563-08:00

What a GREAT job Dierks Bentley did at the recent Nobel Peace Prize concert in Norway:A better quality video is HERE.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-44084181134375499392008-12-08T14:29:00.000-08:002008-12-08T14:31:17.715-08:00

Quite worth the 5 minute running time:

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-39325316510296277072008-12-08T11:05:00.000-08:002008-12-08T14:38:15.552-08:00

Turn the iPod Touch into a phone!

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-80586118773899724882008-12-02T12:38:00.000-08:002008-12-02T12:42:53.239-08:00

Ha - so clearly more than a little borrowed from Monsters, Inc. here, but it still looks funny:

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-5506072498075871632008-10-30T13:08:00.000-07:002008-10-30T13:15:18.490-07:00

How amazing is it that 40 + years after their first hit that The Beatles are still in the center of pop culture?"Every member of the Apple team -- Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon have been part of the conversation, have seen demonstrations of the game, understand how it's going to roll out, what you're going to see on your screen, how the interactivity and the

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-50511280515498696652008-10-21T08:19:00.000-07:002008-10-21T08:26:48.403-07:00

Okay, it's probably a bit clunky, and most Smart Phones do as much, but I'd love one, wouldn't you!?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-39944882756223564292008-10-19T23:48:00.000-07:002008-10-20T00:00:16.966-07:00

Now you can get wireless access anywhere in Baltimore (at least that's the spin). A promo video from Intel:The word from USA Today is it's fast, but not free.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-14274481455273316562008-10-07T23:00:00.000-07:002008-10-07T23:12:59.465-07:00

What if you could "wall off" an area of Wi-Fi, where anyone outside a set perimeter couldn't access your signal? Check out the video:I first saw this on the Seattle PI's new Seattle Tech Report site.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-30957406029995875282008-10-01T01:10:00.000-07:002008-10-01T01:13:26.734-07:00

Watch carefully... (will open in a new window)

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-57275660295407419672008-09-27T10:57:00.000-07:002008-09-27T11:47:08.916-07:00

We're drowning in choices - music, tv channels, web sites. Why does so little truly excite us? And why are so few people making any real money from all that's being put forth? I think Kevin Kelly is really on top of it, with so many nuggets here:Where ever attention flows, money will follow.Maintain an incoming flow of attention and money will follow....the fact that something does work or is

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-5616743120245391022008-09-23T22:41:00.000-07:002008-09-23T22:54:25.637-07:00

Wanna use the same username over a large number of sites?Check here first.Note: I couldn't get it to search using IE7, but worked fine for me with Firefox.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-58953448677044255682008-09-11T10:39:00.000-07:002008-09-11T10:41:48.213-07:00

So much to learn, so little time.Quite a list here of 100 places online to get smarter.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-48586450574431205532008-09-05T01:49:00.001-07:002008-09-05T01:56:07.693-07:00

A word cloud from Wordle.net of John McCain's acceptance speech at the 2008 Republican Convention (see Barack Obama's a few entries before). "Country" was the word of the night.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-63987762359636388422008-09-02T18:37:00.000-07:002008-09-02T18:52:22.228-07:00

God bless the Guitar Man, the great Jerry Reed, who passed away today at age 71."Amos Moses" was one of my FAVORITE songs on Top 40 radio growing up. "...knocked him in the head with a stone." BOMP. Classic. A nice short piece on Jerry from Rolling Stone from 1999 here.And I've always loved Jerry's take on "Patches," hear it here.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-39287996622398958852008-08-30T11:58:00.000-07:002008-08-30T12:08:04.682-07:00

Using one of these types of sites - list from smashingapps.com - is so much better than sending someone a massive audio or video file by e-mail. I've used mediafire.com with no problems, and yousendit.com many times, but you have to register.Here's another list of file storage sites.And another.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-32050537684163082432008-08-30T11:34:00.000-07:002008-08-30T11:40:45.467-07:00

Lots of tips on how you can get more out of Flickr, or get started, with this from ReadWriteWeb.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-59705618195952077752008-08-29T00:24:00.000-07:002008-08-29T00:41:06.472-07:00

I've seen word clouds around for awhile, but wordle.net sure makes them easy to create. To get a grasp of what Barack Obama said in his Democratic Convention acceptance speech, I made one of his prepared text. "Promise" looms large, but it looks like if "America" and "American" were combined, that would have been the most used word. Click on the image to see it better (wordle.net lets you use

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-16602203755917511442008-08-25T00:59:00.000-07:002008-08-25T10:34:57.933-07:00

Boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. A fascinating video look inside the mind of director Stanley Kubrick.Side note: I smiled that in the film one of the fan letters to Kubrick was noted to have been from Sequim, WA (one of my favorite places in the Pacific NW).And - quite a lot on Kubrick in his imdb.com bio.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-57443736794685278642008-08-23T12:40:00.000-07:002008-08-25T10:57:30.003-07:00

Lifehacker has some ideas about alternatives to Jott, now that it's out of beta and most functions are no longer free.In particular, vlingo works on BlackBerry.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-32478008466589850142008-08-23T03:01:00.000-07:002008-08-25T10:44:39.869-07:00

The Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites - Info, Search, and Reference - Reviews by PC Magazine

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-67745535094545192632008-08-23T00:48:00.000-07:002008-08-25T10:39:20.775-07:00

What it looks like high up on the diving platform . Move your mouse to take a look around.Some nice exterior shots of the Water Cube here.Plus Inside the Olympics Stadium in 360 degreesand View of the Opening Ceremonies - Interactive Feature - from NYTimes.com

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-71380149906446038432008-08-21T10:57:00.000-07:002008-08-21T11:03:55.583-07:00

It's for tracks you already own in iTunes.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-72285023039501983132008-08-14T10:37:00.000-07:002008-08-14T16:08:52.389-07:00

Well that didn't take long.Information Week says: "will deliver download speeds from 400 to 800 Kbps and average upload speeds of 400 Kbps."Combining this with the voice recognition features of Microsoft's Sync is when I think it's all going to get very interesting.Thoughts about how this competes with satellite radio here from Motley Fool.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-1754806540509317232008-08-13T00:22:00.000-07:002008-08-13T00:25:52.446-07:00

Score another completely gotta have one gadget from ThinkGeek.com! So awesome.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-10090566067864929182008-08-11T18:25:00.001-07:002008-08-11T18:28:04.901-07:00

Do you LOVE the video of Feist "counting to 4" on Sesame Street?! Sweet. She's a sport.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-44691009784513139492008-08-11T10:28:00.000-07:002008-08-11T10:35:51.306-07:00

Listen (and then listen again) to the amazing Shepard scale.And check out the Shepard-Risset glisssando (towards the bottom of the linked page).

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-78272699183934200022008-07-30T20:22:00.000-07:002008-07-30T20:32:46.249-07:00

My daughter just started in on the "Twilight" teen-vampire books. To get in the loop I found this overview of who's who in the "Twilight" novels from Entertainment Weekly to be handy.No doubt a road trip to Forks, WA will be in in our future.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-38295976135698663612008-07-28T16:28:00.000-07:002008-07-28T16:35:51.581-07:00

Wow, clever these marketers are.We will no doubt see a lot more of this.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-85242854418997387372008-07-28T00:36:00.001-07:002008-07-28T00:52:02.259-07:00

I still remember my first mono cassette recorder/player from the early 70s. It was amazing to be able to record my voice or the radio and play it back right away. And then came stereo, and Dolby, and all those blank TDK, Maxell, Memorex, and BASF tapes I bought over the years.I still have a few hundred cassettes - mostly spoken word stuff and radio airchecks - that really, I'm going to convert to

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-33998428096752428132008-07-28T00:03:00.000-07:002008-08-13T00:27:48.291-07:00

Maybe really cool, since it's a new search engine built by ex-Google engineers.8/13/08 - or, maybe not so cool at all...

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-67589005777300450152008-07-24T12:57:00.000-07:002008-07-24T12:58:59.908-07:00

A Wall St. Journal look at how the Long Tail is holding up.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-68489741094337591822008-07-20T11:46:00.000-07:002008-07-20T11:49:20.829-07:00

Neat piece from Rotten Tomatoes about Ben Burtt, the former Lucasfilm and now Pixar sound genius (and voice of Wall-E).

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-47022234224314588902008-07-20T01:49:00.000-07:002008-07-20T01:49:52.611-07:00

When I arrived in Boston for college I learned right away that something wicked was good, and that something "wicked pissah" was THE stuff. A fun listen in on the world of Boston-area accents.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-53741942558271115682008-07-19T00:24:00.000-07:002008-07-19T00:24:01.261-07:00

The List to Beat All Lists: Top 20 Productivity Lists to Rock Your Tasks | Zen Habits

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-31659830003061686542008-07-18T11:40:00.000-07:002008-07-18T11:40:06.319-07:00

I tried StumbleAudio, and after a few clicks found myself liking this album from pianist Mike Longo.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-46136679425947255912008-07-18T11:31:00.000-07:002008-07-18T11:31:09.055-07:00

Some solid sounding advice from Chris Brogan.Writing guest blog posts is sure one way, because the above-linked post made me want to subscribe to Chris's newsletter.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-2425960046845991632008-07-18T10:54:00.000-07:002008-07-18T10:57:07.918-07:00

Good ideas on how to engage people from Copyblogger.For example, I like "metaphors are the paths we create to lead our readers to our ideas. Create one strong enough, and it will become a highway of attention, leading readers to your blog more quickly than any other technique..."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-9938849218669217522008-07-18T10:19:00.000-07:002008-07-18T10:19:51.397-07:00

Nice and simple Online Alarm Clock.Will work even if you're not connected to the Internet, or so they say.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-4649873805301698272008-07-18T10:01:00.000-07:002008-07-18T10:01:53.758-07:00

What recession? Video game sales keep on flying higher

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-67330396751504559562008-07-17T23:26:00.000-07:002008-08-13T00:21:22.261-07:00

Can't wait to see the new Star Wars Clone Wars movie.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-47743957969090205672008-07-17T23:22:00.000-07:002008-07-17T23:22:10.824-07:00

Requiem for a cheeky 'Batman' - Entertainment News, Michael Caine: Profile in Excellence, Media - Variety

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-92160397826890600422008-06-29T23:58:00.000-07:002008-06-30T00:10:20.355-07:00

Did you see this about the median age of TV viewersnow being outside the 18-49 demo?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-11681096906022526072008-06-13T09:20:00.000-07:002008-06-13T09:30:59.429-07:00

The May sales numbers are out for the video game industry, and no surprise that GTA IV was the #1 software title. But Mario seemed to clean up everywhere else.Nintendo on the hardware side:"...the company has once again destroyed the competition. This is the fourth consecutive month that the Wii and DS have captured the top two hardware sales spots, and they have an iron grip on their locations.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-52992390819651317972008-06-03T11:10:00.000-07:002008-06-03T11:28:28.854-07:00

CBS has announced that their video player will soon let you embed a show in to your blog, like this:More and more TV will be seen on something that's not a TV..."Why does embedding matter? Because it reflects the increasingly distributed nature of network television."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-80573693114101308802008-05-25T23:49:00.000-07:002008-05-25T23:51:55.108-07:00

Good stats from the Harvard Business Review on what the last 10, even the last few, years have brought.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-25109416352444310442008-05-07T20:07:00.000-07:002008-05-07T20:09:45.402-07:00

Wow, so compelling. We'll pay attention when something is done this well:

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-71450483084990092412008-05-07T11:05:00.000-07:002008-05-07T11:08:14.187-07:00

Poof! Out of nowhere it's the Nintendo Channel. I downloaded it this morning. The menus are slick and the videos load fast.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-41714742507284449432008-05-07T09:31:00.000-07:002008-05-07T09:54:27.916-07:00

Just flat-out HUGE numbers. Even Captain Jack's 3rd movie got whacked by Niko Bellic:"Grand Theft Auto IV" has surged past "Halo 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" to set the record for the biggest opening week of any entertainment product. - VarietyBut Mario Kart Wii rules at our house, waiting for Nintendo's big numbers to shine too.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-84522960749324687252008-05-06T11:06:00.000-07:002008-05-06T11:13:07.989-07:00

Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen says you better not have much text on a web page if you want to communicate with your readers. "On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-66933297786321673922008-04-28T20:29:00.000-07:002008-04-28T20:38:14.529-07:00

"Nintendo announced late last week that it would increase its monthly production of Wii video game consoles to 2.4 million, from 1.8 million."Lots of strong video game industry numbers on the eve of GTA IV:Software sales were up 63 percent in March compared with March 2007, according to NPD Group, which tracks sales. Equipment sales were up 46 percent over the same period.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-54353966513745071342008-04-28T11:12:00.000-07:002008-04-28T11:13:42.651-07:00

So it's good news on the digital side, more tough numbers on the CD-sales side.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-83380292810230447122008-04-23T00:18:00.000-07:002008-04-23T00:25:10.340-07:00

Ha - well done, funny, and a bit haunting... You get that Charlie really wants to connect with...Charlie

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-26927477575142363012008-04-22T18:43:00.000-07:002008-04-22T18:55:16.342-07:00

The slice of dark blue (CDs) in the chart is shrinking fast. A good overview of what's up in the fast-changing music market. In this survey paid downloads are growing, but here's the tough nugget for record companies: "... the biggest source of music for people is their friends — either burning CDs or ripping files ..."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-4362716880065227712008-04-18T12:34:00.000-07:002008-04-19T09:04:55.572-07:00

No surprise - online video viewing is way up, 66% more videos watched in February than a year ago. YouTube had almost a third of the traffic. No one else was even close.No doubt demonstrations of mad skills on the mike from folks like Chris from the Valory Music Company (below) have been driving traffic... :o

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-19832382636380856662008-04-17T18:24:00.001-07:002008-04-17T18:30:50.136-07:00

Recession? What recession?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-82619657185324579932008-04-15T13:54:00.001-07:002008-04-15T13:57:45.622-07:00

Here's a neat bit of news for small business owners from Google Maps.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-87909728996057917732008-04-11T10:38:00.000-07:002008-04-11T10:48:23.124-07:00

Wow, the creative musical possibilities shown here in Melodyne's new software are limitless. Maybe even a little scary. Note: I first thought the narrator in the video was saying "meaty," but it's how he pronounces "Midi."And much like how digital image editing has challenged us in how we look at any kind of visual, this shows that going forward you'll never really be able to know what the

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-68409200272463997172008-04-09T07:59:00.000-07:002008-04-09T08:04:11.535-07:00

And perhaps the best news in the statement about 3D and Disney's upcoming slate of animated movies is that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are confirmed for Toy Story 3. All is right with the world.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-15076577063706697802008-04-08T07:06:00.000-07:002008-04-08T07:08:51.938-07:00

Seems Xbox might get a motion controller by year's end. Will that be a threat to Nintendo, or a sign that the Wii has knocked Xbox off its game?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-33053996370283391482008-04-03T18:25:00.000-07:002008-04-03T18:29:36.083-07:00

It only took about 4 years for Apple to become the biggest music seller in the US.The news came on the same day as the announcement of 3 of the 4 big music companies making a deal with MySpace.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-41962663166149878032008-04-03T11:50:00.000-07:002008-04-03T11:57:32.157-07:00

Will Live Nation's signing of Jay-Z give the "partner with the promoter, not the label" idea a whole lot more traction? Besides the big up-front money (about $80 Mill!), it takes the pressure off of Jay-Z for a radio hit: “In a way I want to operate like an indie band,” he said. “Play the music on tour instead of relying on radio. Hopefully we’ll get some hits out of there and radio will pick it

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-19920440671634590352008-03-28T13:18:00.000-07:002008-03-28T13:29:51.653-07:00

What if you could find and bond with 1,000 "true fans" who would spend $100 a year on your works? Interesting look at how an artist or content creator might not have to become a mass-appeal star to make a living. From Kevin Kelly's blog (thanks to the9513.com for bringing it to my attention).

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-43369898405888901332008-03-27T18:27:00.000-07:002008-04-03T11:58:15.236-07:00

Nice piece in Billboard with Taylor Swift. How's this for an artist being in touch with fans:"I spend so much time on MySpace. It's the best way to figure out what your fans and what your friends and these people that helped you get where you are, what they're going through and what they want to hear from you, what they're liking, what they're not. My MySpace is something that I made. The

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-19217610817324149222008-03-27T09:30:00.000-07:002008-03-27T17:29:35.043-07:00

This story from Time magazine is as inspirational as anything I've seen on why we can never coast. The piece talks about how experience alone doesn't make someone good at something:"...rather than mere experience or even raw talent, it is dedicated, slogging, generally solitary exertion — repeatedly practicing the most difficult physical tasks for an athlete, repeatedly performing new and highly

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-57807806041679221622008-03-24T17:26:00.000-07:002008-03-24T17:47:08.237-07:00

Thanks to my wife Linda Thomas for alerting me to Jill Bolte Taylor's truly unique presentation from the TED conference. A tour of our gray matter from brain researcher who survived a stroke. Profound.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-51650070727867509902008-03-22T16:28:00.000-07:002008-03-22T16:31:06.791-07:00

Clearly, it's a Guitar Hero world and we just live in it. I think the interesting tidbit here is that 80% of the songs on the portable version will be master recordings...

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-36417498681961526992008-03-21T18:21:00.000-07:002008-03-21T18:26:37.038-07:00

I'm in sync with this comment on a CMT blog about how a country version of Guitar Hero would uh, rock. Providing that the franchise can get past the legal challenges that have come up.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-5816892774038790832008-03-19T18:32:00.000-07:002008-03-19T18:37:35.517-07:00

Here's a good overview from CNET about Apple's possible "all you can eat" music deal.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-306844932616235272008-03-19T08:06:00.000-07:002008-03-19T08:25:45.031-07:00

Yet again it's Guitar Hero bringing buzz to the music biz. Won't the media will go crazy if a Beatles version of "Guitar Hero" really happens?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-90456902484503318642008-03-19T07:36:00.000-07:002008-03-19T08:26:34.344-07:00

Google knows a whole lot of stuff from all the data it sees daily, and is revealing "We are seeing that mobile Internet use is in fact accelerating."Google says their new phone search app has increased mobile searches by 20%.Google's Android platform for mobile phones is coming later this year, and perhaps mobile phones are just the beginning...

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-54760124691372066992008-03-17T20:31:00.000-07:002008-03-17T20:36:08.796-07:00

Nintendo's Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii has broken Nintendo sales records and pulled in over over $50 Million in first-week sales: "The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that the game has had an overall sales record if 1.4 million units, with 874,000 sold on March 9."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-23968485355132015052008-03-17T11:27:00.000-07:002008-03-17T11:30:43.855-07:00

Watch out for viruses if you buy a digital picture frame that can talk to your PC, or pretty much any other gizmo. Yikes.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-88395580759220156732008-03-10T10:06:00.000-07:002008-03-11T17:40:41.287-07:00

Will The Beatles songs finally be coming to iTunes? Sure sounds like things are moving along for an announcement this year. UPDATE 3/11/08: Or... maybe NOT.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-64235492351766925852008-03-10T09:50:00.000-07:002008-03-10T10:05:29.928-07:00

Whoa! A digital camera that can shoot VIDEO at 1,200 frames a SECOND (check out the card shuffle video comparisons)! And 12x Zoom too.And HD video. Plus a 60 frames a second photo burst mode.The Exilim site says under a thousand bucks. Wow.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-42163999310546567202008-03-10T08:26:00.000-07:002008-03-10T08:42:55.293-07:00

Add Disney to the list that includes NBC and CBS in streaming classic shows online (though I just checked and didn't see aren't any there yet). Disney already has current Disney Channel episodes online.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-16090152985359280812008-03-09T13:54:00.000-07:002008-03-09T14:17:35.607-07:00

On my recent business trip to Nashville I ran in to plenty of iPhone users, and every one of them LOVED their iPhone. The only real complaint I heard was the inability to use push e-mail from their company, like BlackBerry users can. Sounds like the upcoming June iPhone 2.0 update will fix that.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-75056877027971115772008-02-29T12:24:00.000-08:002008-03-02T13:27:00.236-08:00

Sure sounds like it from this scoop from Sarah Meyers as reported by CNET's tech news blog. Don't you think live video will explode then?There are sites where you can do live streaming video now, but none with the reach and brand name of YouTube.Seems like a real game changer. And will the Internet be able to take the surge in bandwidth demand?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-62246173495004736512008-02-29T11:11:00.000-08:002008-02-29T11:24:52.734-08:00

First it was Verizon, and now CNET reports that AT&T phone customers will be able to play Guitar Hero 3 on their phones. Let's just not hear of someone trying to drive while trying to keep up with the insanely fast GH3 version of "Devil Went To Georgia," 'keh!?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-87555085632712818682008-02-29T10:33:00.000-08:002008-02-29T10:44:28.081-08:00

Digital Music News reports that at the recent Digital Music Forum in New York, some surprisingly high digital sales numbers were revealed.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-35821497583238029912008-02-29T01:38:00.001-08:002008-02-29T01:43:07.734-08:00

Another entry is coming in the video game music space, currently dominated by Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Disney Interactive Studios is coming with "Ultimate Band" for the Nintendo Wii and DS. No add-on controllers. "Songs already confirmed for "Ultimate Band" include "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs, the Who's "My Generation" and "Fell in Love With a Girl" by the White Stripes, all of which

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-68084985981585282342008-02-29T00:08:00.000-08:002008-02-29T01:44:07.871-08:00

That's the name of the site: HTML Code Tutorial. Looks like a handy reference (I needed to check how to strike out text). Do you have another favorite HTML reference site?

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-66772888985802120372008-02-28T23:33:00.000-08:002008-03-01T15:52:22.521-08:00

Lots of info and links from Wired on the idea of "Free" driving digital business success. This quote ends Chris Anderson's video: "Every industry that becomes digital, eventually becomes free."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-32993793893722662462008-02-28T11:26:00.000-08:002008-02-29T00:07:27.505-08:00

Here's a critical look from CNET, here's the main Google Sites page from Google. Looks like a simple way to get an intranet up and running.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-67332311552323458022008-02-28T09:20:00.000-08:002008-02-28T11:06:06.431-08:00

A nice look here from Gizmodo at where things stand on Blu Ray DVD. "Sony's more affordable new Blu-ray player will hit the market this summer for $400. Nothing built by Sony or anyone else should be considered before then, the one exception being the PS3."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-21904023052375478392008-02-27T18:50:00.000-08:002008-02-28T09:24:07.872-08:00

It's staggering, isn't it? "More than 1.15 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2007, a 16 percent increase from the 990.9 million phones sold in 2006."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-6712291417312510352008-02-27T15:11:00.000-08:002008-02-27T17:32:31.268-08:00

“Quarterlife” has been a hit on MySpace. On network TV, not so much. "...the worst performance in the 10 p.m. time slot that NBC has seen in nearly 17 years." Ouch.

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-81966049971358289222008-02-27T00:20:00.000-08:002008-02-27T17:33:06.760-08:00

From Ars Technica. News from the "Digital Music Forum East" meeting. Point worth pondering: "the next big thing is a dozen things."

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524563313037515134.post-39574840158069369172008-02-26T12:53:00.000-08:002008-02-27T17:33:26.910-08:00

And the power of touring in this NY Post article.Quote from Eagles manager Irving Azoff: "I recently looked to see how much The Eagles have been paid in royalties from all their downloads at iTunes. The Eagles are one of the two or three best selling catalogs in the business. And we figured out that [total iTunes royalties] equaled about 45 minutes of one concert at any city in the world." (Saw

Tony Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314045666428890049noreply@blogger.com0