September was the "rebirth of music" issue from Wired - with podcasting filling my Zen with weekly shows and podiobooks, I have to admit that pure music has taken a backseat (even with our whole collection on the pc). So it was interesting to read a bit more about alternative venues (in the broadest possible interpretation of the word) such as Last.Fm and NerdCore Hip hop.
Last.Fm basically takes the community and recommendation aspect of Amazon and brings it to music. By "listening in" on more than 3 billion songs played (software works with most audio player programs, such as Winamp, iTunes and Windows Media Player) they help you discover new music and keep a finger on what's getting hotter around the net.
Nerdcore offer up a twisted mix of geeky rap, with artists taking their names from a broad swath of popular media. Good fun. Have picked up a couple of tracks, and added them to the playlist.
In a way I'm glad that I'm not in the US - free Amazon shipping and NetFlix delivering 7 million dvds each week to 5 million subscribers just might feel to nice and convenient to go out and look for new entertainment on my own. Been feeling the same way about games lately, so when I got a gift card I headed straight to town and grabbed a couple of games that had already made in into platinum (PS2 bestsellers). Review games feel the same way - get several, play some or all for a bit, then a few for more than an hour and then pack up a whole stack and give them back to free up closet space.
Totally unrelated tangent, but she was featured at Wired Next Fest; "Actroid Der Kokoro -- an android resembling a young Japanese woman" - gives off a Bladerunner vibe. Sure you can tell she's not all that human - but give it some years and the money to improve facial texture and complexity, and things might not be so clean cut. Especially if she answered on a video phone. Neat and spooky mixed together nicely.
