I've spent this last week reading blog post after blog post from journalists who turn their back on digital music promotion. The common arguement is that journalists feel more appreciated if time is taken and money spent on mailing them a physical promo to review versus getting a link to a download in an email.

One blog post I'd like to share can be read here:
http://community2.metalreview.com/blogs/editorials/archive/2010/03/03/my-first-editorial-for-metalreview-and-screw-the-digital-age.aspx


And another one I ran across today is here:
http://whatsheonaboutnow.blogspot.com/2010/03/end-of-promo-copy.html



In my opinion, there are two things happening here in this industry:

1. We're caught in habit and the thought of change is uncomfortable.

2. We're "aware" of the digital movement, but don't completely understand it OR what it is capable of.


How will this change?  As more and more labels/journalists adopt digital music promotion, more and more pessimists will try it out and hopefully see the good things it offers.  

I know what success means to me. What does it mean to you?

The problem today, in this information-overloaded digital world, is that we only see the Google's and Facebook's in the news and they set the bar high, don't they?! So naturally, any college graduate fresh out of school, who is eager to flex their programming skills, knows only to shoot for building a billion dollar startup. What they don't realize, is in the real world (NOT MTV), there's a huge area of potential in between a $12 per hour dead-end day job and creating Facebook.

So what does Markus Frind (PlentyOfFish.com), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Evan Williams/Jack Dorsey (Twitter) all have in common relating to achieving their success?  Answer: LUCK.  And as far as luck goes, you would be better off buying Power Ball tickets each month instead of trying to build the next Twitter.  The magic isn't in building the best looking website (PlentyOfFish.com is proof of that).  In fact, there isn't any magic - there isn't a site in any of those three that is abnormally remarkable, as far as web development goes.  Markus Frind happened to do a chain of things at the right time and ended up with a $10 million per month business. That lucky bastard.  I'm sure he never expected that to happen just like we don't expect to win the lottery after buying a ticket.  And he's so paranoid of losing his lucky venture, he won't even update the look of his website!  You superstitious Markus?

I don't know about you, but I find working for someone else and making them rich is not a very rewarding experience. So, step one. Take your radar off of $1 billion dollars and point it at the bare minimum it takes for you to survive without having to work for someone else. Let's say you can live off of $40k per year, running your own startup. $40k is more attainable than you might think and it's 200 million light years away from $1 billion dollars. Ok, you've made it to a level where you can work on your own terms and support your lifestyle and family with your minimum value. Now just think how you can embellish your life with double that? In my example, $80k per year.  So, now you've got double what it takes to live on and plenty extra to spend on wants and wishes.  You're still light years away from a billion dollars, you aren't working for anyone else (can you say PRIDE?), and I would be willing to bet, you jump out of bed each morning with a smile on your face.

What does success mean to you?  Well, to me, success is being able to make a living doing something you feel passionate about that helps others in return.

The moral of this blog post, is for you to evaluate what you want in life - be reasonable, yet push for a legacy. And if you get lucky along the way, then consider yourself in the minority.

I came across a developer job ad this morning that has an interesting requirement. Gave me a nice chuckle while drinking my coffee.

To all of you laughable sapling spammers who get off on filling the world's inboxes with terabytes of your digital rummage, if you want to feign like you are Google, try using the spellchecker next time.

My new golden rule:

Whenever I think of a new business/website idea, sleep on it for two full days and then revisit. If it still makes sense, then consider executing.

Ahh, the gift that keeps on giving. I've been drinking Caribou/Starbucks off and on for the last couple of years. I'm definitely an amatuer when it comes to coffee and tea. Santa ended up bringing me a great product for one or two people to use that makes trying numerous flavors a breeze. Plus, I'll probably save $500 a year by brewing my own drink.

KEURIG B30 MINI BREWER (Jet Black)
The machine itself is compact and an attractive addition to your desk or kitchen. To make a cup of coffee, put your coffee mug in the drop zone of the machine. Simply select a flavored "K-Cup" coffee filter, press the large button on top of the machine and place the "K-Cup" in the filter slot. Then, push down the silver lever in front. The machine punctures a hole in the filter and the back water compartment opens. Pour 8oz of water in the back, close the hatch and hit the blue brew button.  In less than 3 minutes, you have a perfect flavored cup of coffee. Cool thing, is that there are literally hundreds of "K-Cups" you can purchase and choose from. I've been hitting the French Vanilla lately.

The taste, speed and quality of the machine are all really good. My only complaint is that the front area where the coffee cup stands, has a rather small diameter. You have to use a small coffee cup, rather than the big oversized one you are probably used to.

It will be fun trying out different flavors this machine has to offer.  Highly recommended.

Through some naming conflicts, I lost my Linq to Sql data model's class file.


Data.dbml
Data.dbml.layout
Data.designer.cs   <-- MISSING


With about 20 tables and 50+ stored procedures in the methods pane, it would be a nightmare to manually create a new dbml file. I luckily stumbled upon a LIFE SAVER...

In the Visual Studio solution explorer, right click on your .dbml file and select "Run Custom Tool" and BAM..... it generates a fresh cs file for you.

I know as a fact that promos for the new Rammstein album were mailed out as full blown digi-packs to the press. And sure enough, it was leaked in Finland.

Original source: http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20091207.html

I just realized today that I have quite a few applications I use to stay connected to feeds of data and tools I use to share my own data throughout the day. Here is what I use:


DIGITAL MUSIC: I purchase all of my MP3 music from Amazon.com using their downloader application to instantly transfer music into the Windows Media Player library.

MUSIC LISTENING/TRACKING: I have a Last.fm plugin for Windows Media Player that pumps all of my listening habits to my Last.fm profile, which I can then share using Last.fm widgets in signatures on other sites.

TWITTER: I manage my Twitter account with thwirl.

RSS FEEDS: All rss feeds are managed with FeedReader3.

WEBSITE TRACKING: The Haulix website is monitored with Xigla Live Support.

EMAIL: Email is managed with Outlook 2007.


What do you use?