Two new photo features for Facebook

Facebook has quietly added two new photo features over the past week:

• Photo Sorting and


• Facebook Export from iPhoto

The two are straight-forward, so stop wasting your time and go read their descriptions at the Facebook Blog.

The RIAA, Arcade Fire, and How Music Will Get Better (but for now, we need panic)

Three things:

• This is going to be a long post.


• I have a love for Arcade Fire; I would follow them off of a cliff.


• I have a general distaste for big-business, mostly because of the despicable cases that arise from time to time.

The RIAA is at it again. They recently filed 400 more lawsuits for "file-sharing," this time mostly against students. In an attempt to strike fear in the hearts of students and coerce people into never trading music again, the RIAA once again shows its ugly teeth. Did I mention they also convinced the Copyright Royalty Board to up the fees for Internet Radio? Kiss your streams goodbye (especially Pandora and Last.fm). The RIAA is attempting to put pressure on all fronts possible. It's almost as if they don't want people to listen to their music.

Recently the RIAA has been doing what big-business does best: strong-arming people with less money, i.e. almost any given American.

Arcade Fire

Exclusively of the RIAA, Arcade Fire just released their new album "Neon Bible." Currently it holds the #2 spot on Billboard's Top 200 Albums, second to only the Greatest Hits of Notorious B.I.G. That means people are actually buying their album. I would say that's probably because it's one of the best albums of the year. Oh, did I mention Merge Records, Arcade Fire's label, is not an RIAA shop? Do you mean to tell me that good music actually sells (granted, "Neon Bible" has one of the most popular music torrents right now as well)?

While the quality of Arcade Fire's music is fundamentally disputable (as with all music), the band is definitely forging ahead and setting precedents for bands to come. The fact that they play exclusive shows for their former high school is pretty humble and remarkable.

The band used to be much more lax with a few of their singles on their fan-run sister site, Us Kids Know, but you can still find a few early releases sprinkled throughout the Net.

Advice for the Future, Don't Worry

The RIAA guards its own music only to its own detriment. To my eyes, it seems like any company under the RIAA has found the "formula" for music. Almost any band under the RIAA could also be considered "crap." (Try entering any of the Top 200 albums into RIAARadar. Disgusting.)

Most of the more adventurous (dare I say better) musical tastes in music are not under the RIAA's umbrella. While this is not true across the board, I would argue it's true for the most part. A few of my favorite bands: Arcade Fire, Swan Lake, Wolf Parade, and even Gnarls Barkley have avoided the RIAA. Mysteriously, similar bands (even one with a few of the same members) such as Sunset Rubdown are associated with the RIAA. Confusing, I know.

All in all, it appears that the RIAA, through its ridiculous lawsuits is simply securing its own demise. Taking to heart a Wired article from last July, pop music is dying/dead. So it's just a matter of time before the RIAA disappears and once again music will be thought of as an art, not a process.

Advice for the Present, Panic

There are so many stones left to be turned over. Currently in the U.S., several things are reaching a second, more fruitful generation: the Web, hybrid cars, and lawsuits. The last being the most frightening.

You see, if your business is going down, you don't actually have to successfully sue any one, you just threaten them. With the high prices of attorneys, many people (especially college students) can't defend themselves against a large, multi-national corporation. It's gotten to the point where the RIAA would like to facilitate the settlement with their site: P2PLawsuits. Now you can settle your p2p crimes outside court from the comfort of your home computer!

Toolkit

The whole issue surrounding the RIAA has become more than simply purchasing music vs. downloading music. Let's face it: downloading music is illegal. But because of the (relatively) minor crimes of a few does not justify the unethical practices of strong-arming innocent and guilty parties alike.

I've never been so moved to rebel against any symbol of authority more than I have the RIAA. I can only hope that you feel the same way too. So support your bands that decide to not climb into bed with these criminals. Buy good music.

Here's a toolkit to help you avoid the RIAA:

• RIAARadar: See if the bands you listen to are supported by the RIAA before buying their album(s).


• Support public radio NPR, KEXP, KXLU (holler), and Pandora come to mind.


• Keep up on your RIAA-related news(/transgressions). Digg is a good place, although it can be a little one-sided.


• Voice your opinion at other "college-related" blogs, particularly InsideHigherEd. They wrote an article on 3/15 defending the lawsuits against students. Some college blog.

Sorry about my anger, did I miss anything?

Worst NCAA Mascots

I found this gem while perusing the Internet today. Personally, I would say the Pepperdine Wave is probably the worst mascot ever, but I'm a little jaded.

Ready read: The Worst NCAA D-I College Mascots

St. Patrick's Day Prep

There are few days in the year were it is socially acceptable nay... expected to begin drinking before 5 pm. If you are of age, of course. St. Patrick's Day is definitely one of those holidays that has flown under the radar until college.

First, a little history from the trusted Wikipedia:

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by Irish people and increasingly by many of non-Irish descent (Usually in the US and Ireland) Celebrations are generally themed around all things green and Irish; both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green, eating Irish food, imbibing Irish drink, and attending parades.

Cool.

St. Patrick's Day is remarkably popular on many campuses (especially those associated with the Catholic Church). Check out if your student body has anything planned. LMU is busing people to bars starting at 5 am, hosting St. Patrick's Day events all day, then culminating everything with a concert feat. Common and OK Go (aka those four guys on treadmills). It's going to be a blast, for those that remember it.

For those who don't happen to have their annual concert coincide with this worldwide holiday, there are still a few rules to follow:

• Wear green. Duh.


• An Irish Car Bomb is a shot of Irish whiskey and a shot of Irish cream dropped into Guinness. You may hear people on Saturday referring to these as either "breakfast," "lunch," or "dinner."


• Although it make seem like a good idea, taking "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" shirts literally may get you slapped in the face. Or not. Who knows?


• Pace yourself. Those potato-eating contests are more difficult than they look.

Did we forget anything?

What We're Reading: March 12, 2007

St. Patrick's Day is but five days away. It's that elusive holiday that never mattered until you got to college. Now it might as well be Christmas.

Anyway, here's what we've been reading today/this week:

• Clean up your digital indiscretions (Lifehacker)


• My Mid-College Crisis (YouAreSketch.com)


• Pictures of the Craziest Pissers


• Kristoffer Ragnstam Review (Both Sides of the Mouth)


• Rethinking Homework


• The Group Dilemma (Facebook Blog)

Opening a Bottle of Beer

Not to blatantly rip off Lifehacker or anything, but this one is too good to pass up. They just made a post containing a video of how to open a bottle of beer using only a piece of paper. Cool

They also link to another article over at instructables, but check out Lifehacker's article first. Maybe click on a few ads while you're there.

Is it St. Patrick's Day yet? Video Demonstration: Open a beer bottle with a piece of paper

Newsflash! "Facebook Can Be Addictive"

I nearly laughed out loud when reading this headline on digg. I'm not quite sure why. Perhaps it's because it's so true and everyone who uses Facebook knows it.

The actual article tells the story of a man who spent on average 4 hours each day surfing Facebook. I'm not that bad... I hope.

Link to article: Career Advice: Don't Choose Facebook Over Your Job
Link to digg page: Facebook Can Be Addictive

The 3 Best Ways to Use Google Calendar as a College Student

Over the past week, I've been experimenting with Google Calendar as a personal planning device. Although it's still in beta (like every other Google product), it boasts an amazing set of features.

You will find many articles scattered about the Interweb about syncing Google Calendar (GCal) with iCal. This article is not about that; this article is about using GCal as a real calendar is used, no matter the situation.

To get started on GCal, just sign up for a GMail account. Then visit http://www.google.com/calendar.

The college student needs to familiarize himself/herself with the following three methods of using GCal:

• Use GCal's quick add function while planning at your computer. The quick add feature allows you to simply type the sentence that you would use to describe the event, such as "Meeting with Tom tomorrow at 5pm in the coffee shop" and Google does the rest of the work. Sweet like Jesus.
• When you're away from your computer, add events to your GCal using SMS on your phone. The cool-factor of this feature is unparalleled in this post-9/11 world. Whenever someone asks me, "Who are you texting?" I now answer "My secretary. Did I introduce you to my secretary? Her name's Google Calendar." To add events to your GCal using SMS, you use the same "quick add" syntax discussing two bullets earlier. It requires some set-up, though: you'll have to register your phone with Google, which is much less scary/1984-esque than it sounds. Once you've registered, just text your event to add to GVENT (48368) on your phone. GCal is even slimmer than PocketMod
• Load your Facebook events into GCal about once a week. While I know some people hate getting Facebook invites, I still find them useful even if they have become borderline to spam. To load them into GCal:
  
  • Navigate to your "My Events" page and press the button in the upper right corner.
  • Save this file somewhere accessible.
  • Then bring up GCal and go to "Settings."
  • Click on the "Import Calendar" tab.
  • Point it to the file you just downloaded and click OK
  Voila!
  

  So go fill up your new calendar, you young entrepreneur you. If I missed any sweet function, let us know in a comment.

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