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2011

  • in General
  • 1 min read

On to greener pastures

Yesterday was my last day at Novell. I enjoyed the 1+ year I spent working there – helping to ship SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop to millions of end users through OEM partnerships was a fulfilling experience in knowing it helped Linux on the desktop grow.

To those of you I worked with and didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to yesterday, it was a pleasure working with you.

If anyone is looking for a product management / business development professional with open source experience, let me know. My resume is available here and you can reach me at paul dot r dot cutler at gmail dot com.

  • in music
  • 2 min read

Layne Stayley 4/19/02

Today is the ninth anniversary of the day Alice in Chains lead singer, Layne Staley, was found dead in his Seattle apartment. Layne had been dead for two weeks, dying of a heroin and cocaine overdose on April 5th, 2002.

I saw Alice in Chains twice growing up. The first time was in a small club, the Eagles Ballroom, opening, believe it or not, for Extreme in the fall of 1990. The show was terrible. We got there early as we usually did, and the club was fairly empty as Alice in Chains took the stage. Grunge wasn’t mainstream yet and the Seattle explosion was still six months away from taking over the airwaves. Standing five feet away from the band, we could see that Layne was high as a kite – I vividly remember seeing how dilated his eyes were and as he growled out the lyrics to their first album, the crowd eventually booed them off the stage while we waited for the hair metal headliner Extreme to take the stage.

A couple years later I saw Alice in Chains open for Van Halen at the Marcus Amphitheater. The show wasn’t much better, though the crowd at least knew who Alice in Chains was. As much as I loved the grunge movement, being an early fan of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and more, Alice in Chains was one band I just couldn’t get into because of the bad taste in my mouth from seeing them perform so poorly early in their career.

When Cameron Crowe’s second movie, Singles, came out, Alice in Chains was prominent as the live act in the club the main characters go to. I remember watching the concert footage and not being able to reconcile that this powerful show that was depicted in the movie was not the experience I had had in seeing Alice in Chains perform live twice.

In 1995, Mad Season’s Deceit album was released. Featuring Layne Staley on vocals, Mike McMcready of Pearl Jam and Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, the album was a hit. I loved this album and didn’t even realize at the time that it was Layne Staley singing.

About five or six years ago, a co-worker who is a good friend of mine were reminiscing about our favorite bands from the grunge days. She loved Alice in Chains – I shared this story with her and she was shocked at how much I disliked Alice in Chains. On her advice, I gave them another try, and listened to Alice in Chains again, this time focusing on the music and putting my preconceived notion and memories out of my head.

And she was right – Alice in Chains was a great band who we lost before their time. Another example of drugs taking another artist before their time.

In Layne Staley’s memory, I’ll be listening to some Alice in Chains today.

  • in GNOME
  • 1 min read

GNOME 3 is out!

I am GNOME

GNOME 3 is out! I started to writing a thank you listing out individuals but it became way too long and I was afraid I’d forget somebody. So let me just say thank you to every developer, translator, documentation writers, marketers and everyone else who’s contributed to GNOME.

Download and try it, check out the videos, the new website and Planet, the new GNOME Journal all about GNOME 3, and let us know what you think.

(And a special thanks to the sysadmins who are trying to keep the site up thanks to all the traffic we’re getting!)

  • in music
  • 1 min read

Who will Rock the Garden this summer?

Rock The Garden 2010

CC BY-NC 2.0 by Dan_h

Rock the Garden, 89.3 The Current’s annual outdoor show in partnership with the Walker Arts Center, is just under two weeks form announcing which artists will be playing to a sold out crowd in Minneapolis. The Current will be announcing the lineup on April 19th.

The boys over at Reviler take a look at who they think may be playing at Rock The Garden. With such categories as “Best Guess”, “Awesome Long Shot” and “Most Terrifying Prospect”. It’s a good list that will make you crack a smile.

Over at the Star Tribune’s Vita.MN, they also take a look and share who won’t be there based on their current touring schedule. In some ways, this is a better list than Reviler, as some of the bands Reviler definitely doesn’t want to see (with the exception of one which I’ll let you the reader figure out) are already booked or touring.

Want to take your own guess? Vita.MN has a page up where you can choose the bands you think The Current will be adding to this years Rock the Garden. See you there!

  • in music
  • 1 min read

LCD Soundsystem Wraps it Up

LCD Soundsystem played its last show last night at Madison Square Garden. James Murphy made being a DJ cool again in the last 10 years and brought a rock sound and beats to his electronic music that made it sound both familiar and new at the same time. I remember the first time I heard Daft Punk is Playing in My House from their first self-titled album – a lyric to this day, that if I hear it, is stuck in my head for days at a time.

With LCD Soundsystem coming to an end, Thorin Klosowski at the Denver Post takes a look at what makes LCD Soundsystem so relevant.

Of course, the majority of rock kids in 2002 were still scared of electronic music. For all its bells and whistles, the things it embodied, ecstasy, dancing, beats — all of those things were dangerous. But that was what was so startling and ultimately rewarding about LCD Soundsystem. It wasn’t dance music, not like Crystal Method or Moby or even Daft Punk was; it was electronic music made by a guy who liked ’70s and ’80s rock. It was also being made by a guy in his thirties, for kids in their twenties, and that meant the dream of never really growing up was truly a reality.

The entire concert from the last show was posted online at Youtube, but seems to have been taken down now. With that, I’ll leave you with All My Friends from LCD Soundsystem’s last show.

A look back at needles

gramophone reproducer

Scientific American dips into it’s archives looking at an article originally published in 1919 discussing needles on the “new” phonograph:

At the time of this article’s publication, July 5, 1919, the phonograph had only been a household item for 10 to 15 years. While it was still considered a novel invention, persons such as F.D. Hall of Chicago began looking for ways to improve upon it—specifically its sound quality. The phonograph made “tinny” and “harsh sounds,” and was also described as being “unduly loud.” Further, the metal needle often wore down the records after a short while.

The article goes on to share the story and pictures of using and manufacturing bamboo as a record needle. As the article points out at the end, we now use mostly diamonds in our needles. To think how far we’ve come…

  • in General
  • 1 min read

Let’s get back at it

After over two months(!) away (bad blogger!), I’m ready to get back at it.

Expect some music reviews, both of new and old albums, Record Store updates, and more.

Now on with the news…

My new favorite GNOME Patch

For those of us without a disability, understanding the challenge users may experience when trying to use a computer can be a foreign concept.  (Or at least it is for me.)

Browsing Reddit, of all places, this weekend I came across this story of a user with ALS who created a patch for Eye of GNOME.  The patch contributor’s son added a comment to the bug report (and a link to a picture) that is a must read.  Go read it.  Now.

This is why we write free software.  All users can contribute.  And we write software that everyone can use.  Sometimes when other stuff is going on we might forget and this is a great example of why free software is important.

  • in Stores
  • 3 min read

Which is better – support the artists or the indie stores?

Since I started collecting vinyl records again last year, I’ve pre-ordered a number of new albums directly from the artist’s website. I’ve often advocated for what Techdirt calls “Cwf + Rtb” – Connect with Fans + Reason to buy = $$$.

As the music industry sees declining sales, if you can connect with your fans on an individual level and give them a reason to buy, you will see revenue. This works in music and, as Cory Doctorow is proving, works in the book industry as well.

In the music industry, concerts are usually pointed out as the best example of this. A number of artists, from the Grateful Dead years ago, to their modern day replacements in Phish (when they were active) or David Mathews Band, constantly tour, and mix up their set lists nightly to give their fans a unique experience.

This has also carried over in to new releases. Jenny and Johnny‘s 2010 album, I’m Having Fun Now, offered a unique deluxe package. For $40, you received the new album on CD, vinyl, MP3 and cassette. You also received three limited edition 7″ records with singles from the album, one of which was autographed. Ben Folds and Nick Hornby’s collaboration, Lonely Avenue, offered a couple of different packages. One package included the album on vinyl, CD and MP3 and came with a limited edition piece of sheet music randomly chosen from one of the songs on the album. They also offered a deluxe package that featured the CD along with a book of photos and prose from Nick Hornby. The Decemberists new album, The King is Dead out January 18th, is available in a $165 package and includes the following goodies: a one of a kind photograph, hardcover book of photos, white vinyl, a video, MP3 and more – and is only one of 2500.

But what does that mean for the independent music stores which continue to dwindle? The artists are doing a great job of connecting with their fans and giving them a reason to buy – direct. How can the indie stores compete with that? The indie stores, obviously, need to connect with their fans as well. Record Store Day continues to connect artists with indie stores, giving the stores exclusive music to sell, now twice a year. Three indie record stores I’ve visited in the past few months each have a different value proposition from each other as well:

  • Discland (Bloomington, MN): New vinyl, used (vinyl, cassette, CD), video games
  • Down in the Valley (Golden Valley, MN): New vinyl, used (vinyl, cassette, CD), head shop and accessories
  • The Exclusive Company (Various locations, Wisconsin): New vinyl, used (vinyl, cassette, CD), new CDs, new and used movies (and competitively priced compared to the big box retailers)

I was happy to see that Discland was packed this past Saturday.  There were a ton of people in the store, shopping in each section.  They had lots of help on hand, who were friendly and would ask if I needed help.  I’ve had similar experiences at Down in the Valley as well, though not as usually crowded.

I don’t know what the right answer is – I like collecting things, especially limited editions.  I try and support my local indie shops when I can, but I can’t fault the artists for doing what they’re doing either. But I do have guilt, especially when I buy from Amazon, and to a lesser degree, directly from the artist. (But there is something to be said for not leaving the house, especially in the middle of a Minnesota winter!)

What are your thoughts? Where do you prefere to shop?

  • in GNOME
  • 1 min read

GNOME T-Shirt Contest Update

(Cross-posted from the GNOME Foundation Blog)

The GNOME T-Shirt Design Contest was supposed to come to a close on January 15th.  Due to some technical issues with the submission form, we are extending the contest two weeks through the end of the month.  The contest will now close at 11:59 p.m. UTC on January 31st.

There were a few periods where the submission form was broken and your entry may not have been submitted.  If you would like to confirm we have received your entry, please email Paul Cutler to inquire.  We apologize for the inconvenience.