Ads Can Be Good For You

The earbuds I use for for my daily commute were originally for my 80 gig Zune.  Yes, I know.  Insert your Zune joke here.  They were, and still are, really great.  They have quality sound with a customizable fit for my ears.  The earbuds are still in fine working order, but the cord itself is frayed so I began to Google earbuds because I can't imagine a day without my podcasts or music.

How To Switch From iPod To Zune

Zune HD Twitter App Preview

Goodbye, Clear Channel! Hello, Crowdsourcing . . . Kinda?

According to Billboard.biz, Last.fm's reach will go beyond the internet and be coming to a terrestrial radio station near you . . . hopefully.

CBS Interactive Group is turning the Last.fm music service into a broadcast radio station. Starting Oct. 5, the Last.fm station will be multicast on CBS's high-definition radio channels in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco-as well as streamed on CBS Radio's website-as a programmed channel.

Last.fm's user-generated weekly charts will inform the playlist, with live performances and interviews mixed throughout. The top-played songs on the Last.fm digital music service are compiled into weekly charts, which are also influenced by songs that show the greatest gains in the week as well.

Radio personality Sat Bisla will host the station's flagship program "Last.fm Discovers," featuring popular music and artist interviews. Seth Neiman, digital content manager for CBS Interactive, will serve as program director.

CBS Interactive Music Group president David Goodman said the company hopes the Last.fm channel will attract new users to the HD Radio format.

Although it's only going to be launched in four markets  (KITS-FM: 105.3 HD3 in San Francisco, WWFS-FM: 102.7 HD2 in New York, KCBS-FM: 93.1 HD2 in Los Angeles, & WXRT-FM: 93.1 HD3 in Chicago) you will still be able to listen to it through CBSRadio.com.


With the stations being in HD Radio, it might make the Zune HD that much more attractive.


Thanks for stopping by,


8

P.S. Crowdsourcing - the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people or community in the form of an open call.

CNET's Best MP3 Players For Podcasts

I had mentioned previously how, lately I'm listening to podcast a lot more than I am music. Well, I happened to come across an Mp3 Insider article on the best mp3 players for podcasts.

The criteria? At the very least have a separate menu sort dedicated to podcasts. Other desirable features include user-friendly podcast-management software, bookmarking capability (whether active or passive), accelerated fast-forwarding, variable playback speeds, and the ability to delete podcasts on the fly once you're done listening. All of the players here offer at least two of the extra features mentioned.

1. Zune 120 GB Video MP3 Player



2. Apple iPod touch 8 GB

Did you really need a review of the ipod touch? Really?

3. Samsung P3 16GB



4. Sony Walkman X Series 16 GB Video MP3 Player



5. Cowon D2+ 16 GB MP3 Player



6. SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8GB



For MP3 Insiders comparison of all six players, click here.

Zune HD Hands On Video

A New Addition To The Blog: Essential Podcasts

Since moving to Chicago from Pittsburgh, I have been riding public transit constantly. Back home a car was pretty much a necessity. When I was driving I would typically listen to sports talk radio or music that I had in the car. Now that I'm using trains & buses so much I tend to have my Zune surgically attached to me.

I've noticed that I listen to music more when I'm at my laptop. When I'm on the go it tends to be podcasts most of the time. I don't listen to music podcasts because I never really saw the point. I own more than enough music to listen to what I want, when I want. Anyway, this was a long winded way to mention that on the lower right of the blog I added a podcast list of some of the podcasts that I listen to frequently.

I since I don't have cable, podcasts are kind of like the next best thing for some shows. They allow me to get my daily fix of Tony Kornheiser & Mike Wilbon of Pardon The Interuption. I wish my Zune, or any other mp3 player, would have an AM tuner so I could here the Dan Patrick Show instead of through podcasts.

I subscribe to Countdown With Keith Olbermann as well as Real Time With Bill Maher for my current affairs news/commentary. I tend to watch Countdown online, but the Real Time podcast definitely gets weekly play when he's on air.

You can check the podcast list for other podcasts that I check out. I have been listening to comic book podcasts lately. Doc Midnight kinda dragged me back into comics, just when I kinda had that habit kicked. lol

Do you listen to any podcasts? If so, which ones?

Thanks for stopping by,

8

Zune Is Back at it, but with Wale this time . .

Last year they did exclusive tour podcasts with Kidz In The Hall & Murs. This time Mr. Ovechkin gets the Zune treatment.

Also, some of this footage was shot at the concert I went to at The Abbey.



You can subscribe to the podcast download a Wale selected playlist through his Zune page.


Thanks for stopping by,

8

Mos Def "Enthusiastically" Discusses New Projects

To All Of My Canadian Music Lovers . . .

If you are in Canada you can buy a 16GB and get a 4GB Zune for FREE!!! You can give someone else a free X-Mas present! You luck bastards.

Click Here For Details!

Common's Newest Venture & UMC For Cheap

Here Common announces his blog.



And also for a limited time starting on December 9th you can get Common's newest release, Universal Mind Control for 99 Cents. Yes, the whole album will be 99 cents. lol

Murs On Tour

Here is the trailer as well as the first episode of his podcast available in the Zune Marketplace. The Kidz In The Hall also have a podcast.



You can cop episodes 2 and on here:

Talib Kweli, Janelle Monae & The Cool Kids Featured In New Mag

In honor of the CMJ '08 Music Marathon & Film Festival that took place last week (yes, I know I'm late) Zune.net is putting out it's first issue of their magazine, Zune Zine. The inaugural issue features artists such as Talib Kweli, Janelle Monae, Chester French, Yo Majesty & The Cool Kids to name a few.

Click Here To Download Issue #1 of Zune Zine

Also, here's a mixtape dedicated to the festival as well. It has a few artists from The New Breed.



Click Here For Download

Special Edition Gears Of War 2 Zune

In a bid to generate even more buzz for one of the coolest looking video game franchises to come out in some time, Microsoft is giving Gears Of War the Halo treatment with it's own special edition Zune leading up to the game's November 7th release date.



What's inside the box?

* A laser-etched Crimson Omen on the back
* Collectible Gears of War packaging
* 244 pieces of Gears of War media including the original game soundtrack, behind-the-scenes videos, game trailers and concept art galleries

Details courtesy of Zune.net

Zune 120 GB Video MP3 Player, Gears of War 2 Special Edition

Zune Recommendations > itunes Genius

Don't take my word for it:

Zune's Recommendations Make Genius Look Average

By Eliot Van Buskirk

Microsoft showed us a sneak preview of the Zune 3.0 software it plans to release on Sept. 16 with the latest generation of Zune devices, and what we saw made iTunes' simple Genius feature look like a blast from digital music's past. While iTunes serves up a text list of recommended songs within your library and from the iTunes store, adding to the more basic recommendations its MiniStore feature used to make, Zune reinvented the recommendation concept by collapsing artists, albums and fans into the same recommendation engine, more accurately mirroring the way people think about music.

Click here for the rest of article.

Mazzulla Falls, HELLO! *In Larry King Voice* (Rambling Man)

I wish the word haters would die & people would stop talking about how they have haters on their blogs & myspace pages. You aren't important enough to hate! You're an annoyance to people, at best . . . McDonald's will be providing free wifi for Zune users. Maybe when I'm in Chicago full time I can meet another Zune user? If it's a woman of age I may buy her a McFlurry . . . I wish someone cool would do something with that Blow The Whistle beat. I love the beat, but I would rather hear Elzhi, Wale, Lupe, Skillz or Mos Def(rapping only) over it. Maybe they would be funny or at least drop some cool or interesting references on it . . . Odds are if you are reading this I have read & possibly bookmarked your blog. I have been addicted to black blogs about music, movies, tech & current affairs. My bookmarking game is CRAZY! I REALLY need to organize them . . . What's the point of Imeem.com? I mean at least Last.fm connects you to people who have similar taste in music by actually tracking what you listen to. It seems that Imeem requires you to upload music for the site to be of any value at all. Shouldn't music social networking be easier than this? I like the look of the site, but I'm still trying to figure it out . . . Why do cats keep the size sticker on their fitted hats? It's not like most of them are paying attention to the size on the actual sticker since the hats usually look 2 sizes too big. I wish I could wear fitted hats, but my nugget is just too large for that. If I could I would be all over these . . .

Free 3rd Generation Zunes . . .

for those that have either the first or second generation one.

I meant to have this post up a few days ago, but this damn thing called life keeps getting in the way! lol Anyway, the new 3rd generation Zune dropped a tad earlier than expected.

Here are just a couple of the new features that will be included in the Zune 120 GB Video MP3 Player Black (3rd Generation) as well as the software update that will be available Tuesday, September 16th for the older Zunes.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:1dadcc7c-bbed-4e5c-a36a-b6bc44728ed1&amp;showPlaylist=true&amp;from=shared" target="_new" title="Zune Software Features - Zune Fall 2008">Video: Zune Software Features - Zune Fall 2008</a>

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:e9706b7e-c32e-46a4-92ea-7cb8c73746c7&amp;showPlaylist=true&amp;from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Zune Fall 2008 Wireless Features">Video: Zune Fall 2008 Wireless Features</a>

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:52118a97-e764-4c4f-aa9e-bae2bc47ee57&amp;showPlaylist=true&amp;from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Zune Fall update: buy from FM">Video: Zune Fall update: buy from FM</a>

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:af9604b2-195e-4b69-afb7-6f5cd17749c1&amp;showPlaylist=true&amp;from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Zune Fall Update: Channels">Video: Zune Fall Update: Channels</a>

Barack The Vote!

With the nation still catching it's breath from the end of the Democratic National Convention and the Republican's convention to start up tomorrow, I came across these:


I feel some type of way that the Republican Zune looks better. :( But, both are dope.

Gizmodo

Coming To A Beef Street DVD Near You!

I think I was reading a Newsweek a few weeks ago and saw a little blurb about a group called Little Jackie, which it turns out is the new project from Imani Coppola. So on a whim I copped her album, The Stoop from the Zune Marketplace since I still had some credits left. I was pleasantly surprised at what I had found. I remembered her from her single back in '97, Legend Of A Cowgirl, which I found quirky and funny. Well she still has that same sense of humor, but backed with some more old school Motownish beats. I love this song:



With all of that being said . . . this post was all to mention her song on the album called Cryin' For The Qeen, where she goes IN on Amy Winehouse!




Cryin' For The Queen

Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen
Go back to the motherland
Have your mama hold you hand
If you eat your eggs with runadines (?)
Save all that crying for the queen
Judging your behavior and your junkie routine
It's time for you to get clean and stop creating a scene
Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen

*insert Funkmaster Flex bomb sound effect*

There's a recall on all imports
You behaving all out of sorts
You can't hold the liquor
Quicker ya'll get off my turf
I'll show you who got the curve
Think I'm being territorial?
I'm'a get patriotic on ya ass
Stars and stripes
Acting all sassy and crass
Class is in session, please stand for the pledge
All you pretty party girl step away from the ledge
Have a seat
So I can begin to teach
Today we're gonna learn about the word: moderation
Liberty and justice and something like one nation

Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen
Go back to the motherland
Have your mama hold you hand
If you eat your eggs with runadines (?)
Save all that crying for the queen
Judging your behavior and your junkie routine
It's time for you to get clean and stop creating a scene
Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen

*insert standard mixtape gunshot sound effects*

Those who know me know I ain't no straight-lace sober freak
But when it comes time to get the job done I make sure I'm at least
Able to speak
Try to give a damn about presentation
Try to make it look like it's not a vacation
People paid to see a show
They didn't just make a kind donation
When you're singing that song for the one millionth time
And you're too gone to see that you no longer shine
You start wishing for another way to make your dime
You wanna make a buck in America?
Grab an application and get in line

Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen
Go back to the motherland
Have your mama hold you hand
If you eat your eggs with runadines (?)
Save all that crying for the queen
Judging your behavior and your junkie routine
It's time for you to get clean and stop creating a scene
Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying

Cause you know you'll be missing that same ol tone
Two weeks what you look like every afternoon
Then it comes you be like, "Cha-ching, cha-ching!"
But minimum wage after taxes is like, "you must be f**king kidding..."

*insert MORE standard mixtape gunshot sound effects*

Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen
Go back to the motherland
Have your mama hold you hand
If you eat your eggs with runadines (?)
Save all that crying for the queen
Judging your behavior and your junkie routine
It's time for you to get clean and stop creating a scene
Girl you ain't got shit on me
Ain't got shit on NYC
Got nothing on this city
Save all that crying for the queen

Diggnation On The Zune

Video: Zune explored by hosts of Diggnation