Some Random Dude

Some Random Dude is a blog by P.J. Onori that covers design & technology in the broadest sense possible.

Archive for November, 2007

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NIN Remix – UGC Strain Mutates Towards Music

We all know what video UGC has done to change the face of modern media. Video is beginning to show signs of a strong bottom-up structure forming. In turn, mainstream media has had to adapt by both slowly integrating UGC into their model and putting their content onto UGC networks. While video UGC has taken off, music has not followed suit due, almost assuredly, to the music industry’s absolute resistance to evolve. Until now, the stonewalling of progress by the RIAA and other music industry leaders has been relatively successful in terms of the big picture. There are no YouTube scale sites offering independent, community created music. In my opinion, there is plenty of talent out there, but these sorts of movements usually need a jumpstart in order to pull in the combination of a large community and ample traffic to become self-sustaining. For YouTube, the early inclusion of unwarranted copyrighted video (whether intentional or unintentional) was that jumpstart – now TV content is a much smaller piece of the puzzle as a large content creating community has been fostered. The recent launch of NIN Remix may just be the jumpstart for UGC music. UGC music will become mainstream. The only question is if NIN Remix will be what gets the snowball rolling.
Read On…

The Next Hot Style – Just As Soulless As The Last One

A little over a year ago, I wrote on the short-sightedness of the visual style which had been named after the technology it had been associated with – Web 2.0. As predicted, the masses have begun to tire of the current trend. Additionally, designers are beginning to write about their dissatisfaction towards the Web 2.0 visual trend and are proposing alternatives to it. As the visual style attributed Web 2.0 wains, we are inevitably going to see the rise of another all but arbitrary visual style take its place which will be adopted by the design masses without a second thought. Read On…

Processing Experiment – Helix

Buddies and colleagues of mine told me years ago to get into Processing – to which I never did. Well, I finally hunkered down and began to fiddle with it. I should have done it years ago. Because it’s Java-based, there a plethora of libraries to make things which would otherwise be impossible to do in Flash extremely easy. For myself, the simple ability to output to an image sequence or Quicktime file sealed it for me. Below is the first sketch I did in Processing – comprised of a little more than 30 lines of code.

Processing Experiment – Helix from P.J. Onori on Vimeo.

Niggy Tardust is Everything We Wanted In Rainbows To Be

If you are on the internet more than 20 minutes a day, you know about Radiohead’s In Rainbows album and how it struck such a chord (yes, pun is intended) with the online community and the millennium generation. Being able to purchase an album for any price of your choosing (including free) flew right in the face of the wretchedly backwards model the RIAA has artificially propped. I myself purchased the album for well over the usual market price – there were even instances where people paid $1000 to support such a bold move.

Well, it wasn’t as bold as we all had thought…

It turns out that In Rainbows was always planned to be sold the old (and backwards) fashioned way. This does not diminish what Radiohead did, but it resembles someone dipping their toe into the water to quickly go back to safety. Well, Saul Williams and Trent Reznor have jumped in head first with no flotation device. Williams worked with Reznor on his new album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust and have made it completely free or $5. From what I have read, this is it – no CD release, no running back to the record label, just a pure relationship with the fans to directly support the artist.

In my opinion this makes Radiohead’s effort pale in comparison. There is real risk here if people decide not to support the album/artist. We have all cried for fairly priced music where the vast majority goes to middlemen – Niggy Tardust seems to be the most genuine step towards just that. All that aside, the album blew me away after the first listen – this is a great collaboration between Saul Williams and Reznor as you can hear strong influences Reznor while not losing Williams’ style. It is well worth the equivalent of an overpriced cup of coffee to support not just the artist, but what the artist is attempting to do. So let’s see if we as a community are willing to follow through and pay artists when they treat us fairly. This time, $5 goes a long way.

Download Niggy Tardust (and PLEASE support the artist)