Turntable.fm: The Future of Music?
Turntable.fm is a social networking site that allows users to stream music for free to their friends. I first stumbled upon this gem while at work last week. Since its beta version is invite-only, I felt an extreme sense of coolness upon receiving an invitation from my co-worker
Upon entering the room, I felt elated. I had the ability to search for essentially any song ever made and share it with friends. The way it works is that pnce you’ve found the song you’re looking for, you add it to your DJ queue so that when it’s your turn, all of the listeners in the room will experience a seamless transition from the previous DJ’s song to yours.
Each time you Awesome a song, the DJ gets a point, which can be used towards getting avatars.
But the point system needs a makeover, in my opinion. It might just be me, but who really cares about having a pimped-out avatar? A plus of the point system is that it allows you to see how legitimate a DJ is, but it would be even better if Turntable.fm allowed users to use their points towards purchasing songs on a service such as iTunes or Amazon.com. There would then be even more incentive to use Turntable.fm and, by collaborating with a major company like Apple or Amazon, Turntable.fm could expand into a major music empire. But if that were the case, a merger would probably be in order, or Apple or Amazon would simply buyout Turntable.fm.
Considering that Turntable.fm has to deal with tech gurus hacking their system and endless legal questions regarding music licenses, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to partner up with a company that knows the business incredibly well and already has music licenses and agreements intact.
Just sayin’.
The Finest Artist I Know
Mahalo art expert Ken O’Brien is the epitome of a baller. Check out the video below to watch him draw Hal Jordan from Green Lantern. It’s amazing how Ken starts with a circle and turns it into a true work of art.
Whose Side Are You On Mr. President?
The world is going in a direction where same-sex marriage is a basic human right. Considering that the UN recently passed a resolution that protects the rights of LGBT people and that New York is potentially hours away from legalizing same-sex marriage, it seems only right that Mr. Obama jumps on the bandwagon.
In the 2008 presidential election, gay rights activists and LGBT allies looked to Obama as a breath of fresh air. He offered us a ray of light in the dark sky. Since his inauguration, President Obama repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s controversial policy that banned openly gay and lesbian people from serving, and he decided that he would no longer defend the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
But as the 2012 presidential election approaches and as President Obama says his views on same-sex marriage are “evolving,” it is important to keep in mind that throughout President Obama’s political career, he has gone back and forth on his views regarding same-sex marriage.
In 1996, while running for a seat in the Illinois State Senate, a gay newspaper quoted him saying, “I favor legalizing same-sex marriage…and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” But in 2008, while visiting Saddleback Church, he said, “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. For me, as a Christian, it is also a sacred union.” Note that while in the presence of LGBT people, Obama supports gay marriage, but in the presence of black religious conservatives, he is against same-sex marriage.
At this time, when a handful of recent polls show that Americans, by a slim majority, support same-sex marriage, right now doesn’t seem like a bad time to support same-sex marriage on a wide scale. And besides, I doubt President Obama really wants to be on the same side as David Tyree, the retired NFL football player who is receiving slack from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for calling gay marriage “anarchy.”
So Mr. President, whose side are you on?
District 8 Candidate Forescee Hogan-Rowles focuses on job creation
Forescee Hogan-Rowles is a second-time candidate in the 8th district city council race. But this time, she said, she plans to win.
Listen to the story here: http://www.intersectionssouthla.org/index.php/site_new/story/candidate_forescee_hogan-rowles_focuses_on_job_creation/
Gay Rights Activists Rejoice Shift in Marriage Law
Listen to the story on ARN
Interview With First Out Lesbian Comic
Robin and Diane get married. 2008.
Tune into Annenberg Radio News today from 4-4:20 p.m. on KXSC 1560 to hear my interview with Robin Tyler, one of the original plantiffs in the CA same-sex marriage case. We’ll be talking about President Obama’s order to the Justice Department to STOP defending the law in court. Tyler was also the first “out” lesbian on national television.
Women Who Loved Women
- Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Western Europe, the concept of lesbianism did not create much concern in patriarchal societies. This was because men generally believed that lesbian sex could never be fully satisfying. Patriarchal society produced ideas regarding gender hierarchies, which enabled “lesbianism” to be tolerated, as it implied assuming masculinity, which is inherently acceptable. With that, lesbian sexuality was typically ignored because “women, who were thought to be naturally inferior to men, were merely trying to emulate them: It is better that a woman give herself over to a libidinous desire to do as a man, than that a man make himself effeminate; which makes him out to be less courageous and noble.”[i] This belief placed lesbianism as an attempt to reach a more perfect state of nature, which is inherently acceptable. Considering the male ambivalence to the legitimate possibilities of lesbianism, ideas regarding relationships between women changed over time, which affected the way in which women lived their lives and the way that they identified themselves. Given the patriarchal framework in which lesbianism was situated, women were regarded as hermaphrodites or tribades during the seventeenth century. Furthermore, throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was prevalence in cross-dressing and beginning in the 1750s, romantic friendships amongst upper-class women began to flourish. Through examining actual cases of “lesbianism” throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Western Europe, it becomes evident that some women took advantage of societal blindness to pursue other women.
Celebrities Digitally Die for AIDS
On World Aids Day, a handful of celebrities took a pledge to end AIDS by announcing their digital deaths. Even though it’s a shame that everyday people wouldn’t feel motivated to donate to the AIDS crisis without an incentive, at least we’re getting closer to beating AIDS. We have to wonder, are these celebrities doing it because they really care? Or is it just a publicity stunt?
The basis for the video is that until the charity Keep A Child Alive receives $1 million in donations to help AIDS victims in Africa and India, well-known celebrities like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Usher, Janelle, Monae, Serena Williams, Jennifer Hudson, and Elijah Wood will be digitally dead, meaning no tweets and no Facebook updates. And they left their last tweets directing fans to buylife.org where there are pictures of them resting in coffins and the opportunity to donate.
It’s so important to shock you to the point of waking up, It’s not that people don’t care or it’s not that people don’t want to do something, it’s that they never thought of it quite like that. This is such a direct and instantly emotional way and a little sarcastic, you know, of a way to get people to pay attention” – Alicia Keys.
But if these celebrities really wanted to make a difference, they should have made a bigger sacrifice. Not using Twitter shouldn’t be a hard task to accomplish – it doesn’t speak to the celebrity’s desire to contribute to the AIDS crisis. If they truly want to spark a movement to raise funds for HIV/AIDS, celebrities should refuse to perform, refuse to make any new music, donate a certain percentage of their album sales to the crisis or match the donation of the fans’ contributions.
I think Hollywood is overestimating the power of Twitter and the power of the celebrity. Having a few celebrities disappear from Twitter most likely won’t make a huge difference to the average person. Although they have raised $183,628 so far, this campaign sounds like more of a publicity stunt than an actual effort to raise funds for AIDS.
But in the end, any bit will help.
Prop 8: Doin’ It Live in San Francisco
Televised live from inside the ninth circuit court of appeals in San Francisco, the Proposition 8 hearing will mark a day in history. Decisions that affect so many of us must be transparent and can no longer continue to be hidden behind closed doors. On December 6, Americans will have a chance to hear and interpret the facts for themselves because, as American Foundation for Equal Rights board President Chad Griffin said in a press release,
For too long the truth about marriage equality has been obscured by misleading political rhetoric. Our case is rooted in the principles of equality upon which our nation was founded and the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law for every American, without exception. That case has already been proven conclusively in federal court, and now millions of Americans will be able to hear the truth about this issue first-hand.
As Griffin said, it’s time that everyday citizens not need to rely on mainstream media sources to relay the news to them. Sure, mainstream news reports some of the news, but never the whole story. All we ever get these days is a quick sound bite or a short quote. Televising the trial without censors will enable viewers to think for themselves, which is something people sometimes have a hard time doing. Even though this trial specifically pertains to California, televising the trial and the outcome could have a profound effect on gay rights throughout the entire country.
No matter what the outcome, televising the hearing puts gay people and gay rights in the spotlight. Gay visibility is just as important as it has been in the past. The world needs to know who we are and that we are just like everyone else. And if Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling stays in place, California’s going to see a whole lot of bright and pleasant couples holding hands and sealing their bonds of love.
Diversity Matters 