Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Rest in Peace Bob Pajak


I only met Bob Pajak for three days in February of 2006. I never saw him before or after these few days that we spent together. He passed away today.

These are some of his traits that I believe will live on in myself and others:
- Be impossibly upbeat
- Roll with the punches
- If something is important, don't treat it as optional
- Whatever conditions present themselves, find a way to enjoy them
- Given no other clear advantage, bias your target toward the cart path

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Finding Music I Like

I think I might have finally found the killer music suggestion app I have been waiting for. I have been struggling over the last few years with how to find good recommendations for music that I will like. MusicPlasma is the best I had found before now. For example, of the groups in the below segment of the music universe, I like almost all of the ones from whom I have heard one or more full albums:


The only problem is (a) it only "recommends" artists, and not albums or songs, and (b) sometimes it seems to be way off. For example, it shows a very tight linkage between one of my favorite artists ever, Julee Cruise, and one that I do not like at all, The Cocteau Twins.


So now along comes ILike. This site lets you rapidly click on artists that you like, or plug in your whole iTunes library. Then it shows a list of users who have the closest match to your taste, and the other artists they like, albums in their collection, and songs that they are listening to. Voila - new music recommendations based on real live people!




Now The Computer Is Nagging Me

Somehow my "Real Age" doesn't sound all that much younger:




And in the "things I already knew" department: