I have been working diligently to learn the Soulja Boy (“Crank That”) dance, and have come to appreciate it even more than I did previously. Hence, I offer these update videos:
First, and most RECOMMENDED, I have created a mind-numbing triptych here.
Additionally, BAMBI:
That is all.
In his book Ghosts of the ETO, author Jonathan Gawne tells the story of Americas’ Deception Units, and how they helped the Allies win WWII. (Spoiler: They used rubber tanks.) The idea of Deception Units in general was an intriguing one, but I was particularly interested in our “Sonic Deception Units.” The units were a state secret until 1996.
The units toted speakers around battlefields on “sound trucks,” playing canned sounds (of troop movements, etc.) to confuse enemy soldiers. (A video of a sonic deception training film is here, though it requires suck-ass Real Player to watch). [via NPR]
*Hypebot offers says it won’t kill iTunes but it might kill DRM.
*Listening Post says some of the tracks contain watermarks indicating where they came from, but not identifying individual buyers.
*Tech Evangelist thinks individual Amazon song pages will rise to the top of search results.
*Coolfer says a lot of the same things others have said (variable pricing, etc.) but notes Amazon’s cross-selling (though not to mp3 players) and notes that you can’t pre-order via Amazon.
*Idolator spots this pitch-perfect quote from punctuationally innovative Black Eyed Pee Will.I.Am in Radar: “When I wrote ‘My Humps,’ I said, ‘This is the stupidest thing ever,’ but in a good way.’” [Ed. note: I COULD NOT AGREE MORE.]
He goes on, “It’s harder than you think to write the sort of song that keeps your attention and entices you to sing it verbatim later. It’s easy, if you’re a poet, to write complex verses like, “I’m coming after you like VWXYZ.” Just think about that. It’s like, “Yo, V does come after U! That’s fucking crazy!” [Ed. note: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS. BUT I LIKE IT.]
*The Times‘ new Health blog covers Hasbro’s mp3 toothbrush, ToothTunes, which I wrote up for the day job last year. The funny thing about this particular mp3-playing toothbrush (other than the fact that it is a toothbrush that plays mp3s) is its song selection: the Village People’s “YMCA,” BEP’s “Let’s Get It Started,” and KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Night” are all available. None of those songs’ origins, of course, immediately take one to the warm, happy place of nightly childhood ablutions.
Plink plink. “Peach, Plum, Pear.”
*The Amazon DRM-free music store finally launches! I recommend Manu Chao (especially if you have a 7-month-old.) Here’s a pricing structure explanation, courtesy of the Amazon blog. [via XRRXF] Side note: Oy. Another “public beta.”
*Reuters on album art: Die or go interactive. I say the former! [Idolator]
*A review or two of Iron & Wine’s “The Shepherd’s Dog.” The man has one of the most impressive beards in music today. Peefork says 8.6. See also: Wine in a can.
*The 2Pac blog says Tu is ALIVE. [Grooveshark]
*Radiohead dips into the geeky, frustrating world of the ARG (sorta), posting cryptic messages in its site.
*Is YouTube going to slap pre-roll and post-roll ads on videos next year? That would be depressing.
*Meet the Lego iPod dock. [Crave]
