Belissa Escobedo, Rhiannon McGavin, and Zariya Allen, members of the Get Lit organization perform “Somewhere in America”.
Music identification app Shazam will soon recognize objects
From The Next Web:
Shazam will soon extend its music identification service to include objects.
Speaking at this year’s Mobile World Congress, chief executive Rich Riley told Reuters, “Shazam is already a verb. We want to expand the universe of what you can Shazam. The famous blue button that our users love will remain on the home screen but will be able to do much more.”
The new feature is kind of like an advanced version of Google Goggles. The company says its app will soon let users identify products and learn more about them. For example, you could point your phone at a cereal box to get in-depth nutritional information, or at a DVD case to buy the soundtrack from your device.
If You Run A Facebook Page, Expect The Like Count To Drop Soon
From Techcrunch:
Do you run a Facebook Page? Heads up: your page’s “Like” count is probably going to drop a bit soon, and it’s totally not your fault.
The short version: Facebook is changing the way it’s counting likes, subtracting any accounts that have been either manually deactivated or “memorialized” after its owner passed. It’s something that probably should have been done since the beginning — but since it wasn’t, it’d be easy to think your Likes had dropped because of something you’d done.
One thing that’s important to note: it seems that this only accounts for profiles that have been manually deactivated. Likes from profiles that could be considered “inactive” because the user just hasn’t logged in for a while will continue to count.
‘A Single Life’, Animated Short About a Woman Who Travels Through Her Life by Spinning a Record
A Single Life is an animated short film in which Pia finds a vinyl single. When playing the mysterious single, Pia is suddenly able to travel through her life. If she spins the record forward, she becomes older. If she skips backwards, she gets younger.
Ha! So Wrong: News Anchor Didn’t Know How To React To This!
So wrong, and so funny.
http://youtu.be/AnBsFXIgAZM
Peter Gabriel’s Isolated Vocals For “Sledgehammer”
Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” was produced by Daniel Lanois and found on his massive “So” album. It hit number one in Canada on 21 July 1986, where it spent four weeks; number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and number four on the UK Singles Chart, thanks in part to a popular and influential music video. It was his biggest hit in North America and ties with “Games Without Frontiers” as his biggest hit in the United Kingdom.
The song’s music video has won a number of awards, including a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards[5] and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards.[ Gabriel was also nominated for three Grammy Awards: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. As of 2011, “Sledgehammer” is the most played music video in the history of MTV.
Peter’s vocals start at the 0:50 mark.
http://youtu.be/RY5g5k8yqus
Here’s the original award-winning video:
The Most Popular Websites From 1996 to 2013
The image above is a slection from a fascinating chart in the Washington Post. You can see a history of the English language web as sites rise, fall, and disappear from 1996 to 2013. Notice how Penthouse made the chart back in 1996, along with four universities. I’m not sure if there’s a correlation. And anyone even remember Grab? Uproar?
Smart Ads Feature Classic Artists Taking A Selfie…Err…Self-Portraits
Advertising agency Leo Burnett Switzerland created a series of three famous self portraits (Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Albrecht Dürer) reimagined as selfies to advertise Samsung’s new Samsung NX mini camera. In each image, the subject holds the NX Mini as the viewfinder reveals a mirrored portrait.
The Best Vintage Apple Ads from the 1970s-80s
Apple Inc. has had many notable advertisements since the 1980s, maintaining a style of contemporary art focusing on showing how the product is used rather than telling consumers about the product while also incorporating popular culture references. For a special post-election edition of Newsweek in November 1984, Apple spent more than $2.5 million to buy all of the advertising pages in the issue (a total of 39). Apple also ran a “Test Drive a Macintosh” promotion that year, in which potential buyers with a credit card could try a Macintosh for 24 hours and return it to a dealer afterwards. One ad contrasted the original Macintosh and its simple user brochure to the IBM Personal Computer with its stacks of complicated manuals. Here are some the great ads from the company who later taught us to “Think Different.”
Tobias Jesso Jr. Shares New Song, “Without You”
Tobias Jesso Jr. has released a new track off his upcoming debut LP, ‘Goon’ (out 3/17 via True Panther Sounds). “Without You” was produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and features Danielle Haim on drums. Listen here:
‘Goon’ has already received early praise from Pitchfork, NPR, Fader, Grantland, Time, New Yorker + more. iTunes pre-order here
Goon’ was recorded over the last two years and features production from Chet “JR” White (formerly of Girls), Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, and Ariel Rechtshaid (Vampire Weekend, Haim, Sky Ferreira). Pitchfork recently gave album highlight “Hollywood” Best New Track, calling it “the film negative to Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’.” ‘Goon’ album art is pictured here. Listen to “Hollywood” here.
Tobias will launch his first ever headlining tour later this month, which includes a run of SXSW performances, and two sold out NYC shows (March 26 at Mercury Lounge, March 27 at Baby’s All Right). Full dates and tickets for all dates here: tobiasjessojr.com
