I've moved!

After many years here I'm making the jump to Wordpress. You can find me at:

http://www.nicolecifani.com/

Create / Fixate's annual photography show (LA)

I've never been to one of these, has anyone? Are they fun? -n.

---------------------------------

CREATE:FIXATE presents

BACKSCATTER
The Annual All Photography Show
AUDIO LAB
HOUSE : TECHNO : DOWNTEMPO : BREAKS :EXPERIMENTAL : WORLD RHYTHMS : LIVE MUSIC

LAB .01
John Tejada Palette / Pokerflat :
Palenke Soultribe WC MUSIC :
AquaVee Beatnonstop / C:F
Dream Electric- Vibration Institute :
Alfonso Recline Sounds

LAB .02
Raul Campos KCRW
Wolfie- Hipgenesis :
Henry Strange- Fateless Flows
Lyndon Hill Aries Underground
Djun Djun -Pure Tone

OPTICAL LOUNGE
PHOTOGRAPHY : FILM : DIGITAL : MANIPULATED : EXPERIMENTAL
Alyssa Nicol Elias : Anne Hieronymus : Bob Cook : bd Miller : Craig Fritz :
Kitty Clark Fritz : Daisy Rast
David K. Hauver : Flounder Lee : Francis Poland : Greg Cohen : Harry Kao :
Jason Elias : Jim Gentry
Jaimie Trueblood : John Busch : Marianne Williams : Martin J. Waterman :
Ross Johnson : Steve Elkins
Steven Wolkoff : Tim Francis : Vasco Nunes : Walt Jones

INSTALLATION
Franklin Londin

INTERACTIVE LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
Polite in Public : Michael Rababy

VIDEO PROJECTION
Pascual Sisto : Ross Johnson

JEWELRY
KarmaKulture : Brooke Benson Designs : Yara Afshar

FASHION
F.T.T.K.

CURATED BY Jason Elias PRODUCED BY Michelle Berc MUSIC COORDINATOR
Andrea Giardina


SATURDAY, JULY 28th, 2007 : 7pm - 2am : $15 Admission
Gallery Preview from 4-7pm : $5 suggested donation
1535 Ivar Ave., Hollywood, CA

Bring the Kids during the Gallery Preview from 4-7pm!
The Kids Kreativity Zone will be overflowing with art supplies and is a
Place where youth can dive into their own expression while
parents explore the exhibit. Kids are free before 7 o¹clock.

For more information please visit:
http://www.createfixate.com/nexteventM06.html

Twitter, Twitter everywhere

Although it's been described in many different ways, I like to explain Twitter as a hybrid of one-way Instant Messenging paired with blogging on a small-scale. A user can input info about what s/he is doing at virtually any moment (however inane) provided the user has access to an internet connection or mobile. This message is immediately published and can be accessed in a variety of ways.

The power of Twitter is not in the content itself which can prove to be rather boring (and obnoxious if you're subscribing to many users via mobile). A typical message can be as simple as "eating noodles", "sleeping", or "at a loft party downtown". The power of Twitter is found not granularly within each message but in it's vast assortment - and convenience - of methods used for publishing and receiving messages.

Twitters, blogs, or IM's - whatever you want to call them - are snippets of information kept in snack-sized bits by limiting the content to under 120 words. Messages can be made via mobile, IM, or by publishing from the Twitter website. The can be received via feed, text message, posting to a widget, by visiting the users Twitter webpage, and more.

By being able to know where your friends are and what they are doing at theoretically any moment, an intertwined social web is thus created. This web becomes an extension of one's own personal network. Think of it as your assortment of myspace friends with the switch in the "on" position.

Just as Marshall Mcluhan describes the car as an extension of the foot and the wheel an extension of the hand, so is the social breadth of messenging - taking communication to a whole new level.

For further reading:

-> Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense (Wired)

NY77: The Coolest Year in Hell (LA)

Internet radio lives on

Many internet radio stations continue streaming today, despite warnings by the SoundExchange that they will be sued if they cannot pay the new music royalty fee. This fee to be paid by today was imposed upon all stations regardless of size or revenue base, creating concern that this may be the end of internet radio.

Read more: 'Music on Hold'

Court rejects Webcasters' plea for relief - CNet news

Via CNet News, 'A federal appeals court has declined to grant a petition by Webcasters to delay the onset of new royalty fees. In a one-page order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the opponents of the fees "have not satisfied the stringent standards required for a stay pending court review".'

For the entire article including a PDF of the new rules click here

The Decemberists "Los Angeles I'm Yours", Live with the LA Phil

Granted, The Decemberists fall into the category of annoying-indie-band-with-cutsey-name that I love to hate on but for some reason I adore them. And I adore this song.

Phat Kat

One of the most overlooked emcees from Detroit, Phat Kat aka Ronnie Cash was an early collaborator to the legendary Detroit hip-hop producer Jay-Dee. The two collaborated under the name 1st Down until the label folded and the two parted ways. Cash went on to collaborate with Slum Village and reunited with Jay Dee later to release the Undeniable ep. Look out for Phat Kat's solo record on Look Records this year. I've heard a few tracks and can't wait to get my own copy. It has the bangin' electro tinged sound of Detroit hip hop that tells it like it is. Check out Phat Kat's myspace page for a spin.

Columbia Records creates channel on YouTube

Daft Punk debuts "Electroma" in LA Friday night

Daft Punk's Electroma
New Beverly Cinema
7165 Beverly Blvd. at La Brea
Friday June 29 at 11:59pm
Tickets $5 available at the door
Trailer: http://www.daftpunk.com/videos/ELECTROMA-TEASER.mov


today's LA Times feature

Google Earth - Is 'Real Skydiving Better'?

The foundations of Google Earth aose from one man with a mission - to replace many maps with a singular one that pinpoints several locations within one area.

Keyhole, a company partially-funded by the CIA, ran with his idea to develop the technology further. In October of 2004 Keyhole was purchased by Google for an undisclosed amount. Larry and Serge moved the team to Building 45 at Google's HQ in Cupertino and dubbed the genesis of Google's new project Google Earth.

I was amazed to discover how Google Earth obtains data. From what I gather, initial topographical information is gathered by satellites. To flesh out the satellite information, Google Earth depends on locals to submit "layers" containing detailed info about city or neighborhood's streets, points of interest, and more. These layers can be turned on or off within the program.

Besides contributing layers, users are taking the mapping to an entirely new level by creating personalized maps detailing items such as favorite restaurants, walking paths, and favorite places to vacation. Sites like Yelp and Socialight overlap personalized maps with social networking - creating a uniquely new experience.

This social collaboration has extended beyond contributing to where we live and what we know. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has collaborated with Google Earth to display visual evidence of the destruction in Darfur.

Learn more about how Google Earth works here:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/google-earth.htm

Thursday night in LA

The Sounds of Silence

Today, thousands of webcasters across the nation shut down in a 'Day of Silence' to protest the proposed royalty rate increases slated to take effect July 15.

The proposed fee would require every webcaster to pay per song, per listen, per play, in addition to $500 per month per channel that would irrevocably put sites like Pandora out of business.

Radio stations are encouraging everyone to contact their local congressperson and ask them to support the Internet Radio Equality Act if they have not already.

This act eliminates the minimum fee per channel and charges webcasters the same 7.5% of revenue that satellite radio pays.

Today Save Net Radio has exceeded it's bandwidth and switchboards in Congressional offices all over Capitol hill are tied up with listeners phoning in on the issue.

Read more and act now: http://www.savenetradio.org

Music review: the quiet return of 'Client'

Ok, so critics have been bashing Client's new record. I've got to tell you, this may be my favorite record by them yet. A self proclaimed "anonymous" duo, the two girls of Client have added a third member to the group for this record. While they still embrace 'electronic-nouveau' (or whatever you want to call the second wave of mainstream electronic music), Client has developed a mature sound with this record - one that is transcending obscure electronic avant-garde for a sound that is melodically true to form. Check it out on Amazon .

The Post-Privacy Age

'Privacy on the Internet' - the oxymoron of our time.

By revealing personal data online, what kind of risk are we setting ourselves up for?

Ten years ago most of us were hesitant to enter our credit card information online. Today, many are posting intimate details of their everyday life alongside personal editorial - propelling them to the status of semi-celebrity.

Yes, the internet works based on the premise of sharing information with the world. Fringe Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul who as of late has become a superstar in part to his success on the news-ranking site Digg. According to FacebookObama enjoys
'Basketball, writing, loafing w/ kids', and his favorite music is 'Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Johann Sebastian Bach (cello suites), and The Fugees'. Hilary is on MySpace with links to her various sites and Youtube videos of her stance on the issues. Sites like Myspace, Facebook, and Moveable Type allow users to manage privacy by implementing features that allow us to have what they call 'total control'.

But what are the by-products of this sharing of personal information? I've heard of employers who will visit one's Myspace page prior to moving forward with an interview process. Will those photos of you boozing it up with your friends at last winter's trip to Aspen cost you your dream job? It it easier to attract stalkers and what about selling your soul to the marketing devil? Plenty of companies aggregate demographical information and sell it to third party vendors. Are you becoming type-cast in a world that is meant to 'set you free'?
We're all celebrities in post-privacy age

Interactive advertising heats up: for real this time

It's been clear for a few years that "convergence" - the merger of the internet, radio, and television - is quickly becoming the next outlet for media syndication.
Like any industry comprised of several huge conglomerates, the advertising industry has been no slouch to recognize this and make efforts to accommodate change. Although the paradigm shift is already here, brands are slowly inching their dollars away from network television spending and towards the internet. What are the trends in new media advertising, and who will win out?

A few years ago, advertising on the internet meant building a sleek site in flash with marketing ad-ons like wallpaper and buddy icons.

Two years ago, blogs and social networking was king, but no one knew how to leverage it.

Last year, viral marketing was king and this year, we return to what was there all along - the precedent that Google had created years ago with cold, hard, data. Adwords, SEO, and Analytics. Not very sexy, but it's the whole point of advertising on the internet, isn't it?

My prediction is two-fold. The first is that social media sites will quickly replace social networking. A social media site is a social network that is niche-specific and includes content created by the member or user. User generated content (or UGC) is no longer defined by music, movies, and images, but now includes practical information such as reviews, feedback, and rankings. So, when a user does a search for a restaurant review the chance of accidentally stumbling across that review increases, hence traffic is driven to the site. This endemic environment becomes conducive to ad placement and targeted marketing at the 1-to-1 level.

Secondly, we'll see small, well placed and hard working text based adverts. Because ultimately, it's the hard numbers that rule.

Then there is the material that interests me the most and lives outside of the net- installation-based advertising. More on that to come...


Cannes opens door to Internet World, WSJ
Gone in 30 Seconds, Washington Post

Changing Tech keeps Ad Firms Hopping, USA Today

What the World Eats (Time Magazine)

An interesting take of what familes across the globe eat in a weeks time, from Time Magazine .

I pledge allegiance, to technological determinism

An article from the Guardian UK explores how the utopian future that technology promises us 40 years from now is the same set of expectations from 40 years ago. The belief that technology can "transform society" is one that has been perpetrated since the Cold War in an effort to keep control of class and instill notions of anti-communism. So we're never gonna be like the Jetsons?

Music Discovery May be Slacking

Today, internet radio company Slacker announced a $40 million dollar cash infusion in their second round of funding. Last.fm's last round before being purchased by CBS for $280 million was only $5 million. Why the huge difference, and what does that mean for the music discovery race in becoming the next mainstream music player?

Last.fm is a music discovery tool that enables the user to "scrobble" tracks from his or her music library and find related music based on what fellow members are listening to. In addition to the stand-alone scrobbler, the listener can tune in to various radio stations.

Slacker is undoubtedly simpler than the scrobbler technology. Flash based, the radio player is embedded directly within the Slacker website. The player incorporates Pandora-like technology to play music based upon what the user likes and does not like. The problem I see with Slacker is that although there are "indie" stations, they don't leave much room for musical discovery. The company brags about direct partnerships with the majors and therefore exemption from any CRB ruling on internet radio royalities. And that cash infusion? Slacker is developing a WiFi-enabled mobile player for listening on the go. The device to be released later this year will even have a satellite linkup for in the car, fully able to compete with the frankenstein of Sirius/XM.

My problem here is that the long-tail is completely being erased. What happened to indie music re-gaining a voice with technology? How about one of the reasons the industry is sinking - listeners yearning for a way to discover new and/or underground music? If the new music scene truly is a global one these companies need to focus on programming as just as equal as the technology that drives it. I applaud what Slacker is doing - it's about time someone figured out how and where we want to listen. But how about that content? Why not feature music from different parts of the globe, different styles, genres, etc?

If we've learned anything these past few years, the listener prescribes success. Not the dollar signs behind it.

two goings-on early this week