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What Is Love?
Many people have been trying to figure out what the term "Web 2.0" really means. Some think it means nothing. Some thing it's the second Internet boom. Some think it's all about that clean, Google-ish look. And some think that anything with "Web 2.0" attached to it will get venture capital funding.
None of these are really true, although they are at least partly true. Yesterday I listened to the Inside The Net interview with the company Big In Japan. (Inside The Net, part of the TWiT network, is a weekly podcast that interviews major players in "Web 2.0".) One of the hosts on the show may have stumbled on the point of "Web 2.0" and/or Open Source.
Leo Laporte was commenting on how "Web 2.0" seems to be more about cooperating and working together than competition. Many things are open-sourced, much is done to ensure interoperability, etc. The guys from Big In Japan talk about how another company just gave them the code for part of their application, which is something that you'd never hear of otherwise. Leo even likened it to some Christian principles of helping out your neighbor and stuff.
It seems to me that this is at the heart of the new Internet revolution. But many don't get it yet. At work they were asking me if I could do a project, and I looked around and somebody was already working on implementing this add-on for a popular open-source software. My suggestion to work was to talk to this person, who had made similar add-ons before, to see if we could just pay him some cash to get it done by the time we needed it. That seems like a very Open Source, "Web 2.0" way to do it. If I owned my own company, that would at least be my first crack at it.
But, work said they'd rather have me do it and have me spend the extra time and (their) money to figure it out. I don't have a problem with that because I was happy to learn some new stuff. It seemed to me that it was more about not trusting somebody else on the Internet. Do I have too much trust in other developers? Is it better to go with somebody you know that someobdy who will do the job well? Is my employer missing the "Web 2.0" bandwagon?
The Factory Is Gonna Catch Fire
Some of my favorite things from GMA week so far have not been great events, but how God is working in the lives of close friends.
Melissa has always been a good friend and always a big heart for what God is doing and for music. But she's been sick almost all week, sometimes feeling sick and the other times feeling fine but having no voice to speak with. Despite that, though, God has worked in here life powerfully. From praying for her healing during the amazing Passion worship event to her hanging out with the biggest names in Christian music last night, God is providing her with a path to glorify him through her career.
The week hasn't been that important to me or furthered my career much (yet), but it has been great to see how God is blessing those around me. Thank you, Lord, for working in power this week.
Plane To The Down South
So, y'all, you won't see me the next week at my usual haunt here. That's because this week is GMA Music Week 2006. That's right, it's time for tons of interviews, showcases, and networking. For what? Of course, it's the impending release of inReview.net, which will probably be here anyday.
So, where will I be? I'll be in Nashville, and I'll be blogging at Infuze Live. Thanks to Robin Parrish and the crew for putting out a great online zine, and I can't wait to try out this concept of blogging about something....
Where We Can Play Football
Well, yesterday I went to see the house that I'm living in starting in September. It was cool. Right now, it looks like a bunch of drunk college guys live there, so it's not fun to look at. But, next year, it'll be great. It's a bit smaller, but it will still be tons of room to work with. The location isn't as good for public transportation, but I can live with another 10-15 minutes to get home.
The only thing that was kinda cool about the house right now was that every room had a big TV. While I don't want one in every room, I just want a big screen and some great sound for movie watching. That'd be awesome.
All Stocks Have Split, It's A Smash Hit
The coolest new web feature of the week? It's definitely Google Finance. Before now, you had to trick Yahoo! Finance or some other site to give you the stock information you wanted. But no more. The Flash-based graph is so easy to use and flexible, you can get a graph of whatever you want. Plotted right on the graphs are the news stories about the company. If you need to find stock info, this is definitely now the place to go. Or if you want to check out a good design. Hopefully, my Google stock will look better on it.
You Think You're All That But You're Lookin' Like Scott Stapp
The latest thing to hit my desk is the party rock of Family Force 5. They're crazy. There's definitely a lot of '80s influences, but it's mostly rockin' guitars with rap vocals, but much less electronic than Earthsuit. So what's my first impression? It's great for music to pump you up. Does it have any value besides fun music? Not really, but it's not bad.
The other thing that was interesting was a sheet included in the press kit from the band. In it they described how their music doesn't have much spiritual meaning, it's just good plain fun music. But, apparently, since they were all Christians, they wanted to be on a Christian label (and hopefully a mainstream label too). They managed to do that, I guess, but what happens now will be interesting. It's markedly different from the way Mute Math went, I guess. Instead of trying to stay away from Christian music, they made sure they were in it. Of course, from Mute Math's perspective, the "Christian" tag will hurt the band. I guess we'll see.
Do Not Tell Me What I Can And Cannot Do
You know it's the first day of spring in Minnesota when:
- It's about 22 degrees (Farenheight) on a Monday night.
- When hungry, we still went for McDonald's soft serve ice cream.
- We still loved it while walking home.
It was great.
(I don't know why I keep telling these types of stories. Maybe I think I'm crazy. Maybe I think I can take it better than you. Or maybe it's just too cold to think sane.)
Too Bad Nobody Reads Your Little Time Magazine
There's no denying that the movies are not as popular as they used to be. And well, everybody seems to have their reasons why. This excellent article in Time proposes that George Lucas's promotion of the digital projector could save the movie houses. But who knows? I know I'm looking forward to see V For Vendetta on the big screen sometime soon!
Like A Million Parachutes
Isn't the snow outside pretty? Oh wait, that picture was taken over three years ago. But hey, it's still a great one and it captures the look outside right now. Not only did we get almost a foot of snow, but it seems to stick to everything. Many schools cancelled today, so not much happened today. Even at my work, the power was only kinda working and the Internet would not start up. So I even left work after a half day. It was a weird and fun day, plus I've been waiting for all this snow for a long time. It was great.
I Never Noticed My Heart Before
Probably the biggest music news of the week is that Mute Math has filed suit against Warner Bros./Word Records for their handling of their debut EP. You can read the Reuters story and the comments at Shlog.com for more information.
What I have to say is that I wholeheartedly support the band. Why? Because I think they have a point.
It has long been a point of discussion, but here's what I believe the "Christian" music industry is defined as:
- It is those that edify the church (aka. the Christian faithful) through their music. MercyMe, Chris Tomlin, Bill Gaither, Rich Mullins, Sara Groves and Apologetix do that.
- It is a haven for bands that aren't good enough to be successful in the mainstream. MercyMe, Sanctus Real, Building 429, and Jeremy Camp are good examples of this, in my opinion.
I guess, you could say, the third category is those who are stuck in the Christian music industry. They started in the Christian world, and since then, they've not been able to escape despite their great music. Recent examples of this include The Listening, The Elms, Mat Kearney, and Mute Math, while older examples include dc Talk, Jars of Clay, and P.O.D.
Thankfully, some of these bands were allowed to escape a little. If they weren't plagued with the "Christian" tag, though, they probably could have made it much farther. There are many who, maybe even subconsciously, associate Christian music with second-rate, not-worth-my-time music.
Some of the newer names on that list are getting the chance to escape. Switchfoot is almost known on its own without being labeled a Christian band. Mat Kearney and Mute Math are making it too, and it looks like The Elms may get their break with the May 2nd release.
But what about Mute Math? Well, I think they have a right to sue their label. The claim that they went into talks with the label under assurances they would not be on Word Records, the Christian arm of Warner Bros. Records. I think they had a right to demand this, because they've been in a Christian band and knew that their new venture, Mute Math, could be much bigger. They may be Christian believers, but that doesn't mean that their music can be only heard by Christians, which is what the Christian music industry is for.
Of course, how long did Mute Math comply with Word's requests? Eight months or so after their Word release, they hit some major Christian festivals and were fairly popular. Does that mean they were admitting to being a Christian band? Were they interested in being Christian then but are no longer? That, to me, seems to be the only hole in their thought.
Best of luck to you guys. I hope that the publicity goes well and that your new CD is well-received.