Two notable tech birthdays

Creative Commons and G33k D1nner celebrated birthdays, 6th & 3rd, respectively, on 12/16/08. The LA Weekly even came out to cover the festivities.

The Los Angeles G33k D1nners are where folks of the huge, yet still burgeoning LA Tech Community get together to geek out over food, fun & drinks. Very cool event, way cool people.

Creative Commons is a movement that is VERY close to my heart. I mentioned it briefly here a little over a year ago. As I said in that post, Creative Commons is where open source met multimedia & their beautiful love child was CC. Just imagine a world where multimedia content of all types is provided by its authors under varying license types. You can also check out some of their many cool projects. I love CC because it is just one of the many ways that open source is invading the mainstream.

Songbird 1.0 released!

So Songbird finally went 1.0 Gold! Its release today marks a major milestone for this free yet feature-rich, do-it-all media player. As a long-time user and minor contributor, I can honestly say that it is a wonderful product and solution for us music heads. Songbird is an open source media player powered by the Mozilla engine (yes, as in Firefox).

For those of you yet to try out this awesome media player, here are some of the features that I dig:
Browse the web while you play your tunes
Tabbed browsing
Ability to play/download media files from any web page you´re browsing
Last.fm integration so you can rate your own tracks
Shoutcast radio
MashTape integration
Complete customization through add-ons (called ¨feathers¨)
You can check out the full feature set here.

Download it today and feel the power of open source and media at your fingertips. Songbird runs on the big three operating systems: Linux (any distro), Mac and Windows so don´t be alarmed when you visit the download page. It is smart enough to detect your current OS and only provides that option for download.

Obama's President! Download a free remix

So today is the day (ya, shoulda posted this earlier) where Lars Behrenroth of Deeper Shades of House was going to release a FREE remix in honor of President Obama utilizing words from a speech he gave in Berlin addressing 200,000 people in July 2008. The free download link is only active until 11:59pm tonight so hurry up!

From the site:
In celebration of election day in the USA, you will be able to download the current Deeper Shades Recordings release 006 "Now Is The Time" by Matt Flores at no charge.

enjoy.

Super_Saturday!

My International Women's Day celebration started by giving thanks for being blessed with having so many wonderful women in my life- my mom, grandma, sisters & close female friends.

It continued, although in a completely unrelated manner, by picking up a friend so we could carpool over to the LA Webspinners meeting. Pete Benjamin was discussing SEO strategies so it was a very worthwhile drive to the Westside.

I then headed over to the Mujeres de Maiz event @ Self Help Graphics to continue the festivities. A bit about the locale:
-lots of GREAT art & artists on hand
-a wonderful movie presentation where 6 international films were showcased (all roughly 10 minutes long, each) on a continuous loop in the theater
-great skits & musical vibes headlined by In Lak Ech
-wonderful people & a great, family-type environment where I saw babies in their mothers' arms all the way to grandparents!

Then, I was fortunate enough to attend DFR´s 10th Anniversary Benefit concert again this year (thanks for the phat hook Fidel & B12!). Last year's concert was bangin' & so was this year's!
-Medusa killed it AGAIN, this year! I couldn't make it out to her album release party but made up for it by not just vibin', I actually found myself breaking out the old hip hop moves (phat beats + great lycs will do that to your body hehe)
-different venue (last year was more all day event vs. this year's downtown rooftop, nighttime affair) but very good to see the crowd growing yearly.
-CYPRESS HILL was the surprise performer this year (last year it was Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas)! DJ Muggs was already there, so it was hella cool to see 'em all together again!

-I also met this cat named Tolteka (@ both events) & his album is HOT!!!

A GREAT day filled with knowledge, culture, great music & cool peeps!

International Women´s Day!

Today, March 8th, is International Women´s Day. It has been getting celebrated since 1911. There´s a local chapter here in LA.

Suheir Hammad has a poem as a blog entry there. I was blessed to hear Suheir at last year´s Divine Forces benefit concert where part of the proceeds went to inner-city youth programs.

Lots of events going on today including:
March in front of federal bldg @ noon followed by rally. Heck, Bambu is even going to be droppin´ some lyrics
Mujeres de Maiz event @ Self Help Graphics - 5-9pm
DFR´s 10th Anniversary Benefit concert - while not an event tied to International Women´s Day, it´s still a red pill slangin´ event!

Ronald Stewart presenting at the next SGVLUG

Ronald Stewart, Creative Director of the Trinity Audio Group will be speaking at the next San Gabriel Valley Linux User Group. He will be presenting the yet-to-be-released InDaMixx appliance. A full-featured, hand-held recording studio built on Linux (a customized version of 64Studio, to be more specific).

I met Ron at SCALE 6 & am excited to be working with him on the InDaMixx project. I´m doubly-excited because having this type of talk might be just what the Linux ProAudio SIG (special interest group) needs to get kick-started. I´ve heard zero traffic on that list since I joined a while back.

Hmm, thinking I should just take the lead & start drumming up support to get the Linux Audio group going...

BarcampLA-5 was pimpin´!!!

My 2nd most favorite saying is ¨Pimpin´ ain´t easy, but someone´s gotta do it!¨ It seems like I´ve been missing out before this weekend but BarcampLA-5 sure was ¨doin´ it.¨

Great event. Every single person I met was very cool, down-to-earth & into technology. I spoke with some great folks & can´t wait to go to the next one. The tracks were so good, that I stayed late on Sunday to catch the SEO talk (which was very informative) even if it made me late for my LAMPSIG Planning Committee meeting. Like I said about SCALE 6X, you know an event is good when you´re having to make really tough decisions on which talks to attend.

Every talk I attended was really great, but the highlights (for me) were:
Travis Savo´s talk on Digital Lifeforms (I´m still trippin´ out on that concept & what they´ve been able to do).
Alex Peake´s presentation on his very cool company & what they´re doing to change the world (really looking forward to collaborating on some things, both musically & on the non-profit tip).
Ethan Bauley´s chat on business models & getting VC funding (really smart, cool cat who I´m so taking to lunch!)
Strom Carlson´s impromptu session on how to DJ 101 was awesome. Matter of fact, I´ve already told all my Morrissey fan friends about where he spins on Saturday nights @ Hully Gully in Downey & we´ll be dropping in on some of his sessions.
ArtLung´s interactive chat on Wordpress was really informative. Everyone there was really helpful & there was a great discussion on what folks were using w/their Wordpress sites.

There were others who were also good & a TON of others which I didn´t have a chance to even visit. I can´t wait ´til the next one & run into some of the cool folks there!

EU Fines Microsoft 1.3 BILLION!!!

So it finally happened! They´ve been getting sued by the whole EU for years & finally got fined.

I blogged about it almost a year ago (well, made a small comment on it) but went a bit more in-depth on the historical tip. I talk about it as I run into SO many people that had no idea this was going on. Sure, all the slashdotters knew the 411, but this is something you didn´t even hear an iota of on the mainstream media (they prefer to talk about less-relevant stuff like ´roided up baseball players).

Just remember, the U.S. isn´t holding M$ accountable here in the states for the EXACT same practices they were accused of overseas. It´s not gonna happen, too much of the government´s infrastructure is built on Microsoft products. $250 toilet seat covers are actually sounding like a good investment now...

IBM Linux Kid Commercial

So this is the new Linux commercial. The last one I mentioned was a spoof on the Mac commercials making fun of Windows. This new one is a bit more serious but still pretty accurate. ;)

MLK Speech

I heard a great speech this morning given originally in 1968 in front of UC Berkeley's Sprowl Hall. It would be MLK's final speech in California & sounded like it was still relevant today, 40 years later. I was driving to my job & had goosebumps the throughout the WHOLE speech. We were blessed to have people like Dr. King, but they were taken too, too early from us.

From the Vault Radio was the source of the speech (I think that´s part of the Pacifica Archives). So when you go to KPFK, look up the archives for this day & download everything during the morning commute hours, You´ll be glad you did.

We still need you, Dr. King! Thank you, Pacifica, FTV & KPFK for dedicating resources to preserving such wonderful free speech!

Creative Commons

So for the folks that don't know, Creative Commons is the dopest thing to EVER happen to multimedia distribution. EVER!

Basically, open source met multimedia & their beautiful love child was Creative Commons! It's been around for years & is, thankfully, finally getting more mainstream (& well-deserved) recognition.

Matter of fact, I've always wanted to freely distribute the music projects I've created & this will happen under a Creative Commons license. It's a project that, unfortunately, won't see the light of day for a couple of years- I have to dig up all of the music i've created since I started doing music production as a hobby back in 1996.

DopeTracks

So one of the presenters at the Startup Project- LA who is currently using Amazon Web Services is this startup called DopeTracks. It is a website where hip hop fans can go create beats & rhyme over user-created beats all for FREE! It is driven by Flash so there is nothing to download or install on your computer. I checked it out (briefly) & think it is a great tool for our youth who are lovers of hip hop to produce & MC. While it is not perfect, you cannot go wrong with "free" & it even has a feature to export your rhymes & beats to your MySpace page.

While it is not a production-quality digital audio workstation (DAW), it is still a wonderful tool- personally I use Reason as my DAW. Especially since DAWs (Pro Tools, Reason, Cubase, etc.) are quite expensive so, hence, make it financially prohibitive for folks to even play around with the technology who do not have the means to do so. Give it a try, you might dig it!

Startup Project- LA

So I attended the Startup Project- LA event on 10/23/07 at the V Lounge in Santa Monica hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS). I recognized the place right away since I used to go clubbing there when it used to be called Lush. However, some of the negatives started showing themselves right away. Parking was a nightmare as the nearby side-streets had street sweeping on one side & "parking by permit only" on the other. I finally found a metered spot 4 blocks away but it was 2-hour parking for a 5-hour event, oh well. I went inside, got my name badge & noticed no room to sit (they'd just started setting up some folding chairs). Lastly, the whole event felt more like a marketing ploy. Heck, even my friend, Eric, who'd turned me onto AWS at SGVLUG's Slashdot party (& who's using it extensively) bailed early. I stuck around a little longer than I would've only because I wanted to let traffic on the 10 settle down.

But there's good news. Amazon Web Services is really awesome as cloud computing seems to be the wave of the future. Additionally, it's super, duper cheap to use (1 of the presenters talked about having a $60/month bill, which is amazing to me) & seems to be getting adopted by all types of businesses- not just startups. Everyone I spoke with from Amazon was really knowledgeable, friendly & ready to help me with the solution I'm thinking of providing through my small business (that, in itself, was worth the trip for me). Lastly, the presenters provided interesting & unique ways in which they're using AWS for their varied businesses.

All in all, it was a worthwhile endeavor with a few logistical problems & provided me with a nice learning experience & a chance to network with some like-minded entrepreneurial geeks. :)

Darnitt, I missed the October22nd march!

Boy, I was really looking forward to the march, rally & vigil against police brutality but I've been working every day & October 22nd was no different. I was there in spirit, however. I'll just have to show my support by attending the monthly "Fightin' Words" open mic nights more often (been to 1 & it was awesome!). The October 22nd Coalition is a grass roots organization which attempts to make October 22nd a National Day of Protest against injustices enacted by some members of law enforcement (not all, we all know there are MANY good peace officers who are trying to help their communities but a few rogue cops give that 99% majority a bad name).

A bit about this movement:
The October 22nd Coalition is a national network of people from all walks of life who want to see an end to police brutality. The coalition began in 1995 as a response to the hundreds of police brutality cases throughout the county. Since then, activists, friends, and family members of victims have held annual marches and community events to expose cases of police violence throughout the nation. The coalition is also an advocate of youth issues, and is outspoken about the many repressive laws and tactics used to criminalize youth in this country. Join us as we organize and fight against police brutality and the criminalization of a generation.

Blog Action Day

Today is National Blog Action Day & the topic is "the environment." This blog will be a two-headed monster.

From a computing standpoint, there's a LOT of things you can do in your home to preserve the environment. Only buy & use "Energy Star Compliant" monitors as they not only use less energy but use that energy more efficiently. All newer monitors have this feature but it's the older monitors that you need to check. Make sure to turn off both your monitor & desktop when not in use. While this is a given, a lot of people don't do this since the energy used isn't that much (but that's changing with beefier power supplies, video cards & cpu's). Make sure to buy & use recycled paper & recycled print cartridges for your printer. Also, utilize the service that most office supply companies provide for their customers & recycle your old print cartridges (heck, you even get like $3 per). Lastly, make sure to take all of your e-waste (old computer parts, electronics, etc.) to valid e-waste sites. Many cities have monthly e-waste deposit days & convenient locations to do so. Check your local listings.

Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" has garnered a lot of attention, an Academy Award & Al Gore, himself, just won the Nobel Peace Prize for it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for the awesome publicity that this famous documentary & the subsequent awareness that's been produced. However, is it all really well-deserved. There's a boatload of scientists who've been talking about this since the 1970's without anyone even noticing or giving THEM their proper respect. Also, it's a little-known fact that Al Gore's family (not necessarily Al Gore, himself) made their millions on oil deposits off the coast of Colombia. Do you think they did everything "by the book," in an environmental-friendly way in a country far away from the prying eyes of EPA? Yea, didn't think so. All the political pundits think he should run for President in '08. This would be a moot point if he hadn't been robbed in 2000 by George W. Bush & his brother Jeb Bush's (*cough* coincidental *cough*) "Hanging Chad Conspiracy" that occurred in Florida. But we should all take a step back when back-patting all these supposed "green-minded" celebrities...I mean, c'mon, they all drive bigger cars (several of them), have bigger homes (which require more energy to maintain lit & warm) & some even hop in their jets! It's good they're at least conscious about our resources but, generally, they leave a MUCH larger carbon footprint on the environment than the average joe. Don't believe the hype!

Ken Burns' new WAR documentary airs on PBS Sun. 9/23/07

World-renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns just finished his newest project: The WAR. It's a 7-part series which will begin airing on PBS tomorrow night (9/23/07) at 8pm PST (KCET here in Los Angeles). The WAR talks about World War II through the eyes & memories of 40 service men & women. I can't wait to see it as every one of the documentaries I've seen that he's made has been, quite frankly, epic. I've seen "Baseball" & "Jazz" & both were a treasure trove of history & relevance.

While television doesn't have much useful, even watchable, programming these days, this is definitely something you should set your watches to & let the whole family enjoy.

9/11 anniversary & Software freedom day

Yesterday was the 6-year anniversary of 9/11 & while I wanted to write something about it, I'm just too tired & upset to do so. It's obvious George W. Bush doesn't care about all of our troops (most of them young & with their entire lives ahead of them). It's obvious he only cares about giving his friends' companies large government contracts (*cough* Haliburton *cough*) & it's obvious he only cares about his own personal freaking agenda. Weapons of Mass Destruction was only a ruse & we all fell for it. I'm still in awe of why this fker hasn't gotten impeached. Hell, if Bill Clinton could get impeached for getting a blowjob, why can't George W. get canned for all the b.s. he's spewed & misleading us into a war that's killed over 3000 Americans (not to mention the genocide he's causing against Middle Easterners who are just protecting themselves).

On a brighter note, this coming Saturday 9/15/07 is Software Freedom Day. It's an unofficial holiday being celebrated worldwide which extols the virtues of Free Open-Source Software. There's events being held all over the world but sadly none in L.A. County (which amazes me to no end). There is one being held in OC at the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center. I have a friend who's deaf so I'll be sure & do my part & let her know about it. I've been evangelizing the virtues of FOSS for a few years now & chances are many folks use FOSS without even knowing it (OpenOffice, Firefox, etc.) but I love Software Freedom Day's motto:
"Software Freedom Day - empowering all people to freely connect, create and share in a digital world that is participatory, transparent, and sustainable."

European Union (EU) suing M$

The proverbial snowball started rolling down the hill a few years ago. In that story, the BBC talks about some pretty shady dealings in Europe & how they were trying to weasel their way out of sanctions.

While I talked about this a couple months back, it´s only a matter of time before they get smacked down where it hurts (in the wallet!)...the clock is cticking...

Contributing to songbird

So like i mentioned a month ago, been using songbird forever. Been lovin´ it but found a few bugs so I´ve been contributing to the Songbird dev. community by putting my old QA skillz to use! ;)

Take a look (& listen), it´s a great product!

BEST CONCERT EVER!!!

The Hip Hop 4 Education (benefit) Concert was by FAR the best I've ever been to (& I've been fortunate to go to many over the years). I decided to give my 'lil brother an early graduation gift (& appropriately enough, it was his 1st concert) as it was an "all-ages benefit. Hosted by Divine Forces Radio (DFR) & benefiting Krylon 13 (a non-profit helping our youth) what we were able to witness the night of 3/3/07 @ the LA Center Studios was pure musical bliss. I can't even begin to explain the beauty & positivity that flowed throughout the evening, but I'll try. The evening began @ 4pm & ended just after midnight & was filled with great music, lyrics & a positive scene (as Fidel said @ the end of the night, not even 1 fight ensued). Just great people, enjoying great music on a wondrous night. I met several cool peeps including the Native Guns, which really dropped it- fusing mind-churning lyrics, phat beats & even blending a little tagalog to spice it up. Pix of the evening aren't up yet (darn camera's acting up something bad) but they will be soon so check back. The event was hosted by Fidel & featured DFR's DJs, which were dope as ever!

My brother & I had a blast! Great event fusing hip hop, spoken word specialists (even one of the modern day innovators in this genre- Saul Williams) & thought-provoking speakers. It was really a treat for me as I'd never seen X-Clan nor KRS ONE live (especially since 1 of my 1st music purchases was an X-Clan tape- along w/Digital Underground & MC Hammer). But everyone really brought great energy. Medusa was super fly. Anomolies was an all-female group that really got down. Visionaries, Living Legends & Dilated Peoples always rock the house & did so again. KRS ONE freestyled for a good 10-13 minutes. The icing on the cake was Wil.I.Am showing up @ the end & freestyling for almost 7 minutes. Now that's hip hop! It was a pleasure to partake in the positivity & bathe in conscious lyrics fused with body-bumpin' beats. Below is a list of the event participants in chronological order:

1 - Olmeca
2 - Native Guns
3 - Anomolies
4 - Aztlan Underground
5 - Quetzal
6 - Visionaries
7 - Medusa
8 - Suheir Hammad
9 - Sabac Red
10 - Funkdoobiest
11 - X-clan
12 - Saul Williams
13 - Luis Rodriguez
14 - Congresswoman Cynthia McKenna (great speaker)
15 - Psycho Realm
16 - Soul Elevation
17 - Living Legends
18 - Chief Joseph Chasing Horse (special speaker)
19 - Dilated Peoples
20 - KRS ONE
21 - Will.I.Am (special, surprise guest)

You can see youtube videos of the evening here (including KRS ONE & Wil.I.Am's fresh freestyles).