Thoughts on “Monopolies”
by nathan on August 25, 2009
I was listening to TWiT #209 this morning. It really is a must listen to weekly podcast. However, I did find myself a little irritated when Leo and guests suggested Google is currently a monopoly and that Microsoft used to be a monopoly.
I believe they are simply referring to the majority of market share these companies own but I find the word is being used inappropriately more and more often.
It seems any large company owning a majority of it’s market share gets flagged with the term. But owning a majority of any market is not a monopoly unless it maintains it’s market share exclusively through legal privilege or a sort of outside controlled barrier to entry. Both of the companies mentioned operate in competitive markets. Consumers have multiple alternatives to both large companies.
I do understand the importance of competition and hope that more companies rise to compete against the Microsofts and Googles of the world. Competition almost always provides better experiences for consumers.
Alternate Blinking Layers in After Effects
by nathan on July 29, 2009
I was looking for a simple way to alternate 2 layers for a simple flapping cape animation.
I came across this expression to set a layer to blink. I figured out how to modify it for the effect I wanted.
Add the following expressions to opacity:
Layer 1
blinkSpeed = 2;
t = (Math.cos (blinkSpeed*time*Math.PI*2)+1)/2;
v = linear(t, 0, 1, 0, 1);
Math.round(v)*100
Layer 1
blinkSpeed = 2;
t = (Math.cos (blinkSpeed*time*Math.PI*2)+1)/2;
v = linear(t, 1, 0, 1, 0);
Math.round(v)*100
Notice the change to the “v=linear” number order.
I’m sure this is out there somewhere but I couldn’t find it.
AudioBoo
by nathan on July 29, 2009
This is basically just a soundcheck along with a quick note to my coworker, Jennifer.
iTunes Mobile
by nathan on April 8, 2009
I don’t like to carry all of my music, movies, tv shows, etc. on my laptop but since that’s the computer I have with me most of the time, it has become the computer that I manage my iTunes library on. I would prefer be able to leave most of my 100GB+ library at home on my main workstation and just take a portion of my library with me at any given time. However, I don’t want to manage multiple libraries.
I would like to see iTunes incorporate syncing of not only iPods, iPhones, and Apple TVs but also mobile devices like laptops and netbooks. The laptop/netbook would still have full blown iTunes installed. I’m thinking that you would set your main iTunes to “master” and your laptop/netbook iTunes to “mobile.” Once set up, your main iTunes would see your mobile devices and allow you to sync similarly to syncing an iPod.
Modifying meta data in the mobile library might require a more robust syncing system like Apple’s MobileMe Sync.
How well could this work? Am I missing anything?
XM Radio – XMU Playlist
by nathan on April 6, 2009
It’s great that I can listen to XM Radio on DirectTV. Unfortunately, artist and song info is not displayed. If interested in a song, I can usually Shazam the song using my iPhone to find out who it is.
Last night listening to XMU—about the only station I listen to on XM—a killer song came on. Shazam nor I could not identify it. I went to online to XMradio looking for tune info. By the time I found the XMU page the song had ended. The only info they seem to display is the current song—no previous songs list. I decided to hit up XM through their contact page. I filled out the appropriate info including “Programing” from the subject drop down and submitted this message:
I’m looking for a song that just played. It is now 7PM eastern time on Sunday April 5. The song was I believe 2 before Telekinesis – Great Lakes. Do you have a link to previously played songs? All I can find is current song.
Thanks!
Nathan
This morning I received the following email response from Daine (irrelevant info omitted)
Dear Mr. Gross,
Thank you for contacting XM.
We are happy to assist you with your song request. Unfortunately, The Email Team is unable to provide you with the information you requested but we can point you in the right direction. Please contact our Programming Department at programming@xmradio.com and a representative will be happy to assist you.
My response:
Daine,
I selected “Programing” as the subject on your “Email Us” contact page. It seems strange that this would not be sent to the appropriate “Programming” people at XM. If my message did not make it to the appropriate people then it seems that good customer service would simply forward the question to the appropriate people.
Thanks anyway.
Nathan Gross
Dear XM,
Please post a previous songs list.
*Update* Thanks to ~JeZay~ I now have a source for finding songs played on XM/Sirius.