The Top TV Shows on iTunes as of 7/19

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog is the greatest musical recently. Don’t believe me? Check out the screen shot of the iTunes Music Store to the left.

And while I loved the show and was thoroughly entertained with all of the great plot twists and funny songs, what really got me was the marketing scheme. When I say that the market scheme got me, I mean it reeled me in like a free bottle of beer and a beautiful brunette. Why does this series of three fifteen minute movies have me tripping so? Let me explain how I digest media.

1. Come across something cool,  let’s say a new movie. (Discovery)
2. I watch the trailer, listen to music samples, check it out on Wikipedia. (Research)
3. Digest. If the movie is new enough and I’m not totally broke, I’ll go see it. If the album isn’t from a band I have obtained at least two albums from before, or if the movie isn’t available for rent cheaply, then I will probably obtain it in less than legal means.

Now how did Dr. Horrible throw a wrench into this tried and true formula? He abused two simple facts about my life.

1. I had to leave for the train in fifteen minutes, and I still had to eat breakfast.
2. It was less than five dollars.

I clicked subscribe on iTunes and sync’d Act 1 to my iPod. Half an hour later I was watching it in my seat on CalTrain. It was amazing. I wanted more, but I had to wait a day for the next episode, which I had already paid for.

What can wanna-be producers and marketers take out of this? Joss Whedon explicitly said that working with iTunes was painful, but worth the effort, since he was offering it free online. Marketers, if you make something of quality (you need to care about your work, kinda crazy eh?) and let me consume it in whatever way I want, I will. My generation grew up with Napster and Kazaa. We know how to get what you don’t want us to have. So give it to us with an affordable price tag and we’ll buy it.

/Nat

So you know what my favorite web 2.0 website is? Last.FM of course.

They recently pushed their beta site design live, and it’s beautiful. I’ve been using it to listen to music at work which has been amazing. I enjoy it more than Pandora, mainly because it isn’t so ad heavy.

My history with Last.fm is strange to say the least. I started using their services back when they were AudioScrobbler. I really liked the concept of the data collection they were doing. They logged every song I listened to on my computer, on multiple media players. Since then the site has been was merged into Last.FM and I’ve loved it ever since.

Some of the features Last.FM has added recently I really like:

• iPod Scrobbling (they track the music I listen to on my iPod as well as my computer)
• Full Tracks, not just the 30 second clips they used to have
• A powerful API. There used to be a decent API from AudioScrobler, but it has since been upgraded by Last.FM and they have added a cool app gallery.

The app gallery should really be highlighted here. Mainly because it allows access to historical data of what you have been listening to for a long period of time (four years for me I think).

Anyway, check Last.FM out if you haven’t already. If you want to add me as a friend or see my musical tastes, it is located here.

Happy Weekend,
/Nat

p.s. check out The Perfect ringtone

p.s.s. In case you didn’t know, my dream job is to work for these folks. That has nothing to do with this post though. :p

I just got my BYOC tickets today (along with my pay check), HUZZAH!

I’ll post a pic when I can find a USB cord. Until then, just know, that PAX is coming and I will be there.

44 days. Are you ready?

/Nat

I used to find JavaScript scary. As a language it lets you do all kinds of cool things to the browser, but it also has a tendency to have very ugly code. Through my travels on the internet I came across all kinds of reports about how XSS could steal everything you know without you ever knowing.

But these last few weeks have changed all of that. I decided to rebuild my personal site (as seen here) with javascript. Now it must be understood, I did not code this cool little accordion thingy. The credit for that goes entirely to dezinerfolio.com. I came across these guys through AjaxRain.com and it worked well. The other thing it did was that the source code was included with the compacted code. Through looking at the source I learned that Javascript doesn’t need to be incredibly scary, and with a little work it can even be readable.

Anyway, figured I would share.

/Nat

p.s. Mongolian BBQ for lunch = YUM.

p.s.s. Fullscreen Editor that now comes with Wordpress rocks. Another reason why Javascript kicks butt.

I know, I know. I said I would be posting here more often. I’m having trouble finding the time I guess. But for those of you interested, I’ll give you a little update about my life.

• I lost the Innovation Quest Competition, which put a small hold on Ideaius development. I’ve been working on it when I get a chance, which is another reason this blog isn’t getting updated.
• I’m working at Adobe with the Dreamweaver Team again this summer. I’ve posted a picture of my commute above.
• I am going to PAX again this summer. Super psyched. I would post links to my co-conspirators, but they refuse to have websites…
• CalTrain still doesn’t have WiFi. Booooo.
• I officially am renting a room in a house in SLO. To commemorate the occasion, I bought a Popcorn Hour. Totally Stoked.
• I’m starting to get the hand of JavaScript and AJAX. It’s kinda neat, although my <3 still belongs to server side languages.

Anyway, I’ve got four Draft posts that may make it on to here at some point, and I’m trying to figure out a way to write on a train (maybe buy a light weight laptop?)

/Nat

Ideaius. The name sounds kinda silly I know. Well it is, at this point in time, going to be the first product I release from my “company” devCloud.

But first I am going to try to get some money to start this little business venture. I am doing this by applying to Innovation Quest. IQ is a competition held at my school where anyone can submit an idea, and the winner gets $15,000. (more…)

So I’ve upgraded to Wordpress 2.5. Wow. Everything is so shiny!

One thing I’ve learned though is that the Internet grows far too fast for me. Just two years ago, things like auto saving posts and AJAX being used for more than just making warnings fade out were rare, if not non-existent. Now things have changed dramatically and it is changing every day.

So with that, I would like to inform the world that I will be starting writing on this site again. First I need to fix a few things, and those aren’t getting fixed tonight.

So just sit back and relax, and listen to Chris’s radio show while I go study for midterms some more.

/Nat

This blog is basically in a coma. I doubt it will get much of an update until the summer. Cya then.

/nat

Royksopp - Remind Me

Awesome music video. Maybe Youtube posting will work this time…

I do love me some video games. One of the things I am particularly excited about is Valve’s upcoming Orange Box. The Orange Box looks to be one of the best deals in gaming, plus just amazing, all in a box, that is a sexy shade of orange.

Gametrailers.com has provided many a enjoyable trailer for the gamers delight, and Valve has released many trailers for the upcoming Orange Box, including the game I am most anticipating, Portals.

And while I am looking forward to Portals a lot, I am enjoying the trailers that Valve has been releasing for Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress was always a lot of fun when I was younger. I love playing the engineer, mainly because of the fact that you could build these gigantic turrets. Well Valve has finally released the Engineer movie, and it is hilarious. So if you have time, go watch the Engineer movie, and go read up on the Orange box, which will be amazing.

Enjoy,
/Nat

p.s. it’s Programmers Day. Give your favorite programmer a hug ;)