DogBalls Blog

Yahoo! gets pwned by 1337 Beck pupp37

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Beck is a Yahoo (!)

Word is out...Beck is performing at Yahoo! Hack Day tonight. Should be a great show. I hope to see all you hackers, wizards and geeks there! I won't be there...I've got a sick family to take care of this weekend. :(

Stacey and I caught a live show of his at the House of Blues a couple of years ago after the Oscars. Come to think of it...I think Yahoo! was a sponsor of that party too.

Beck is making news now with the upcoming release of his new album which is breaking all the established rules. In his own words from Wired Magazine...

"We filmed a series of very low-budget, homemade videos for all the songs on the record. We got a bunch of cameras and a $100 video mixer off eBay and shot 15 silly, impromptu videos against a greenscreen. We even invited our friends and family into the studio to be a part of the action – my mother-in-law did the lighting, and my son and nieces and nephews are running around acting crazy. It was just a complete free-for-all, done on the fly. We're putting all the videos together right now with the idea of having a visual version of the record that we'll put on the Internet. I'm totally curious to see how the videos will add to the experience of listening to the album. Or maybe they'll actually detract from the experience. That would be funny."

Since Hack Day is about mash-up's and hacking ... Beck is the perfect pick to celebrate everyone's worthy efforts at Yahoo! See you there!

UPDATE: Flickr hack on Yahoo! Developer Network's blog shows a 'flashy' view of flickr pics with 'hackday06' tag. Check it out!

BMW M6

See how it was transformed by clicking here.

"Yahoo! Hack Day lands a non-Hack Act"

Originally uploaded by brian boulos.

We're sworn to secrecy over here but...we can say that Yahoo! Hack Day organizers have landed an A-lister to entertain those in attendance at Yahoo!'s first ever public-hack day.

Friday night should be one to remember as we check the riders and make sure the M&M bowls are void of any red ones. You know how picky Bobby Brown can be! ;-)

Dogballs will be live-blogging so stay tuned.

Yahoo! Hack Day ... It's (up)coming

Hack Day shirt (staff)
Originally uploaded by mlaaker.

Yahoo! Hack Days are normally limited to internal Yahoo's but next week geeks, wizards and techies from all over have been invited to the Yahoo! campus in Sunnyvale to hack-up some popular Yahoo! gizmos, apps and API's.

Check out hackday.org for more information. The fun begins September 29th and it's going to be a LATE NIGHT!

Where is my car?!

  Tower, Burbank Airport, LA 
  Originally uploaded by mrperl.

I could have used a printout of my technorati score at the Burbank Bob Hope Airport Valet..."Do you have any IDEA who you're dealing with!!?" ;-)

They've mastered the art of taking the car...they haven't quite figured out how to return the car with the same gusto. I could have walked back to my office in the time it took for them to retrieve my car ... even with a call to their office as soon as the Southwest plane hit the tarmac.

The cartoon below from blaugh struck a chord...if only I had the technorati score of say Chris Pirillo... I might get my car a little quicker next time. (For now... being in the top 220,000 on technorati won't do the trick.)

flickr offline

  Card to Handle 
  Originally uploaded by richardmoross.

Care to share your flickr pics as an informal business card? A new company, based in London, offers flickr users the ability to print their photostream on small business cards. Flickr pro members get ten free samples absolutely free...saving $4.99 on shipping overseas from MOO.

This is one of many flickr 'widgets' out there that make using flickr more "fun per click" than the other web 1.0 photo sites out there like ofoto kodak easyshare gallery.

Other flickr widget stand-outs include: the Hockneyizer and the mosiac maker.

If you're a flickr pro member grab your free cards before it's too late... the offer is limited to the first 10,000 orders.

Chris Pierce rocks Genghis Cohen

I'm the first to admit I'm not a professional music critic like my grandfather or esteemed music blogerati, Kristen's Playlist; however, I was inspired to write a few lines because of a recent concert I attended. [Photo courtesy of chrispierce.com and Mathieu Bitton]

Chris Pierce is a friend of my Mom and Dad's and they've been inviting me to his concerts for what seems like five years. I've never had the opportunity...I came closest when Chris opened for Seal on his US and European tour...and after seeing him live at Genghis Coen last Friday evening, I wish I could go back in time to get a front row seat.

Chris has an amazing voice. The style is a mix of soulful rhythm and blues but he rocks it hard at the same time. Chris' myspace page lists 100+ influences so his specific genre doesn't fall into one particular category quite as well as others do. They include: Shel Silverstein, Cab Calloway, Joan Baez, Terence Trent D'Arby, Dizzy Gillespie, Willie Nelson, Plato, The Beatles and Bob Dillan. (The eclectic list ends with, "to be continued..." a promise that his style is ever evolving.)

He sings with a passion for the lyrics, music and the people that attend his shows. It is at these small venues that give him an opportunity to connect with his fans...on several occasions during his set he took a moment to describe the inspiration for the song, give a shout out to his Mom and uncle in the audience on their birthday and give praise to long-time friend who had introduced him to the Genghis Cohen venue (and Hollywood in general.) It was at these moments that his personality shined and gave more meaning to the lyrics and tunes he boomed out.

His set at Genghis Coen was full of intense energy, backed by a small band made up of bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and percussions.  Chirs played guitar and harmonica to the crowd's delight.

We had a great time and look forward to seeing more of his shows when he returns from his Japanese tour. (If it's anything like his Russian tour...expect a few more great songs to be born from the experience.)

click, click, click

  Rubber Ducky 
  Originally uploaded by mil8.

Today I took the plunge and purchased a digital SLR. It was not without much research via the web including several visits to answers.yahoo.

In the end, I selected the brand-new Canon EOS 400 Rebel XTi. (For the price, you also get the longest name ever given a camera.) I've had the Sony DSC T1 for just over a year and it's served me well for a camera that I can carry around in my back pocket...however, photos from the flickr community have got me longing for more.

Obviously a quality camera does not necessarily make a quality photographer but I'm looking forward to playing around with my new toy. Today I spent the day with Sydney and took some shots that already showed a distinct advantage over my old sony.

Nike + ipod Nano

On the heels of my previous post about the new Apple Shuffle, comes another cool product from Apple. The Nike + ipod sport kit comes with a wireless sensor that you put in your running shoes (it says they're only for Nike's but I'm sure there's a way to fit them into your Asics Kayano's too.)

The sensor gives you real-time feedback during your run on time, distance, pace and calories burned. It will provide this feedback via spoken word and alert you of milestones throughout your workout.  For example: "Move it lard ass...you're 2:00 off the pace!"

I'm waiting for next year's model when v2.0 (with GPS) will display the distances to the next water station and goo-bar on those long runs.