Best description for me yet…
“POST NEO-CLASSICAL ENDOGENOUS ROCK MUSIC is full of strange partnerships – think of Morrissey and Marr. Britain’s most august think-tank, the Economic Research Council, has just published a report into the British music industry by long-haired rocker and Thatcher fan Andrew Ian Dodge of Growing Old Disgracefully (motto: old enough to know better, too young to care). Probably the only rocker ever to understand economics, he urges musicians to dump old technology and embrace the digital age.Comments are off for this post
Say what?
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you’re a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta. | |
| Boston | |
| North Central | |
| The Midland | |
| The South | |
| The Northeast | |
| Philadelphia | |
| The Inland North | |
| What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes | |
Via: the Flea.
Comments are off for this postMySpace monitor
Now there is a lot of paranoia centred around MySpace specifically when it comes to youngsters spending all their free time on it. If you are so worried about this sort of thing and have children then there might be a good software solution for you. Myspace tracking is a bit of software that will allow you to do just that. It will also allow you to monitor everything that happens on the machine if you are that paranoid or concerned. Its only for PCs as well.
Thursday-Evening Quarterbacking
Chess’s world governing body will introduce dope testing at the Asian Games this week, although the sport’s top official in Doha said he had no idea how drugs could enhance chess performance.“I would not know which drug could possibly help a chess player to improve his game,” competition manager Yousuf Ahmad Ali said.
Me either. But maybe someone should have tested world champion Vladimir Kramnik before he played a game against the formidable Deep Fritz program a few days ago in Germany (via Colby Cosh):
The diagram shows Kramnik’s (playing Black) disastrous 34th move, Qe3. To which Fritz responded, 35. Qh7 mate.
Far be it from me to second-guess a Grandmaster, but I think I know what happened. Most commentators thought the position was at best a draw, but Kramnik was aiming to exchange Queens, to eliminate the most troublesome White piece. From there, his superior Pawn structure (and Bishop vs. Knight on an open board) would have given him a victory in the endgame.
So in search of that goal, he fell victim to something that bites (I am happy to see) even the best players from time to time: Getting so narrowly focused on the immediate tactical situation that you become oblivious to the striking power of the Queen or Bishop on a long diagonal.
You wouldn’t think it’s easy to lose track of pieces on a 64-square board, but it does happen. (It afflicts players the other way, too—forgetting that you have a devastating weapon in a far corner.)
Against human players, at least these mistakes will average out over time. Not against machines. They never miss the obvious. *
—-
- T’was not always thus. In 1977 or thereabouts the first commercially-available chess computer, the Fidelity Chess Challenger, came out. I was in Africa at the time, and two of the stronger players there were two Marines at the US embassy. Let me amend that somewhat. One guy, Dom Caruso from New York, was good. The other, John Hathaway from Texas, was unquestionably the best natural talent I’ve ever encountered. As I repeatedly
naggedreminded him, he easily could qualify as a Master (a designation you earn by playing in officially-rated tournaments) with a bit of work on his opening theory. He would laugh, and then kick my ass all over the board with his deeply flawed opening theory.
Anyway, John ordered one of the machines from the States, and we all eagerly got together when it arrived a few weeks later. John was first to play (well, he did pay for it) and it tidily defeated him. Much nervous laughter. We weren’t used to seeing John lose at the chessboard. Dom’s up next, with the same result. So it was left to me to reclaim man’s honor.
I was about a dozen moves into a standard King-side attack when I got a hunch. I made a move that didn’t really make any sense. It didn’t damage my position, apart from losing a bit of tempo. (The advantage the White player has by moving first, with the subsequent pressure on Black.) The computer whirred and clicked away for a full minute and then spat out a spectacularly-stupid reply. John and Dom and I looked at the move, then we looked at each other, then we looked at the move again. I checkmated it about four or five turns later.
When I got back to Canada, I immediately bought a Chess Challenger and tried the same stunt. Whoops. It was version 2.0 by then; they’d fixed that bug: It proceeded to stomp me but good.
Comments are off for this postThrifty Scot…
The site is called Thrifty Scot and surprisingly given the name they aim to help you save money on your credit cards,loans, remortgages, bank accounts and home insurance. The site offers the latest financial news and advice updated daily so you can keep track of the best way of saving money in all aspects of your life. Yet again I find another site with the perfect name for what they do, descriptive and accurate. It has a very clean layout, runs well and works a treat. The site is well worth having a look at and visiting on a regular basis.
Comments are off for this postFirst ‘Official’ Candidate
Iowa governor Tom Vilsack made it official Thursday – he’s a candidate for President for the 2008 election.
He made the announcement in his home state of Iowa earlier in the day and then flew to New Hampshire to speak with Granite State Democrats.
Less than a month after the mid-term elections and the campaigning has already started up again.
Comments are off for this postHoliday shopping coupons
If you want to save some money while you are doing your holiday shopping online then there is a site for you. The site features Amazon coupon codes and promos from major internet retailers. (I did almost all my Xmas shopping at Amazon this year. Its a good site to hit before you head off round the internet for your online purchases. No cutting and pasting coupon codes either which is a great plus for those of us that never quite remember to take our paper versions with us. Head over and bookmark; make it part of your online shopping routine.
Comments are off for this postCREATIVE DESTRUCTION IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY - THE WAY AHEAD
ECONOMIC RESEARCH COUNCIL
www.ercouncil.org
CREATIVE DESTRUCTION IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY - THE WAY AHEAD
28 November 2006
Background
Britain’s music industry is is in crisis; sales of singles and albums
are collapsing while digital downloads – often illegal – are
exploding. Meanwhile UK artists are failing to exploit the new
technologies and sales channels that could give them a competitive
edge and the record companies continue to work on a pre-digital
redundant business model – one where they have a monopoly of
recording, releasing and distributing music.
The Economic Research Council, Britain’s oldest economic think-tank,
has commissioned music technology expert Andrew Ian Dodge, and a
published author, blogger and rock musician to explore how the UK
could regain its past glory in the music industry. Jo-Anne Nadler,
former Radio 1 producer and now an established political commentator
and author has written the foreword. The paper describes the current
crisis, how artists and the recording labels could adjust to the new
digital era and what policy changes government should enact to make
this possible.
Please find below a quote from Dodge based on his paper, which is
entitled, “Creative Destruction in the Music Industry – THE WAY AHEAD”
Dodge, highly critical of the BBC’s monopoly of the airwaves which has
stymied musical innovation says;
“Still top-quality British music is ignored in favour of BBC-approved
bland pap.”
Furthermore, Dodge bemoans the music industry’s failure to adjust to
the new digital era.
“Choice for consumers to access music and for bands to promote and
produce their wares continues at an impressive rate. The music
business continues to stare at the oncoming future like a deer in
headlamps.”
Bulletpoint summary of key findings appended below – paper also attached.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
If you would like to receive more quotes from Andrew Ian Dodge or
would like to receive a copy of the paper, please contact either the
Author, Andrew Ian Dodge lagwolf@gmail.com or the Editor Dan Lewis
at info@ercouncil.org.
