With the update of iTunes 8.0, a new feature was added called Genius. Genius took a note from the popular internet site, Pandora, which creates free set lists of songs that sound similar based on various aspects of the songs. However Genius playlists use the iTunes library to organize songs, rather than bring new ones that might sound similar. Genius corrects this simple drawback by suggesting songs that could be purchased that might be close to the selected song. In iTunes 9.0, iTunes added another version of the Genius feature, Genius mixes, which are like full radio stations dedicated to certain genres in your library that shuffle randomly to whatever songs are at all similar to the genre itself.

As iTunes grows, so does its Genius recommendations to the user. It started as a way to hear your music gathered into lists that sound similar, then to whole sections of your library, and now they look at applications for your iPhone or iPod Touch. With over 2 billion applications downloaded since their start in July 2008, the app store itself brings in around $1 billion annually to the company by third parties which create these apps and sell them, 70% of the profits go to the third party and Apple only takes 30%. Now Apple uses their Genius technology to give suggestions as to what apps you might like.

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Photo courtesy of www.appealtoauthority.files.wordpress.com

The Greyhound bus system has created a name for itself as a cheap way to travel from city to city with little to no planing necessary. Greyhound buses are also a key piece in American culture, from its beginning in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914, to its popular culture references in songs to its reputation as a way for kids run away from home and leave their city for good.

Greyhound has bus routes all around the country, and through a series of transfers, you can pretty get any where in the nation. They are well known for being fairly quick, yet making enough stops to be efficient no matter when you are going

However their system is all ideal.

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Facebook is college. It’s now hard to imagine a world without the constant hope for a new message of ‘like’ on your page, but at what cost do we allow this interaction? Well for nothing. So how do the fine people at Facebook keep earning money? By mercilessly advertising everything you can possibly think of on their site, from local cross-country teams to zombie t-shirts stylized like the Obama posters. Read more…

With such a controversial name, one would think that their wouldn’t be a large amount of people going to see the band Starf*cker. However the Vera Project was packed with fans on Friday night looking forward to seeing the Portland quartet, who started as a project in lead singer/songwriter Josh Hodges’ basement. Starf*cker has grown rapidly in the last few months, but because of their vulgar name, they have lost many opportunities to grow even more than they are, such as opening for electronic band Passion Pit in their current tour. To counteract this, the band has decided to have their listeners choose their new name, in hopes of becoming an even better known band.

However their fan base is loyal, and even though the band worries their change in name will cost them their current renown, the show almost sold completely out. The first opening band, Phaontogram, opened at around 8:30, who were a New York duo that used a mixture of recordings, synth and guitar, along with the woman’s beautifully aerie voice to produce a poppy electronic sound. The next band, Deelay Ceelay started around 9:30 and consisted simply of two drummers playing together while a recording played electronic/dance music the duo had recorded before. On paper, the band sounds fairly boring live, but Deelay Ceelay had set up a large sheet behind them which they projected a series of strange/visualizer images onto, usually of figures dressed in hoods dancing around and being warped. One of the final songs they played was a cover of T.I’s song, “Whatever You Like” set to dance music which was extremely well done, especially when put to the drummers’ creative and complex drum patterns. Read more…

The Bistro right after the dinner rush. Photo by Ramsey Haefner.

Although I have only been here for a little over two weeks, I have already discovered just how limiting the Cherry Street Market can be when you’re looking for something specific to eat. The lines are long, and the food is usually expensive. However, it still provides a decent enough supply of options that you can have almost whatever you want. However, it still feels like a cafeteria, as hard as Bon Appetit tries.

The Bistro is just what we need.

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As the technology of the future progresses, so does the ways in which we, as consumers, find tricky ways out of paying for anything. This theory has hit the music industry hard, with file-sharing networks allowing users to torrent, or download, music and files from other users. iTunes has been protecting the music bought from them for a while, but recently removed all of their protection, allowing people to share music easier. However, the music industry is still declining, especially sales of CDs.

Enter Mojo, the free open-source software that allows users to share any song or un-protected file on iTunes with any other person on their network. Once Mojo is opened, the user can view every other iTunes library from other people with Mojo open, and download songs almost instantly. This newly downloaded song is just as if you ripped the CD straight to your own computer, and can be used on an iPod or any other device or for any other use.

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Pearl Jam is one of the last remaining Seattle rock groups from the early 90s that have made music consistently since their creation. While bands like Nirvana or Alice in Chains have faded in and out, Pearl Jam has continued to write new music in their same style, and Backspacer is no exception.

Backspacer is Pearl Jam’s latest work, following 2006’s Pearl Jam and following a new trend in the music industry: selling exclusively through a major retail store before it can be bought anywhere else. Backspacer was sold through Target retail stores nation wide starting on September 20th, and was available everywhere else on the 22nd.

On to the music. The album’s single ‘The Fixer’ is a great example of the album and really shows their style off excellently. The album swings right into Pearl Jam’s signature distorted guitar and Eddie Vedder’s swinging, raspy vocals. Halfway through, the CD takes a different turn and switches to a much more intimate feel and slows down for a song or two before returning to the grunge feel. Read more…