Opening Pandora's Box

If you hadn't noticed, a lot of the posts and links you see from me these days are from "Web 2.0" companies. What is Web 2.0? Well, that's up for debate, but basically it's the act of making the web an application layer: programs, functionality, and more, but living on the web.

One of the most useful, and immediately beneficial? Pandora Internet Radio. I know, you groan and say "not another damned music online thing," but hear me out. First, it's FREE. Second, it's SIMPLE.

Here's how it works: you type in the name of a band or song you like. Within moments, that song, or song from the band starts playing. Nice quality, good sound, no skips. As the song ends, it plays another song that it has determined is similar to the one you last listened to by algorithm: music type, vocal type, etc.). Like it? Click the "thumbs up" button. Don't? Click "thumbs down," and the song stops, and it tries another one, immediately.

In this way, Pandora learns what you like. Better yet, you can set up multiple "stations" with different types of music, so you can be in different moods, and play whatever you want. Keep a browser window open, and your customized learning radio continues to play all day and night.

Use it for partied, background music, or while you work. It's free, great quality, and a really innovative way to discover new music.

For instance, I recently discovered a band I never heard of, Audioslave. I really like their music, so I created an Audioslave inspired station. If you like hard rock, slightly alternative, with dark undertones, listen for yourself!

Comments

Loyalty Review: Kohl's Yes2You

As some of you know, I've spent over 15 years in the customer loyalty space. So, when I come across a new retail loyalty program, I can't help but see the pluses and minuses. After this many years, it's kind of ingrained. Periodically, I'll share my thoughts with you. Today, it's Kohl's turn under the scope. Let's have a look, shall we? I've divided the review up into three sections: what's good about the program, what's bad about the program, and what I'd change about it. That last one has some actual value: I charged hundreds of dollars per hour for loyalty program consulting, and had over a dozen clients, before I moved to JustAnswer FT. But, being a pandemic and all, I'm giving it away for free here. Kohl's, you're welcome. Here we go! The Good Sign up is opt in Seems odd to praise Kohl's for this, but in department store loyalty, this is a rarity, and a smart one. It means the customers who are opted in are already prime...

Revisiting Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1

I recently started rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation from the beginning. I have nothing but fond memories of the original run in the 1980s, given how excited I was for a new Trek series in my lifetime (I had only reruns and the movies to stoke my Trek interest), and it recently occurred to me that, while I diligently consumed every TNG episode, I had not experienced the series since it's original run. Why did I do this? Well, a few reasons: With the triumphant return of Sir Patrick Stewart to the smaller screen as the venerable Jean Luc Picard , I thought it would be interesting to contrast this version with the previous, and see how far he has come. It would add color to the character, as well as Sir Patrick. Frankly, with the COVID19 lockdown, the series I have binged upon have been intense, dark, and disturbing. Combined with the activity of the world, including insane politics, homicidal police who seem to view people of color as "prey," rather than their ch...

I Shed A Tear For Movie Theaters

Atom Films had an article that really hit me hard. It seems that Scott Gustin , who covers entertainment, went to the opening of Avengers: Endgame a year ago, in Los Angeles. Like all of us, he had been waiting for this film for seemingly forever, but Scott did something I bet none of us did: he recorded the sound of the crowd reacting to the film. Cool, right? Now, take a moment to visualize a year ago. No people trapped in their homes, worried about illness or financial uncertainty the likes we've never seen. Responding to Trump's latest with a roll of the eyes, rather than a frustrated scream. No overwhelming frustration leading to riots at state capitals . And no horrific illness, robbing us of friends and family, in a wave not seen in a century. No, in this time, early April of 2019, we were watching Trump still bitch about his border wall. Over in Ukraine, a country most of us hadn't really thought about, they were electing a comedian as president, and we...

Tretakoff Musings

Search This Blog