The Internet
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Internet Technology Film Music News Kim Dotcom's new Mega may not be a pirate's dream
Posted by Miles Raymer on 01.21.13 at 03:23 PM
- Andreas Bohnenstengel
- Kim Dotcom
So far the site's been overloaded with users, but it remains to be seen if file traders are still going to be as enthusiastic once it's running at full capacity. Mega might become a killer music- and movie-trading app like Megaupload had grown into before it was taken down, but there are indications that it's not quite the pirate's dream come true that it was shaped up to be.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Seriously? The Internet News Shoenice put my phone number on YouTube
Posted by Luca Cimarusti on 01.17.13 at 07:32 AM
Somewhere along the way, I found myself fascinated with Shoenice. I am by no means proud of my love for Shoenice videos—I'll be the first to admit that watching a video of a middle-aged man sitting by himself and eating an entire birthday cake (including the burning candles) is more than just a little dark. So naturally I'm not proud to admit that when Shoenice posted his phone number to Facebook on Saturday morning, I immediately picked up my phone to call him. I got his voicemail, hung up, and didn't think anything else of it.
That is until I got a handful of blocked phone calls a few minutes later. I answered one, and it was from what sounded like a prepubescent boy telling me to fuck off. It was when I answered another to hear someone impersonating Shoenice's video introduction line ("Hey everyone, Shoenice again," as demonstrated in this video of him eating a dozen raw eggs, shells and all) that I started to realize I had made a huge mistake. Curiosity was about to kill the cat.
Friday, January 11, 2013
On Video The Internet Music Tumblr comes alive in new Deathface video
Posted by Miles Raymer on 01.11.13 at 03:35 PM
Love has always had a thing for gnarly 90s electro mall-goth—it made perfect sense when he was hired to remix Marilyn Manson last year—and the combination of aggressively noisy synthesizers, overdriven scream-rapping, and small-town nihilism fits him nicely. Check out the video after the jump.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Internet Music Kitty Pryde and the benefits of cultural short-term memory loss
Posted by Leor Galil on 01.09.13 at 10:40 AM
The term "resurface" is an unusual choice; typically the word is used to describe a musician who releases a new album or song after spending so many years out of the public eye that most people just assume said artist is dead (that is if the public even remembers said artist). To use "resurface" when talking about a rapper who jumped into the public consciousness less than one year ago—and during a time when the volume of new and exciting white female rappers inspired many a trend piece—feels wrong, especially considering this particular musician hasn't stopped releasing music (Pryde contributed a song to the solid Sufjan Stevens Christmas remix mixtape, Chopped and Scrooged, which dropped last month).
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Paranormal The Internet Band Life Music Postapocalyptic notes from the future
Posted by Andrea Bauer on 12.22.12 at 10:00 AM
Dear Uncle B,
When the Great Library at Old Chicago was found I guess it was like about 1,000 years after the End of the World? I dunno. It was way before my time. But it was quite the sensation, so I hear. Well, I mean, among The Reading anyways. Not that you can like really blame folks who have decided to condemn it. Technically, reading did once get us all into a metric shit-ton of trouble.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Things I Love Arts The Internet People Week The spookily fantastic tweets of @arealliveghost
Posted by Asher Klein on 12.18.12 at 06:49 AM
- profile picture of @arealliveghost kimmy walters
- Boo . . . ?
I have often been a Twitter evangelist, and that's partly because of the amazing stuff I read coming from People Issue subject Kimmy Walters, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and a gifted social mediaite. How good is she? I once responded to a really great tweet with a marriage proposal. We didn't know each other. I don't think I'm the only one who's done that.
I fear that our hour-long conversation, condensed into a more digestible format by my patient editor, took for granted that its reader would understand just how sincere and true her tweets as @arealliveghost can be, especially for a member of the loose coalition of Weird Tweeters, who write more to build linguistic muscle mass than anything (I think). So I collected a bunch of her best tweets after the jump, to point out that if you aren't one of her 11,000-odd followers, you should be. (If you're not on Twitter, that's another problem, dad.)
Monday, December 17, 2012
Seriously? The Internet Music World keeps turning, B-minus-list celebrities stay tacky
Posted by Miles Raymer on 12.17.12 at 01:10 PM
- Danny Mahoney/XS Nightclub
- Deadmau5 and Kat Von D
I'm kidding, of course. I had no idea that they were even dating until I clicked through a link to a Daily Mail article about a Kate Moss photo shoot and saw an item about the couple's brand-new engagement, which happened over the weekend via Twitter, that most romantic of social media networks, and there is high likelihood that you didn't either unless you are a chronic TMZ addict, which I really hope you're not because that's awful.
But I was glad that I ran across this particular gossip item. Things have been really grim recently, even for people who don't have seasonal affective disorder or find the holiday season to be oppressive on a number of distinct levels, as so many of us do. Normally we turn to comedians to distract us when things get unbearable, but sometimes the events unfolding around us are too huge and too horrible to laugh at directly, and the best thing that funny people can do is to respectfully step aside. And that is why it's such a blessing that we have famous stupid people living hilariously vapid lives very much in public, in real time, for us to enjoy and to laugh at without having to think too hard about whether or not it's appropriate.
Below, highlights of the epic romance between a guy who's famous for wearing a foam rubber mouse head and a woman who's famous for dating a Nazi-festishizing motorcycle mechanic who used to be married to a movie star.
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Internet The reluctant dad's guide to joining Twitter
Posted by Asher Klein on 12.10.12 at 10:36 AM
- ra2studio/Shutterstock
- "Wait, so what's a hashtag again?"
But more than just what it is, these people who ask me "why Twitter, why now" have a lot of reservations, reservations that often belie a quiet fear of the unknown and an unwillingness to try something new. It's #sad. And since I'm handing off the reins of @Chicago_Reader this week when I pack up my desk for another one at a California newspaper where I won't have to tweet every half hour, I thought I'd pass on my wisdom to soothe the angry social-media neophytes into joining the Web's most au courant social network.
What follows is an explainer written for an entirely hypothetical Luddite we'll call "Dad."
So, Asher, I keep hearing about this Twitter thing. What's the deal?
Oh man, Dad, Twitter rules. It's where everything happens these days: breaking news, the best jokes, real people having real conversations in your industry. Everything is connected! It's like high school, but everyone's smart. Basically.
The Internet Media Politics News Parodies lost: why satire must be banned from the Internet
Posted by Steve Bogira on 12.10.12 at 09:10 AM
- Scott Stewart/Chicago Sun-Times
- Mayor Emanuel cheers on a south-side neighborhood in the Race to Diversity
For those who didn't realize the Onion is a satirical paper and might have wondered if it were serious about Jong-un, there were clues. The Onion noted that its previous sexiest men included Bashar al-Assad, Bernie Madoff, and Ted Kaczynski. But the People's Daily ignored the hints, and exposed Jong-un to ever more ridicule than he'd have sustained from the Onion piece alone. Satire on the Web had claimed another innocent victim.
The Daily Currant, an online satirical newspaper, disclosed in September Michele Bachmann's concerns that falafel was a gateway food to terrorism. "It starts with falafel, then the kids move on to shawarma," the Currant quoted the Minnesota congressperson. "After a while they say 'hey this tastes good, I wonder what else comes from Arabia?'. . . Before you know it our children are listening to Muslim music, reading the Koran, and plotting attacks against the homeland."
Friday, December 7, 2012
Apropos of Nothing The Internet Music What the holidays are really all about
Posted by Kevin Warwick on 12.07.12 at 11:17 AM
Mashing up Bad Brains' "Pay to Cum" with A Charlie Brown Christmas. It's actually pretty great.
"It's a Bad Brains Christmas, Charlie Brown" from Tad Was Here on Vimeo.
