Link - PAGE 35

Ian Watkins Stabbed in Prison

Legal
Jason Tate

Ian Watkins was stabbed multiple times in prison over the weekend:

Former Lostprophets singer and convicted pedophile Ian Watkins sustained multiple stab wounds after being held hostage by other inmates in the British prison where he is currently serving a 29-year sentence on sex offenses involving young children.

Following the incident, Watkins was hospitalized with injuries the Sky News reported were “not life-threatening.” According to their report, Watkins was taken hostage by three fellow prisoners Saturday morning, leading to a six-hour standoff with corrections officers during which Watkins was repeatedly stabbed and beaten by the inmates.

Geoff Rickly Book Excerpt

Thursday
Jason Tate

An excerpt from Geoff Rickly of Thursday’s book has been shared on The Ringer:

Huddling behind a parked car across the street from our apartment, I watch our front door, waiting for Liza to leave. She has a work event tonight. I’ve kept track of them in my calendar so I know which nights I’ll be able to use openly in the comfort of my own home. When she finally steps out, she looks incredible—armored in a lightweight, thigh-length, chain mail dress, shoulders draped in a chic, black trench coat, makeup sophisticated and smoky.

It burns, seeing her like that. I tell myself, Sometimes appearances are all we have. She probably feels worse than you do. Taking stock of myself—a man hiding behind an old Toyota Corolla with a garbage bag in his hands—I know it isn’t true. She doesn’t feel worse than I do. No one does.

Taylor Swift Breaks Record

Taylor Swift
Jason Tate

Taylor Swift has broken the record for most number one albums by a female artist:

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 22), launching with the year’s biggest week for any album, and gives Swift her 12th No. 1, surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1 albums among women.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) bows with 716,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 13, according to Luminate, of which 507,000 are in traditional album sales. Both figures represent the largest week for any album in 2023 and the best since Swift’s last studio album, Midnights, debuted with 1.58 million units, of which 1.14 million were in album sales, last year (week ending Oct. 27, 2022; as reflected on the Nov. 5-dated Billboard 200).

Fall Out Boy’s Update of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ Hits the Hot 100

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Billboard:

Fall Out Boy reaches the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead act for the first time since 2016, as its update of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” debuts at No. 94 on the July 15-dated tally.

The reimagination bows with 4.7 million official U.S. streams, 767,000 radio audience impressions and 9,000 downloads in the June 30-July 6 tracking period, according to Luminate.

Jony Ive Designs a Record Player

Jason Tate

Linn worked with Jony Ive to create the Sondek LP12-50 turntable. It’s only $60,000 and there are only 250 in existence.

LoveFrom has applied their design expertise to the new, precision-machined power/speed control button and hinges – providing delightful and precise interaction with the turntable. Further aesthetic refinements to the classic Sondek LP12 form have been made with deep respect for the quality and integrity of the product.

The combination of performance, usability, and aesthetic improvements result in an historic piece with unrivalled sonic quality and beauty. Only 250 of these limited edition Sondek LP12-50s will ever be produced – with each bearing an embossed aluminium plaque celebrating this landmark collaboration with individual numbering. 

Artists Pledge Boycott to Facial Recognition at Live Events

Fan Shot Video
Jason Tate

Ethan Millman, writing at Rolling Stone:

Over 100 artists including Rage Against the Machine co-founders Tom Morello and Zack de la Rocha, along with Boots Riley and Speedy Ortiz, have announced that they are boycotting any concert venue that uses facial recognition technology, citing concerns that the tech infringes on privacy and increases discrimination. 

The boycott, organized by the digital rights advocacy group Fight for the Future, calls for the ban of face-scanning technology at all live events. Several smaller independent concert venues across the country, including the House of Yes in Brooklyn, the Lyric Hyperion in Los Angeles, and Black Cat in D.C., also pledged to not use facial recognition tech for their shows. Other artists who said they would boycott include Anti-Flag, Wheatus, Downtown Boys, and over 80 additional artists. The full list of signatories is available here.

Spotify Planning More Expensive Subscription Tier

Jason Tate

The Verge:

Spotify is reportedly planning to include lossless audio streaming in a new, more expensive subscription tier codenamed “Supremium” internally, according to Bloomberg. The lossless streaming feature was first announced in February 2021 as “Spotify HiFi,” but is still yet to release over two years later. Bloomberg reports that the new more expensive plan could release later this year, initially in non-US markets. 

The pricing of Spotify HiFi has been a source of much speculation in the years since its announcement, especially after competitors Amazon Music and Apple Music started offering lossless streaming as part of their standard plans at no additional charge. Bloomberg reports that Spotify delayed the release of HiFi after Amazon and Apple’s announcements.

Key Word Spam is Ruining the Web

Jason Tate

Mia Sato, writing for The Verge:

[Jennifer] Dziura still updates her personal blog — these are words for people.

The shop blog, meanwhile, is the opposite. Packed with SEO keywords and phrases and generated using artificial intelligence tools, the Get Bullish store blog posts act as a funnel for consumers coming from Google Search, looking for things like Mother’s Day gifts, items with swear words, or gnome decor. On one hand, shoppers can peruse a list of products for sale — traffic picks up especially around holidays — but the words on the page, Dziura says, are not being read by people. These blogs are for Google Search.

Nick Heer comments:

The sharp divergence between writing for real people and creating material for Google’s use has become so obvious over the past few years that it has managed to worsen both Google’s own results and the web at large. The small business owners profiled by Sato are in an exhausting fight with automated chum machines generating supposedly “authoritative” articles. When a measure becomes a target — well, you know.

Amen. Pieced together with this article talking about just how badly Reddit (and Twitter) fucked up really puts a point on just how much worse the internet has become:

We are living through the end of the useful internet. The future is informed discussion behind locked doors, in Discords and private fora, with the public-facing web increasingly filled with detritus generated by LLMs, bearing only a stylistic resemblance to useful information. Finding unbiased and independent product reviews, expert tech support, and all manner of helpful advice will now resemble the process by which one now searches for illegal sports streams or pirated journal articles. The decades of real human conversation hosted at places like Reddit will prove useful training material for the mindless bots and deceptive marketers that replace it.

I guess there’s a reason I’m nostalgic for, and still run, a blog that’s about stuff I want to write about. But I’d be lying if I don’t feel like a dying breed. A dinosaur watching the astroid from my bedroom window.

Apollo Shutting Down

Reddit
Jason Tate

The best Reddit app, Apollo, is shutting down due to Reddit’s API changes:

Eight years ago, I posted in the Apple subreddit about a Reddit app I was looking for beta testers for, and my life completely changed that day. I just finished university and an internship at Apple, and wanted to build a Reddit client of my own: a premier, customizable, well-designed Reddit app for iPhone. This fortunately resonated with people immediately, and it’s been my full time job ever since.

Today’s a much sadder post than that initial one eight years ago. June 30th will be Apollo’s last day.

Mikey Way Unveils New Fender Jazz Bass

My Chemical Romance
Jason Tate

Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance has a new Fender Jazz Bass for sale.

Featuring an alder body finished in dazzling silver sparkle and a sleek maple neck with black binding, block inlays and gloss black painted headstock, this bass is sure to turn heads. Boasting more than show-stopping looks, the Mikey Way Jazz Bass is built for maximum punch and versatility. A powerful pair of vintage-style ’70s single-coil Jazz Bass pickups deliver the classic sound that defined an epic era of rock. The ’70s “C”-shaped maple neck is comfortable and easy to maneuver for speedy riffs and high-octane gigs. Other features include a vintage-style 4-saddle bridge, ’70s style “Fender” stamped tuners, “Bullet” style truss rod nut and Mikey’s signature on the back of the headstock.

Apple Adds Concert Discovery Features to Maps

Apple
Jason Tate

Apple:

On Maps, more than 40 new Guides, each expertly curated by Apple Music editors, highlight the best venues to experience live music in some of the world’s leading culture hubs. From landmark Viennese symphony halls to cutting-edge techno clubs in Brooklyn and Tokyo, these hand-picked selections — currently spanning over 10 cities — are all music fans need for an unforgettable night out. Apple Music Guides also allow fans to browse venues’ upcoming shows directly from Maps through Shazam’s concert discovery module — part of a suite of features that Shazam introduced last spring, leveraging concert information from the world-renowned event recommendation and artist discovery platform Bandsintown.