Chausse.org

InfoWorld’s 2003 Readers Choice awards are out, and Groove’s name is all over them.

First, the (somewhat) bad news: Groove Networks placed 6th in the “Biggest hype” list. For some companies, this could mean trouble, but fortunately we’ve got the goods to back up the hype. We’re just starting to hit our stride.

A much bigger shock is our placement on the “Favorite Vendor” list. I mean, I know we’re a bunch of swell folks here in the ol’ Shoe factory, but we’re the only privately held company on there, and I’d estimate we’re about 1% the size of the next largest company.

We also placed fifth in the “Best Collaboration Product” rankings (losing out only to the entrenched giants).

Lastly, we are, thankfully, not on the “Worst Disaster” list.

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Computerworld (an Australian newspaper) seems to think Groove Workspace is a tool to help crack down usage of P2P software on corporate IT networks. Umm… No.

Oh, and my headline goes out to all the creative journalists who have written about Groove (sometimes accurately) in the past…

Online collaboration gets its Groove back
PTC gets into the Groove
Notes users get into a collaborative Groove
Office gets its XML Groove
Get into the Groove with Version 2.0
Getting into the Groove

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The new BuyMusic.com “store” may as well just send checks directly to Apple instead of spending so much money setting up a lousy site that will piss people off enough to just go buy a damn Mac and use the iTunes store.

For an idea of how bad it is, check out what bloggers “Scriptygoddess” or Ken Edwards have to say about their experiences.

What’s interesting is that BuyMusic and iTunes have roughly the same amount of songs, and Apple ALREADY proved that one could actually beat the record companies into submission to offer minimally-protected content; yet BuyMusic comes out of the gate with draconian DRM. I have two theories on this. One: Buy.com is just too lazy to negotiate, or Two: The Record Industry® knows that Apple only has a 2% market share, and is therefore more willing to take a “risk” with a modern business model. My guess is, a little bit of both are in the mix. But the latter theory makes one wonder if more extensive DRM will creep into iTunes for Windows. One thing is for certain, though, when it launches: bye bye, BuyMusic!

Even if you have the luxury of iTunes, I’d like to throw in (for the Windows folks) an unsolicited plug for Listen.com Rhapsody (even though they recently got bought out by - echh! - RealNetworks). I’ve been using it for about a year now, and I absolutely love it. No, you can’t really download stuff, but you can burn CD’s, and if you think of it not as a Napster replacement, but rather as the world’s most user-friendly radio, you soon realize that it’s well-worth the $10 a month.

The coolest feature is that you can spontaneously generate “stations” consisting of songs similar those of any artist (even those not available for instant listening). As a music lover, what could be better than: 1) Hearing a cool song, 2) Automatically generating a stream of similar artists 3) Serendipitously discovering another cool artist from that stream 4) Streaming an entire album, or any song therein, from the newly-discovered artist 4) Rinse, repeat. Fantastic!

But BuyMusic.com? Yeah, they suck.

Update: Well, this topic is like shooting fish in a barrel, but The Mac Observer dug up some other “features” of BuyMusic… Like the fact that they charge $9.99 for two song EPs…

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In addition to Graphic Designer Supreme, Flatland BMX Master, and ‘Zine Magnate, Kieran Chapman has just earned a new title:

“Daddy“

Congratulations to Kieran and Jill!

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Well, it’s that time of year again… Jeff is moving! Hopefully, this time I will stay put for a while. Much to my surprise, due to various circumstances, the moving fun begins next week! Fortunately, I will have about a month and half to move all my stuff (which is good since this a third floor apartment with no elevator… *huff* *puff*)

Anyway, the new Chez Chausse is right in the center of downtown Salem (you can use any tourist map to find it). It’s in an old Customs House building (it has great old exposed brick & beams, and a vaulted ceiling), and currently it is above a nifty little souvenir/occult shop. The really cool part is that it’s on a pedestrian-only cobblestoned street, surrounded by lots of little shops (even some useful ones like CVS), museums, and parks. Oh, and the apartment number is “3-D”. That’s cool The one catch is that I will have to park in the public garage (though a yearly pass is only about a buck a day - half of what I’m paying in tolls living in Boston). I don’t know if I’d say it’s my “dream” apartment, but for the (surprisingly low) price, it’s certainly close enough! I’m quite excited about this move. I’ve been looking for a place that I really would want to stay in for a while, to break my once-a-year moving routine — I think this could be it!

Oh, and I hereby volunteer to be everyones’ best friend around Halloween, when Salem gets totally crazy-go-nuts. You can all party with the ghouls and goblins and crash at my new place. Yay!!!

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“Early cars looked like carriages, early TV’s looked like radios. Every time somebody brings you something that’s new, it looks like the old thing. It’s only the second or third generation before it finally starts to look like the new thing.“
- Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO

This is a fantastic observation. I’ve had the privilege of being in on the creation of one New Thing, and the first two versions of it have looked an awful lot like an Old Thing.

Filed under Gear and Gadgets, The Internet Biz 7 Comments »

I just downloaded a demo video of Half Life 2. I have two words to say about this game…

Holy. Crap.

I’m not very easily impressed when it comes to PC action games these days, seeing as they’re all pretty much variants of “run around and shoot stuff”, which can be fun, but rarely a unique experience. If you’ve got the bandwidth for it, you MUST download this video (600 MB Zipped QuickTime). Now, normally I’d help you out to avoid the registration and other hassle, but there’s no way I’m putting a 600MB file on my server. Sorry! But it’s worth the hassle. Believe me.

Even if you’re not really into video games, the physics models used by this game are positively mind-blowing… EVERYTHING behaves exactly as you would expect. Wood splinters, mattresses bounce around, bodies float in the water, helicopter blades slice bodies in half (he he). Not since Doom have I been this impressed with a game. Speaking of which, I have no idea how Doom III could compete with HL2. It makes Max Payne look like Pong. Seriously. This is the kind of game worth buying a new computer for. It’s THAT good.

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