My Pedalboard for Summer 2022

My pedalboard just got a serious upgrade: a clock!

Rob Weychert on ProPublica’s Article Layout Framework

Rob Weychert, a Philadelphia-based designer/web developer I’ve been following for decades goes deep on the article layout framework he put developed for ProPublica:

Our articles are built on an underlying grid structure, which varies depending on the size of the reader’s device or browser window. On most mobile phones, the layout is based on a narrow four-column grid. On a tablet, it might be six or eight columns. And in a large desktop browser window, there’s enough room for 14 columns, the largest version of the grid.

[…]

We’ve built all of these layout options into our content management system so they don’t require our producers to have any coding skills to use them. But for code-savvy power users who want to extend the system, it’s built with Column Setter, the open-source tool we developed for grid-based editorial design. We recently updated it with a variety of new features.

As someone who has to revisit this exact issue periodically, it’s really cool to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how it works at one of your favorite news publications, and to hear one of your heroes go deep on fundamentals like this.

Spotify Pays Less Than Other Platforms draft

Spotify has been getting a lot of bad press lately—and rightfully so in my opinion. One shitty thing about them that doesn’t get a lot of attention, though, is that they pay much less per play than almost all other streaming services. Not only are my music-listening friends often surprised by this, but so are my musician friends!

Telectro Model AS 360 Restoration draft

I bought this cool 1960s breakout tube amp/two-way speaker combo on eBay a few weeks ago for about $65. I serviced it, cleaned it up, and made a few modifications to make it a little more versatile for shop use.

Insta-Busking Tips

I’ve been watching (and tipping!) a bunch of my favorite artists live stream on Instagram over the past few weeks. Some are better at it than others. Here are some tips to make the experience more pleasant for your viewers, and make it easier for them to tip you.

Nightclub ID Scanners and Your Privacy

There is a small chain of music venues in Sacramento I frequent that has implemented ID scanning kiosks at their front doors. At first, I was a bit put off by this, but after doing a bit of research into the platform, I think I might be okay with it. You might not be, though. Here is what you should know.

AI SPAM Message

I received this email at work via our company contact form. It made it through the Google ReCaptcha. It reads sort of like an SCP, and I found it pretty entertaining, so I thought I would post it here.

Instagram Without Ads

I was an early adopter of Instagram—well before the Facebook acquisition. For some unknown reason, I have never seen an ad or sponsored post in my feed. Until recently.

Problems with Pre-Releases On Apple Music

The trend in new releases is to trickle out a song each week or so leading up to the release date of your new album. As an artist, I understand this. As a music fan, it can be mildly annoying. As a heavy Apple Music user, it’s usually a pain in the ass. Not all pre-releases are created equal, or so it seems.

Record Bird is Shutting Down

I just received an email from Record Bird, a new release tracking app, announcing that they are shutting down due to financial difficulties.

Over time, we witnessed that it became more and more expensive for us, but also for artists to get fans to download an app. Yet scale was the only way to create a sustainable and economically profitable model.

Source: email newsletter from Record Bird not published online

I Deleted My Facebook Account

I joined Facebook back in 2006 when it first opened to the general public. I did this mostly because I was involved in building a social network platform to help artists, record labels, and management companies take their web presence back from MySpace. Fast-forward 11 years: I’m focusing more on my own music, Facebook is the new MySpace, and here I am trying to take back ownership of my web presence from them.

Battle for the Net

Net neutrality is good. It means all websites on the internet get the same bandwidth. Netflix.com loads as fast as thebigreason.com. The new FCC Chairman plans to overturn regulations that keep the internet neutral and allow internet providers (telecoms ie. Comcast, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, etc.) to charge more money for increased bandwidth. It also has some very ominous implications for free speech.

Lemon

On July 30, 2016, I purchaed a 21.5ʺ iMac for my family on apple.com. Today—nearly three months later—they can finally use it. Every step of the way was a miserable series of unfortunate events.

Curse of the Clicky

I have been on a quest for the perfect double bass preamp for years. There are a lot of options, but almost nothing properly suited for a slap player who wants a clicky but doesn’t want to strap a giant metal box to their tailpiece or their waist. 

My Bass Rig 2016

The Upright Bass Players Union is one of the few reasons I keep a Facebook account. It’s an awesome group of working class rockabilly and honky tonk players who share tips and talk a lot of shit. Amplifying the double bass isn’t easy, so it is incredibly helpful to see such a diverse range of rigs and setups. I think I have some pretty unique things going on in my rig, so I thought I should share it with the group. I like to own my mojo, though, so I’m posting it here as well.