journalist, photographer, dj
Blog
Memo to Apple: Smaller is not always better
Mar 11th
Apple introduced a new model of iPod Shuffle on Wednesday
It’s the way of technology that over time gadgets will become smaller. The first iPod was a hunky beast of a device, too big for most people’s pockets. The iPod mini became the iPod nano generations 1, 2, and 3 while getting smaller every time, and the pregnancy test / tampon-esque first gen iPod shuffle became the button sized second generation. Apple’s designers have been at it again, and the result is a device that’s going to be harder for its users to keep track of than a lighter.
The previous generation iPod shuffle was already small enough. As an added bonus, the space that Apple sacrificed for this new model means that the device no longer has any buttons. No buttons on the device itself, nowhere, nada. Instead, they boast that the earbuds that come with the shuffle have the necessary controls on them, and that one of those controls makes a computerized voice speak the currently playing song title and artist to you.
Wait, what?
More >
Röyksopp prep for “Junior” release, possibly announce “Senior.”
Mar 2nd
In a move completely unrelated to the dance-pop duo Junior Senior, Norwegian electronic superstars Röyksopp have announced that they will follow up their soon-to-be-released LP Junior with another one appropriately called “Senior” late this year or early next year.
The news comes from an interview with the band done in a short documentary for their Junior album, which is set to be released on March 23. They were fairly vague in the interview but fan forums and blogs have been abuzz about the information, although some are discrediting it as mere rumor. More information about “Senior” has yet to be released.
California assemblyman announces marijuana legalization bill
Feb 24th
Always wanting to be a step ahead of other states and currently in the middle of a terrible budget deficit to the tune of $16 billion due to the recession, California may become the first state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana for recreational use and therefore make a killing off of taxes on the drug.
The Snitch, the San Francisco Weekly’s blog, broke the news yesterday that Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in all forms, removing “all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of marijuana, natural THC, or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21,” according to Ammiano’s press secretary Quintin Mecke.
Thepiratebay.org trial update
Feb 20th
Thepiratebay.com, the world's largest BitTorrent tracker
The founders of online piracy juggernaut The Pirate Bay (blocked on the SU network) are on trial for their website’s exploits in Sweeden this week, and the case is proving to be extremely compelling for anyone interested in filesharing and internet rights.
The Pirate Bay, started in 2003, bills itself as “the world’s largest BitTorrent tracker,” a place where people can easily go to download pirated movies, music, and television shows, sometimes before they are released to the general public. Its founders, Gottfrid Svartholm, Fredrik Neij, and Peter Sunde are notoriously defiant to law enforcement and threats of copyright protection action, perhaps most famously telling Dreamworks Pictures to “please go sodomize yourself with retractable batons” and ignoring their threats because U.S. law doesn’t apply in Sweeden.
Unfortunately law enforcement did get to them eventually, and now they are in court for both a civil case (against the IFPI, who represents the recording industry, as well as other groups representing the film and television industries) AND a criminal case against Sweedish police. With the trial now in it’s fifth day, here’s an update on what has gone on so far.
Changes at ohax.com
Feb 9th
Welcome to the new ohax, now in friendly web 2.0-mode!
As you can see, I’ve made quite a few changes as far as the design and layout of this page are concerned. Ohax.com is now powered by WordPress, an amazing free content management system and website publishing tool.
The old ohax was made with my limited knowledge of web code and required me using Dreamweaver to edit. With WordPress I can work on updating more frequently and providing a clean, easy to use interface to find the content on my site that you are looking for.
While the main categories are still largely the same, you’ll find much newer content on these pages now. My best work will be put here, and I plan on updating frequently now since it’s so easy.
In addition, hopefully this transition will mean a higher page rank for my site on Google, since I can tag and do lots of fancy things like that. The “articles” page lists newspaper articles I’ve written, “blog” is this page–containing website updates as well as your standard brand of blog post. The other categories are fairly self explanatory. All of the content on this website is created by me.
So, if you’re new to here, browse around! If you have any feedback, I can be contacted by email: carosioa at seattleu dot edu, or by telephone: 541-914-6111
Have a good day! 
Yuksek tears it up on new album
Feb 6th
Yuksek, a new contender in the electro-house battle
Yuksek is the newest contender in the french-electro-nu disco-house explosion that’s going on right now. While he doesn’t even have a Wikipedia entry about him yet, his music places him with the likes of Daft Punk, Justice, MSTRKRFT, Boyz Noize, and Chromeo. Yuksek brings his own flair to the traditional screaming synth lines and glitchy fuckup beats that we’ve all grown to love so much over the past few years.
Grammy awards suprisingly good-looking
Jan 29th
After years of mediocrity, it seems that the Grammy Awards are finally getting their act together. Long abandoned by most serious music listeners as a legitimate source for the best music of the year, they had become more of an awards show for your parents’ favorite music of the year. “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” the craptastic latest U2 disc won best album in 2005, and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” a mediocre Green Day track won best record. The Dixie Chicks had the best album honor in 2006–get where I’m coming from?
Facebook dropping the ball
Jan 21st
One of the many recent Facebook problems.
Has this page been a common sight for anyone else recently? You’re definitely not alone if it has. Facebook users have been experiencing various problems with the much-beloved social networking website, and the issues seem to be affecting every user on the site. SU students and other blogs are reporting being locked out of their account due to “site maintenance,” bugs where links on the site just aren’t clickable, problems with Facebook Chat, and general slow speeds.
The top 10 albums of 2008
Jan 7th
10. Tha Carter 3 – Lil’ Wayne
“Tha Carter 3″ gave Lil’ Wayne his first #1 with the sugar sweet “Lollipop,” and the success of that song led this album to garner the strongest first-week sales of any other 2008 LP. The cleanest-produced Wayne album yet, he teams up with world-class producers, vocalists, and rappers like Kanye West, Babyface, and Jay-Z to create a perfect piece of urban pop. Chopped up raw rap tracks like “A Milli” fit right in with more R&B fare like “Comfortable” with ease, and downright weird tracks like “Phone Home” give the album even more character. Despite the fact that it suffers from a common hip-hop flaw (the album is too long, with unnecessary filler), the standout tracks by themselves would make an entire album, and a pretty damn good one at that.