I happen to have been invited to attend a very special Cisco Systems awards banquet during which Pat Monahan (lead singer of the Grammy winning band Train) did a private concert for the roughly 400 people in attendance. Seeing how I was sitting 10 feet from Pat and I happened to have my little camera with me I filmed a couple of songs (hope you don’t mind my sharing this one Pat!).

Now, before you get to watch the video I have to share the funny story behind the video. Seal was originally scheduled to perform at this event, but one day before he called in sick. It just so happens that Pat was on his honeymoon one island over on Maui, and somehow the event organizers managed to talk him into taking a break from his new wife to entertain this group. Clearly the only reason for someone to do this would be because he’s just a nice guy and willing to help out in a crisis. Thanks Pat!
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This little gem comes from the morning radio show of Roger, Rick and Marilyn over at CHUM FM, and was once again found by my buddy Jimbeau! By the time I was done listening to it, I was laughing so hard it hurt.

Let me set the scene for you before you listen to it. Some guy in Texas is driving in to work and leaving a voice mail for his co-worker explaining why he’s late in case the boss is asking where he is. While he is leaving a message, he witnesses a minor car accident, and then…
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October is Black History Month in the UK (it’s February in the US), and one very unique individual is Gil Scott Heron, an American poet and musician known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer.

Mr. Heron recites a poem in which he uses sarcasm and wit to make the point that the white people who “discovered” Africa weren’t exactly discovering anything, and certainly weren’t good for the indigenous people.
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I don’t know about you, but when I think of Stevie Wonder, I imagine him with a huge smile on his face, bobbing his head from side to side while singing and playing the piano.

But that’s not all he can do! He also plays the harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, bass guitar, organ, melodica, and clavinet. So, I guess that pretty much makes him a certified musical genius and explains why he’s won just about every musical award on the planet!

Here now is a much younger Stevie Wonder going absolutely nuts with a drum solo.
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Why is it that singers, dancers and actors today generally dress and act like crap? It wasn’t like that in the past, so when did it become acceptable?

As evidence of how far we’ve slipped lets take a comparative look at the legendary Fred Astaire’s performance of Puttin’ on the Ritz as compared to it’s “modern” counterpart by Taco Ockerse. Yes… Taco.
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Dammit, this just needed to be shared!

It’s a little known fact, but I can sing every single word of The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground and sound just like Shock G. Hmmm… come to think of it, how do you know I’m not him? After all, he was always in disguise…
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Andy Skelton was kind enough to grace us all with some original songs while everyone was partaking of the Bar-BQ lunch on Sunday June 22, 2007 at WordCamp in San Francisco.

After a funny little mic check Andy launches right into two of his original songs. Everyone got a kick out of it, and it was a nice break in an otherwise long (though interesting) day of lectures.
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The attached recording demonstrates one method of negotiating lower rates with Sprint PCS – even while you are under a contract. I’ve heard anecdotal stories from others that similar tactics work with the other major US cellular carriers as well as cable providers, but I’m not aware of anyone else having actually recorded and supplied a methodology.

The reason for my call is obvious if you listen, but basically we were paying around $135 per month on average for two phones and we aren’t even heavy users. I saw lower cost rates online that include even more, so I called just to get my rates reduced.

There are a few general things to note and listen for during this recording (which has been slightly edited from the original to remove personal details and blank space). Read the rest of this entry »

My buddy Hrafn over at Think Artificial found this fantastic audio recording that sounds exactly like you’re getting a haircut. I thought it was so cool that I had to do some research.

These are called Holophonic sounds and are made to be listened to with headphones. They are recorded with a dummy head that has two microphones, one in each ear. The shape of the head and ears must be similar to a human head.
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When I’m driving around I’d say I listen to National Public Radio (NPR) about 50% of the time. So, I decided to figure out how I could listen to it and other public news programs from home. As a result, I found a fantastic Web site called PublicRadioFan.com.

PublicRadioFan.com allows you to find a program in a number of ways:

• It features a list of all the public radio programs currently playing, along with links to listen to them.
• You can search by name, location, format, language, and more.
• There are convienent links to instantly launch favorites

The site also allows extensive customization on a per user basis including changing time zones, adjusting the level of detail shown on the home page, and even changing the way the site is organized. All in all, I highly recommend taking a look.

Google has launched an experimental service called Google Voice Local Search which makes local-business searches accessible over the phone.

And it’s free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. So stop dialing 411 and paying those astronomical Cell phone charges!

Here is a sample call I made to demonstrate:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

To try it yourself, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.
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I know my buddy Hrafn over at Inkblot Earth is going to get a kick out of this (he’s an AI expert)… I just got finished getting the local weather update from MIT’s artificial intelligence weather forecaster, Jupiter.

All you do is give Jupiter a call on your phone and ask him for the forecast. He reads it off to you, and you’re on your merry way. Especially useful if you’re traveling somewhere and don’t want to have to find an Internet connection to look it up on the Web. I even made a recording so everyone could listen to a sample…
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