Machine Screams enters the RPM Challenge for Feb 2010!

Make an entire CD in Feb?
10 tracks (or 35 minutes)???
Can it be done?
YES!!!

I invite you to join me on the RPM CHALLENGE for Feb 2010!
RPM CHALLENGE Website:
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/eastbayexpress
Also
RPM Challenge Facebook Page

I am asking YOU, my musician friends, if you will contribute to my RPM Challenge project,
"MACHINE SCREAMS", and contribute your music to one or more songs?

What I'd like from you is a commitment
a) to commit to something (ie 1 track of bass, drums, keyboards, vocals, etc) on Track X
b) to lay down your track(s) on top of bottom track
c) to upload your separate track before 15th of Feb (or so?)

I'm envisioning the music creation could go like this:
a) 10 tracks (working titles SCREAM1, SCREAM2, etc), each gets a 'theme' & lyrics
b) I will post a basic MP3 version online (with a lot of blank spots & room to lay down your groove)
c) you can dload the MP3 version, pull it into your DAW (or similar -- even Apple GarageBand or any Windows audio software) and lay down your track, remove or overdo any track in the 'basic' (ie lay down a better beat, more interesting piano solo, etc). *If you don't have digital setup, I'm happy to record you on my portable setup or at my place on my basic home studio.*
d) you save your added track as WAV or AIFF & then somehow get it to me (via email or we post to 'dropbox.com' or similar site) by Feb 15th
e) I mix the tracks together, burn the final CD, and upload MP3's for you to share to anyone/everyone
f) I post a final mixtape to my blog, REkzkaRZ.com, (and later possibly SoundCloud.com)

If you contribute any tracks, you are in effect giving me all rights to that track. Please do not use any syndicated or sampled tracks from other artists, only your work.

I've never done this before, so if anyone has any pointers, please add them here as a comment?

** If you want to do your own project, please be my guest! Don't let me stop you. GO FOR IT!
This note is an invite to a potentially collaborative project, "Machine Screams". **

Posting this as a note on facebook as well.

Facebook security article -- Not very secure, or 'evil'?

I sent to an email to a writer on Gawker website,  re: Ryan Tate's Article on Gawker "Facebook's Great Betrayal":

Facebook's privacy pullback isn't just outrageous; it's a landmark turning point for the social network. Facebook has blundered before, but the latest changes are far more calculated. The company has, in short, turned evil.

Here's the email I sent to Ryan (which includes a comment I posted on his article):
Ryan,
I just posted this comment on the tail of your article:

I guess I can see why some might see this as 'the grand betrayal', if you want to take no personal responsibility for your data. But why would we all be uploading our info if we wanted to keep it private?
Bottom line -- if you don't want the public to find it, don't upload it to ANY social networking site.
I think there's something missing in this article about the concept of 'radical self-reliance'?
rekzkarz.com

That was the extent of my response.
I guess I'm waiting for you [Ryan] to explain why this is 'evil' vs stupid policy or a bad move or 'money-grubbing' etc etc?
Can you explain to me how EVIL it is to say you are protecting people's security & then not doing it ...
vs the USA invading foreign countries, bombing countless innocent 3rd parties, assassinating suspects with drones, using BlackWater Agents to run secret missions in foreign countries, and to torture people suspected of crimes?
The issue for me is that you [Ryan] are chosing to mis-use a word to create hype.
Some might argue that, in a 2010 USA, that act is evil.
I would just say it's journalism that has forgotten the point of why journalism exists. Or, another way is to say ... bad journalism.
Have a nice day!
rekzkarz.com

Revision3.com - application sent!

5 minutes ago, I sent off a resume to Revision3.com, an internet TV site here in the Bay Area that is chock full of exciting new content. They have an ad out for a Director of Programming, and that seems like a great fit for my skill set. I also tagged up the CEO's blog and also emailed one of the show producers to show how interested I am in working with them.

Synchronicity is running high right now at the start of the year. I feel in my bones that this year is going to be full of big moves for me, and that they will pay off.

I have worked hard on a bunch of projects in the previous few years, and hopefully will work much harder on the upcoming years. Money is not my goal, fame is not my goal --> my goal is to work and create incredible results.

I think Revision3 has a lot of excellent raw material already 'in the can', but my left-field type of thinking could really take everything up a notch. That said, I am not only focussing on working at that company (since I have not heard anything from them yet), but at any internet media company that is producing exciting content that takes the chance to deviate from standard TV.

At the heart of it all, it's an 'alt.' thang.