funkrocks — The Funky Life: Music, Food and Everything in Between

discussed	random	recent
The Ticket Assassin takes on Traffic Violations 24.05.2008	Cute Animals are Just Asking for it 02.06.2009	The Seven Types of iPhone Owners 08.02.2011
The streets really aren't safe anymore. There are red light cameras on every block, traffic cops are shooting to kill, and even Paris and Lindsey...	Everyone knows that the quickest way to someone's heart is sending them a picture of a cute baby animal. But it seems like one site...	[caption id="attachment_501" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Courtesy of AllAreaCodes.com"][/caption]...
16 Comments	0 Comments	0 Comments

Smartphone Photographers Rejoice. Instagram is Here October 10th, 2010 · No Comments

Move over Hipstamatic. There is a new photo application for the iPhone. Instagram launched last week and it has created an addictive way to add digital effects to new and previously taken pictures AND share them across various social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare. Did I mention that, unlike Hipstamatic, Instagram is currently free?

However, like Hipstamatic, Instagram provides various preset effects with kitschy names. Check out the various treatments to the picture I snapped of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles during the cycLAvia event today.

They will likely add more effects on a paid basis. After all, this is a company that received $500K in funding. They will need to sneak revenue somewhere into the initial free application.

One of the best features on Instagram is the “Popular” section where there are some amazing user photos which serve as inspiration for future photo ops.

instagram popular pictures and photos

Instagram was just launched on 10/06/2010 and certainly there are some kinks to work out, but the concept is well timed and will spread like wildfire. Definite acquisition material for all the previously mentioned usual suspects in the social networking arena.

Here are some pictures that I have posted since downloading the app last week.

If you want to connect on Instagram, just choose “Find More Friends” and then “Find Twitter Friends” using the funkrocks Twitter name. If you want us to check you out on Instagram, just send “@funkrocks” a tweet with “#instagram”.

No Comments

Email This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Tags: Applications · Art · Los Angeles · Social Networking · Technology ·

Adding the Facebook Like Button to WordPress Themes September 27th, 2010 · No Comments

When the funkrocks site redesign was happening, I mentioned the Facebook “Like” button would be added to each post. It’s surprisingly easy to implement for WordPress.

We used the JavaScript SDK implementation. You can also install the “Like” button using the iframe code which can be configured here. In order to use the JavaScript, you will need to register your site here. It’s quick to do, but in case you were wondering why we used the JavaScript SDK version over the iframe code, the main reason was for customization. Although the implementation isn’t yet very customized, we wanted to allow for future:

integration with the Facebook Graph API
meta data (images, custom page titles, location, etc)
added control over styling
administration over “likes” via Facebook Fan Page

So here’s how to do it.

1) Locate the single.php and index.php files in your wordpress folder:

example: /<your site name>/wp-content/themes/

2) index.php is the code for the homepage on your site.

Add the following to it code (in green) to index.php file (be sure to swap the “<insert your app ID here>” for your actual app ID). I placed it right after <span class=”articleTitle”> so the like button would appear right after the post title.

<div id=”fb-root”></div>

<script>

window.fbAsyncInit = function() {

FB.init({appId: ‘<insert your app ID here>‘, status: true, cookie: true,

xfbml: true});

};

(function() {

var e = document.createElement(‘script’);

e.type = ‘text/javascript’;

e.src = document.location.protocol +

‘//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js’;

e.async = true;

document.getElementById(‘fb-root’).appendChild(e);

}());

</script>

<fb:like href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>” layout=”standard” show_faces=”true” width=”450″ action=”like” colorscheme=”light”></fb:like>

Note: Unless you specify, href=”<?php the_permalink(); ?>” the “Like” button will be default associated with the current page being viewed. It’s important because we wanted the ”Like” button to be associated with the actual post page rather than the funkrocks homepage.

3) single.php is the code to display individual posts

Add the following to it code to your single.php file (be sure to swap the “<insert your app ID here>” for your actual app ID). I placed it right after <span class=”aTitle”> so the like button would appear right after the post title.

<div id=”fb-root”></div>

<script>

window.fbAsyncInit = function() {

FB.init({appId: ‘<insert your app ID here>‘, status: true, cookie: true,

xfbml: true});

};

(function() {

var e = document.createElement(‘script’);

e.type = ‘text/javascript’;

e.src = document.location.protocol +

‘//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js’;

e.async = true;

document.getElementById(‘fb-root’).appendChild(e);

}());

</script>

<p><fb:like expr:href=<?php the_permalink() ?>></fb:like></p>

For sure more social hooks will be added so stay tuned for more tutorials.

No Comments

Email This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Tags: Social Networking · Websites ·

The Daytrotter Sessions: Live Folk Music Tonight! September 18th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Let me start by saying that Daytrotter Sessions cover way more than folk music. I just couldn’t resist the catchy title. These are live recordings done at the Horseshack in Rock City, Illinois and are made available on the Daytrotter website. Some of the best indie bands that you have never heard of recorded cut down, “mostly” acoustic sets here. As they put it on their site:

“We are not giving you songs from someone you love’s record album, thereby stealing from someone you love. We’re giving you exclusive, re-worked, alternate versions of old songs and unreleased tracks by some of your favorite bands and by a lot of your next favorite bands.”

They are churning out live recordings at a rapid rate since (another excerpt from their site):

“One band a day, every day, 28 Daytrotter Session songs each week”

Pretty much sums it up. Here’s a taste:

Bon Iver – Lump Sum – Daytrotter Sessions. by asherdsign

My favorites are:

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s (Check out “Broadripple is Burning”), Bowerbirds (Check out “Dark Horse”), Copeland (Check out “Eat, Sleep, Retreat”), Blind Pilot (Check out ”3 Rounds and a Sound”), Aimee Mann, Ian McCulloch (Echo and the Bunnymen) , Beach House (Check out “Zebra”), The Virgins (Check Out “Rich Girls”), Minipop (Check out “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots”), Colin Hay, Rogue Wave, Mew

2 Comments

Email This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Tags: Entertainment · Music · Websites ·

Juan Kanagui “For the Other Half of the Sky” August 30th, 2010 · No Comments

Juan performed this poem at New York’s LouderArts Show in early August. It’s a poem that I have heard live before, but it takes on a new form in this video where the crowd’s reaction to Juan’s passionate speaking adds so much weight.

This poem would make an amazing song. I can’t decide which genre it would fall into: underground hip hop genre or incredibly sad emo rock. For now, the youtube clip is on steady rotation.

No Comments

Email This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Tags: Entertainment · Speeches · Videos ·

Things to Come – New Design and Social Hooks August 9th, 2010 · 1 Comment

I realize that this site has been neglected for a while. A lot of interesting things have been taking my time away from regularly updating (and bugging friends to guest author posts), but I aim to change that starting…NOW. Not only will the post frequency be back to the normal once per week rate, but I am also working with some folks on a fly new design. I am also going to start adding some hooks into facebook to increase engagement and discussion within the posts. The full revamp could be ready by October…that is if I don’t get distracted for another 9 months.

Really, those 9 months were put to good use being focused on other projects including my day job in online retail. Lot’s of travelling also took place, which is always powerful fuel for future posts.I’m really looking forward with tinkering with the facebook fan page. Social Networking is an unavoidable buzz word nowadays, but it really is a powerful tool for sites who are trying to create a community around their editorial. In the future I will be sure to include more info around this topic. Especially as we experiment with the fan page, facebook’s like feature and facebook connect.For now, excuse the sloppy mess that is funkrocks. We will soon be presentable again.

1 Comment

Email This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Tags: Uncategorized ·

Expo Line: Can Los Angeles Step Up Their City Game? July 26th, 2010 · No Comments

Almost every major city has a stereotyped flaw(s). New Yorkers are rude and always in a hurry. London has crap weather and food. Seattle is always rainy and depressed. Las Vegas is nothing but debauchery. Los Angeles traffic sucks. Regardless of the truth, these are the generally held negative perceptions of these cities.

Well, the truth is LA traffic blows and it is related to a lot of other problems that visitors and Angelenos should be familiar with. Smog, lack of a central “downtown”, no mass transit, and needing a car to get around. All of these are connected issues, but progress is being made.

The Expo line Phase 1 is planned to run from Downtown Los Angeles, through USC, to Culver City is being built and has a 2011 completion date. The 7th street and Metro downtown station will be the transfer point for the expo, blue, red, purple, and silver lines. My local station, Venice/Robertson station, is already under construction. It is located between Robertson and Exposition just a bit East of Downtown Culver City. Finally, a direct connect between Tender Greens and Seven Grand!

If that isn’t enough, the Phase 2 Expo Line is being planned to connect all the way to the Santa Monica Pier. What?! I’ll believe it when I see it, but I’m hoping it happens. Don’t hold your breath though since Phase 1 has already been delayed once. I bet 2015 for Phase 2′s completion. Any takers?

Assuming it happens, connecting the coast to downtown (with numerous stops in between) is a big step towards liberating Angelenos from their cars and will hopefully reduce traffic. Then all we need is a football team.

No Comments

Email This Post

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Loading ...

Tags: Los Angeles · Ramblings ·

Grooveshark: Burn Out or Fade Away? July 14th, 2010 · 2 Comments

I really can’t believe this site is still up. Not only still up, but gaining in popularity against the heavyweight, Pandora. Coming from a loyal Pandora fan, Grooveshark has still got to be the best online music option in the United States (Euro has Spotify). Grooveshark offers both on-demand songs from an ultra-comprehensive music library and they also have a Radio option which boasts pandora-like song suggestions based on your feedback.

The only problem is that they are obviously distributing copyrighted music and don’t have permission from major record companies to do so. So either they run the clock out and wait to get sued/shut down for the illegal distribution OR they sign deals to pay the record companies in exchange for distribution rights. The latter option hasn’t proven an easy model to crack. Check this Techcrunch Teardown on Pandora. Pandora made some big sacrifices in the listening experience to pay the record company’s royalty of .097 cents per song played (even a partial play). Grooveshark‘s current “freemium” model won’t generate enough revenue alone so they may also limit their Radio option in a similar manner to Pandora: more banner ads, less song switching, and commercials every few tracks. In addition, Grooveshark may be forced to severely limit the on-demand music feature. Still, they may be up to the challenge of going legitimate since they recently signed a deal with EMI to license their music catalog.

To highlight their legal issues even more, recently Grooveshark’s iPhone app was rejected from the App Store (you can still get it on your jailbroken phone). Don’t get me wrong…I love Grooveshark. I am listening to some obscure hipster/emo rock on it right now (Bright Eyes, anyone?). However, I predict that they fade away in popularity as they try to overcome the same challenges that Pandora is currently dealing with.

2 Comments

Email This Post

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading ...

Tags: Music · Technology · Websites ·

Better Late – Lakai’s Final Flare September 13th, 2009 · No Comments

So what? It took 3 years more to create than originally slated. It started as one thing and ended as something completely different. It pushed skaters to the point where skating wasn’t fun anymore. So What!?

An instantly classic skate video and behind the scenes documentary, came from Lakai’s uber-anticipated Final Flare video. Here is Guy Mariano’s award winning part which blends smooth lines and single trick bangers so well…not to mention 2 aptly chosen Band of Horses melodies. Also, check the Finally Flared documentary further below with the Guy Mariano comeback piece, which feels like a storytale. The Phelper said it best, “He’s the only guy that we’ve been waiting for”

Take it away

Here is the 6 part documentary called Finally Flared which recaps the whole process behind putting together the video which arguably boasts the the best skateboarders in the world: Eric Koston (the legend), Guy Mariano (killer comeback), Marc Johnson (footage workhorse/SOTY), Brandon Biebel (motivates), Mike “Mo” Capaldi (Battle of Berrics Champ), Cairo Foster (the Reason) and a bunch of other rippers.