For the second time, I was asked to play a hand pan solo on stage at the BGIedu intensive. This time I was better prepared to make a better quality recording. For those who want more detail, this percussion instrument is generically called a hand pan, and specifically this a Pantheon Steel Halo Genesis tuned in the Xiao Xiong Diao (XXD) scale. A cousin of the PanArt hand pan called a "

In Collective Choice: Rating Systems I discuss ratings scales of various sorts, from eBay's 3-point scale to RPGnet's double 5-point scale, and BoardGame Geek's 10-point scale. Of the various ratings scales, 5-point scales are probably the most common on the Internet. You can find them not just in my own RPGnet, but also on Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes, as well as many other sites and services. Unfortunately 5-point rating scales also face many challenges in their use, and different studies suggest different flaws with this particular methodology.

I was reading on Slashdot a discussion about iTune 4.8 and its new capability to purchase videos from the iTunes Music Store, when I read two things that just made me say "duh" with their obviousness, yet I'd never thought of them before. Both of these "duh" moments were inspired by the comments by an anonymous Apple engineer with the handle As Seen on TV: Everybody's wrong about the video iPod thing.

I'm fascinated by the melding of various ethic music styles with contemporary music, in particular, when the mix includes some middle-eastern or central-european infuences. For instance, listen to these: A mix of rock and middle-eastern: Too Tight by Falik on their album Streaks and Strokes(stream complements of by the "We are not Evil" MagnaTune). Turkish Pop and Dylan lyrics: One More Cup of Coffee (sample only), by Sertab Erener.

A very interesting article that has a different take on why the tussle of people who file share vs. the Music Industry. What I like is that it is taking a "behavioral economics" approach to understanding the problem. The New Economics of Music: File-Sharing and Double Moral Hazard Every major label 's setting up an iTunes these days. They're all, in the immortal words of Johnny Cash, 'born to lose, and destined to fail'.