Danish

The below post by a fellow Tumblr user sums up my stance quite succinctly. To the halfwits who keep telling me I have no legal rights to the subdomain and that Tumblr can do whatever they want, please realize I’ve always been fully aware of this. That’s why I have taken to “whining” about this on my personal blog instead of hiring a lawyer, because it’s my only recourse. Pitchfork has sort of offered to give me back my subdomain, and although they haven’t actually contacted me, and although they still feel the need to imply that they are in a position to determine when a blog is “abandoned,” their response was measured and mature in comparison to Tumblr’s and I’ll take it at face value. Pitchfork can’t really do anything more to fix things, so unless further information comes to light, they are pretty much absolved. Tumblr, however, has flat out lied, refused to apologize, sidestepped the main issue, had their “Director of Community Outreach” publicly malign me, and generally been vindictive and amateurish. Also, I’m not sure what this indicates, but try doing a search for “tumbledore” in your dashboard and see if you get any hits from this week, you won’t, because I’ve been “Google China’d.”

UPDATE: what do you know, after I and several others publicly note these strange search results, there are suddenly loads of new search results 30 minutes later!

thenotes:

1. Tumblr’s story is inconsistent.  One employee claims a notification of domain-dormancy/eviction was sent and not replied to within 72 hours. Another said no notification was sent due to the domain’s inactivity.
2. Pitchfork’s story—that they got the domain within 10 minutes of inquiring about it—is consistent with only one of Tumblr’s two versions of said story: specifically, the unofficial, emoticon-marked support team e-mail. Meanwhile, it is largely at odds with Meghano’s strident description/defense of Tumblr’s actions.
3. Pitchfork’s story, Tumbledore’s claims and the Tumblr support team e-mail all correspond to one reality.  Meghano’s post, which for all intents and purposes is the current official Tumblr statement pending further comment, is alone in its interpretation of events.  It is “the thing that is not like the others.”
4. I can directly refute Meghano’s assertion that there were “zero” posts uploaded at pitchfork.tumblr.com (which I followed) at the time the domain was rezoned.  Source: my own eyes.
5. The possibility remains that Pitchfork was more aggressive in seeking the use of this particular domain than it lets on in the released statement.

I won’t bother with the inductive conclusions.

Now then, if we’re done sounding like a bunch of Twitter users complaining about Twitter or Blogspot users complaining about Blogspot or Facebook users complaining about Facebook, I have something to tell you: The people operating your favorite social networking hubs are not your friends, not your enemies, not your kindred spirits. Neither are they abstract market forces. They are corporate people working in a corporate structure, making corporate mistakes and trying to cover their corporate asses in a hyperconnected, digital-paper-trail-type place where it’s all too easy to get called on your corporate bullshit.

By which I mean, variously: Demand accountability, don’t expect it; lose your rosy picture of Web 2.0 entrepreneurship; and as Omar Little would say, the game the game.

This is in response to me being libeled by a Tumblr employee, whose only response to this blunder is to straight up lie about the actions they took: “as per our policy, we emailed this account’s address to inquire about the dormant account. After you failed to respond for 72 hours, we released the domain.” I received no such communication from Tumblr before having my subdomain stolen. I had to reach out to them, and was greeted with a flippant emoticon.

[READ UPDATE]

I’ve run pitchfork.tumblr.com for almost a year now. I had several posts up and I followed 28 people with the account. All my posts are now gone and my address has been changed to pitchfork1.tumblr.com. Where my blog once stood now stands the official Tumblr for Pitchfork Media Inc. Watch out, Soup, I hear Campbell’s is gunning for you next.

Recently, one of my friends who is subscribed to my pitchfork tumblr was surprised to see a sudden change in the content I was posting. That’s because Tumblr stole my subdomain and gave (sold?) it to Pitchfork Media Inc. Keep in mind that the word “pitchfork” is not a proprietary name, it is a noun dating back to the year 1364, so they had no legal right to the word or the subdomain. It clearly wasn’t a case of impersonation as none of my posts had anything to do with music. If there was some kind of content quality threshold that failed to be met which led to my blog’s demise, then 98% of Tumblr should now be blank. Is it possible there’s a certain amount of time that can pass between posts before Tumblr deletes your blog? If so, they should probably make that information public just in case someone accidentally makes the mistake of going on vacation.

The worst part of all this is that if you subscribe to the RSS feed for the “new” Pitchfork Tumblr (http://pitchfork.tumblr.com/rss), you’ll see the first five posts I made are still there! There’s even a post with a screenshot from my March Madness pool standings with my name and face on it. Sadly, I apparently no longer control this image or this information, nor can I exercise my right to remove it from the Internet. But hey, it’s not like these amateurs haven’t pulled this crap before, they’ll probably just write some new content policy after the fact in order to justify it like last time.

So make sure you back up all your content!

If you think your content shouldn’t be deleted and moved arbitrarily at the whims of corporate latecomers, then you should consider contacting the Tumblr team to ask them to stop disrespecting their loyal users:

Email support@tumblr.com and or call them out on Twitter

#NoBloodForIndieMusic #MemesNotBombs #TumblrPitchforkedMeLikeABaleOfHay

Previously Unreleased Photos From 9/11

“The dust-and-debris cloud settles over lower Manhattan after the collapse of the second World Trade Center tower.”

Cut Copy - “Feel The Love”

La Bionda - “I Wanna Be Your Lover”

Second best song containing the lyrics “wanna be your lover.”

syntheticpubes:

Hey Daft Punk and Matsumoto! 1981 just called you the fuck out!

Gucci Mane - “Lemonade”

#bestsongsof2009

One day I was walking with a couple of my ghost friends near the PJ’s when some tweens who were playing basketball started yelling “let’s get wasted!” at us. So thanks, Gucci.

“Fast food expenditure per capita, where the darkest (purple) areas spend between $500.01 and $707.75 a head, and the lightest areas (pale blue) spend between $320.64 and $400.”

Hüsker Dü - “Don’t Want To Know If You Are Lonely”

#MinneapolisGreatestHits part II. If I actually pursued this (I won’t) what songs should be included besides the ones by 12 Rods, Atmosphere, Low, Lifter Puller, Babes In Toyland, The Jayhawks, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Semisonic, and Soul Asylum? Does Prince count? There was a Walt Mink track I used to really love, but since the great hard drive crash of ‘08 I’ve had to work with just my memory and it does not compare.

On a somewhat related note, I stopped following mp3 blogs between 2005 and 2008 and only follow a couple now. In 2006, Minneapolis based Music For Robots was one of the biggest and best around but now they barely update, anyone know what happened? On a related note to that related note, what happened to Lemon Red? I feel like maybe one to two people will know what I’m talking about.

The Replacements - “I Will Dare”

And with this I have now posted the three best Replacements songs of all time.

Fat liger “totally looks like” fat Mike Tyson in khakis

h/t

Pet Shop Boys - “West End Girls”

airrich:

Following the logic of this post, this is my life’s theme. British pop with electronic elements from 1986 (my real year I was born, not my actress year).

“A map of countries who declared themselves to be socialist states under the Marxist-Leninist definition (in the west known as, “Communist states”) at some point in their history. The map uses present-day borders.”

“Japan, Norway and Iceland are the only whale-hunting countries left, Japan being the most notorious. Why do they keep hunting whales, when all they’re really used for anymore is meat?

There’s a lot of political and historical context here. Gen. MacArthur advised that the decommissioned Japanese Navy be turned into a whaling fleet after we bombed Japan in World War II. And when the international moratorium on whaling was about to be introduced, the U.S. specifically said to Japan, “If you stop whaling, we will allow you an unlimited quota to fish within U.S. waters.” It was a direct deal done with the U.S. government. This was in the ’70s and early ’80s. But soon, the quota was halved, and a year or so later completely withdrawn. This is just a political detail, but it’s one of the reasons the Japanese feel so politically undermined and affronted by the whaling issue.”

Laid Back - “White Horse”

A disco tinged track by a Danish group from 1983 (my birth year) and therefore my life’s theme.

The social regions of America. I’ve excised a lot, so do click through

PeteSearch:

As I’ve been digging deeper into the data I’ve gathered on 210 million public Facebook profiles, I’ve been fascinated by some of the patterns that have emerged. My latest visualization shows the information by location, with connections drawn between places that share friends. For example, a lot of people in LA have friends in San Francisco, so there’s a line between them…

To make sense of the patterns I’m seeing, I’ve marked and labeled the clusters, and added some notes about the properties they have in common.

Stayathomia

Stretching from New York to Minnesota, this belt’s defining feature is how near most people are to their friends, implying they don’t move far. In most cases outside the largest cities, the most common connections are with immediately neighboring cities, and even New York only has one really long-range link in its top 10. Apart from Los Angeles, all of its strong ties are comparatively local.

In contrast to further south, God tends to be low down the top 10 fan pages if she shows up at all, with a lot more sports and beer-related pages instead.

Dixie

Probably the least surprising of the groupings, the Old South is known for its strong and shared culture, and the pattern of ties I see backs that up. Like Stayathomia, Dixie towns tend to have links mostly to other nearby cities rather than spanning the country…Southern Florida is an exception to the cluster, with a lot of connections to the East Coast, presumably sun-seeking refugees.

God is almost always in the top spot on the fan pages, and for some reason Ashley shows up as a popular name here, but almost nowhere else in the country.

Note to self: avoid Ashleys

Greater Texas

Orbiting around Dallas, the ties of the Gulf Coast towns and Oklahoma and Arkansas make them look more Texan than Southern. Unlike Stayathomia, there’s a definite central city to this cluster, otherwise most towns just connect to their immediate neighbors.

God shows up, but always comes in below the Dallas Cowboys for Texas proper, and other local sports teams outside the state. I’ve noticed a few interesting name hotspots, like Alexandria, LA boasting Ahmed and Mohamed as #2 and #3 on their top 10 names, and Laredo with Juan, Jose, Carlos and Luis as its four most popular.

Mormonia

The only region that’s completely surrounded by another cluster, Mormonia mostly consists of Utah towns that are highly connected to each other, with an offshoot in Eastern Idaho. It’s worth separating from the rest of the West because of how interwoven the communities are, and how relatively unlikely they are to have friends outside the region.

It won’t be any surprise to see that LDS-related pages like Thomas S. Monson, Gordon B. Hinckley and The Book of Mormon are at the top of the charts. I didn’t expect to see Twilight showing up quite so much though, I have no idea what to make of that! Glenn Beck makes it into the top spot for Eastern Idaho.

The author of Twilight is Mormon. Eastern Idaho is part of the modern lynch belt.

Nomadic West

The defining feature of this area is how likely even small towns are to be strongly connected to distant cities, it looks like the inhabitants have done a lot of moving around the county. For example, Boise, ID, Bend, OR and Phoenix, AZ all have much wider connections than you’d expect for towns their size:

Starbucks is almost always the top fan page…

Socalistan

Sorry Bay Area folks, but LA is definitely the center of gravity for this cluster. Almost everywhere in California and Nevada has links to both LA and SF, but LA is usually first…Californians outside the super-cities tend to be most connected to other Californians, making almost as tight a cluster as Greater Texas.

Keeping up with the stereotypes, God hardly makes an appearance on the fan pages, but sports aren’t that popular either. Michael Jackson is a particular favorite, and San Francisco puts Barack Obama in the top spot.

Average East Coast and Midwestern people love beer. Average Texans love football. Average Southerners love “god.” Average San Franciscans love Obama and Michael Jackson.

Pacifica

The most boring of the clusters, the area around Seattle is disappointingly average. Tightly connected to each other, it doesn’t look like Washingtonians are big travelers compared to the rest of the West, even though a lot of them claim to need a vacation!

Caravan - “Ride”

From their 1968 eponymous debut album.

Space Shuttle Endeavour taking off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL, on Monday

[NB: This is directed at the professionals linked below, not anyone I follow on Tumblr; I <3 my tumblbros]

Will everyone please STFU about “why people hate” this band (and why they’re oh so wrong to do so)? Penning a defense of the number one selling band in America makes you look even cornier than using your pulpit to tout their new album did in the first place. While you’re at it, why not give us a defense of the iPad, an equally enthralling topic.

Who exactly are you defending these poor, beleaguered rock stars from anyway? One can only guess what noble cause you will take up next, perhaps the “you wouldn’t download a car, so why are you stealing food from Bono’s mouth” crusade. Again, they were the number one selling band in America and have been given the Pitchfork “Best New Music” seal of approval.  Stereogum loves their “fun” cover of Rancid. Yet in the last week alone, “counter culture” adman Gavin McInnes wrote a defense in a Pat Buchanan-allied conservative rag where all kinds of straw men (“only cokeheads and/or people who can’t get laid hate them”) were set up and knocked down so that morons at the office could talk about an “interesting take” they read online; the “dean of American rock critics” has valiantly jumped to their defense; and The Fader rode that dick through even more straw men (“you only hate them because you’re getting old”).

Everywhere you turn, there seems to be yet another aging critic jostling to defend the lady’s honor and prove that they still “get” “the kids.” Even the lone instance of “hate” I’ve actually seen published inadvertently worked for the VW hype machine rather than against it, making an argument based on an outdated idea like “cultural appropriation” when the explanation is much, much simpler: they’re boring and obnoxious. And sure, lots of bands are boring, but none of their lead singers make asinine statements like ”critics ignore it when the Best Rapper Alive says faggot, but hulk-out when the Worst Rapper Alive says balaclava.” I’m also not aware of many frontmen who could keep a straight face while asserting “part of why I’m so into these [preppy] clothes is that they are more complicated than people think —Ralph Lauren was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who grew up in the Bronx not far from where my dad grew up.” Very deep, bro. Real recognize real, and you’re really hard to discern. Maybe that’s why so many of these critics are feeling self conscious, projecting their insecurities, and beating us over the head with why they’re “right.” Everyone’s against the man until they are the man.

Time lapse video of the February 5-6 snowfall in Washington DC.

Mission of Burma - “That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate”

Artist Marc Quinn’s sculpture of his own head made from 4.5 liters of frozen blood taken from his body over a five month period. “This work is repeated every five years and will result in a unique record of the artist aging.”

JT Money - “Who Dat”

Congratulations to the plucky millionaires from N.O. and their triumph over the less likable millionaires from Indiana.

I like this photo Dan took of me singing “Runaway” at karaoke.

(via narcissism)

Real Life - “Send Me an Angel”

Dude, throw a dance song on this vid and you’d have a mini meme on your hands

Faith No More - “Epic”

Remember this “epic” music video?

The Three Stages of Feline Grief

The Mantles - “Don’t Lie”

#bestsongsof2009

This is the second best sirenian post on Tumblr. The best sirenian post on Tumblr is here. The best sirenian video is here.

Real Estate - “Suburban Beverage”

They really make you wait for that hook, but it’s a good one.

Streets of Plenty

“An unprecedented look into the underworld of Vancouver’s downtown eastside. This 65 minute documentary follows one man’s 30 day experiment of joining the thousands of homeless, ill, and addicted, who survive the streets of Vancouver’s cold, wet December. “

This is basically Man vs Wild: Urban Homelessness Edition, which may piss some people off. Parts one and two start out a little cutesy and annoying, like this is some young Republican out to prove the old bootstrap theory, but things get a lot more absorbing for parts four through six. Watching the government-run, assisted heroin-injection clinic at work is bizarre to say the least.

h/t

Joanna Newsom - “Good Intentions Paving Company”

And it’s my heart, not me

Wow, what an incredibly enveloping song. From “‘81“ I thought Newsom had abandoned her trademark vocal affectation for mainstream appeal, but here she demonstrates how deftly she can keep things mildly weird while still broadly palatable.

Mt. Fuji seen from an airplane

Built to Spill - “You Were Right”

from Fletcher Street
Philadelphia, 200?
Martha Camarillo

There’s a new movie coming out about Fletcher Street, a block in downtown Philadelphia “that upon first glance looks just like all the others, that is, until you see the horses and hear their hoof beats.”

Clipd Beaks - “Blood”

Last of my “best songs of 2009 by bands starting with the letter ‘C.’” Clipd Beaks are some bros from the East Bay who play a dark brand of rock that probably owes as much to their Minneapolis origins as their new digs in The Town.

Some artists are freezing one of the 20,000 abandoned houses in Detroit, MI

Phantogram - “Mouthful of Diamonds”

I’ve been sitting on this stellar album since this summer for fear that it might end up on a d-baggy playlist like this. Those fears aren’t entirely unfounded as this kind of accessible trip-hop inflected pop is guaranteed to appeal to maltstream ears. Lately though, Phantogram’s been occasionally popping up in my Tumblr dashboard so it’s only a matter of time before this is the soundtrack to someone shilling toothpaste.

Scariest old school logo spots

The Weavers - “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine”

This beautiful and touching folk song was sampled by J Dilla for the Jay Electronica track “Suckas.” The “oh lord” parts really crack me up. Thanks to Ghoast for the tip!

My City vs Your City: San Francisco vs Los Angeles

This app lets you compare the most popular music in two different cities based on Last.fm scrobbles.

Crystal Stilts - “Love is a Wave”

#bestsongsof2009

The Minutemen - “Corona”

There on the beach
I could see it in her eyes
I only had a Corona
Five cent deposit

Spider Murphy Gang - “Skandal im Sperrbezirk”

One of the most popular songs in Germany in 1982.

Cold Cave - “Love Comes Close”

#bestsongsof2009 and/or #bestsongsof1985

Famine In Niger, Africa
Niger, 2005
Omar Vega

Niger is the worst place to live in the world, according to the UN Human Development Report.