May 2011

May 31

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Likester is “the global popularity engine,” here to help you understand what people like on Facebook. This includes anyone from your best friends to people you have never met that live across the world. The site is broken up into five major sections: My Likes, Friends, Everyone, Trending and Like List. With these tabs, you are able to sort through popular likes on Facebook in comparison to your own personal likes. Likester is potentially a great tool for social marketing; it can help any Facebook page increase their fan base!

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“My Likes” provides an interface to easily view the items you personally like. Here you can sort you likes as entertainment, people, places and things. Likester displays how many of your friends like the same things as you, and how many total Facebook users like the same pages. When comparing your likes to others, you have the option of browsing according to the location of users. Additionally, you can manage your likes through Likester.

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May 31

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Reggae artist Duane Stephenson is one of our amazing clients. He’s currently touring all throughout summer and hit recent single “Better Tomorrow” is generating some serious buzz and airplay, along with the song’s music video. Duane and his team have truly been a pleasure to work with. If you haven’t check it out yet, head over to duanestephensonmusic.com to see what we created and learn more about this fantastic artist.

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May 24

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By Tyler Blue (Website | Twitter)

For a live music lover like me, one of the best things about leaving a small town like Santa Barbara and heading to the big city of Portland is instant access to an extensive crop of diverse concert venues. When I moved to Santa Barbara in 1999, there were at least half-a-dozen clubs and bars which regularly hosted the sort of jammy music I wanted to see. They dropped like flies until SOhO became virtually the only place to go; at least for smaller shows. I’ve had plenty of memorable times there but one can only endure so much repetition before craving a change of scenery. Cruising the streets of Portland, I find myself frequently amazed upon discovering yet another theater which has eluded me up until that point. Practically every neighborhood has one and each is a unique entity with historical significance, style or both. It doesn’t hurt that they have cool names like Aladdin, Roseland, Groove Suite and Refuge. I just looked at http://www.jambase.com and there are a bunch more I still haven’t even seen, let alone been to.


Photo by T. Blue: Soulive’s Eric Krasno lays it down at The Wonder Ballroom

The first show I saw in Portland back in ‘99 happened to be at the city’s most famous venue - The Crystal Ballroom. Opened back in 1914, the ballroom’s claim to fame is its massive dancefloor which “floats” on ball bearings. I thought that was one of the coolest things ever and still do. Since my return back in October, I’ve been appalled to find that many locals don’t hold it in very high regard for various nitpicky reasons. Almost any other town would give its left nut to have a Crystal Ballroom. But in Portland, with so many other options to choose from, it’s understandable that people gravitate to other favorites. Several of my friends had been telling me that The Wonder Ballroom was at the top of their list.  I finally had the opportunity to check it out on Tuesday night when Soulive and Lettuce came to town. The 778-capacity venue, which opened in 2004, definitely lived up to the hype.

Zooming down from Camas, WA across the mighty Columbia River to make an 8 p.m. start time, I should have known better than to be in a hurry. Scrambling up to the box office, the schedule revealed there would be two DJ openers and Soulive wasn’t coming on until 10:15. Fortunately in Portland, there’s always somewhere close by to grab a pre-show cocktail and Secret Society Lounge is one of the best. Two martinis later, I strolled in to the Wonder; anxious to see what the place was all about. The building itself, which was completed in 1914 (apparently a banner year for Portland construction), started out as the Ancient Order of Hibernarians - an organization committed to immigration reform and preservation of Irish culture. In 2006 it was recognized on the National Register of Historic Places. Nestled near the happening North Mississippi neighborhood, it’s a little bit church, a little hipster hideaway.

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May 17

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A Decade of Solutions for Dreamers!

Author: jacobtell
POSTED AT 04:05 PM

Today Oniracom turns 10 years old!  We are proud to be serving the music and entertainment industry for the past 10 years.  Here is to another successful decade in Santa Barbara, CA!

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May 13

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By Tyler Blue (Website | Twitter)

It was the summer of ’87 when the announcement came through the pipeline. My favorite band at the time, Motley Crue, was going to be playing nearby at the Hollywood (FL) Sportatorium. A dream scenario was unfolding for my first concert but long before the music hit my virgin ears, I was already conditioned to understand what a challenge it could be just to get tickets. Fortunately a girl I knew who worked at a record store assured my brother and I she would be able to score us tickets.

The anticipation was overwhelming but the day finally arrived when tickets went on sale. Sure enough our insider came through and we were all set for the big day. Ironically, I haven’t enjoyed a connection like that since. The details of that late November night are forever emblazoned in my mind. Starting my illustrious concert-going career on the Crue’s infamous “Girls, Girls, Girls” tour surely played a big factor in implanting the glory of the live music experience in my DNA. From the sea of spandex and Aqua Net hair outside to this deafening opening band no one had heard of called Guns ‘n Roses to Tommy Lee’s still unmatched 360-degree drum solo, it was the stuff of legends.

Fast forward to 1996 – my junior year at Clemson University – when a band called Phish announced its Halloween show only two hours away at Atlanta’s Omni Arena. Continuing a tradition established three years prior, the Vermont quartet was going to don a musical costume; covering another band’s album in its entirety. (Little did we know at the time it would be one of the coolest, most under-appreciated albums of all time – The Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light.”) The demand was so high, most of my friends and I were all rejected in our attempts to get mail order tickets. There was no way we were missing this so we hit the situation room like Washington strategizing his crossing of the Delaware. We had to outthink the other Phishheads. Where would they go? How far were they willing to drive? A few days later, a three hour banzai to an obscure Ticketmaster outlet in Macon, Georgia yielded the fruit of our desire. A month or so later, we were sitting pretty on the floor of the Omni.

Since their return from retirement in 2009, Phish has trended towards playing smaller venues, making the ticket acquisition process that much more of a science. Last year fans struggled to gain access to Berkeley’s 8500-seat Greek Theater and Telluride’s Town Park. Scalpers fattened their kid’s college funds, charging obscene amounts of money to the desperate masses. This year, on August 9 and 10, Phish is making their Lake Tahoe debut at Harvey’s Outdoor Amphitheater. Even by modern standards, 7000 seats is microscopic. Déjà vu struck as my online ticket request was rejected, sending me back to the situation room. Gas isn’t 99 cents a gallon anymore so a three hour drive was out of the question. “Should I drive an hour to Longview, Washington?” I contemplated. Even that seemed like overkill.

Scanning the map, I settled on an Oregon town with a funky name – Scappoose. It was only a half-hour from the Portland metro area which struck me as too accessible, but how many people in this neck of the woods were trying to get Phish Tahoe tickets? The area is littered with Fred Meyer Ticketmaster outlets but maybe Scappoose was too much of an attention-grabbing name. It rolls off the tongue with satisfying ease. I should have known better but decided to take my chances. It was a pleasant drive cruising along the forgotten side of the Columbia River, past the industrial ghost zone. If we didn’t get tickets, at least I would know where to go if I ever need to wack somebody. Despite the narrow odds, we were feeling rather confident. So confident we only arrived about 10 minutes before tickets went on sale. Big mistake. Upon walking into the electronics section at Fred Meyer, my heart sunk. When I saw seven people in line, I knew right then our ship had sailed.

It was 11:53 when I resorted to the equivalent of a Hail Mary. I pulled out my phone and dialed up Ticketmaster. Getting tickets on the phone for a high demand concert is maybe just a tad easier than completing a Rubik’s Cube in the dark. I almost couldn’t believe it when I wasn’t greeted with a busy signal. Entering the automated system, I knew I had to buy some time until the clock struck noon. Bypassing the computer, I opted to wait a few more precious minutes for a live body. 11:57 rolled around and I was starting to quiver. I knew it was now or never. Returning to automated avenue, I annunciated the date and venue of the show with painstaking clarity. When H.A.L. eventually responded, “We are holding four tickets for you,” I could see the Promised Land just over yonder.

While on the phone, the live action was unfolding a few feet away as the ticket agent scrambled to pluck as many as he could out of the computer cosmos. It was no surprise when he announced they were sold out five minutes later. Only two people were able to hit the jackpot. Groans of anguish resonated all around. My final minutes on the phone felt like eternity as credit card information and other details were confirmed. I wasn’t about to do any celebrating until that confirmation number came across the line. When it finally did, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and did a subtle fist pump; not wanting to rub it in for the less fortunate. One bookish brunette offered a friendly high-five. I could hardly believe my luck. Three-and-a-half months from now I would wield my golden tickets and dance in the garden of delights. Ridiculous service charges and hoop-jumping aside, I won’t be referring to the evil empire as “Ticketbastard”… at least for a little while.

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May 13

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We are proud to announce the launch of an awesome website for the very talented (and only 15 years old!) Scott James! Check it out here.

We implemented Topspin for Scott’s mailing list collection and e-commerce, Soundcloud for Scott’s audio content, YouTube for Scott’s video content and Facebook to feed Scott’s photos.

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May 06

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By Tyler Blue (Website | Twitter)

When the Grateful Dead used to announce a new live release, its impending arrival was met with voracious anticipation. Deadheads dropped everything and ran to the store on the first day it came out or else had it waiting in the mailbox. We all remember when “One from the Vault” hit the racks in April of 1991. It was like Christmas, Channukah and a birthday all rolled into one. Soon the Dick’s Picks series came around. The declaration of a new release was akin to Apple revealing upgrades for the latest iPhone. They only came once or twice a year so it was easy to keep up and buy them all. There were no CD burners yet so everyone had to buy their own copy. What a concept.

Maybe around the time Dick’s Picks crossed into double-digits, the reality set in that I was going to have to start to pick and choose. But it was so hard to resist the sudden and instant access to a perfect copy of a show which had only been heard on crackly cassettes or maybe not at all. For a band which, at the time, was facing the reality of the erosion of its talent, this was the ultimate way to revive the genius of their past heroics to be put on a pedestal in the present and future. The quality was so consistently stellar, with eyes closed, it really felt like you were there.

Several years ago, after Dick’s Picks had already run its course, the Dead introduced the Road Trips series which could be purchased in CD format or via digital download. The floodgates were officially open as these amazing shows were released at a rate so frequent, only the deepest pocketed audiophiles could keep up. Well, and the illegal downloaders too. No one seems to hesitate anymore in “stealing” these recordings as they tend to rationalize: “I’ve given more than enough money to the Dead organization over the years.” Actually, not such an unreasonable line of logic.

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May 04

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Moore’s law basically states that the number of transistors that are able to fit on a microprocessor are doubling every two years. Moore (Co-founder of Intel) made a prediction about this trend in 1965 and it is still accurate today and is projected to still be accurate into 2020.

This Video is about Intel’s next innovation in sidestepping the problem of size constraints. As the video explains transistors are so incredibly small that Moore’s law predicts them becoming immeasurable in a matter of years. This was a dilemma for computer engineers, but I guess Intel figured it out….for now.

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May 03

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New Music Tuesdays Vol. 4 (Fleet Foxes)

POSTED AT 10:05 PM

With it’s appealing hook “I was old news to you then, o-O-old, new-A-ews to you then” and classic Fleet Foxes tone, Lorelai is the featured track from the effervescent Pecknold (and Sons?) on this edition of New Music Tuesdays.


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