Blackalicious - Deception

“Don’t let money change ya”

Yesterday, Yandex exposed their ad targeting stats to each individual web user. By going to http://crypta.yandex.ru/, you can see what profile Yandex’s systems think you have (it doesn’t work well if you don’t browse many Russian sites, as only those would likely have Yandex tracking/ad code). In this screenshot, the targeting concluded I am a woman who browses the web early in the morning. Yandex also offers a more detailed description of what’s going on here [RU].

Would be cool to see Google, Facebook or other ad firms do the same, but I imagine this won’t make anyone any new friends, given the constant discussion of privacy issues (it seems to be a less popular conversation in Russia).

Мир и Человек - Географический Атлас [The World & Man - Atlas]

I spent so much time with this back in the day, it is fantastic. Includes a map of USSR, of course.

NEW YORK

Людмила Зыкина - Тонкая Рябина [Lyudmila Zykina - Thin Quicken Tree]

Classic

tech-sense:

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. /HT @rhyshillman

(via heif)

What Georgia can teach us about the war on drugs.

Relevant to your Internets

Grandpa at the May 9 V-day parade.

Each time we are together I can’t help but think how easy I have it, how hard I should work, how tough it is to really understand what he has seen.

No room for complaining and laziness, just massive shoes to fill. A constant inspiration.

zoya:

This blog has a strong focus and a deep archive. It’s great. 

(Source: readingpalms)

Siberia, Excavator, River Crossing

nukuler:

thelistserveblackout:

[The Listserve] Let’s meet, internet stranger. - Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 1:14 PM

Someone is making strange, amazing blackout poems from every Listserve email. Here’s the one based on mine.

(Oh, the lovely warm days of Augusts past!)

most excellent

msg:

photo taken by @ultragrrrl found via @unclegrambo 

(@msg , is that u?) RT @ultragrrrl: Someone help a brother out with Yeah Yeah Yeahs tickets! @ Webster Hall instagram.com/p/X03n0ZMLJr/

— Mark Graham (@unclegrambo) 

April 8, 2013

Sunday night my buddy Jordan and I set out to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Webster Hall.

We didnt have tickets but we brought our hustle and good looks.

The game plan was to scalp but not pay more than $50 per ticket (face was ~$35)

Doors opened at 8pm and YYY was scheduled to go on at 10.

We got there at 7:45pm to see if there were any extra tix at the door and scope out the scalper situation. Wasnt looking good since 20 other people had the same idea, so we went to grab dinner and came back around 9. 

Jordan got in at 9:20 [for the price of 2 drinks]

I got in at 9:59 [with a VIP ticket for $35]

Show started a little after 10 and man on man is Karen O a great performer.

——

Here are some tips in case you want to take a stab at scalping:

Rule #1 Stay Positive

• Dont give up hope.  As in Life you will get more NO’s then YES’s but you just need 1 yes to get in. (In our case we needed 2 :)
• All you have to do is ask people if they have an extra ticket with a smile.

Bring a sign 

• we didnt bring one but someone who did gave the sign to Jordan who then gave the sign to me.
• people assume that if you have a sign you must really want to go because you made an effort.
• the sign does the selling; anyone who wants to get rid of a ticket will approach you first.

If you need more than one ticket - split up

• Nobody is going to a concert with TWO EXTRA tickets
• I would recommend taking to the corners closest to the venue*
• Another great option is to ask people as they are coming out of cabs*

Digital ticket holders are the best way to scalp tickets*

• many people purchase digital tickets these days and they cant really sell them unless they go through the trouble of printing them out.
• So try to approach people who dont have tickets/envelope in hand

* This is how we both got our tickets.

Pick your price before hand + Pool your $ if you go w/ a buddy

• I sorta goofed on this one. As mentioned we decided we didnt want to pay more than $50/each but we didnt say $100 total.
• Jordan got in first and while I was waiting I was offered a ticket for $70. Instead I offered $50 and played it off like I didnt want to even go to the show. (another dumb approach since there were 4 other buyers next to me) The guy just turned to the pro scalper next to me and sold it for $65. I couldve offered him the asking price because Jordan got his for less than face [didnt know that at the time but shouldve asked] and he wouldve covered the difference. Didnt make a difference since I ended up getting a ticket for $35 but still lesson learned.

Don’t offer to buy peoples tickets off of them

• There were some people trying to offer people double face value for their tickets to no luck. If someone schlepped to the show its because they came to enjoy the show and not to make a buck.

Don’t buy tickets from “professional” scalpers

• A number of ppl outside purchased fakes :( by the time they came outside the scalper was gone. 

Lastly enjoy the show!

And most importantly, there is always a way in (with a rare exceptional show with extreme demand like Radiohead)

fictivekin:

The biggest April Fools’ joke this year isn’t actually a joke. It’s a true story of needlessly wasted content, frustrated users, and a less-than-graceful exit.

Graceful Exits

Yesterday, on the heels of its acquisition, popular recipe site Punchfork closed its doors. This kind of acquisition…

Worth reading, Internet.

Hype Machine on the TODAY Show, flawlessly described. 

Starts at 00:57