Hey guys, Vincent here. Over the last few days, I’ve been enjoying the SXSW 2008 line-up of music—an annual tradition, where they release a torrent of free and legal (with some restrictions, I’m sure) independent music every year. It’s a sure way to discover bands that will make it big in a few months to a few years.

You can get the 3.5 GB torrent here and listen to them on the website here. !

Some of my favourite songs so far include:

• “Shooting Star” by Air Traffic
• “Old Song” by AM
• “Indigenous” by The Playing Favorites
• “Track 1″ by Voxhaul Broadcast

What are yours?

Btw. did you know that one of Tech IT Easy’s own, Cecil Dijoux, is an indie-artist? You can find his band’s, Supernormal, myspace-page here.

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In response to Ouriel who claims he found the best jazz piano – voice extract ever, here’s Tuck & Patti (I saw them live in Paris @ Vincennes floral park in 2006, and they’re just amazing) performing a jazzy medley of bluesy Jimmy Hendrix’s Castle Made of Sand and Little Wing. This is probably the best guitar – voice duo I’ve ever heard. While I’m flying away on vacations, with no access to emails for 2 weeks, enjoy!

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=M56QwDjE6PQ]

Bonus on the house for those who like soul music: Feel like making love, by D’Angelo. Nothing to do wih duos.

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Gosh, that girl is serious about dancing.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sr2JneittqQ]

PS: yes, I know, another post tightly linked with technology. You know, I could have elaborated on buzz marketing or video on demand. You’re lucky.

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Here’s a selection of videos about SaaS, or software as a service (aka software on demand) – a new way for individuals and corporations to ‘consume’ software, whether it’s Web 2.0 Internet software or traditional software.

First an overview of what SaaS is:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=kGUPSvswmY0]

Jim Steele of Salesforce and Marc Lautenbach of IBM @ a conference (crappy quality of the video, but listen to what’s being said by Steele, pretty interesting):

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=dyO6d1y7C9U]

Interesting thoughts by Scott Maxwell of Boston-based venture capital firm OpenView Venture Partners who claims SaaS should be renamed xaaS or zaaS.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=_hGRw5TtxqY]

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It’s been love at the first sight ever since I listened to Canadian jazz artist Diana Krall for the very first time (in 1996) – not to mention the 2 times I went to her concerts in Paris. Many people criticize Diana for having gotten too commercial throughout the process of becoming a star, I don’t. Actually, swing wise, I even find her jazz music getting better and better. This morning, I realized I had left in repeat mode playing in my room one of her records containing these 2 songs I felt like sharing with you people.

‘I don’t know enough about you’:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=tWSum6wWid8]

‘East of the Sun & West of the Moon’ (I adore this title):

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=00JJKSow2zU]

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Those who know me well are well aware that I like counting a number of things during the day (eg trying to guess the revenues of a restaurant figuring out how many rotations happen in an hour at what average check, that’s what I’m best at; or guessing car manufacturers market shares when visiting another country).

So, I was sort of getting bored traveling back from London by Eurostar (a train that links Paris, Lille, Brussels & London, going under the Channel) tonight when I decided I would come up with original content for the Tech IT Easy readership, and inquire about what people do on a train.

From a marketing perspective, some people may find this information quite interesting (let me know if it has any relevance for you). Here are the results of my survey (see chart on your right hand).

I passed twice (go & return) through 3 wagons of 88 people, all economy class, as we weren’t far from reaching our destination. Would statistics from first class be different? I just don’t know (and I actually don’t think so, maybe more PDAs there – I could count only one, a Blackberry, used as a phone when I passed by).

I was struck by the very low number of out layers (no Linux user; only one person was doing a weird thing, and that was playing the guitar – something not so usual on a train, + me doing statistics).

I accounted in the “chatting” category people playing poker & kids fighting in the alley. There was only one baby (I find this figure amazingly low) and he was sleeping.

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5 reasons I like my iPod:

1. It’s small and hence handy (real size here on the picture).
2. Still, buttons are of reasonable size so that it’s not hard at all to switch track whilst running.
3. The autonomy’s pretty excellent (about 12 hours listening to music).
4. It’s water resistant (let’s put it that way).
5. The clip doesn’t get tired easily, and it fastens to your clothes surprisingly well.

However, it’s not perfect at all. Here’s why:

1. Standard Apple headphones aren’t adapted to running (don’t stick to my ears).
2. It’s rather expensive for what it is (1Gb of hard drive only).
3. No screen so you don’t get to know what song you’re playing, but you knew about that when you bought the device so it’s your fault.

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Obviously the anthem of this blog (images: Final Fantasy VIII). Mika has a vocal range of 5 octaves…When he discovered this very blog, he felt we needed an anthem and..there we go

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av1WP8kPnUc]

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Back to serious blogging at last! A very cool announcement very soon by the way.

Art Tatum, 1940s, by far the best pianist of all times according to..me

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uzj6Q61h3oA]

Duke Ellington and his band playing Caravan, New Orleans style jazz music with Big Apple Harlem style solos

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=0U-_gMpdXBI]

Miles Davis & John Coltrane, featuring Gil Evans amongst others, playing So What?

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=U4FAKRpUCYY]

Herbie Hancock’s band playing Chameleon in 1974: when beebop turned into soul

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=JcjkA5ZAWQo]

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Blogging is about sharing. I spend, nope, invest time blogging everyday. Which means I try more or less every single day (& not always achieve, I acknowledge this) to come up with an interesting analysis or something to say that I believe is somewhat original. And when I don’t have the time or will to write, I browse YouTube, MétaCafé or DailyMotion in search for a funny, tech-related video. On the same side as me stand all active readers and semi active readers (readers who left at least one comment; thank you, and I mean thank you). These are frequently people I don’t even know (some are also friends), who with I feel honored to share a common passion, and who don’t hesitate to leave a value-creating comment whenever they feel they have something to correct / add / clarify / challenge / answer / offer / say / pretend / claim / bash. On my side also stand other bloggers. They read my blog, I read their blog. Commenting is rather sporadical, but we know we scan each others in quest for fun or learning. Bloggers watching each other also helps knowing each other better: conversation topics come quicker during real life meetings, and you know who with you’ll get along well in a wink.

Unfortunately (but you’ll help me change this ), there’s also an other side to the fence. People who don’t blog (and I respect that, blogging is an addictive pain in the ass that cannot match all personalities), and don’t feel like sharing although they would’ve hell a lot things to say. These people read blogs but never left a comment, are glad to take but unwilling to give back. I believe things could be a lot better. I know I know some of you. I’m often told “Hey Jeremy, you know what? I’m a big fan of your blog, I read it everyday”. My answer often is: “then why don’t you start a conversation, why don’t you leave comments?” I’m sure you would have a lot to bring, a lot! I’m a rather unknown blogger, not a rock star, & I don’t blog for fame or traffic or money or to be read by people who would think “hey, smart guy!” (yep, you would definitely be overestimating the depth of my thoughts) or say “hey, cool idea, I should come over here more often to take away more from this blog”. I feel honoured to have you onbard, but my motivation to blog and keep blogging is somewhat not correlated with your interests. And there should be a way to align our interests (we do have common interests or you wouldn’t read Tech IT Easy at all).

I see blogging as a learning experience, as everything I undertake in life. I share, you share. We share, together. If I say something dumb, it means I think dumb and I could get better through being challenged and corrected as in the comments after I hacked my first “Hello World” on Ruby on Rails showing I didn’t quite get it. I’m here to be challenged and learn by doing things. I don’t blog to be judged or scanned. I blog to exchange with/ discuss / argue with / meet people who with I can share and from who I can learn.

I see blogging as a sharing tool, not as a shop window. I’m not selling any product or expertise and don’t plan to whatsoever. For those too shy to leave a comment, I’m available to discuss any topic through Skype, MSN Messenger, e-mails and over coffee. Let’s make of this blog a place where you’ll give as much as you take. I’m sure we’re not even using 10% of what blogging may offer in terms of social interactions so I encourage you to participate in this amazing multilateral sharing adventure.

For those sitting on the fence, your call. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision when working on changing rather passive habits into more people-oriented ones. Thank you in advance.

Sorry for publishing such a post, but I really mean what I’ve written here. My gift: here’s one of Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin and Al di Meola’s best pieces, Mediterranean Sundance.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZrB_FDw4c]

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I owe a lot to the song entitled ‘Do the Devil’ by East Coast band The Amazing Royal Crown. I used to wake up listening to ‘Do the Devil’ during HEC competitive exams back in Spring 2003, and trust me this energizing music accounts for 95% of me succeeding: I was arriving at the exam room feeling like Rocky Balboa on the alley to the ring.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=5nsWrWA1gWc&mode=related&search=]

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- I had purchased my tickets for quite a while, and what do I see on Ouriel Ohayon’s blog? “Don’t miss Yaron Herman’s concert…”.

Ouriel’s blog was one of the first I started to read, back in end of June 2005 when I arrived in Israel. I was happy to read about someone who with I thought I shared many traits: French guy, newcomer in Israel, both working in the Internet business (Ouriel was at that time working for ICQ; he now is a VC and the TechCrunch France editor), HEC alumni, etc. I was too shy and busy at that time to leave comments..Well no, the reason why I didn’t leave any comment was that I wasn’t blogging myself, and therefore didn’t understand the whole point of it all. Too bad, we could easily have met, back when I lived in Tel Aviv, where I spent 5 thrilling and frantic months. Anyways, it seems that we do share passion for jazz music as well.

The coincidence is: I was excited about Yaron Herman’s concert, and Ouriel started praising Yaron Herman’s jazz music. And indeed, THE CONCERT WAS JUST AMAZING (see my picture right on the right hand of the screen; planning to broadcast a video soon).

- Another, even funnier coincidence. Random surfing on the Internet, I once left a post on Damien Debin’s weblog, someone I didn’t know from anywhere. About 3 days later, Damien came to Ecole Centrale Paris, where I study this year, to make a brief presentation of his company, a software start-up named Serensia, which actually sponsors my program. And you know what? No, you obviously don’t, but I’ll tell you: I was the student in charge of making sure both the sponsor company and the students are happy. So I met with Damien, certain that I had heard his name before. Later in the evening, Eurêka! I had just visited Damien’s blog (in French). By the way, Damien happens to be an amazing photographer and I strongly recommend that you take a look at his pics (access from his blog, see my blogroll).

As far as Serensia is concerned, I will soon (in November) share my humble opinion about a dozen French software or Internet company business models that, according to me, deserve more blogging coverage for one reason or another. If you want to do your homework well, here’s the list I’m planning to go through: Serensia, Neolane, Exalead, Netvibes, CEGID, iGraal, Apodis, ILOG, peuplade.fr, U-Lik, Miyowa, Business Objects, and Brainsonic.

I should also, pretty soon, write a soft of review of my Blogroll because far too many blogs (Hadrien, Xavier, etc.) are just SLEEPING! Lazy people ));

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