This is Omar’s blog

Chart revamp puts downloads first

“This new ruling changes the nature of a single and puts the consumer in the driving seat,” said Steve Redmond, director of the UK Official Charts Company. “Literally any track can be a hit - as long as it sells enough.”

So now, a song will be judged solely on downloads. I thought this was quite interesting, because Wham would be back up there. The charts will look funny i thought. Then i though about the rubbish that PR people say from their mouths - consumer back in the driving seat?!!!!11 Well, the consumer stopped caring about the charts a long time ago. I say the consumer, i’m not 12 anymore - those were the days, buying cd singles. They did because they had to and suddenly we are empowered. If songs will solely judged on what is downloaded, who’s going to care? People will download what they want, who cares what that is? The only people who care will be pop people. In five years, it won’t be i’ve had 10 numbers ones it’ll be i was downloaded 2000000 times yo!

I suggest we get an awesome song back to the top of charts, imagine! I predict it will happen and that they won’t play on the radio. And radio won’t reflect the charts and become meaningless? Well it’s only radio 1 anyway isn’t it. I don’t know, or care.

Is more work for the reader, the whole entry isn’t on the page and there’s only the two most recent entries will be shown. Which makes me think people won’t read it. Hmmmm

The Flickr photos are from my login photos set, i’ve got my computer to take a photo everytime i login in and i will endeavour to be honest in uploading them alll (perhaps)! We shall see. (It’s with an idea from here with regards to photo projects for the new year).

And it’s gone. It was cool though!

(i don’t like writing lots, ever. Why would you need to, i think anyway).

From here . I’ve just spend 10 minutes looking over microloans or microfinance (Muhammad Yunus jointly won the Nobel Peace price with the Grameen bank).

Anyway, there are two place where you can be involved. You don’t donate money, you lend it. And you lend it a specific person who needs money and then are repaid over the course of approximately a year.

So i think i will. New Year and all.

Kiva.org and Globalgiving  (at first glance there’s a large disparity with the size of loans on the different sites - the first is small)

But really, what difference does it make? It’s all continuous anyway and the important start and end for me at the moment is my uni course which runs September through June.

Should we use it as a starting point anyway? New Years resolutions and all that?

Ideally…

• fitter
• happier
• more productive

Oh really? Ideally, of course.

Really? Who knows. I think we need to be realistic about our aims for the year 2007, cutting down not cutting out, at least not every (at least once a week not every bloody day) or we might as well not bother.

Or should i write a list of things i will try to do? Off the top of my head and taking eating better and getting exercise as givens!

• read more
• spend less time online
• write more

How is this different from last year again?!

Some photos are awesome. Of course, the subjectivity of such a thing makes it all the more wonderful. I especially have a thing for portrait photos, there’s something powerful about them.

Anyway; this set is amazing. (Background to the set, originally, the time-lapse)

(via Kottke)

Stupid tax is a relatively simple concept. It is the amount of money (tax) you pay above what you would pay if you weren’t stupid. Par example, the only way today to guarantee delivery to a UK and Channel islands address with Royal Mail Special Delivery - Guaranteed Saturday (catchy). It’s the only way, since the last day for first class was the 19th. Because i am stupid and didn’t post what i wanted to sooner, the world taxed me proportionally for it and boy did it tax me.

See also: buying tickets in advance before they are on eBay.

[youtube]VXcEbEKwHWc&eurl=[/youtube]

It’s mere coincidence that it’s Boosh related.

I could perhaps tell you my top 10 favourite albums of the year, but i’d probably lie to seem cool. Wouldn’t we all? Perhaps. Or, i wouldn’t be entirely sure. Since, i don’t really listen to the radio a great deal, nor go around buying albums as soon as they’re released. So i couldn’t say what i liked from this year. Thankfully, Last.fm keeps track of every song i play in iTunes so i will do it that way instead… it’s nearly the end of the year and there’s no way i can argue with it.

So, there it is. Was relatively obsessive about listening to the American Rejects album.

But who cares right? I don’t know. I remember when i was buying singles from Our Price every week and now… well not so much. I don’t pay attention to new releases, i catch something i like and listen to it till my ears explode or i get bored, whichever comes first.

See also.