Six years ago

 

I haven't always owned this URL, the previous owner of http://roj.as/ was the ROJ, a Kurdish political party of some kind (why they chose .as -- American Samoa! -- for their TLD is beyond me). Anyway, not sure why I never thought to do this before, but I thought I'd share -- courtesy of the Wayback Machine -- what the site looked like back in 2002, three years before I bought the domain.

New RCRD LBL features

We're introduced a handful of new features at RCRD LBL lately, including:

• MP3 of the Day - A daily email newsletter highlighting one great track from the site. Probably the easiest way to stay on top of the site and make sure you don't miss anything good. There's a form for signing up in the upper right-hand corner of RCRD LBL.
• The RCRD LBL Top Ten - Our weekly chart of the most download songs on the site. Sort of an obvious thing which we should have had months ago, it's a great snapshot of what people are digging on the site.
• The RCRD LBL Podcast - Technically we started this back in December, but it was really off and on until we asked Trent Wolbe to take on the production job for us. Elliot's been doing an awesome job hosting and programming the show, I really love the idea of a music podcast where you can hear a song you like and then legally go and download it. you can grab the podcast feed here or click here to add to iTunes.

We've got a bunch of other stuff in the works which should be ready early this summer, as well as a roster of exclusive music from some amazing -- and pretty big -- artists.

Me at SXSW

I'm headed out to Austin tomorrow for SXSW, on Tuesday I'm speaking on a panel about ad-supported music. I'll actually be in town for the entire week, which is new for me. I've gone to Austin for SXSW Interactive for the past five years or so, but this will be the first time I've stuck around for the Music portion of the conference (this is the first year I've had a good excuse for being there). By the way, this is in no way affiliated with SXSW, but RCRD LBL will be hosting a blogger lounge in Austin next week. Details below: ______________________________________________________

Please join Team RCRD LBL at the The Leviʼs®/FADER Fort in Austin

The RCRD LBL Rec Room will be complete with WiFi, computers, and plenty of space to work. We'd love for you to come by, meet our artists, label partners and staff and enjoy all the awesome bands and DJs our friends at Leviʼs® and the FADER have booked to perform.

The Leviʼs®/FADER Fort Featuring the Leviʼs® Pop Shop

204 E 4th Street Between Brazos and San Jacinto Blvd Austin, TX

Wednesday March 12th through Saturday March 15th

OPEN 1pm-8pm DAILY

Schedule to be announced! All events are invite-only, private and require an RSVP: http://www.thefader.com/newsletters/fort/index.html

Space is limited based on capacity. MUST BE 21+

Ubuntu + EV-DO

After much procrastination I finally got around to getting my USB EV-DO modem working with that Dell X1 laptop I have with Ubuntu on it. The solution actually came from Sprint itself, which -- much to my shock and amazement -- put out a guide to getting their EV-DO cards working on Linux machines. (Linux support of any kind is usually an afterthought for wireless carriers.) Of course, this does remove my one last rationale for buying a new ultraportable laptop, although I shouldn't complain since the X1 is light (it weighs just 2.2 pounds with the regular battery and 2.7 pounds with the extended one), gets decent battery life (about three hours with the extended battery, half that with the regular one), and has been running really fast since I put Gutsy Gibbon on it a few months ago.

Inhabitat is hiring

Ok, it's not just RCRD LBL that's expanding, Inhabitat (which isn't just the biggest green design blog, it's also one of the biggest green blogs, period) is growing like crazy and is looking to hire a lead blogger. Here's the description:

Inhabitat is looking for a blogger to lead daily editorial coverage at the site. You'll need to have a good grasp on the latest developments in green design, architecture, and technology and be able to write about them with clarity, concision, and wit. Being able to work independently and source your own ideas for posts is critical (familiarity with an RSS reader is a must). Photoshop skills are optional, but a big plus (and you'll need to at least be able to do some basic photo editing). You'll be able to work from anywhere, but New York candidates will be given priority, and whatever your location you'll need to be available and working regular business hours (we collaborate primarily over IM). In exchange you'll receive competitive compensation, an opportunity to become a leading voice in the world of green design, as well as a chance to work with a team of dedicated people who share your passion.

To apply send an email to inhabitat at gmail . com with a resume, some background about who you are, why you're interested in the job, and at least two or three writing samples (links are fine).