scottsimpson's blog

After we returned from Italy, or wherever Ibiza is, none of us felt like recording another podcast episode. We were always only in it for the money, and that money still hasn’t come. Worse, our choice of an oil-powered web server has led to massive bandwidth bills. 

So for the rest of the month, we put the show on hold and tried a bunch of other moneymaking ideas.

They didn’t work out so well.  read more »

Last week we discussed some possibilities for a YLNT-branded video game. During that conversation, Merlin accidentally revealed a bit of the forthcoming game’s soundtrack. It was a pretty big mistake: the game’s soundtrack has been a closely guarded secret for months.

This morning, our carrier pigeon returned from Asia with some very sad news.

An entrepreneur in Kowloon heard the episode and turned that tiny whiff of melody into a million-plus selling cassingle. You think we’ll receive royalty payments on those sales? Ha! We’ll never see a single 仙. It’s piracy folks, plain and simple.

Worse, YLNT “fan” Neven Mrgan made a ringtone out of it. Worser, he put it on the internet for anyone to download. Worsest of all, it’s fantastic.

A single call to the legal team we share with NBC Universal could bury this “Neven” under a pile of C&D’s. But what can we do? The music is already out there. The cat’s out of the bag. The train’s left the station. The seed’s been spilled.

So instead of suing Neven, we’ll give him a taste of his own medicine. Please take Neven’s ringtone and use it to make your own version. As an example, Scott has already made a party version of the track.

Post a link to the mp3 or flash version of your ringtone in the comments (or on Twitter) so we can all check it out.

Neven’s Original Version: mp3 | iPhone download

Scott’s Party Remix: mp3 | iPhone download

Here’s an AIFF file of the original snippet. The tempo is ~123.5 BPM. Use it to make ringtone history.  read more »

As heard in Truck Spank, we believe that coffee shop customers have not been thinking deeply enough about their latte names. Free yourself from the shackles of what your “mother” and “father” thought your “name” should “be.” Your venti mocha cap deserves a light dusting of nutmeg, yet you haven’t thought for a second about the name the barista will scribble on its side? For shame.

So here’s the deal. The next time you’re at the coffee shop, give them a taste of your true self: “Truck Spank,” “Lex,” “Armoire,” “Rejoinder,” “Ponyboy.” Take a picture of the name scribbled on the side of the cup, and upload it to the YLNT Flickr group with the tag “lattename.”

(If you’re too shy to reveal your spirit name to a stranger, you may use this image as a digital whiteboard.)

Sad news. See update at the end of this post.

The YLNT support interns were about to discard our spare Cray 1S when Episode 6 gave them an idea.

They worked all night. And as the dawn spread her rosy fingers across the eastern sky, the YLNT JOBBOTRON was born.  read more »