Birch Bark 15: Musicians Should Be Paid for Their Music, Right?
I had a surprising debate with someone at work about whether musicians deserve to be paid for their music. Apparently it's not universally accepted that they should. Today I discuss why I think musicians, and others creating digital art deserve to be paid.
The featured music this week is ODESZA, who recently released
The Party Line by Belle and Sebastian
I'm a huge Belle and Sebastian fan, and their latest single is really encouraging. For a band that skirts the line between "beautiful" and "boring," it's great to hear this song, which is anything but a bore. Their new album, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance comes
The Nexus 6 is Slower Than the Nexus 5?
From Ars Technica's review of Google's new Nexus 6
In our experience, the Nexus 6 was slower than the Nexus 5. Apps took longer to launch, tasks took longer to switch, and sometimes—particularly during heavy multitasking—our Nexus 6 liked to get stuck and pause for a few minutes while
PS4 Outsells Xbox One Again
PlayStation Universe
The latest NPD Group figures have confirmed that PlayStation 4 has outsold Xbox One in the U.S. for its tenth consecutive month.
So there are a few things to unpack here.
First, if there was any doubt who was winning the "console war" it's Sony. Sony's
3 Reasons People are Choosing the iPhone 6 over the 6 Plus
It's being reported that the iPhone 6 is outselling its larger brother by the 3:1 ratio. Setting aside how accurate these numbers actually are, let's take them at face value and try and figure out why there is this vast difference.
1. Availability
This is the obvious reason that hasn&
Awesome New Song From The Dodos
"Competition" is a great start to what is surely an upcoming album from The Dodos.
Monument Valley: Forgotten Shores Hits the App Store a Day Early
Monument Valley was updated today with 8 new levels. The base game was only 10 levels, and was one of my favorite games of the year. It's a beautiful game, and the new stages continue the original's beauty and cleverness.
One thing I really like about this expansion is that the
Birch Bark 014: OMG I'm Becoming My Parents!
I take a break form tech this week to talk about my evolving music tastes and how I am starting to see myself turn into the "boring adult" who likes what he likes, and that's enough...
This week's featured artist is James Vincent McMorrow. His newest album, Post Tropical
Review: Podcats Helps You Find Cool Podcasts
Podcats is the most interesting new podcasts app I have seen come along in a while. While Overcast and Pocket Casts are arguably the best podcast apps out there, Podcats is the most unique. Here's my elevator pitch for Podcats:
Podcats is an app that shows you the best, most interesting podcast episodes
You Only Live Once (Strokes song) covered by Wolf Saga and LYON
I've been slacking on the music posts lately, but this cover of You Only Live Once by They Strokes really caught my attention today. Great take on a really good song.
The Best Music of 2014
Background credit: DKNG
2014 is not quite over, but for all intents and purposes, the year in notable music releases is done. Music is a passion of mine that regular readers of this site will attest. Hell, I tone it down here, actually. If you really want to see my love of music, check out
Monument Valley Expansion Coming Next Week
Monument Valley is one of my favorite games of the year, and is getting more content next week with the Forgotten Shores expansion. Wired has the full report, but the short version is that they're adding new levels to the game for a small $1.99 in-app purchase.
Too Many Cooks by Adult Swim
If you haven't seen this bizarre video by Adult Swim, I urge you to take 11 minutes and watch it now. Whoa.
Driveclub is a Beautiful Racing Game for PS4
I just started playing Driveclub, but I really like it so far. Here's a video of me running 2 of the early races in the game. My racing skills aren't amazing, but the game sure looks great!
Round Watches Are Objectively Better?
Vlad Savov at The Verge in his review of the LG Google Watch R.
Round watches are objectively better than square ones.
I don't do claim chowder here, but I'm noting this for later.
I have to admit, the watch does look nice though.
Majora's Mask Remake is Coming to 3DS
Ocarina of Time is the best Zelda game, full stop. However, Majora's Mask has always held a special place in my heart. This trailer is nostalgic and delightfully creepy.
The Tools & Toys Christmas Catalog
Tools & Toys
We hope this upcoming holiday season will be filled with all the things you cannot buy: beautiful memories with your friends and family; restful moments to reflect upon this past year and to consider the upcoming one; happiness, health, and so much more.
Shawn Blanc and friends once again showing why Tools
Destiny 2 is in Development
Michael Harradence over at PlayStation Universe
Work has also begun on future expansion packs as well as on our next full-game release
Well that's a little upsetting. I was really hoping that Destiny would be more like an MMO where they add expansions on top of the base game to expand the