UPDATE 12-31-08: I've discovered and I'm listing below still more sites for listening to music on the Internet. Now, some of the sites I've listed below are not new (such as AOL, Live365 or Yahoo Music), but they seem improved.
But many of the newer sites blend listening to music on the web with social networking (i.e., sharing music with others). It seems there's a lot of companies jumping on the bandwagon as they vie for market share and the consumer dollar.
Anyway, all the competition equals more and better choices for you and me (always a good thing).
Also, there's many different types of sites these days, as you can discover in this article, Online Music: 90+ Essential Music and Audio Websites. This well-researched and comprehensive resource lists music sites under the following categories: Internet Radio, Music Discovery Tools, Social Networks, Music Sharing Applications and Widgets, Music Marketplaces, Karaoke, Jamming, Remixing, Mobile Music Services, Music Charts, Artists Databases, Lyric Databases, Audio Conversion Tools and Miscellaneous Music and Audio Tools.
So, what's your favorite site?
Happy listening and have a Happy and Blessed New Year!
AOL Music (Check out especially AOL Sessions and AOL Radio)
Wolfgang's Vault ("Live" music- classic and contemporary concert recordings)
Jango (internet radio and social site)
Spinner (subset of AOL music)
Pandora
Slacker
Shoutcast.com
Yahoo music
MusicMesh
Deezer
Musicovery
Live365.com
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Just sending out a quick note to readers of this blog that I am still alive and well and continuing work on the next article in my series on healing that critiques the popular charismatic view. I hope to post it very soon.
In the meantime, here's some tips for those of you who enjoy listening to music on the Internet or while sitting at your computer. There are some great sites out there for this purpose, besides YouTube.
One site I've recently been using is Last.fm, which is well-organized and makes finding music very easy. You can create an account, then add artists or individual tracks to your on-line library/station, or create playlists of songs. You can even share your playlists and/or your station with friends. It's a terrific site and, best of all, it's FREE! UPDATE 12-19-08: Oops, it ain't free! But a subscription isn't too expensive either].. There's also a cool extension for Firefox users- Fire.fm- that gives "direct access to the extensive music library on Last.fm."
Another site with a similar concept is Playlist.com, also known as Project Playlist. Like Lastfm, one creates an account, searches for music by artist or track and then you can create playlists of tracks. A very nice feature is the widget you can create to share your playlist on your website, Facebook, Myspace or blog. My widget playlist can be found right here on Jordan's View-- just scroll down to the bottom of the blog.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Blips on the Blogosphere 17
(image at right from MSNBC News)Obama and Rick Warren, Together Again
President-elect Obama picked Rick Warren to say the prayer for his invocation as President, a controversial choice that has upset liberals as well as his gay constituents.
La Shawn Barber offers her take on this, in
Obama Picks Socially Conservative Rick Warren for Invocation.
Al Mohler, as always, offers a perceptive analysis, noting in his article "The High Cost of Being (and Staying) Cool -- Rick Warren in a Whirlwind" that the day has already arrived when any evangelical who publicly states opposition to homosexuality or gay marriage is immediately rejected as "uncool" in the popular marketplace, "no matter how much good work you do nor how much love and compassion you seek to express."
Mohler says that he would not have accepted an invitation to give the prayer invocation at Obama's inauguration ceremony (though he notes he wasn't invited), given Obama's pledge to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as President and also to reverse Bush administration policies regarding embryonic stem cell research.
Mohler writes,
Knowing the intentions of this President-elect, I could not in good conscience offer a formal prayer at his inauguration. Even in the short term, I could not live in good conscience with what will come within hours. I could not accept a public role in the event of his inauguration nor offer there a public prayer, but I will certainly be praying for this new President and for the nation under his leadership.
Christless Christianity
The Washington Post ViewPoint section recently interviewed Michael Horton about his new book, "Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church
". Though I haven't yet read the volume, I did read an excerpt (Chapter 1) and also a review by Tim Challies. Horton has provided what appears to be an timely, incisive and insightful critique of the state of Christianity in America, sounding a call to reformation of evangelicalism according to the biblical gospel. Horton has also done a fine job promoting the book. There's a website-- Christless Christianity-- that provides excerpts and related resources, including this article that appears in Modern Reformation journal, the magazine for which Horton is the Editor:
Christless Christianity: Getting in Christ's Way by Michael S. Horton
Grunge Christianity?
Though the article featured in Pulpit Magazine is already two years old, "Grunge Christianity? Counterculture’s Death-Spiral and the Vulgarization of the Gospel" by John MacArthur still seems like a timely and relevant topic-- how to engage our culture without compromise. In the article MacArthur challenges the idea that Christians must adopt culturally hip, but often crass and superficial attitudes/language to communicate effectively to postmoderns. He points to Paul, as an example for us today:
We could learn from the example of Paul, who engaged the philosophers on Mars Hill. But far from embracing their culture, he was repulsed by it. Acts 17:16 says, “while Paul waited for [Silas and Timothy] at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.”
When Paul spoke to that culture, he didn’t adopt Greek scatology to show off how hip he could be. He simply declared the truth of God’s Word to them in plain language. And not all of his pagan listeners were happy with that (v. 18). That’s to be expected. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).
In other, less controversial news, I've continued to tweak and add new resources to my Netvibes site, ReformingChristianity.com. Check out the new look.
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