Over a year has passed since I've had much time to do anything outside of my real job, so I suppose I should get this site started back up. Welcome to those very few of you who are actually stopping by in the early stages of the new "incarnation" of my blog. I'm Ryan - a smack-talking, music-making, Cleveland-sports-fiending web junkie with a trombone and enough knowledge to be considered mildly dangerous.

Here, you'll see my thoughts, advice and rants about music & the music industry, nerd life, my overall experiences in playing with and co-managing a band, and whatever else stirs me to write at the time. It may not seem very exciting right now, but trust me - that's just an illusion.

Finding other musicians to join you in your endeavor isn't always easy, and finding the right musicians can be an even greater challenge. If you've already sat down and conceptualized what you really want to achieve, you have made this next step a bit easier on yourself by narrowing down the field a bit. Here's some tips to help ease the pain of what can be an arduous task:

Continue reading "Starting a Band - Step 2: Recruiting Members"

It's no secret that Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the most widely-used browser out there. It comes pre-installed on all Windows machines, and to your average computer user, "does the job." Most users don't really know that there are alternatives available to them (heck, most folks aren't even sure what a browser is). Some stick around for fear of the unknown, others because they feel that "if it ain't broke..." and are unaware that, in many ways, it is broken.

How is it broken, you ask? Gosh, you're impatient. I'm getting there!

1. Security

All browsers have their vulnerabilities. It would be irresponsible for me to say otherwise. However, a more important measure of browser security is how quickly these vulnerabilities are found, reported & patched. With Mozilla's Firefox being open source -- meaning the application code is freely available for people to download, view, alter and share -- it has tens of thousands of developers all over the world scouring its code for vulnerabilities and offering solutions at a much faster pace than your average proprietary application. Firefox even offers a Bug Bounty to those who report valid critical security bugs as incentive to help keep the browser as secure as possible.

Also, IE uses ActiveX to enable it to view multimedia and add functions (toolbars, etc.), which allows it to be accessed by other programs without the knowledge or consent of the user. Using this back door, the bad guys can gain access to your computer, your personal information, and even install viruses, spyware programs, and other malicious software. Conversely, Firefox uses plugins for multimedia, and extionsions for added functionality. This brings us to our next point.

Continue reading "5 Reasons to Ditch Internet Explorer for Firefox"

Following a tip from Chris Brogan, I've decided to turn my Follow Fridays on Twitter into blog posts for a couple of reasons. First, it allows me to list as many people as I want without having to flood the timelines of my followers. Secondly, it's a cheap and easy ploy to get you to visit my blog -- duh.

In this week's edition, I present to you, in no particular order, a few people that you should be following if you're interested in making a career for yourself in the music business:

@Lefsetz - Bob Lefsetz is a no-BS kinda guy armed with a lot of knowledge of the music business and how it works. If you're looking for someone who's going to tell you how it is without the sweet candy coating, and offer great insights into the biz, you need to be following this man.

@artistshouse - A great place offering advice and how-to guides for musicians.

@dbrose67 - David Rose is the Managing Editor at KnowTheMusicBiz.com

@MusicianWages - as their bio explains, "How to make a living as a working musician. Written by musicians for musicians."

@solobasssteve - Steve Lawson is a UK musician who has a lot of experience in carving out a niche for himself and making a career out of it. He is full of great advice, and just about anyone looking to pursue a career making music can learn a lot from him.

@sivers - Derek Sivers is somewhat of an "indie musician's superman." He was the founder of several services for the DIY music community such as CD Baby and, more recently, Muckwork. Yet another great source for insight into the music biz.

@mountflorida - Heather McDonald is the About.com Music Careers Guide. She's written countless articles giving career advice to musicians and other folks within the music industry alike (producers, agents, managers).

@MrBuzzFactor - Bob Baker is an indie music marketing "guru" who always has good new ways to promote your music.

@davidhooper - David is another great source for ideas to market and promote your music. He is also the host of the Music Business Radio podcast.

Hey everyone, it's that time of week again. This weeks Follow Friday is for some cool folks I've found around the Cleveland area on Twitter.

@JoeHaden5 - First & foremost, I hope everyone gives a warm welcome to one of the newest members of the Cleveland Browns, Joe Haden. Joe is a cornerback out of Florida, and was pretty much universally regarded as the best corner in the 2010 NFL Draft. Welcome to Cleveland, Joe. We're happy to have you.

@Dan_Stansbury - You would most likely remember Dan from The Maxwell Show on WMMS. Now that the Buzzard has hooked up with the Alan Cox Show (which, if you ask me, is about the worst thing to ever hit the airwaves), MWL has to wait for their non-compete clause to expire before they go back on air and demolish their replacements. Until then, Dan is about the only link to the show available to the public.

@deg4 - To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if Derrick is actually a Clevelander or not, but he's a big Browns fan, and quite possibly one of the elusive 5 people in the US who actually enjoy soccer. That in itself makes him worth pointing out. Derrick also writes his own column at the Bleacher Report - a site where sports fans can post their own articles to be shared with the masses. You can see Derrick's content here.

@OfficialBrowns - The Cleveland Browns' official Twitter page. Want to get Eric Mangini's & Mike Holmgren's thoughts on the happenings of the Draft, as well as updates as to what some Browns players are up to during their off time? Give the Browns a follow, and keep yourself in the loop.

@JohnnyBTruant - I usually refrain from plugging those who call themselves "business/social media consultants" because they're usually full of it. However, Johnny is a local guy who's received a lot of praise from some pretty highly respected people in the blogosphere (Darren Rowse of Problogger, for one), and he's not your typical "How to make your shitty video go viral" hack.

@KeithKrebs - Keith is an old buddy of mine from our high school football days @ Mentor. He is currently a cheer, tumble & stunt instructor for American Elite, and has a lot of good takes on movies, music, sports, and a lot more. Check him out.

That's all I have for now. You can also see my list of Cleveland people (which is sparingly updated) by clicking here. Also, if you know of a Clevelander that should be listed or included in one of these posts, please feel free to comment and make suggestions. You can also find me on Twitter by either clicking the logo in the right-hand column, or by clicking here.