yewknee
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An internet waystation.

it me - michael eades

👋 Hi, I'm Michael Eades; a long time Internet dweller, design dabbler, dangerously amateur developer, online social experimenter and frequent curator.

Currently working as VP of Product at Smarter Apps. I also keep the lights on at a boutique record label called yk records, a podcast network called We Own This Town and a t-shirt shop called Nashville Galaxy. Previously, I built things for Vimeo OTT, VHX, KNI and Spongebath Records.

This site is an archive of ephemera I find entertaining; tweets, videos, random links, galleries of images.

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find me elsewhere

 

contact

Reach out via threads or good ole email if you have anything to discuss. I do my best to reply in a timely manner.

for the record: "yewknee" is a nonsensical word with no literal meaning but a unsurprisingly nerdy etymology. It is pronounced, "yoo • knee."

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ongoing projects

yk Records →
started in 2009 as a conduit for music that friends had no plans on releasing. now it's a full fledged boutique label focused on releasing quality music from a variety of styles. you know, like a label does. Here's a sampler on Soundcloud and a different one on Spotify. Options.

We Own This Town →
Originally a Nashville area music blog, this site has grown into a full blown podcast network as of 2018. It's an attempt to bring together creative folks about a variety of interesting topics.

I host this show all about Nashville local music outside the expectations of the city. I'm biased but all the shows are good.

Nashville Galaxy →
An online t-shirt shop featuring beloved and defunct Nashville area businesses. Very niche audience on this one but I tend to think niche is good.

some noteworthy other things

Chris Gaines: The Podcast →
published along with co-host Ashley Spurgeon; a limited series podcast that takes an absurdly researched deep dive into the time that Garth Brooks took on a fictional personality named Chris Gaines.

Garth Brooks Chris Gaines Countdown →
to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the time Garth Brooks took on the fictional personality Chris Gaines and appeared on Saturday Night Live in character, I GIF'ed the entire episode. It's a lot of GIFs; please use them.

Whiskerino →
a social network built around communal beard growing for four months. yes, it was as weird as it sounds but equally fascinating and enjoyable.

Moustache May →
an offshoot of the beard growing contest mentioned above. equal amounts of oddball fun but only a month long.

Summer Mix Series →
before all music was streaming everywhere, Internet music fans would swap zip files of music. it was truly a strange and wonderful time.

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Homer Simpson adidas

The meme evolves to a sneaker. Impressively subtle

Mort Garson - Black Eye

MORE new Mort Garson?! Wild. Love the theme song on this one.

Normcore LLM Reads

"Links that are reasonable and good explanations of how stuff works. No hype and no vendor content if possible." My kinda link dump. Bookmarked.

Precocious Neophyte - Home in the Desert

only one track released so far but it's real good. shoegaze-y in all the right ways.

Netflix launches a game controller app for playing games on your TV

A very neat idea of which I am quite skeptical. I’m sure Netflix has the infrastructure to make it happen but a controller on a smooth phone seems… not fun. Subjective tho! Will give it a whirl.

Cult of the Dead Cow unveils Veilid peer-to-peer project

I don’t know if I fully understand all of this (or most of it) but I’m intrigued to see cDc continuing their output with Internet Good in mind.
Eleven years ago I had the good fortune to be hired by VHX; a startup that pivoted from being a video sharing platform to being a video distribution platform. Casey Pugh and Jamie Wilkinson built a team of eight people to develop the ways and means of getting video directly from the creator to the audience without needing a middleman to make the sale.

In 2016, Vimeo acquired VHX and rebranded it to Vimeo OTT. I've been with that same product for eleven years and today is my last day.

It is bittersweet! I have a new job opportunity working with ex-VHX'er Kathleen Barrett; the now CEO of Mosaic and my new boss. I could not be more excited for what I will be working on with her and the team at Mosaic. More on that later.

Despite my excitement for the new thing, I have a lot of loyalty to the VHX product. It isn't perfect software by any means but it is a pretty incredible piece of work. It powers Criterion Channel, World of Wonder, Dropout and loads of other services that you likely know. And some you don't know but should.

I learned an absolute mountain of things working at VHX / Vimeo. I started as a designer, I morphed into client services, I grew into Head of Client Solutions, I pivoted to Product Manager and am leaving as Head of Product, Vimeo OTT. Not too shabby for eleven years.

I am thankful for everyone I got to work with. I've made a load of great friends in my time there and hope to keep in touch with each and every one of them.

Die Of Boils, Mr. Sparky Car.

David Simon quits Twitter and writes about why. It’s visceral in a way only David Simon could muster.

Whom to Follow

handy site to find accounts in the fediverse. Time to get off Twitter, folks.

Robots.txt for ChatGPT bot

Nice that they offer an opt out. Comes across as a little too late but maybe they will untrain based on future opt outs?? Unlikely but interesting to know this exists regardless

Dead Currencies - El Teatro Esta Cerrado (The Theater is Closed)

a compilation album from a label worth knowing. The first two preview tracks are wonderful and the track-by-track writeup makes me even more hype for its release in Sept.
I've been working with the band sugar sk*-*lls for around a year preparing their new album, Star Time. After much preparation, today we're finally able to unleash the fruits of our labor on the world.

First and foremost, the video for "Becomes Me" is now available. It was directed by Dycee Wildman and it's an absolute blast. It's got witches, it's got rituals, it's got loads of synth. I'm biased but I'm such a big fan of what she was able to do.

Along with that video is the "Becomes Me" maxi-single - a mini-EP of sorts that takes the album track and pairs it with 2 remixes and a bonus track. The wildest part is that the bonus track is a cover from another band of a different album track. It is a bizarre and strange idea that I really can't express my affection for enough.

Lastly, but not leastly, is the new full-length album Star Time is now available for pre-order. It's set for release on October 6th and can be procured in digital form or as 2x Deluxe Cassette; featuring all of the remixes and covers compiled into a special mixtape.

There will be plenty more to share about this project over the coming months and I am overjoyed to start spreading the word. Please indulge and spread the word.

Cabazon Dinosaur painted in tribute to late Paul Reubens

Mr. Rex painted in Pee-wee's signature gray suit. Absolutely legendary.

Artist Styles Studies

AI image generation done "in the style of." certainly a fine line here between inspiration and plagiary. Like all things, tread carefully.

Tesla’s Dieselgate

Love this, well documented, takedown of Musk lies. Not exactly unique content these days but well done from Doctorow

DON'T STEAL DAD HAT

I’ve entered my Hat Phase of life. Is this my vibe? It may very well be.

Mort Garson - Journey to the Moon and Beyond

if you know Plantasia, you already know why this is exciting. If you do not know Plantasia, go listen to it immediately and then come back to this. Loads of new Garson tunes, unearthed and remastered. Exciting!

CBB-FM TMBG

They Might Be Giants on Comedy Bang Bang FM; a free preview. I do not pay for CBB but it's quite nice of them to release this teaser.

Rerender A Video

not ready for production yet but this text-to-video engine looks quite promising

éros et désir - Wider Shores of Love

instrumental, dance-y, disco-y, quite fun. also streaming if ya prefer.
Futel is half hacker project and half public good. At it's core, it's a literal payphone that anyone can use, for free, to make outgoing calls, as well as leverage free voicemail services. Beyond that, it's also a zine documenting its usage, an incoming number to hear all sorts of audio ephemera. In short, a fascinating series of phone interfaces that also provide services that may be critical for those in need.

You can read more about the project on their site and blog or spend a few minutes with this YouTube presentation that walks through all of it.

Grandaddy - Sumday: Excess Baggage

b-sides and rarities from the Sumday era of Grandaddy. a delight.

The IHOP Kingpin vs. the American Revolutionaries

I’m told this is an excellent read. Adding it here so I remember to actually read it.

Who shat on the floor at my wedding?

A true crime / comedy podcast involving two brides and one turd. AKA must listen!?

Eric McCorkle on OSS, Meta, threads and the Fediverse

An insightful read and plenty of replies with thoughtful commentary. Funny to predict how a giant company like Meta is going to swim in open source waters but this provides some context.

Turning old maps into 3D digital models of lost neighborhoods

good ole Sanborn Fire Insurance maps opening up a new, old, world. Pretty fascinating tbh. I would walk around in an old neighborhood with an awkward headset!