Tupac Shakur may have left this earth a full sixteen years ago come this September 13th (the anniversary of his 1996 death - the result of that infamous/unsolved shooting in Las Vegas, NV) but the beloved NYC to the Bay iconic rapper/actor, also known as 2Pac, Pac and Makaveli, is still very much with us to this day whether it be via his music getting played on the radio, his continued album sales at stores like Amoeba Music (he remains one of the best selling artists of all time), or his much talked about recent hologram appearance at Coachella during Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg's performance two months ago.

And with today (Saturday June 16th, 2012) marking what would have been Pac's 41st birthday, many are celebrating the occasion as if Pac himself were here to enjoy the festivities. All over parties and events are being thrown in his honor (expect to hear a lot of Pac on the radio today too) including a special one in San Francisco tonight at Yoshi's with a performance from Digital Underground; the Bay Area based group that he first came to fame through back in the early nineties when he started out as roadie, dancer, and later rapper. Also on the bill tonight is an appearance by Bobby Seale - the famed 75 year old co-founder of the Black Panther Party of which both Pac's parents were members. Note that tonight's 10:30pm show is a benefit for the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party (NAABPP). More info on Yoshi's San Francisco Tupac celebrations here.

1) Tracking  Software (these track your laptop in case it is stolen)
- Project Prey (free)   
- Lojack  - Apple iCloud (will track your Mac)

2) Always keep a copy of your Serial Number so you can report to police

3) Always report your stolen laptop to the police department. (if you bought your computer with a credit card come companies will give you money back if it is stolen)



When, a few week ago, San Francisco electronic music artist Mochipet’s laptop was stolen during his ongoing Pet Your Godzilla Tour 2012 while in New Orleans he did two things. First, he warned other artists who use their laptops for their music of what precautions to take in case of a similar theft. This he did by posting online the list that is republished above here. Secondly he set about trying to raise some funds towards purchasing a replacement laptop by going online and seeking donations in exchange for new tracks of his music. The response was even better than anticipated which greatly pleased the artist born David Wang whose laptop is more than simply a device to send emails and update blogs etc. Rather Mochipet's laptop is one of his main musical instruments. It is also his mobile recording studio, and where he stores a lot of his music and music on his label, Daly City Records. Hence it is an integral part of his career and life.

Mochipet, the always innovative San Francisco electronic music artist and head of prolific Bay Area indie label Daly City Records, came up with a novel idea for getting the cover art for his next single "Whompa-Saurus-Sex." He is holding a Have Mochipet Make you Dinner! contest in which whomever makes the artwork chosen for the new single (listen to it here) can either have the artist come over and cook them dinner or lunch, or have Mochipet go to their house and DJ their party, or else have the artist send them a purple custom made dino suit (his trademark outfit to perform in) so that they can make their own Mochi themed Dino Party!

Earlier this week I caught up with Mochipet, who was interviewed on the Amoeblog a few years ago, to ask him about this contest, which he just launched in conjunction with the small netlabel Peppermill.  "I've always wanted to do a cover contest but never really knew how until I came up with this concept," he told me. "I wanted to do something different. I wanted to do something fun. And I wanted to do something personal. And what's more personal than cooking for someone? Right? I honestly love to cook but never get a chance to so this is a good chance for me to get out the utensils and go to town!"

"If the winner chooses to have me DJ their house party I will not take requests. If what they want are requests then I will happily hand them an iPod and tell em to go to town. They don't need me for that," he said with a laugh. Note that the DJing and dinner making part of the contest are only available if Mochipet comes to the winner's town on tour or is based in the Bay Area. Listen to the song that the cover art will be for here. For complete contest details click here and then you can click here to get officially registered via Peppermill.

1) Lyrics Born As U Were (Decon)

2) Von Pea Pea's Gotta Have It (Interdependent Media)

3) Skillz The World Needs More (Big Kids Music)

4) 2Mex My Fanbase Will Destroy You (Strange Famous Records)

5) Cunninlynguists Presents: Kno-Death is Silent (A Piece of Strange Music)

Lyrics Born's newest studio album, As U Were on Decon, arrived at Amoeba Music on Tuesday (Oct 26) and within three days shot to number one on this week's hip-hop chart for the San Francisco store. With a diverse and accessible sound that ranges from old school disco beats ("Coulda Woulda Shoulda") & old school electro (think Bambaataa) to post-hyphy Bay rap ("Black Bots"), alternative grooves and more, the album features guest spots from Lyrics Born's long time Solesides/Quannum rhyme buddies The Gift of Gab from Blackalicious and Lateef (who joins him on both "I Wanna B W/U" & "Pushed Aside / Pulled Apart"). Other contributors include Sam Sparro, Trackademics, and Francis and the Lights. The low points on the 15 track As U Were CD are the three unnecessary & not-funny skits, while the high points include the sharp critical commentary on prescription drugs, "Pillz (feat. The Gift of Gab)" and the mad raw & fast breakbeat driven "Oh, Baby!" To coincide with the new album, Lyrics Born's Auto Reverse tour is currently underway along with fellow Decon artists Rakaa and Chali 2na. There is one week left of the tour that stops in Victor, ID tonight at Knotty Pine and finishes next Friday (11/05) at Dante's in Portland, OR. Meanwhile, to peep pics of Lyrics Born doing an instore at Amoeba San Francisco back in '03 click here.

AMOEBLOG: I've heard many descriptions of your music, but how do you describe the music you make?

MOCHIPET: I like to think of my music as "experimental music," but more in a sense that I am always experimenting with new sounds and ideas. Not necessarily sounds that are new to the human ear, but sounds that are always new to mine. I used to try and always make sounds that no one has ever heard before but then I realized it doesn't matter if anyone else has heard it. It only matters if I had. Other people like to call my music. IDM, Glitch, Breakcore, etc etc..  But I just make music.

AMOEBLOG: According to the liner notes, your new album, Microphonepet , was recorded over a five year span but you don't give years for each track. In which years were most of the tracks recorded?

MOCHIPET: Yes, the songs were all spaced out and recorded over the past five years. I have always enjoyed making hip hop beats and collaborating with MC's. However, I never had enough for a full album, because it was not the only thing I did. But recently I had a chance to finish up these songs and compile them into a LP. The newest ones were "Girls and Boys and Toys" with Jahcoozi, "Banna Split" with Bicasso of Living Legends and E Da Boss, "Mr. Malase" (featuring Casual of Hieroglyphics, Dopestyle, and Humanbeings), and "Take You Down" (featuring Sindri andTaiwankid). The oldest one is probably "The Graduate" (featuring Dubphonics). The older ones were generally more sample based while the newer ones were more glitch and synth based.