- published: 10 Sep 2012
- views: 1348880
Last.fm (pronounced with or without the "dot") is a music website, founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. It claimed 30 million active users in March 2009. On 30 May 2007, CBS Interactive acquired Last.fm for UK£140m (US$280m).
Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the songs the user listens to, either from Internet radio stations, or the user's computer or many portable music devices. This information is transferred ("scrobbled") to Last.fm's database either via the music player itself (Rdio, Spotify, Clementine, Amarok) or via a plugin installed into the user's music player. The data is then displayed on the user's profile page and also compiled to create reference pages for individual artists. By April 2011 Last.fm reported more than 50 billion scrobbles.
The service is free for users in the UK, US, and Germany; users in other countries require a subscription to use the radio service (€3.00 per month after a 50 track free trial). The site offers numerous social networking features and can recommend and play artists similar to the user's favourites.
A last is a form in the approximate shape of a human foot, used by shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs, and throughout their history have been made from many materials, including hardwoods, cast iron, and, more recently, high density plastics.
Lasts are made to varying degrees in the shape of the human foot, depending on their specific purpose. They come in many styles and sizes, depending on the exact job they are designed for. They range from simple one-size lasts used for repairing soles and heels, to hard-wearing lasts used in modern mass production, and to custom-made lasts used in the making of bespoke footwear.
Historically, lasts were made from a number of materials - typically hardwoods and cast iron. These are materials that will retain their shape, even when in contact with wet materials, like leather, being stretched and shaped.
The material used to make modern lasts must be strong enough to withstand the forces of mass production machinery, such as that applied by the pullover machines when bottoming the shoe, and must also be able to hold tacks (known as "lasting tacks") which are used to hold shoe parts together temporarily before the sole is added. Although hardwoods satisfy these criteria, modern lasts, especially those used by mass production factories in places such as China, are often made from high-density polyethylene plastic (HMW-HDPE), which allows for many tack holes before needing repair. Such plastics also have the benefit that they can be recycled and remoulded when they wear out.