Is Steve Jobs the most influential person in music?

John Schaefer, host of "Soundcheck" and the most well-versed music afficionado I know of, stirred up trouble by suggesting Apple genius Steve Jobs is the most influential person in music over the past 25 years, if not ever.

That's a pretty strong statement, and Schaefer, not afraid of a challenge, gets pushback in today's episode of WNYC's "Soundcheck Smackdown."

As with most things on "Soundcheck," this debate is well worth a listen, regardless of which side of the fence you're on.

@PeanutFreeMom is a barrel of laughs

If you're looking for clever laughs, head over to Twitter and follow @PeanutFreeMom. 

PFM, aka "Debra Jones-O'Brien," plays a brittle, obnoxious, self-centered single mom with sensitive child in tow. 

"Debra's" tweets are consistently clever, and timely as well. With Hurricane Irene hitting the East Coast this weekend, topical tweets, apparently from the scene, include:

• "Whole Foods had plenty of bottled water stocked up for the upcoming hurricane, but not my brand. I'm beginning to panic..."
• "Our town has opened up several emergency shelters for the storm, but I just got us reservations at the Hyatt instead. #Irene"
• "Went to CVS out of desperation and asked a man where the bottled water was. He rudely said "I don't work here." Complaining to management."

And here's a pre-Irene tweet that capture's PeanutFreeMom's clueless spirit: "Just made Caleb mommy's famous "PB & J": Portobello Bruschetta & Juicebox." 

Classic. 

Create your own hyperlocal Flipboard publication

As regular readers know, I'm a big fan of Flipboard, the slick iPad feed reader. I've thought over the last year how Flipboard can be the local news platform of choice as tablets (OK, iPads) fly off the shelves. 

Now comes this nice how-to from Ted Mann, digital development director for Gannett NJ, who shows how easy it is for someone to create their own hyperlocal Flipboard news feed. 

There's still a disconnect as to how your feed can be shared by others -- and there's that ever-present advertising question -- but the concept is great, and Mann's short video well worth watching. 

As noted before, if you haven't tried Flipboard -- which Apple named its "iPad app of the year" it's time to do so.