I realize my Mac friends will think the title of this is utterly redundant, and I would generally be forced to agree on some level, but I also use a Windoze PC besides my trusty Macintosh. (In this article when I refer to PC, I am referring to Windows based PCs. I am all for Linux based boxes on any platform.) I was moved to type this after hearing yet another Windows-using acquaintance of mine bemoan how counter-intuitive Windows is and how horrible his user experience is.
I hear people complain how they hate their PC, how it's not intuitive, and how nothing works right. Sure, some of them are idiot users but most aren't: they're average, ordinary people. Can I help Windows users? Sometimes, but I usually choose not to do so unless it's something really simple. Windows users have brought their misery upon themselves.
All kidding aside, this frustration is the number one reason people use Macintosh: Macintosh works and it makes sense. It's intuitive to all but the dimmest bulb.
Almost all Apple programs confirm to something called HIG (Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines) -- an awesome book written by Apple when the Macintosh first came out -- it's seen revisions over the years and you can still buy it on Amazon using ISBN-10: 0201622165
HIG clearly defines what users expect -- based on research into how people use computers and expect them to work -- and EVERY SINGLE Macintosh program (games excluded for obvious reasons) is expected to conform to these standards. If your program saves files and you want the Macintosh to recognize them officially and automatically, their filetypes and creators should be registered with Apple -- and this generally ensures a quality experience for the user. The one notable exception is Microsoft whose software is not fully compliant, though Office 2007 for the Mac (due out this summer) will supposedly be. And to be fair a few Adobe products (Photoshop) are not fully compliant either, but Joe Average user probably isn't using a $1,000 program -- but honestly, I've figured out the basics of it. Also, many Mac programs have more features than their Windows counterparts -- though this is also true in reverse sometimes.
The same thing goes for hardware. You should plug it in, and it should work. Sometimes obscure hardware needs a driver but generally printers, mice, keyboards, digital cameras, webcams, digital camcorders, scanners, monitors, external hard drives and the lot just work. The end. Sure a specialized driver might make it work better but they aren't required. I can plug many printers marked "for Windows only" into my Mac and they work anyway.
Anything I buy, I can make work. I stick it and it goes. Command-P (alt-P to you PC users) does the same thing in every single program. Windows programs didn't use to be like that, but it's getting closer. For example, I am not a video editor, but I can open iMovie and figure out how to use my webcam to make a short home movie. It might not be good or professional on the first try, but it's done. I am certainly not an audio-geek but I can edit sound and song files with ease. I can use any word processor, speadsheet, and most graphic programs and figure them out. I may not work like a pro, but I can make the program work. I don't need a manual.
Despite what pundits and commercials may have you believe, Macs have the same crap as Windows PCs do when it comes to extensions, drivers, system updates, and all that, but on the Mac it's all transparent. Macs are true plug and play. Windows PCs are plug and play and then fiddle with drivers, reboot a few times, and hope it works and nothing else broke. Macs are not perfect, but as a user of both, I can not in good conscience recommend a Windows based system to anyone I like, unless they're a hardcore gamer because Windows is certainly better at that if you go by selection and accessories for same.
If you're frustrated with your computing experience, go to your nearest Apple store, and try a Macintosh. Or try a friend's. Use it for just an hour with an open mind. When you're done, you'll see why Mac users are so fiercely loyal to their computers. Whenever one of my Windows friends gets hugely frustrated, I give them that same advice. Their conversion rate is around 75%. If you buy a Windows based systems you're getting exactly what you're paying for -- cheaper is not always better. My goal is to change the world one person at a time. I wonder why people choose to use a computer that makes their life miserable. The Mac can do everything a PC can do.
There are some good reasons to own a Windows PC: If you're a gamer, get a PC. If you are in school -- teacher or student -- and that's what your school uses or recommends, get a PC. If you want to be one of the masses of people who can't think for themselves, a PC is definitely right for you. If you make a living helping people with their PCs, you don't have much of a choice; and you're going to have a job for life. Mac users don't normally need help and we're smart enough to find it online when we do :)
Lastly, if you're a PC user, you probably don't want to read this article from 2002 which suggests statistically Mac users are smarter than their PC counterparts. And you certainly don't want to read this article from 2004 because you'll get an inferiority complex. In defense of the Windows PC users I must reiterate my previous statement that I do know smart Windows PC users, but for the most part they're really not quite as intelligent as the Mac users I know. Which explains an awful lot about the world. (There are similar studies, none of the very scientific, indicating a correlation of Mac users being better educated, more liberal, and so forth. However, we all know statistics can be made to say anything, so I won't go off on that tangent.)
Besides, why support Microsoft? If you use Vista, you're handing your life over to them.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Blue Man Group's How to be a Megastar Tour v2.0
Having seen Blue Man Group (BMG) both in their original Las Vegas show at the Luxor and now in their How To Be A Megastar 2.0 Tour (Sunrise, Florida, 2-23-07), I can honestly say that I am conflicted. Often, the first time you see a show is usually the best -- there's too many new emotions, feelings, and experiences that are never quite the same the second time around. I feel that way about my first Cirque show too. But you can top yourself, as evidenced by any number of touring concerts. But this is Concept Art Performance, and it's not the same thing.
In the case of BMG I find myself with mixed emotions about the new tour show that I went to see last night. While I still had a good time and enjoyed the music, I still found myself comparing the Megastar Tour to the permanent show that I had seen in Vegas and, I found Megastar wanting. This show had a lot more of the band and a lot less of the actual BMG. I wanted to see their famous percussion show, and though we got a little of it, the band was more of the focus. I understand that due to the show's theme, this is probably unavoidable. But I really was expecting to see more BMG, but what we got was BMG and band plus some comedy. (And an opening act I didn't care for at all.)
One fun part was the audience interaction they did manage to pull off. If you brought your mobile phone you could text the word "blue" to a special number. They'd send you messages back, for a total of five. You had to provide an e-mail address and then they entered you into a contest to win a trip back stage after the show, which I naturally did not win. This was really neat and kept us entertained before the show.
A big difference between the two shows is the venue -- and it's critical to my mixed feelings because the atmosphere is all wrong; BMG required you to feel you're part of the show to work best. The theatre at the Luxor in Las Vegas, where I first saw BMG, was a fairly small theatre with a fairly compact stage, though it's moved to the Ventian so I can't say how it is now. No matter where you sat in the Luxor's theatre you were still close to the show and could see the facial expressions of the Blue Men with no problem. You always felt like you part of the show because the audience was continually involved.
That audience participation and intimacy helped make the entire experience rather unique, but with the MegaStar Tour you've got a cavernous venue -- the BankAtlantic Centre with over 19,000 seats of which about 2/3rds full -- and rather poor-quality video projection screens to show the people what is happening on stage. In fact, the monitor's jumpiness was quite irritating. You might as well watch on television, and that's a real problem. I worry that people who see this BMG as their first show might not return. It was good, but it wasn't "oh my God, I should see this again!"
Anyway, the point is I would have to recommend a permanent show of BMG. While I liked it, had fun, the intimate experience is too much a part of their show to separate it. I loved Vegas, and I know they have shows in Chicago, New York, London, and coming soon to Orlando. I believe anyone would be best served seeing one of these shows first. There's nothing bad about this show, but it isn't a proper BMG experience.
In the case of BMG I find myself with mixed emotions about the new tour show that I went to see last night. While I still had a good time and enjoyed the music, I still found myself comparing the Megastar Tour to the permanent show that I had seen in Vegas and, I found Megastar wanting. This show had a lot more of the band and a lot less of the actual BMG. I wanted to see their famous percussion show, and though we got a little of it, the band was more of the focus. I understand that due to the show's theme, this is probably unavoidable. But I really was expecting to see more BMG, but what we got was BMG and band plus some comedy. (And an opening act I didn't care for at all.)
One fun part was the audience interaction they did manage to pull off. If you brought your mobile phone you could text the word "blue" to a special number. They'd send you messages back, for a total of five. You had to provide an e-mail address and then they entered you into a contest to win a trip back stage after the show, which I naturally did not win. This was really neat and kept us entertained before the show.
A big difference between the two shows is the venue -- and it's critical to my mixed feelings because the atmosphere is all wrong; BMG required you to feel you're part of the show to work best. The theatre at the Luxor in Las Vegas, where I first saw BMG, was a fairly small theatre with a fairly compact stage, though it's moved to the Ventian so I can't say how it is now. No matter where you sat in the Luxor's theatre you were still close to the show and could see the facial expressions of the Blue Men with no problem. You always felt like you part of the show because the audience was continually involved.
That audience participation and intimacy helped make the entire experience rather unique, but with the MegaStar Tour you've got a cavernous venue -- the BankAtlantic Centre with over 19,000 seats of which about 2/3rds full -- and rather poor-quality video projection screens to show the people what is happening on stage. In fact, the monitor's jumpiness was quite irritating. You might as well watch on television, and that's a real problem. I worry that people who see this BMG as their first show might not return. It was good, but it wasn't "oh my God, I should see this again!"
Anyway, the point is I would have to recommend a permanent show of BMG. While I liked it, had fun, the intimate experience is too much a part of their show to separate it. I loved Vegas, and I know they have shows in Chicago, New York, London, and coming soon to Orlando. I believe anyone would be best served seeing one of these shows first. There's nothing bad about this show, but it isn't a proper BMG experience.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Terrabyte HD and the CD Ripping Project Update
In three previous posts to date: one, two, and three, I've commented on this project. As of right now, I'm at 23.5 days of continuous music, representing over 8300 songs and counting. I'm on the Soundtrack section and this one's interesting because I'm wondering exactly why I even bought some of these. Yeah, a good track here and there, but do I really need the entire Empire of the Sun soundtrack? And why do I have both London and Broadway cast recordings of Cats?
The one that will be really fun (insert sarcasm here) is my multi-lingual collection of Les Miserables soundtracks. I have a lot of these and I'll have to encode them so they don't register as duplicates. Won't take too long.
I'm still trying to keep up the pace but it's hard to stay with it; I'm probably done for the week and will try to resume this weekend. But I maintain that I'll still finish this project by June. I started New Year's Day and figured it would take 4 to 6 months.
After soundtracks, there's nothing much left except my Elton John library. I've saved that for last. I will not be including my spoken word CDs; that seems sort of pointless to include CDs containing interviews and such.
After it's done, as I said in post one, I'll slowly check my original playlist, and remove songs that are in my master list. I want to make sure I legally own everything. Then I'll go on a shopping spree to buy whatever I may not legally own. Yay. Then, I get buy new stuff. Watch my Amazon wish list later this year!
Advice, suggestions, and help solicited for this way-cool ongoing project.
The one that will be really fun (insert sarcasm here) is my multi-lingual collection of Les Miserables soundtracks. I have a lot of these and I'll have to encode them so they don't register as duplicates. Won't take too long.
I'm still trying to keep up the pace but it's hard to stay with it; I'm probably done for the week and will try to resume this weekend. But I maintain that I'll still finish this project by June. I started New Year's Day and figured it would take 4 to 6 months.
After soundtracks, there's nothing much left except my Elton John library. I've saved that for last. I will not be including my spoken word CDs; that seems sort of pointless to include CDs containing interviews and such.
After it's done, as I said in post one, I'll slowly check my original playlist, and remove songs that are in my master list. I want to make sure I legally own everything. Then I'll go on a shopping spree to buy whatever I may not legally own. Yay. Then, I get buy new stuff. Watch my Amazon wish list later this year!
Advice, suggestions, and help solicited for this way-cool ongoing project.
Cat News
A number of you have inquired about Scooter's well-being. Thanks to those who cared. My vet is a good vet (a very overpriced vet, but I'll take overpriced any day over cheap and not good). She's been on antibiotics for a week to clear up any infection she might have had prior to said surgery.
Today, she went to the vet for a tooth extraction. At her age (18 or 19) that's a risky proposition. However she wouldn't eat, so that was the plan. She was dropped off this morning promptly at 8am. Lots of hugging and such, because I was told up-front this was a very risky operation at her age.
Showed up at 4:30pm for cat pick up as instructed. Vet came right out to see me. First, Scooter's doing well. She had her first bath in several years, ears cleaned, nails trimmed, all of which can't be done to Scooter while she's conscious because she tries to kill anyone who has the temerity to trespass on her person. She also had her teeth cleaned, her gums scraped, and all that good dental stuff we all hate.
But she didn't have an extraction. After all that cleaning, the vet decided it wasn't needed. There was so much tartar on the tooth, he thought that was the problem. His careful inspection prior to surgery saved her the operations (though the sedation is what's risky, not the extraction). How many of your vets would second guess themselves?
On the bad news side, he believes that the first blood test was wrong and is sending a second one out. He thinks she's got a thyroid problem because she has all the symptoms. So he's testing T4 instead of T3 whatever that means. We'll know Saturday. If so, she's on medication for life. That's good because it'll cure her, but it's bad because my body is already rough from one week of giving her antibiotic. It also means travelling anywhere will be out of the picture because no pet sitter can even catch her to give her medication. So it's me at home for quite some time. I will discuss with the vet if there's alternatives for this situation.
More as it becomes available.
(Addendum: Here's a full link with all sorts of details about the drugs, side effects, additional treatments, and so on).
Today, she went to the vet for a tooth extraction. At her age (18 or 19) that's a risky proposition. However she wouldn't eat, so that was the plan. She was dropped off this morning promptly at 8am. Lots of hugging and such, because I was told up-front this was a very risky operation at her age.
Showed up at 4:30pm for cat pick up as instructed. Vet came right out to see me. First, Scooter's doing well. She had her first bath in several years, ears cleaned, nails trimmed, all of which can't be done to Scooter while she's conscious because she tries to kill anyone who has the temerity to trespass on her person. She also had her teeth cleaned, her gums scraped, and all that good dental stuff we all hate.
But she didn't have an extraction. After all that cleaning, the vet decided it wasn't needed. There was so much tartar on the tooth, he thought that was the problem. His careful inspection prior to surgery saved her the operations (though the sedation is what's risky, not the extraction). How many of your vets would second guess themselves?
On the bad news side, he believes that the first blood test was wrong and is sending a second one out. He thinks she's got a thyroid problem because she has all the symptoms. So he's testing T4 instead of T3 whatever that means. We'll know Saturday. If so, she's on medication for life. That's good because it'll cure her, but it's bad because my body is already rough from one week of giving her antibiotic. It also means travelling anywhere will be out of the picture because no pet sitter can even catch her to give her medication. So it's me at home for quite some time. I will discuss with the vet if there's alternatives for this situation.
More as it becomes available.
(Addendum: Here's a full link with all sorts of details about the drugs, side effects, additional treatments, and so on).
Friday, February 16, 2007
Eviscerating My Yard with an Endoscopy at Work
This post is brought to you by the letter "Q" for absolutely no reason.
First, my lawn was eviscerated by the lawn people: the same lawn people that do our common areas. Only they aren't my lawn people and they came on to my property, and hacked my beautiful shrubbery to death with what I would assume was a chainsaw. It's the latest picture on my Flickr blog if you want to see how horrible it is now (just the particular photo here). You can see the remnants of their "work" laying on my lawn -- not even the decency to clean it up. I left my management company a terse message today and naturally they didn't return my call, so I left another far less polite message which they returned very quickly. They're really bad at that. Anyway, he had the lawn guy call me. The lawn guy said he wanted to see it before he commented. He did have the decency to sound very apologetic when he called back. He couldn't quite believe what they did or even why. He's agreed to replace them so I won't be too harsh if they do. He was unable to explain why they were in my yard, and even if it wasn't my yard, why they would just hack everything off about 8 inches off the ground.
In other, far less fun news, I will be at the hospital on 3 March 2007 for an Endoscopy to see why my Acid Reflux has gone wild. Actually, the doctor isn't too concerned, but he wants to see what's going on before further discussion ensues. I like this doctor. When I went into his office, I filled out some basic forms but they didn't ask about allergies, previous issues, or anything. I thought it odd. But guess who does it? The actual doctor asks you questions, writes the answers himself, and asks more questions if warranted. Very nice, very friendly. And he asked me about ice skating, but he still says I need the Endoscopy. He's agreed due to my circumstances of not being able to easily miss work to do it on a Saturday morning. I will probably be able to attend the hockey game that evening, though whether or not I will be able talk is up for debate. It's pretty easy, I show up at 7am, they start at 8am, and release me by 10am. (Which means 1pm if you've ever been to a hospital -- they don't work on normal people time). I spoke to Austri and said I shouldn't worry, so I won't.
At work, we're still seriously understaffed. We're looking for people who are already knowledgeable about our products for warehouse work. We're also looking for an operations manager -- that pays pretty well too but I'm not hopeful we'll find anyone qualified enough.
First, my lawn was eviscerated by the lawn people: the same lawn people that do our common areas. Only they aren't my lawn people and they came on to my property, and hacked my beautiful shrubbery to death with what I would assume was a chainsaw. It's the latest picture on my Flickr blog if you want to see how horrible it is now (just the particular photo here). You can see the remnants of their "work" laying on my lawn -- not even the decency to clean it up. I left my management company a terse message today and naturally they didn't return my call, so I left another far less polite message which they returned very quickly. They're really bad at that. Anyway, he had the lawn guy call me. The lawn guy said he wanted to see it before he commented. He did have the decency to sound very apologetic when he called back. He couldn't quite believe what they did or even why. He's agreed to replace them so I won't be too harsh if they do. He was unable to explain why they were in my yard, and even if it wasn't my yard, why they would just hack everything off about 8 inches off the ground.
In other, far less fun news, I will be at the hospital on 3 March 2007 for an Endoscopy to see why my Acid Reflux has gone wild. Actually, the doctor isn't too concerned, but he wants to see what's going on before further discussion ensues. I like this doctor. When I went into his office, I filled out some basic forms but they didn't ask about allergies, previous issues, or anything. I thought it odd. But guess who does it? The actual doctor asks you questions, writes the answers himself, and asks more questions if warranted. Very nice, very friendly. And he asked me about ice skating, but he still says I need the Endoscopy. He's agreed due to my circumstances of not being able to easily miss work to do it on a Saturday morning. I will probably be able to attend the hockey game that evening, though whether or not I will be able talk is up for debate. It's pretty easy, I show up at 7am, they start at 8am, and release me by 10am. (Which means 1pm if you've ever been to a hospital -- they don't work on normal people time). I spoke to Austri and said I shouldn't worry, so I won't.
At work, we're still seriously understaffed. We're looking for people who are already knowledgeable about our products for warehouse work. We're also looking for an operations manager -- that pays pretty well too but I'm not hopeful we'll find anyone qualified enough.
Pilot and Travelers Subdue Hijacker
Now, here's a great way to handle hijackers. The pilot here is to be commended. Read the original article.
Basically, it went like this: A fast-thinking pilot with his passengers in cahoots fooled a hijacker by braking hard upon landing, then accelerating to knock the man down. When he fell, flight attendants threw boiling water in his face, and about 10 people pounced on him, Spanish officials said Friday. Air Mauritania identified the heroic pilot as Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, a 20-year-veteran of the company.
I think that's fantastic. Every single time people stop sitting on their lazy collective asses and fight back, it makes it just a little harder for the terrorist. Put a little terror in their lives. What a great story. I am pleased.
FIGHT BACK!
Basically, it went like this: A fast-thinking pilot with his passengers in cahoots fooled a hijacker by braking hard upon landing, then accelerating to knock the man down. When he fell, flight attendants threw boiling water in his face, and about 10 people pounced on him, Spanish officials said Friday. Air Mauritania identified the heroic pilot as Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, a 20-year-veteran of the company.
I think that's fantastic. Every single time people stop sitting on their lazy collective asses and fight back, it makes it just a little harder for the terrorist. Put a little terror in their lives. What a great story. I am pleased.
FIGHT BACK!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Popular Blog Topics At The Quagmire
These represent UNIQUE hits and not page loads. So they don't add to the total hits. And these stats have only been collected for about one year. But you want to know what have been the most popular blog keyword for the past year at The Quagmire? Here ya' go:
Your mileage may vary. This is very misleading because certain words are hit in combination. For example "Queen Set List 2006" actually works together and I'm not sure how the mysterious tabulator works.
| 2784 | 5.71% | crazy |
| 2778 | 5.69% | frog |
| 2302 | 4.72% | led |
| 2270 | 4.65% | zeppelin |
| 2102 | 4.31% | sucks |
| 1420 | 2.91% | dell |
| 1111 | 2.28% | quagmire |
| 1103 | 2.26% | billy |
| 983 | 2.01% | joel |
| 930 | 1.91% | concert |
| 798 | 1.64% | review |
| 746 | 1.53% | the |
| 693 | 1.42% | 2006 |
| 522 | 1.07% | list |
| 508 | 1.04% | goodkind |
| 477 | 0.98% | phantom |
| 473 | 0.97% | queen |
| 466 | 0.96% | set |
| 432 | 0.89% | terry |
| 404 | 0.83% | throat |
| 397 | 0.81% | tickle |
| 383 | 0.78% | blood |
Your mileage may vary. This is very misleading because certain words are hit in combination. For example "Queen Set List 2006" actually works together and I'm not sure how the mysterious tabulator works.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Roof News and Cat News with an Acid Reflux Kicker
Weird combination, I know.
In the good news department, my roof today passed its final inspection. Blown away around 29 October 2005 by that bitch Hurricane Wilma whilst I was in China. Installed by BET Roofing over a gruelling 16 months, and finished and passed final inspection 13 February 2007. Now, I have to pay them. Unpleasant, that.
In the bad news department, my cat is sick. I took her to the vet yesterday after nearly a week of her not eating her food, drinking water from the toilet bowl and not her bowl (this is new and odd behaviour for her). I replaced the water bowl, her food bowl, changed her food, and nothing interested her. I thought maybe it was the return of the urinary tract infection from hell, but a blood test (they make them so you can do it at home) came up negative. Despite this, I took Scooter to the vet Monday evening for a $440 emergency check-up. All results came back negative, but she's still not eating or drinking. She is throwing up repeatedly what little she does eat. She did have a tooth infection which we are treating -- that would explain the not eating but not the drinking and puking. She's also on a vitamin supplement. Tuesday she goes for tooth surgery on the tooth. They're not sure what they'll do about it yet but that depends on what happens between now and next Tuesday.
I go to the Gastrointestinologist tomorrow to see why my Acid Reflux has spun wildly out of control and medication won't fix it. My guess is it'll be a quick appointment with tests to follow.
And an apology to those of you I've offended by being very distracted these past few days. So there you have it.
Oh, and work's a bitch and I am hopelessly overloaded.
In the good news department, my roof today passed its final inspection. Blown away around 29 October 2005 by that bitch Hurricane Wilma whilst I was in China. Installed by BET Roofing over a gruelling 16 months, and finished and passed final inspection 13 February 2007. Now, I have to pay them. Unpleasant, that.
In the bad news department, my cat is sick. I took her to the vet yesterday after nearly a week of her not eating her food, drinking water from the toilet bowl and not her bowl (this is new and odd behaviour for her). I replaced the water bowl, her food bowl, changed her food, and nothing interested her. I thought maybe it was the return of the urinary tract infection from hell, but a blood test (they make them so you can do it at home) came up negative. Despite this, I took Scooter to the vet Monday evening for a $440 emergency check-up. All results came back negative, but she's still not eating or drinking. She is throwing up repeatedly what little she does eat. She did have a tooth infection which we are treating -- that would explain the not eating but not the drinking and puking. She's also on a vitamin supplement. Tuesday she goes for tooth surgery on the tooth. They're not sure what they'll do about it yet but that depends on what happens between now and next Tuesday.
I go to the Gastrointestinologist tomorrow to see why my Acid Reflux has spun wildly out of control and medication won't fix it. My guess is it'll be a quick appointment with tests to follow.
And an apology to those of you I've offended by being very distracted these past few days. So there you have it.
Oh, and work's a bitch and I am hopelessly overloaded.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Eddie Murphy in Norbit (Review)
Eddie Murphy plays three starring roles in this film (Norbit, Rasputia, and Mr. Wong). It's a really funny film, and makes you fondly recall back when he was funny before he started making really bad comedies. Yes, you remember those films. Happily, this movie is fun and funny. Nobody will mistake it for art, or even for making any sort of statement. It's predictable and funny in spite of it.
The film is very simple. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl from hell, boy find first girl. Hilarity ensues. I think every one will find this amusing, though it's certainly not politically correct. It's just under two hours and is a great way to fill up some time on a Sunday afternoon that is football free.
To see Eddie as Mr. Wong is simply amazing. It's hard to believe it's even him. As Rasputia, it looks like a guy in a fat-suit, which is exactly what it is. In long scenes you can even see the leggings in some sports. Mostly, it's good for those "squirmalicious" sort of laughs.
Continuity gaffe: watch the clock in the construction office. It's never sure what it is, will be, or was.
The film is very simple. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl from hell, boy find first girl. Hilarity ensues. I think every one will find this amusing, though it's certainly not politically correct. It's just under two hours and is a great way to fill up some time on a Sunday afternoon that is football free.
To see Eddie as Mr. Wong is simply amazing. It's hard to believe it's even him. As Rasputia, it looks like a guy in a fat-suit, which is exactly what it is. In long scenes you can even see the leggings in some sports. Mostly, it's good for those "squirmalicious" sort of laughs.
Continuity gaffe: watch the clock in the construction office. It's never sure what it is, will be, or was.
I got a Wii today :)
I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii! I got a Wii!
Yes, I got a Ninentdo Wii today at Circuit City. Walked in at 11:15am and asked for Shits & Giggles. They said to ask at the Customer Service desk. They said "Yes!" so I got it, an extra controller, extra nunchuk, Happy Feet, and Zelda.
Hooking it up with the Component Video cable was a fucking disaster, but it finally works. The instructions for my AV receiver were weak, plus the fuckwits from BestBuy who hooked it up originally did it wrong. They had everything miswired. I have no idea why I used them. They suck.
Anyway, the Wii is fun. I bowled, played a little bit of the other games, downloaded the updates, downloaded the Internet software (Opera) and then checked out my own Website on the Wii (for fun). Pretty neat actually.
So, I finally have a Wii. I called Erin to share the news but she isn't around, dammit :(
Yes, I got a Ninentdo Wii today at Circuit City. Walked in at 11:15am and asked for Shits & Giggles. They said to ask at the Customer Service desk. They said "Yes!" so I got it, an extra controller, extra nunchuk, Happy Feet, and Zelda.
Hooking it up with the Component Video cable was a fucking disaster, but it finally works. The instructions for my AV receiver were weak, plus the fuckwits from BestBuy who hooked it up originally did it wrong. They had everything miswired. I have no idea why I used them. They suck.
Anyway, the Wii is fun. I bowled, played a little bit of the other games, downloaded the updates, downloaded the Internet software (Opera) and then checked out my own Website on the Wii (for fun). Pretty neat actually.
So, I finally have a Wii. I called Erin to share the news but she isn't around, dammit :(
Saturday, February 10, 2007
In My Ongoing CD Ripping Project
In a previous post or two, I've commented on this project. As of right now, I'm at 20.5 days of continuous music, representing over 7400 songs and counting. I'm on the Classical section and it's slow going because of various discrepancies in the process that don't happen with Rock/Pop CDs. With all the foreign names, I'm having to check the spelling and accentuation of each composers name before I rip.
Also the people who've uploaded them have often included the composer's name as part of the title track. Like "Beethoven's 9th" instead of "Ninth Symphony" with the composer as Beethoven, so everyone has to be hand edited. It's really slowed me down. Some the artist is missing a first or last name. I've been on Google and Wikipedia quite a bit to clean everything up.
I'm trying to keep up the pace but it's hard to do and my motivation has dropped. But I will still finish this project. It's quite the challenge and I've learned a lot too.
As far as Classical music goes, the Baroque period is clearly what I like the best. Must be the romantic in me or something. It certainly doesn't fit my character.
iTunes has a bug, BTW, where it doesn't properly calculate the disk space. It rather insists all these songs only take up 40gb. A look at the disk information window (or even at the iTunes folder) clearly shows otherwise. Ah well.
I wish there was a way to find out how many CDs this represents without counting. At 12 tracks per CD average, I could guestimate. Maybe counting them will be my next project.
Also the people who've uploaded them have often included the composer's name as part of the title track. Like "Beethoven's 9th" instead of "Ninth Symphony" with the composer as Beethoven, so everyone has to be hand edited. It's really slowed me down. Some the artist is missing a first or last name. I've been on Google and Wikipedia quite a bit to clean everything up.
I'm trying to keep up the pace but it's hard to do and my motivation has dropped. But I will still finish this project. It's quite the challenge and I've learned a lot too.
As far as Classical music goes, the Baroque period is clearly what I like the best. Must be the romantic in me or something. It certainly doesn't fit my character.
iTunes has a bug, BTW, where it doesn't properly calculate the disk space. It rather insists all these songs only take up 40gb. A look at the disk information window (or even at the iTunes folder) clearly shows otherwise. Ah well.
I wish there was a way to find out how many CDs this represents without counting. At 12 tracks per CD average, I could guestimate. Maybe counting them will be my next project.
Friday, February 9, 2007
The 100,000th hit will happen....
.... in the next 12 hours but I won't be on-line to see it. The counter is down near the bottom, and you can even click the little planet icon to get some semi-anonymous type statistics. I'm just amazed at how far this blog has come.
I could thank Technorati, but they have contributed all of 96 hits since we went live on 17 October 2004, Digg has done much better for me. In fact, I've been on a roll there these past few days with some traffic to my Family Guy Jumps The Shark post. I've finally added "Digg This" buttons to my blog, so if you like something you can share the love more easily.
But really, who could have imagined? That's huge. It's been 845 days since I started this blog, which means I've had on average 118 hits per day -- though at our peak we were getting 358 hits per day. We started slow, and there have been slow days, but I never expected popularity. Not like this.
I'd like to make the next day even more popular. If you have a real blog, I'd consider trading links back and forth between our blogs (subject to content review). I'd like to get more eyeballs, but more for the sake of getting people to comment. Even the enormous blogs such as Wil Wheaton gets precious few comments with ten times the traffic. I'd love to hear any ideas people have about getting people to comment.
I'd like to know who my users are, because the count is not reflective of my friends and family. Give me a shout out, tell me who you are, why you're here. If a public comment is too scary for you, try e-mail.
And more importantly, thank you all!
I could thank Technorati, but they have contributed all of 96 hits since we went live on 17 October 2004, Digg has done much better for me. In fact, I've been on a roll there these past few days with some traffic to my Family Guy Jumps The Shark post. I've finally added "Digg This" buttons to my blog, so if you like something you can share the love more easily.
But really, who could have imagined? That's huge. It's been 845 days since I started this blog, which means I've had on average 118 hits per day -- though at our peak we were getting 358 hits per day. We started slow, and there have been slow days, but I never expected popularity. Not like this.
I'd like to make the next day even more popular. If you have a real blog, I'd consider trading links back and forth between our blogs (subject to content review). I'd like to get more eyeballs, but more for the sake of getting people to comment. Even the enormous blogs such as Wil Wheaton gets precious few comments with ten times the traffic. I'd love to hear any ideas people have about getting people to comment.
I'd like to know who my users are, because the count is not reflective of my friends and family. Give me a shout out, tell me who you are, why you're here. If a public comment is too scary for you, try e-mail.
And more importantly, thank you all!
Any Excel Gurus?
I need help. Here's a sample spreadsheet:
Pretty easy for this example. I want to get the maximum of a row (say MAX A1,b1,c1) and then print the name associated with it. So I'd print TED for row 2, 3, and FRED for rows 4 and 5. My real example is much larger, but I'm unable to even get the concept. I've tried Google but haven't found a good example yet. I'm sure there's a solution.
2-13-07 update: A number of people have suggested the HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP but those functions both have limits as to where the data is placed. The actual data is far more complex, with five 6 x 6 grids of data and the MAX function is on random cels. If anyone wants the actual spreadsheet to see the issue, I will gladly provide a copy of one set of data. Maybe the solution is a Macro, If/Then, or some combination.
| A | B | C | |
| 1 | alex | fred | ted |
| 2 | 5 | 8 | 31 |
| 3 | 7 | 16 | 20 |
| 4 | 14 | 19 | 11 |
| 5 | 21 | 22 | 4 |
Pretty easy for this example. I want to get the maximum of a row (say MAX A1,b1,c1) and then print the name associated with it. So I'd print TED for row 2, 3, and FRED for rows 4 and 5. My real example is much larger, but I'm unable to even get the concept. I've tried Google but haven't found a good example yet. I'm sure there's a solution.
2-13-07 update: A number of people have suggested the HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP but those functions both have limits as to where the data is placed. The actual data is far more complex, with five 6 x 6 grids of data and the MAX function is on random cels. If anyone wants the actual spreadsheet to see the issue, I will gladly provide a copy of one set of data. Maybe the solution is a Macro, If/Then, or some combination.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Why Blogger Beta Sucks
- This was reported over one month ago via the Blogger contact mechanism. I never got any reply. I understand it's free, and I guess I'm getting what I'm paying for.
- This problem happens only with New Blogger (Blogger Beta that is not theoretically Beta any more -- it was not an issue with the Original Blogger). I can FTP normally from any other service and with any FTP client. This issue ONLY affects New Blogger.
- To publish a single (short) post takes 3 to 6 minutes or more. Prior to beta it took about one minute normally, sometimes two on a bad day.
- I tried to republish my blog yesterday which used to take 10 to 15 minutes under Original Blogger. It has been over FOUR HOURS. Same result again today. Started at 1705pm and it's 2008pm and nothing besides the "taking longer than expected" error message.
- I'd have switched to Wordpress but Blogger Beta doesn't convert properly yet using normal channels. I'm sure you may have seen my previous post about conversions. And there is now a solution, which I may try -- though I much prefer someone do it for me if there are volunteers. The problem is, I'd have to get my blog to republish for it to work and it's not working.
SOMETHING IS BROKEN WITH BLOGGER'S FTP PROCESS. My blog is hosted on my own website (Dreamhost is the hosting company) and I'm connected to Blogger via HellSouth DSL but that shouldn't really matter since Blogger connects to DreamHost directly and it's not actually through the blogger's computer.
I really would like some sort of answer and a fix from Blogger, another DreamHost customer, or anyone out there in the world who uses New Blogger. My frustration is enormous and Blogger has ceased to be fun or useful. Please, please, please help.
You can also contact me via e-mail at darsys (at) AOL (dot) com
(I was going to tell everyone how happy I was to have added Digg buttons but since everything is munged right now, I'll have to pass. Some pages have managed to work, though, so you might start seeing them eventually).
Anna Nicole Smith Dead
Yeah. I realize it's a sad time for her troubled family. I am not criticizing her in this post nor am I judging her. I just have one question. Why is this national news? It's a tragedy when one of my relatives dies, but why does anyone care -- it certainly doesn't make the paper. She has no real claim to fame. Why are we being besieged with news about it?
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Prince's Halftime Imagery Questioned
Green Stuff From Associated Press article dated February 06, 2007 11:16 PM EST
First, this: "In the sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world, some are questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar during Prince's Super Bowl halftime show." Well, I have to wonder myself. It was amazingly suggestive, and we were all, "Oh My God" but not in a bad way, mind you. It was more like, "leave it to Prince to mock everyone without being blatant about it, and at the same time giving an amazing half-time show."
As the AP reports, "Prince's acclaimed performance included a guitar solo during the "Purple Rain" segment of his medley in which his shadow was projected onto a large, flowing beige sheet. As the 48-year-old rock star let rip, the silhouette cast by his figure and his guitar (shaped like the singer's symbol) had phallic connotations for some." Proving, beyond any doubt, some people are in desperate need of a life. Yeah, it looked like he was strumming his instrument, but so what?
Daily News television critic David Bianculli called it "a rude-looking shadow show" that "looked embarrassingly rude, crude and unfortunately placed." Mr. Bianculli is a prude who needs to get stuffed. Some people have small minds. Who cares what it was? The show was good, not even remotely obscene. We should be so lucky if they're all like that.
CBS said Tuesday that the network has received "very few" complaints on Prince's performance. The NFL that produced the halftime show and league spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has received no complaints.At least someone has common sense. "We respect other opinions, but it takes quite a leap of the imagination to make a controversy of his performance," Aiello said."It's a guitar."
But, was Prince's pose phallic? "The short answer is, of course it is," says Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor Gavin Edwards, who points out that on Prince's "Purple Rain" tour in the mid `80s, he performed with a guitar that would ejaculate, squirting water out of its end during the climax of "Let's Go Crazy." But Prince's half-time performance, though celebrated, came in a much different cultural environment, where even the fleeting outline of a man and his guitar could, for some, suggest shaded depravity. "If people want to be hypersensitive, they can be hypersensitive," says Edwards.
This is much ado about nothing.
First, this: "In the sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world, some are questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar during Prince's Super Bowl halftime show." Well, I have to wonder myself. It was amazingly suggestive, and we were all, "Oh My God" but not in a bad way, mind you. It was more like, "leave it to Prince to mock everyone without being blatant about it, and at the same time giving an amazing half-time show."
As the AP reports, "Prince's acclaimed performance included a guitar solo during the "Purple Rain" segment of his medley in which his shadow was projected onto a large, flowing beige sheet. As the 48-year-old rock star let rip, the silhouette cast by his figure and his guitar (shaped like the singer's symbol) had phallic connotations for some." Proving, beyond any doubt, some people are in desperate need of a life. Yeah, it looked like he was strumming his instrument, but so what?
Daily News television critic David Bianculli called it "a rude-looking shadow show" that "looked embarrassingly rude, crude and unfortunately placed." Mr. Bianculli is a prude who needs to get stuffed. Some people have small minds. Who cares what it was? The show was good, not even remotely obscene. We should be so lucky if they're all like that.
CBS said Tuesday that the network has received "very few" complaints on Prince's performance. The NFL that produced the halftime show and league spokesman Greg Aiello said the league has received no complaints.At least someone has common sense. "We respect other opinions, but it takes quite a leap of the imagination to make a controversy of his performance," Aiello said."It's a guitar."
But, was Prince's pose phallic? "The short answer is, of course it is," says Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor Gavin Edwards, who points out that on Prince's "Purple Rain" tour in the mid `80s, he performed with a guitar that would ejaculate, squirting water out of its end during the climax of "Let's Go Crazy." But Prince's half-time performance, though celebrated, came in a much different cultural environment, where even the fleeting outline of a man and his guitar could, for some, suggest shaded depravity. "If people want to be hypersensitive, they can be hypersensitive," says Edwards.
This is much ado about nothing.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Apple's Steve Jobs Blasts DRM
Today, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer and iTunes and co-creator of all the cool stuff that represents has said that DRM sucks. Yes, he did. Posted it right there on Apple's web site for all to read, including some very unhappy people at record companies. DRM is digital rights management which translates to copy-protected songs. It didn't work for software -- remember the discs you couldn't make archival copies of and never worked right because the protection interfered with the music -- and it won't ultimately work for music. The record companies and RIAA are just too damned stupid to figure it out. The RIAA is just slightly brighter than George Bush, which doesn't say a whole hell of a lot.
Jobs says he only had DRM with iTunes because it was the only way to get labels to sign when it came out, "Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the “big four” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices."
He said he'd get rid of it right now if he could. "Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."
Naturally Microsoft has already come out with a reply to Mr. Jobs and said they like DRM and think it's a good idea. The Zune which rolled with a big emphasis on sharing is now quietly doing away with it.
Cnet news is reporting all about it, and I think there will be fallout from this. I just don't know what it will be. But I am utterly fascinated he'd come out and make such a statement. I'm not a fan of Mr. Jobs, nor am I a detractor. His ego just freaks me out a bit -- it's bigger than anyone's. But on this, he has my wholehearted support.
Jobs says he only had DRM with iTunes because it was the only way to get labels to sign when it came out, "Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the “big four” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices."
He said he'd get rid of it right now if he could. "Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."
Naturally Microsoft has already come out with a reply to Mr. Jobs and said they like DRM and think it's a good idea. The Zune which rolled with a big emphasis on sharing is now quietly doing away with it.
Cnet news is reporting all about it, and I think there will be fallout from this. I just don't know what it will be. But I am utterly fascinated he'd come out and make such a statement. I'm not a fan of Mr. Jobs, nor am I a detractor. His ego just freaks me out a bit -- it's bigger than anyone's. But on this, he has my wholehearted support.
One Hundred Thousand Hits
In the next few days, this blog will record its 100,000th hit since it went live 17 October 2004 -- who could have imagined? That's huge. Traffic has died off over the past year, but that's still an impressive number. It's also terribly misleading.
Most of our traffic is currently driven by the world famous Led Zeppelin Sucks post -- in which I say nothing of the kind. They've directed over 30,000 of those hits. Those users do look around the blog a bit after posting their flames, most of which I don't even release anymore.
The next largest chunk comes from that damned Crazy Frog or Coldplay posts (there are two 1 and 2). Those visitors are worthless and they also account for around 30,000 hits, but for awhile it was sending nearly 75% of our traffic until Yahoo stopped listing us first. They come, read, and leave on the provided links, so it's not quality traffic. They aren't even nice enough to click on one of my Google Adsense Ads. Laugh, but those pennies can add up, and I always appreciate anyone who helps support our site. But ultimately, this isn't about the money because I haven't made any yet :)
The rest of the traffic is mysterious. I analyze my blog traffic regularly and there's no real pattern. I always hope some of the visitors tell me why they came but I get very few comments aside from the aforementioned Led Zeppelin Sucks post, which is a magnet of sorts for comments -- not all intelligent.
I thought my random post about the nude Harry Potter pictures would garner traffic, and they did but very little. Amazingly my post on Terry Goodkind's Phantom have generated some nice traffic -- by that I mean quality traffic, the people who stay and look around. Some of these folks even go to my website.
Google Analytics and Stat Counter are very useful, though for most sites Stat Counter is better suited. The Google Analytics page is more practical for corporate sites as it's pretty complex and overly complex.
Most of our traffic is currently driven by the world famous Led Zeppelin Sucks post -- in which I say nothing of the kind. They've directed over 30,000 of those hits. Those users do look around the blog a bit after posting their flames, most of which I don't even release anymore.
The next largest chunk comes from that damned Crazy Frog or Coldplay posts (there are two 1 and 2). Those visitors are worthless and they also account for around 30,000 hits, but for awhile it was sending nearly 75% of our traffic until Yahoo stopped listing us first. They come, read, and leave on the provided links, so it's not quality traffic. They aren't even nice enough to click on one of my Google Adsense Ads. Laugh, but those pennies can add up, and I always appreciate anyone who helps support our site. But ultimately, this isn't about the money because I haven't made any yet :)
The rest of the traffic is mysterious. I analyze my blog traffic regularly and there's no real pattern. I always hope some of the visitors tell me why they came but I get very few comments aside from the aforementioned Led Zeppelin Sucks post, which is a magnet of sorts for comments -- not all intelligent.
I thought my random post about the nude Harry Potter pictures would garner traffic, and they did but very little. Amazingly my post on Terry Goodkind's Phantom have generated some nice traffic -- by that I mean quality traffic, the people who stay and look around. Some of these folks even go to my website.
Google Analytics and Stat Counter are very useful, though for most sites Stat Counter is better suited. The Google Analytics page is more practical for corporate sites as it's pretty complex and overly complex.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Beatles on iTunes and iPod: One Step Closer?
Apple (Computer) Inc. has reached a surprise agreement with Apple Corps Ltd., the record label started by The Beatles in 1968, concerning the use of the name "Apple" and related logos. Under the terms of the agreement announced Monday, Apple Inc. (formerly Apple Computer) will own all trademarks and logos related to the name "Apple" and will license them to the Apple Corps Ltd. music company. This is a shock because basically Apple Corps (Apple Music as I call them) has conceded that Apple Computer is more known my the name than they are in all circles. They took money whilst there trademark still had good value. And it's a win-win situation for both parties.
This hopefully marks an end to the long-running and bitter trademark feud between the two companies. More importantly, it replaces a pre-existing agreement, from 1991, which forbids Apple Inc. from distributing music through physical media like CDs and cassette tapes -- an agreement that, needless to say, predated the advent of the digital music market.
In a statement, Steve Jobs said that "we love The Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks," adding that "it feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future." Yes, it's been painful for all of us. But here's to the iPod with the cover of your favourite Beatles album, or perhaps the Love-themed iPod.
There is no word yet on whether this deal will eventually lead to the sale of The Beatles' music catalog in the iTunes Store, as the songs of the Fab Four are still not available for legal digital download. Everyone, me included, expects this will change in the relatively immediate future. This may be one of the biggest ever announcements in the digital music marketplace.
Possibilities are endless. Buy Apple stock now :)
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Another reason to hate Windows Vista
If you read these DRM comments and still install it, you're a nutter. Seriously, you can't play selected CDs, you can't use selected hardware and cables. It's just screwed. Seriously, I am anti-Microsoft and I gladly admit that but these things are even worse than you could imagine. If you must use Windows, at least stick with XP.
Scientists offered bribes to dispute Global Warming
The Guardian broke this story, which has since appeared elsewhere. I think, at this point, most people realize Global Warming is an issue.
Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by ExxxonMobile in order to undermine a major climate change report (released 2-2-07). Travel expenses and additional payments were also offered. The letters were sent by Kenneth Green, a visiting scholar at AEI, who confirmed that the organisation had approached scientists.
You really need to read this article. If this doesn't prove something, I'm not sure what does. Maybe you disagree about the causes of Global Warming, and many people have different theories, but you can't deny it exists and the causes aren't natural. (Whether it's cars, planes, industry, people, or something else is a long debate -- but to argue that it doesn't exist is just mind boggling).
Scientists and economists have been offered $10,000 each by a lobby group funded by ExxxonMobile in order to undermine a major climate change report (released 2-2-07). Travel expenses and additional payments were also offered. The letters were sent by Kenneth Green, a visiting scholar at AEI, who confirmed that the organisation had approached scientists.
You really need to read this article. If this doesn't prove something, I'm not sure what does. Maybe you disagree about the causes of Global Warming, and many people have different theories, but you can't deny it exists and the causes aren't natural. (Whether it's cars, planes, industry, people, or something else is a long debate -- but to argue that it doesn't exist is just mind boggling).
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