Ooooh, the stick...

A while back, I read a great thread about the benefits of the stick shift vs. the automatic; even the manumatic (those automatic transmissions that claim to allow manual intervention.) Here is a fantastic summation of my feelings exactly.

Punch the throttle and Pandora's Box opens underhood. The tach needle runs for the redline -- pay attention now, because first gear is history, and you'll get acquainted with the rev limiter if you don't shift. Snick that ideally-placed shifter into 2nd and let the rush continue. The Boxer's engine noise is complemented by an audible rush from the turbo as you storm forward. At this point, you're probably cackling like the Joker and gleefully rowing through the gears. It's involving and rewarding, and you silently thank Subaru for giving the car the three-pedal treatment instead of a manumatic deal. The hundredths of a second a fancy-paddle tranny would save you mean nothing to the dude in the Mustang you surprised four lights ago.

TWiP...

I recently found a new podcast (netcast) that I thought I'd mention. It's called TWiP aka This Week in Photography. http://www.twipphoto.com is the address. Make a visit; you might learn something!

Uh, oh. My computer's busted.

For the last couple of weeks I've been getting random BSODs. Last week, I was getting them repeatedly, & at one time couldn't boot into Windoze. I got a few indications that my primary hard drive was dying. I promptly purchased a new HDD & am waiting for it to arrive.

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to transfer all my data from drive to drive. I don't want to use a 500GB drive to house the operating system. I'd rather use that whopping storage for all my recorded HDTV files.

I borrowed a hard drive from work that already has Windoze XP, figuring I can use it just to transfer all my media files to the new hard drive. No go. It won't even load; Safe Mode or otherwise. Yikes! Now I'm not even 100% sure that my hard drive is a fault. I'm at a loss at this point. I may try to install XP onto my new hard drive just to see if it works. I have a bad feeling about this.

Photo by Cody

Despite current internet radio woes, Pandora.com rocks even harder

Yesterday I was having a good music day. You know, it's kind of like a good hair day, except with music. Anyway, I was listening to Pandora & it was just one awesome song after another. I decided to send Pandora's team an email. It may be a little over-the-top, but I was happy. :)

To my friends at Pandora & the Music Gnome Project,

I have to say, I haven't felt this way for an internet radio station since the days before CARP. You guys are really making my day. :)

I've been using Pandora since I first saw it on digg about a year ago. I have to honestly say that Pandora has been my sole avenue for the discovery of new music. I listen to other stations, but I keep coming back to Pandora. Nobody else can put
together a mix like you guys. And, recently I've noticed there have been a bunch of additions to my Dance channel! I'm glad to see that you guys are still chugging away even with the SoundExchange thing looming overhead (even with the temporary reprieve, I don't feel this is a solution). Thank you. Your efforts are much appreciated.

I need to say that because of Pandora I have purchased many more CDs that I would have without it.

Thanks again, for all your efforts. Keep up the good work.

Mark Nielsen

This was there response:

Hello Mark!

Awesome! We are so happy you are enjoying Pandora. I must admit; I think it's great too!

Our mission is to connect people with music they will love. It's wonderful to hear that we have succeeded with you.

How would you like a complimentary t-shirt or cap? Just reply with:

* Name
* Mailing Address
* Preference (Shirt, Cap)
* Shirt size

and we'll send one right out.

Enjoy the music!

Best regards,


Maggie @ Pandora

I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Thanks Pandora you guys are the tops.

Top 5 Worst Websites EVER

This story is overdue. A must-browse. (click read more link)As selected by TIME Magazine, these five websites suffer marketing infestation, are in need of an overhaul, are notoriously slow to load, are discriminatory, and are just plain annoying.

read more | digg story

DVD Frustrations

Yesterday I was trying to watch a DVD on my laptop. Since the error correction isn't very good, it kept getting stuck at chapter 8. I tried 4 different times to eject the disc, clean it, & reinsert it. Every single time I had to sit through the FBI warnings, in multiple languages (on a region 1 disc! But that's another story.) Since bedtime was nearing, I wanted to finish the movie before I collapsed from exhaustion. I eventually decided to skip the trouble making chapters to solve the problem. I had already seen the movie years ago, so skipping 2 chapters wasn't the end of the world. But the most annoying part was the cumulative 15 minutes I had to wait before I even got to the menu.

The poster is right, sometimes it just pays to pirate.

10 Reasons Why It Doesn’t Pay To Be “The Computer Guy”

This is going along with my T-shirt:

Scroll down for the top 10 list.



read more | digg story

Can you survive for 24 hours without your computer?

Be a part of one of the biggest global experiments ever to take place on the internet. The idea behind the experiment is to find out how many people can go without a computer for one whole day, and what will happen if we all participate! This ought to be interesting.



read more | digg story

More on the demise of Internet Radio

I found a few other posts & resources regarding this important topic. Please take a few minutes & read these posts.

• Pandora blog post


• Save Internet Radio


• Broadcast Law Blog

Even if you don't currently listen to I.R. it will still affect you. It is/was the future of finding new music. The pompus pricks at the RIAA have no idea what this will due to their business. It can only hurt. Don't forget to sign the petition.

Say goodbye to Internet Radio

If you like internet radio, you better get your listen on while it still exists. As reported by the Radio And Internet Newsletter the royalty rates have changed. Instead of a percentage of total revenue, it is now based on a per listener, per play rate. It's a similar issue that was being discussed back in 2002. But the difference here, is that it's official. (Last time it was only in discussion, not law.) Since the rate decision is so large, (and retroactive through 2006) that many broadcasters will have to pay upwards of 150% of their total revenue. Obviously this isn't going to work, & therefore many will have to close their doors. I think the consensus is that pandora.com is so large, it might be the first on the chopping block. This is a dark day in music.

Save Internet Radio
Webcasting FAQs

Bit Torrent: why it is NOT illegal

You may have heard of Bit Torrent, usually in connection with movie piracy & "downloading." The problem with that mental picture, is that it's all wrong. Bit Torrent is a method of file transfer, not an automatic piracy tool. You're not going to be arrested if you use it. In fact, I've found many uses for it that are legal, such as LegalTorrents.com, Linux ISOs, & anything at revision3.com. These are only a few examples of a huge assortment of files that can be shared between peers for legal use. So, don't be bashful. Grab yourself a client, and get downloading; because the more the downloaders, the better for all.

Edit: I need to acknowledge that the above image was taken from Wikipedia.org.

Switching to Linux: Walking away from MicrosatinSoft

For nearly 20 years now, I've been using Microsoft software. I've probably even been using it longer, but without my knowledge. Every time I've needed to upgrade to a new version, i.e. Windoze 95 to Windoze 98, I've been completely disgusted at the >$100 price tag. I've always thought it was ridiculous to charge that much for software. At the time I didn't realize what all goes into the development & service of software, especially an O.S.
Now that I'm older & wiser, I'm starting to see the light. There's much more to it than price alone. There's all the things that people are unwittingly forced to deal with because of Microsoft's dominance. A fantastic example is the use of Internet Explorer as apposed to Firefox, but that's for another conversation.
Side note: I must admit, I have a natural inclination to root for the underdog. It really doesn't seem to matter what the context is. If there's a big guy beating up on a little guy (software included), I always boo the big guy. I also know that this does play a role in my decision to explore Linux, but I also realize the potential. It's kind of like learning another spoken language. It's not necessarily useful on a day-to-day basis, but could get you hired someday, or could be used on vacation, etc. Linux.org has a bunch of classes for learning Linux. I think they state it well:

We have developed this course for one basic reason: To bring the newcomer to Linux to the point where you can, using Linux, do everything that you do with MS Windows and much more. Due to the fact that Microsoft, enjoying an illegal monopoly, has its operating system installed on 90% of the world's computers, this course is mainly aimed at people who want to migrate to Linux from Microsoft products.

I guess that I have determined one of my New Year's resolutions. "To become proficient in Linux." I think if I'm going to be able to make a career change in the next few years, this knowledge will definitely play a role.