Taking the Micro out of Microsoft

    There’s been a lot of talk about Microsoft’s attempts at creating hardware that would be an “iPod killer”. This blurb from Microsoft-Watch.com proves they’re certainly hard at work on a bank account killer.
    Microsoft is expected to recommend that the “average” Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market today.
    Yes, I will most definitely need another new computer by the time Longhorn is released…since I just spat Diet Pepsi all over my current one.
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GarageBandAid

    One of these days I need to finish up one of my GarageBand compositions and perhaps post them here. Until then, maybe these sites can help me out:
    • MacBand.com: has song and loop sharing; divided up into genres
    • MacJams.com: forums, sharing, tips and tricks, and song ranking
    • MacJukebox: forums, song sharing, articles, and tips and tricks
    • ShareYourMusic: forums, song sharing, and weblog
    • The GarageDoor: tips and tricks
Posted in Apple, Gadgets, Music | Leave a comment

Pointing Out the Obvious

    It’s Tuesday. The first Tuesday of May. That means six months from today is Election Day 2004. Six more months of negative compaigning, of right-wing lies, of Kerry on the defensive, and the left-wing getting angrier and more frustrated by a blue sky continually being called pink.
    At least, some brand new, heavyweight political sites have just now appeared, dedicated to documenting and correcting the ever-flowing sump pump of right-wing lies, and assisting left-wingers in pointing out the bleeding obvious.
    Make note of these. I have a feeling they’ll prove themselves important and handy references. I’ll be stickying them below in my Links section too. And I have a feeling I’ll be stickying this whole entry, since, WTF!, Bush inexplicably still has an approval rating!
    Hey! Have you been brainwashed by liars, hypocrites, and the stubbornly stupid? You know, people still desperately clawing to their devotion of George W Bush, willfully blind to his inalterable and overriding incompetence?
    Then, for the love of God and all that’s holy, save yourself (and your country) by trying these sites:
Media Matters: David Brock’s new site, “monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation”
• Bush can’t think of one mistake he’s made? Here are 100 Mistakes for the President to Choose From, at American Progress.org. (Fully documented too!)
• And of course, it’s hard to deny the effect of the constant parade of right-wing corruption and scandal documented at BuzzFlash
    I’ll add these too, just because I like their domain names: Enron Owns the GOP, Billionaires for Bush, and, for all those people stubbornly voting for Bush just because he has an “(R)” next to his name, John Kerry is a Douchebag But I’m Voting For Him Anyway.
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A Horn in the Hills Ringing

    IMDb links to an Empire Online exclusive story about the CD release of Howard Shore’s full Lord of the Rings score. Apparently, the set will be 9 CDs long, including a bonus CD of unused music. This is big news, but unfortunately Empire got my hopes up for nothing. They report the CDs will be released “next year“, perhaps so as not to steal focus from the movie DVDs out this year. Be prepared therefore for another long wait; but, as with the movies themselves, it should of course be worth it.
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“Dumb-Ass Glory”

    Can’t help posting this link. It’s an LA Weekly article all about bashing Leno and praising Letterman. How can I not? Especially when it starts with “Letterman is the hands-down leader when it comes to unabashed Bush bashing. One reason is that his Late Show has the brass balls to go where the cowardly White House news corps and corporate suck-up Leno fear to tread: presenting Dubya in all his dumb-ass glory.”
    Read the article here.
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Saddam’s Lot

    Plenty of sites have already talked about the Guardian‘s news story about US soldiers and mercenaries engaging in sexual abuse and mental torture with Iraqi prisoners. Many sites have also pointed out the irony of President Bush, on the one-year anniversary of his “Mission Accomplished” speech, speaking of how “there are no longer torture chambers or mass graves or rape rooms in Iraq” and then, moments later, being asked to comment on these images of US-led torture and rumors of rape.
    Many sites have already decried such cruelty and inhumanity. But I would suggest this is not the mercenaries’ fault. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the location, the Abu Ghraib prison, was the site of similar atrocities during Saddam Hussein’s reign. Simply put, the building is evil. The mercenaries were obviously overcome by the evil pervading the building and became possessed by its psychic energy. In fact, also on the videotape, although not shown on 60 Minutes II is footage of the mercs referring to a bartender named Loyd and discussing how they “have always been prison guards there”. Either that or, as has been typed out many times before, all fighting and no rotation home make soldiers do bad things.
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Happy Birthday iTunes

    The iTunes Music Store, my first taste of Apple, turns one today; and its parent company celebrated by releasing an update (v4.5) as well as a firmware revision (v2.2) for the iPod. I’m actually looking forward to getting home and downloading the upgrade.
    First off there’s word of a free download each week on iTMS (every Tuesday). I gather this feature premiered with a free Foo Fighters song today. This alone won’t send me speeding home, but I\’m sure I’ll end up hoarding plenty of free weekly songs just for the sake of it.
    I’m more intrigued in the new Apple Lossless Encoder. I consider myself an audiophile, so any way to maintain sound quality is fine with me. I might even end up re-ripping some of my orchestral CDs. It would be even better if Apple sold their downloads in this lossless format. The record companies’ have been grumbling about raising download prices as much as $2.49. Selling high-quality downloads might even justify such a huge price hike, rather than simply making the companies look like the greedy bastards they are. (It would be even better if people start BitTorrenting U2 concerts in this format too!)
    Another feature struck me as quite humorous. Some users have been clamoring for WMA capability on the iPod. Rather than acquiesce to the encroachment of Microsoft, Apple reacted by creating a WMA to AAC converter, to purify WMA files before being allowed on iPod turf. Very cute.
    All in all, congratulations to iTMS on their first year. They’ve gathered 700,000 songs, sold 70 million downloads, and have 70% of the market. Plus that titanium-styled program (aka application) has not only come close to redeeming my cold pirating heart, it has insidiously led me toward a brave new Windows-free world.
Posted in Apple, Music, U2 | 3 Comments

Headlines

    I can’t get away from this category. I guess I’m turning into a news junkie. Anyway, here are some articles of interest I found while wandering the Web.
    • Bush and Cheney deny their recent meetings about 9/11 are not to get their stories straight before facing the commission on Thursday. Cheney says they just need to rehearse their opening number and get fitted for their matching outfits. Bush adds that even though he’d rather be Wayland Flowers, Cheney insists Bush be Madam.
    • Wednesday: Democrats demand Bush’s war record. Thursday: Republicans demand Kerry’s war record. Friday: Kerry provides impressive war record. Saturday: Republicans say Kerry threw his medals over White House fence. Sunday: Kerry says he threw medals over White House fence to protest Vietnam war. Monday: Republicans say he only threw ribbons and not medals. Tuesday: Veterans point out ribbons and medals are the same thing. Wednesday: Republicans say Kerry probably throws like a girl.
    • Religious experts confirm God speaks directly to the President. Cite Biblical passage about bush burning with fire but not consumed is a direct correlation to a President who lies his way into a war but still has approval rating of 48%. Spokesman for God does not deny, but mentions that even Moses knew to use his brother for public speaking.
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Hooray for Revisions

Maybe it’s a desire to be cutting edge, maybe it’s plain old greediness, maybe it’s an uncharacteristic need to belong, but I love updating and upgrading. If there’s a firmware revision or a feature upgrade, guaranteed I’ll be downloading and installing it. Sometimes, like last weekend, this can cause problems. I don’t have an Airport pod, but my PowerBook is wireless so I installed the Airport Update v3.4 for the heck of it last weekend. Almost immediately I started seeing a difference. My antenna range noticeably dwindled and I was having trouble getting online unless I was very close to the router.
    It appears I’m not the only one experiencing these problems. A revision to this software was rumored. And I discovered it was released tonight, coincidentally when my connection problems were at their worst. I just ran Airport Update v3.4.1 and things are happily back to the way they were. Case in point, I’m writing this from the other end of the house. A nice relief.
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Please Pardon Our Dust


The New Flag of New Iraq
    According to Yahoo! News, the Iraqi Governing Council (NYSE: IGC) unveiled the new flag of Iraq today. The flag features the copyright symbol at its center, commemorating how the country, under new management, is now a subsidiary of the Carlysle Group and a franchise of Haliburton’s nation building enterprise. The yellow stripe at the bottom symbolizes, according to a company spokesman, a Freedom Fry.
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