And the research backs it up!

A Meditation On Value
and
Monster Cable: As good as a coat-hanger!

That is all.

I can see civilization collapsing around me...

Exhibit A: Homies World. These are sold in rest-stop vending machines, and apparently are quite the collectible, depending on who you ask. You too can collect them all including 'Baby Mama', 'Bouncy' (at least they don't beat about the bush as to why she has that nickname), 'Conejo' (the ugly, horny guy who talks to rabbits), the Native American girl who has visions, the girl that sleeps around ("[P]erhaps you've been with Lola too?"), the sleazy ladies' man ("He says all the things you don't..."

The weirdest thing is that these characters are in amongst generally admirable sorts like the aspiring public defender, the teenage reformed criminal in a Christian-based vocational program, the radical college activist, or "homie" bios espousing the dangers of the 'tru gangsta life'.

Now, maybe I'm just pre-maturely middle-aged, but seriously, does noone see something wrong with their kids collecting tiny plastic gang-bangers and pimps? Also, what's up with the Soulja Boy Phenomenon? (MIT's analysis here). I mean, it's hilarious when a bunch of MIT students (and Richard Stallman) dance the Soulja Boy. But when he gets nominated for best male artist for Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards? I'm not sure an artist/song suggesting that one should "superman that hoe" is appropriate for an awards show aimed at the 'tween/teen demographic.

Now, I'm sure that this has been said many times before about other things, but I can't see anything good coming from modern youth's obsession with 'gangsta' or 'thug' culture. Except the film 'Idiocracy'.

Code Monkey Get Up Get Coffee...

Coulton and the XKCD guy would complete my CMU experience.

I've Found my Breathren!

...well, aside from my friends at CMU, of course.

Nerdcore Rap's pretty sweet.

Dual Core: Nerdcore, Hip Hop, Music

I mean, anyone who publishes music about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, OLPC and Penny Arcade on the same album is awesome in my book.

Ugh, more techmology problems.

"I attempted to update my Zen Vision M (30GB) from f/w version 1.41 to 1.61. During this process the player hung during rebuilding approximately 60% through. The update utility did not say the process had finished.

Eventually I rebooted using the reboot switch on the bottom of the player. The player hung at rebuilding at the /exact/ same place. I rebooted several more times and at all times it froze at the same place. Looking online I found out about the recovery mode.

I ran the clean up utility and that did not address the rebuilding hang. I tried re-updating the firmware to the latest version and initially that did not alter the behavior at all. I then chose the 'reload firmware' option from the recovery mode and then updated the firmware.

At this point the update utility claims 'Firmware Update Failed' after the progress bar fills. Now when I reboot my player it simply flashes 'firmware problem' and returns to the recovery console. On the recovery console it lists the firmware version as "v1.61.01_0.0.23".
Formatting the player through the recovery screen does not affect anything.

I have read extensively about other people with this same problem. I find it very distressing that an otherwise reputable company producing fine hardware, like Creative, would publish firmware updates that seem to so widely cause problems. I would purchase more Creative products in the future, assuming this debacle does not leave me with the impression that your tech support is bumbling morons with no regard for the customer. "

It's about me...sorta.

xkcd. Awesome as usual.

As Shakespeare said...

A turd by any other name smells just as foul

Um, changing DRM to another 3-letter acronym isn't going to fool anyone worth fooling. People who spearhead piracy movements are going to keep doing it regardless. Really, the best you can hope to do is drive fewer people away from buying your digital content until there's some serious reform of copyright law (unlikely, as far as I'm concerned)

Being a tech-savvy consumer I dont purchase music for download because I:

1. Don't want to be saddled with DRM
   
   1. I don't have an iPod and therefore can't really deal with DRM'd music at all (PlaysForSure is certainly a mis-nomer)
   
   
2. Like having a robust physical backup (stamped (commercial) CD's last almost indefinitely, burned discs do not)
   
   
3. Want to control the quality and format of my digital music collection. If I want some songs as 20+MB FLACs and others as 60kbit (nominal) .ogg's I want them encoded that way and not how someone else says I should have them. None of the legal download services appear to offer any choice of format/quality.
   

Swedish Glam Pop Rock is Awesome

...or is it Pop Glam Rock?

The Ark have such brilliant lyrics:

"[I] don't know much about love and roses
but I know we've got compatible neurosis's"
--'I Pathologize', The Ark

For once, I find us in agreement...

Michelle Malkin: Imus vs. the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks Chart

Seriously, more 'impressionable young minds' listen to this stuff than Don Imus, not that I'm condoning what he said, I'm just saying there's something of a double standard going on.

That and I find most rap 'music' to be talentless drivel. The professional wrestling of the "music" world.

This, however, is excellent.

Now, see, that's the kind of research that CMU needs to keep doing! It dynamically generates dances based on the music it hears!

The Rolling Stones...?

...didn't they cover that terrible Britney Spears song?

I'm desperately waiting to get that kind of response from someone which will simultaneously cement my status as a grumpy old man as well as prove that the youth of today are all imbeciles, or so it would seem. (Though to be fair I liked Smashmouth's cover of "I'm a Believer" but wish I no longer knew about Macy Gray's mutilation of Aerosmith or Hilary Duff whining about how oppressed she is, and sounding so happy whilst doing it.)

Modern American music (either made here or popular here) seems to be rapidly rolling downhill. Evidence.

Sweden, that's where the music's at. Seriously.

Look no further...

I've found next year's Carnival band:

Red Hot Chilli Pipers

A brief musing on the eve of destruction.

Destruction, of course, taking the form of the Heat Transfer Final Exam.

"When I'm Sixty-Four" just came up on my roommate's playlist and I was reminded how much I like it. It's so pleasant to listen to and practical in nature to boot:

"When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?

You'll be older too
And if you say the word
I could stay with you

I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride
Doing the garden, digging the weeds
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?

Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight
If it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera, Chuck & Dave

Send me a postcard, drop me a line
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?
Ho!" --The Beatles (Various emphases mine, obviously).

The first is something of a self-advertisement and the latter is, in an ideal world, is what a someone might do to give me such confidence that I might 'make the first move' as it were.

Whatever, time to sleep so I can wake up and get reamed by a long thick reamer.

Now that's some good physics...

Ruben's Tube on YouTube

Story of my life...

"Sha la la la la la
My oh my
Look like the boy too shy
Ain't gonna kiss the girl
Sha la la la la la
Ain't that sad?
Ain't it a shame?
Too bad, he gonna miss the girl"
--Sebastian

To assuage anyone's fears, this was not triggered by any event other than me hearing the song in it's entirity for the first time in a long while (my adult life, certainly)

Media Player Skin...

COWON iAUDIO protector

I'm thinking the Grey right now, but the Blue or the Black is also a possibility. Anyone have an opinion on such things?

My new precious...

That is one badass fucking fractal!

Thank you to everyone who got in contact today to wish me a happy birthday! You're all the best!

Utter Brilliance!

Star Trek vs. Star Wars

The Picard Song

A weekend project for the summer...

Pirating Vinyl

First I'll have to see if my turntable still works, if it does hopefully I'll stick it in alongside the wireless media streamer and DVD player in the entertainment center. That would be Hot.