A Geekish View of Life

What some call health, if purchased by perpetual anxiety about diet, isn’t much better than tedious disease.
- George Dennison Prentice

I have a blog … but I don’t write. I want to tell stories … that I leave on the shelf. I have images in my mind I want to share … but, in fear, keep them to myself. I have …. no talent for music … so count yourselves lucky that I don’t inflict it upon you. All in all I have … so very little here. Oh yeah … I also have a sketch blog … and no new images in … months. So sad really. Oh well. Don’t mind me. This is just what my mind does to me at … *glances at the clock* 3:30 in the morning. OMG! 3:30! I’m going to bed. Gah. Such and idot. Oh well. Take care all.

Yes, I am okay. Honest.

[Listening to: Sleeping Beauty - A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms (4:10)]

My roommate, Jason, and I bought a niffty new Shuttle mini pc! It’s teh awesome. It is easily the most powerful computer in the house … for about 1000 dollars. They have a very nice processor and graphics card. UT 2004 maxed out … runs damn smooth. Translation. I’m a happy little geek.

[Listening to: TWiT Episode 25 - Leo Laporte - this WEEK in TECH (1:09:38)]

I’m sure most of you have at least heard of DRM (Digital Rights Manegement) but Monday I found myself in the first real battle with it. I was wanting to import the latest Switchfoot CD (Nothing is Sound) on to my computer. I use a Dell which means I’m using Windows. But I have an iPod so I use iTunes to manage my music. All fine and well. Until Monday this presented me with absolutely no problem.

But when I pop the Switchfoot disk in … I get a strange message asking if I want to install security software. I’m thinking WTF? So I say ‘no’. Well I try to load it into iTunes … and nothing happens. ITunes was incapable of reading the disk. Now I’m befuddled. I look at the back of CD case. There is a huge copyright protection warning on the back. I am still confused … why should that be an issue? It’s a legitimate CD … brand new … Again what the heck?!

Then I spy an unusual box on the back. It is giving a list of the compatible items for the disk; iTunes is not listed! It would only work with MS Media Player! I was stunned. It was too weird to me that this would even be an issue. I did notice that the disk was ‘OK’ for Macs. So I borrowed Elaine’s, beautiful, Powerbook and made a CD copy so that I can put it on my computer. God bless Macs.

My beef:

That the CD producer (Sony BMG) saw fit to cut out a significant portion of the listening audience. Did they miss the fact that the iPod is the most popular portable music player, for Windoz and Mac? WMAs don’t play on iPods. Sure I could buy a player that play WMAs … but I have an iPod, why would I want anything else. Yes, I could buy the music from the iTunes music store … but I wanted the CD. Why should I be forced to ‘pirate’ the CD just to put it on my iPod?! To who ever is incharge of Sony BMG … What were you thinking?! The dual format disk was bad enough. But this?! Please just make a damn CD that will just work. >.

[Listening to: Painter Song - Nora Jones - Come Away With Me (2:42)]

But thanks to the internet there are far more interesting things to read. Like this quote that is almost too beautiful for words.

We’ve heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.
- Robert Wilensky

Thank you Mr. Wilensky for saying what we have all known but were too afraid to say.