Say What?!

This guy is a total Douche. Paul Mcguinness, the manager for U2 recently gave a speech on digital music rights and ownership at a French Music Manager's conference in Cannes. The speech is lengthy, but it is nice to see what the other side of the fence is thinking. What a total joker. Check the speech here.

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Multi-Tasking: Friend Or Foe?

This article is yet another I have read in a series poo-pooing the perceived benefits of multi-tasking. This article is almost always written by someone in their mid-thirties or later and talks of some bad incident they had with multi-tasking that must mean that it is bad for everyone. Usually supported by some scientific studies to be sure, it is their hypothesis that multi-tasking is the digital equivalent of the "Jack of all trades, master of none" idiom. Often "the children" are brought up as those that see MT'ing as the wave of the future but are so woefully misguided that they are obviously wrong in their assumptions. It is a wonder that these authors can't see their own arrogance for what it is.

I have said it before and I will say it again, there are a lot of humans. Meaning that while generalizations about the human psyche and brain can be made the way people handle tasks and life on a day to day basis is pretty varied. It is possible that while some may see MT'ing as a waste of time or a way to screw up two things at once, in actuality it should be judged on an individual basis. Because YOU can't check a text message and focus on the road you are driving on at the same time does not mean that others can't do those two tasks perfectly fine (and why do you have to check the message right away, as soon as you receive it??). While splitting the brain into two tasks might be detrimental to many, it does not mean it is detrimental to all. Whether people like it or not, technology is allowing us to do more things at once than we ever did, this is not always good but it certainly does not spell DOOM for those who choose to believe in MT'ing philosophies. I often watch tv and listen to music, an act I find really enjoyable and relaxing. I can chat with two different people using two different messaging clients as well as make a cd for a friend of mine while figuring out the main plans for the evening, and I would say I perform those tasks quite adequately.

For whatever reason as you get older the changes you see happen around you invariably become "too fast" or "unnecessary" and you find yourself wishing for a simpler time or one where things that were familiar to you still exist. Change is inevitable, much more so than ever before and it's time we all get used to perpetual and unending change in the things around us as we seek better and easier means to achieve given tasks.

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I am Your Audience...

Yes, I am back. This time I think for a little bit. A few things have occurred to me regarding blogs and how I use them. First off I don't need mad paragraphs for a post, even a few lines will do. Second I need an outlet for the myriad of things I find on the internet and need to share with anyone, even if that sharing is only imagined. Third, with this handy little firefox add-on (Scribefire) I can post quickly and easily without going to blogger. N E Way, check out the story below. It's quite a nice read for you civic minded/media savvy folks out there.

You Don't Understand Our Audience

https://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19845/page1/

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Drink Or Die

A London based British Man just invented a small water bottle/filtration system that can filter out among other things fecal matter (poo) and viruses found in dirty water. He says that he hopes it can be used in disasters to help the people affected get quick & easy access to clean drinking water. Sounds awesome except that it costs ~$380.00. Great for this guy, bad for the refugees. You think our dear POTUS would have shelled out the $380/each for millions of bottles considering there are still people affected from that tragedy that have yet not received any financial aid from the Government? If he had, I am sure it would have been a huge disaster where he would have allotted 1 bottle for a family or something. You would probably need to prove you were actually in a family with birth certificates or something, all of which would have washed away in the flood. I know I am making this up but doesn't it read like something "ripped from the headlines?"

In other news Russians have just tested the world's most deadly non-nuclear weapon which works by creating a vacuum in the area of the blast and sucking the atmosphere right into the blast area. Effectively sucking the air out of your lungs until you are dead. All of this without the fall out of a normal nuclear weapon because that could obviously roll back onto your area and kill the people you were trying to protect. Also it fills the area with radiation stopping you from doing any recon or recovery. Awesome, A for caring. Just in case you were wondering, this is known as the "Dad of All Bombs", we in the US are much less safe because we only have the "Mother of All Bombs", weighing in at a mere 21,000 lbs.

Recording Live From Somewhere...

Hello all that might still be reading this, forgive me for my prolonged absence. I have been in the process of moving locations from the never changing Rochester scene to the sort of cool Cambridge, MA scene. I accepted a wonderful job in Gloucester, MA which is about 45 mins from Cambridge and right next to where that movie "The Covenant" supposedly took place (yes I saw it and thought it was ok). As many of you know I was unemployed for a pretty long time and was happy not only to find employment, but to find it doing a job heavy in the tech field. I work for Varian Semiconductor, trust me I don't know what they do either but I do know I have a fair amount of responsibility and it is a welcome change from the end of days at Kodak where going into work was actually less productive then staying at home.

This is the first time I have been in a different stay as a resident so it has been a pretty interesting experience. Because of my history with NYC taking on this town is not really all that difficult, but it is a welcome change from the humdrum of Rochester, NY. Don't get me wrong, I think anyone who has read this in the past knows that I love Rochester, and probably always will but it truly tricks you into thinking of it as a small city when in actuality it is a medium sized town (don't know the difference? then go to Rochester). I have not started playing Rugby again as I am really just trying to get used to this place, my new apartment and of course my new job which now takes up significantly more of the day than the previous one did. This will actually be my first weekend in my apartment (it's a studio which is awesome, most of you know all I did when I lived with others was stay in my room anyway). I had an immense amount of traveling going on for various social functions (Congrats to my sis & Stephen and Lis & Moose)

I actually just became a Massachusetts resident by switching over my license, registration and insurance for my car. It certainly is weird to see another states license plate on my ride. I welcome this change though, I always said when I went to RIT that I would not stay in Rochester forever, and this was long before I even had a job or an opportunity to stay there for longer than my college years. I am glad to see that I stuck to my word, especially since Rochester could be compared to a tar pit in it's ability to make you stay there (cheap cost of living really does go a long way). While my rent has skyrocketed, other things here are pretty comparable in price so I can't really complain. Initially I thought the prices of goods and services would be closer to the NYC scale, turns out it is somewhere in the middle of NYC and Rochester, except for rent which is astronomical. I have a few friends here which is making the transition pretty cool. My buddy JP lives a few minutes away. Funny that we ended up living in the same place after going to the same college. I also know a few heads from NYC that are now here as well as some connects through the NYC crew to people in what I guess is the Boston Crew (there is no sweet ass acronym for us, which sux).

All the same I just wanted to bring the blog up to date and also test whether the haters in my IT dept had blocked this site along with my aol mail. Glad to see that they did not so expect more posts to follow (I don't have to post at work, but it is an awesome way to take a break from work while still being able to sit at my desk). I will leave you all with a little article I found a few weeks ago but never posted (unless I did post in which case read it again because it's mad funny, even if you are a hipster).

The Word on The Streets!

A vertical mouse? A Fiber optic table cloth (BALLIN' SON!) Indiana Jones 4? I actually thought he would look terrible, turns out Harrison Ford is timeless like the character...

Mad Hot Weather Woman, Of Course She's Spanish...

KAW!

Recently in China a huge fossil was uncovered which is believed to belong to a a huge dino bird that towered over other feathered dinosaurs of the time. I can't imagine the fear that this freakish thing inspired, then again we know that dinosaurs did not exist anyway since there is no mention of them in the Bible...

News for some of those in states where cell phone use while driving is illegal, a new company aims to help The Man crackdown on cell phone using drivers. The device purports to be able to detect a car where the cell phone is in use for a call allowing cops to just use it like a radar gun and give out tickets even if they don't see the person in the car using the phone. This is so wrong its not even funny. Here is a comment that pretty much sums it up, from the web page.

What does it mean to attach a "paint gun mark" to a car? That sounds vaguely like "shooting a car with a paint gun." That's remarkably unsafe for a device that's supposed to save lives. Can it successfully detect if the user has his window rolled down or his convertible top down? Will it miss pedestrians? Damage the car?

And what makes you think that an "EMP gun" can properly localize its effect to disable only the cell phone while leaving the vital elecronic components of the car intact? Not to mention that an EMP pulse doesn't temporarily disable the phone, it destroys its circuitry. No more phone. Have they done any studies to see if a badly timed EMP makes the battery catch fire in the users hand?

And hey, what about the users complying with hands-free laws? They must get their phones fried too, since I'm fairly sure there's no way to distinguish between the two modes of operation aside from, yep, you guessed it, looking at the user.

This is about 17 terrible, halfway thought out ideas. Either April Fools day came late this year or this is a company that really likes the concept of bankruptcy.

Elvira hawking Software?!

The Day Hipsters Stole My Buddy

Oh where, oh where has my friend Pinto gone.?Oh where, oh where could he be? That was some fucked up shit Pinto. Or actually, the situation was handled really badly. Next time you want to change plans on someone, maybe you should just call them and try and explain it to them instead of getting drunk and telling them they are shit out of luck.

Never Trust Robots...

Don't take them along on trips, they might poison your bag of chips. Check out the stories on the Chair Robot and the Bear Robot. Can you imagine seeing this thing coming towards you on the battlefield after you have been shot? I would probably pop my cyanide pill or whatever they are giving the soldiers these days to avoid torture and questioning.

Salty and Doughnuts

Look how fun rookie day CAN be...it's not all hospital beds ands blue faced kids...





Two words that are supposed to be the ultimate defense if any trouble were ever to befall the Rochester Institute of Technology's rugby team.

Officer: ...And who supplied the alcohol?
Rugby Team Member: Two other players, their names were Salty and Doughnuts, I don't know their real names.
Officer: You don't know their real names?
RTM: Yes. Everyone on the rugby team is given a nickname (true) and we call each other by those names. I know these two only as Salty and Doughnuts.

It worked in the past and when this pathetic ban is lifted the ultimate pseudonyms will return. Long Live SALTY & DOUGHNUTS!

More Free Music

Bringing you yet another sweet free album, the people over at Williams Street have teamed up with eSurance for the release of "Warm & Scratchy". The album takes a departure from the usual hip hop/beat driven tracks and delivers some indie bands including Tv On The Radio and Asobi Seksu, two of my favorite bands. Peep it Adultswim.com and thank God that you know me.

What's Hot In The Tech Spot

First on the plate today is news of the Apple's offering of new "+" songs that come free of DRM and at a higher quality than the previous tracks from the itunes music store, but at a $0.30 increase in price. Videos that are DRM free will still be $2.00. The new tracks run at a 26Kbps rate while the old tracks were 128 Kbps. Although I congratulate Apple for trying come up with viable solution to the strong hand of the RIAA attempting to control how we interact with the information we are paying for, I still think that it's not enough. An article here does a double blind study as to whether you can even here the difference between 128 and 256 (and they even test the default Apple earbuds against a higher quality after market set to see if that makes any difference). Personally I think being able to burn a CD of your bought tracks which can then be ripped back onto your comp as a DRM-less copy ruins any hope of this really working. What companies need to do is make it so easy and cheap to get music that you can freely share that it's worth it to pony up the cash instead of jumping through digital hoops to make copies and share with friends. Think eMusic. I think the Microsoft Zune had a great idea with their wi-fi music share capability. But like many things that they do, the implementation was so terrible that it actually became a con of the player itself. In a somewhat related article, The Consumerist points out 50 politicians who took contributions from the RIAA. Shame on you.

Next up, close up your shades peeps because a little privacy issue from none other than Google could have the entire internet seeing what kind of cereal you like to eat. The company that promised to "do no evil" has added a new feature to it's popular maps app called "Street View" that will give you a ground level view of the street. It's currently only for certain locations but it's enough to get people worrying about the privacy of their homes. A woman who claims her cat can be seen in one of the photos has requested that Google remove the picture from the street-level database. I actually can understand peoples concerns here if this was a naked lady or at least some girls sunbathing, but your cat? Really? The first person that is going to make a stink about this is a chick afraid for the privacy of her cat? This is why when you raise privacy concerns about something valid you might get laughed at by not only the people pushing the products but your own peers as well.

Apparently the new thing in questioning social norms and pop culture is breaking them down into equations using a bevy of variables. First the Voice did it with the infamous "This is Why I'm Hot"track. Now I have found a serious piece of reading concerning the game of leaving the toilet seat down or up. This won't apply to most of us since we are swinging bachelors, but for some that have been subjected to the irritation of living with the opposite sex, this might prove useful or funny or neither.

Now for some Sad news. It seems that after a statement then a counter statement then a final statement, the series Battlestar Galactica will be ending after their fourth season. Contrary to the title of the article it seems that the shows creators are the initiators of the curtain call on the immensely popular albeit looked over series. Apparently the show, unlike other sci-fi series, had a beginning, middle and end envisioned although exactly how long each would be was not known. As a fan of the show I can say that it was one of the best sci-fi series I have watched including every incarnation of Star Trek. I feel that if it wasn't linked in people minds to the hoaky show of the 70's and attached to a network that a large segment of viewers do not tune into it did not get the praise it really deserved. I guess there is alway syndication.


You know we bitch so much about privacy in the states that we rarely look at how other westernized civilizations are handling privacy in this new world of technology and terror. Maybe they have some advice to offer? Or maybe they have got it all wrong. One need only to look to the UK of what it means not to bitch everytime the government introduces a new way of "keeping you safe". In response to the obscene gestures taken by the UK government a new film called "Taking Liberties" will be airing in theatres in various cities within the UK this weekend. I can only hope that this makes it to the States so that more people will be wary when new measures are introduced that are supposedly meant to "keep the terrorists from attacking" by somehow tracking all the inquiries you make on these here internets.

The Cansecos? As in Jose?

No Vivek, as in The Cansecos, a band. Here's the song I found, for free on eMusic I might add, that forced me to download the rest of the album.

Now, Where did I put my bell-bottoms?

Also known as euro dance or just 80's dance to me, I stumbled onto this genre recently through a chick that is notably not Italian. Sally Shapiro does not look anything like you might guess from her airy, spacey vocals which no doubt adds to her image as a self professed "shy" girl. Italo disco purists would say that I simply found some more Euro dance music, but since the genre was actually described in the review of Sally Shapiro's album as "Italo Disco" I would beg to differ. I have always been a huge fan of dance and house music, so this brand of Euro disco is some of the best shit I have run into recently. I think I am going to have to buy some shiny shirts and maybe a gold chain to successfully rock this the right way. Take a listen to some of Ms. Shapiro's work, it's wonderfully cheesy.

Volta-riffic!

Bjork's new album is actually quite good. After Medulla's vocal experimentation I thought she was leaving her awesome and unpredictable beats behind. Glad to say that they are back, in full force. If u want to peep the album it's here.

Japanese Emoticons

(?_?), (o_o), W(^o^)W

Check out what I'm emoting above right here.

Please Read This Book...

cause it's the freakiest thing I have ever read. You really can't make this stuff up...

BEST GAME EVER

You know enough people don't give Adult Swim (the name given to the segment of cartoons that plays from 10:30pm to 2am every night on cartoon network) enough credit for all the shit that they produce. They have given us Three full length albums as well as a pretty hot EP. They have thrown hip hop shows and have solidified their presence in pop culture, all starting from the humble beginnings of a Sunday night block of cartoons that were considered too much for the kiddies. Now the good people at Adult Swim have brought some serious shit to the gaming table, the flash gaming table that is. Introducing Bible Fight, a flash game that will solve all the questions I am sure most of you have about figures in the Bible. Who would win in a fight between Jesus and Satan? Eve and Noah? Moses vs Mary...and Baby Jesus? Please check this out and if you don't think it's the best thing ever never talk to me again...heathens.