橋爪

My computer has been giving me some pretty weird messages lately.

The radio station at my college is run with really old computers that no one knows how to use. The system was set up in 2001, and at some point between then and now, the radio program died completely, so these things have seen a lot of neglect. The guys who run the radio program even tell us to not touch the computers at all, in case we screw 'em up. To be honest, I'm amazed that they haven't caught fire or anything yet.

I think I'm going to try to completely overhaul the system, which means a lot of tinkering around on my computer to see if I can get things working before I try anything on the radio's computers. As a result of all this tinkering, I've seen a lot of things I've never seen before:

( Cut for pictures )

I never realized my computer could be so saucy! :o

Last year I created a Wikipedia page for the NWMBC. Since then, a lot of people have contributed to make it more detailed and structured than I would have imagined. If you band kids would like to contribute, that would be awesome.

...when it ran an article about a facet of internet subculture - lolcats. What are lolcats, you ask? Stupid pictures of cats captioned with even less intelligible phrases. Here's an example.

Not only did Time run an article about pictures of cats on the internet, but it was TWO PAGES LONG.


I am ecstatic that it is now considered acceptable to talk about things like this in the mainstream media.

I just ordered my laptop for college from Dell - a great one with Ubuntu Linux already loaded onto it for under $1000. I gotta say, if you're thinking about a laptop for college, I would recommend Ubuntu - no viruses, spyware, or fragmented discs. Plus, it's $50 less than Vista.

...I have no shame.

Problem: Summer boredom.
Solution: Take a shitload of pictures and upload them to Flickr.

I've really begun to experiment with lighting, shutter speed, ISO speed, etc., and hopefully the effects of that will start showing up soon. Also, any feedback - advice, criticism, just plain ol' comments - would be great appreciated.

Anyone here use Flickr (i.e. have an account)? I've been usin' it a lot more the last couple of days, and finding it pretty cool.

For reference, my pictures on Flickr are located here.

Props to Apple. My iPod has been actin' up a bit, so I took it to the Apple store. In fifteen minutes, they took my broken iPod and gave me a brand-new one. For free.

Sweet.

I've been meaning to make a long, detailed end of the year update, but I've been pretty busy lately - hangin' out with friends and the girlfriend, trying to get my employment in order (I've been hired at the Albertsons on Barrows road, but they've been really uncooperative), and summer chores.

I think that the end of high school is often perceived as some earth-shatteringly significant event, but honestly, it's something I've largely taken in stride.

The people I care for, I will see again.

The school I've left, I've been back to at least seven times and will probably be back many more.

And honestly, I'm movin' towards a much more promising future than I ever have had before. The education I'll receive in college and the experiences I'll have promise to be incredible.

09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-88-C0

The above is the encryption code for every HD-DVD currently in circulation.

The key was broken, the MPAA tried to stop the spread of this information, sending cease-and-desist orders around the net.

Show the MPAA and others that this is the people's internet, and that the power of the common man can take down agencies like the MPAA; spread this code in as many ways as you possibly can.

You can't stop the signal.

Man, I feel like a commie

I just installed the newest version of Ubuntu Linux onto my computer and would highly, highly recommend it. Set up was ridiculously easy, and everything works flawlessly.

Plus, it looks real purdy-like. (Click for higher resolution.)

How much does bit rate affect sound quality when it comes to digital music - for instance, does a 128 kbps song sound significantly worse than a 320 kbps song?

I'm wonderin' because I'm a wannabe audiophile and would like a second/third opinion before I do something stupid like re-rip my entire music collection to my computer. :\

One of the best things about the internet is the availability of...well, anything. Two things in particular caught my attention lately:

1. Jesus Camp on Google Video.

If you haven't seen or heard about this eye-opening documentary yet, I would definitely recommend checking it out. It follows evangelical Christianity, and how it affects children in America. A bit long, and a bit worrisome, but interesting nonetheless.

2. Chrome Children.

A hip-hop album available for free, legal download by the record label Stones Throw. It's fairly varied, with everything from instrumentals to remixes to straight-up hip-hop. Better than most albums out there, and with a much more attractive cost.

Gah, corporate America.

Viacom recently requested that YouTube pull videos from their site - over 100,000 in all. Why? They claim that hosting these videos is theft of intellectual property, copyright infringement, blah blah blah. Of course, these sort of generalizations lead to stupid situations like this:



A forty-four second Stephen Colbert fan video being removed. Oh, and did I mention that the video was part of an ongoing contest requested by Stephen Colbert himself? That's right, the show's host encouraged people to make these types of videos, yet they were still taken down due to copyright infringement.

[Edit: I was alerted that Colbert specified videos to be sent to his website, but I think the point still stands.]

It's nonsensical to me. The internet provides a way for product - whether it's music, video, or what have you - to proliferate, gain popularity, gain exposure. It's almost free advertising. And yet, many companies stifle this, much like Viacom has. I can understand the threat that the internet presents to their market share, but is this the best way to go about confronting it? Some companies, some artists have recognized and embraced this paradigm shift and begun to offer their content for free online.

I can download an album from the band Harvey Danger for absolutely no cost and no fear of legal repercussions. A collaboration between two hip-hop artists, Talib Kweli and Madlib, was similarly made available, albeit temporarily. Hell, I've downloaded a book (Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig) for free with the author's blessing. These artists offer such downloads because they've recognized that the internet has changed how the world views media, and how media is distributed. It is damned smart of them too, because nothing screams publicity like "FREE CONTENT." Because I have more access to their content, I am more likely to go to their concerts, their book signings; I am more likely to tell my friends; I am more likely to promote the artist in general.

Maybe I'm being naive and idealistic again. I'm probably only a bit irked because I really liked that Colbert video. :(

One of the most defining aspects of the internet is the anonymity which comes with it. Most of the time, what you are defined by on the internet is only what you choose to reveal about yourself.

This is why it kinda bugs me that so many people on Livejournal screen comments, disable anonymous ones, or log IP addresses. I know that it can be kinda irritating to not control content on your journal, but I think anonymity has its definite advantages. That being said, I want to see how much of a hypocrite I am.

Post an anonymous comment, saying whatever. If it's positive, fine; if it's negative, even better. Take complete advantage of the anonymity. I will only delete an anonymous comment if it's something like porn or gore.

Is it me, or has everyone and their dog gotten a LiveJournal in the last couple of months?

Oftentimes, it seems like aspects of life - events, people, messages - converge very conveniently, coming together in a given time frame from often seemingly unrelated sources.

This week has been another example of that.

( I write too much sometimes )

More likely than not, I've spent waaaay too much time on the internet and am taking the whole thing seriously. Gotta take everything with a grain of salt, amirite?

Keeeeerist, I've got to get out of the house more.

Again, I realize I'm being an LJ-whore, but...eh.

Skip this post if you don't care about or understand technology.

I started seriously looking into using a Linux operating system instead of Windows about a month ago, and installed Ubuntu Linux onto both my desktop and laptop since. (Although I'm still using Windows on the desktop.) I've been fairly impressed with the interface and support, but it bugs me how frustrating it can be to set up. Regardless, it's pretty cool to be able to be able to run an entire computer on nothing but free software that can do what any other operating system can.

Some ( screenshots )

Jesus, I'm a nerd.

I've come to the realization that I need people with music tastes similar to mine. It drives me nuts that the only person in recent memory I could talk with about music was Sensei.

Also, shaving one's legs is more difficult than I ever thought.

Eds: If anyone is on Last.fm, my profile is here.