The big Dubya was on TV the other night talking about how Social Security needed shoring up before it goes bankrupt. I listened for about five minutes. The problem is that it's not going to be fixed. It will be debated. It will be sound-bited to death. But it won't be fixed. Our country doesn't have the cojones to fix it.
Thanks to the recent newsletter from Vonage, I found out about their Click-2-Call software. This is a cool little application that sits in the system tray (Windows only, sorry). When you highlight a phone number on your computer and press the hotkey (F6 by default), it first dials your default number (if you have more than one, you can set one as default), then you pick it up and it connects you to the selected number. Cool!
As I was preparing lunches today, I was once again struck by the ridiculous way we address issues sometimes. With grapes, in particular. These grapes come in a nice plastic bag, with one of those sliding-lock bags. It's similar to a zip-lock style, but it's got a plastic doohickey on it that you slide, rather than trying to have to match up the two tracks. Works well. The bag is also perforated, presumably so that the grapes can "breathe".
It's also sold with one of those sticky things across the mechanism so that it prevents tampering. Who in their right mind thinks that a bag with holes in it will somehow be protected by a sticky thing over the slider? Why not just stick something through the holes?
While I noticed the other day that Charlotte was raising taxes, I must admit I didn't pay much attention. The event is billed as the first rate increase in 19 years. So what?
Does anyone else wonder about all the people telling you how you can get the best deal you've ever seen, with little to no effort on your behalf, over and over again? These deals are especially prevalent in real estate it seems, but just about any business has probably seen more than one such huckster.
I have one simple question. If these deals are so lucrative, and this business is so awesome that you never need to worry about money again, how come everyone is out selling you information on how to make such deals, rather than doing them?
While I really like that iTunes allows you to "share" music with other computers, I really don't like two things about iTunes as a "server". First, that the sharing is limited to the local network (at least, I think it is) and second, that the iTunes application has to run on the other system - that is, the user needs to be signed on and iTunes has to be loaded. This may be different on Macs, but it is definitely the case under Windows.
No longer. While it's been out for a while, and I've even known about it for a while, the ultra-cool Slim Server software from Slim Devices resolves both problems in one fell swoop. Now, my music is on a true server - that is, a system that doesn't require a user to be signed on - and I even have remote access to create all the playlists I'd like, be it from a single artist or all of them.
Using Slim Server (a free download no less), I have a service running on that other PC, and to connect to it I can use my web browser to configure the playlists, and I just connect to the stream using my player of choice. I'm using iTunes at the moment, but there's little reason for that - I just happen to have it up and running.
What's more is that this network-centric model means I can access the music simply by using the IP address, making my music available anywhere I choose to get at it. Dunno if I'll do this or not - but I can. Sweet!
The fine folks at Lockergnome are putting on Gnomedex (number 5, if you're counting) in Seattle, Washington. Denise and I just made our reservations for Gnomedex itself, and we'll be making our plans for the actual travel and lodging shortly.
Since I used to live in the Seattle area (though it's been a really long time since I even visited), we're going to make a full trip out of it, hoping to arrive on Saturday the 18th of June, and not depart until the following Sunday - the 26th. Since Gnomedex only runs at the end of the period, we'll be around and looking for something to do.
Anyone else planning to be there early and/or anyone in that area planning to put together any events prior to Gnomedex? If so, let me know and we'll try and make it!
As it appears the multiple-billion dollar upgrade of US security systems has been pretty much wasted, it makes me wonder if there is ever an end in sight. While we routinely pour money down the drain, surely we, as a people, will have to realize sometime that the money the government wastes isn't theirs - it is ours!
Found the trailer for Narnia online. Looks quite impressive, in a Lord of the Rings sort of way (as opposed to not, in a Series of Unfortunate Events sort of way). Looking forward to it.
This year, both of our boys are playing baseball with the church, and neither has played before. Because he is older, Nathan has naturally done a bit better - while perhaps still a bit timid when it comes to the ball (be it batting, catching or throwing), he has done well.
Matthew has, until last night, had a few more problems. Being younger, the simple act of swinging the bat is a challenge. It's not that he can't do it - it's that he never has, and that sort of coordination isn't his strong suit.
His team, thankfully, has been very supportive, despite that fact that his only contact with the ball came on a miniscule foul tip in the second or third game of the season (last night they played their seventh).
The rain was ferocious. But it let up, and the lightning held off long enough, that the game started. Matthew came up to bat in the third inning, and it looked like it was business as usual for everyone. But to our surprise, he made contact - and perhaps more importantly, he then ran (to the correct base, no less) and garnered the first hit of his young career.
Our team exploded. The first base coach picked him up and swung him around. The coach gave him a high-five and a hug. The third base coach had the foresight to pick up the ball and give it to us so that we could keep it. The parents and the rest of the kids jumped for joy.
It's amazing that such a small moment can render such happiness in so many people, all at once. As his parent, I can understand it for Denise and I. But for all of these relative strangers? It was unbelievable to experience. I wish you all could have been there.
I had started ripping all my CDs using iTunes, but recently it just decided to belch. No comments on the technical merits, please - it sounds good enough for general listening, and I am not an audiophile by any stretch. This isn't (necessarily) permanent archival. Just making things more available by having the music stored digitally.
I've always had problems with iTunes recognizing the CD correctly in XP - it isn't that it wouldn't work, it just wouldn't work reliably. Some times I'd even need to shut down iTunes and start it back up to have it recognize a new CD had been loaded. Every once in a while, I have to shut down the PC - it's like the CD drive just gets "locked up" - for any application - after iTunes loses it's way. I finally tired of that.
So in my searches, I found Exact Audio Copy (EAC), a sweet little program that does a fantastic job of ripping, including the ability to specify paths in the file name (such as directories for artist/disc) and an interface to LAME, considered by many to be the best tool for ripping quality audio. Most excellent!
