There is Never Enough Time
I’m trying to stick to a weekly schedule for updates here or else I wouldn’t bother. Today, it’s going to be very short. My grandmother, Felismina Roderick, died last night at the age of 85.
Please, take care of yourself and your family, because there’s never enough time. Don’t take anything for granted.
Political Thought For the Day - Disappoint Your Opponent
There’s a principle in poker that says it is best to determine what your opponent wants you to do, then disappoint him. This very neatly explains why Obama did not choose Hillary for his VP running mate. Simply put, the Republicans wanted Hillary.They have 16 years’ worth of material worked up on how to take her down and that’s just counting her national presence since 1992. It’s high time the Democrats stop giving the Republicans what they want.
It’s true in poker, and it’s true in politics: disappoint your opponent, win the battle.
Twitter: Google Killer?
Okay, maybe not a true Google killer, but allow me to share what just happened to me.
I installed the new version of iTunes earlier today, and I noticed a little while ago that the annoying little store links were showing up again in the tracks. Even more annoyingly, it seems Apple has removed the option in the Preferences to not display those silly arrows. My first instinct was to go a Google search, which, (probably since iTunes was just released,) turned up nothing. Then I thought, maybe someone on Twitter is talking about it. I went to http://search.twitter.com and searched for “itunes link store” and the second tweet I was showed had a link to a web page that described how to get rid of the stupid arrows.
Twitter, FTW.
Incidentally, if you’re running iTunes 8 on a Mac and want to get rid of the store links, it’s a one-line copy/paste into a Terminal window to take care of it. Check out http://bit.ly/3gBJ2V (thanks to @pjbeardsley).
The New iTunes 8 - Genius
Although I dig the new display options in iTunes 8, I’m going to talk about the Genius function here by giving a few examples of what it’s offering me.
Upon installing and launching iTunes 8, the program will scan your library. It will upload your library specifics (nothing personally identifiable) to Apple and use the data to make recommendations. When you select a song in your library and push the Genius button, iTunes will create a playlist of 25, 50, 75 or 100 related songs from your library. How related is related? Let’s find out.
Generated Playlist (first 10 entries, based on the first song listed):
- Rush - Far Cry
- Robert Plant - In the Mood (Live in Houston)
- Van Halen - Mean Street
- Judas Priest - Electric Eye
- Dream Theater - Pull Me Under
- Joe Satriani - Surfing With the Alien
- Iron Maiden - Wasted Years
- Accept - Balls to the Wall
- Smashing Pumpkins - Tarantula
- Sammy Hagar - There’s Only One Way to Rock
Other artists on the 50-song list include Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, Scorpions, Foreigner(!), Queensryche, Tesla and Asia. With the questionable inclusion of Foreigner, I’d say that these artists match Rush fairly well, if broadly.
One thing that I noticed right away is that Genius does not take into account ratings or anything else. It really looks at your entire library. I’d like to see a way to limit Genius to only 4 or 5 star-rated items, but maybe there’s a way to do that that I’m not aware of.
I did run into one snag. The second time I tried Genius, I was looking for matches for John the Baptist, by the Afghan Whigs. Genius couldn’t generate a playlist. The message that came up suggested clicking the Update Genius menu item in the Store menu and trying again. It seemed to only repeat the scanning/sending action from the beginning of the process, and Genius still wasn’t able to generate a playlist when I tried again. Perhaps as more people upload their library data Apple will be able to find some matches.
Final verdict: I like it, and I’m hoping that there won’t be many instances where a playlist can’t be generated.
So, that’s it… here’s a few more lists here for those that are interested.
Generated Playlist (first 10 entries, based on the first song listed):
- Angels & Airwaves - The Adventure
- 30 Seconds to Mars - From Yesterday
- Jimmy Eat World - Pain
- The Used - Under Pressure
- Eve 6 - Here’s to the Night
- Vanessa Carlton - White Houses
- Angels & Airwaves - Everything’s Magic
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps
- blink-182 - Feeling This
- The Killers - Smile Like You Mean It
Not bad. Vanessa Carlton might be a stretch.
Generated Playlist (first 10 entries, based on the first song listed):
- The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary
- New Order - Blue Monday
- The Cure - In Between Days (Live from Festival 2005)
- A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
- Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up
- U2 - I Will Follow
- The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
- Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
- Ratt - Round and Round
- The Clash - London Calling
This was the most bizarre list I generated. How the Pet Shop Boys and A Flock of Seagulls related to the Cult, I’m not sure. Apparently, Apple thinks they’re New Wave.
Generated Playlist (first 10 entries, based on the first song listed):
- Motorhead - Ace of Spades
- Judas Priest - You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
- Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil
- Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock
- The Ramones - Havana Affair
- Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench
- Megadeth - Hangar 18
- Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
- Warrant - Cherry Pie
- Faith No More - Epic
I don’t know what’s worse, that Warrant is on listed based on Motorhead, or that I’m admitting that I own Warrant albums. Probably the latter. One last list, I’ll try this based on a comedy track.
Generated Playlist (first 10 entries, based on the first song listed):
- George Carlin - Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television
- Robin Williams - Childhood
- Chris Rock - Blacks Aren’t Crazy
- Bill Engvall - Here’s Your Sign Christmas
- Lewis Black - Congressional Correspondents Dinner
- Ron White - They Call Me “Tater Salad”
- Mitch Hedberg - Three Easy Payments
- Al Franken - President Bush Drops By
- David Cross - Flying on a Mexican Plane
- Demetri Martin - Some Jokes
Well done, Apple.
I want a computer that is moist like cake… wait, what?
I just watched the new Microsoft ad featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld buying shoes. Submitted for your approval (or mocking):
A computer that’s moist like cake so you can eat it? What the hell? I understand the goal here is to get people talking about Windows, but it’s not working. People aren’t talking about Windows, they’re talking about the commercial. Google it, you’ll see what I mean. While there is some truth to the notion that there is no such thing as bad publicity, this commercial isn’t going to make anyone respect Microsoft, Windows, Bill Gates or Jerry Seinfeld any more or less than they already do. To me, that’s what makes this commercial a failure.
Is Star Wars Over?
It is for me - at least for the Prequel Era stuff. Now, I’m 33 years old. I grew up on Star Wars, and thanks to the novels of the 1990’s and 2000’s, I’ve enjoyed a lot of stories set in the galaxy far, far away. In fact, there are a few novels that I consider superior to even the original trilogy - Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy comes to mind, as does the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson and most of the books in the very long New Jedi Order series. These novels stand up well against the original movie trilogy.
I’m a big fan of the original movie trilogy, so it should be no surprise that I find the prequel trilogy lacking in a lot of ways. Star Wars fans tend to go one way or the other. I don’t think the prequels are completely worthless; there are redeeming qualities in all three flicks.
Southwest Airlines FTW!
I had quite a pleasant experience with Southwest Airlines today, and since it’s understandably rare that people post anything nice about the airline industry these days, I figured I’d share this.
Earlier this morning I booked a flight to San Diego for a trip coming up next month. I used Southwest’s “Ding” service to get a pair of killer rates - $139 non-stop each way. Each flight was booked separately as a one-way trip, which explains the low fare and the screw-up I’ll be explaining momentarily. Other airlines I had looked at started at $300 round trip with stops.
I booked the flight out to San Diego first, and all was well. I double-checked the dates and times, and everything was correct. I then booked the flight home from San Diego, but I didn’t double-check my work. It was two hours later, when I was telling my wife that I’d made the reservations, that I discovered that I’d made a mistake. She asked what time my flight was, and I didn’t remember exactly, so I looked up my confirmation email and realized I’d booked for September 24th.
Don’t ask me how that happened.
Well, I called up Southwest, and figured I’d be on the phone for the next hour. I shouldn’t have worried - a representative picked up in less than a minute. I explained my situation, and the representative suggested that the easiest thing to do would be to simply cancel the reservation and re-book it, rather than try to finagle the system into accepting a date change on an internet-only fare. At that point, I figured they’d hit me for a $25 cancellation fee or something. Nope! No fee, he said. I hung up the phone praising Southwest - but I wasn’t done yet. My wife pointed out that sometimes, when you cancel a reservation, they don’t refund your money, they give you travel credits. I called Southwest back and re-explained the situation to a new representative (again, after picking up in under a minute). She was friendly and helpful, and quickly looked up the confirmation number and told me that the full amount had been refunded to my credit card.
I went back online after thanking her, and booked the correct flight home from San Diego - and double checked my work before hitting that Submit button.
Southwest Airlines earned my respect today.
I’m Not Always Online
I spend a lot of time online. I wake up daily between seven and eight, and I’m usually at sitting on the couch with my MacBook Pro within 30 minutes. During the day, I alternate between work and playing with Winter (who is super interesting these days, having hit the 3 year old mark). In the evenings, my wife is usually putting Winter to bed while I’m online. On the occasions when Angela doesn’t come back downstairs because she’s fallen asleep with Winter, I’m online until after midnight.
On average, I’d estimate I’m online anywhere from nine, maybe ten hours to about twelve, maybe thirteen hours a day. Some may say that’s excessive, but when your business is online, you naturally spend a lot of time online.
I’m writing this from 30,000 feet in the air, on a Southwest Airlines flight. I’ve got the MBP working for me, and my iPod is playing Angels & Airwaves (say what you will, I like ‘em). I fired up the notebook because now that The Big Book of Spam, Volume One: Subject Lines has been published, it’s time for me to get back to work on my other projects. That means scheduling updates for Artistic Opinions, Modest Opinions, The Big Book of Spam and this site - not to mention I’ve got other projects that need some love, too.
I wrote all that so I could write this:
Last year I installed a program called iGTD, a task manager. The premise is simple enough - define projects (each of my sites would be a project), then schedule tasks that need to be completed for each project. I can’t figure out how to make a task repeat weekly. Here’s where things break down.
I’m on a plane at 30,000 feet. I’m trying to use a new program, one that, although I installed it last year, I’m just now getting around to trying out. I’m not online.
The help files are.
Software developers: there is no excuse for not including your help files with the application. None. Your customers aren’t always online. I know, I know, there’s a big push to have everything online - Google, Microsoft and a host of others would love to have consumers own machines that are little more than dumb terminals in their always-connected homes. That’s not reality - and I’m not picking on iGTD here, which looks to be a great little app that will be quite useful to me - presuming I can access the help files eventually.
Put the help files on my local machine, dammit.
The Big Book of Spam
A wonderful tome has just been published - a book that will change the world.
A book that will unite nations.
A book that will cure ills.
A book that will rule the earth.
You know how Batman’s arch-enemy the Joker makes people laugh so hard that it kills them? It’s like that.
It’s a book about spam email. I wrote it. Go check it out.
Rediscovering Music with iTunes
I’ve been a music junkie for a long time. It started pretty much as soon as my parents started giving me an allowance. I’d save up ten or twenty bucks, and then go to the bowling alley with my friends. Instead of bowling though, I’d go to the record shop next door and buy two or three cassettes. When I was old enough to get a job, a lot of the money I made went into buying music. These days, I’ve got thousands upon thousands of songs on my computer, all organized neatly by iTunes. Between music I’ve ripped and music I’ve bought online, my digital library is quite large.
iTunes makes is really easy to create playlists. When I first bought my Mac in late 2006 and got all my CD’s imported, I went through and put a 5-star rating on whatever songs I felt like listening to, several hundred of them. That’s pretty much how I organize my everyday listening, but it’s a pretty small percentage of my total library. Today, I had an idea. My plan is to spend a week listening to songs that have never been played on this computer - and since I don’t bother dragging out my CD’s anymore, that pretty much means songs I haven’t heard in almost two years or more.
I created a “smart playlist” in iTunes with the condition that the Play Count is less than one. Then, I turned on Shuffle and hit play. So far, I’ve heard some songs I remember, some that are vaguely familiar, and some songs I’ve never heard (because of those fantastic one-hit-wonder artists whose entire CD I bought before online purchasing of one song was available). It’s fantastic. Right now I’m listening to Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself”, which I probably haven’t heard since I was in high school. Right before that was “Left of the Middle”, by Natalie Imbruglia, which I’ve never even heard before because I bought that CD specifically for the “Torn” single years ago. One pretty cool aspect of using a smart playlist is that once a song has played through, its play count goes to one, and it’s removed from the list. I’m guaranteed to hear nothing but tracks that haven’t been played on my Mac before.
The list also introduces me to new artists because I imported all of my wife’s CD’s as well. Songs from artists like Authority Zero and Muse are getting a listen for the very first time, because I just never really gave them a shot before. Some of it I like, some of it I don’t - but isn’t that what music exploration is all about? Between this and Pandora.com, I’m having a lot of fun.
This should be a very interesting week.
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