That Motel Feel

I downloaded a few songs through iTunes 4 to see how it works. I love it. It feels like in sci-fi where there’s no such thing as tv anymore and everything it integrated into one “net.”

I’m moving at the end of May. I left work early today to look at one place on N. Adams St. that’s under ten minutes’ walk from the Courthouse Metro. The price is right and the location is great, but the place wasn’t all that nice. I’m going to be doing a lot of searching in the next few days. If anyone knows of a listing, please let me know.

Another Way to Spend My Money, Thanks!

Founders’ Day was a sack-full of fun this weekend. The Chapter seems to be very strong and full of life right now. Everyone seems to be close together and very supportive of one another. It was great to see Duffy, Davis, Russell, Dahl, Goose, and Danny, who were all loads of fun. The Easter Egg Hunt actually turned out very cute, and I think that with any more advertising it would have been a disaster. The frat should definitely do that next year.

Slashdot is reporting that Apple has sent out press invitations to an event on 4/28 that “will bring music to your ears.” This seems like it will be the rumored unveiling of a new music service and updated iPods. I relish the idea of a subscription-based, Apple-run music downloading service being available soon. There are lots of songs that I’d like to have but would never buy the CD for. I don’t think I’m totally against illegal music downloading these days, but I might like the service if I could do it legit for a reasonable price (or, April 28 being my birthday…). Travis and I were talking in the car on the way to Williamsburg this weekend about how stupid the music industry has been about whole mp3 problem. If they would just embrace the internet’s ability to get stuf out there and figure out a way to make that work for them they’d be doing well instead of just complaining all the time.

Cough Cough

grumble grumble I’m still not feeling well. I have energy but just can’t shake my cough. But after six visits to the chiropractor now and a few more in the next month my headaches seem to be on the way out. I’ll be happy to be able to clear “get terrible headache” off my nightly calendar.

Katherine got a magical little 12″ PowerBook G4 this weekend. We haven’t named it yet.

After using the wonderful machine for a few days I’ve been thinking about its design versus that of the iBook. Really they aren’t much different on the outside besides being made of different materials. I can’t even say that I like the PowerBook’s look a lot more than the iBook’s, except that it’s more, well, polished. The PowerBook’s speakers are mounted on the back of the lower frame so that the sound bounces off the screen toward you. It works well and helps match up the sound to its image. The slot-loading CD-R/DVD drive is really cool. People have been complaining that the computer gets too hot, especially on the left side. This is true to an extent, but really it’s just weird because the computer makes almost no noise whatsoever if you’re not using a CD. If it were making noise somehow my mind would connect that it’s actually doing something to make it heat up. As it is it’s exothermic like a living thing.

I’ve been thinking about why Apple still refuses to include two-button mouses with their computers. Every program supports the two-button mouse, so if you plug one in it’ll work just fine, but you have to buy it seperatly. (Incidentally, I’m a strong pusher of Microsoft’s collection of optical mouses. I honestly think they may be the best thing they make.) I understand Apple’s argument for simplicity, and really there aren’t that many things that can be done via right-clicking that can’t be done through keyboard shortcuts or modifier keys. I would really like to see how they’d design two buttons on a laptop. They way PCs do it isn’t quite right, because you usually use the mouse with your right hand but most of your clicks are left-clicks, so you always have to avoid the right button while clicking. The current way Apple does it is by having right-clicks be control-clocks, so you can use your left hand to press control while using your right to press the mouse button, and that works very well. I think in that way the trackpad/mouse button and the conventional mouse aren’t the same thing at all.

Tiny Electronics

Dre’s post reminded me of a few deals that I’m upset I’m not in the market for.

One, due to contract disputes, Target is going to stop selling iPods, which means that they’re on clearance now for 15% off. I think they only sell the Windows PC version, but other than the cable it comes with they’re exactly the same machine.

Two, Amazon is now selling the Sony Ericsson T68i cell phone for -$30! That’s right, they’ll actually pay you thirty dollars to buy that phone. It’s I understand about the best cell phone on the market. It has a color screen, works on all networks, and has built-in Bluetooth. The catch is that you also have to sign up for T-Mobile service with it, and though I intend to change providers when my contract with Sprint runs out in August, I don’t think I’ll be going to T-Mobile.

Bias

I’ve been watching mostly MSNBC when I want to see the news lately, along with a smattering of CNN. At some point I’m going to gather up the courage to watch Fox News too see what they’re about.

One thing I’ve been looking for is political bias. The news networks have been showing with some frequency pieces of President Bush’s military base speech yesterday. At one point he finishes a pretty good section of his speech which is met with uproarious cheering and applause. Liberal-slanted CNN has been showing that clip cut right before the applause starts.

On a completely different subject, another short has been released from The Animatrix, titled “Detective Story.”

I Haven't Killed a Musk Hog in a Long Time

The Game Neverending

What is it? I’m not quite sure, but I know that I want in, and I want in early.

Return of the King Delayed

And in today’s “But I can’t wait that long, this better be an April Fool’s Joke!” news, New Line Cinema officially announced that:

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, will be held for domestic release until Wednesday, May 12, 2004. The effects work on this third and final film of the trilogy will surpass its predecessors in scope and intensity, and the producers as well as director Peter Jackson feel that the extra time will cement the film’s status as the king of fantasy films and the crowning jewel of New Line’s massive effort to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic to the screen. A senior New Line executive made the announcement, joined by Jackson, who stated, “With the earlier Oscars in 2004, the original December release date will not make the deadline for Academy consideration. Given that fact and the tremendous amount of work needed in postproduction for this film to reach its full potential, New Line has decided to take the extra time in order to best please the fans.”

Jackson added, “The May release schedule is typically the biggest of the year, including the kings of the summer box office. The lineup for 2004 is a bit empty at the moment, and we feel that placing Return of the King in May will give the fans something out of the common run of action films to appreciate all summer as well as establish New Line at the top of the order for the summer rush.”

I do love the summer and the movie fervor that it brings, and judging by how good the first two have been, I’m sure that they know what they’re doing. I wonder if this means that they’ll release the special edition DVD of the Two Towers any earlier because they won’t be timing it to come right before the next film, or if (gulp) they’ll delay it.

Hoaxes

Slashdot today had a link to an article called “The Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time.” It’s a good read. I particularly like #73 for its maliciously believable genius.

“I hear they’re closing the caf! What’s up with that?” Oh, yeah, it was making people’s tummies hurt and it cost a lot of money to run anyway. Also Jackie Chan’s son never went to William & Mary, it was all a lie made up by Jon Novak.