Blogs are interesting things. You make a commitment to write them, and you have to keep them up. I have recently discovered that some folks actually read what I put up here, so now it's an issue of personal integrity - I will endeavor to do better in keeping my blog up, as well as try to keep it meaningful. So many of the blogs I read on line have all the substance of dehydrated water. If I'm going to write the thing, I'm going to try and do it right.
A couple of emails/comments I've received. As those of you that have sat in my classes are aware, I prefer to have some atmospheric music going on during classes. My preferred source for streaming Internet radio is
Pandora. I like that I can create a myriad of radio stations/playlists and get exposed not only to the artists I like, but also to performers that are stylistically related to the primary artist. The station I listen to most often while clients are doing labs is one centered on Canadian guitarist
Don Ross. Very often, Topeka's own
Andy McKee will have some of his works on that station, and I enjoy pointing out to folks the success a local performer is achieving. If Andy ever reads this, I'll be at your show in October in Lawrence!
On a separate note, I haven't hidden my personal affinity for the Vista operating system. I lov the thing, and it does everything I ask it to do. Sure, there's always going to be some apps that don't like new versions of an OS, but there's always a workaround, be it compatibility, patches or virtualization.
I found
this story rather interesting. According to the report, "Microsoft managed to trick XP users in San Francisco into loving Vista simply by telling them a small fib. The company told these users that they were using a new version of Windows, codenamed "Mojave." When asked about their experience with using Mojave, over 90 percent said they were impressed with what they saw. Then Microsoft told them they had been using Vista all along. "
This reveals a great deal about the power of FUD - Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt. I've been amazed how many people I've come across that tell me that "Vista Sucks", yet when I ask them about how long they've used it and what has led them to that conclusion, they stumble over thier words a bit. They'll complain about drivers for all-in-one devices, but they had trouble getting the device to work in XP itself (truth be known, I've had one all-in-device in my life, an that experience alone was enough to make me swear off all-in-one devices just as soon as I recovered from the device-induced delerium-tremens). An interesting comment from that story, by bonedoc:
"I am a Mac user and would not buy a PC again. But, I recently got a legitimate copy of Vista Ultimate Edition for $28 from a work promotion and installed it on my 24" iMac (August 2007) and have to say it runs great. I would be remiss if I didn't say that I have actually had less issues with Vista on my iMac than I have with Leopard. It doesn't crash and my programs do not "quit unexpectedly." Maybe Apple just had the best smear campaign in history; and, for that, you have to give Stevie credit."
I'll give Steve credit. After all, if Apple hadn't ripped off XEROX PARC, where would we all be today?
Later, y'all. And remember to listen at the door before you open it...