2003 June
This month’s issue of PC Magazine has a review of the top of the line Falcon Northwest Mach V, which sports an AMD Athlon XP 3200+. Its front side bus runs at 400MHz and it comes complete with DVD burning, DVD-ROM, and CD-RW. That’s right, the tower has three CD drive bays. The PC Mag tested machine has two 36GB 10,000 RPM hard drives and one 250GB 7,400 RPM hard drive. For video, it comes with the ATI Radeon 9800, 128MB of beauty. That comp is a monster.
The only problem is that it costs $3,595 direct. Ouch. Maybe I’ll build my own instead.
I’ve always like Falcon Northwest although their systems are expensive and now Dell’s tech support is so bad in my opinion that Falcon Northwest might be worth the price. Gateway’s tech support is equally poor compared to Dell and Apple just doesn’t have enough software options to suit my needs. Alienware is another good alternative to Falcon Northwest but their machines are being sold at Best Buy, which means that inevitably, Alienware’s quality will start to decline just like the trend with Dell.
It’s been confirmed that Radiohead will be touring Los Angeles and San Francisco this September. I went to their last tour, which took place in 2001 at Shoreline in Mountain View and it was an amazing show. This year will be no different. Here are the dates that I might attend:
- 23rd September 2003
Shoreline Ampitheatre
Mountain View, CA
- 25th September 2003
Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles, CA
- 28th September 2003
Coors Ampitheatre
Chula Vista, CA (San Diego)
If you like Radiohead and want tickets for the Hollywood Bowl date, please send me an e-mail. I can also be reached via AIM at “Webspiffy.”
Information on Ticketmaster on sale dates is now available thanks to w.a.s.t.e.
- 23rd September 2003
Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mtn View
Ticket On-Sale date - 20th July 2003
Ticket Info: All Ticketmaster Outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone # 415/421-8947, or Shoreline Ampitheatre BO
- 25th and 26th September 2003
Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
Ticket On-Sale date - 19th July 2003
Ticket Info: All Ticketmaster Outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone #s 213/480-3232, 213/365-6300, 714/740-2000, 714/703-2525, 805/583-9700, 619/220-TIXS; or Wherehouse Music, Robinsons May, Tower Records, TU Musica, Ritmo Latino, & Hollywood Bowl Box Office. For Parking Information call 323/850-2000
- 28th September 2003
Coors Ampitheatre, San Diego
Ticket On-Sale date - 19th July 2003
Ticket Info: All Ticketmaster Outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, charge by phone # 619/220-8497
A lot of MT users are angry that <$MTCommentAuthorLink$> breaks XHTML 1.0 and 1.1 validation. This has been pointed out by a number of people but I think Jay Allen was the first to publicly post about it. I’ve been using a different tag for quite some time that validates and hides people’s e-mail addresses. This is a good thing because leaving your visitors e-mail addresses in the comments section makes it easy for bots to harvest the addresses.
This fix only applies to users using static comments that are displayed on the individual archive page.
Replace <$MTCommentAuthorLink$> with <$MTCommentAuthorLink show_email="0"$> and that should validate. While you’re at it, install MTSimpleComments, written by Adam Kalsey, which integrates comments and trackbacks into the same section.
For those of you that want to show e-mail addresses, you’ll have to do hacking. In your Movable Type directory, browse to /lib/MT/Template and open up Context.pm. Do a search and replace for target="_blank". There should be three instances that you need to remove.
The essential MP3 renaming tool, MP3 Releaser, has been updated to support ID3v2. It now supports multi-CD renaming up to 99 CDs as well as ID3v1.1 track numbering. I’ve been waiting for that addition for a while and he’s finally added it.
Download it today, make yourself a custom NFO template and you’re ready to go. I’ve been using MP3 Releaser for over a year and it is just perfect. My whole collection is tagged with it. MP3 Releaser is the best program out there, and I definitely recommend it over the competitor, CD Tag.
I’ve been using Trillian for over six months but I’ve switched back to AOL Instant Messenger thanks to James Dennis, the author of DeadAIM. DeadAIM gets rid of the ads, allows you to set up tabbed windows much like Mozilla, log messages, even use transparency. The new version of DeadAIM gets rid of audio ads and has support for multiple screen names.
Simply, DeadAIM has everything you need to convert AIM into a decent messenger.
If you are going to install the free version of DeadAIM, you have to use AIM 4.8.2790 instead of the current AIM release.
I highly recommend it and I’m now using it full time. The tabbed windows feature is essential and isn’t even found in Trillian. That’s why I made the switch. I previously wrote a review of AIM+ but I assure you, DeadAIM is superior to AIM+ or myAIM. I tried using AIMutation but it sucks compared to DeadAIM.
DeadAIM 4 has been released. Download it for $5 from JDennis.net (PayPal donation required). Also, in case you’re wondering, no, I won’t send you the new installer or a serial. Any requests for bootlegging DeadAIM 4 will be reported to JDennis.net, so don’t e-mail me about it.
Looking for the DeadAIM 3.2.1 installer? I’m not mirroring it here due to bandwidth limitations, but oldversion.com has an archive of DeadAIM installers available for free download. If you don’t want to pay the $5, go there and download the file. Just remember, it only works with AIM 4.8!
Andy Baio of Waxy.org reported on May 29 that “Ghyslain, aka the ‘Star Wars Kid,’ and his family may be pursuing legal action against the individual(s) who originally posted his video on the Internet. Andy started an iPod fundraiser for Ghyslain on his weblog, asking for donations to ease the embarassment. At the time of this post, Andy has raised $3,254.09 for Ghyslain. The money was given to his lawyer at the end of May.
There has been no news since the May 29 post about whether or not the lawsuit has stalled. I think three thousand dollars covers the embarassment without a doubt. Drop the suit and move on. Next time, watch where you leave tapes of yourself.
Microsoft announced this week that IE5 for Mac will be the last release of Internet Explorer for the Apple platform. This is a smart move by Microsoft since Safari is gaining in usage as well as Camino (Chimera), developed by Mozilla. Microsoft is at the opposite end of the browser war on the Mac. Safari now comes preloaded with OSX much like Internet Explorer on Windows XP. Safari is built by Apple and it integrates into the system like Internet Explorer for XP but not to the same degree.
Mac aficionados in general don’t like Microsoft, so when they have the option of using an Apple product such as Safari, they will choose it over the Microsoft alternative, Internet Explorer. Microsoft knows this and is ending Internet Explorer development early before it invests manpower in a wasted cause.
Office is the one Microsoft product that will always be in demand by Mac users since it is the business standard. AppleWorks will never outshine Word because it is the 800 pound gorilla of word processing. However, Keynote is shaping up to be a viable PowerPoint killer.
I finished my finals on Thursday and returned home to Mill Valley today. I’m now a junior and I feel old. Two years of UCLA have flown by and they have been great, but surprisingly short. I already have my apartment for the next year and my stuff is moved in but not set up. There isn’t a bed or a desk yet but that’s easy to fix. The official move in date is August 1st, since summer school session C starts up August 4th.
I’m taking Life Science 3 over session C, which lasts six weeks. I’ve heard that summer courses are a lot easier over the summer since they are so quick so I’ll try to take advantage of that and get an A in LS3.
The phone isn’t set up yet in the apartment and I have to call Verizon tomorrow to prove that I’m actually Mike Steinbaugh. They won’t activate the account until I show them my driver’s license or something of the sort. Those bastards gave me the run around last week telling me that I had to go to a Verizon Phone Center to get the account activtated and they gave me the address of a store in Santa Monica Mall on 3rd street. The only problem is that no such phone center exists in the mall. Apparently it’s somewhere else in Santa Monica.
For the time being, I’m going to relax and read a few books. I still haven’t conquered The Return of the King and my mom let me borrow Dave Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, which is supposed to be a well-written book. Some of the critics called it self-indulgent but I’ll be the judge of that.
Also, on a totally unrelated side note, Natalie Portman graduated from Harvard this past week and is returning to Hollywood. Here’s hoping that Westwood is one of her hang-out spots…
I was listening to recording of Jack Johnson at the El Rey Theater and I remembered that “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie” was a Bob Dylan poem. He performed the poem live but never made a song out of it. Jack “covered” the poem by putting it to music and switching up the lyrics a little bit. It’s an awesome song and I hope he releases his version on CD one day.
Without further adue, I give you…
Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie
When yer head gets twisted and yer mind grows numb
When you think you’re too old, too young, too smart or too dumb
When yer laggin’ behind an’ losin’ yer pace
In a slow-motion crawl of life’s busy race
No matter what yer doing if you start givin’ up
If the wine don’t come to the top of yer cup
If the wind’s got you sideways with with one hand holdin’ on
And the other starts slipping and the feeling is gone
And yer train engine fire needs a new spark to catch it
And the wood’s easy findin’ but yer lazy to fetch it
And yer sidewalk starts curlin’ and the street gets too long
And you start walkin’ backwards though you know its wrong
And lonesome comes up as down goes the day
And tomorrow’s mornin’ seems so far away
And you feel the reins from yer pony are slippin’
And yer rope is a-slidin’ ’cause yer hands are a-drippin’
And yer sun-decked desert and evergreen valleys
Turn to broken down slums and trash-can alleys
And yer sky cries water and yer drain pipe’s a-pourin’
And the lightnin’s a-flashing and the thunder’s a-crashin’
And the windows are rattlin’ and breakin’ and the roof tops a-shakin’
And yer whole world’s a-slammin’ and bangin’
Bob Dylan
Mmm…what a fitting song for finals week. Well, back to studying.
Hostway is now offering domain name set up for $6.95 a year. Wow, I’m definitely going to sign up some extra domain names at that price. I recommend you do the same as well.
This may be a limited time offer so act fast.
This afternoon Brody’s site was hacked by a renegade group of hackers. They didn’t do any damage to the site except change the index page. I reset the page around 3:40 PM today in case you were wondering what was going on. I also changed all the server passwords just in case that was how they got onto the system. However, I suspect that it was an exploit in the Apache software that Brody’s web site host uses. If the hack happens again, please let me know ASAP.
Grandwizzard Theodore, DJ Z-Trip, and Mixmaster Mike performed for free at Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Friday. I was lucky enough to get tickets to the show and went with Josh, Laura, and Dee. The show was simply amazing and I would have paid at least $40 for admission.
Grandwizzard Theodore
Grandwizzard Theodore is famous for inventing the “scrach” sound that defines DJ culture. He created the sound back in the 80s during the era of Grandmaster Flash. Theodore is from New York and he traveled all the way out to UCLA just for the show. In my opinion, his set was not as polished as Z-Trip’s or Mixmaster Mike’s, but it had its moments. There was this one song he played about twenty minutes into the set that had a crazy bassline on it. The bass would pulse for about three seconds and your entire chest would vibrate. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of the song. He various hip hop songs for about an hour and then Z-Trip took the stage. It was a privilege to see Grandwizzard Theodore perform live, since he is a legend to the turntable community.
Z-Trip
The man of the night was definitely Z-Trip. This guy blew me away. The night back from the concert I wrote a review of his set on his official forums but I’ll recap my thoughts here as well. Z-Trip has a unique style of dj’ing that I had never experienced. He combines hard rock with hip hop basslines creating fusion songs that are unorthodox but surprisingly cool. My favorite example from the UCLA set was when he played Oasis’s “Wonderwall” over Jurassic 5’s “Quality Control.” Some of the hard rock songs he threw into the mix were “Back in Black,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and a Tool. I bought both of his CD’s after the show and have been listening to them almost non-stop ever since.
He has played with DJ Shadow in San Francisco, who is probably my favorite DJ of all. Z-Trip is definitely the guy to watch right now and is getting a lot critical praise from reviewers. He has new CD in the works and it should surface by next year at the latest. At the show, the MC announced that Z-Trip won the URB Magazine DJ of the Year award and I can testify that he has earned it.
Mixmaster Mike
Most people know Mixmaster Mike as the DJ of the Beastie Boys. However, he earned his reputation in the DJ community from the Invisibl Skratch Piklz. The Skratch Piklz are a rotating group of DJ’s and was founded by DJ Q-Bert, Mixmaster Mike, and DJ Disk in 1996. Mismaster Mike is a legend for his speed and he blew me away at the show. His hands fly so fast when he is mixing that they become a blur and you get lost in watching him crossfade. It was truly a sight to behold. Mike threw in a couple of Beastie Boys songs to appease the mainstream crowd but he varied his set up a lot, throwing in a nice mix of Sean Paul’s “Get Busy” in the beginning.
Justin Frankel just caused AOL more grief. His last stunt was releasing Gnutella, a P2P application that quickly became the core of every file sharing program out there, including the current favorite, KaZaA. He released his lastest project, WASTE, onto the Nullsoft site on May 28, and it quickly became big news. The software gets its name from Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, an is an acronym for “We Await Silent Trystero’s Empire.” W.A.S.T.E. is an underground postal system in the novel. Frankel’s WASTE got mentioned on Slashdot and on Daypop and a lot of people managed to download it before it was taken offline. I saw WASTE on the Daypop charts and downloaded the installer before AOL revoked it. I played around with the program a little bit right after downloading it and found that Frankel has made yet another great program.
Say hello to a killer new IM program.
WASTE is essentially a P2P IM program that sports encryption. You can set up a private network of about 50 people and share files or chat securely. The program runs at 128-bit encryption by default, which is virtually impossible to crack. This is the same level of encryption that is often found in web browsers. Needless to say, the record and movie industries won’t be happy about this because they won’t be able to track what people are sharing.
AOL didn’t like WASTE very much because it is a potential threat to AOL Instant Messenger, really the only good thing AOL has going for itself.
WASTE is a snap to set up and it generates a PGP key for you based on random mouse movements. Just follow the directions in the installer and you’re ready to go. Getting onto a server is a little bit more difficult. The host has to manually accept your PGP key and you have to entry the host’s as well. This prevents people from entering a server without access. It’s ingenious, really. Be sure you remember the password you enter during setup because it is required every time you open the program. If you forget it, you’ll have to reinstall and make a new key, which will cause you to lose access to all the servers you were able to log on to previously.
WASTE has already been shut down by AOL but who knows, it may resurface in the near future. Keep a look out for a stable release in the future.
Browse other user’s files through a graphical navigation.
WASTE lets you control how much bandwidth is used.
A password is required to open the program.
Manage your private key settings.
Remember, AOL has taken WASTE offline. Do not ask me where you can download the software.
