del.icio.us

If you haven't heard yet, you have now. del.icio.us is a cool site that holds your bookmarks, and is also a great way to share them with friends. Just sign up, and start adding the sites that you think are interesting, or would like to share. Firefox extensions make it even easier to use. (Flock is a browser in the making that will encorporate its entire bookmarking system into del.icio.us). Just a couple cool things I wanted to share, call it an early Christmas present.

look me up, I am adairnic on del.icio.us.

Fall, too bad its gone

IMG_1538.JPG
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

On a lighter note, MSU's campus is beautiful for a couple months of the year. An example.

Is this True?

“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”

I’ve talked to three people present for the meeting that day and they all confirm that the President of the United States called the Constitution “a goddamned piece of paper.”

Capitol Hill Blue: Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'

If this is true, no wonder Bush has been getting so frustrated lately. (Just google "bush frustrated" for an idea). I guess I can see where the guy is coming from, I mean, its a real pain in the neck when things get in your way. Usually what I do when I don't get my way is throw a tantrum and yell about it to try to illegitimize the obstacle that is keeping me from what I want, just like a little boy. Hmm, looks like Bushie and I have a lot more in common than I thought...

I forgot, stupid me

Cheney called Democrats “opportunists” who were peddling “cynical and pernicious falsehoods” to gain political advantage while U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.“Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against Saddam Hussein,” Cheney told the Frontiers of Freedom Institute, a conservative policy group.

Cheney calls war critics 'opportunists' - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

I forgot, Cheney beleives that other people want to make hideous amounts of money on a false war too. Maybe even just get in his way. Isn't that what he means by "opportunists"?

Now they made a mistake?

Condoleezza Rice began her tour of Europe yesterday with a rare public admission that the US had made "mistakes" in the war on terror.Speaking after a meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Ms Rice again insisted that the US did not "condone" torture. "It is against US law," she said. But she appeared to concede for the first time that the Bush administration's uncompromising policy of "rendition" against terrorist suspects had sometimes gone wrong.



"We recognise that any policy will sometimes result in errors," the US secretary of state said. She added: "When this happens we will do everything we can to rectify it."

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Rice admits US mistakes in war on terror after wave of criticism across Europe

So, NOW is a good time to admit errors? Keep it to yourself. I really don't think thats going to win Europes trust. I thought that we were keeping troops in Iraq because they were right to be there in the first place. Hmm, guess its a different reason.

Sony DRM uses MORE Open Source Code without permission?

With what started as a really bad decision of installing hidden software with audio cds, Sony decided they needed to rip off some files from the open source LAME encoder too. It looks like they are just plain greedy now. They have also included a hack which disables Apple's FairPlay DRM, only so that they could use it? Unfortunately, that code is also open source, and they are again in violation of the GPL. Go figure.

"Among the strangest revelations was that XCP itself infringes on the copyrights to several open source software projects. In one case, Sam Hocevar found conclusive evidence that part of XCP’s code was copied from a program called DRMS, which he co-authored with DVD Jon and released under the terms of the GPL open source license. What made this finding particularly curious is that the purpose of DRMS is to break the copy protection on songs sold in Apple’s iTunes Music Store. Why would XCP rip off code intended to defeat another vendor’s DRM?

It looks like the people at First4Internet wanted to create their own iPod compatibility system, but rather than take the time to reverse engineer FairPlay themselves, they copied critical pieces of code from DRMS in violation of the GPL license."

Freedom to Tinker » Blog Archive » Hidden Feature in Sony DRM Uses Open Source Code to Add Apple DRM

Depressing...I kinda wanted to buy a PS3 whenever they are supposed to launch...oh well, things change. I was also going to recommend a Sony digital camera to my dad, probably not.

Missing the Mountains

With the daily blowing snow and perpetual cloudcover of East Lansing as of late, I am becoming depressed. Memories of beautiful scenery and happy times in the mountains of NC are merely fleeting memories lately. Looking back into my photos from this past year, these really stuck out as the reason I am missing North Carolina.

Episode 5 delayed...

2 Term Papers in progress since episode 4, SUCKS! If Becky and I were pro's we wouldn't be bothered by such trivial matters as homework. Maybe by Mortal Kombat, but not homework or term papers. Anyway, enough excuses, there should be one tomorrow for all of you loyal subscribers.

The Rants From Nick Show #4

Episode 4 is now available for download. Becky joins me again for some rants about fast food, corporate America and Sony. Also, I "wrote" a new song for the outro, hope you enjoy it JB. Please subscribe!









P.S. I finally fixed my feed, so please resubscribe if you are already a loyal subscriber. All of the episodes are now available.

Guess I wasn't the only one...

Checking back to MDN, and they have now posted a link to a petition because the Sony/BMG root kit apparently affects Macs as well. Not to be fanatical, but it just doesn't seem like Sony was being very responsible here.

Boycott Sony

Boycott Sony/BMG

In case you haven't heard, please make a statement, and do NOT buy any audio CDs from Sony/BMG. It has been found that their methods of copy protection include installing a "root kit" application that hides itself and reports to Sony when you listen, and also compromises your security as well as reduces your system stability. Fortunately for myself as a Mac user, this problem only affects people running windows (sorry guys). At this point you can get information about this just about anywhere on the net, here are some links I thought interesting:

"Stinkz"

Sony DRM installs a Rootkit

Removing Sony's CD 'rootkit' kills Windows

You decide, but I am certainly not going to purchase anything else from this company...maybe not even the PS3. Seriously, at least their PS3 will be a closed system that I wouldn't be using for my personal files and information, but gimme a break Sony.

The Rants from Nick Show #3

The Rants from Nick Show is now available for download. Becky joins me for the first live dialogue. We rant about the Korner Kitchen, RFID and homework. Please subscribe!

Go Wings!

Yeah...my dad very much enjoys the Red Wings. Another note, he was supposed to be in China by now. Turns out his passport was on its way and arrived in Chicago, but never made it. Did you steal it? Just kidding.

The Rants from Nick Show #2

The second episode is now available. Please subscribe to my feed using,












I appologize for the short/nonexistent post for the cast, so I'll make it up with a picture. Please leave comments and let me know what you think.

The Rants From Nick Show #1

I just published The Rants From Nick Show Episode #1. Should be up at iTunes shortly, or otherwise, you can subscribe to it using iPodder, iPodderX, or any other of your favorite podcast apps. I will figure out how to make this easier for you soon.

Feed: http://www.msu.edu/~adairnic/podcasts/podcast.xml

iTunes Link

mp3 at my homepage.

iPodder: haven't used it in a while, but I'm sure you can paste it somewhere.

Thanks for listening, please post comments.

natural thoughts

natural thoughts
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

My follow up design for another litho print. Gettin addicted to graphic design.


by the way, all designed using the Open Source software I mentioned in a previous post, Inkscape and GIMP.

Shades of Democracy Podcast

I recently stumbled upon this interesting talk radio podcast. Every episode is filled with interesting, indepth, uninterrupted, non-comercialized interviews. Additionally, they usually give good political based links to check out and insightful quotes from the past or present. Give it a listen.

Shades of Democracy

Mac Mobile users...

I found a really cool battery monitor app a bit ago called CoconutBattery.

CoconutBattery

This app will tell you (I don't know with how much accuracy) how much of a charge your battery still holds, how many charge cycles your battery has been through, etc. Pretty cool, lets you save a snapshot so you can monitor how your battery is doing over time. Enjoy.

Eff.

eff
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

For those of you who missed it...Frankenfinger.

Who knew packaging could be so hazardous? Well, I did (packaging kills people in some cases).

While I was enjoying my night, cracked a beer, and the metal cap cut right through my thumb. What a bummer.

Pretty much healed now, just a thick scar left (hope I didn't gross anyone out with the picture)

Sweeny Todd

My aunt (Amy Smith) played the lead female in St. Dunstan's production of Sweeny Todd.

Sweeny Todd

I went to see it today, with parents, grandma and Becky. Great show! Of course, my aunt was the best ;). Pay the site a visit, and check out the show if you are in the Birmingham area!

Addicted

IMG_0137
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

Camping supplies:

iBook...check

Lithography

litho
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

This is my first attempt at one color lithography. Let me know what you think...there will be more soon. Trying to think of a new design.

Rap Lyrics

My favorite rap lyric comes from Young Jeezy, Trap or Die,

"Got the Chevy same color Tropicana orange juice."

He brilliantly uses two brand names in one sentence, and even uses one brand to describe the color of another brand. What will they think of next.

PS. Are GM and Tropcana BOTH paying Young Jeezy?

For you mac or linux users...

In my search for reasons to purchase Adobe CS2, I came across these excellent (free) replacements for Photoshop and Illustrator. The photoshop replacement is called GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/). It is a great photoshop alternative, offering some of the same look and feel. It doesn't have nearly all of the functionality, but its free. All you need to run in OSX is X11 available at http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/x11formacosx.html. As for an illustrator substitute, Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/) can create images fairly intuitively. Also free, also requires X11. If you run Linux, also not a problem (and they are probably included with most distros anyway).

Have fun!

Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains
Originally uploaded by adairnic.

Boy, wish there were some way to teleport...

I like clouds (as in this picture) but every day? Is this some kind of torture?

Music...

Some albums you should buy for the hell of it.

SMiLE

Brian Wilson

Jazz From Hell

Frank Zappa

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

Try listening to Jazz from Hell while reading some Machiavelli...

if you don't have iTunes http://www.itunes.com/

The sound of an idiot box...

What is it about the sound of a TV that is so aggravating? Is the sound really so complemented by the flashing images that it can just be horrible? I can hardly watch TV on my own motivation, I only watch it if I am with other people who are watching one, or in a bar or such place that has one or more on. For some reason it is much easier for me to tolerate radio broadcast, as it consists of only sound, therefore the it must sound appealing, and it must actually capture your imagination to keep you focused.

Another thing, for you solo TV viewers: Is TV really that inspiring that it causes you to laugh out loud for your own sake? I can understand wanting to communicate to a fellow watcher when something is funny, but you yourself know it is funny. I cannot think of many things more hideous than a person sitting in front of a screen laughing out loud. Laughter may be an involuntary action, but it is an involuntary communication.

Also, to you TV marketing and advertising guys and gals that make songs to commercials: you must be geniuses, because I can't tell you the amount of brainwashed idiots I hear singing your stupid songs to their TV's. Bravo. At least you guys and gals can sleep well knowing that you "make a difference".

What does this mean?

Last night I had a dream...must have been early morning since my last post. This dream was not my usual dream.

So I'm taking a nap in my dorm room (but the room is the mirror image of mine, bed on the other side), and Dave Grohl and Adam Curry show up. They want me to take this survey about something...I wish I could remember what. Anyway, we were talking about stuff when I realized that Dave had a new iPod like device. But this one changed its skin based on what music was playing. Basically, I remember playing with it, the buttons all changed color when you adjusted settings and I changed it to some reggae he had, and it started morphing into different green, red and yellow patterns. Pretty cool. I called it a "reggaepod" and they thought that was clever, but I had to tell them that I stole that from Drew, from the Dawn and Drew Show.

Wow, I have never really dreampt about "celebrities" like that before...except for the time that Madonna seduced me...

Banter about new iPod

Ok, so the new iPod that plays video is here...

Why is everyone complaining? All I see on any blog is "I just bought an iPod with a color screen, does Apple want to alienate me as a customer!!", "Apple is making all of my stuff obsolete!" "I can't upgrade my iPod to video???" Even, "What about my iMac, can I use FrontRow with it?" "Do you think the remote works with old iMacs?" I don't know what people would do if they actually had brains. Apple Computer does not force anyone to buy any of their products. You may argue that iPod "forces" you to use iTunes music store. You are not forced to do anything, if you don't like iTunes, buy something else. iPod + iTunes is not just a marketing slogan, it is a product. Take the time to figure out what you are buying.

Also, as far as Apple updating their product lines too fast? Give me a break. If you are now upset because you have an old iPod, you probably should have waited until they made the one you want. If you don't still think it is magic to hold a large music library in your pocket, then you have been brainwashed. When I got my 3G 20GB iPod, it was the best portable music device on the market. Yes, there have been countless updates to the iPod lineup. I still use it everyday, it still performs just as it did when I bought it, and no, I'm not going to complain about any innovations that Apple has made to date. In its application still today, it is the best portable music device on the market. If you need support for photos, album art, video...your iPod is now available, buy it and shut up, or deal with the fact that you bought the wrong thing.

Or, just blame everything on someone else. Its their fault anyway right?

New Mac Stuff!!

I am in a much better mood now, nearly no thoughts remain of Microsoft...

iMac G5. I was going to buy one to take back to school with me this year...but I had a hunch things were going to change fast with this system. It is beautiful, and really all anyone needs out of a computer. Now it really is all you need. That remote? Ingeneous, especially the remote menu system. Just as the iMac was marketed towards ipod owners, now it is a HUGE iPod.

New iPod. Not totally excited about this. As much as I look at my iPod screen (ok, to change songs, check the volume or time left) am I now going to walk down the street watching too? Or take it somewhere to show someone a show? Stick a bud in your ear and listen to this tv show. The iPod hasnt been a real "sharing" device.

I do have to admit that it is an awesome new design and price for a hdd based iPod. Don't get me wrong.

Microsoft?

Ok, this is serious...

Microsoft makes software that somehow everyone has adopted as THE standard. As the "the computer" runs windows and you NEED Office to be compatible. However, everyone also assumes that computers always crash, always get viruses and are always afraid of something bad happening and killing all running applications. This assumption is one of the most depressing things about people, they continually pay for and deal with total mediocrity.

What started this stream is I use a Mac, and for some reason or another (compatibility) chose to use Microsoft Office. Most files I turn in for school must be in this format...bla bla bla, should be using OpenOffice.org. Anyway, the only program that regularly kills on my iBook is any part of Office (safari gets killed by web apps at times, but usually not a huge problem, it is not a content creation app). I don't know what Microsoft expects of their products, or customers. Hopefully in the next few years, there will be enough free and open software that is actually maintained by people who care (people who use the software) and get rid of this crap hole that Microsoft has started. Back to retyping some bs...

Tiger Kills HDDs?

My first rant begins...

Has anyone had hdd trouble after upgrading from Panther to Tiger? In my case, I use an iBook G4 800MHz. Upgraded from Panther when Tiger launched, and my hdd died at the end of July. In just 2 months my hdd was dead. Now this may just be a coincidence...my mac was 1.5 years old, and being a laptop it was moved around a lot. But seriously, is 1.5 years a normal life expectancy for a mobile hdd, or did Tiger kill it? I have been running Tiger on the replacement hdd (thank you applecare, paid for itself here) since the end of July, no problems, everything has been great. The real kicker is that my girlfriend may be encountering the same problem...she upgraded from panther nearly 2 months ago, on her iBook G4 1GHz. She is starting to hear the same hdd noises that I heard in the weeks before failure...

Pray for the best, or is Tiger killing?

My Dad has taken an assignment in China for 6 months starting sometime after the holidays. This is a very exciting time for him, and for the family. I am starting this blog to document his journey, and hopefully to get him started when he gets there. In addition, this will be my outlet for opinions on tech, music I am currently listening to/making and some of my reflections on current world events.

I know I know, I will have more news or a rant soon, and hopefully it inspires thought more than offends.