This MacBook and MacBook Pro firmware update addresses an issue where the first key press may be ignored if the computer has been sitting idle. It also addresses some other issues.
– Apple

For some time now, I kept on getting my passwords wrong. I couldn’t understand why. Then at times, I would have to type the first letter of a word twice. Seems there was an issue with Leopard that prevented the first keystroke from being accepted if your computer had been sitting around doing nothing for a while.

It’s nice to know that this annoying problem will be a thing of the past.

I was never too much of a movie fan, not even in the old VHS days. However, there is something about going out and renting a movie you haven’t seen in years and being able to watch it again. I was never into new releases as much as I enjoyed finding a movie I’ve seen before, a movie that is good enough to watch 10 times over.

Netflix, and then Blockbuster, provided me with these options.

The Price Is Right.. Bitch

The price seemed to be right. For under $20.00/month you could have unlimited rentals with up to three movies out at once. It was a good deal, but I found myself stepping over my returned mailers on the floor of my room. I would end up not returning them, maybe in the hopes they would return themselves? Still, it was nice to know that when you did finally get around to dropping them in a mailbox, you could have movies coming the next day. If you played your cards right, you could literally almost never be without a movie to watch.

Read the full article »

My post reprinted from the Apple support forums:

My iPhone started vibrating all by itself yesterday. So I thought it was the switch, and tried playing around with it. It ended up breaking. But, the vibrate switch always was a problem for me, even when new. For some reason, it would move too easily either way, often turning on when I just touched the side of the phone. Anyway, made an appointment today for the iPod Bar and within 30 seconds the genius said, “I’ll go get you another phone.” A few minutes later, he was back out with a new phone. When I got home literally it took me 5 minutes to sync my phone and be right back to where I was before.

I did have a backup, and everything seemed to sync perfectly, all settings, etc. Except the custom rings I had for some people I had to reset them. They were set to default. Not too bad for only the 5 or so custom rings I had for people. Maybe making the backup doesn’t save that info.

I give Apple 5 big stars for the service I received. Didn’t have to pay a penny and was in and out within minutes.

Thanks Apple!

I’m an atheist and really don’t care about religion one way or another, unless it impedes or tries to influence my way of thinking or living. I just as well could be talking about Christianity right now, but Islam and Michael Savage happen to be on my mind, so this is what I’m going to write about.

To set the stage, Michael Savage is an award-winning, Ph.D, syndicated talk radio host who has a daily radio show. He has been accused of being pretty much anti-everything at one time or another. And although I don’t agree with him on some things, I respect every one of his opinions and beliefs because he expresses himself and tells it the way it is. No sugar-coating, no back-peddling; just straight talk.

Download audio file (savage.mp3)

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John Lennon was murdered 27 years ago tonight. On December 8, 1980, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the loss of such a gifted and talented artist. Some 27 years on, I am. Aside from Kurt Cobain, a puzzle piece of my generation, musically, there was no other person I admired more than John Lennon.

My only connection to John Lennon in the physical world is an autographed thank you card, signed by Yoko Ono, I received way back in high school. I sent a letter and some money for purchase of flowers in his memory. I received a thank you card, and I can’t remember if I received the money back. I am pretty sure she did send the money back. For some reason, the card was ripped, and all that is left is a portion of the card where she signed it.

Download audio file (MindGames.mp3)

Boy, does this album ever sound good. This is the perfect time to listen to this album. A good album is like a book; stimulating your sense of sound, as well your sense of perception and state of mind. The remastered CD sounds brilliant, so crisp and fluid.

Sounds of Silence was recorded in December 1965 at CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee and Los Angeles, California. The album was produced by Bob Johnston.

Where have all the good albums gone?

Today I quietly ventured out of my seclusion to secure a copy of the long over-due DVD release of Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged. The DVD is being released 14 years after it was recorded live in New York. Click here to read all about it.

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Who can I thank for letting me down?
Who could I thank when no one’s around?
Not anyone.

Who could I talk to when I was down?
What’s there to hear when there is no sound?
Opposite of loud.

Where can I turn to for help and a hand?
Why won’t my hand grip, why can’t I grab?
No feeling.

What is the reason I don’t belong?
Who makes the rules and who follows along?
The “never wrong.”

Is it true that helplessness is contagious?
What would it mean to be contemptuous?
The loathing of all of us.

Can I exist when I cannot flee?
What is the chance for something of beauty?
A mere catastrophe.

When will I die and be relieved of pain?
Why must it take so long to attain?
The epitome of insane.

Who can resist the denial of temptation?
And what will become of innocent elation?
The subsequent stagnation.

Who do I owe this feeling of inspiration?
Where can I let them know my frustration?
Beyond cremation.

Bryan Los, 11.22.07 (remember JFK)

I have started a website and want to start a campaign to get one resident in every state in the union (at least those which permit it) to register GETMAC as their license plate. The website can be found here at www.GETMACplate.org, and is still in it’s infancy. I will eventually be adding a way for people to search their states to see if the plate is available as well as an area for GETMAC owners to shout out.

Bookmark the site and come back again to see what we’ve done!

With iTunes 7.5 and the new iPhone software 1.1.2, MakeiPhoneRingtone works again! And the best part, it’s FREE! What this software does is automate the process of adding your songs (no longer than 40.04 seconds) into the iTunes ringtones folder, thus making them available for use on your iPhone when you sync it.

The program will take your AAC file, send it to your iTunes Music sub-folder “Ringtones,” and add it to your ringtone playlist. The only thing you have to do is make the ringtone. I use Sound Studio 3 to cut my songs.

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Get ready for my 10 part series into why Wal*Mart is evil and why China wants to kill all of us. Still working on part 1. You’d be happy to know that a helpless Wal*Mart worker told me “you don’t like it here, go somewhere else.” This was an answer to my question “how many of the items you sell here are made in China”? Not off to a good start. More to come.

RANT: I’m so sick and tired of thin, cheap, and almost useless Home Depot shopping bags. If the bags could get any smaller, I don’t see how. If the bags could get any thinner, I wouldn’t think it physically possible. WTF? — Me

I love shopping at Home Depot. The products are diverse, the prices are great. However, one thing has always stuck in my craw– those f*@#$%g lousy bags! No matter how big the product, or how much it weighs; rest assured that it’s going to pop through the bag, starting a series of events that will ultimately land your new merchandise on the parking lot blacktop.

Why?

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UPDATE (11.17.07) - Apple’s new iPhone software 1.1.2 allows you to add your own songs as ring tones. It’s not as “Apple-like” as it should be, but easily accomplished in a few easy steps. First, use an audio editor (I use Sound Studio for Mac). Create your ringtones (less than 40 seconds), fading in/out as you wish. Then save them as AAC (I prefer 256 Kbps). Once saved, rename them to *.mpr. Then open your iTunes music folder, and find the “Ringtones” folder. Drop all your *.mpr files in. Then, from that folder, open each one (make sure the mpr extension is associated with iTunes), and the songs will magically be added to the iTunes ringtone folder. I don’t know if this is a mistake on Apple’s part or this is what they are planning, but it works great and I don’t need iToner now.

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It’s the bye-week. The Patriots are 9-0. They clearly are the best team in the NFL this year, and definitely the last decade. But can they do something so special that will forever allow them to shout a collective “F-U” to the rest of the league and sports world? I think so.

These aren’t your daddies Patsies. This team is dedicated to winning and proving to the rest of the NFL that “spygate,” or whatever you want to call it, was so meaningless in the grand scheme of things, that just the mere mention of it only provides to solidify their intentions to roll over every team they play.

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It was 40 years ago today. Oh how I remember that day like yesterday… well, not quite– I was -9 then. Even still, that year is very important in my mind’s timeline.

Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Blah-Blah

Musically speaking, so much great music came out that year. The Beatles released ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and ‘Magical Mystery Tour’. Jimi Hendrix put out ‘Are You Experienced’ and ‘Axis: Bold As Love’. The Doors released ‘The Doors’ and ‘Strange Days’. The Byrds released ‘Younger Than Yesterday’. Love gave us ‘Forever Changes’. The Velvet Underground released ‘The Velvet Underground and Nico’. And who can forget about ‘The Who Sell Out’ by The Who? You get the picture… a lot of great music came out in 1967.

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Kurt Cobain would have been 40 on February 20, 2007. When I saw that, I had to go and make sure there wasn’t a typo. 40? What? It seemed like yesterday he was just 27, having ended his life by his own hand. I don’t know where the time went, and I don’t even want to go back and figure it out.

With music having such a big part of my life, Kurt Cobain was a breath of fresh air back in 1993. 1993 was the first year I found my own music. Up until then, I had my father’s music, which was great, but I finally had something for myself. I had something I found. So, some 13 years later, it’s hard to go back and relive those few moments of pleasure I had with Nirvana and Cobain. It was too short. Too quick.

I had just received my first computer back in March, 1994. Sadly, within a month, I was reading news article after article of Kurt Cobain’s death. I saved a bunch of them, along with some pictures. These are the oldest files I have. I’ve saved them all these years, from computer to computer. I have included one such article.

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Waaaaaaay back in the early 1980s I remember watching a TV commercial.

Well, it was more of a public service announcement about the dangers of prescription drugs, specifically when dealing with small children. In short, the commercial tells kids that pills are not candy, and they should stay away from them. The commercial was very simple, with four hand puppets as pills. There was nothing special about the way the commercial looked… BUT the song the pills sang was probably the best jingle I have ever heard in all of my life!

For some years now I’ve been wanting to find info on it. After not being able to dig anything up, I forgot about it again. Last night, for some reason, I was searching again. This time I found audio only of the commercial. I couldn’t stop smiling. This was it! This was the song I used to love over 20 years ago. I would never change the channel when this commercial was on.

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Do I need any other examples of George W. Bush’s failed war on terror? No, not after today. I am resigned to the fact that my civil liberties will be eroded to the point where I don’t realize I’m free anymore. And by the way, this is his war. The American people do not share his feelings on this one.

Today I was surprised to see my USPS Priority package come back to me, returned from the Post Office. It seems that they are on some kind of “heightened alert” and all packages weighing in at over 16 ounces must be presented to a retail clerk. What they should have said is that for being a good citizen, not breaking the law, you have to stand in line for 30 minutes rather than placing a stamp on your parcel and quietly, easily dropping it in the box.

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You want to know the bottom line? The Patriots won again. Period.

So after the game, one which plenty mistakes were made on both sides, and one in which one team capitalized just a little bit more on those mistakes, I was shocked to see the demeanor of LaDainian Tomlinson. After the game, Tomlinson yelled and pointed at a Patriots player, upset that some Patriots were dancing on the Chargers logo at midfield after they had silenced the crowd.

“I would never react in that way. I was very upset,” Tomlinson said. “When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Merriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach.”
–LaDainian Tomlinson

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The House belongs to the Democrats. The Senate belongs to the Democrats. Don Rumsfeld has resigned. What more could happen to make me feel any better than this?

This election was a referendum on Iraq, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And since Iraq is part of the “War On Terror,” and terror is the only thing George Bush has, this means the people overwhelmingly said they DO NOT support his plan, policy or leadership.

Let me come down from my high… then I’ll be able to actually express my true feelings. Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Thanks to a new feature of iPhoto, I can now share my high resolution album art easily with the rest of the world. Photocasting allows me to share my entire library via RSS feed. And if you are lucky enough to be on a Mac, you can subscribe to my photocast, and view my album just as if it were yours, updated in real-time.

Click here to view the RSS feed. You can use any RSS reader or web browser capable of using RSS feeds, such as Firefox or Safari.

3:00 AM this morning was the last time I’ll ever use DSL.

Around 3:00 AM today, I noticed my connection dropped. I tried everything I could, but to no avail. I spent almost three hours trying to figure it out. I gave up and went to bed.

I called Verizon in the early afternoon about the problem. Long story short, it seems my line had two IPs, and that was the cause of the problem. OK.. so what do do about it? While I was on hold, I thought about all the cool ways they could handle this, from clearing my line, to doing some fantastic line “sweep” and clear all the shit off the line. Their solution– unplug your computer for eight hours, then tray again.

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If there’s one problem I’ve had since 1994, it’s how to keep all of my miscellaneous text, image and file data organized, in one place, and in a file format that will be viewable years to come. This usually involved Microsoft Works, MS Word, Text Files, and various other files, such as .bmp and even obsolete file formats– that is until now.

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It’s in.. and it’s BAD!!!!! (bad as in GOOD)

After the one hour installation, I finally started her up. The cool XSKey (connected via USB port) allows use on more than one Mac, but only one Mac at a time. Simply unplug it and plug it into another Mac. Brilliant!

I’m going to be watching my 7+ hours of tutorials starting tonight; night school as it were. It’s way too early to give my impressions of this massive software, but the box it came in weighed like 20 pounds– all manuals! That gives you an idea of how spectacular this software is.

More to come…

Dear Customer,

Your subscription to Xbox Live Subscription Transfer is scheduled to be automatically renewed to Xbox Live 12 mo. Gold Membership on Monday, October 09, 2006.

Ummm, no thank you. I have decided not to update my credit card on file, and just let my subscription lapse into the nothingness of Xbox Hell.

The Xbox 360 was the biggest dissapointment in my 20+ years of gaming. I have no desire to ever play this piece of trash again. The 360 will never live up to the fun of the original Xbox and Xbox Live service. And BTW… Halo 2 sux0rz to all get out!

After many years of Tascam hardware-based recording, I’m moving to a software solution– well, with a little hardware too! This is going to be a really big change that is going to take weeks, even months to get through.

After buying a 24″ iMac this week, I decided that I would enjoy recording/mixing/mastering much more on a Mac:) And since Apple offers a great audio production tool, Logic Pro, my choice was made that much easier.

Read the full article »

Pwnt! Well, another of the “good reasons” we went to war with Iraq has proved a myth– along with all the others, like WMD and Saddam’s nuclear ambitions. I wonder if Bush and Cheney still hold these “truths” self-evident? Morons!

In a report released today (wow another Friday release, go figure) by the Senate, Saddam Hussein regarded al-Qaida as a threat rather than a possible ally, contradicting assertions President Bush and Dick Cheney had used to build support for the war in Iraq.

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The entire iMac line now features the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor, delivering up to 50% faster performance than the previous iMac. A new 24-inch iMac with a brilliant 24-inch widescreen display joins the 17- and 20-inch models. iMac prices now start at just $999. — Apple.com

Well, Apple again shocked me by beating out the speculated day for iMac revisions, and offered a complete new line starting today. Everyone and his cousin thought Apple would release a 23″ model on September 12, at a “special event.” Looks like Apple upstaged them all!

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In the continuation of a long-running arms race, both Apple Computer and Microsoft have seen their music protection technologies come under fire in recent days. — News.com

In the past month, separate programs have emerged to strip away the digital rights management (DRM) tools that the two technology giants use to protect music from unauthorized duplication. One of the programs counteracts Microsoft’s Windows Media DRM, while the other targets Apple’s FairPlay.

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LONDON (Reuters) - They chase each other at high speed wielding axes and hammers. But the famous cartoon duo of Tom and Jerry are in trouble in Britain for smoking on screen.

A channel airing the cartoons has agreed to cut scenes that glamorise smoking after British media regulator Ofcom received a complaint from a viewer who took offence at two episodes.

In the first, “Texas Tom”, the hapless cat Tom tries to impress a feline female by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand. In the second, “Tennis Chumps”, Tom’s opponent in a match smokes a large cigar.

In a bulletin posted online, Ofcom noted “concerns that smoking on television may normalise smoking”, and said that the Turner company, licensee for Boomerang which aired the cartoons, had agreed to edit some smoking scenes out of “Tom and Jerry”.

“The licensee has … proposed editing any scenes or references in the series where smoking appeared to be condoned, acceptable, glamorised or where it might encourage imitation”, Ofcom said, adding that “Texas Tom” was one such example.

But it would not cut all smoking scenes, it added.

Ofcom said it recognized smoking was more generally accepted when cartoons were produced in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but noted that the threshold for including such scenes when the audience is predominately young should be high.

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Ok, so I did a few things I’m not proud of. So I bombed a few places I shouldn’t have. So I threatened a few people I didn’t know. That’s all behind me now. This is phase two, of my new Second Life.

So basically, Linden Lab, creator of Second Life, touted this new security feature to ban users of the Second Life world. Egregious violators would have not only their accounts banned, but their computers as well– meaning, they would no longer be able to play Second Life on that computer, even if another user of that computer was perfectly innocent.

That worked for like a day.

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Well, after nearly 13 years of being held hostage by Microsoft and MS Office, I have pulled the plug on that relationship and have moved over to iWork ‘06, by Apple.

Currently, iWork consists of Pages, which is a word processor and page layout program, and Keynote, which is presentation software. The only thing missing from iWork is a spreadsheet program, but rumor has it that Apple will release one soon, by the name of Numbers.

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From the time Apple first releaed the Mighty Mouse, people have been wondering when a wireless model was going to be introduced. Well, the wait is over.

Upon visiting the Apple web site today, I was delightedly surprised to see the wireless Mighty Mouse ($69.00) on the home page. Sooner than I could pair my Mighty Mouse with my Mac, I ordered one. The total, with FREE shipping, came to $72.45.

The new Mighty Mouse is basically the same as the original Mighty Mouse, except the wireless version uses laser tracking, rather than optical. Unlike the wireless Apple mouse, the wireless Mighty Mouse can use two batteries, or if you are concerned about weight, you can install just one. This is great for those of us used to the lightness of the Mighty Mouse, but want the flexibility of a wireless model.

I literally just ordered the mouse and before I even had time to read all the device information. So, I’ll finish writing this and go read more about the new wireless Mighty Mouse. Go Apple!

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For those of you that don’t know, Second Life is an MMORPG of sorts. I say of sorts, because unlike many a MMORPG, SL doesn’t really require you do anything. You can play 16 hours a day perfectly well, just dancing on a beach or talking to some freak at a club. There are no quests to run, no secrets to find, and no levels to gain. So why do people play it?

Well, aside from the maybe 20% of people who play the game religiously, there are the other 80% who seem hell bent on destroying this developing second world. These people would be known as griefers, the former would be known as nerds. Griefers come in all shapes and colors. Their sole purpose to is to cause grief to whomever they come in contact with, or special people they hold dear to their hearts. Adrian!!!

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As promised, George W. Bush vetoed a proposed stem cell bill. The bill would have eased limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. It was his first veto in his 5 1/2 year Presidency, although not the first stupid decision he has made.

It has been reported that Bush is all in favor of idiotic stem cell research– something he has benefited immensely from!

The veto came a day after the Senate defied Bush and approved the legislation, 63-37, four votes short of the two-thirds margin needed to override.

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A proposed constitutional amendment to allow Congress to prohibit desecration of the flag has fallen a single vote short of approval by the Senate.

The 66 to 34 vote Tuesday on the amendment was one vote short of the 67 required to send the amendment to the states for potential ratification as the 28th Amendment. The decision was the closest proponents of the initiative have come in four Senate votes since the Supreme Court first ruled in 1989 that flag burning was a protected form of free speech.

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So I’m watching Fox News Channel tonight, and I see the well used “breaking news” logo. Five-hundred WMDs found in Iraq. Ok, sounds intriguing. I’d like to learn more.

I turn on Hannity & Colmes and I see Hannity creaming in his pants. Wow, I think to myself, this must be good news for the republicans. Then I see Sen. Rick Santorum (R) with some other guy, extolling the significance of this “great” WMD find, holding some sort of document. Then I think to myself, why is this jerk running around with classified info, and why isn’t the president telling me this? I start to get mistrustful of the old Fair & Balanced network.

My suspicions came to fruition. This is pure bullshit.

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Want to know where I’ve been the last few weeks? I’ve only been killing my back and roasting in the sun. The backyard was the main work area, but work stretched to the front of the house as well as the side. I was pretty handy with a chainsaw too!

The grass (sod) is only a week old in the picture. It took 130 rolls to cover the yard. When moist, these rolls can weigh 20 or more pounds. Try loading, unloading, then carrying 130 20-pound rolls around in a day! Trust me, you don’t want to. I had help, but it still was a b@tch. I was never so dirty.

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What a delight it was finding both Boston CDs when I got back home Wednesday. These are the remastered versions, done personally by Tom Scholz, the leader, visionary and driving force behind Boston.

Right from the start, you can hear the deep lows and bottom end that were lacking in the original CD releases 20 years ago. The music now sounds just as good as it did back in 1976, when Boston’s debut and self-titled album hit the store shelves.

The guitar now jumps out at you, and sounds much more prominent, as opposed to the original EQ’d CD mix. The original mix had all but the last remnants of the bottom end gone. These new remasters bring them back.

To say I’m happy is an under-statement. These new CDs will kick the ass of just about any artist out there today. Try and find a more driving, rocking guitar section. These releases easily get 5 stars from me. Don’t take my word for it though, listen for yourself. The album is in parenthesis.

• More Than A Feeling (Boston - 1976)
• Rock & Roll Band (Boston - 1976)
• Don’t Look Back (Don’t Look Back - 1978)

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also known as shit-head, has been killed by a U.S. air strike. This may be a good day after all!

Precision Air Strike

Along with this beautiful kill, his spiritual leader, Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman was also with him (how nice), and is also DEAD! This guy is the scum of the Earth. This guy is lower than ant piss. This guy deserves to be tortured, but I’ll settle for a smart bomb dropped on his head. Even his sister said he got what he deserved!

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Artist: The Cars
Album: The Cars (1978)
Song: Bye Bye Love

Great debut album by The Cars. This was one of several great albums during the second half of the 1970s, including artists such as Boston, Cheap Trick, and Elvis Costello. Bye Bye Love is almost a perfect song– in the sense that it pretty much has everything a song should offer. A great song to listen to under the headphones, or blasting out of your speakers.

Learn more about The Cars.

Well, it’s that time again– time to change all my web passwords.

I used a random generator for six characters, with a two character prefix decided on by the name of the web site, and a two character suffix that was random, but constant. I used Steve Gibson’s password generator to get the six character string. Ten case-sensitive, alpha-numeric characters now make up my password. That’s two more than my last password!

The only problem is that I can’t possibly remember all the passwords now. Well, maybe I can eventually, but it would take time. Thankfully, I just use Safari’s password feature, which pulls my web passwords from my Keychain (Mac). I just have to enter them once.

I decided to put together a photo gallery of all the close-up shots I could find, along with official pictures released by the government. I found about 20 or so very high quality pictures. I also have 12 hours of footage I recorded off TV on 9/11/01, and I watched that as well.

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I accidently cancelled my hosting account for three web sites this morning when I removed a credit card from PayPal. I didn’t realize it at the time, but shortly after I received a bunch of messages stating my hosting accounts were closed. After realizing what I did wrong, I did a support chat with a rep and got back online in a hurry. Thanks BelaHost!

Artist: Gwen Stefani
Album: Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (2004)
Song: Danger Zone

This usually isn’t the music that I’m into, but this album is so catchy, and the production is so well done, I just had to add this one to my library. Listening to the CD from to start to finish, there are quality songs throughout. In listening, I heard influence of Madonna, The Beatles, even Courtney Love, with whom I hear Gwen had a tiff.

Learn more about Gwen Stefani.

I had a problem with my new Intel Mac mini. When I upgraded to the latest firmware, my system sound would reset to 50% after every computer restart. Apparently there is a bug in the firmware, as other’s are having the same problem.

But remember, this is a Mac! And don’t forget about Automator!

Automate Me!

What Automator does, is basically do things you could do on your own if you had all the time in the world. Automator can do those mundane, repetitive tasks only the Mexicans wish to do. At heart, it’s really a simple, drag-and-drop scripting language that anyone can get started with. You can create your own application in a matter of seconds, which can be run from anywhere– from the desktop to startup.

Read the full article »

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller on Friday urged telecommunications officials to record their customers’ Internet activities, CNET News.com has learned.

Well, George Bush and his baddies are at it again, expressing a great desire to completely destroy any privacy you thought you had left.

In a private meeting with industry representatives, Gonzales, Mueller and other senior members of the Justice Department said Internet service providers should retain subscriber information and network data for two years, according to two sources familiar with the discussion who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The closed-door meeting at the Justice Department, which Gonzales had requested, according to the sources, comes as the idea of legally mandated data retention has become popular on Capitol Hill and inside the Bush administration. Supporters of the idea say it will help prosecutions of child pornography because in many cases, logs are deleted during the routine course of business.

News.com

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The icons pictured above are for the Mac mail app.

I found this great site that offers icons, themes and backgrounds for Windows, Linux and Mac. The icons are super-high quality. I’ve tested the Mac versions, and they are truly amazing.

Be sure to stop by InterfaceLIFT and download some icons!

Got home and found CompUSA had called to notify me my mini was ready for pickup. Yay! That was quick. I dropped it off two days ago and now it’s back home, where it belongs. I’m writing this article with it.

The logic board was dead, so they replaced it. Apple shipped one out and it was installed today. Now that’s what I call service! All my data was there still, no problems. The only thing I had to do was re-activate Photoshop, as Adobe uses some crazy algorithm to decide your activation key, and apparently the logic board has something to do with it…

Long live Mac!

Lady would have been twelve years old today. Happy Birthday!

• See also: The DogViewer

Artist: The Kinks
Album: Kinda Kinks (1965)
Song: Something Better Beginning

I loved this song from way back. I had it on a 1980s Kinks CD, but couldn’t find it anywhere on any compilations. Luckily, Kinda Kinks has been remastered, so I purchased the CD.

Learn more about The Kinks.

A strange thing happened yesterday that may never happen again.

I ordered some pizza from Domino’s around 8:00 pm. I placed my order as usual; the guy asked me for my phone number and I told him what I wanted. About 4 minutes later the pizza guy called back and asked me if I’m in Holyoke (city I live in). I said yes, and he said I’m not going to believe what just happened.

He then proceeded to tell me that right after I ordered, a person that lives in the next town over called to order a pizza. That in and of itself is no big thing, but the guy who ordered right after me just happened to live on a street with the same name as mine, and live in a house with the same number as mine.

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My new Intel Dual Core Duo Mac mini has died. It happened so fast, it didn’t feel a thing. No startup chime. No signs of life, besides a pulsating power light. In short, it’s dead. More to come…

5.24.06 - I just got my Mac back. The logic board needed to be replaced. Apple over-nighted one and CompUSA installed it today. That was super-fast! I wish my DVD drive would have been replaced that quick!

5.22.06 - I dropped the Mac off today at CompUSA. The woman said it’s the logic board, so they are ordering one from Apple. I just hope it’s not on back-order for 3 weeks, like my last repair on another Mac.

Scripted Lizard has hit 100 (now 102) articles posted since August 2005! I didn’t think I’d get to 100 so quickly. On to the next 100!

Amazon Prime is probably the best thing that happened to e-commerce since the web exploded back in 1994. And that means a lot!

For those not in the know, or don’t buy things online like a freak, like me, Amazon Prime is a subscription-based shipping service run by the Amazon.com web site. Basically, you pay $79.00 for one year of service, and you get FREE 2-day shipping on all items Amazon ships, or $3.99 per item for next day delivery.

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After using some god-awful cymbals for many years, I have decided to finally upgrade. I just purchased new 16″ and 18″ Zildjian A Custom Fast Crash cymbals. These cymbals have a strong initial attack, and a smooth, fast decay.

I also purchased a Zildjian A Custom 20″ ride as well. I have included some sound samples so you can hear how great these cymbals sound.

I ended up spending about $600.00 on the three cymbals, but the sound and quality will be worth it. I can’t wait to get my hands on them. They’ll be here next week. Oh, and try the Cymbal Configurator!

Sound samples: 16″ Fast Crash | 18″ Fast Crash | 20″ Ride

Update 05.25.06 - The cymbals and new stands came in today. The FedEx guy was using a rental truck because his broke down. Anyway, they sound really good. When mixed properly, they will sound like a million bucks. Only thing is, now I have to buy another mic stand and another mic so I can mic up the other crash. That will be 8 mics on the kit. That is almost insane!

President Bush gave a speech last night about his plans for a comprehensive immigration policy. In true Bush fashion, he did in all in under 20 minutes, and nobody really knows much more than they knew before.

The only real new idea was a plan for an immigrant ID. This ID would allow immigrants to be tracked, and would allow prospective employers to verify the person whom they are hiring is really who he/she says they are. This would be a really great idea, except for the fact that this does nothing for immigration reform. It may help locating people already here, but without real immigration border control, ID cards will just remind us how much our immigration policies are failed.

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In a new poll comparing President Bush’s job performance with that of his predecessor, a strong majority of respondents said President Clinton outperformed Bush on a host of issues.

The poll of 1,021 adult Americans was conducted May 5-7 by Opinion Research Corp. for CNN. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Respondents favored Clinton by greater than 2-to-1 margins when asked who did a better job at handling the economy (63 percent Clinton, 26 percent Bush) and solving the problems of ordinary Americans (62 percent Clinton, 25 percent Bush).

On foreign affairs, the margin was 56 percent to 32 percent in Clinton’s favor; on taxes, it was 51 percent to 35 percent for Clinton; and on handling natural disasters, it was 51 percent to 30 percent, also favoring Clinton.

Moreover, 59 percent said Bush has done more to divide the country, while only 27 percent said Clinton had.

When asked which man was more honest as president, poll respondents were more evenly divided, with the numbers — 46 percent Clinton to 41 percent Bush — falling within the poll’s margin of error. The same was true for a question on handling national security: 46 percent said Clinton performed better; 42 percent picked Bush.

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Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
Song: Masters Of War

This song is dedicated to George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, for without whom this endless/mindless/lawless war would not have been made possible. The war on terror has become the war on Americans, with the falling of one civil liberty after another. The greatest nation on the face of the planet looks in the mirror, and doesn’t like what it sees.

Learn more about Bob Dylan.

I’m getting a 600GB LaCie Big Disk. That will be my third LaCie drive. Three strikes and I’m done with LaCie. This one better be the one! (Achilles, remember your freezer?)

On a good note, I did rip about 100 CDs into Apple Lossless.

I have finally rid myself of this horrible excuse for a video game system. Yes, I now have an eXbox 360! I sold it on eBay for $335.01, which was a very good price, considering I didn’t think I’d get $150.00. Of course, I paid $800.00 for it, so I lost my shirt on that deal.

In other news, I sold my iMac and an AirPort Express. I still have two Macs, so don’t get the idea I’m jumping ship.

It’s been debated whether or not Fox News’ Jim Angle has shit for brains. Well, there is no more debate– he does indeed have shit for brains!

In what can only be described as censorship in the most obvious light, especially in protecting or trying to protect one from embarrassing, even illegal activity, Jim Angle, when speaking about the resignation of CIA director Porter Goss, refused to tell the public a key issue in what may be a primary reason the director abruptly resigned.

And when I say refused, I mean he flat-out stated to the public we was not going to mention it. WoWz0rz! Can you imagine if it were a Democrat? Clinton even? You’d have to drag him off the set from talking about it all day.

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After defiantly stating that the Star Wars franchise was his, and he could do whatever he wished, George Lucas will now acquiesce and bring the original theatrical versions of the first three (or is that the last three?) movies to DVD.

This new set of DVDs does not constitute “George changing his mind,” says Lucasfilm’s Jim Ward. “What we’ve always said is George viewed the revised versions of the films as the definitive versions.”

Lucasfilm states that the DVD quality won’t be as good as the butchered reissues of the original movies of a few years ago, but it will be good enough, ca. 1993 technology.

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Is Apple really better than a PC? Watch the videos and see for yourself.

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Do you like photographs? Love the art of taking photographs? Well, on one of the many islands of Hawaii, there is a budding picture taker. Check out his web site for more great pictures. He goes by the name of Baron, but I know him as TiKi.

In an effort to to achieve quality and quantity when it comes to my iTunes music library, I have decided to rip all of my CDs using the Apple Lossless format, thus ensuring a much more enjoyable listening experience.

Apple Lossless, as you may have guessed by the name, is a lossless audio format. Simply, this means that when you rip the CD, you are not losing any of the audio quality, like you would when you import songs using a lossy format, like MP3 or AAC.

Bigger Is Better

The upside is that the songs sound great using a lossless format. The downside, maybe, is that the file sizes are BIG, often around 19.5 MB for a 3 minute song. But if you have the HD space, it’s a no brainer; lossless is better. So, having a brain and 1,200 CDs, and a new LaCie mini Hard Drive & Hub (500 GB), my choice was obvious.

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An invention from Royal Philips Electronics prevents TV viewers from switching the channel during commercials or fast-forwarding past commercials when watching DVR content. Viewers would be released from the freeze only after paying a fee to the broadcaster. The freeze would be implemented on a program-by-program basis, giving viewers a choice at the start of each one.

Oh, that’s a super choice, thanks Philips!

Are you @*$!#%^ kidding me? This is one of those stories, if released on April 1st, would have been innocently laughed at, then forgotten about. But truth is scarier than fiction.