Yet another article about the loudness war.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5429

For those who don't know, the Loudness War is the music industry's attempt to make their recordings louder than everyone else's, because research has shown that louder songs get noticed more.

No shit. Sadly the research told them nothing about the quality of the recordings.

There is a hint in the article that current overcompressed music fatigues listeners, and that it might account for the decrease in music sales, but of course there is no proof of this.

The article also talks about future technologies like “Replay Gain” which try to nullify the Loudness War by playing back all songs at the same relative volume.

I agree with Bob Katz, recordings that are overcompressed and radio stations like 93X that blatantly abuse volume compression, forsaking all else for loudness are ruining music, and make it tiring to listen to. Hey, compress the shit out of MP3s because they’re meant to be listened to on laptop speakers and I-pod earbuds. But CDs should take advantage of their dynamic range and richness of sound. Let the consumers wreck the music if they want, but if I'm buying the CD, I can turn the volume knob up myself. I'd much rather have a rich recording that breathes.

I MEAN, WHY DON'T WE JUST TYPE ALL OUR BLOG POSTS LIKE THIS? IT MUST BE BETTER BECAUSE IT GOT YOUR ATTENTION, RIGHT?

KTHXBYE,
-CZ

Labels: Business Phenomena, consumerism, Cultural Observation, music, Music Industry, Technology

Shut off your damn computer! Tomorrow, Saturday 24 Mar 2007 is Shutdown Day!

You can read more about shutdown day at shutdownday.org.

I would take it a step further, and say take a break from technology altogether! Skip the Cellphone and the TV/DVD/Cable/Sattelite, and Things-That-Plug-Into-The-Wall. If the weather is anything like today, it's time to be thinking spring thoughts!

Read a book, or write one.

Take a drive up to Frisky's in Coon Rapids, I think they still deliver food out to your car. If not, Wagner's off of Hwy81 and Broadway will.

Go see a live band.

Clean your garage.

Go on a bike ride around Lake Calhoun.

And if you have a dirty mind like me, just a look at the shutdown logo and see what other low-tech activities come to mind....

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: A Day In The Life, Culture, Technology

We are way beyond the magical year 2000 now. Turns out Nostradamus didn't know shit. The world did not end (unfortunately) and I'm still paying for the end-of-the-world party I had in 1999. (still slightly hungover too...)

So here we are in 2007, and there are 3 things that Should Be, but Are Not.

1) Flying Cars - Where the hell are they already?

2) VR - We been looking forward to Virtual Reality ever since the fucking Holodeck, and the closest we ever got was this crap. Sure the holodeck in Star Trek ended up malfunctioning over half the time, killing hundreds of people, but that's what they make release forms and waivers for, right?

3) Software as a Service, not a Product - Alright, so we ain't been waiting on this one for near as long, but I loaded up the new Adobe Reader 8 and I'm wondering how is this different from version 7? Version 6? Version 3?

What Adobe Reader changed from previous versions is to hide all the buttons people used to use (Like 'Save A Copy'? Yeah, glad you got rid of *that* useless button)and replace them with buttons that should be labeled 'Give Adobe Money For Added Useless Functions!'

For instance - BEYOND Adobe Reader? What the fuck is Beyond Adobe Reader? ***BEYOND*** Adobe Reader? And a meeting button? In Adobe Reader? WTF?

The casual user doesn't use any of those 'Value Subtracted' features, they use it to view PDF files. Let me rephrase that in a parable for Adobe:

[Setting: The Pearly Gates]

God - "Alright mortal, before you can enter Heaven, you must answer this question, and answer it honest and truthfully, or shalt thou forever burn in a fiery pit of, um... of Fire!"

Adobe Reader User (terrified) - "Yes Lord."

God - "Now, What is your favorite color?"

Adobe Reader User (confused) -"???"

God - "Ha! Sorry, just fuckin with you there..."

Adobe Reader User (relieved) - "Whew!"

God - "Right. What is the purpose for Adobe Acrobat Reader?"

Adobe Reader User (sweating) - "Um, to read PDF files?"

God - "Correct!"


No dig against Adobe. Microsoft Money and Intuit's Quicken programs haven't changed functionality in Years and Years, but they have continued to release new versions every year. And Windows? Exactly what I am talking about. Microsoft should hand me a couple million just for making this observation to them.

They have bought into the paradigm that a Software Product is a living, breathing entity, which ebbs and flows like the tide, continually morphing into new and exciting user experiences under the guidance and direction of our marketing department...

...but they are wrong. Sorry, into the fiery pit of Fire with you. Thanks for playing, we have some lovely parting gifts for you.

If you can't write a piece of software and call it done then you don't have a Product. You have a Service. If customers buy your software off the shelf, install it on their computers and never look back, then you have a product. But what we have instead is what I call Version Release Syndrome.

It isn't hard to understand why. You have hundreds of people working on the project. For months. Years. You fine tune, and you beta test, and you work work work. Suddenly, the shareholders scream in unison. The press has been notified, the preorder checks have already been spent, and the market is buckling under the stress of waiting. The drop dead date is etched in bits on the internet. There is no more time, and not enough caffeine in the world.

Somewhere a file is transferred to the duplicator. You just went gold.

After the programmers come out of their comas, then comes all the frustration of shoulda/woulda/coulda. Shoulda added this feature. Woulda got more user feedback. Coulda done more testing. If we only had more time. Here we got this big money-making-machine, and it's a shame to shut it all down now, I mean, what are all these talented people going to *DO* now? The juggernaut has only paused for a breath, and it would be SO DIFFICULT to shut it down, and SO EASY to...

Keep going.

The beauty of the interweb has only enabled this attitude. Software companies can ship unfinished and untested 'product' and provide patches later. Just slip in a clause into the EULA, and bam! You can make money today on software that isn't even finished! Game companies are the most notorious for this, but at least They draw the line on their releases at some point, so they truly are a Product. Imagine if music or movies did this! (although with DVD re-releases and CD remasters this can be done to some extent)

Like Stick says, "This is Not the way."

No. What companies will eventually realize is that software in all its forms, movies, music, e-books, webpages, RSS News Feeds, blogs, and even operating systems should be distributed as services, not products. Charge a subscription for them. In case you didn't know it, you already are, but it's just about the clumsiest system I can imagine.

Instead of trying to trick your customers into upgrading to the new version, get them to sign on as subscribing customers. Which way do you think will make more money? (And DO NOT USE THE WORDS 'LONG TAIL' OR I WILL KICK YOUR ASS!)

AOL understands this. Give the software away. Free. Charge a subscription for the service, like a utility.

This IS the way.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Business Phenomena, Inner Philosopher, Million Dollar Idea, Technology

Ever since computer games have been able to network and play cooperatively (I think the first one I played on a network was Quake...) I have enjoyed the strange phenomenon of the LAN Party.

For those who don't know, a LAN Party is where you lug your computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, game controllers, power cords, extension cables, a myriad of games (and your Windows System Disk, just in case), maybe a USB drive full of games, a mittfull of blank media, chips, and enough caffeine to kill yourself and head over to your buddy's house, spend an evening trying to figure out the intricacies of TCP/IP vs IPX/SPX Protocols. If you are lucky, or have a computer science major, you will be able to network your computers and frag each other to virtual bits, or even better, team up against virtual baddies and overload on virtual ultraviolence until the sun comes up.

Strange, I know. Years from now, when "That 00's Show" comes on, they will show some geeky teen loading up a huge beige computer and monitor into the trunk of their 96 Saturn, and heading off to a LAN Party, and the audience will laugh....

Anyways, with increased bandwidth that broadband gives us, the LAN party seems to be shifting more towards the virtual lounge. Now that my friends have High-Speed connections at home, we can play BF2142 and run Teamspeak on the side, and talk to each other like we were there in the room together. It isn't that different from an actual LAN party - you're mostly making table talk, and you don't make much eye contact, because you're focused on the game.

I agree, it isn't a whole lot of fun to disconnect all that crap and discover how much dust and cat hair is caked on the back of your PC chassis, stuff it all in your vehicle, haul it across town, unpack, hook it all up, only to unpack/set up, then break it all down again, pack it up again, and drive home at some ungodly hour with your brain fried to a crisp on 12 straight hours of caffeine, adrenaline, ultraviolence and Doritos.

But I still enjoy the moments between the games; deprogramming what happened and what others might have missed. There is more to a LAN party than just voice chat. That goes for other things as well.

Can you imagine two people going to different restaurants and keeping the cell phone on the table on 'speakerphone' mode? How different is that than eating dinner together?

Or going to the movies, and sitting next to a laptop with Netmeeting running a wireless video conference with your significant other, so you can watch a movie 'together'?

I can imagine it, and that it's a reasonable temporary substitution if the other person is in China or on the Moon or something, but I wonder if people will end up forsaking personal interaction for simply the audio/video.

Do I even need to mention that myspace "friends" are no replacement for the real thing? Or that porn is no replacement for intercourse? If you've ever seen the movie 'Sleeper' with Woody Allen, or 'Demolition Man' with Sandra Bullock, you will know what I mean.

I doubt that LAN parties will become obsolete, it gives geeks a chance to show off their new hardware, and their pimped-out computer chassis. What good are green glowing neon lights if you don't go show them off?

As the technology gets better, online gaming will probably reduce the number of LAN parties, and that's not all bad, it makes the experience of gaming together more convenient, but also takes away some of its quality - like fast food compared to gourmet food, or like an e-mail compared to a handwritten letter, or a text chat compared to a face-to-face conversation.

And how will geeks ever procreate if they don't mingle? Hey, mooks have country-western bars and geeks have LAN parties.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Inner Philosopher, Technology, Video Games

I'm throwing out my TV and moving the computer into the living room.

Let's see, um Grey's Anatomy, or 'My Hands Are Bananas'?

The internet has all the sex (real sex, not regulated fluff), all the violence (real violence, not the watered-down-made-for-TV violence) and all the stupidity of Network Television in a twelfth the time, with no commercials. Internet wins, no contest.

On third thought, perhaps I should give up on video as a medium altogether. Maybe stick with books, music and video games (should video games count as video media? I'm thinking not, but I could be wrong) as a method of connecting to culture.

"Hi, I'm Conrad, and I play Oblivion and F.E.A.R., I like Nirvana, Pink Floyd, NIN, Motörhead, Marillion, and Metallica (pre-Bob Rock, of course) and I enjoy reading Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman, Chuang Tzu, and Scott Adams. What's that? Cheers? Nope, never seen it. Friends? Sorry. Seinfeld? You know, I actually did see an episode of Seinfeld... no, not that one, sorry... The Twins? You mean Bambi and Thumper the twins down at Lickety Split? What's that? The Twins Sports team? What sports team would have only two people on it, are they like, horseshoes or tennis?"

Oh well, perhaps my media selections are a method of disconnecting from culture...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Culture, Technology

Every now and then, I look to see how the MyLifeBits project is progressing, and I ran across the link above. The goal of the project is for people to be able to record every aspect of their lives to searchable computer files. Every piece of paper you handle, bills, cards, junk mail. Every e-mail. Every phone conversation. Every blog post. Every photo, movie and song. Everything. Even to the point of having video and audio recordings of your daily life stored to terabytes of hard drive space. Your entire life, digitized, tagged, indexed, and archived forever.

Why? Probably because we can. The technology is there, and space is cheap. The limiting factors are having the ability to search such a large quantity of data, and obsolescence of the data format. Just you try to open that old Amiga text file now, you know, the one on the 5.25 floppy disk! It is estimated that data becomes obsolete after about ten years, and that is if you pick your formats carefully. Otherwise, you need to continually convert your data to the latest/greatest format.

Make all the Big Brother jokes you like, but if this technology takes off, it could change personal and social relations Significantly. Imagine these scenarios:

An officer arrives on the scene of an accident, and the five or six people each whip out their pocket pc and playback the audio/video of the events leading up to the accident from their own perspectives.

Instead of saying "I told you so!" or "I never said that!" you could play back the conversation.

Ask your computer "What was that red wine I had on vacation in Chile six years ago?" or "What was my favorite song in 1999?"

Best of all, when you die, hand off the data to your heirs. then they can see what kind of person you really were...

This is phenomenally awesome, and I can't wait...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Technology, Ubercool

Dear MSN and Windows Live Privacy,

Someone over there is either not reading, or not understanding my question. For the THIRD time, please read the clearly outlined question below, and don’t dream of sending me yet another copy of your privacy policy, since what I am asking for IS NOT COVERED THERE.

________________________________

I have read and understood your policies regarding your customer lists, also known as the 'account holders'. I am NOT asking about how that information is treated. I am asking about the Contact data the account holders store using Windows Live. Since this is confusing to you, I will use an example:

Pretend that your customer/account holder (Lets call him Bill Gates) opens his Windows Live Contacts Beta, and he puts in address, phone number, e-mail, birthday, SSN, etc for several people, (Lets call them Sally, Johnny, and Jimmy)

In this case, my question is: What are your privacy policies regarding Sally and Johnny and Jimmy's personal data? Is that data shared in any way, shape or form?

It is disturbing to know that you have access to the information of others and the ability to share it without their permission or knowledge. It is far more disturbing to see that your "Privacy Policy" only regards the account holder (Bill Gates, in our example) and says Nothing at all about how the data of other people (Sally, Johnny, and Jimmy in our example) is treated.

Hopefully you now understand what I am asking, and can send your response to me at your earliest convenience.
_________________________________

Last chance, so you really should try hard with this one.

Sincerely disappointed,
Conrad

Labels: idiots, Open Letter, Technology

Wow. This little ditty was pointed out to me by Avindair

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/wowworld.html

The author, David Wong, attempts to report on the upcoming Plague of Evil poised to sweep humanity away into a digital abyss straight of out a Phillip K Dick novel.

Of course, this is the kind of stuff that makes my Inner Philosopher pitch a Levi Pup Tent, if you know what I mean.

While there is a smattering of truth amidst the chaos, this list is so full of virtual paranoia/conpiracy theory/logic holes, I don’t even know where to start! I guess I will just comment on the list as given:


1. Everyone will look like a Greek god or goddess.
False. But it is true that very few people will look like their real selves. I like the concept of the Awesome You, but it really should be called the Virtual You, or Virt-You or something (Never cared for calling it an ‘avatar’), but not always Awesome, not necessarily Greek, and not necessarily God-like. I can imagine people thinking it is funny running around looking like [fill in name of current elected official here] while some will opt for the Sci-Fi look (Hi, my name is ‘7 of 9,000,000’) I myself would choose a character who constantly changes in all attributes: one moment, I am a 300 lb black woman wearing a muumuu, the next moment; I am a bald 6-year old boy with reptilian eyes; the next moment I am a formless blob of pink goo with 1500 eyes and a shotgun.

2. All will play in the same virtual world.
False. Virtual Worlds will exist side by side on the internet like websites, or the way channels do on television. The only thing they will have in common is the internet as a means of access. Perhaps there may be ways to use your Virtual Profile on multiple worlds, but I doubt it. If Sony or Microsoft are involved in any way, there will be a Proprietary Profile required which is not compatible with any other world....
The reason is supply and demand. If there is only one virtual world, whoever is running it will charge for it. This will undoubtedly prompt others to come out Worlds that are 'cheaper' or 'better' or both. Of course there will be the ‘Gold’ World, and the ‘Platinum’ World and 'Lindsay Lohan' World and so on. Oh, and don’t forget the 'Open Source' World...

3. Someone will go to jail for stealing a Bonebiter.
Doubtful. (I am assuming the author means “someone will go to jail in the Real World for stealing a virtual item off a person in the Virtual World”) The author makes a good point of comparing the theft of a virtual item to the theft of an .mp3, but the difference is that the .mp3 has value for its use in the real world, it is a product, marketed for the purpose of creating income. Meanwhile, a Bonebiter is only useful inside the game world it was created for, and it was only created for use in that world. If Bonebiters were patented and had a UPC code on them, then perhaps the court system might recognize it as a real ‘theft’.
In other-other words, just try to get your insurance company to cover your Sims house, or your Elvish Boots Of Levitation, or your Bonebiter sword. They will be more than happy to explain that Virtual Property is not property (although this could open a new line of business for Sims characters or even Virtual World Moderators...)

4. You'll meet someone who plays an MMORPG for a living.
True. More than true, you may meet teams or even businesses who play the games for a living. It could even become a syndicated sport, and something I would watch any day over any sport which ends with the word “...ball” Good Lord, if people actually watch fucking NASCAR, then clearly there is a desperation to watch people who are good at things, and if driving 500 miles in a circle qualifies, then there needs to be an Everquest Channel. I can even see Quake 5 as a Virtual Olympic sport.

5. They'll take the "G" out of "MMORPG."
True. Everquest already has a >pizza command, that allows you to order a pizza from your local Domino’s THROUGH AN IN-GAME COMMAND. I’m not kidding. So it is a small marketing step to put a ‘Ye Olde Target’ store in downtown World Of Warcraft, where you can buy junk off target.com through your EQ account. Posters for the upcoming Tool Concert will sit on the Town Square Bulletin Board. You can pick up a pair of Lindsay Lohan Barettes +2 vs Split Ends, LL Cool J Boots Of +10 Coolness, and a ‘Please +6 WarHammer Don’t Hurt Em’... Video games will be slathered with more product placement ads than a 10 second clip of NASCAR....
But taking the G out of MMORPG is not all bad. I agree with the author that the virtual world is where concerts and movies will be shown: Who wouldn’t want to wander around on-stage during the next Rush Concert, with their Controls set to View>OtherAudienceMembers>OFF and View>VenueSetting>MartianSunset... Imagine following Frodo through the entire LOTR Trilogy World, seeing everything from his first-person point of view? Sign me up.

6. You will find yourself momentarily forgetting whether you're in the real or virtual world.
True (And a no-brainer at that.) Bring on the holodeck!

7. You'll meet a couple who have been married for years and have never seen each other's real-life faces.
I’m not entirely sure what an ‘online marriage’ would even mean, and the author does not define the term. I think the author would have done better to write, “You will meet people who have worked together for years and never seen each other’s real-life faces”. They might be engineering a new product for years in a virtual lab, or on an Olympic Everquest Dragonslaying Team, but yes, there will come a day when you can actually work for a corporation for years and never see your co-workers in the real world.
This is kind of a pointless point.

8. There will be a branch of government to rule the virtual world.
False. The author dismisses his own point by realizing that any rules to follow would have to be worldwide rules. This would most likely require the dreaded One-World-Government to administrate. Until we are capable of holding a United Nations meeting with all nations meeting amicably, this item is a moot point.
Of course the RealWorld government will use Virtual Worlds to track down people committing RealWorld crimes, but that is not the same issue.
All the author’s arguments here about virtual rape and virtual sex are contrived for shock and amusement only. This point is simply paranoid schizophrenia crossed with a short-deadline creative writing exercise...

9. There will be a whole class of wealthy people without a dime to their name.
True but a non-point. What the author should have said is that “money is meaningless in the virtual world”. Like I said; non-point.
The fact that the author goes on and on about virtual money and virtual property only shows how seriously rooted in the material world he is, and how little he grasps the concept of Virtual Worlds. Virtual Worlds are (at this point) mostly ENTERTAINMENT. People don’t really go to Sims World to work in a virtual factory, any more than people play Pac-Man because they want to eat all the little white pellets lying around. Its a game. Its funny and its fun. Unlike the real world, things in Virtual Worlds are levered in our favor because if people don’t have fun there, they won’t come back.
The magical ‘interface’ the author keeps referring to (which allows Virtual World Travellers to eat, sleep and have sex in the Virtual World) is the Pixie Dust which just shows that the author got all his/her info on virtual reality from the movie “The Matrix”

10. The rise of the metaverse will go almost completely unopposed.
Absolutely False, because this relies on #2 above, which is not true. I have a prediction too: “This author’s predictions will go almost completely unvalidated.”

Surprisingly, after raising all these points against the plague of the supposedly unopposed, unstoppable debauchery of the New (Virtual) World Order, he acquiesces and admits that he welcomes it. Weird..

As much as I don't agree with David Wong's points in this article, his fiction is much better. He is a great writer, and you should seriously check out his latest book. Read it online for free, or better yet, buy a copy. David could use the cash to take a class on investigative journalism.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Open Letter, Technology, Video Games

Alright, for those who don't know, I am (among many other things) 'The I.T. Guy' where I work. And Lo, it came to pass, that on one particular 25th of April in the Year Of Our Lord Two-Thousand-And-Six, that I found myself sitting between two identical computers. Two twins from Dell that have never been more than ten feet apart since their manufacture. Here are the stats for those who care of such things:

Hardware: Dell Optiplex GX100 666MHZ PIII 128MB Ram WinXP SP2 Blah Blah Blah
Software: Acrobat Reader 7, NAV 10, and MS Office Pro 97
Really these are simple Internet/E-Mail/Light Office Use machines. Same hardware, same software (or so I thought).

So I'm updating the antivirus and tossing another 128MB memory in each, when I notice a significant difference in speed between the two machines.

That's right. A Difference between two machines that are supposedly the same. What do you suppose the difference was? Any IT person could tell you, and although I knew it intuitively, I now have proof. The difference was User1 had not loaded any software, but User2 did.

iTunes
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0
Yahoo Toolbar
Cubis Gold

That is all. But that is all it took for User2's computer to open the door for the Adware.180search spyware to crawl onboard and hose the works. The difference in performance is staggering - at least a fifty percent decrease in the speed of User2's computer for common tasks like startup and launching Outlook.

No, little freeware programs that run in the background *aren't* supposed to have any measurable impact on system performance. Sorry, I meant they aren't *supposed* to have any measurable impact. But they do.

Just realize that when your IT person walks away from the initial setup of your machine, IT IS NOT GOING TO GET FASTER. Like when you drove that 1978 GMC Gremlin off the showroom floor, that is the most power, speed, torque, acceleration, etc, you will get from it. Loading Windows onto the computer is like installing a ball hitch and pulling a trailer from the back of it. Every application you add is going to fill up that trailer and slow down the works (unless it removes other applications...) So if you load Weatherbug(shudder), and music software, and every gorram toolbar for Internet Explorer, you will soon end up pulling a trailerhome full of shit.

And then, when you complain to your IT person, "Goodness! I've been meaning to tell you! My computer is So Slow! Whatsoever could be wrong with it?" That IT person goes and blogs about how stupid you are.

Now you know.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: A Day In The Life, idiots, Technology

So studios have now decided to cautiously dip their toe in the tepid, turbulent water of Internet Media Distribution. Guess it isn't a fad after all! Is this a sign that the 'brick and mortar' stores selling media of all types: software, music, video, books... are on the way out?

Of course it is.

Why bundle up and brave the cold to go to Best Buy (No, Not Walmart. Only uninformed people shop at Walmart...) to pick up King Kong 3, when you could just download it from the studio? Not to mention it will be available for download weeks before the first DVD is pressed...

For now, the studios are pretending to actually care about the Brick and Mortar stores which have been the paradigm of business for so long. They have set prices high and quality low. For now. That will change once they realize that a handful of servers and a minimum-wage employee to run them can take the place of packaging and distribution, not to mention ELIMINATING THE MIDDLEMAN.

If you are a middleman, you better realize it now, and adapt or get out. If you don't think the studios and publishers won't put you out of business to make an extra three cents per unit shifted...

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Business Phenomena, Technology

On July 11th In The Year Of Our Lord Two Thousand and Six, The Operating Systems Formerly Known as

-Windows 98
-Windows ME

will be Retired. Finished. Done. No longer supported by either Microsoft or myself. Hardware manufacturers will no longer make drivers for these OS's.

Direct from Microsoft's website:

Microsoft is retiring support for these products because they are outdated and can expose customers to security risks. We recommend that customers who are still running Windows 98 or Windows Me upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible.

Customers who upgrade to Windows XP report improved security, richer functionality, and increased productivity.


Basically, continuing to run these operating systems is like leaving the large, plastic, glowing snowman and candy canes in your frontyard until July. Looking for patches and drivers for these old systems would be like trimming the grass that has grown up around them.

Worse yet, when some 10-year old hacker from Holland figures out a security flaw in your Windows 98 system, there will be no patch. No fix. No 'download to make it all better.'

So unless you have a computer that is completely offline, and you only use Notepad to keep family recipes on it, then you really might consider changing over to something supported. Like Linux. Or Windows XP. Or just go back to using a paper dayplanner and calendar.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: Technology

[The following is an Open Letter to the Open Source Believers out there...]

There was a time when many people thought we could all just live together in Harmony with the world, like Thee Olden Dayse of Yore. Someone would farm, someone would bake the bread, someone would herd the sheep (Since there would be no need for a King, I would be the Hangman...) and we would All Just Get Along Together. I do believe this theory (Communist, Socialist, Whateverist-you-wantist-to-call-it-ist) would work, just as long as everyone actually puts in, and everyone gets what they give. Of couse, we have never seen this work in government, because no government has ever done it. (Although some small, isolated communities in Micronesia might be doing this. And I would even bet *they* use the Metric system, unlike SOME COUNTRIES WE MIGHT NAME...but I digress...)

I have heard people who agree with this philosophy called TreeHuggers.

I see this same paradigm in software today. There are those who think we can just All Program Along Together, Also known as The Open Source Movement. If everyone applies their collective brainpower and coding ability to a problem, it will easily get solved. Even those who are merely end users can contribute by providing constructive feedback, thinking up features, and beta testing. Bam, we all win.

I suggest the word BitHugger be used for individuals who believe that software can be developed this way. I don't mean for this to be a derogatory term, it just seems to fit nicely, and makes some intuitive sense.

I surprised myself to discover that I don't really think that software can be maintained this way for long. Projects like Linux and OpenOffice are phenomenal, and prove that it Can be done, but right now, there is the pervasive "Microsoft Is Evil" philosophy that fuels the online community to work hard at "Sticking it to the Man!" Dude! It's the new Revolution! Make a program just like Windows, and give it away for FREE! HA HA HA! BLOW ME BILL GATES!!! HAHAHAHAHAH....

But what happens once The Man is gone? What happens when Microsoft is bought out and disbanded by Google, and Bill Gates has to fall back on his mad skillz (whatever those are?) What happens once some new bug is discovered in OpenOffice, and now there is NO ALTERNATIVE? Some 13-year-old Hacker in Seattle figures out the fix, and sits there with her finger on the [Submit to CVS] button...and realizes...

"Why should I send this to the world for free?"

Of course, she quickly offers the patch (for a reasonable price) and becomes "THE MAN".

Here in The United States of A-more-ica, we work for a purpose. Always. Coding may be entertainment for some sick individuals, but at some point, you need a continued motivation to continue working. Once the "stick it to the man" fuel runs out, and you aren't getting paid to fix bugs, what are you working for? Prestige? The Golden Code Award?

The only thing for certain is that Americans will not work for free, which is why I believe that the BitHugger philosophy will be short lived.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: New Word, Open Letter, Philosophy, Programming, Technology

OK...Any fucking day now...Any microsecond now... Oh, wait. I forgot, we don't use "micro" round here unless it's followed by "soft", because unlike every other civilized country in the world,

WE HAVENT SWITCHED TO THE FUCKING METRIC SYSTEM YET!!!

Miles Per Hour?
Gallons?
Inches?
Pounds? (And the impossible abbreviation: lb ??? WTF???)

Come on Engineers, make the fucking switch already.

Blog on,
-CZ

Labels: americans, rant, Technology, Ubersuck

Anyone who is not a fool knows that Real Networks, Inc. is Real Fucking Evil, too evil, even for me in fact, so I am looking forward to trying out this alternative to RealPlayer. Thanks to cleansoftware.org for the link

-C

Real Alternative will allow you to play RealMedia files without having to install RealPlayer or RealOne Player from Real Networks. Supports content embedded in web pages, RealAudio (.ra .rpm), RealMedia (.rm .ram .rmvb .rpx .smi .smil), RealText (.rt), and ReadPix (.rp). Comes packaged with Media Player Classic (MPC) and codecs.>

[CleanSoftware.org - Free software, no nasties!]

Labels: Cool Product, Technology

It will be broadcast on FM radio.

For those of you lucky enough to be in the area of Lake St. Minneapolis on Oct 28th tune in the Revolution on 97.7FM as independant low-watt radio stations hit the airwaves for a block or two.

Revolt on,
-C

Labels: Technology, Ubercool

Stuff like this has been under construction for a long time now. I'm surprised we haven't seen it yet. But it won't be long till all motor vehicles will be equipped with 'black boxes' to record position, speed, etc. Is this a good thing?

I would say it's not quite enough. The 'black box' under consideration would only record data, much like aircraft. I think it should transmit live data to sattelite for instant Big Brother monitoring.

You know those S.O.B.s in S.U.V.s driving as though possessed by the ghost of Dale Earnhardt who swing back and forth on the highway as though the other vehicles on the road were pylons? Wouldn't it be great if Big Brother Computer In The Sky could instantly shut down their vehicle, cell phone and checking account, while dispatching a robot to kick their ass? And then, do the exact same thing to the morons who slow down to watch! One step closer to paradise if you ask me.

Speed on (while you can),
-C

Labels: Cool Product, Culture, Technology

Now here is something new; a cellphone blessed by the Chinese Goddess of the Sea.

Or, check out this phone for our Islamic friends, "will feature an integrated compass for praying to Mecca and an alarm to keep you on schedule for your five daily prayers."

So where is the Catholic Pope-ma-phone that shames you, automaticlly blocks any numbers starting in 976, and constantly reminds you to call your mother?

Blog on,
-C

Labels: Cool Product, Technology

Again, I say: about freaking time. My cell phone junked out on me, and I replaced it with a Motorola flip-phone, and I am completely Underwhelmed. You can mistake these things for the cheap plastic shit you get out of the coin-operating vending machines at the entrance of grocery stores. They can engineer the phones as small as a book of matches, but never think to change the format (remember the tiny flip phone in Zoolander?). Millions of dollars on marketing research for useless information like "Brushed Nickel is the New Black" and "People on their cell phones cause lots of motor vehicle accidents" but they never tried to hold a flip phone up to their ear with their shoulder to free up their hands while driving and eating a salad with chopsticks. That's real-world design research, pal. So, years later, some engineer sees an episode of Star Trek, and thinks, "Hey, what a great idea! A cell phone you can wear! Well, you could use that without your hands!"

NO SHIT, Sherlock.

On and on,
-C

Labels: Technology, Uncool Products

Here's a great April Fools joke you can play on a friend who has a swimming pool. Fill it with this stuff...

-C

Labels: Cool Product, Technology

Just ran actross and article in BBC News, Real pain dulled in virtual worlds

"Virtual analgesia is founded on the principle of distracting the attentional resources of the brain. "

Welcome to my world; I am constantly distracted, and don't notice any particular dulling of pain. Hey Robert Nozik, your machine is ready...

Would you computer science people get on the ball and roll out some real Virtual Reality already? At least have the damn thing ready by the time I retire so I can subscribe to a nice virtual retirement home while actually living under the Washington Ave Bridge...

-C

Labels: Cool Product, Technology