The 2 Girls, 1 Cup Song (Vocal NSFW)
Monday, 12 May 2008
I was just reading a blog post on this very topic on ZDNet and it reminded me that I’ve felt this way for a long time.
UnixUnity™ is needed if a Unix-like Open Source OS is ever going to really catch on with the masses.
What Linux (er “GNU/Linux”) has going for it is that when it comes to Desktop users, no other Unix-like OS can compete. But there are too damn many flavors of it (distributions). But Linux has the most apps, period. It also has the most users and therefore the most resources available to it’s users.
After all, the FreeBSD “ports” are named so because most of them really are ports - of Linux apps.
And OpenSolaris has a long way to go to catch up with FreeBSD in terms of the number of available applications.
And maybe just maybe, if we narrowed it down to a handful of Unix-like operating systems (instead of dozens), and got focused on really being the best, we (notably the Linux community) could stop wasting time bashing other Operating Systems.
Regardless of the outcome, I’ll use any OS. I never used one that I didn’t (dis)like. But for the time being, most of my time will be spent in (Ubuntu) Linux.
In the meantime, I just learned of the release of OpenSolaris 2008.5. It’s the first official release of the new and improved “Ubuntu-like” version of OpenSolaris. And compared to previous incarnations of Solaris, it rocks. The difference is like night and day. Â We can thank Ian Murdock (and many others) for this. It’s long overdue.
Anyway, I gave it a shot and I was very impressed. Unfortunately the availability of software is very limited, but at least this is a start. Â In addition, it won’t run on my computer. Apparently my hardware is too strange/old for that. Â I’ve got it running in VirtualBox (for the most part). Â It’s a great start, I look forward to it getting even better.
Anyway, if you’re a Linux user (or even if you’re not) with an open mind, I’d recommend checking out OpenSolaris, DesktopBSD and/or PCBSD. They are all Linux alternatives focused on ease of use and are (generally) as easy to set up as the the most user-friendly Linux distros are now.
Me of course, I’ve got 3 Linux distros and Windows Vista (!) installed on my hard drives and 3 more Linux distros, OpenSolaris & FreeBSD running in virtual machines.
Why? Because I can. ![]()
Pardon me whilst I bore you with this very very very long post.
Madonna Maniac that I am, I pre-ordered her new CD, Hard Candy from Amazon.com. And naturally I went for the “Candy Box Special Edition“. Unfortunately it’s not yet arrived (I’m hoping for today).
I own all of her CDs save for the collections/compilations From those I just have the singles for each of the previously unreleased tracks (no need to pay for something I otherwise already owned).
Oh wait.. I do have You Can Dance (and come to think of it, it was the first CD I ever bought. I bought it the same day I got my first CD player back in 1987).
Anywho, I remember back in the day, before most people (save for those who went clubbing regularly or listened to “Urban Contemporary” radio) ever heard of her, I had her first LP (this was a few years before CDs mind you). Holiday still remains my fave track from it. It’s a classic.
And amazingly she turns 50(!) this August. And she’s till got it (imnsho).
So in her honor, I present my MP3 playlist from yesterday.
| Title | Album |
|---|---|
| Sorry | Confessions On A Dance Floor |
| Sorry (Man With Guitar Mix) | Sorry [DJ Version] EP/Single |
| Jump [Extended Album Version] | Jump EP/Single |
| Jump [Axwell Remix Edit] | Jump EP/Single |
| Hung Up (SDP Extended Vocal) | Hung Up [DJ Version] EP/Single |
| Hung Up (Tracy Young’s Get Up And Dance Groove) | Hung Up [DJ Version] EP/Single |
| Ray of Light | Ray of Light |
| Frozen | Ray of Light |
| Music | Music |
| Express Yourself | Like A Prayer |
| Like a Virgin (extended dance remix) | Like a Virgin |
| True Blue (The Color Mix) | True Blue |
| Cherish | Like A Prayer |
| Papa Don’t Preach [Extended Remix] | Super Club Mix EP/Single [Australia] |
| Everybody (Extended Version) | Super Club Mix EP/Single [Australia] |
| Lucky Star (New Mix) | Madonna |
| Borderline | Madonna |
| This Used To Be My Playground | Something To Remember |
| Something To Remember | I’m Breathless |
| 4 Minutes | Hard Candy |
| Dress You Up | Like a Virgin |
| Hollywood | American Life |
| I Love New York (Thin White Duke Remix) | Get Together (Remixes)Â EP/Single |
| The Power of Goodbye | Ray of Light |
| Don’t Tell Me | Music |
| Live to Tell | True Blue |
| Crazy For You | Something To Remember |
| I’ll Remember (Theme From The Motion Picture “With Honors”) | Something To Remember |
| Get Together | Confessions On A Dance Floor |
| Rescue Me | The Immaculate Collection |
| Fever | Erotica |
| Bedtime Story | Bedtime Stories |
| Take a Bow | Bedtime Stories |
| Rain | Erotica |
| What It Feels Like for a Girl | Music |
| Justify My Love | The Immaculate Collection |
| Erotica | Erotica |
| Secret | Bedtime Stories |
| Deeper And Deeper | Erotica |
| History | Jump |
| One More Chance | Something To Remember |
| You’ll See | Something To Remember |
| Survival | Bedtime Stories |
| Human Nature | Bedtime Stories |
| Give It 2 Me | Hard Candy |
| Ring My Bell | Hard Candy |
| Like A Prayer (12″ Club Version) | Remixed Prayers |
| Holiday | Madonna |
| Candy Shop | Hard Candy |
| Vogue (12” version) | Vogue EP/Single |
The *.ubuntu.com sites are typically swamped on release days and today (as of this writing) is no exception.
Here’s how to avoid the crunch (and ubuntu.com alltogether) and get your Ubuntu CDs.:
I hope you found this helpful.
Ripping CDs is still the best.
I happened upon a blogger writing about the merits of Amazonmp3 vs iTunes. Â He’s right, Amazon kicks iTunes ass, but ripping CDs is still the best way to go.
Rip a CD to FLAC files and you’ll get better sound than from any other format (e.g. MP3, Windows Media Audio [WMA] - or Apple’s AAC). You’ll need a player that will play FLAC (they are out there but there aren’t many) or you’ll need the Rockbox firmware for your iPod.
I love FLAC (the files are huge compared to mp3 but if you’ve got a good home stereo, you will notice the difference)
I don’t own an iPod or anything from it’s competition myself. I’ve never seen a need for one. But I like having FLAC and (some) MP3 files because my computer is my “home stereo” (I invested in good speakers). And I’ve got an external hard drive that’s my “digital jukebox”. It’s a 250 GB drive that right now has about 150GB of music on it.
85% of those files are files I ripped from CDs. CDs are still the best.
Why? Well, you get a permanent backup if your hard drive dies or your mp3 player gets lost or stolen (yeah, I suppose you can back up your iTunes stuff to CD/DVD but even then it’s on a recordable disk that can end up with corrupted data - and it’s still fucked up with DRM).
But mostly the thing for me is, I’m old school (and old). I remember buying records in the 1970s and I actually read the liner notes.
I like liner notes and you don’t get that if you buy your music from iTunes or Amazonmp3 (or steal it). You do get them if you buy CDs (although you often need a magnifying glass to read them - but at least they are there).
I have used both iTunes and Amzonmp3 and there’s no question, Amazon is superior. But they are both best for that song you like but you don’t want an whole album/CD.
Another great electronic download option is eMusic (which is #2 (!) in online download music music sales). A lot of people don’t know they exist but those of us who do love them).
eMusic (like Amazon) offers high-quality DRM-free MP3s for download. The difference is, you pay a subscription fee instead of buying each individual track (or album). However, the tracks are yours forever. It’s not “renting” like you do with  others like Rhapsody or Yahoo! Music Engine.
eMusic is a great bargain. The catch is most of their music is not stuff you’ll hear on the Radio, or see on the Billboard charts. It’s indie stuff, but in many different genres.
They also have a lot of “catalog” stuff by artists that are well known (or used to be).
But I digress…
iTunes is for people who are too ignorant to know any better. DRM sucks ass.
if you are a iTunes fan, your best option is to switch to buying CDS - and/or go with amazonmp3.
Oh wait… there is good old fashioned stealing music on the Internet, but most of what you get there is crap (from 14-year olds who know nothing about ripping a CD to a good quality mp3 - let alone FLAC). I soured on stealing music several years ago).
But when it comes to whole albums, nothing beats buying the CD. That beats amzonmp3 (and most definitely iTunes) any day.
If you can spare 37 minutes, you have got to watch this most awesome video.
Barack Obama, who has impressed me from day one (and always has great speeches) made possibly the best speech of his career today.
It’s been all over the news. If you’ve not seen it in it’s entirety here’s your chance. It’s well worth the time.
Among other things, it answers the criticism he’s gotten over stuff his Pastor has said recently and in the past (but that’s only part of it).
And here is the complete text of the speech:
… in downtown Atlanta touched down about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from where I once lived.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has admitted that he had been involved in a prostitution ring. In fact, his involvement was that he was a client of one of the prostitutes!
What the hell was this guy thinking? At least Bill Clinton wasn’t with a prostitute. Spitzer could end up on federal charges because he arranged for the prostitute to cross state lines (and of course he could be charged in D.C. as well).
Clinton said he did it “because he could” but obviously he had problems in his marriage. At the very least, Spitzer’s marriage is SERIOUSLY messed up. It had to be, he was risking waaay to much to hire a prostitute (not to mention the hypocrisy of the “law and order stances he’s taken as Governor AND former Attorney General(!) ).
Technorati tag: Spitzer
would bring my total to 100!
Scott’s Installed Firefox Addons/Extensions: [92]
Installed Themes: [2]
Installed Plugins: (13)
List Generated with MR Tech’s Toolkit: Tue Feb 26 2008 06:20:03 GMT-0700 (MST)
Originally uploaded to flickr by bipolarbeary
I love this photo. I wish I’d taken it.
I almost never watch them. I think the last time I saw them was whatever year OutKast was on performing  Hey Ya!.
Most of the show generally bores me to tears. I love music, but the show still bores me. Â And of course there are the categories that I don’t care about (e.g. Country).
On the other hand, every year I find out what I missed; and inevitably there were one or two performances I would have loved to have seen.  One of theses days I’ll get smart, record the show, wait a day or two till I hear what was good and then fast forward to those parts.
This time I wish I’d seen The Time with Rhianna. Â For those that saw the show, I’m actually more interested in the former than the latter (although I do like Rhianna). However, Jam and Lewis are musical geniuses. And Morris Day (and his “attitude”) always cracked me up.
If The Time ever has (another?) a reunion tour, I’d be among the first to buy tickets.
It’s funny, this post came about thanks to a  blog entry I “stumbled upon“.  It’s a (rather negative) review. It’s too bad the writer can’t spell “Grammys”.
Technorati tags:  The Time, Jimmy Jam. Terry Lewis, Grammys
Well well well.. whaddaya know!
This is either great or awful news. If Microsoft ends up buying Yahoo! what will happen to FoxyTunes?
I’m particularly concerned about Linux compatibility (and not to mention, that FoxyTunes name came from the browser that it was originally designed for…
Atlanta (The Georgia Dome, Atlanta - 1994*, 2000)
(Metro) Phoenix (Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe -1996 & University of Phoenix Stadium**, Glendale - 2008).
- OK, then..Super Bowl XLII proved once again that New York rules.
- First and foremost, New York, New York is a city so nice, they named it twice.
![]()
- The New York Times is not only the “hometown” newspaper for the New York Giants***, but it’s also the “hometown” paper (sort of) for the New England Patriots. How so? It’s simple really. Both The New York Times and The Boston Globe are divisions of The New York Times Company.
- Oh yeah, and that other thing…. The Giants won today.
*When Atlanta first hosted the Super Bowl in 1994, I was not (yet) living there. I lived in Phoenix from 1982 to 1996 and later, 2004 to present. I lived in Atlanta from 1996 to 2004 (and I wish I’d never left).
**As you will note above, despite it’s tile, the University of Phoenix Stadium is not in Phoenix.
***Yes, I know the “New York Giants” actually play in New Jersey! Picky, Picky! ![]()
Do you know anyone in the San Diego, California area with a room to rent? I’ve got a friend who is desperately in need of one (preferably dog friendly).
She her ad on Craigslist for specifics.
Thanks.
Is your website as stale as this?
It’s nice to see that Yahoo! is jumping on the OpenID bandwagon. That just leaves Google and Microsoft. I supect we’ll see the former before the latter. Microsoft does , it but only via Windows CardSpace. That’s means a smaller audience than the other guys. I’d like to see them support it via regular a Window Live/MSN ID.
Google only supports it via Blogger commenters. I’d llike to see Google support it via your plain old Google ID. I can’t imagine we will have to wait too long for that to become a reality.
I’ll probably end up with Yahoo! when all is said and done.
Meanwhile, I use OpenID on a number of sites. My problem is I can’t decide on one provider and I often forget which one I use where. I started off with LiveJournal (which is where OpenID originated) and then later, Vox and more recently AOL (in my case I use my AIM ID). What I’d like is to use a more “neutral” provider that I know won’t be going out of business next week.
I know all of the above are pretty safe bets. They won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, but I think I like the idea of Google or Yahoo! best
The Yahoo! beta starts on the 30 January. I hope Google gets around to it pretty soon as well.
In the meantime I guess I’ll stick with my mix of LJ, Vox and AOL. I hope that there is an easy way to switch from one to the other on the sites I use them on. So far, I’ve not seen that such a thing exists. Starting over would suck.
Gawker has been been a hot topic as of late around the blogsphere and in the media.
Between Nick Denton firing much of the (now former) staff to the infamous Nick Douglas post describing (among other grossness on teh Internets) 2 Girls, 1 Cup.
After that post, Gawker-watchers said that Gawker had finally “jumped the shark“. Even the New York Times has written about it.
My biggest fear is when Gawker finally (deservedly) does die, that it doesn’t take it’s parent company (Gawker Media) with it.
I like a number of their sites. It would be a shame to see them all go. I’d miss Consumerist, Gizmodo, Fleshbot, Valleywag and most of all, my beloved Lifehacker.
I can’t imagine that Gawker would take it’s sister sites with it, but you never know. If this does happen, let’s hope the editors of the sites I’ve mentioned (are you listening, Gina?) have already made alternate plans to keep their sites going.