The Raging Tech

A Terminal Case of the Mondays

So yesterday, hanging out with friends and gaming lasted until about 11:30pm. Which is crazy, because we started around 4:30pm. That’s more time than I’ve ever wanted to spend in a library. That’s almost like a work day. But it sure was fun.

After the games, I stopped by and hung out with my friends Marq and Mia, and talked about some things going on with my gaming group. It’s always fun to hear other people’s perspectives on things like group dynamic and playing styles.  We also talked about the fun time we had the night before going to a club in Asheville.

That’s right, I had my first trip to a night club. I’m totally on a slippery slope to hell. Just kidding. I went and danced. I didn’t drink at all because I was driving (not to mention they charge too much at club bars), and I had a pretty good time. As things started to die down, several of me and my friends moved up to several of the elevated platform-stage things and danced up there, where we could look down over the whole dance floor.

If I Could Turn Back Time

If I could turn back time, I’d probably turn it back to this morning, when I was still in bed. Then I’d like to freeze it there, so I could enjoy my sleepy-time antics for a long, long time. But alas, I cannot - despite the musical pleadings of Cher.

Speaking of Cher - she’s rumored to be working on her twenty-sixth (26th) studio album. Holy cow! That’s a lot of albums. She’s apparently a very prolific artist. I almost feel bad I’m only faintly acquainted with a few of the more famous top hits that she put out.

Also neat - Cher is slated to replace Celine Dion at Caesar’s Palace on a permanent basis, taking up a performance slot next to another prolific singer / actress, Bette Midler. If you have a trip to Vegas planned, make sure to grab Cher tickets at Ceasar’s Palace.

I am admittedly not usually one to yell “Hey, crank up the Cher!” at a party, but you have to give it to the woman - she’s ridiculously rich and good at what she does. I wish more people in the music industry would realize that it’s not just about having the musical talent, but you also have to have style and showmanship.

Pandora Music Radio

If you haven’t already, you should definitely point your browser over to Pandora, previously covered here. They’ve updated the interface, but the concept is still the same - you go create a radio station based on an artist or band you enjoy, or a song you really like. Then, they try to match that as closely as possible. You can fine tune your personalized station in two fairly easy ways:

1. Add more artists you like: If you like Gnarls Barkley, but you also want some girl rock in there, you might add artist Flyleaf to your station.

2. Vote on music you like or don’t like: Give it a thumbs up and the song will keep playing, and Pandora will learn what you like. Give it a thumbs down and the song stops playing and moves on to the next selection. Pandora also has options to turn on or off the songs flagged as possibly inappropriate or adult language or content.

You can also create more than one station, for free! Pandora is advertising supported, and run by the Music Genome project. If you find an indie artist you like, support them by following the links to buy the tracks on iTunes or Amazon, and you’ll also be supporting Pandora.

My Weekend Update

So this past weekend went pretty well. Friday, I went to see Asheville band Dawn of the Dude, and it was a pretty entertaining show! It’s always awesome to see a good band that also has good showmanship. It’s one thing to be a good musician and a good artist, but it’s another talent altogether to entertain an audience while putting on a performance of your music. To me it just creates a more personal feel.

After the concert, several of us came back to my house and we played a game called “A Thousand Blank White Cards,” and much hilarity ensued. That was followed up by our traditional late-night trip to Huddle House for breakfast. I got to bed around 6:30am Saturday morning.

I slept through most of Saturday, got up around 4pm and hung out around the house. My roommate and his girlfriend and I sat around watching some TV, and I drank a couple of my birthday presents and then went to bed. I did make it to church the next morning, and was glad to see some of my church friends I’ve missed for a couple weeks. I came home and relaxed around the house and then watched the Super Bowl with some friends (Go Giants!). Afterwards, we watched House, and then I fell asleep talking to the girl I have a second date with tonight. All-in-all, not a bad weekend at all.

A Word on Shout-Outs

A “Shout-Out,” according to UrbanDictonary.com, is:

1. A message to friends, family, etc. lodged on a radio station, web site, or other popular medium.
2. An inane activity chowing up airwaves, electricity, and bandwidth.

You’ve heard them before. Some douche bag gets fifteen seconds of fame on the television or radio, and the first thing they ask the host is if they can give a “shout-out” to their “homeys” back home in “Who-Gives-a-Crap-ville.” This is one of the stupidest things to plague modern media.

It’s perfectly fine if you’re important or on a game show and the host says “So, is there anyone back home you’d like to say hello to while you’re on television?” You know, as long as your list isn’t more than two or three people. Do not name everyone from the ghetto you’ve ever met.

That being said, I’d like to give quick “shout-out” to my readers from Littleton. I’ve been watching the site stats lately and, even though I’ve never been there or written anything pertaining to Littleton, I seem to be gathering a small following there. So, rock on, Littleton! I hope getting a “shout-out” here makes your day. Be sure and tell all your friends your town got mentioned today on The Raging Tech!

The Point Blank Critic

My friend just recently decided to start his own review blog called The Point Blank Critic. He’s really into trying new kinds of beer, Apple (Mac) computers and products, music, movies, video games, and technology in general. He also happens to be a pretty good cook, and one of my best friends. These last two interests are not necessarily cause-and-effect, but being a good cook is a nice bonus to have in a friend.

For his first blog post, he’s started what he says will be a regular event: Free Drink Friday - where he hopes to review a different beer weekly. The goal: to save people from horrible, cheap, piss-water beer. He does not claim to be a beer snob; The Point Blank Critic will be reviewing national brands as well as local breweries and microbreweries. From what I know of him, there’s more good reviews in store. Be sure and bookmark The Point Blank Critic at PointBlankCritic.com.

MacWorld 2008: Updates, Movies, and Macbook Air

Steve Jobs came onto the stage to the cheers and clapping of all the major tech blogs and magazines and attendees at MacWorld today. Among the excitement of the keynote address were four major announcements. I’ll give Steve credit, he’s succinct in his keynotes. The four major announcements are:

1) iPhone Apps on the iPod Touch (or iTouch). Those of you with iPod Touches who know people with iPhones have probably been pretty jealous of the missing apps that were previously available only on the iPhone, unless you used the hack to get them on there already. The bad news: unless you’re buying a new one now, you’ll have to pay $20 for an upgrade to get the new features. WTF, Apple?

2) iTunes Movie Rentals. Apple knows no one wants to rent their music - that’s why they chose a different business model than Napster or Real Rhapsody. But movies - consumers often rent movies, and are doing it in so many ways these days. So Apple has now made movie rentals available via iTunes. $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases. Fox was among the major studios to partner with Apple to bring movie rentals to iTunes. Also, Warner, Universal, Paramount, and others were on board.

3) Free Software Update. With Apple’s new movie rental system on iTunes, you will now be able to (thanks to a free software update coming in about two weeks) watch those movies on your AppleTV, iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch, and your Mac. For new purchases, the software should already be included effective today. Also, the UI for the AppleTV has been completely redone and looks amazing.

4) Macbook Air. As if end users didn’t have enough name and brand-recognition to deal with, the MacBook Air seeks to fill the Apple void in the thin notebook market by being less than an inch thick at either end. It’s so small you can fit it in a manila envelope and weighs less than 3 pounds. It’s touch pad also has multi-touch sensing, and uses patented gesture technology like the iPhone and iPod touch to let you use two fingers to navigate, zoom, and manipulate photos, documents, and more. Main downside: no optical drive, but Apple has new software to let you share optical drives from another Mac for installation. Of course, at the conclusion of the MacWorld Expo 2008 keynote address, tutorials and videos appeared on the Apple website.