A site that breaks down the Mandarin phrases used in the Serenity universe. One of my favorites:
???????????????????????
"WUOshang mayer, maysheen, BYEN shr-to"
"I will close my ears and my heart and I will be a stone"
River, continuing to pray in Chinese after breaking into English [novelization, p. 207]
links for 2009-02-28
New laptop (part 2)
After a couple of weeks with a new Dell Studio XPS 13, it was obvious that it was not the laptop for me. Don't get me wrong, it was a fine machine, but with Vista 64-bit and my complete inability to succesfully "upgrade" it to Vista Ultimate 32-bit (yes, I tried to wipe and re-install).
So, with little hope but a "worth a shot" attitude, back to Best Buy I went. After a quick chat with the most helpful people at the Lohr Road (thanks Stefani and Ken!), I swapped the Dell for a MacBook (last of last year's models); never had to pull out a card.
So far, I'm still getting used to the MacBook. The keyboard layout is just different enough that I keep hitting the Caps Lock key instead of "a", and I do miss the backlit keyboard, but so far so good.
I've never actually owned a Mac before, so this is going to be an interesting trip.
So, with little hope but a "worth a shot" attitude, back to Best Buy I went. After a quick chat with the most helpful people at the Lohr Road (thanks Stefani and Ken!), I swapped the Dell for a MacBook (last of last year's models); never had to pull out a card.
So far, I'm still getting used to the MacBook. The keyboard layout is just different enough that I keep hitting the Caps Lock key instead of "a", and I do miss the backlit keyboard, but so far so good.
I've never actually owned a Mac before, so this is going to be an interesting trip.
2009 SXSW Music Is Out
As with previous years, the SXSW music has been released to the 'net. And, like last year, it was up to the fans to seed a torrent of the 5 gigs of music (because it's too hard for the organizers to promote their own event, apparently).
Well, the seeds are up and available for your downloading pleasure. Get them here.
[via Metafilter]
Well, the seeds are up and available for your downloading pleasure. Get them here.
[via Metafilter]
links for 2009-02-23
"In one sense, all of this drooling rage is nothing more than the familiar face of extreme right-wing paranoia..."
This has to stop. Propaganda has changed to hate speech.
links for 2009-02-19
We LOVE the Netflix streaming service, but the Xbox fan running while watching is driving me nuts. This review isn't pushing me to buying another device, though.
Pricing Fail
Dear Amazon,
Fix this:
$0.99 x 10 < $9.99. I know it's less than a dime, but come on. How hard is it to write a check for this?
Fix this:
$0.99 x 10 < $9.99. I know it's less than a dime, but come on. How hard is it to write a check for this?
Diether Haenicke, former WMU president, dies at 73
A great President and someone who actually mattered to many students at Western in a very personal way.
I was never fortunate to meet him personally, but he authorized a grant for me to attend a writing conference (after being shot down hard by the Dean).
He was intensely dedicated to the University and it and the city were better for it. The entire system--and Kalamazoo in general--has lost one of it's great advocates.
Diether Haenicke, former WMU president, dies at 73
I was never fortunate to meet him personally, but he authorized a grant for me to attend a writing conference (after being shot down hard by the Dean).
He was intensely dedicated to the University and it and the city were better for it. The entire system--and Kalamazoo in general--has lost one of it's great advocates.
Diether Haenicke, former WMU president, dies at 73
I do love being in the tower
Looking north from the tenth floor of Wolverine Tower in Ann Arbit, MI.
links for 2009-02-07
Convert a log from one type to another, such as a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 log to a Windows XP log, or a binary log file (.blg) to a comma-separated values (.csv) file.
In the event of light posting...
Be sure to check out my Google Reader Shared Items. That page has many of the posts I share, along with the occasional comment from yours truly. I post a lot more stuff to that link than the main page, so I encourage you to subscribe/bookmark/monitor that URL along with this fabulous page.
Confessions of a Closet Singer
I can, sort of, sing. By "sort of", I mean that I can hit notes with some accuracy within a fairly limited range. I can, sort of, do falsetto. I can add vibrato, if it's in my very limited range. Basically, I can sing anything baritone as long as it doesn't require, yah know, strength.
I have surprising power in the mid ranges. Ok, surprising to someone who doesn't or can't sing; not so surprising if you nailed lead on your high school Into The Woods audition. In a different vein, I have Open Mic Power; I can belt out that pop hit from the 90's like no one's business.
The unfortunate consequence of this is: I think I can sing. And I can't. I mean, I enjoy singing and nothing will really stop me from doing so. Well, accept an audience. I sing in the car, the den, when I think no one's listening. But I don't seek out venues to sing anymore.
To top it off, I'm a friggen prude about it too. I won't sing karaoke, I won't belt out in a public event with religious music (funerals or weddings), I don't even attempt anything atonal. I'm not A Singer, but I like to sing. I'm the singer in the closet, the shower crooner, a Pocket Elvis. (OK, maybe not Elvis... I can't dance.)
But I want to sing. It's seriously a bad thing. I think I can, I've heard that I can. I actually know that I can, in limited capacities (Kalamazoo '98 Open Mic!) But that was a decade and a lifetime ago.
Does that make me old, sad... both?
Em, come back
Guy Adams from The Independent tracks down Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers). A classic rise and fall story, but one that needs one more chapter. Come back, Slim, if not for yourself, then for Detroit. Lord knows that city needs a voice again.
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