Harmony Pirate Rotating Header Image

I’m a Jesse Thorn Fan

Jan 26th, 2012
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

I really like what Jesse Thorn is doing with MaximumFun.org and PutThisOn.org and his other various and sundry endeavors.

I am not a fan of the name change from “The Sound of Young America” to “Bullseye”. While I agree that TSOYA was a mouthful and warranted review, I don’t think “Bullseye” is a very good name. Actually I think it’s a lazy, unimaginative, and diminishing name. Never the less, that’s what he’s chosen.

The content is still strong, so I’ll let it go from here.

If you, like me, love the content that came under the old TSOYA monicker, Jesse takes care of you and me. Go to maximumfun.org and look for the TSOYA torrent download. You can get the whole back catalog, 15G or so, for free.

Posted in: media, technology.
Tagged: · · · ·

Why Google Chrome on OS X Makes Me Sad

Jan 12th, 2012
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

I just uninstalled Google Chrome on my Mac. It made me too sad, and here’s why.

First, the vertical tabs option was removed. The change report says

Sidetabs were an experiment that didn’t pan out. They’re in a half-working state and should be removed, says Glen.

We’ll try to come up with other approaches for this use case.

This is patently absurd. It worked great. I used it for a long time. Everyone I showed it to, loved it, especially on a wide screen display. That they took it away so quietly irritates me.

Second, the session restore doesn’t work if you click the red X on the window. It does work if you Command-q or quit straight from the dock as stated here.

There is, apparently, no intent to fix.

Ridiculous.

Posted in: technology.
Tagged: · · · · · ·

A Christmas Day TSA Debate

Dec 25th, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

I am on my way this Christmas Day to Dallas to see my son. I have an early flight, and not being sure what the crowds might be like I opted to hit the airport early as well. I hired a car to drop me off, and I came through the ticketing level security checkpoint by the Delta counters.

There were a few more people there than I had expected but it wasn’t too bad. I of course was directed to the full body scanner lane. I had to wait to tell the TSA guy there that I wanted to opt out because he was busy berating the other travelers. This guy was not polite, but that’s not the issue. I notified him of my opt out. He responded with “Okay, that’s your choice. But you’ll have to wait a while” and walked off radioing in my request.

After about five minutes another male TSA agent sauntered up with the tell-tale blue gloves on. I expected to get waved through the metal detector to get things rolling.

Instead the agent asked why I refused to go through the scanner. I said that I was concerned about the health implications and prefer the pat down. “Do you use a cell phone,” he asked? I said yes. “You get radiation from that.” He and the female TSA agent next to him then rattled off a bunch of sources of radiation.

I listened, nodded, and then again stated my preference to opt out.

The two of them kept going, then proceeded to tell me how the data is not personally identifiable and how it is reviewed. This was peculiar since I hadn’t even brought up my privacy concerns. I guess this wasn’t there first time at this rodeo.

Finally after about five to seven minutes of this I said, “I understand. But I would still prefer to opt out and have a pat down”.

The male TSA agent rolled his eyes, sighed, and then had the female agent wave me through the metal detector.

The pat down itself was only interesting in the firmness and aggressiveness of the pat down. There was no pussy footing about this pat down. He was professional though polite is not a word I would use. He swabbed, tested, and then told me I was all set.

Have you had similar experiences?

Posted in: travel.
Tagged: · · · ·

Tips and Trips and Whatnot

Dec 23rd, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet
  1. Charge when available and often. This can be your laptop, netbook, tablet, cell phone, or whatever. The same holds true for the restroom, refilling your bottled water, grabbing some food, etc. When the opportunity presents itself, take advantage.
  2. Have a plan. For every flight have two alternates available.
  3. Keep the contact numbers and accounts available.
  4. Be not bashful in your posts yet make sure you’re accurate in your posts.
  5. Keep a separate water supply. Have a wide-mouth bottle handy. Restaurants are more inclined to fill them if they can do so without touching the sides. They’ll also maybe put in ice and a lemon or lime wedge.
  6. Even if you’ve got e-boarding passeses, jot down the details in your notebook just in case. EDIT – better yet or in addition, print them as well as have the e-boarding passes. I spoke with a woman on my latest trip who, with her husband, almost missed their first flight because the scanner at security was broken. You will lose valuable time if you have to go back out to ticketing to print boarding passes.
  7. Take pictures of your IDs and post them to Evernote or a similar service where you can control the people that view it.
  8. Repack your bags every so often if you’re a frequent flyer. Things creep in.
  9. Extra plastic bags and such are a good idea.
  10. Sally forth and visit places.

Posted in: travel.
Tagged:

Stargate Universe

Dec 6th, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

I’m not sure where I was when I wrote this. I know I left “Stargate Universe” ultimately unsatisfied, but SciFi/SyFy has a way of doing that to the point of me not bothering to watch what they put on any more. They clearly don’t want me as a viewer, so why bother. If the absurdly named “SyFy” actually hits anything else good, I’ll wait until it’s available streaming via another method. Were someone to ACTUALLY offer a channel geared to techies/geeks/nerds for Science Fiction, technology , and gaming a killing could be made. One could successfully argue that Leo Leporte is doing that very thing with his Twit.Tv, but that’s not germane to this post.

Unless you’re a show about < 40 year olds, leave the pop music behind.

Eli, Rush, and the seargent dude are by far the best characters. The two leutenants are not well developed.

There were several points where they could have played a strong hand – the mutiny and the alien attack – and placed where they overplayed a weak hand – the suicide of the other seargent.

The show lacks the charm of SG-1, but has its merrits. I like it better than I ever liked
Atlantis.

Posted in: Uncategorized.

BSG part deux

Dec 4th, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

Ahh, a classic from a ways back. I’ll let this one stand on it’s own.

I finished Battlestar Galactica. Here are my thoughts.

SPOILER ALERT

The mutiny was dramatic and action packed. It was great tv for all the right reasons. I felt foolish after watching those episodes that I didn’t stick it out.

And then I saw the end of the series. Yawn. Back to the same monotony that lead me to drop the show. And it was that to the end.

Disappointed.

Posted in: Uncategorized.
Tagged: ·

Obscured By Clouds

Dec 2nd, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

What do you do when you’re a band that just released an album, an album you know has it’s moments but won’t be remembered in the same breath as the album you’re about to release?

If you’re Pink Floyd in ’72, you tour with “Obscured By Clouds” and “Dark Side of the Moon” plus other bits.

One of the things I miss from the late ’60s through the mid to late 70′s, not that I was alive let alone attending, was the ability for an act to tour with new product to eager fans while keeping old time fans appeased.

Posted in: Music.
Tagged:

A Mason view of Dixie

Dec 2nd, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

For Independence Day the family matriculates to South Carolina to my parents’ place near Beaufort.

This year was a bit of an anomaly since I was supposed to travel to Shanghai for work. My eldest brother was slated to work. Brother ‘K’ and two of my sisters were not planning on driving down. Only my little sister was in.

Big brother found vacation time he didn’t expect. My trip to China changed to a trip to Germany one week later. The other siblings kept their plans, though brother ‘C’ booked plans after the fact.

Never the less, there we were: Big Brother and his boys, Little Sis and her Jay and their two girls, and me at Ma’s & Pa’s place.

It was grand. It was nice.

This post isn’t about that. It’s about the people I saw.

First off, Americans are fat. Even on my flight down the middle seat was occupied by a man who could have made good use of two seats. The number of people I’ve seen at the airports who’s circumference could best be measured by feet rather than inches is profound.

Second, tattoos. You may be a fan of tattoos. I am not. I’ve never seen anyone where I’ve ever thought” “That tattoo makes them look better”, “That tattoo adds something”, or “I’m glad that person put that tattoo on their body”.

I could have gone on, but this sat in my draft queue too long. I forgot to whom the rest of my vitriol was on reserve. The dude that parked his pickup in front of the flagpole should have to eat the old, withered hot dogs.

Happy Belated Birthday reflection, America!

Posted in: family, life, travel.
Tagged: · · ·

These Things Get (Subliminal)

Nov 27th, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

Music has always been an interest of mine. The last few years it withered and atrophied aside from the infusion N8, and on occasion C8, provided.

Lately and inexplicitly my musical tastes have intensified, expanded, and extended. I also circled back on stuff I liked before but never delved into.

Michael Penn is one example of the old circled back on. I can see where he hits a chord from time to time on “March” with “No Myth” and on other albums (yes, youngins, I call collections of songs from one artist at one time an “album”) but doesn’t hit the main stream full time. It takes listening through the songs/album. Once you do its hard not to get hooked.

New stuff comes ad hoc. The New Pornographers are a great example. I’m a Neko Case fan. I have been for a while via a long and gap-filled circuitous route from Uncle Tupelo. Nothing aside of Neko Case made me think twice about the New Pornographers.

I bought “Together” on sale at Amazon. Ahhh.

I had branched out from the classical albums I had been purchasing previously into other genres. I was and am still amazed how much I like Girl Talk, Telekinesis, the Decemberists, The Postal Service, Flogging Molly (thanks, RDG), Boom Boom Satellites (and a few other bands from Japan I can’t name), and other aural treats.

What brings me back at the moment is the New Pornographers.

I can’t paint an accurate picture of what brings me back, but it does for the moment. There are missteps, sure. For example, I don’t like Dan Bejar’s singing when he’s the lead on “Together”. Technically he’s fine, but he has a quality on this album that doesn’t work for me.

All in all, Together is an album I have to be careful with. If I’m not careful I’ll overplay it to myself. The videos, which I don’t normally care about, aren’t helping matters any.

Posted in: Music.
Tagged: · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

A Beatles Mélange a la Oklahoma

Nov 26th, 2011
by zenshinji.
No comments yet

I recollect a long ago lunch at a diner while visiting my grandparents in Oklahoma. Our cousins, or maybe a subset, are with my sister and me. Our grandmother took us out to a local tin-shed restaurant in downtown Kingston.

A portable radio propped up in the window plays a Beatles mix. For some reason I rise, move to the radio, and sing along. I don’t know what the Beatles mix is, and I’m certain I missed several bits. But I sing along in a careless manner.

I don’t remember what happened after that. I presume embarrassment, but I don’t know.

I don’t know why I’m remembering this now.

Posted in: life, Music.
Tagged: · ·

← Earlier Posts
Stop SOPA

Harmony Pirate is Stephen Fry proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache