JPaulArmstrong.blogspot.com

2012-01-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

Listen to more Bob Dylan & The Band at Wolfgang's Vault.

dia de los muertos skull

2012-01-08T23:21:00.000-08:00

2012-01-04T18:33:00.001-08:00

Liz Taylor's Likeness Appears In Household Sponge

2011-12-05T19:11:00.001-08:00

culled from my daily feeds item received from SFist Liz Taylor's Likeness Appears In Household Sponge Left: the sponge in question. Right: the late Elizabeth Taylor.

2011-11-18T13:44:00.001-08:00

Radio Toolbox - Changing the World One Broadcast at a Time

2011-09-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

Radio Toolbox - Changing the World One Broadcast at a Time

culled from my feeds this item from lifehackerStreamWriter Records Multiple Streams of Internet Radio

2011-09-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

TOP STORIES

DIGITAL MUSIC

BY DAVID GALLOWAYSEP 11, 2011 4:00 PM

10,017 3

StreamWriter Records Multiple Streams of Internet Radio

Windows: If you've ever tried in vain to find a song you heard on a streaming internet radio station but didn't get to the song info in time, StreamWriter can help. The free Windows program can record multiple audio streams simultaneously and also features scheduled recordings, a wishlist of songs you want to record, and the ability to add songs to an ignore list.

I was generally impressed with StreamWriter. I've used it now for the past hour recording songs from Radio Rivendell (fantasy movie music) and Ancient Faith Radio. (Eastern Orthodox chant) The song files have the title and artist tagged correctly and use the radio station name as the album name. All of the music recorded as of yet is 128 KB/s which isn't optimal but is expected given the source.

Next time I hear a new song I like and forget to check the song info before the track changes I'll be able to open up my StreamWriter folder and find the song.

StreamWriter | via ghacks.net

Music Streaming Service MOG Goes Free...Hat tip to Whitson Gordon @ Lifehacker

2011-09-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

TOP STORIES

UPDATES

BY WHITSON GORDONSEP 15, 2011 4:30 PM

18,597 23

Music Streaming Service MOG Goes Free, Makes Its Insanely Large Library Available to All

MOG, one of our favorite music streaming services, introduced a new free, ad-supported version of its versatile, music-filled streaming service today.

MOG is an interesting type of music streaming service, with a Pandora-style "radio" feature from which you can save playlists, link to your desktop players, and more. Their free plan is similarly unique: instead of just giving you free, ad-supported access to the site, you "earn" free music by listening, sharing with friends, making playlists, and using MOG's features. The more you play with MOG, the more free music you can earn. Their premium subscription plans are still there, with access to the desktop client, mobile apps, and more, but now those uninterested in paying can get access to MOG's awesome service. Hit the link to learn more.

If you haven't used MOG before and you're curious about how it compares to other popular services, check out our showdown of music streaming services here.

MOG is thrilled to announce a free version of our award-winning music service! | The MOG Blog

You can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.

dark side of OZ pink Floyd meets toto and the gang

2011-09-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Dark Side of Oz from Bryan Pugh on Vimeo.

2011-09-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

TIPS+TRICKS Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Tips+Tricks: How to Get Free Music From Magnifier

When you peel away the exclusive videos and fascinating music reviews on Magnifier, you'll see that it's actually a treasure trove of free music. Not just the songs you see on the homepage, mind you... there are hundreds of free tracks available on the site.

They're neatly organized by music genre, and you can find them by clicking on the "Free Song Archive" banner in the right hand column of the homepage. If you swallow these down in one giant gulp, never fear. We'll be adding more free music to Magnifier every day to help you discover new artists and music genres.

By now you've seen all those tempting "Add free music" buttons on the Magnifier homepage and the Free Song Archive. You're probably thinking, "I want free music. But what does pressing this button do?" All of the free music on Magnifier can be accessed through Music Beta, a service from Google that lets you upload your personal music collection to the cloud and listen to it on the web and your Android devices. When you click on "Add free music," you'll be asked to login, and then the selected tracks will appear automatically in your personal music library. A "Listen Now" button will appear, and it will take you directly to Music Beta where you can see your new tracks at the top of the "Free songs" playlist.

Not a Music Beta user yet? In addition to hundreds of free songs, here are a few more reasons you should sign up today. First of all, Music Beta is free. You can add up to 20,000 of your favorite tracks to the cloud and listen to them from any web browser. You can also access your entire music collection on your Android phone or tablet using the Music app, with no wires, downloading, or hassle. Save your favorite playlists, artists, and albums to your Android device so you can still listen to them when you lose your network connection. Music Beta is currently available in the US, by invitation only, but we're going to make every effort to speed things up for Magnifier readers. Click the "Sign up now" button in the upper right hand corner of Magnifier to request your invitation today.

Brief FAQ on Free Songs

All of the free music available on Magnifier is yours to keep forever in your Music Beta library. You can access it anytime through Music Beta and even save it to your device for offline use. You can't currently export your free songs from Music Beta to a computer, but this feature is on our roadmap.
If you have feedback or run into problems adding tracks to Music Beta, feel free to contact us.
Use of the free music from Magnifier is subject to the Terms of Service for Music Beta, and becomes a part of your personal collection.

Further@Shoreline 06/04/11 Best Show since the Fat Man melted

2011-06-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Drag on Tape compilation of mr blotto u tube tracks

2011-05-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

Most truthful, and hysterical, police patch ever made. - Imgur

2011-05-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Most truthful, and hysterical, police patch ever made. - Imgur

YouTube - Mr Blotto Moviestar Blottopia X RV Cam

2011-05-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

YouTube - Mr Blotto Moviestar Blottopia X RV Cam

"Low Loretta" Mr. Blotto @Blottopia

2011-05-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Mr. Blotto covers Mrs. Robinson

2011-05-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

2011-05-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Jerry Seinfeld - Personal Archives

2011-05-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

Jerry Seinfeld - Personal Archives

7 Online Music Streaming Services With No Restrictions culled from my feeds this one from the folks at make use of dot com

2011-04-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

7 Online Music Streaming Services With No Restrictions

Posted: 25 Apr 2011 12:30 PM PDT

There are lots of free online streaming music services, but as you come to use them, you’ll find that the services do come at some sort of price. One common, and annoying restriction is loading the page only to find that you can’t access the site from your corner of the world, due to copyright restrictions. And that’s not the only kind of restriction you’ll find on these sites – there’s a limit to how many songs you can listen to, or the selection of music for free accounts is very small. We’ve put together a list of online services that offer premium quality music for absolutely no price whatsoever, without any compromises.
These sites all serve as decent and, in some cases even superior, alternatives to Spotify, the latest in a long line of sites that have restricted their services even further, along with Last.fm, Pandora and other popular music sites you might not be able to access.

FineTune

With FineTune, choose one of your favourite artists and listen to a radio station that plays their music, and similar artists, or add all of your favourite artists to your list, and listen to a radio station that caters to your personal taste in music. If you’re looking for something a little more varied you can also listen to popular radio stations on FineTune stations that play pop, rock, easy listening and more.

A great way to take advantage of FineTune’s great music selection is to use the simplified Wii version of their website. The Wii interface is actually a lot more appealing, easier to use, and you can still benefit from the main features of the site.

8Tracks

Create your own playlists on 8Tracks, and listen to those created by others. To create your own playlists, you have to upload your own mp3s and mp4s meaning you can put pretty much add any song you want to your playlists.

Mac users can benefit from the uploader, dragging songs directly from iTunes to the desktop app to upload mp3s. Each playlist must consist of at least 8 tracks, a throwback to mixed tapes.

Grooveshark

Grooveshark needs no introduction, and is possibly one of the best services currently available with unlimited playback and playlist creation capabilities. Best used when creating your own playlist, Grooveshark also provides a few playlists of their own, with the most popular music of the moment.

If you really want to take Grooveshark to the next level, be sure to check out this list of ways to enhance your Grooveshark listening experience. Grooveshark is, however, somewhat controversial as the way that they collect their music is in fact a copyright infringement in the US.

TheSixtyOne

TheSixtyOne is another unique option as far as how it presents the music to you. You have very little control over the playback, limited to listening to music according to popularity, mood or after you’ve used the site for a while, according to your own personal taste.

We Are Hunted

We Are Hunted is the ideal streaming music service for people want to stay on top of the latest trends. The constantly updated 100 song playlist consists of the most popular songs at any given time on the net.

Aupeo

Aupeo lets you stream music by genre, mood, artist, personalised stations and much more. While they do have premium accounts, the main differences are higher quality music files, and playback intermittently interrupted with short adverts. Aupeo has similar features to Last.fm, with the ability to love, ban and add songs to your favourites.

Musicuo

Musicuo’s interface may not be in English, but when it comes to listening to music, it’s easy to get past any language barrier – and if your Spanish isn’t any good, you can always use an online translator to access the site in English. The Spanish site’s interface is reminiscent of iTunes, cover flow and all. Listen to music by genre, search for specific artists, and create playlists. Create a playlist using the Add Playlist button at the bottom of the menu, and drag songs from your search results to the playlist.

Perception

2011-04-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

Perception

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw
money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly
At 45 minutes:
The musician played
continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

The violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:

in a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . ..

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enjoy life NOW .. it has an expiration date

A View of the SUN , a composite set of imagery from NASA's Solar Observer

2011-04-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

peter jackson videoblog from the hobbit set

2011-04-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

Office 2010 Tips tricks from make use of dot com

2011-04-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

MakeUseOf.com - Office 2010 Tips & Tricks

2011-04-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Jane´s Addiction @ Movistar Free Music, Bs As, Argentina

2011-04-07T05:56:00.000-07:00

Mother Hips at GAMH from SFSTATION.com

2011-04-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

Senator Feinstein response to my letter re Patriot Act abuses by FBI

2011-04-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Armstrong:

I received your letter and want to thank you for sharing your views about the USA PATRIOT Act. I recognize that this is an important issue to you, and I welcome the opportunity to share my point of view with you.

Three provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT – known as "roving wiretaps," "lone wolf," and "business records" – are currently set to expire on May 27, 2011. It is important to note that all three of these authorities can only be used after being approved by a federal judge. For your information, these provisions do the following:

o Roving wiretaps – before this authority was established, warrants could only be issued for a specific phone number. In the modern age of telecommunications, terrorists were able to evade surveillance simply by switching phones, which is easily done with throwaway cell phones. Thus, the "roving wiretap" authority simply authorizes a judge to issue a surveillance order that is specific to the suspect terrorist, rather than specific to a particular phone number.

o Lone wolf – the lone wolf provision allows for court-ordered surveillance of foreigners who engage in international terrorism but for whom an association with a specific international terrorist group has not yet been determined.

o Business records – finally, the business records section allows the government to obtain business records relating to a suspected terrorist if it receives a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

As Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I have seen how the United States intelligence and law enforcement agencies have used these expiring provisions and I have come to believe without them, they would lack important tools to protect this nation. The United States remains a target for terrorists, and good surveillance is critical to prevent attacks. For this reason, I have introduced legislation, the "FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011" (S. 149), to extend the three expiring provisions until December 31, 2013.

As you may be aware, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has also introduced legislation to extend the expiring provisions until December 31, 2013. In addition, Senator Leahy's bill, the "USA PATRIOT Sunset Extension Act of 2011" (S. 193) would amend the law to improve congressional oversight of these three provisions and impose a sunset on the National Security Letters section of the PATRIOT Act.

On March 10, 2011, I voted for the "USA PATRIOT Sunset Extension Act of 2011" when the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which I serve, approved the bill by a vote of 11 to 7. I voted for this bill because it would provide appropriate oversight over PATRIOT Act authorities and civil liberty protections, while also giving intelligence and law enforcement agencies the certainty and predictability they need to safeguard national security.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please know I will keep your thoughts in mind as this debate continues. If you have any additional comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841.

Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senato

stanton warriors "Shoot me Down"

2011-04-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

gmail Motion Happy April fool's day ev1

2011-04-01T16:55:00.000-07:00

Crate, Ge.tt & Min.US 3 New File Share Methods

2011-03-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

culled from my daily feeds this item from the folks atmakeuseofdotcom

3 New & Superb Ways To Share Files Online

Posted: 28 Mar 2011 04:30 PM PDT

With the advent of HTML5, which enables websites to do amazing things, the realm of file-sharing sites has definitely grown with newer options that make the whole experience a lot more seamless. You can drag and drop onto websites, in interesting ways you couldn’t (or could with limited results) with the web apps you may be used to, like the defunct Drop.io or Mediafire. It may be easier to use desktop programs, like Dropbox (which you now use to sync foldersoutside the main one), but it never hurts to explore other alternatives that offer similar features.
We’ll take a look at some of the newer web-based storage and file-sharing sites that despite their simple looks, offer convenient drag-and-drop, as well as, shortened URLs and statistics (something that most desktop programs don’t provide yet).

Crate

With Crate, you get a beautiful and ad-free site where you can upload files of up to 50 MB by drag and dropping them onto the website and copy the shortened link to share with whomever. You can have up to 6 different crates or workspaces for a total of 200MB of storage space, which you can track if you sign up for a free account. Once signed in, you can see the number of views and downloads for your files. Though you can share an entire crate, you can’t download it since you still have to click on each file to download it. You will also need a compatible browser to get the most of out Crate, as you can’t drag and drop files in IE9.

Ge.tt

Here is another simple, real-time sharing website, which has a focus on letting you share your files quick and move on. With Ge.tt, you can select files or can drag and drop them onto the site (if you have a supported browser), and then share the shortened URL like the other apps in this list, but a cool feature is that you don’t have to wait for your file to finish uploading before users download them.

You also don’t need an account to start uploading files, but acquiring a free account enables your files to live longer than 30 days, plus you get live statistics. You can also add or remove files, but any files that stay inactive in your account for more than 3 months will get removed. Like Crate, Ge.tt doesn’t allow the download of an entire share, so if you have multiple files to share, other users will have to click on each file to download them all.

Min.us

Min.us started as a super-easy way to share good-looking image galleries, but nowadays, the storage service has expanded and thus, it now accepts other types of files, such as documents, and videos. You can drag and drop or select your files. Then, you can instantly view your file, add or remove files, as well as download the entire share, which will be in the form of a zip file. You can use the service without signing up, but with an account, you’ll have a a profile at http://min.us/u/YOURusername like this one, where you can publish files and galleries.
Be sure to explore Steve’s article as he reviewed Min.us in more detail, back when the service was mostly for displaying great image galleries.
Behind minimalistic looks, these 3 sites offer plenty of features and could be great alternatives to Drop.io. I say, using any of these sites is as easy as using Dropbox’s Public folder, but let’s hear from you. What do you use to share your files instantly?
Image credit: Shutterstock

Barlow Shanghai

2011-03-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

The Journey

I am winding up the same place I began
And now it seems at last I understand
So when I die at least I'll know the way
The water rose, the water fell
And in the end it's just as well
Since everything that happens is a wave...

J.P. Barlow, P. Bolger

http://www.mrblotto.com/

sendoid 1 gb peer to peer file transfer fast and FREE

2011-03-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Culled from my daily feeds this item reported by Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable

endoidQuick Pitch: Sendoid allows for instant and private large file transfer in the browser.

Genius Idea: Peer-to-peer file transfer.

With the sudden rise of Chatroulette, the world was exposed, for better or for worse, to the peer-to-peer possibilities of real time media flow protocol (RTMFP) technology — the technology that establishes a direct connection between two individuals.

Sendoid, a Y Combinator startup, is applying the same peer-to-peer technology to a far less visually arresting purpose: file transfer. The peer-to-peer system, which forgoes cloud or server storage entirely, lets users transfer gigantic files in the browser in seconds and at no cost.

Veteran file-transfer service YouSendIt charges the user $14 to move a 100 MB file, with the transfer taking about 24 minutes, as Sendoid co-founder John Egan said during the startup’s Demo Days presentation. The same file is transferred in 35 seconds free of charge via Sendoid.

With this in-browser transfer experience, the user selects a file and gets a link to share with the recipient. Upon receipt of the peer link, the recipient is securely connected to the sender’s machine, and the file is transferred directly from the sender to the receiver without passing through Sendoid’s servers. It’s this peer-to-peer exchange that makes Sendoid so fast.

Sendoid’s browser-based file transfer service maxes out for files around 1 GB, but the startup also offers a desktop application for transferring files of unlimited size. There’s no cost for either option, and Sendoid has no plans to introduce fees based on file size or transfer frequency. “It shouldn’t cost money to send a 1 GB file,” says Egan. “It just doesn’t make sense anymore. The technology has caught up.”

The file transfer experience heretofore has been clunky, client-based, slow and expensive for end users. Plus, Sendoid believes the demand for sending larger files, especially in the form of high resolution digital photographs, is growing. For these reasons, Egan and fellow co-founder Zac Morris believe the startup is launching at just the right time.

“The technology is here now to move large amounts of data inexpensively,” says Egan. “And this is about the moment in time when file sizes for consumers are crossing the threshold [in size] and are no longer able to be transferred through traditional means.”

Sendoid has moved roughly 250,000 files — an early sign that Egan’s predictions about changing consumer behaviors are fairly accurate.

The just-launched startup is currently operating on seed funding from the accelerator program, but it’s currently in talks with several interested investors and will likely raise a substantial round in the weeks ahead. Eventually, Sendoid will introduce for-charge premium features that provide additional security or support file grouping.

Image courtesy of iS

Lsd No Hitter

2011-03-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

Ben Parr explains IPV4/IPV6

2011-02-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

The Internet has run out of Internet addresses… sort of. Perhaps you’ve heard the news: the last blocks of IPv4 Internet addresses have been allocated. The fundamental underlying technology that has powered Internet Protocol addresses (ever seen a number like 99.48.227.227 on the web? That’s an IP address) since the Internet’s inceptionwill soon be exhausted.

A new technology will take its place, though. IPv4′s successor is IPv6, a system that will not only offer far more numerical addresses, but will simplify address assignments and additional network security features.

The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is likely to be rough, though. Most people are unfamiliar with IPv4 and IPv6, much less the potential impact the switch to IPv6 may have on their lives.

That’s why we’ve compiled this short guide to IPv4 and the eventual transition to IPv6. We explain the two versions of IP and why they matter. We also go into detail on what you can expect in the next few years as billions of websites, businesses and individuals make the switch to the new era of the Internet.

IPv4 & IPv6 Q&A

Q: What is IPv4?
A: IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4. It is the underlying technology that makes it possible for us to connect our devices to the web. Whenever a device access the Internet (whether it’s a PC, Mac, smartphone or other device), it is assigned a unique, numerical IP address such as 99.48.227.227. To send data from one computer to another through the web, a data packet must be transferred across the network containing the IP addresses of both devices.

Without IP addresses, computers would not be able to communicate and send data to each other. It’s essential to the infrastructure of the web.

Q: What is IPv6?
A: IPv6 is the sixth revision to the Internet Protocol and the successor to IPv4. It functions similarly to IPv4 in that it provides the unique, numerical IP addresses necessary for Internet-enabled devices to communicate. However, it does sport one major difference: it utilizes 128-bit addresses. I’ll explain why this is important in a moment.

Q: Why are we running out of IPv4 addresses?
A: IPv4 uses 32 bits for its Internet addresses. That means it can support 2^32 IP addresses in total — around 4.29 billion. That may seem like a lot, but all 4.29 billion IP addresses have now been assigned to various institutions, leading to the crisis we face today.

Let’s be clear, though: we haven’t run out of addresses quite yet. Many of them are unused and in the hands of institutions like MIT and companies like Ford and IBM. More IPv4 addresses are available to be assigned and more will be traded or sold (since IPv4 addresses are now a scarce resource), but they will become a scarcer commodity over the next two years until it creates problem for the web.

Q: How does IPv6 solve this problem?
A: As previously stated, IPv6 utilizes 128-bit Internet addresses. Therefore, it can support 2^128 Internet addresses — 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of them to be exact. That’s a lot of addresses, so many that it requires a hexadecimal system to display the addresses. In other words, there are more than enough IPv6 addresses to keep the Internet operational for a very, very long time.

Q: So why don’t we just switch?
A: The depletion of IPv4 addresses was predicted years ago, so the switch has been in progress for the last decade. However, progress has been slow — only a small fraction of the web has switched over to the new protocol. In addition, IPv4 and IPv6 essentially run as parallel networks — exchanging data between these protocols requires special gateways.

To make the switch, software and routers will have to be changed to support the more advanced network. This will take time and money. The first real test of the IPv6 network will come on June 8, 2011, World IPv6 Day. Google, Facebook and other prominent web companies will test drive the IPv6 network to see what it can handle and what still needs to be done to get the world switched over to the new network.

Q: How will this affect me?
A: Initially, it won’t have a major impact on your life. Most operating systems actually support IPv6, including Mac OS X 10.2 and Windows XP SP 1. However, many routers and servers don’t support it, making a connection between a device with an IPv6 address to a router or server that only supports IPv4 impossible. IPv6 is also still in its infancy; it has a lot of bugs and security issues that still need to be fixed, which could result in one giant mess.

Nobody’s sure how the transition will cost or how long it will take, but it has to be done in order for the web to function as it does today.

More About: Guide, internet, IPv4, IPv6

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Luke, I'm your Faadah...VW ad Darth Vadar costumed toddler

2011-02-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

EFF report on FBI abuse of power prompted me to contact Senator Feinstein

2011-02-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

February 3rd, 2011

Honorable Senator Dianne Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Feinstein

Re: Patriot Act (S.193) FBI (ab)use of NSL's has to stop

My name is Paul Armstrong, and I write concerning the above captioned matter which I understand is to be taken up for consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee today. My intent is simple, a desire to express in the strongest possible terms the need to curtail the abuse of power that has been ongoing with respect to FBI practices, in particular "National Security Letters" or "NSLs". Please stand firm and insist on meaningful reforms that return oversight to the courts. For background and elaboration of the concerns many citizens have when the government uses its broad surveillance powers under the PATRIOT Act I direct your staff's attention to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) at the following url https://secure.eff.org The EFF report, "Patterns of Misconduct", documents how the FBI has misused its NSL authority thousands of times over the past decade, highlighting the urgent need for new checks on the government’s PATRIOT powers. I am a supporting member of the EFF, and should your staff make use of the EFF resources they certainly should "due" the right thing and send in a pledge.

Thank you very much for your consideration of this matter and most of all thank you for decades of public service and the positive impact your efforts have brought to San Francisco, to the entire State of California, and the United States. It is an honor and a privilege to proudly identify you as my Senator.

Very Truly Yours,

JPA

J. Paul Armstrong
58 s. Sixth St. #3

San Jose, CA 95112

Epic Fail @Kenneth Cole

2011-02-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

@KennethCole Sets New Bar For Social Media Stupidity [Update: And Removes Tweet]

1digg
8

42 Comments

Alexia Tsotsis

2 hours ago

“We had hoped this ad would change the world but we blue it.”
- Kenneth Cole

Finally someone sees the unrest in Egypt for the marketing opportunity it truly is! I’ve now spent a couple hours reeling from how insensitive it was for designer Kenneth Cole to use#Cairo to publicize the availability of his spring collection online when the Egypt is erupting in violence and millions were cut off from Internet communication for days.

My first thought here was, uh oh, some PR person is getting fired for this, the most egregious case of hashtag surfing fail I’ve ever seen. But apparently the tweet came from Cole himself, signed “-KC.”

Married to former NY Governor Mario Cuomo’s daughter Maria, Kenneth Cole feels entitled to publish consistently superfical ads that dabble in politics, most notably one that equated abortion to purses, “Dear pro-life advocates, Isn’t it a woman’s right to choose? After all, she’s the one carrying it.”

Econsultancy points out that furniture maker Habitat pulled a similar move when it hopped on the hashtags #Iran and #Mousavi in order to blatantly advertise its website during the Iran election protests. It ended up firing the intern responsible and deleting the account.

What did Kenneth Cole do? He sent out this pithy apology tweet.

@KennethCole
Kenneth Cole

Re Egypt tweet: we weren't intending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment -KC

about 5 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®RetweetReply

“We weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation.” Bullshit. Yes, yes you were. That’s exactly what you were doing. As of yet the media fiasco, estimated 1500 negative retweets an hour and an @KennethColePR spoof account haven’t affected the company’s stock price. But trust me they will. They will.

Update: Kenneth Cole has deleted the original tweet, offering this apology on his Facebook page, in essence admitting that maybe it was too soon for Egypt jokes.

“I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.”

@KennethColePR

Rolling through Germany? Gestapo by our new Berlin store!#KennethColeTweets

about 2 hours ago via webRetweetReply

@arrington
Michael Arrington

@KennethCole I look forward to slavery and holocaust jokes next.

about 3 hours ago via webRetweetReply

@hblodget
Henry Blodget

Hey, @kennethcole, who's the idiot who sent this tweet? Has he/she been fired yet? http://read.bi/hdMVmj

about 4 hours ago via TweetDeckRetweetReply

@alexia
Alexia Tsotsis

Okay Internet, who do we hate more, Kenneth Cole or Mubarak?

about 1 hour ago via Twitter for MacRetweetReply

@NathanWurtzel
Nathan Wurtzel

Hey, if you're planning a murder spree, look good doing so in @KennethCole's new spring collection!

about 2 hours ago via TweetDeckRetweetReply

@gaberivera
Gabe Rivera

Sadly, outrage over @KennethCole is mostly played out. Any other angles to take? E.g. http://read.bi/fwuxAI Or maybe: Anti-outrage backlash?

about 2 hours ago via webRetweetReply

@thatdrew
drew olanoff

how to damage a brand:http://twitter.com/#!/KennethCole/status/33177584262971393

about 3 hours ago via webRetweetReply

@christinelu
Christine Lu

…looks like sh*t just hit the social media fan for Kenneth Cole today.

about 2 hours ago via EchofonRetweetReply

@jspepper
Jeremy Pepper

@gaberivera Can my outrage be that KC has a history of such stunts and it's their strategy for press. Must be the clothes/shoes suck.

about 2 hours ago via webRetweetReply

@KennethColePR

Our Tucson store is locked and loaded with Spring looks!#KennethColeTweets

about 3 hours ago via webRetweetReply

Stanton Warriors new video

2011-02-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Stanton Warriors LIVE Avalon LA gig

2011-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

MAKE Magazine Electronics skill set tutorials

2011-01-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

Skill Set: Electronics tips from "Ask MAKE"

For the past few years, we ran a column called "Ask MAKE," where we answered reader-submitted questions about all things making. Not surprisingly, many of them had to do with electronics. Here are some of the most popular ones, which might help shine some light on your problem (literally in one case), or even answer a question you didn't even know that you had:
Ask MAKE: How to wire up LEDs?
Ask MAKE: Pull-up resistor
Ask MAKE: Software for designing circuits
Ask MAKE: Debouncing a switch
More:

2011-01-10T18:35:00.001-08:00

The DJ Mixes by Stanton Warriors

Tom Waits Going out West covered by Queens of the Stone Age

2011-01-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Going Out West by Queens of the Stone Age

mougg MOBILE MUSIC SERVICE

2011-01-02T10:13:00.000-08:00

1 GB OF YOUR PLAYLIST IN THE CLOUD

fROM MY DAILY FEEDS THIS ITEM FROM MAKE USE OF DOT COM

Music lovers want their favorite playlists to be accessible wherever they are. Your day would go a lot smoother if you were able to listen to the favorite songs in your music library while at work or on the subway. Using Mougg, you can do exactly that.
Mougg is a free to use online music player. You can use this web service to create an online account and then upload MP3 songs totaling a size of 1GB. As you upload the songs you will see their upload progress and can cancel the ones in the middle of uploading.

Your uploaded songs are displayed just like in a media player. The tracks are displayed in the middle pane, the playlists on the left, and the playing controls in the bottom pane. In the bottom right you can even view the album art of the currently playing song.
With 1GB of free storage and a media-player-like interface, countless music lovers will appreciate what Mougg has to offer.
Key Features:
Lets you upload your songs and listen to them later.
Provides 1GB of storage.
Has a media player like interface.
Lets you create playlists.
Similar tools: mSpot, TubeMyStuff, AudioBox, Psonar, TunesBag, Soundcloud, and Sideload.
Check out Mougg @ www.mougg.com (By Umar from TechCityInc)

happy new year 2011

2011-01-01T03:01:00.000-08:00

8pen rethinking mobile device UI

2010-11-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Another Free Music Resource: MusicLink

2010-10-21T09:26:00.001-07:00

Another Free Music Resource: MusicLink

http://www.musiclink.fm

MusicLink: Listen To Complete Albums Before Buying

this tip on MusicLink from the folks at make use of dot com

You love a particular song in an album but you don’t want to spend money on it just yet. There are sites that let you preview all the songs in an album for 20-30 seconds but thats hardly enough to make a buying decision. Meet MusicLink, a tool that lets you listen to complete albums before you make a decision to buy it.
Powered by GrooveShark and Amazon , MusicLink makes it easy to search for albums based on album name or artist’s name. A widget then displays all the tracks included in that particular album and lets you listen to them without any interruptions or commercials. Once you are satisfied, just click on the Amazon link to purchase the album.
You can also browse through albums that other users listen to the most.
Features:

Listen to complete albums online before you buy.
Powered by GrooveShark.
Browse through most popular or random albums.
No registration required.

Visit MusicLink @ www.musiclink.fm

2010-10-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Re-Edits and Remixes by Stanton Warriors

John Prine Full set from Newport Folk Fest Summer 2010

2010-09-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Copy of Give-A-Fuck-O-Meter

2010-09-12T09:50:00.001-07:00

Animated gif: Give-A-Fuck-O-Meter

jim james from My Morning Jacket solo performance Newport Folk Fest 2010

2010-08-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

Bears Gifs

2010-08-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

2010-08-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

http://www.google.com/buzz/post?url=<URL to post>&imageurl=<Optional image URL>

mp3palloza (from tina at make use of dot com)

2010-08-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Radiohead@Santa Barbara Bowl 09/05/08

2010-07-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Resources

2010-05-31T21:20:00.001-07:00

Graphic Design Resources this item courtesy of the folks at getstartED

friends of ED offers you a selection of the best resources on and off the web for professional designers, DV creators and innovators. Some of these are tiny independent sites, some are huge media groups - but they all have something that has made them indispensable to us at one time or another.

Let us know if you'd like us to consider a site for inclusion - the only criteria is that the site offers something of genuine value to friends of ED readers.

Sites

Australia INFront – Global design news from an Australian perspective.
computerlove – Another design portal, but with focus on networking for creative professionals.
Design Is Kinky – Australian-based news site and portal. Continues to lead the way in cutting-edge design information with regular articles and interviews, and one of the news editors is New Masters contributor Karen Ingram .
Digital Refueler – Providing constant inspiration and resources to creative designers around the globe. Including links to Stock Photography, Free Fonts, Royalty Free Stock Photography, Font Foundries, Flash Resources
Female Persuasion – News and portfolio showcase site for women designers working in photography, illustration, and digital design.
K10k – The original designer's lunchbox. Plenty of news, links, and tasty new design samples from this revamped portal.
Lounge72 – Design portal for visual amusement set up by Kai Hauser and Antonio Vasile, Stuttgart. Good news feed and their PDF calendar features some great artists.
netdiver – A digit culture portal with distinctive high quality editorial from new media pioneer Carole Guevin. Featured designer portfolios and examples are carefully selected and always of exceptional standards. Also check out the powagirrrls section promoting women designers.
Newstoday – General news site on digital design and technology.
pixelsurgeon – One of foED's favourite sites with in-depth reviews on the latest design trends, movies, music, and books. Biased towards digital design, their daily news blog is a must for designers.
Stereo Typography – Online site aggregating news feeds from most major online design portals.

Events

BD4D – UK-based site By Designers For Designers was set up as a collective for digital designers to meet up offline, network with each other, and discuss what they do and love: creativity. It has grown into a global community with regular BD4D meetings now taking place worldwide.
DiGiT Expo and Conference – Brings together global and local designers working in the fields of new media.
HOW Design Conference – Annual creativity, business and technology conference for graphic designers. Now in its 14th year, the HOW conference features learning and networking with industry experts and international peers.

Magazines

allmaple – Online magazine promoting excellence in Canadian digital art and design.
Communication Arts – Communication Arts Network, publishers of Communication Arts magazine, focusing on professional topics in current design trends. As well as technical information, there are columns on business, advertising, legal aspects, and theory of graphic design.
Computer Arts – This leading UK-based print magazine continues to provide high quality news, product reviews, and tutorials for digital designers working in Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, 3D, and digital video.
Design Graphics – Australian-based print magazine offering a wide range of news, resources, and tutorials on digital publishing for print and the web.
Digit Mag – Great print magazine with news, reviews, and tips in the world of digital media.
PRINT – America's leading graphic design magazine. Features examples of global design excellence by illustrators, photographers, type designers, as well as designers working with digital media.
SHIFT – Longstanding Japanese e-zine full of high quality digital design content.
Tartart Magazine – Great free PDF design mag created by New Master of Photoshop Marin Musa.
thedesigner – UK-based free PDF magazine with global contributors.

Inspiration

counterspace – Very interesting site dedicated to typography and its history.
Favourite Website Awards – FWA is a great place to see some inspirational web design work, particularly focused towards high impact websites using Flash.
MediaInspiration – Site showcases, technology and book reviews, and more inspirational weblinks than you can shake a stick at.
Moluv – Plenty of carefully selected websites to inspire you.
styleboost – Sweet and lovely links since 2001 says this site. So true.

Top of Page

Microsoft FixIt: Quick, Microsoft Aut...

2010-05-19T11:52:00.001-07:00

Microsoft FixIt: Quick, Microsoft Automated Fixes For Windows Systems

Excerpted from my daily feeds this item from the folks at make use of dot com

Windows systems break. A lot. It’s the nature of a platform that supports a wide variety 0f hardware, not to mention including 20-plus years of reverse compatibility. But that doesn’t make it any less painful to deal with Windows crashing.

Enter Microsoft FixIt, an easy-to-use program that aims to be an automated IT guy.Using the program is easy: just download and install it. Your system will be scanned, and FixIt will provide you with a list of problems common on computers like yours. If any of the problems shown are ones you’re having, all you need to solve your issue is to click.

Of course, professional IT guys need not worry about being replaced by this tool anytime soon: it doesn’t address any and all problems. But it does address quite a few, so if you’ve got a problem you just can’t seem to solve FixIt is worth checking out. You’ll be amazed how quickly this tool can deal with the problems it knows how to. Microsoft says new solutions will be added to the program regularly, so if it doesn’t solve your issue now it just might later.

Features

Easily solve problems with Microsoft Windows.
List of potential issues catered to your hardware and software.
Easy-to-use tech support direct from Microsoft.

Check out Microsoft FixIt @ microsoft

Inogolo: Find Out Correct Name Pronun...

2010-05-16T08:58:00.001-07:00

Inogolo: Find Out Correct Name Pronunciations Excerpted from my daily feeds this item from the folks at make use of dot com

Have you ever come across names you did not know how to pronounce? Take “Winningham” for instance; should you pronounce the “ham” separately or join it with the “g” and have “winnin-ghum”? Having a name spelled like that confuses a lot of people. Similarly there are many English names with confusing spellings that do not reveal their correct pronunciation. For all such names, Inogolo helps us out.

Inogolo is a free website that takes any English word (names of people and places) and shows us what their correct pronunciation is. After we search for a name, a breakdown of its syllables is presented to us; this clarifies the pronunciation.

Inogolo’s library contains an impressive number of names; but if your searched name is not included, the name is added in the list of words to be added to the library.

This tool can be helpful particularly for people whose first language is something other than English. But as I indicated earlier, native English speakers will benefit from Inogolo as well.

Main features:

Reveals pronunciation of names of people and places (in English).
Presents the pronunciation breakdown as mini-words instead of phonetic symbols which makes them easier to recognize and pronounce.
Similar tools: TheNameEngine, HowToSayThatName and PronounceNames.

Visit Inogolo @ www.inogolo.com

Hack a Day’s Dictionary of Questionab...

2010-05-15T13:58:00.001-07:00

Hack a Day’s Dictionary of Questionable Utility™

posted May 15th 2010 1:00pm by Phil Burgess
filed under: misc hacks

We frequently receive inquiries from eager readers asking how they can best get started in electronics and computer projects. Countless great books have been written on these subjects, and of course now there’s our answers.hackaday.comsite. But there’s a difference between being “book smart” and being “street smart.” What are the terms that you really need to know to get ahead in this field? We’ve collected a few of our favorites here.

Have any terms or definitions to add? Leave a note in the comments!

Amp-hour: n. The short interval after the morning Starbucks has kicked in, during which one gets all their actual work done for the day.

Antimony: n. A chemical element frequently used in electronics. Explodes on contact with money.

Bandwidth: n. A measurement inversely proportional to the cumulative physical fitness of a musical ensemble.

Butterworth filter: n. A kitchen utensil for removing the crystalized bits from maple syrup.

Duty cycle: n. A washing machine setting thats particularly effective for getting skid marks out of underwear.

ELF binary: n. A program that mysteriously appears on your computer while you’re asleep.

Ferret chloride: n. A foul-smelling chemical solution used for etching printed circuit boards really really quickly.

Flux: n. Expletive that usually follows soldering iron mishaps. See Hertz.

Hertz: v. What a soldering iron does when you touch the wrong end. See flux.

Hysteresis: n. The state of panic when one’s circuit does not work as planned.

N-type semiconductor: n. The “n-type” sticker adds 5 horsepower.

Negative feedback: n. Something one should attempt to minimize on eBay.

Noise: n. That so-called “music” you kids listen to these days. Get off my lawn!

Open source: n. Wounds that have not been properly cleaned and dressed.

Passive-aggressive component: n. A electronic part (e.g. resistor, capacitor, etc.) that suddenly decides to burn, stab or explode in your face.

PWMED! v. To have kicked someones ass with subtly-shaded LEDs.

Rectifier: n. A tool for lodging things into one’s backside. Two rectifiers back-to-back form a butt connector.

Resistance: n. Futile. You will be assimilated.

RMS: n. A feature of better quality voltmeters; makes them into raving proponents of open-source software.

Square wave: n. A secret greeting used by nerds.

1ED: n. Acronym for 1337-emitting diode (pronounced leet, not one-three-three-seven). Any light (but almost invariably a blue LED) on or within a computer that exists solely for posturing and conveys no diagnostic or status information.

Reader Comments

Ohm: The amount of resistance someone gives you when you pwn them at something, and take there score.

Posted at 1:23 pm on May 15th, 2010 by TheFish

Ardwieners: People who insist on using an Arduino in every project.

Ardwhiners: People who vehemently oppose any project based on an Arduino being highlighted on Hack-a-Day.

Posted at 1:30 pm on May 15th, 2010 by Gary

Hack: n. What ever the hell the HackADay editors feel like posting.

Posted at 1:50 pm on May 15th, 2010 by Stpq

VLC for Video or Audio Playback

2010-05-15T13:41:00.001-07:00

Always use open source codecs to avoid DRM and other closed platform technology. VLC plays everything you can throw at it , and more; it has never failed me for audio or video playback be it lossless files like Flac /Ogg/Vorbis or compressed crap like MP3s. On the video side the same holds true though newbies should invest some small amount of time to peruse documentation and understand the defined elements of a dvd (hint hint no links but google dvd + decrypter). VLC full 1.0 release is available and will take less than 30 secs to grab as of Mid May 2010 the latest version is 1.05 and here's a link to the win32 binaries: http://www.videolan.org/mirror-geo.php?file=vlc/1.0.5/win32/vlc-1.0.5-win32.exe

Excerpted from my daily feeds this co...

2010-05-13T10:44:00.001-07:00

Excerpted from my daily feeds this courtesy of Make use of Dot Com.

synopsis :great resources (make use of dot com) tips you to great resources , in this case check out the auto respond service that can alert folks that are sending you text msgs via sms that you cant be bothered at the moment

Don’t Text Me: Auto Reply Text Messages While You Are Busy

Whenever we are signed into our instant messaging client and are busy with some other program or task, we set our instant messaging status as “busy” to indicate that we should not be disturbed. Until now there was no equivalent feature for cellphone users. But “Don’t Text Me” changes that.

Don’t Text Me is a nifty application for iDevices (iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad) that, after getting a tap from you, sends your contacts a auto reply text messages telling them that you are busy
(driving, in a meeting, in class, or out for dinner) and should not be disturbed with text messages at the moment.

Users who are easily distracted by text messages (drivers in particular) will find this tool very helpful. You can also control whom not to send the “busy” message to by sending it to a group of contacts rather than our entire phonebook.

iPod and iPad users can use Don’t Text Me because it uses WiFi. Messages are to contacts in the U.S. only.

Features:

Reduces the chance of you being disturbed by text messages.
Has more than one message option to choose from i.e. multiple messages can be set to be sent later.
Users can specify which group of contacts to send the message to.
In addition to iPhone, it works on iPod Touch and iPad as well.

Download Don’t Text Me iPhone app from iTunes App Store

7 Things That Are Easier To Do In Ubu...

2010-05-10T09:28:00.001-07:00

7 Things That Are Easier To Do In Ubuntu Than In Windows

item excerpted from my daily feeds this tip from the folks at Make Use Of Dot Com

by Justin Pot on Apr. 1st, 2010

When the average computer user hears aboutUbuntu or Linux, the word “difficult” comes to mind. This is understandable: learning a new operating system is never without its challenges, and in many ways Ubuntu is far from perfect. I’d like to say that using Ubuntu is actually easier and better than using Windows.

This doesn’t mean you’ll experience it that way if you’ve used Windows for a long time: at a certain your habits begin to feel like conventional wisdom, and any system that doesn’t match your current habits will seem difficult.

If you’re a MakeUseOf reader, however, you’re undoubtedly a fan of free software. Most of the very best free software is open source. If you’re a Windows user who primarily uses free software, Ubuntu’s going to feel more comfortable to you than Windows once you get used to it. And once you do get used to it, you’ll realize that in some ways Ubuntu is simply better than Windows in terms of ease of use.

Don’t believe me? Here are some examples.

Finding & Installing Software

There’s a misconception out there that installing software on Ubuntu, or any Linux platform, requires a PhD in Computer Science. Nothing could be further than the truth; in fact, I’d argue installing software on Ubuntu is a great deal easier than installing software on Windows.

Let’s examine the typical installation scenario for Windows users. Pretend there’s a person named Sally, and that Sally wants to install VLC Media Player. Sally Googles the name of the program, finds a webpage related to it, browses that page until she finds a download for Windows before finally downloading an executable file.

Assuming Sally is pretty tech-savvy, she verifies that the site she downloaded from is a proper place; if not, it could come from anywhere and be infected with any number of spyware, trojans and/or AOL toolbars. Once the file has finished downloading, Sally double-clicks the executable she just downloaded, tells Windows it’s okay to install the program, then follows the series of prompts and clicks “next” several times.

Now let’s pretend Sally is an Ubuntu user. To install VLC, all she needs to do is click “Applications,” then “Ubuntu Software Center” then search for “VLC“, double-click VLC and click the “Install” button at the bottom of the description. She’ll enter her password and then Ubuntu will download and install VLC for you, letting Sally know when it’s done.

Best of all: because the software is all coming from one place, and not some random website, you know with complete certainty that the file doesn’t include any spyware or trojans.

In my opinion, Ubuntu’s method of installing software is far simpler than Windows when compared side by side. The main reason people new to Ubuntu have trouble installing software is because they try to apply the Windows method to Ubuntu, searching the web for programs to download instead of consulting the Ubuntu Software Center first. Packages found online could indeed be very hard to install, but considering the Ubuntu Software Center gives you access to thousands of programs there’s very little reason to ever bother with it.

Initial Setup

When I first install a computer, there are certain things I want installed right away: codecs for all my music and movies, Flash for my web browser, Java, and something capable of opening RAR files. On Windows, ensuring I have all of these things means going through the process above for all software mentioned individually. On Ubuntu, all I need to do is install a single package: Ubuntu Restricted Extras. To install Ubuntu Restricted Extras I simply open up the Ubuntu Software Center, search for “Restricted” and find the package.

Click the install button, and with that simple step my computer is pretty much ready to go.

It should be added that on Windows systems I usually have to install a PDF Reader and a photo editor before I can really use the system, but Ubuntu comes with a PDF called Evince Reader and a photo editor called The Gimp by default.

Installing Drivers

This point is perhaps less relevant for users of Windows 7, which offers pretty good driver management through Windows Update, but it needs to be said that managing drivers on Ubuntu is a breeze. Since Ubuntu is upgraded every 6 months, if you use the latest version you probably won’t need to install a single driver to use your computer. If you do, it will be because the drivers you need are proprietary and as such cannot be included with Ubuntu for legal reasons.

Don’t worry, though: Ubuntu comes with a built-in program for downloading such proprietary drivers for your system. The first time your computer boots Ubuntu, it will inform you of any drivers you need, and install them for you with the click of a button.

I fix Windows PCs professionally, and wish XP had a similar feature. If my client has his or her driver CD it’s not too bad, but if not I’ve little recourse but to download the drivers the annoying Windows way, as described in the “Installing Software” section.

Using The Menu

While we’re talking about installing software on Windows compared to Ubuntu I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out my Windows pet peeve. When I install a program on Windows, it is added to the Start Menu. Where is the program added? In a folder named for the company that made the software.

This is infuriating to me, because knowing which program made the software doesn’t tell me what the program in question does. There are so many sub-menus that I frequently don’t know where to begin. Compare this mess to Ubuntu’s menu, which arranges programs by what they do:

Only five sub-menus, and all with a certain logic to them.

To be fair, the Start menu in Vista/Windows 7 is a little better than this in that I can search for a program. This means I can avoid ever looking at the terrible menu ever again. But this seems more like working around the issue instead of repairing it.

Changing Your Theme

Changing your color scheme on Windows is easy, but if you want to customize beyond changing the palette some work is in order. I use a custom theme on my Windows XP system, but installing it was anything but easy. I needed to hack a certain DLL to achieve this, something I should probably highlight in a future tutorial.

I’ll never need to write a tutorial explaining how to do this on Ubuntu, however, because it’s dead simple. Just click “System,” then “Preferences,” then “Appearance.” You’ll be shown a number of quality themes, and switching to any one is as easy as clicking it. If these themes aren’t enough for you, head over to Gnome-Look and find something that suits you. Installing the theme is as simple as dragging the downloaded package to your “Appearance” window.

I should make a confession here: I’ve never attempted to do this in Windows 7. By the looks of Karl’s article about the top 5 Windows 7 themes, customization is now Ubuntu-like in Windows 7. Good to hear!

Getting Updates

When it comes to updates, Windows is a jungle. Adobe, Apple, Google and many more companies will all install their own update managers to your computer, most of which will bother you every time you boot your computer asking you to update various products.

On Ubuntu, there is only one update manager. This means keeping all your software up to date is simple, and that you don’t have 30,000 programs bothering you every time you boot your machine.

Sharing Your Wireless Connection Via Ethernet

Recently I wrote an article about sharing your wireless connection in Ubuntu. Since then I’ve switched the computer on my desk to Windows, and I cannot for the life of me figure out a way to achieve the same thing. Maybe you commenters can help me out, but every configuration I’ve used to share my wireless Internet connection via Ethernet in Windows resulted in my wireless not working anymore.

So I’m going to go ahead and say this is easier to do in Ubuntu, half because it’s true and half because I think this will cause one of you guys to recommend a Windows method that works for me.

Conclusion

In many ways, Ubuntu is easier to use than Windows. Does this mean Ubuntu is superior to Windows? Of course not, and I wouldn’t suggest so. You should use whatever operating system works best for you.

All I wanted to do was challenge the conception that Windows is easier to use in every aspect. Ubuntu has become easier to use every year, and I think even inspired a few of the changes in Windows 7 (I’d love to see a Windows 7 ad in which a Linux developer claims Windows 7 was his idea, because unlike the people in those silly advertisements the Linux developer would probably be right.) This isn’t a bad thing: competition makes everything better. Whenever new improvements are introduced to the operating system market, eventually everyone wins.

Please also note that most of the things described here are true of other Linux distributions as well, and the only reason I left these distributions out is that saying “before you install Linux you must choose from the thousands of distributions out there” hardly helps the argument that Linux is easy to use. For the vast majority of new Linux users Ubuntu is an excellent starting point, and that’s why I’m highlighting it here.

What do you guys think? Do these things sound easier to do on Ubuntu than Windows to you? Can you think of anything else easier in one operating system than another? We have a comments section, so comment!

JD MILLER on Mixcloud Really fine work grab the the link or listen to the embed below

2010-04-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

Stag And Dagger 2010 Competition Mix by Jd Miller on Mixcloud

(Video) Fly Through A 3D New York City With Google - PSFK

2010-04-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

(Video) Fly Through A 3D New York City With Google - PSFK

Music Hack Day - San Fransico

2010-04-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

Music Hack Day - San Fransico

Girl Talk - Smash Your Head (Muxtape)

2010-04-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Girl Talk - Smash Your Head (Muxtape)

2010-04-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

Girl Talk - Smash Your Head (Muxtape)

10 Simple Google Search Tricks - Google Docs

2010-04-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

10 Simple Google Search Tricks -By SIMON MACKIE of GigaOm Published: April 2, 2010

10 Simple Google Search Tricks

2010-04-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

10 Simple Google Search Tricks

Use the OR operator

This can be useful if you’re looking at researching a topic but you’re not sure which keywords will return the information you need. It can be particularly handy in conjunction with the “site:” operator. For example, you could try this search: GTD or “getting things done” site:webworkerdaily.com

Exclude specific terms with the – minus operator.
You can narrow your searches using this operator. For example, if you’re looking for information about American Idol but don’t want anything about Simon Cowell, you could try: “american idol” -cowel

Search for specific document types

can search the web for specific types of files using the “filetype:” operator. If you’re looking for PowerPoint files about GTD, for example, you could try: GTD filetype:ppt

Search within numerical ranges using the... .. operator.

Say, for example, you want to look for information about Olympic events that took place in the 1950’s, you could use this search: Olympics 1950..1960

Use the “site:” operator to limit searches to a particular site.

I use this one all the time, and it’s particularly handy because many site’s built-in search tools don’t return the results you’re looking for (and some sites don’t even have a search feature). If I’m looking for WWD posts about GTD, for example, I could try this search: GTD site:webworkerdaily.com

Quick Lookups

AREA Code

Time Zone

Currency

Calculator

Spell Check /Dictionary

Fedex UPS

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SAVEVIDEO.ME: download video from Youtube, Dailymotion, Metacafe, Veoh, Flickr, Google, Blip.tv easily!

2010-04-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

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JPaulArmstrong.blogspot.com

dia de los muertos skull

Liz Taylor's Likeness Appears In Household Sponge

Radio Toolbox - Changing the World One Broadcast at a Time

culled from my feeds this item from lifehackerStreamWriter Records Multiple Streams of Internet Radio

StreamWriter Records Multiple Streams of Internet Radio

Music Streaming Service MOG Goes Free...Hat tip to Whitson Gordon @ Lifehacker

Music Streaming Service MOG Goes Free, Makes Its Insanely Large Library Available to All

dark side of OZ pink Floyd meets toto and the gang

Tips+Tricks: How to Get Free Music From Magnifier

Further@Shoreline 06/04/11 Best Show since the Fat Man melted

Drag on Tape compilation of mr blotto u tube tracks

Most truthful, and hysterical, police patch ever made. - Imgur

YouTube - Mr Blotto Moviestar Blottopia X RV Cam

"Low Loretta" Mr. Blotto @Blottopia

Mr. Blotto covers Mrs. Robinson

Jerry Seinfeld - Personal Archives

7 Online Music Streaming Services With No Restrictions culled from my feeds this one from the folks at make use of dot com

FineTune

8Tracks

Grooveshark

TheSixtyOne

We Are Hunted

Aupeo

Musicuo

Perception

A View of the SUN , a composite set of imagery from NASA's Solar Observer

peter jackson videoblog from the hobbit set

Office 2010 Tips tricks from make use of dot com

Jane´s Addiction @ Movistar Free Music, Bs As, Argentina

Mother Hips at GAMH from SFSTATION.com

Senator Feinstein response to my letter re Patriot Act abuses by FBI

stanton warriors "Shoot me Down"

gmail Motion Happy April fool's day ev1

Crate, Ge.tt & Min.US 3 New File Share Methods

Barlow Shanghai

sendoid 1 gb peer to peer file transfer fast and FREE

Lsd No Hitter

Ben Parr explains IPV4/IPV6

IPv4 & IPv6 Q&A

Luke, I'm your Faadah...VW ad Darth Vadar costumed toddler

EFF report on FBI abuse of power prompted me to contact Senator Feinstein

Epic Fail @Kenneth Cole

Stanton Warriors new video

Stanton Warriors LIVE Avalon LA gig

MAKE Magazine Electronics skill set tutorials

Skill Set: Electronics tips from "Ask MAKE"

Tom Waits Going out West covered by Queens of the Stone Age

mougg MOBILE MUSIC SERVICE

happy new year 2011

8pen rethinking mobile device UI

Another Free Music Resource: MusicLink

Another Free Music Resource: MusicLink

MusicLink: Listen To Complete Albums Before Buying

John Prine Full set from Newport Folk Fest Summer 2010

Copy of Give-A-Fuck-O-Meter

Animated gif: Give-A-Fuck-O-Meter

jim james from My Morning Jacket solo performance Newport Folk Fest 2010

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mp3palloza (from tina at make use of dot com)

Radiohead@Santa Barbara Bowl 09/05/08

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Graphic Design Resources this item courtesy of the folks at getstartED

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