Month: August 2007

My top 12 favorite song parts

Almost all of my favorite songs have a part that’s just perfect. Where on each listen I’ll wait for the moment when everything comes together. Sometimes it’s a certain chord. Or drum solo or vocal. Many times it’s hard to explain the part to someone, even if they’ve heard of it. After a lot of listening and some editing I’ve narrowed down my top 12 favorite songs parts. I’ll start with my very favorite one but after that I couldn’t rank them. These are the songs I never tired of. What are your personal favorites?

Running to a Stand Still by U2 – One of the few songs that can give me chills. A friend of mine once called it “the perfect song” and I agree. But the part that makes it special is the ending where Bono pulls out the harmonica with soft guitar in the background. It’s hard to describe. If you haven’t seen Rattle and Hum on DVD it’s worth a watch if for only this song. Otherwise you can view it here.

[audio:standstill.mp3]

Bargain by The Who – At about two thirds into this classic, Pete Townsend slows it down with a gorgeous, mesmerizing guitar that leads to a crazy cool drum explosion by Keith Moon. It’s sad that Moon wouldn’t live much longer because this was the time when two music giants fused their sound and made magic.

[audio:bargain.mp3]

I’m your Captain by Grand Funk Railroad – This one is hard to explain. This epic song is nearly ten minutes long, but it’s around the eight minute mark where, in the middle of a jam, vocal lead Mark Farner, yells out, “SOME BAD, SOME BAD” yet many people miss it since it’s a bit muted. I don’t know why I like this so much. Maybe it’s the orchestra. Maybe the build-up or the amazing drums intertwined in it all. I don’t know, but it makes the song one of my favorites.

[audio:yourcaptain.mp3]

A Day in the Life by The Beatles – One of the better known endings in rock and roll and for good reason. It was so amazingly refreshing when it came out and yet nobody has approached it today lest they be compared to the Beatles. The song is weird to begin with and the ending just feels so unexpected the first time you hear it. This massive build up that sounds like it’s going to explode followed by the slight pause and then Mal Evans slams down the final piano chord that makes history. The producers were smart enough to let the piano linger a bit. Absolutely fantastic.

[audio:dayinthelife.mp3]

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap by AC/DC – Probably my favorite opening riff. Sounds so menacing that it’s impossible to listen to unless the volume is cranked way up. I love the methodic drums in the background as they complement that angry guitar from Angus Young. Downright intimidating.

[audio:dirtydeeds.mp3]

I Fought the Law by The Clash – Short but sweet. The cool galloping drums followed by that sweet guitar chord that launches into a great tune. Of all their songs, the first of this song personifies the Clash for me: high-strung, skilled and immediate.

[audio:foughtthelaw.mp3]

Hey You by Pink Floyd – I can’t even imagine how many times I’ve listened to this opening guitar by David Gilmore. Several of my friends who were not Floyd fans were won over once they heard this opening. So simple. So relaxing. Like many of their songs, they are best listened to in the flow of the entire album. But this was the song and the part that won me over to The Wall.

[audio:heyyou.mp3]

Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg – I know, I know. The song is a bit corny and you’re probably wondering how some mellow 80’s tune makes the list. I’ll tell you why: I’m a sucker for the saxophone. And the ending of this song includes some of the best sax I’ve heard. The song brings back a lot of good memories from that time in life as well. But that sax mixed with background piano is near perfection.

[audio:oldlangsyne.mp3]

Over the Hills and Far Away by Led Zeppelin – It was hard to narrow it down to only one Zep tune. I initially thought about the organ ending of “Thank You” or the opening riff on “Whole Lotta Love”, but I was quickly reminded of the number of times I’ve played this song just to hear the master that is Jimmy Page absolutely nail the ending. I’ve never heard anything remotely close to this and that’s what makes Page that master that he is. For me, he’s the best guitarist who has ever lived.

[audio:overthehills.mp3]

Patience by Guns and Roses – I know it’s been overplayed, but this album came out while I was living in Germany. When I returned to the states I heard this song and immediately loved this mellow guitar from Slash. It’s so clear and calm which is a 180 degrees from most of their music. It hits the perfect chord.

[audio:patience.mp3]

Tom Sawyer by Rush – You know the part. It’s one of the best drum solos in the history of rock and roll. But it’s setup perfectly by some crazy guitar by Geddy Lee. And then Neil Peart puts on a show. He hits his drums so fast and furiously it’s hard to imagine how he pulls it off. Few groups gave them drummer so much leeway as Rush and it paid off. Keith Moon and John Bonham sometimes get more publicity, but I don’t think it gets any better than Peart.

[audio:tomsawyer.mp3]

Out of the Woods by Nickel Creek – This is the song that got me into Bluegrass music and includes the best mandolin part I’ve ever heard. Those few notes from Chris Thile are just amazing. I saw them in concert a few years back and I was so bummed out when they didn’t play this song. The mandolin fits in perfectly with the guitar and violin. I just love this song.

[audio:woods.mp3]

 

Utah Mine Disaster

For the last couple of weeks, I wake up each morning and walk downstairs to my computer. I launch Firefox and go to the Salt Lake Tribune website hoping to read good news about the miners. I continue to hold out hope that one of the bore holes will somehow find the pocket full of miners and his whole nightmare will be over. But each morning has been met with more delays, more equipment problems and more drilling. As an observer from over a thousand miles away, I can’t imagine what the families of the missing miners must be going through but it must be their own version of hell on earth.

This disaster has opened up a world that I didn’t want to believe existed. We don’t hear about these jobs or terrible working conditions until a tragedy shines light on a world few people understand. Watching the interviews with the spouses and children of these miners drives home the fact they are attempting to make a life of their own and support their family, just like the rest of us. Nearly all admit they are drawn to the mine because of the good wages. Few of them have much education and most are second or third generation miners.

The first national press conference that Robert Murray gave was a textbook example of how not to calm the relatives of the lost men. I was so angry watching him drone on about global warming and suspect earthquake activity when all these families wanted to hear was that he was doing everything he could to rescue their loved ones. It was a PR disaster that should have never happened. Yet over time I came to feel sorry for this guy. He’s clearly a miner at heart and doesn’t possess the skills to deal with the media frenzy that suddenly dropped on his world. If any good came out of that first interview it’s that, going forward, federal officials will manage future press briefings.

I hope the miners passed away quickly and didn’t have to endure days of darkness and cold without much food or water. And I really hope that changes are put in place that improve the working conditions for these people who risk their lives each day as they climb into a maze of tunnels, thousands of feet below the earth’s surface.

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The Volkswagon Car Tower

I’ve seen these pictures a while back but am still amazed each time I come across them. I initially saw this structure described as a robotic parking lot in Germany. But others have confirmed that’s it’s actually robotic storage facility owned by Volkswagon located in Wolfsburg, Germany. The 20 story car tower is fully robotic and probably half the fun in taking delivery of your new Volkswagon.

I’d like to visit the facility and first ask for a red Jetta…then change my mind to white…and then black…and then…

If you can read German there’s more information at the Autostadt website.

parkade

parkade2

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The Vista look and feel on XP

So you like the look of Vista but for whatever reason you’ve decided to stick with XP? Well, there are a few small programs that will give you some of the look and feel of Vista but still maintain that XP stability you’re after.

  1. Vista Cursors – Lifehacker has a link to the vcursors2
    files you’ll need. A  simple but classy update for XP. The Vista cursors are nice looking and now you can use them on XP.
  2. Vista Thumbnail Preview – This is one of the features I really liked in Vista and missed when I went back to XP. The How-To Geek has a link to the program and setup tutorial. Very simple to install and works quite well.
  3. Vista Start Menu for XP  – This is my favorite of the bunch and  the one feature I missed VistaStartthe most when ditching Vista. ViStart gives you the same start menu functionality found in Vista including the quick search function! I use the quick search all the time to launch programs. I like that it’s much more compact in size than regular XP start menu.

I’m running all three on my XP machine. I’ve also applied the Zune theme which looks great. Check out InterfaceLIFT if you’re looking for some cool wallpaper. You can also download a bunch of Vista wallpaper but it’s not all that impressive.

Thanks to Lifehacker for the links and excellent tutorials.

Mahalo and Credibility

I’ve come to rely on Mahalo for those times when Google spits back too many results for me to filter. Mahalo does a great job in bringing the most relevant results to the top of the page. I also like how they keep the presentation to a minimum. It’s clean and easy to navigate.

But I noticed one major problem today: The guides that create the pages cannot be informed about every topic, and some topics will require a person who really knows the product, service or brand to understand what others will be looking for and expect in a results page.

Haystack-FINALb I’ll give you an example: Find the Mahalo page for the BMW 3 Series. Granted this is a product that has many rabid fans and BMW owners are a demanding bunch. They not only understand the history and culture surrounding the car, but they will be well-versed in its competitors and community. In a nutshell, they will know more about the car than a guide at Mahalo who has never owned a BMW and is creating the page based on Google search results.

I spent less than 15 seconds looking over the Mahalo page for the 3 series and could tell you it was created by someone who doesn’t own a BMW or knows much about them. And that’s a problem, because I expect this page to have been created by someone who knows MORE (or at least as much) about the BMW 3 series than myself. Corvette, 911, GTI, WRX, S4 and a host of other enthusiast car owners will expect the same.

Under the section “BMW 3 Series Competitors” the guide has listed the Lexus ES at the top followed by the Mercedes Benz C-Class and Audi A4. When I saw this, the page lost all credibility. The ES is not a competitor to the 3 Series. But the Lexus IS 250/350 is. The first competitor that comes to mind is left off the list: The Infinity G35/G37 which isn’t listed on Mahalo yet.

Mahalo’s results are still better than a basic Google search. But I expect more. I’m sure it will improve over time. Mahalo has a “recommend a link” feature that, if utilized, will help shore up the results. I created a Squidoo lens that I feel is a lot more in tune with what a 3 series owner or researcher would be after but it took 10+ hours to create.  Some of what I have under the 3 Series Basics should be on Mahalo’s Top 7. Mahalo’s top 7 links to “Car Domain” and some guy named Danny’s tricked out 3 series. Huh? This is just sloppy work.

I will still use Mahalo, but will be watching to see if the guides really do implement user feedback into the pages. Each Mahalo page needs to be more than what anyone could slap together in an hour. Jason Calacanis and his team have been open to suggestions so I have hope this will be improved. I’ll even volunteer to update the 3 Series page for free. 🙂

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Snoqualmie Falls Candy Factory & Cafe

We took our kids to Snoqualmie Falls to see the waterfall this afternoon. They enjoyed climbing the rocks and playing on the grassy area. Here is a picture I took of the falls.

DSC_0842

After the kids were tired of running around, we drove to the small downtown of Snoqualmie and had dinner and dessert. We ended up at the Snoqualmie Falls Candy Factory & Cafe. This place is your typical 50’s style cafe. It probably doesn’t look much different than it did 30 or 40 years ago. I like how they have menus scattered throughout the store. Some food items are listed on a board behind the counter, some are written on paper and taped to the soda machine and cash register. Several “specials” were taped to the back wall. There was fresh berry pie next to the cash register along with homemade caramels.

One thing I enjoy about small, family run businesses like this one is the attention each customer receives. This isn’t McDonald’s or Taco Bell that have countdown clocks where the rule of the game is to spend as little time with the customer as possible. No, at this cafe just the opposite is true. A simple ice cream order turns into a conversation about the town or the story behind the pie recipe. They don’t yell out a number when you’re order is ready. They don’t weigh your ice cream. They don’t wear uniforms or ask if you’d like to supersize. They talk to each customer like a friend would. It’s refreshing.

As we were about to leave the store I spotted the bins of taffy for which they are well-known. I grabbed a small bag and let the kids pick their favorite flavors.  Luca picked apple, Lincoln picked watermelon and Anna picked licorice. I took the bag of taffy up to the counter to be weighed. The gentlemen punched in some numbers into the register then looked at me and said, “I’m going to take a nickel off the price to compensate for the weight of that bag”.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard anyone mention the word, nickel, but that’s the type of place this is. And if you ever pay them a visit, make sure you stock up on the peppermint taffy. It’s delicious!

Vista issues linger

I’ve documented the horrendous experience I’ve had running Windows Vista on this blog which has caused quite a number of friends, coworkers and people I don’t know to flame me for:

  1. Not knowing how to properly configure Vista
  2. Having exotic hardware
  3. Not having enough patience for drivers to be written
  4. (When all else fails) For hating Microsoft

Well, none of those reasons are true and it’s been a bit frustrating wondering if maybe I was doing something wrong with Vista. Maybe there was some magic yet hidden setting I just needed to tweak. I kept looking for the “Just Work” and the “Annoy Me Less” buttons. I never found them.

Well, over the past few days I’ve spoken with two good friends who are both big Microsoft fans. Both work in IT and have been Vista proponents. Yet things have changed. Both had changed their tunes and were in the process of moving back to Windows XP. To quote one friend, “I tried to like Vista. but it pesters me to death and runs slower than XP”. Chris Pirillo correctly notes the record number of MacBooks at Gnomedex this year. 

Although I was feeling a bit of Schadenfreude in all this, it’s too bad that Vista has caused so many problems and wasted so many hours. I still have a few diehard friends that work at Microsoft and are sticking with Vista. The only thing they can offer now is, “Just wait for SP1”. Isn’t that like buying a new car that turns out to be a lemon only to hear the dealer say, “Just wait for the first recall to be issued. That will force them to fix the problems!”.

shadowrunKim continues to run Vista on her newer Dell machine. I bought her the game, Shadowrun, which only (this deserves its own post) works on Windows Vista. We’ve tried installing it several times and it refuses to install. This is absolutely absurd.

It sucks to feel locked into anything. I hate the feeling of being locked into a cell phone or broadband contract. And I certainly hate the feeling of being locked into an operating system. As much as I’d like to move to another OS, I’ve invested too much money and time on programs that only run on Windows. I don’t like the idea of running programs in a virtual machine so I get by running XP which works most of the time. Thank goodness.

My only question now is how long till Microsoft yanks XP support and stops pushing out updates and patches?

Update: Former PC Magazine Editor, Jim Louderback, has had enough of Vista too. He writes:

I could go on and on about the lack of drivers, the bizarre wake-up rituals, the strange and nonreproducible system quirks, and more. But I won’t bore you with the details. The upshot is that even after nine months, Vista just ain’t cutting it. I definitely gave Microsoft too much of a free pass on this operating system: I expected it to get the kinks worked out more quickly. Boy, was I fooled! If Microsoft can’t get Vista working, I might just do the unthinkable: I might move to Linux.

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Protecting your employees from porn, illegal music and Clay Aiken

One of the least favorite parts of my job is doing  the occasional laptop audit at our office. This means I have to look for illegal music and software as well as pornographic material. It’s usually pretty clear when someone has been downloading and collecting such material. We aren’t after the one of two questionable files that could show up through an unintentional pop-up banner. Yet, it never feels good going through someone’s computer even if it belongs to the company. One of the main problems with doing an audit is making sure the procedure is uniform and fair for everyone. It’s one thing to search for illegal mp3 files, but another thing to look through someone’s browser cache.

Recently I read a positive review about a product called Guardware File Audit that appears to be a good solution for the way we check machines. In short, it’s a USB stick with software that checks for pornographic images, video and illegal music. Each stick costs $195 and can be used on an unlimited number of machines. So I bought two of them.

The two USB sticks arrived today and I decided to test it on my home system. I plugged one into a USB port and the drivers installed without a problem. Here is the first screen you see.

guardware2

I unchecked “Music Files” because I don’t want it telling me the MP3s I trade with my brother and dad are illegal. I left everything else as is and started the scan. Everything seemed to go fine for the first minute and then it hung and popped up good ole’ Doctor Watson. I had to kill the good Doctor which killed the scanning. I tried several more times before realizing it was a single file in my Adobe folder that was causing the problem. Guardware even went so far to show a reminder screen asking that I email the suspected file which is a tiny Adobe icon graphic in .png format to them. I moved the file to my D: drive and started the scan again. About 5 minutes later it finished and presented me with a report of its findings as seen in the screen below.

guardware

 I like how it presents the images it suspects are pornographic. All but a few of pictures it suspected were stock photos found in my Adobe directory. The first two pictures of the girl in the hat are of my 6 year old daughter. I’m not sure what they contain that triggers Guardware. As I suspected, my machine is PORN FREE!

Overall, the scan was quick and I think it will work well for our needs at work.

Just for fun, I decided to download a picture of Paris, Britney and Clay Aiken. I selected these three for the following reasons: 

Paris is showing her newfound cleavage but otherwise she’d look at home in a Land’s End catalog. Britney needs to pull up her pants and put on a shirt. But she’s still covered. And I chose Clay for his seductive pose. Guardware says they check for this stuff so maybe Clay’s pose is just too over the top to pass the audit.

paris brit ClayAikenPeople

I started the scan like I did before and about four minutes later I was presented with the following results which gave me a good laugh. scan2(Click image to enlarge)
 So it’s now clear that Guardware heavily weighs a person’s posture in determining what items to flag. It’s so certain that Clay is porn that he’s flagged 22 times! Paris only gets flagged 6 times and Britney minus her shirt but plenty of plumbers crack doesn’t show up once in the results. Could it be she’s not flagged because the picture is black and white?

I’m not sure what to make of these results, but I’ll bet Britney would be really bummed about them.

Keep the change

Ebay has been pestering me for the last several months saying I owe them $2.79 in seller fees. I don’t dispute that and have tried to pay them on three separate occasions.

One would think that Ebay would make it easy for everyone to pay their bill, but they don’t. I’ve received several emails saying I owe money and I needed to follow four steps in order to pay my bill. But I couldn’t figure it out after several minutes and would give up. Why wouldn’t Ebay provide a direct link to where I can pay them?

Finally, tonight I logged into my account and was going to bid on an item, but couldn’t because my account was on hold until I paid the $2.79. After about 5 minutes of clicking around aimlessly, I stumbled upon a page that said I didn’t owe anything! I’m still not sure what happened or how my bill got paid.

Remember when the front page of Ebay was clean and not so cluttered? Take a look at it now. What a fricking mess.

And no, I wasn’t trying to bid on Jerry Garcia’s sink.

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