When I moved to Seattle in ’94 I lived in the University district. Back then I spent a lot of hours at the UW Bookstore and Tower Records. There was always a crowd at Tower which was open late and had a great selection of music and video. For a few years they even carried computer games at this store. They are the first music store I remember that had listening stations. Because of those listening stations I was introduced to a lot of new music I otherwise would not have known existed. I remember listen to “Ghost of Tom Joad” at a station when Springsteen released this new CD and buying it immediately. I don’t know if that same experience exists for me anymore. Now I’m more likely to be sent an mp3 file from a friend or my brother. Sharing music takes on a whole new meaning in this digital age. When I used to run a Hotline server people would see my selection of music and upload stuff they thought I might like. That’s how I first heard The Sundays and eventually bought every CD I could find from them.

[audio:tomjoad.mp3]
The Ghost of Tom Joad – Bruce Springsteen
Link to video on YouTube

Driving through downtown Seattle this morning, I noticed several people wearing those wacky body signs announcing the “going out of business” markdowns at Tower. It’s kind of sad to think back to many of those good experiences sampling music at Tower, and now I won’t be able to do that anymore. I can see myself having to explain what a music store used to be to my kids. To them, a music store will probably mean a section you find at Wal-Mart, Target, or Best Buy. Are the days of the dedicated music store over? Will you be able to ask the person working in the Best Buy music area what new CD they would recommend? I hope that experience will still live on in some form. Some of the used CD swapping stores I’ve visited (one just opened up near Pikes Market) like Gray Whale have passionate and knowledgeable staff that are full of recommendations. But you have to search them out. For many people, it’s just too easy to pickup a CD at Target. For me it was mostly about price. Most music stores sold CDs around $16 to $18. I could find the same CD at Target for $12. When a good portion of your market is students with not much disposable income, that price delta is substantial. And now with iTunes anyone can cherry pick the best songs off an album for 99 cents and skip the filler.

[audio:storyends.mp3]
Here’s Where the Story Ends – The Sundays
Link to video on YouTube

I’m sad to see Tower close its doors. But I can’t remember the last time I stepped into one of their stores. In that sense, it’s not surprising. The model has changed and music stores didn’t adapt fast enough.

The Sounder Train passes by the downtown Seattle Costco on the way to and from King Street Station. Like all Costcos I’ve ever been to this one has a huge parking lot. There is a parking lot alongside the building and a really large lot divided into three sections directly in front of the entrance that leads to the Costco gas station. It’s probably 200+ yards if you walk from furthest parking area to the front of the store.

Each day on the train I notice the side lot and the very front section of the store are jam-packed with cars. The front middle area is usually quite full as well. But as you move out further away from the entrance heading towards the far reaches of the lot I notice a handful of cars parked several spaces away from each other. No matter if there are closer spaces to park I can always count on a few cars parked out in this far area. But what I find interesting are the make and model of these cars. I assume these cars belong to people who obsess over their cars. These people don’t want to risk getting dinged by a cart or someone else’s car door. The three car models I’ve seen in this area are Porsche 911 or Boxter, Chevrolet Corvette and Volkswagen GTI. These three models vary greatly in price from around $25k for the GTI to nearly six figures for the Porsche. But it appears that the GTI owners are as careful and obsessive as Porsche owners. Could it be there are few difference in how GTI and Porsche owners view their cars except that Porsche owners have a lot more disposable income? I’m surprised I don’t see more Mercedes, BMW or Jaguar models parked in this far area.

Thanks to YouTube we can view this horrendous shampoo commercial Ben Affleck made for a European TV audience. From what I understand, his contract stipulated that it never been shown in the US. Big bummer for Ben. It’s one of those “it’s so bad it’s good” examples.

Here Comes the Science

Lifehacker has posted links to the official Firefox download. It wasn’t supposed to be official till tomorrow but it looks like Mozilla prepped their servers early. Grab it and enjoy!

Before Firefox 2.0 came along, I’d fire up Word and type my entry. I’d then spell check my post before cutting and pasting it into WordPress. But with Firefox 2.0 I no longer need to use Word to handle spell checking duties as the newest Firefox version has that feature built inline. Fantastic! I’ve been running the last couple of RC builds and have found it to be substantially quicker than version 1.5.

If you’re not already running Firefox 2.0 you can read about the latest features here as well as download the program.

It was a little over six years ago that Kim and I decided we’d like a dog. We spent hours at Barnes and Noble reading through books describing various breeds. We talked to dog owners at the park. Eventually we narrowed down our choices to two breeds: Beagle or Boxer. Kim had a Beagle growing up and we’d read and heard they make great family dogs. But we were concerned that our yard wasn’t large enough to handle the exercise needs of the breed. We also liked the idea of having a bigger dog around the house and one that would be good with our children we’d have down the road. So we located a breeder a few hours outside of Seattle and brought home an exuberant female brindle boxer pup and named her Elka.

Elka has been part of our family for over six years now. Each of our three children learned to walk by using Elka like a handrail for balance. She is so patient with any child she meets. She’s fantastic with other dogs as well. The only downside I can think that comes with owning a brindle boxer is that some people see her and assume she’s a pit bull. We didn’t have her ears cropped, and although I think her face doesn’t have an ounce of menace, I understand not everyone is comfortable around a large breed of dog like the boxer. Her muscular body and square face do look tough at times, but she’s really a big softy who loves to be around people, especially kids.

We’ve been told that boxers don’t live as long as many other breeds. It’s hard to imagine that we’ve probably reached the half-way point in her life given her age. But we will continue to enjoy her as long as we have her. Our kids absolutely adore her. Kim has mentioned that she feels safe having Elka in the home when I’m a business trip. She’s brought a big heart and a fun spirit into our home. To anyone contemplating getting a dog, especially a boxer, I’d say they are a lot of work. They can also cost a lot of money to care for properly, although Elka has lead a remarkably healthy life. But with that in mind, Elka has been worth every cent and every ounce of time and energy we’ve put into raising her. Kim would say she’s been pampered and she’s probably right.

This picture of Elka was taken by my brother-in-law who is an amazing photographer.

BitComet used to be my torrent client of choice until I installed Vista RC1. For whatever reason, BitComet refused to launch. So I decided to give uTorrent a spin. I’ve been reading its great reviews for months. On first launch it looked so basic, but after a while, I realize that’s one of it’s strengths. It’s very simple to use. It’s stable. It just works and doesn’t get in the way.

I still don’t know why BitComet would not work on Vista. Nero is the only other application that won’t run on Vista. Everything else has been great, even Photoshop which I’d been told wouldn’t run. But CS2 runs just fine.

I listen to about 12-15 podcasts each week. I used to listen to maybe half a dozen video podcasts each week but that number has dwindled to one: Ask a Ninja. This leads me to believe that maybe companies like Podtech and Podshow are overrated, at least for my listening and viewing habits.

Here’s how it usually works. If I’m at my computer and have time to burn, I’m far more likely to watch a video than an audio podcast. Yet most of the video I watch comes from YouTube which isn’t a podcast but it’s competing for that same time slot as a video podcast. I’m more likely to have fired up Q-Player and loaded a playlist full of mp3s than either of those options. When I’m on the bus or train (about 3 hours/day) I’m much more likely to listen to audio podcasts. Watching video on my video iPod is just too big a pain. The screen is too small and requires too much dexterity that early in the morning. With an audio podcast I can just hit play and listen. No balancing the screen in my hand while avoiding the next drunk guy on the bus. That’s why I spend far more time listening to IT Conversations than watching the Scobleshow and that’s not likely to change even with the release of the Zune or if Apple releases an iPod with mondo screen. It’s the same reason I listen to TWIT each week but couldn’t care less about Diggnation or DL.TV as much as I enjoy Kevin and Patrick.

I read Scobleizer blog a few times each week. But his Scobleshow video podcast is of little interest to me. If he were to provide an audio only version of his interviews I’d probably subscribe. But his video version has too much competition for my time when I’m at my computer. Scoble has mentioned several times how much more compelling it is to see a video demo of a product vs. going to a website or listening to just the audio. He might be right but maybe I don’t want a demo. I’d still like to hear CEOs talk about the product/service. If I’m interested I’ll go to the website, download the product and try it out myself. Having worked in the demo creation business for nearly 10 years now, I know that many demos are as they seem. Many are running on smoke and mirrors.

Comes down to this: If I’m using my iPod I want audio. If I’m at my computer I want a mix of audio and video. Maybe when I can get Scobleshow, Diggnation or DL.TV on my TV, I’ll watch it. But then it’s up against a whole new host of programming it’s not likely to push aside. Good luck to Podtech and Podshow, but for my viewing habits, your not on the short list.

Don’t have a TV tuner on your PC but still want to watch TV on your computer? Try this incredible program called TVUPlayer that works on bit torrent technology. I’m amazed at how well this works.

I went to Macy’s looking for a lightweight jacket this evening. I tried on a black one and then went back to the rack to see what other colors they had. As I was looking through the rack the salesman asked, “Are you looking for a larger size?”

He’d seen me try on the first jacket and must have thought it looked too small on me. The jacket was over-sized and even a bit large on the shoulders and long in the arms. I was caught off guard by his comment but not offended. But I can imagine some people would be offended by that comment. But it didn’t make me want to buy the jacket from him and I didn’t.