Don't ask Don't care

I need to lift the following from Big Black and Cocky:

Don't ask, don't care.
Do not encourage her to tell you her problems. Typically, anyone a woman tells her problems to is someone she will not sleep with. Besides, if you’re the guy she’s pouring her heart out to about her relationship problems, chances are that the guy she's sleeping with doesn’t give a crap what she thinks-- and that may be part of the reason why she’s sleeping with him. If she wanted a man that listens to her problems, why is she still fucking him?

Yep. Just about says it all. Unfortunately I have recently been hit by this particular issue. Makes no sense at all.

Mobile Safari the Best Mobile browser?

John Gruber over at Daring Fireball states:

And, worse, it’s rather conspicuous that Nocera neglects to mention the iPhone’s web browser, which kicks any other mobile device’s ass.\

Really?

I've seen the demos and I'm not sure if that really is true. If we're talking mobile phones, then I could suppose that statement to be true, but seriously the web browser on my N800 is nice. I have flash. I have AJAX. I got Google traffic, Google Docs.. I've got 800X420. I can zoom in and out of a page. I can reflow a page to fit the window. So exactly how is mobile Safari kicking the N800 browser's ass?

Tangerine!

Tangerine is a nice application that will analyze your iTunes music library and set the BPM and "Beat Intensity" of all your tracks. When I previously tried to use the application it was limited to non DRM'd music (MP3. AAC) so I didn;t have much use for it since a growing proportion of my music is from the Apple iTunes Store. The latest version will analyze your DRM'd tracks. So I decided to try it out.

The main reason for trying it out was because I'm not quite happy with the "shuffle" or "Party Shuffle" feature on iTunes. basically it plays whatever it determines without much of a point to it. If you have a wide taste in music and much of it "highly rated" then your playlists tend to all look and sound the same, especially if they are made when you're in a particular mood or have totally forgotten about tracks you've had for ever.

Tangerine fixes this problem for me. Once the tracks are analyzed you can have tangerine create playlists that have tracks that contain music that lies within both a selected BPM range but also a set beat intensity range. In addition, and this is the part I like, you can set a general pattern. I have taken a liking to the "twin peaks" setting, In effect it will create a playlist that increases in beat intensity and BPM and then slows the music down and then brings it back up again, kind of like old school R&B radio stations.

The last list it generated for me had an Oscar Peterson Piano solo that was followed by the instrumental version of Billie Jean. Completelt unexpected, something I would never create in a playlist, but for some odd reason worked for me. The software will show you the playlist it creates in a lower pane which indicated the "pace" of the music by increasing or decreasing the size of the album art associated with the tracks. So far I've generated about 6 playlists that I like out of 10 tries. I generally don't keep the playlists around unless it is really outstanding though.

Tangerine gets a thumbs up from me. There is a demo available. Try it out.

20GB iPod Meet iPod Touch

So we have a new iPod touch at 16GB.


So my 20GB is now EOL.

If the iPhone goes 16GB then I'll do that instead.

Sony Rootkit...again.

Electronics giant Sony has confirmed a recently discovered security flaw in some of its products that could leave PCs vulnerable to attack by hackers.

The firm said that the fault, which affected software packaged with memory sticks, was developed by a third-party.

The flaw was in software that came bundled with the USB devices. The program used virus-like techniques to create a hidden directory on a computer's hard drive.

Researchers at F-secure said that a hacker could then infect a computer as any files stored on the hidden directory would be invisible to the user and also from some virus scanners and security software.


Sony confirms security problem

Getting Paid

From DV.com:

Ambush

London, 1982. I’m running Molinare, the biggest video facility in Soho. Alan Stewart, our wonderful builder, needs to be paid. Unlike 30-day trade accounts, builders want their money fast. Alan’s accounts are simple. He pays for his building materials cash on pick up. He pays his workers cash each Friday. I pay him every week. What’s left over is profit. Who needs accountants?

But our cash flow is low. We’ve been chasing our debtors like crazy, but it’s not coming in fast enough.

I show Alan our accounts receivable.

“I’ll sort out your bad payers,” he says. “Pay me as I bring it in.”

“Let me see—look, this guy Adrian R. is on Wardour St. He owes us £12,500, most of it over 90 days. Go get him.”

Alan and five builders, all carrying tools of trade, head for Adrian R. on Wardour St., about five minutes’ walk away.

Fifteen minutes later Alan returns, £12,500 check in hand.

“Alan, what did you do?”

“Nothing—I just said that I couldn’t pay my men because he hadn’t paid Molinare’s bills. My lads were wandering around the office straightening the paintings. He pulled out his checkbook there and then.”

A few weeks later, Adrian R. is in my office. He’s promising prompt payment in future and hoping he’s welcome back as a client.

How NOT to release a CD

From The Music Man article in the NY Times:

By the time Barnett first approached Rubin about coming to Columbia, Rubin had already decided that he would have nothing more to do with Columbia Records. This was because of the company's handling of the Rubin-produced Neil Diamond record "12 Songs" in 2005. Diamond was a hero of Rubin's, and he spent two years working on the album, persuading Diamond to record acoustically, something he hadn't done since the '60s.

"The CD debuted at No. 4," Rubin told me at Hugo's, still sounding upset. "It was the highest debut of Neil's career, off to a great start. But Columbia — it was some kind of corporate thing — had put spyware on the CD. That kept people from copying it, but it also somehow recorded information about whoever bought the record. The spyware became public knowledge, and people freaked out. There were some lawsuits filed, and the CD was recalled by Columbia. Literally pulled from stores. We came out on a Tuesday, by the following week the CD was not available. Columbia released it again in a month, but we never recovered. Neil was furious, and I vowed never to make another album with Columbia."