Tumblr

Well, it looks like this is my last post from Blogger. Since my girlfriend got a Tumblr (and it seems like more OTHER people have one than a Blogger), I'll be switching to that too. Let it be known that I detest Tumblr, and vastly prefer Blogger. But it is now inconvenient. I'll still be syncing my posts to Facebook as notes though, so half of you probably won't even notice the difference. But let it be known, I shall no longer be on Blogger.

iTunes Freezes and Crashes My Computer Now?

I think this is more proof that Apple are getting too big for their hats. For a while now iTunes has been running very slowly on my computer, freezing everything and making it very hard to listen to music and browse the internet comfortably. But now it's CRASHING my computer, too? Enough is enough. Apple, iTunes is a music player and a store. Nothing expansive and important. Get over yourselves and make iTunes into a manageable application, or I will uninstall it and keep track of my music elsewhere. With FrostWire and considering the fact that I don't even have an iPod anymore, I don't really need iTunes. It's just been the most convenient way to keep track of my music. But I would gladly trade it in for Rhapsody, where I can listen to the whole song before I buy it and won't have to worry about nosy security implements on my music. I don't even buy 80% of my music anymore. Recently the music I couldn't download on FrostWire wasn't available in iTunes either. Now they better release a damn update that allows me to have iTunes and more than one other thing open at once without crashing.

Ramblings on Cars: A Much Needed Blog Update

So I was talking with Anna today about cars and driving and what-not, since she'll be driving soon. Through this conversation I realized how utterly stupid I think the Pennsylvania driving laws are. I know a few of you that may be reading this aren't from here, but in PA after you get your license (which you can start testing for at 16) you have to drive with an adult afterwards for 6 months. Doesn't that COMPLETELY defeat the purpose of taking all the driving tests? Because most kids aren't going to want to drive with mom or dad around most people probably won't be doing that anyway. But I don't understand the point of having an adult in the car. What are they going to do, drive from the passenger seat? That's not very safe. And so what if the kid sucks at driving? Then you shouldn't have given them the license in the first place. I feel like all the testing and classes you have to take are a joke, if even after getting your "I'm a competent driver" card you still have to be driving around with the 'rents. I thought about it and decided that maybe the issue is that the state is worried about the kids forgetting some of the laws or something, and having the adults there to remind them would help. But if that's the concern then you should be making the classes longer. I feel that before you're given a license you should be given multiple tests. And some without warning. If you want to get a license you should have to go to formal classes given in schools or at registered licensing buildings (aka Driver's Ed). And through out the classes there should be many written and field examination of the driving skills MORE THAN ONCE. It's like how teachers are convinced that after we take one test on something we'll remember it come time at the end of the year when we have to take the final. Anna's taking Driver's Ed in school (or was) and I think it's a good amount of time. It's two months, and you go to two classes a week (Tuesday and Thursday). There was also another run that was four months going once a week (just Thursdays). But I think that the two months is good amount of time, as long as you have an efficient teacher. With the frequent testing it would certainly ensure that the kids have the laws drilled into their heads. Although I do note that we should only be teaching the practical laws and signs, make the "Horse Carriage Crossing" sign a bonus question or something.. Most signs are intuitive enough that you can figure them out anyway. But the only complaint I have about that class is that there's no field testing at all. The more data you have the more accurate the results, so the more tests you give someone the better an idea of their driving skills you'll have. Now obviously this doesn't have to be completely personalized, just do it like the public school systems do. Teach, give quizzes and tests, average the grade together to see if it's a pass or a fail. If it works for them it should work for (supposedly) competent adults who are being allowed clearance to drive vehicles. I just feel that it's REALLY stupid to give someone that kind of permission after one test. I'm sure if we gave a more rigorous testing phase then there would be a lot less bad drivers on the road too. So what if they fail and they can't drive and you say that it's going to damage the economy because they won't be able to get to work now? That's crap. Take public transportation, that's what it's there for. And if you can't, then you should learn to be a less sucky driver. Work is no excuse to give someone permission to get behind the wheel. Health classes stress all the time how cars are powerful weapons when used in the wrong or incapable hands, why won't the states?

Aw, a Not so Fun Answer from KBG

I've recently been texting KGB more and more for product recommendations and etc. for some reason.. They've always given me sound recommendations. But today I decided to have some fun and ask a strange question.. But they decided to run my fun..

"What's the most awkward question you've ever had to answer on duty at KGB?"

"We get so many questions here at kgb_ it is hard to say, we are happy to answer them all!.. Good Luck! kgb_team"

Well I guess we'll have to give them some questions to think about next time someone asks them that question shouldn't we? So you tell me, what are some awkward questions I should ask?

No Steve Jobs, You Did Not Re-Invent the World by Making a Fat iPod

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

And here are 8 very good reasons why.

How can he even have the nerve to say that he's made a grand "invention"? All he did was take an iPod and make it bigger. That's it. This thing that's supposed to compete with netbooks, which for anyone who doesn't know are very small laptops, and it doesn't even have a browser that can use flash. So if you don't really understand the importance of that let me put it to you this way.. NO. YOUTUBE. There also wouldn't be a lot, if any, online games since most of those use flash. No effects on websites, especially effects you see used in sites hosted on www.freewebs.com (which is a very good way to have your own website if you've ever wanted your own). Some pictures wouldn't show up either. Oh and imagine this.. Imagine if you had a computer. It was sleek and stylish (which is what the iPad claims it is but I'm not really seeing it), decently fast but nothing to write home about, it cost you a hell of a lot of money.. And you couldn't download anything that doesn't come from an Apple brand store. That's right. The ONLY things you can put on your iPad (easily) are things that come from iTunes, the App Store, or the iBook store. Of course I'm sure there are some hackers who are going to figure out how to jail break the thing, but for an average every day user that's a huge hassle.

Really Steve? Really now? THIS is your innovation for the world? You took something we already had and made it bigger than it originally was? Well let me tell you something, it didn't work for the Kindle and it's certainly not going to work for the iPad. The only thing you've accomplished is selling some other stupid thing to apple fanboys and showing what an idiot you are. Obviously you're losing your touch.

Stay Frosty.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

Valentine's day 2009. I was actually excited for it this year. Every other year it was just another passing day, occasionally it was celebrated by getting cards from friends or my mom making a special dinner. But after 5th grade I didn't really get or give too any cards or any candy, and I always felt that the dinner made in my home was for my father while I just happened to eat there. I'd always get candy from my parents, but usually I got the small 5 chocolate boxes while they exchanged the large 50 dollar boxes with each other. Again I was just a second thought. But this year was different. This year I actually had a Valentine of my own. Someone who I could give a meaningful gift to. Who I could make special plans and exchange expensive boxes of chocolate with. I'd been thinking about Valentine's Day for a little while now, as most people with a significant other do. Around the holidays it was just a fleeting thought, but after the New Year I started seriously thinking about that day. What could I do? Would they like it? Is it too cliche'? Everyone knows that the first Valentine's Day you're dating someone is a big deal. It's almost as big as a first date or a first kiss, plus you have the added pressure of all the stores trying to shove their sugary, pink, heart filled wears down your throat or into your shopping cart. You also have to try to decide to do or get something that strikes a fine balance of not freaking the other person out (if you've only been dating someone for a little while you don't want to go about doing something big) while being just thoughtful enough. No one likes to feel short changed, especially on a holiday. But all was not to go as planned for my own holiday. Sometime in early February they dropped the news. My parents wanted to spend the weekend of Valentine's Day in Vermont. And since there was no one for me to stay with I had to go too. I had to spend my first "big" Valentine's Day away from my girlfriend. Well that just about turned me into another Valentine's Day hater. I couldn't understand why it was fair to make me be away from who I wanted to be with while my parents still got to be together. I spent the whole trip dreading the coming days when I should have been at home excited for the surprise yet to come.

Infamous "Neshaminy Cake"

Lmao, I love the cake we have at Neshaminy. And I decided to browse the Internet for fun to see if I could find the recipe before I actually asked one of the lunch ladies. Low and behold, guess what I found!

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,196,154165-226193,00.html

For anyone who doesn't know what Neshaminy Cake is, it's the chocolate cake that they ALWAYS have in the lunch lines. The one where the cake is always the same except the toppings vary.. Sometimes it's plain, sometimes there's whipped cream, sometimes there's the gross synthetic whipped cream that somehow managed to retain it's shape under the plastic, sometimes they're sprinkles, etc.. But the cake itself is amazing. And if you've ever been too afraid to go into the lunch line and get it yourself I highly recommend you do, because an experience at Neshaminy isn't the same unless you've tried Neshaminy Cake!

Something Only I Would Do

Dear ConAgra Foods,

I was reading the back of one of your boxes of Swiss Miss and I ventured into the recipe section. I was reading the "Chocolate Berry Tart" recipe and I noticed that there is an error. It states in the ingredients that you would need "2 individual tart shells or an individual graham cracker pie crusts" when really the word "crust" should be singular. Thank you for your time.

That's an actual letter I wrote to the makers of Swiss Miss... If they actually reply to me then I'll be sure to post that reply as well. Mike would be proud!

Stay Frosty

Your Photo of the Day!

I thought I would start your day off with a nice picture:

Don't you love when you freeze a video in a random place and get something like this?

Stay Frosty, I'm sure the weather helps

Holy. Crap.

http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-shopping-guide-day-planners-far-classier-than-your-phone-calendar/P6/

Look at that price. It's so rediculous.

And at the rate I'm going my posts are more micro-blogging than anything.. If it wasn't for the fact that I despise Twitter (and that no one I know has one) then I probably would just be posting these little blurbs there. Although the link might take up most of the character space.. So that wouldn't be too useful.. Anyway, I might be posting a full length blog soon. But for now enjoy all my fun little links!

Stay Frosty

Wow, Really Guys?

“Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die — there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!” (Ruth 1:16-17)

...The vow Ruth makes to Naomi (quoted above) has been read at Christian weddings for centuries because it so perfectly captures the essence of the love that should exist between spouses. It seems more than a little inconsistent to use these words to define and celebrate spousal love, but then adamantly insist that those who originally spoke the words did not love each other like spouses.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080201125111/www.wouldjesusdiscriminate.com/biblical_evidence/ruth_naomi.html

That's only one of many points made in this single article. It's a little lengthy, but you should read it.

How to Suck at Facebook!

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/facebook_suck

Yayyy!!!

Haha, Photo of the Day.

One of the most true pictures I've seen in a long time.

The Gays Win DC

http://www.shewired.com/Article.cfm?ID=24258

One by one all these places are slowly falling...

Stay Frosty!

Proposition 8

So all, if not most, of us know what happened in California with gay marriage. It was passed and then Prop. 8 was passed not too soon after, which is an addition to the Constitution of the State of California that explicitly bans gay marriage. Luckily for the hundreds of couples who were already married while it was still legal, it did not say anything about existing gay marriages. But obviously gay rights activists weren't happy about that, so they're not just sitting back and taking it. Tomorrow (Half an hour away!) is the start of one of the most contreversal and influential Court cases since the African-American rights era. On January 10, 2010 the Courts will hear the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger. This is a case challenging the legality of Proposition 8. If anyone's interested in how the case goes I'm sure that there'll be something in the news about it, but you never know since the admittence of this case into the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wasn't in any mainstream news, but if you're interested in keeping up with it you can be sure that www.queerty.com will be keeping up with it. If you're interested in reading anything about what we know so far check:

http://www.queerty.com/what-does-new-jerseys-marriage-defeat-mean-screw-the-legislature-its-time-to-take-to-the-courts-20100108/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-gay-marriage-trial,0,1857270.story

Ke$ha is Ashley Tisdale for Black People?

http://www.keshasparty.com/sites/kesha6/files/imagecache/preview/Kesha__Dark_Shirt.jpg

http://aniad96.blox.pl/resource/AshleyTisdale015.jpg

She looks like Ashley Tisdale, sings like a white rapper, and mentions P-Diddy in her songs.. Oh and spells her name with a money sign. How long do you think it'll be until Disney signs her to reach their black audience?

Stay Frosty

Silly iTunes, Trix are for kids!

And bullets are for Steve Jobs head. Or at least whatever programming team designed iTunes. Alright so, for a while now I haven't had my full library of music on my computer, but I recently got around to getting everything all in one place. Until I did that I had about 400 songs on my computer. I made sure that all of the songs were equalized correctly and that they all had album names, covers, correct artist names, I put "comments" on some of them and orgainzed them into smart playlists and all that stuff. Then I uploaded the 900 or so songs that I had on my PS3 onto my computer through a long annoying process of manually copying every single one of them to my phone and then waiting the half hour as my computer sputtered trying to keep up with the huge file transfer.. And then I realized I had to go through the whole process again with all those songs. Fair enough I suppose, it's my fault for downloading everything from FrostWire/LimeWire/Online Torrents/Places that aren't iTunes unless I couldn't find it anywhere else and then not keeping up with all the album names. So I started to make a dent in all of them, I tackled Simple Plan which is big because I have pretty much every single song by them and I made sure they were all from the right album and that all of the albums were spelled correctly and all showed up under a single album instead of multiple ones.. But apparently when you drag something into the iTunes window off of say, a phone, it doesn't make a copy of the file onto your computer. It just reads the file through your phone. Which I wouldn't have really known because I did this the night before going on the long drive to Vermont, so after I copied everything I just left my phone plugged in to charge. Whatever I listened to played fine because it was reading off my phone. But when I came back today wanting to relax and listen to some music I found out that; SURPRISEEE!!! WE DIDN'T COPY THE FILES TO YOUR COMPUTERRR!!! So I got all of those annoying little exclamation marks that pop up next to a song when iTunes doesn't know where it is, complete with the "Oh, we can't find it. You can manually sift through your entire computer and see if you can scruff it up if you want. We'll play it THEN!" error message. So now I had to delete everything from the iTunes library, including all of the songs that I equalized perfectly and balanced out, and start from scratch. Yay for iTunes.

Braving the Blistering Winds in Bathing Suits

Wow.. So today Anna managed to convince me to go into the hot tub.. While it was snowing outside and wind..ing... So I ran outside bare foot through the snow to get to the hot tub, in a bathing suit, and then I had to struggle to get in because I'm pathetically short.. *Sigh*.. And then when it was time to go in the door was locked so I had to stand there until my mom came and unlocked it... Which means I stood there for all of five seconds and sprinted back to the hot tub.. Except of course that's when my mom came to the door, so after struggling back in I had to get out again. But everything in between that was fun and worth it. Unfortunately we're leaving tomorrow and that means our vacation is over and.. It's time to go to school again.. Yay..

So how was your break?

Stay Frosty