Okay, it will really be twenty years ago tomorrow that the space shuttle Challenger went boom. Half my life ago I was going to play racquetball at Kangaroo Courts in Clearwater, Florida when I stopped to watch the Challenger’s ascent; and then it all went away. Remember Richard Feynman, the man I referred to when I brought up the topic of Tuvan Throat Singing recently? He was on the panel that concluded that it was the O-Rings which were the culprit for the disaster.
It is my belief that the Challenger disaster is my generation’s Kennedy Assassination.
Why No iTunes For Linux?
Today I am bothered by the fact that Apple has not released a version of iTunes for Linux. (Linux hatas can STFU right now). OS X, Apple’s current operating system, is built on top of a UNIX subsystem so it seems to me that this should not be a monumental effort.
Maybe it’s just me…
I Hate Prescriptions
I am currently taking medication which requires a prescription to be filled. I hate having to go to a pharmacist to get the prescription filled. I always feel like I am being judged by the pharmacist because they know for which ailments specific medications are prescribed. Before you get all excited to leave a snarky comment,
- no, it’s not for erectile dysfunction
- no, it’s not an anti-depressant
Why would I need to go to a pharmacy for these, I get plenty of SPAM offering me these products at “redikulously l0w rates”.
Sony Rootkit Updated/Removed(?)
Last night I purchased My Morning Jacket‘s “Z” CD. “Z” was found near the top of many critics’ “Top CDs of 2005” lists, but unfortunately it was also found on the list of CDs which were populated by Sony’s Rootkit software. I think when I get to ripping it (in 192kbps no less) this weekend I’ll try to remember the whole “press the Shift key while inserting the CD” workaround to attempt to thwart the rootkit.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – hollow, but not light
Current Music – none, listening to the “KFI the Tech Guy” podcast
Website Of The Day – It’s Friday. Go check out some great animation at Squetch.Com. Specifically, you should check out one of Channel Frederator‘s “Top 5 of ’05” picks Everyone’s Had More Sex Than Me music video.
If you ever want a quick glance of the sites I’ve picked for my Websites Of The Day, you can check them out on del.icio.us, my user name is InsideThePerimeter (go figure), and they are all tagged as “blogged.”
Exercise (b)Log – nuttin’
Cheers!
Paulie [eatl/ga]
The problem with porting iTunes to Linux is the user base. If Apple did port the Linux zealots would be screaming because (a) it’s not open source (b) it supports DRM (c) it doesn’t support OGG (d) other ranting and raving over trivial matters. Porting iTunes would also require Apple to port and support Quicktime. If supporting software on the Windows platform is a nightmare due the sheer amount of hardware available, imagine supporting iTunes on a platform with the same hardware problems along with people compiling their own software? Hundreds of different linux distributions, dozens of package managers, a handful of different presentation layers (UI’s). It would be a nightmare.
As far as the Sony Rootkit fiasco, either buy a Mac (my recommendation) or turn off Auto-Run on your CD/DVD drives. Auto-Run really shouldn’t be enabled in the first place. Do you want a random cd/dvd to be able to run software without your permission?
Excellent points, Anon. I didn’t think about the need for Quicktime in addition to iTunes. I think the lack of user base is probably the biggest hurdle, which is kinda funny since it’s the same argument many Windows developers have against developing for the Mac.
I am already a Mac owner, and I’ve turned off AutoRun on my Windows machines. I have heard rumor that the Rootkit may install without user interaction, so I am interested to see what happens. I would just rip using my Mac, but I am a stickler for uniformity and I have a program that allows me to name and organize my mp3 files exactly the way I want. The software I use (Free CD Extractor — older version circa 4.8) only runs on Windows.
“It is my belief that the Challenger disaster is my generation’s Kennedy Assassination”
I do agree, simply becuase it is the one thing I know exactly what I was doing when I watched it explode. America lost its innocence and its facination with the space program, unfortunately.
Only two other things come close, and depending on who you ask, they would put different spins on the order:
– 9/11
– Berlin Wall falling
While I don’t remember where I was when the Berlin Wall fell, I sat and watched 9/11 unfold “live” on tv. Maybe 9/11 will be Gen-Y’s “memorable historical occurance.”