Scamming the system

I have an idea. I'll teach my kids to act retarded so I can collect benefits on their behalf. Oh, wait. This lowlife already beat me to it.

In Defense of Monster.com

Well, in my previous post I said monster had outsourced a letter that was written in very poor English. Well, it was obviously a phishing scam but it made me laugh and think "what would it be like if a company outsourced their copy writing?" That would be hilarious.

Monster is taking steps to track down the source and hopefully squash it. It's like phishers and spammers aren't even really trying anymore. There must be some total retards out there that are answering these emails based on the 2-3% rule. That being if you send out a million emails you are bound to get a 2-3% reply rate. You dunderheads quit answering these scammers!

This is what you get when you outsource

I just got this message from Monster.com:

The subject line of the email is: Please, pay Your attention!

Monster.com company greets you.

We are happy to inform you that we had succesfully upgraded our
site. Because of our system has great changes, you
have to install Monster.com certificated utility (click here) to be able
to use monster.com database. If you don’t setup this tool
until March, 1st, 2007, you will not be able to use your account
You don’t have to answer this letter - it’s just a newsletter.
Thanks for cooperation.

Now for the record, Monster.com is a top notch operation. I have gotten my last 3 jobs courtesy of their web site. Not I'm not sure if this was an official email from them or if somebody is doing some phishing or some kind of shenanigans.

So what do I do now? Is my account expiring? Why should I have to install something on my computer to use your site? I don't get it.

UT Number 3 in Music File Sharing

Well, the football team had a hard enough time cracking the top 10 but apparently the student body as a whole has carved out a niche for itself on the RIAA's hit list. My beloved University of Tennessee Volunteers are currently number three in the polls when it comes to music sharing across the campus networks. Read about it here.

Hopefully the RIAA will run out of money trying to sue every Tom, Dick and Harry that downloads music without paying for it. I guess the boneheads have never stopped to figure out that it might actually help sales of music. Who wants to buy an entire album of crap for one good song?

Imagine doing interactive music with this thing

A friend of mine sent me a link to some new touch screen technology that is being developed. You are able to do some killer things with interactivity providing you or someone you know has the programming skills to pull it off. Personally, I'd like to use it for interactive music installations. Check it out.

Thomas Dolby is Doing it Again

I just watched my autographed copy of the Thomas Dolby Sole Inhabitant DVD. It was very cool. It was filmed at the Berklee College of Music during his tour last year. He came through Atlanta and I missed it but I picked up the DVD and it did not disappoint.

Thomas did the entire tour as a one man show. He had a MAC G5 running Logic Pro Audio driving most everything.  He used two hardware synths  made by Novation as well as an old Roland analog synth. For keyboards, he  mainly used controllers  with the keys split into ranges with different sounds mapped to different parts of the keyboard.  He also had a  M-Audio  Trigger Finger for doing drums and triggering samples.  A Muse Receptor was in his rack to control all the effects on his  voice.

The performance was very good. There were a few places where he wavered off key a bit but who cares... It was Thomas Dolby live for the first time since the 90s. Plus he had a lot going on with managing all the hardware and software. The audio on the disc is very good as well except there were some noticeable volume changes probably due to the fact the Dolby was tweaking the mix from the stage.  He also made use of the real-time video along with canned clips and software that was written for v-jaying. The creator of the video software served as his VJ for the tour.

The set list included his big hits like "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive" but I thought the high points, at least for me. were "Living in a Suitcase" and my personal favorite "One of Our Submarines".

I got the DVD from CD Baby. He has a limited few that are signed. Mine is number 383/1000.

Killer Freebies

No, it's not some kind of mutant killer bee or radioactive Frisbees. It's a list of some really great free software. Click over here to FOXnews.com and persue the list and see what you might find useful. They've done the research and you should be able to get the stuff without having to navigate the gauntlet of pop-up ads and porn.

Do you have the time?

According to an article on FOXnews.com, watches are going the way of the dodo. Apparently more and more people are not wearing watches in favor of keeping time with their cell phones, computers and iPods. Personally, I prefer a precision timepiece.

I'm currently wearing the beauty pictured to the left. It's a Citizen Skyhawk Black Eagle. It was a Christmas gift from Mrs. MikeTheBlog. Sure I look at the clock on my cell phone from time to time but I have to take it out of my pocket. I rarely carry my mp3 player (I'm not even sure I can set the time on mine) so that's not an option. I do look at the clock on my computer screen but it's right in front of my face. I simply prefer to push back a sleeve and turn my wrist slightly to check the current time.

I have a watch fetish but unfortualtley do not have the bank account to fully indulge. I really wanted an Omega Seamaster like James Bond wore in Casino Royale but those puppies run about 2800.00 US. Well, I'll save that for another day.

I like looking at my watch, twisting the dials and playing with all the features. It's got a flight computer built in on the face of the watch. I'm not a pilot -- yet. But when I become one I'll be ready. In the meantime I'll be able to convert from statute miles to nautical miles with a twist of the watch face;l but it's knowing that I can that makes me feel good.

Do I need a watch with all that stuff on it? Well, Yes. I like the fact that it is water proof up to 100 meters. If I'm 300 feet under water, that last thing I'd be concerned about is my watch but at least I know it can take it. I wear it when I swim and use the stopwatch feature to time my laps. So far my best has been 1/2 mile or 15 laps in 26 minutes. If I actually swam freestyle instead of side/breast stroke I could shave at least 7 or 8 minutes off that time. I digress. The watch will also allow you to switch time zones. Pretty handy if you don't feel like doing the math or resetting a watch as you travel. Plus if you are going long distances, say to New Zealand, you can "bip" it right on over to the AUK setting and start trying to adjust to the local time there. Pretty cool. The other neat thing is it's an Eco-Drive watch. It is charged by light. So unless I stay in cave for an unusually long time, I'll never have to change the battery.

So, suffice to say, watches may be losing ground to all the other gadgets and phones and various and other sundry things out there. I'll always have one on my wrist. That's the way I prefer it. I wear two pieces of flair: my watch and my wedding ring. Period.

Irony in the mile high club

Should yopu engage in illicit activity on the way somewhere to promote safe sex? Apprently Ray Fines thinks it's okay.

Pimp My Potty

Oh yeah. It is time to officially declare the "throne room" the "THRONE ROOM". Roto-Rooter is giving away the ultimate john. The quintessential crapper. It comes complete with an X-Box and a beer cooler. Now if they could just figure out how to turn it into a recliner. I want one. Check it out.

I try not to be political but…

Just damn.

Okay Music Industry. We get it. You don't like President Bush. The Dixie Chicks cleaned up. Well, good for them. Our guys are defending their right to say what they want. That is what makes this country great. As Voltaire supposedly said: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." The entertainment industry has said it. And said it and said it. Move on already. It is what it is. I don't need every anti Bush or anti war song/album or whatever winning a freakin' Grammy because they are trying to send a message. Hell, one of our worst presidents ever even won one for Best Spoken Word. It was a tie for first! How's that for twisting the knife? IT was like the Grammy voters were saying "Let's try to find one more way to get our point across."

What is it with entertainers and their fascination with all things liberal? I just don't get it. I know throughout history art and music has sparked controversy but I can't think of a time when it has been so "in your face". I guess it's the media world we're living. Live and die by the sound-bite. Just take me back to the days when everyone would bitch and moan for a few days then get over it.

And another thing: here it is two years from another national election. TWO YEARS. Why all the campaigning already? I'm going to be so sick and tired of all the rhetoric, name calling, flip flopping and just plain meanness I'll be hard pressed to vote for somebody because they annoyed me the least. Suffice to say I'm pretty agitated by all this. Wait til the Summer before the election before you start stumping.

For now, just go away and shut yer pie hole. That goes for you too, Republicans!

Reflections still getting streamed on DI.fm

"Reflections" just got another play on the DI.fm chillout channel. It does happen from time to time but actually happened to be listening when it got played this time. It was pretty cool. I guess it was kind of like hearing your song on the radio in the traditional sense. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get some promotion going. Stay tuned...

IDT to Remix a Devo-esque Band

Yes, I'm going to be doing another remix in the near future. The name of the band shall remain nameless for now but through my feeble pimping of my myspace.com page, I've gotten hooked up with a band that sounds a bit like the spitting image of Devo. It's not actually Devo but I have been asked to contribute a remix as soon as they are through tweaking their tracks. I'm looking forward to it. As soon as the deed is done I will post info on where to hear it.

Jesus before His yearly review

If Jesus worked for the last company I worked for I think his last supper would have resembled this photo. You know Judas sold him out on his last performance review. Make sure Jesus is the only one doing the "big hands" thing.