A Killer App for the Opera browser

I use Pandora for music at work. I think Pandora is so handy and brilliant. It's like a satellite radio on your desktop. Here is a screenshot, I recommend clicking on it to see the full resolution view.



I use the Opera web browser to play pandora. I can cinch up the page to just be around my Pandora player view and Opera remembers where I was (at Pandora's site playing music), how I sized the window and where I put it on the screen (Mac OS X). This means I can quit Opera and reopen it and it positions my Pandora window and begins playing music again, Just like an app. This is Opera 9.21.



It's also helpful if I have to use my browser, say Firefox, in a proxy for work. I often need to quit Firefox or re-point its proxy for work uses. All of this would interrupt my Pandora player, so having it in another browser is very handy. Especially one with the behavior of Opera.

Pandora introduces me to music I might like I might never have heard and Opera makes it work almost like a music application. It is an excellent experience for sure.

=sw

My September 11th Tribute to New York City 6 years on...

Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk.
Music loud and women warm.
I've been kicked around since I was born.
And now it's all right, it's O.K.
And you may look the other way.
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man.
Whether you're a brother
Or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin'
And ev'rybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive.
Stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive.
Well now, I get low and I get high
And if I can't get either I really try.
Got the wings of heaven on my shoes
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose.
You know it's all right, it's O.K.
I'll live to see another day.
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man.
Whether you're a brother
Or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin'
And ev'rybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive.
Stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive.
Life goin' nowhere.
Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Stayin' alive
Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk.
Music loud and women warm.
I've been kicked around since I was born.
And now it's all right, it's O.K.
And you may look the other way.
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man.
Whether you're a brother
Or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin'
And ev'rybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive.
Stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha,
Stayin' alive.
Life goin' nowhere.
Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Stayin' alive
Life goin' nowhere.
Somebody help me.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Life goin' nowhere.
Somebody help me, yeah.
Stayin' alive

-Bee Gees

Mexicans Without Borders

In my area there is group that bears the name "Mexicans Without Borders". This appears to be borrowed from the venerable "Doctors Without Borders" group whose humanitarian spirit is captured in the name.

A name like "Mexicans Without Borders" seems to suggest nothing noble or humanitarian at all. It seems to suggest that Mexicans are allowed to freely migrate all over North America or perhaps where ever they please, with a complete disregard for the rule of law and social contracts. Never mind that the narrowly nationalist name disregards the existence and concerns of anyone not from Mexico.

I always like to overemphasize this: I like Mexicans. I like Central and South Americans among whose people I have some friends. I do not like anyone who disregards the law and carries out antisocial behavior against others. So I don't like the kidnappers, drug dealers, rebel militants or gangs from these areas or from anywhere. I don't approve of the illegal behavior of illegal immigrants to my country and I don't approve of people who support and encourage illegal activity.

I know that produce may cost more when only legal workers harvest it. I think that the market will adjust. The U.S. may need to allow more workers in legally if they are needed and if they respect the terms and conditions of their visa or eventual citizenship.

There should not be illegal immigration. There should be orderly, legal immigration.

Mexico has borders. Many of them established by the Mexican-American war. We have already decided this war, there is no need to have it again.

For the first time this week I understood something better. While watching Peter Navarro discuss some of his books on a public TV station, I came to understand the role China plays in Mexican illegal immigration and in other world problems.

China does not play on the same field as Europe and the United States. It seems that China seeks to aggressively acquire and control resources and assets around the world through deal making. This takes those resources off the free market and as Mr. Navarro says, is a highly confrontational way of working in the world.

It may be that the manufacturing economy of China hits Mexican workers and economies even harder and earlier than it impacts Americas labor markets. This intense pressure contributes to migration to seek work and livelihood.

We are one world after all. Yet, people coming to the U.S. should have respect for our laws, not boldly flout them...or even disregard or disobey them. If the new rule is that anyone can go anywhere, I may just settle on some beach front property in Mexico and see how that works. I have a feeling Mexico would enforce their immigration laws. I think we should do nothing less.

=sw

NBC Universal

I bought Heroes last season from the iTunes music store...All the episodes. I want to buy it again this season. It was about $2.00 an epidode. Since it is data, I would think there is some cost savings on the product development side compared to DVD. The price for the season should be comparable or less than a DVD. While you get a replayable version shortly after it airs, you don't get the whole season up front and you can do that same thing with a DVR anyway.

NBC still broadcasts this show to millions, still sells DVDs to millions. Why they would block the revenue stream of the itunes users I have no idea. It seems nonsensical.

Unless...this is just another petty Microsoft bid to channel shows to their XBox live system from Apple's iTunes. Why they presume they could not "add" to their online viewers by using multiple channels for distribution is something I don't understand. I just want Heroes on my iPhone.

I know I could get what I want with or without the cooperation of the out-of-touch stooges in the board room, but for Sagan's Sake (so says Starbuck in the original...) let me PAY for Battlestar Galactica and Heroes by keeping them on iTunes!!!

PLEASE let me buy shows on iTunes!! I beg you, LET ME GIVE YOU MONEY...you friggin nut-cases!!!

I can play Heroes season 1 on my iPod, iPhone or AppleTV! Of course I am not going to pay double what I would pay for DVDs, duh, but let me pay the $2.00 per episode! I'd even go for some ads in the data stream.

Is it really cheaper to sue people? Why do Xbox live and iTunes have to be mutually exclusive? We know it's computer data, it isn't THAT painful to distribute it...Hell, the people who use the torrent networks seem to get it done rather efficiently!

There seems to be a hint that high budget shows will go the way of the great Pyramids, something that is only possible when a very few control a lot of wealth. Ok, I am not a slave to TV, though it must be compelling enough to make ads worth what people pay.

I dream of a well made show that is so widely purchased that it can be funded by the viewers directly, though that would mean artistic development, not profiteers, would need to get most of the money. That is counterproductive to the rich getting richer.

Besides, if the shiny talking box doesn't tell me what to buy, how on Earth will I ever know?

=sw

A Great Drink

There is a delicious drink called a Kobai. I don't know that my musician friend Jefferson Montoya invented it, though it is a fine beverage. I like to chill the ingredients, though it is good with room temp liquor as well.

Just mix Kahlúa, Southern Comfort and Orange Juice in equal amounts.



Some people increase the Orange Juice a little, though it will just take longer to get trashed and share too much personal info.

It is a delicious drink with a good kick and some great flavor combinations. No part of it seems to overpower, it just adds complexity. I have enjoyed quite a few Kobai moments with my friends in Vegas. Cheers! Thanks to Jefferson, now go buy his album, it rocks. You could get a free ipod according to his site.

=sw

My Glorious Resilience

As I go from day to day and meet the challenges of modern human life I have to stop sometimes to appreciate how truly adaptable I am. I have been enjoying "Year Zero" the latest NIN album and while I measure best in cm, I have to say I have survivalism too!

I must give myself credit. I never knew what self control really was. I generally spent most of my life apart from a few subtle aberrations under a strong titanium clamp of self control. Surely it is self control that keeps me from driving into the gully when I am on a highway or from committing crime or even misdemeanors. Self control helps me make healthy food choices much though not all the time.

I realized a whole new arena of self control where I need a lot of work. As I finally get into investing some extra money in stocks and bonds and other markets, I see I have been a powerfully active and avid investor for years. I emotionally invest to the nth degree.

Those familiar with therapy will tell me that I am "co-dependent" sometimes. I depend too much on outward approval for inner self esteem. Emotionally investing in what others feel is not bad for those who have to make an effort to do it, though for me I need to practice this new aspect of self control. I need to not feel awful so much. When the hot bar tender chick smiles at me and asks me how my day was or the flat out gorgeous woman who cuts my hair makes light conversation I tend to over invest in feelings like "oh a beautiful woman is talking to me". Though I know the reality is that this is business like cordial behavior related to the transaction we are making, my emotions up and run away with the idea that lovely women are responding in an apparently positive manner to me.

Though I am outwardly cordial, give a good tip and say a friendly "have a good weekend" to these service providers, inwardly I feel devastated and very powerfully sad and bitter. Mainly because I allowed my emotions to fool me. I allowed my heart to hope such things when I should have practiced self control.

When self esteem is a constant project for me like so much piled up laundry and ironing, it can feel strange to actually need to try to exercize self control about feeling a need for human intimacy. It's not that these people are tortured talking to me, it might be much less pleasant for them to talk to someone not as positive and friendly as I am, it's just that for me, in my internal life...when I am driving away...I need to have practiced some investment discretion...some emotional self control over how much self worth I am pouring into the outcome of these encounters. They aren't a good source for that.

The same goes for workplace success. It can be good and sweet, though it is not even a major portion of my core self worth.
Managing emotional investment can be like trying to keep an inflating balloon mashed into its original size while taking on more and more pressure. So I have to control the "valve". I need mental self control over the need for human intimacy and acceptance, while still acknowledging this as a legitimate part of a full life. It is tough to be me! It takes real effort.

Desire can be like a shuttle launch in my mind. It's hard to hide the effects of the unfulfilled "want" from the public. Though I have to be a soldier, be a man, and "need" less...be able to be ok with no validation, no love and no intimate relationships. Am I right? Then the true air of love will be like a calm cool breeze I will notice better with out the hurricane of disillusionment that normally roars.

It sucks to know beauty, to see the spring and pretend I have no thirst.

All I really need is inner peace.

(though you should see these women, they are so beautiful...you'd at least have to praise my good eye for hotness)

Still, I must respect myself and my nature and needs as valid and real. I just don't want them to rule my happiness, I want the self control over my emotional inflation. Hence the title, "My Glorious Resilience" rather then my old negative thought habits like "How middle-aged-ugly-sons-of-bitches-with-no-game cope with sexual frustration"....I still see the humor in that title though. Beware of the "hyphen"!!!

If only I had enough self control not to blog so honestly about the struggle.
=sw

Key Bank Tower Implosion in Salt Lake City

This was a structurally sound great and spacious building that just didn't fit in with the "taleban" mall plans. Your tithing money at work. And don't try to tell me they aren't using tithing money. It's like saying "We paid with bread, not with wheat"!

I'm a Virgin

Oh God Yes is it ever true. I am, of course, a "born again virgin" and what better place to hang out than the "Virgin Music Festival". What a great time!!!
My (lack of belief in) GOD! 2 days of concerts!!! 24 hours of music total!!!

And it was like...non-stop parade of hotties!!!
I chatted up a few girls, one was so friendly and nice and engaged damnit...She showed me her WCP though, what a sport....what is WCP you ask? I'll give you a hint...the first 2 letters are for White and Cotton.

You know, the sound quality was so excellent...they say the best in the industry for concerts. No feedback noise EVER!!
Everything was so beautifully mixed that I just selected a stage distance that was in keeping with my comfort and it was always just great. I could always see the musicians on stage or see the big huge video screens with award winning camera work.

So it was excellent all around.

I met the chick that runs a commune in the woods that owns the copyright to the "Stop Bitching, Start a Revolution" T-shirts. I bought her a beer. She looked like she needed one and was very grateful.

I saw Richard Branson in the crowd, so cool he actually showed up, what a hip bloke.

I sat pretty close for the piano playing chick, Regina Amos Spektor...I mean...Regina Spektor...what did I say? She is witty and lovely and funny...I bought a CD of hers from the Virgin Mega Store tent and waited in line for 20 minutes to get her to sign it. She was incredibly sweet and sincere and nice...I fell for her madly. I guess I am starstricken.

I saw the Smashing Pumpkins...reunited, brilliant, in good form and on their game. They played new stuff like "Death From Above"...the new goth anthem...and old stuff too "Inspite of my rage I am still just a rat in a cage...". The "1979" song sounded amazing even without the sampler. Billy Corgan is all business, focused and intense...he is one Smashing Pumpkin. He is really focussed and concentrates when performing and the band comes off sounding tight...like so many 18 year olds breasts. They go from mosh music to reflective emotional music...such a range.

Interpol were just amazing. They are like Joy Division if they made it big...reliable melancholly drone of pure direct injectable joy. They showed up in suits and ties with a big red Epiphone hollow body electric in the guitarists hands. They looked brilliant. And there is no "I" in "Threesome" I checked.

The show had 2 huge stages...plus a big temporary structure/ tent thing with DJ's and techno....it had surround sound...so pumpin hot with huge screens and lights...Diesel Boy and no less than Crystal Method who just made the place a huge dance.

"All these little pills that give us such a thrill until they kill a million brain cells"

Crystal method have the best gig ever. One guy runs the buttons..and spins the "scratch" disk and the other dances with hot chicks at the front of the stage. Then they switch. "Get Hypnotized"! The one guy stands up on top of things and whips the crowd into a frenzy...the sound was so right on...not earsplitting but clear and thumpin good. I am completely drunk right now.



Even the food was wild too. Ever seen people at a concert sit down with 3 or 4 fresh boild crabs and start cracking them open with a little wood mallet? It was way different from regular show food. All the plastic was made from corn and compostable.

The show was repleat with a lot of activists...fire breathers and stuff...OxFam America was there ...they are my favorite place to put my "tithing" money anymore.

I will have to do a whole other posting on Baltimore itsself. So many quirky experiences available there. I stayed at the Marriot Water Front hotel, which is really nice and just drove or Metro'd to the show .

Since it was 2 days long I have to tell you about a few more bands. I saw "Bad Brains" who are like...reggae then speed metal then reggae. I caught the WuTang Clan...nice to see some hip hop rap stuff represent. I had a special moment after Bad Brains when a shoe-gazer band called "Explosions in the Sky" was checking sound. I was standing by a Baltimore 98 Rock tent where they were playing Joy Division "Dead Souls" on their stereo and the sound check guy was like "Oh you've got green eyes oh you've got blue eyes, you've got grey eyes" and I felt the zen of melancholly New Orderness that made life good.

The there was....drum roll please.....

The POLICE! Yes with Sting....

He was so classy..."That's Stuart Copeland and Andy Summers...." never once saying who he was because we all know, of course. He was in excellent form...playing the bass and singing like a siren. He even did some 4ft jumps in the air like a rockstar. It was so great to see them. They just played the hits in excellent form. Once he said "This is not at all autobiographical.." before "Don't stand so close to me". Funny. I loved the show, they rocked the place...lots of "Message in a bottle" crowd singing along with some "eeeeooooo...eeeeyooooo.....eeeeeyoooo...". Roxanne is still a damn hooker...after all these years...I'm impressed, frankly.

I almost "hooked up" with some hottie who was clearly to flipped out on something to make good choices so I dropped that like a hat from a bridge.

This is not someone I met...this is a picture of the stage...and NOTHING ELSE!!!



My pics are just my lil iPhone, so they aren't much to see...trust me...it was a great show.

=sw

Bond Movie Music

I grew up with the Bond films.

We used to go watch Bond movies as groups of friends in the back of someone's parent's SUV with Quiet Riot blaring...what a cool parent we had in our group.

I was thinking about my favorite Bond theme songs. Of course there is the unforgettable Monty Norman theme with the "Dum di-di dum dum". Here are my top 5 Bond themes of all time:

5 "Live and Let Die" Sir Paul McCartney (iTunes) (yewchube)

No, Guns and Roses didn't write it, though they did a solid cover of it.

4 "A View to a Kill" Duran Duran (iTunes)(yewchube)

Once the epitome of hip and mod, now a little cheesy...still a great Bond song. The video is amusing if not for the originally intended reasons.

3 "Nobody Does it Better" Carly Simon (iTunes)(yewchube)

Many have sung this one, and I still think nobody does it better.

2 "For Your Eyes Only" Sheena Easton (yewchube)

Where is the official iTunes version Sheena? I love this song.

1 "The World is Not Enough" Garbage (iTunes)(yewchube)

What an achievement, they wrote a new rock song with the classic bond feel and all the Garbage trademarks. Brilliant. The music video is amazing.

Have a happy monday!

=sw

It's a Jungle

I am into my second year in a new city. I am slowly making good friends, which are hard to come by really. I feel I need a good social circle as a step on the way to having a relationship again. Since my last 2 year relationship ended in January of 2005, I have been a complete mess.

I know why I don't jump right in to another relationship, doing that led to how I feel now: miserable, detached, guts torn out etc. I don't feel that way every second, though the recurrence of such feelings seems to go away very slowly after a relationship.

Didn't I try to fire off a few quick and easy bangs the way she did to get over things? In my way, I did. It takes me more time to get the big easy. It took me about a year and a half to get to where the ex was in 3 weeks. What can I say?

Now I am in a long drawn our depressed funk...like the drought in the Western U.S. Not every day is awful, people survive...though there are big long term questions. Will this ever end? Will we survive? And rolling right out of my analogy...will I love again?

I am not getting hotter really...the struggle to look sexy is getting slightly more challenging actually. I exercise, walk around, ride my mountain bike and try to stay fit, though in my heart there's a Joy Division concert blaring loudly. If you don't know what that means, it's a reference to a post-punk band known for deep melancholly whose lead singer met a sad self-inflicted end. Not exactly uplifting...sometimes comforting in misery. My bio-feed-back graph looks something like this about now:



I am comforted that I can complain about life on my blog and not have it read by very many people, hahah.

I like to make music so I am working on preserving all I have created into a collection. I am not trying to modernize or update the sound of some of these songs, just keep them for what they were. If I don't go to the trouble to record and mix them properly they will not be accessible even to me. I used a lot of old dying 80's computer gear to make some of my electronic sound and I never recorded the songs properly even once. I just made some tape demos. I will be singing them a-new and maybe taking some mixing liberties. I also will have the full freedom and flexibility to remix them and update them if I choose.

I keep myself busy, try not to think of the ex too much...(so pathetic as I am sure she has done too many drugs and dudes to even remember much about me). I continue to guard my heart. It loves deeply and fully and if it doesn't work out, It's a slow and painful extraction process. For all my loneliness I am not eager to jump right into this kind of result again.

My sister always says you should give yourself a good solid 15 minutes of misery, self-pity and woe then let it go, stand up and go live victoriously. So here I go...If I can just get out of the chair...

=sw