A recent post about browser has triggered (I said trigger, trigger!) me to start messing around with all the browsers I have installed and update them to the latest versions. I’m posting this using FLOCK which seems much improved over the .7x release I had previously. Let’s see if it remembers my blog settings and lets me post this.
Blogged with Flock
Yesterday I noticed that the much anticipated Parallels 3.0 is now available, and I jumped at it as I’ve been waiting for some ability to have Windows running without restarting my iMac into Apple’s Boot Camp. The main reason I’ve been waiting to plop down my 80$, is that in this version they have added support for OpenGL and DirectX which allows for 3D graphics including games that require Windows to run. Not all games work, and some only work barely, but I am hoping that performance and compatibility improve as now there is at least a nice foothold.
The purchase, download and installation was painless. It was not long before I was installing Windows on my mac (again). The first game I tried was Darkstone. It installed and tried to run but I never got any text or buttons on the screen. I’ve been playing with the settings since then and will try it again later. The next game I tried was Quake 2, which installed and played quite well. I will need to play with some keyboard mapping but not that big of a deal, it runs great. Today I installed Guild Wars and so far I can only get about 3 frames per second. This may very well be the result of me using all my bandwidth right now, and I will try it again later.
To be fair, none of these games are on the list of known working games under Parallels that has been provided by SWSoft, so it’s no surprise my expirimets have been less then perfect. I’ve got at least one of the games on the list if I can find the discs, Baulder’s Gate 2, and maybe that will work better. Until then it’s a new fun thing to tinker with!
The main reason for the purchase wasn’t to play games to begin with, as I have some software that allows me to transfer files from my phone that only works in Windows. I was able to install and update that software today without any problems, and extract the pictures I took last night. It was just as fast as if I was actually running Windows by itself and there were no hiccups.
In conclusion, this software delivers.
Thanks for the comment, Ed. I think the main problem with these situations is that you have a very small minority kicking up a fuss about it; why should a small minority be allowed to control content that the majority are not complaining about? These private corporations have a technological control over what goes over their airwaves via timed delay as well as the “dump” button and could have easily hit that button at any time during, for example, Imus’s show when he uttered the phrase “nappy headed ho.” His was an offhanded comment and (in my opinion) a lame attempt at humor. Do you think he would have been suspended and later fired if the corporate media machine didn’t go into overdrive when A small number of people including Al Sharpton decided to take the issue under their wing?
When I was young, I was taught the old “Sticks and Stones” rule. Why allow what someone says to bother me? I have the ability to “tune out” or “ignore” the things I don’t want to hear. I should know, I practiced many times with my parents. Why can’t these special interest groups do the same thing and tune out what they don’t like?
With JV & Elvis, the original occurrence of the restaurant call-in bit apparently resulted in no complaints. It wasn’t until that show was re-broadcast that some people decided to get upset. I find that interesting. I think I know why they were fired, too. About a week and a half after that, their station flipped from an all talk format back to the old K-Rock music station it once was. Why keep a controversial team on the air and possibly muck up the new (old) station image? So they got cut loose.
Yes, radio is a private enterprise but it is regulated by the FCC. My understanding is that none of what has been said by the examples I gave above broke FCC rules. I think it stinks that these radio stations have no back bone and would rather dump a great radio personality(s) rather than defend them and find new sponsors. Maybe it’s wishful thinking…
The recent firings and suspensions of on-air radio talent have been very unsettling. I had a discussion today about these events with some friends who are not familiar with either radio duo. This morning I joined People Against Censorship (P.A.C.), which is championing the cause against silencing free speech in the media.
I think it’s important to realize that this country seems to be turning away from the very principles it was founded on, in the guise of “higher standards” and similar straw man arguments. When I hear about radio talent that make “fried lice” jokes and get fired I just have to cringe. Why are people actively listening to something to see if they can be offended by it and complain? Is it the publicity, do they feel some kind of power trip by getting people fired? Should I go to where they work and see if they do something that offends me, and then picket outside to get them fired?
Should I? I Should? Ok then!
I’m now a big big fan of The Dead German Tourists. I’ll leave it as an excercise to the reader to discover it themselves, for The Dead German Tourists should never be forced upon anybody; but suffice to say they are some kinda 90’s “punk rock”, if it will aid in your search. It’s weird wild and not that terrifically bad. Both the search and the band.*
*I could be lying about one of these 2 things.
Saturday I struggled with my host (addr.com) and realized after talking with them that I have an upload limit of 80 Megabytes per file. It put a slight damper on me trying to upload my demo album from 1993 which is about 250MB per file. I don’t feel like compressing it, because I’m trying to put it out there in the most lossless and generic format possible and it started out analog and poorly mastered (I have only myself to blame :). I pay for 3 Gigabytes of space and plenty of transfer per month, and can’t find anywhere on their website that there is a transfer limit per uploaded file. I’ve decided to switch hosts as soon as I can find one that suits what I want. I’ve noticed that I can get a much much better deal so it really works out for the best. In the mean time, I’ve uploaded the “album” to my public mac space. You can find it Here. Once I switch hosts I shall be uploading as much of my demo stuff as possible. Feel free to copy any of my music to any device you wish, the files are “.wav” format so the best thing is to burn them to CD and then not wasting a half gig of your hard drive space 🙂 Enjoy!
If all of the worlds problems could be solved with communication, then all the worlds politicians would be mutes.
It made sense when I wrote it down anyway…
Is it Thursday? I think I’ve been in a bit of a time vortex of late. I recently found some On-Line Piano Lessons and I’m up to the note names on the keys. This will be approximately the 4th attempt for me at learning to play the piano. I figure since I’m on my nth attempt to quit smoking, it couldn’t hurt. The first time I attempted to learn the piano, I believe I was about 8 years old or so. It’s funny, I remember that my mom let me walk to the lessons and back without her. I think that might have been a bigger deal to me then the piano lessons. They were accross the street and the teacher was someone she knew, and I don’t recall going to many of them. The next time I tried to learn was around high school sometime, and then again a couple years after that. I think I might be able to do it myself If I can keep going with it. That’s always been the problem: Attention span the size of a peanut. It might even just span the circumference. I bet I spelled that wrong.
Well I made it through the work week without inhaling combustables. Thank bob I got this patch…
went better then the first, but only by a slim margin; and by slim, I mean thinner then an atom. Hi, my name is Slim Margin. Irregardlessly, I haven’t smoked anything in about 48 odd hours (or perhaps even) and it’s a very weird feeling. I noticed today how bad the stairwell in the parking garage smelled and wished I had a smoke to block it out. Just 2 days and the “old factory” is springing back to life. Maybe tomorrow someone will wear some nice perfume or something. Maybe that someone will be me. I don’t have any perfume though, so it might be tricky. I told some women at the lunch table that I thought it would be cool to come into work wearing a kilt. They told me that if it was me doing it, they wouldn’t give it a second thought. At first I was considering being offended by that comment (that I invited), however I ended up feeling proud that my freakness is still going strong- Now with new and improoved non-smoking flavour goodness sealed for freshness not available in Wyoming or run on sentances.
FoBlog\'s Hat 