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I think it is a good place to start to say that I don’t illegally download music. I swore years ago that, when a viable legal alternative to illegal downloading is presented, I would utilize it. I do. I buy MP3s from Amazon. I love the convenience and it’s been quite a while since I searched for something they didn’t have (not to say it couldn’t happen.)

I also give my music away for free. This doesn’t mean that every artist should, but I do. I took my payment via the production of my music. The pure enjoyment of making and sharing the noise that came from my instruments was enough for me. This is not a reasonable business plan, but I am not in the business of selling music, so I don’t care.

All of that said, I see some funny haps going down from my vantage. The entertainment industry seems to think that just because business is done one way for a long time, that it will continue to be just so. I present exhibit A, the Railroad. Guess what? They aren’t doing business the way they used to.

I read an article about internet connections and illegal downloading on Ars Technica today that got my ire (ha ha) up. The Irish High Court has agreed to allow entertainment companies to pressure ISPs into shutting off household internet connections if illegal downloading is purported to have happened. Read more »

Windows and I have a love-murder relationship. There are those days when Windows just does what I need without an inordinate amount of bullshit, then other days things go horribly wrong. Well, just when I was starting to warm to Windows and cut Microsoft some slack, they do it again.

One thing that never ceases to irritate me is the barrage of pop-ups warnings and other crap that hits your screen as soon as Windows starts up.

“You need to update this, you need to update that. You have unused icons on your desktop (which I don’t). Java wants to update your registry (leave my fucking registry alone!).”

I get another fifteen random talk balloons that appear from the taskbar and popups from proprietary shit that Hewlett-Fudge-Packers decided to install before I got the machine. For instance, They want to monitor my wireless connection because it’s not good enough that I get just one pop-up stating my wireless connection has been made. I need at least two.

Well, through all this, I still deal with Windows because I need to for work purposes. (Which is precisely what they depend on.) I can usually deal. I can, even, almost place the blame somewhere else except that Microsoft panders to these OEM distributors.

Today was different.

I started up my machine and got the litany of notifications and garbage. Then, just after I got everything up and running that I needed, I get another notification: “Your machine will restart in 14 minutes.”

Fucking EXCUSE ME??

So, Windows decided that I don’t really need to work right now, I need to restart my machine. Did I have an option to cancel? NO. Did I have an option to disable this process? Not as far as I know.

My options: restart now or postpone for not longer than 4 hours.

HEY ASSHOLES! A standard work day is EIGHT HOURS. Had you noticed or were you too busy counting your money?

Here’s the worst part: I am working remotely, so I most likely won’t even see the notification when it comes up again. This means I will be right in the middle of doing something for work and my machine will just restart. How’s that for a little slice of convenience?

God damn, Microsoft, could you do me a favor and kick me in the fucking balls while I wait? That would make the whole experience that much more palpable.

Take your fucking unrequested machine restarts and cram them straight into your money-sucking colon. Thanks for continuing to be a pain in my ass.

So, there have been rumors flying around that Peter Steele of Type O Negative took the figurative leap off the high-dive into an empty pool, AKA the fucker up and died. Reports say it was heart failure, but I am still awaiting something a little more direct. The best I have gotten so far are three reports:

Mistress Juliya stated he died earlier on twitter.

Geeks of Doom stated it was vaguely confirmed.

KNAC radio state they have confirmation from a source in the band.

Now, here’s the problem, the guys in Type O Negative pulled a prank back in 2005 and got people believing that Peter died. It was, of course, false. I have an issue because I could see them pulling something over on their fans. It’s fucked, but they don’t call themselves the four dicks from Brooklyn for nothing.

Honestly, if Peter died then it is unfortunate for the metal world. He was part of the scene for a very long time. That being said, I have a few words for some (though not all) of the people whining about Peter’s death:

If you are crying because you won’t get a new album,

If you are depressed because you never got to meet him,

If you are upset solely because you never got to see them live,

If you need a shoulder to cry on because of some other selfish motivation,

Shoot yourself.

Peter said it best: suicide is self expression.

On the other hand, if you feel for those who were close to Peter,

If you think positive thoughts about him and/or his family,

If you are having a good laugh after the years he spent laughing at you,

If you are drinking a bottle of wine in his honor,

Carry on.

It’s always a loss for someone when a person dies. The least you could do is respect the person and their family. Be grateful for the time you got. Be thankful that someone actually made enough of an impact on your life that you gave more than a passing thought about them. Honor them. Celebrate them.

Pete, if you, in fact, passed away today, I hope the journey was painless and comforting. If you didn’t die, kudos to the amazing joke. Either way, here’s to you. Probably one of the nicest “dicks” I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Cheers.

I overheard someone say Apple is the new Microsoft. This is wrong. Microsoft is the new Microsoft. Google is the new Apple. Apple is, in fact, the new Disney. The problem is, Disney knows they are and entertainment company. I don’t think Apple has figured it out yet.

Even if they have, the Apple fanboys and fangirls still seem to think Apple produces anything that is meant for doing real work outside the realm of graphics and animation. They don’t. Here’s the real problem, my little fan-roadkill, Apple is so focused on the Apple experience that they forgot people actually need to do REAL work too. Read more »

I’ve been poking around in Windows 7 for a little while now and I can say I think I like it. Vista was kind of a nightmare for some people. I wasn’t particularly impressed myself, but Windows 7 is alright, in my humble opinion. I wanted to see if anyone had opposing views so I could be aware of pitfalls ahead of time and then I came across this…

Windows 7 Sins

What am I seeing here? Really? Did the Free Software Foundation really do this? Typically I support the open source community, but this piece of bullshit propaganda is just out of line. Read more »

Hey hey hey, folks guess what day it is? It’s “who the fuck do you think you are” day. Oh yeah, there’s nothing quite like a bunch of misaligned, maladjusted morons dripping drool from their slack jaws to tell people what they can and can’t or should and shouldn’t do.

Let’s just dive in, shall we? So, Harry Reid, he’s a card. He’s one of my current favorite people, right up there with Nancy Pelosi. You know good ol’ Nancy. She’s that SUPER winner who said “[the US] is losing 500 million jobs a month!” WOW! REALLY? Especially since there are only 300 million people IN THE ENTIRE US. Way to go. Read more »

That’s right, they hate you. They smile and sign your shit and give you a shoulder-hug while one of your insipid friends takes a photo. When they get home at night, they get in the shower and wash themselves clean from your disease.

I don’t envy celebrities.

The other night I went to see my old band play. They don’t have much of a regular following, but there are always a few people there. The regulars. Read more »

Good morning, America, your stupid is ready.

I’ve about had it and I think it’s time to give you dopes something to chew on. We need REAL CHANGE. I’m sick of everyone giving lip-service to change, improvement and public betterment.

Get. Fucking. Real. Read more »