Drained

I'm not sure precisely why, but I feel very drained tonight. I tried to start a new book ( Flowers for Algernon), but just couldn't focus after about 25 or so pages. I guess I should get some sleep. Maybe I'll continue my series on Barth's theology (finally) tomorrow.

iTunes 7: First Impressions

Of course, I'm not one to complain with slow changes to something I like. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as the saying goes. iTunes 7 ignores this advice in several areas, not the least of which is the new UI look. First we had metal, then “unified dark,” now we have what I can only think to call “unified dark professional.” The overall colors of the new release are mostly the same, but the Aqua scroll bars and other interface cues that had survived the other different looks have now given way to drabber, less shiny widgets that remind me of the ones in Apple pro apps. Given that one of Mac OS X's major selling points has always been its UI, Apple really ought to settle down on one look and be done with it (or provide a themeing system by which users can easily make their entire OS match one of the many different looks Apple likes to dabble with).

But, I digress. This should not be taken to say that I don't like the new release. The nice ordering of different types of objects (libraries, devices, store-related items, and playlists) in the side column makes a lot of sense and I already feel much more organized with the cleaner look it provides. A big addition, that has been needed for a long time, is support for gapless playing, which will make classical and live CD's much more pleasant to listen to. I have not tried this feature yet, but it would appear one thing still missing is the ability to tell iTunes to always play two or more tracks together when shuffling (for example, I have two Yo-Yo Ma tracks that really should not be played apart from one another) — this would seem to be a logical thing to add alongside gapless playing.

The new release also has some interesting new features related to album viewing. While I'm not so sure about whether the cover flip mode will really be practically useful, it was kind of fun to flip through my albums and be reminded of what they look like. The other new view, which adds grouped by album listings, probably will be more useful from a day-to-day usage standpoint. As far as eye candy goes, though, I think the best addition is the integrated album art-grabbing tool. While I have always been fine with doing it manually, and some other tools can pull decent artwork off Amazon and other places, the iTunes Music Store (now blandly just “iTunes Store”) often times had the best quality artwork. That Apple is allowing its users to use that artwork for CDs that are ripped rather than bought from the store is a nice nod to keeping customers happy (and demanding better iPods that can show all of the pretty covers).

The new iPod interface is also a much-appreciated change — especially the disk usage meter. The new meter shows how much of the iPod's space is going toward audio, photos and other stuff, so that you can understand what is filling up your iPod at a glance, rather than just knowing your iPod is full. This isn't as big of deal for those of us using 4G black-and-white and older iPods, but I'll probably find it somewhat useful on my iPod nano, and I'm sure it'll be even more useful for owners of newer 4G and 5G iPods. The curious use of the name “devices” rather than “iPods” could be explained simply as a nod to the fact that they put audio CD's under the heading — and perhaps the Motorola iTunes-compatible phone as well — but I wonder if it perhaps hints at more devices appearing in the coming months?

The update is not anything huge, but it does at least feel like a real bit of progress. I'm sure I'll find more to like (and perhaps dislike) about the update over the coming days, but for the moment, this update feels a lot more satisfying than any other iTunes release in recent memory.

iPod/iTunes

Apple made some great looking changes to the product line today. I'm especially impressed with the tiny new iPod shuffle (in an aluminum case and coming with an included dock for $79!), although the new iPod nano should fix one of the major complaints (scratching) too, now that it has become somewhat of a hybrid of the Nano 1G and the last iPod mini. The 5G iPods didn't get much of an update, but a brighter screen is always nice.

I haven't looked into the new movie store yet.

Monday Madness: Blogging

1. How long have you been blogging?
Four years back in February, so I'll hit the five year mark in just five more months or so.

2. How many times have you taken a break from blogging?
It depends how you look at it. When I started, I wasn't exactly a frequent blogger, and went over a month without a post a few times. Since I really started blogging seriously about four years ago, I don't think I've ever really taken a break.

3. How long is the longest you’ve gone, so far, without posting on your blog?
Maybe 10-14 days since the Fall of 2002 when I really started getting into the whole blogosphere concept.

4. How many fellow bloggers do you keep in touch with, through your blogs, on a regular basis?
More than just a cursory read, probably five or six.

5. Have you ever met, in person, a blogger on your blogroll?
No. One of these days, I must meet my friends in Cranium Leakage, since they aren't that far way.

6. How often do you update/change the ‘extra’ stuff on your blog?
I really don't have much extra stuff these days, I moved that all to another site. But, if you count both sites, maybe every few months.

7. Do you think you’ll be blogging for years to come?
Yes, I'd imagine I'll be blogging for quite awhile. Maybe until the web becomes an “antiquated technology.”

Alpha

My church officially launched its Alpha Course pilot tonight. We had nearly 200 people attend. I have to say so far I'm impressed. I'm already familiar with Nicky Gumble from a professor of mine being a so-called “alphaholic,” but it is interesting to experience the course first hand.

I'll post more thoughts as I go through the course.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Maybe it struck me because I just spent several hours reading a logic text. Maybe it is just the fact that I tend to love locating logical fallacies — especially post hoc fallacies. At any rate, the American Family Association gave me another reason to shake my head. According to an e-mail from them that was forwarded to me:

The boycott of Ford Motor Company continues to be effective. Sales in August dropped 11.6%. This follows drops of 5% in March,
7% in April, 2% in May, 6.8% in June and 4.1% in July.

Let's consider this in the form of a logical argument. The AFA has told people to boycott Ford because of its support of homosexuality and Ford's sales are dropping, therefore the boycott is effective. This just screams of the type of propaganda that the AFA normally uses. The letter continues by noting how “stubborn” Ford is for continuing to support “homosexual groups:”

“Rather than save money by cutting financial support to homosexual groups, Ford plans to cut production by 21%, trim the number of
dealers, reportedly is seeking a merger or alliance with another auto
maker, studying taking the company private, and considering selling
their Jaguar, Volvo and Land Rover units.”

Now, if Ford had been doing great when the boycott began, I'd concede maybe the boycott is working. I might even be happy the boycott is working — I am, after all, on the same side as the AFA in rejecting “homosexual rights” such as homosexual marriage. But, the point must be made that all of the American car companies are facing major struggles at the moment, and only Ford is being boycotted. Moreover, Ford's woes go back several years before the AFA decided to boycott the company. All of the strategies the AFA mentions Ford considering are sensible given Ford's situation. Its buying spree of the mid-to-late 90s was ill-advised, lower purchasing necessitates lower production and less dealers, etc. GM is working through a similar set of considerations, and Chrysler already followed through with the idea of merging with another car maker (I guess the AFA missed the “Ask Dr. Z” commercials that remind everyone that Chrysler is a division of DaimlerChrysler).

Now, the AFA may be illogical and prone to hyperbole, but they aren't stupid. They admit this, but only farther down in the e-mail, after some (many?) may have gone off to celebrate the power of their boycotting the Blue Oval. That admission reads:

“While Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had similar financial problems when the AFA boycott began, most analysts see General Motors and Chrysler conditions improving. While not responsible for all of Ford's financial problems, the boycott is not doubt having a major effect. Ford blames it on the cost of gasoline. But General Motors and Chrysler face the same problem of $3 a gallon gas, yet their situation is improving.”

This too draws on logical fallacies. While constant talk of GM teetering on bankruptcy protection does not strike me as much of an improvement, there have been signs maybe — maybe — GM and the Chrysler Group are fighting back (though Chrysler lost market share in the most recent quarter, as I recall, whereas a few quarters ago, it was gaining market share). But, let's say both GM and Chrysler are doing better. The AFA is assuming a domestic car market where all else is equal (_ceteris paribus_). Could GM and Chrysler's “improving fortunes” maybe, possibly, sorta kinda have something to do with the little bitty fact that those two companies have been busy with major product line changes? Look at the Chrysler Group! Dodge has an almost totally redesigned lineup, Jeep is over doubling its variety of models, and the namesake marquee is midway through a similar makeover. On the other hand, Ford's makeover of products has been going on for a little longer, and their styling, features and marketing just seem far less impressive. Just why would I buy a generic looking Ford Five Hundred over a Honda Accord? Does anyone really think the 2006 Ford Freestar looks that much different from a 1999 Ford Windstar?

Why does this bother me so much? Because I think the AFA's actions generally do more to make Christianity look bad than good. “Christians really must hate homosexuals if they are willing to go so far as to decide what $20,000+ vehicle they will buy just because Ford gives to some homosexual charities,” is the type of thing I see people reading into actions like this. Precisely what does that really accomplish? Does it preach the love of Christ to anyone? Does anyone receive the Gospel because I didn't buy a Ford? Does anyone become “straight” because I didn't buy a Ford? Does it even save a life? When the AFA not only does these actions, but then justifies them with questionable analysis of statistics, I just find myself irritated.

Let's find something better to do then make the Church look like its main purpose is to condemn the world, eh? Let's “believe in the future salvation of all people” and then see what useful thing we can do toward this end.

My Fall Lineup

Well, since the rest of the Cranium Leakers are posting their TV schedules for the new fall season, I feel obliged to do the same. Here's my schedule. I know it may come across as a bit confusing at first with all of the options, but just try to muddle through it once or twice and then maybe it'll make more sense.

Sunday
None.

Monday
None.

Tuesday
None.

Wednesday
None.

Thursday
None.

Friday
None.

Saturday
None.

Phew. So you made it through that, huh? Yes, I know its a tough schedule, but somebody's got to do it!

Seriously, the schedule isn't completely true — I do watch some TV. I might watch a movie (often courtesy of Charter's Video On Demand service) or an old sitcom rerun. I just don't find any draw to watch major network TV on a regular basis. The last first run TV series I watched was, I suppose, NBC's Revelations that ran for six weeks in April and May of 2005. I was also into Debbie Travis's Facelift on HGTV for a bit, although my schedule usually meant I missed it and I got out of the habit of watching it.

This is true for several reasons. First, I tend to prefer more of what I'd call “classic broadcasting humor” in sitcoms; the comedy that made shows like I Love Lucy or the Dick Van Dyke Show simply doesn't seem to exist anymore. I'd say that breed of sitcom probably died with the end of the Cosby Show (at least as far as I've been able to tell). Second, for the most part, I prefer comedy over drama in a TV show. In my opinion, drama usually is more appealing in movie form. I was (am) a Trekkie, but nothing after Deep Space Nine was compelling enough to get me to watch on a regular basis.

On top of all of this, there are usually other things I'd rather do, especially as opposed to watching shows live (I watch basically everything in recorded form).

One of those Days...

you know what I mean?

If Time Is Money...

then Google's cache just saved me mucho cash. I met a client tonight to demonstrate how to use SAFARI to edit his new site. The site uses Greek characters, and unfortunately, it seems that Greek doesn't transmit through forms very well in Internet Explorer (just as it does not work well in Apple Safari). By the time I noticed this, we had tinkered with one of the largest pages and all of the Greek had turned to gibberish.

I figured that was no problem, I'd just pull out the weekly backup. The weekly backup includes a MySQL dump of each client's MySQL data. Unfortunately, this backup too showed many of the exotic characters as gibberish — maybe my text editor doesn't support the characters, I'm not sure. At any rate, the backup wasn't going to do the trick.

Now what? Then it dawns on me. The site had recently been picked up by Google. If I just Google the URL, I can grab Google's cached copy of the page and restore it. So I did just that, and after about an hour of fruitless struggle, I was able to solve the problem with a quick cut-and-paste action. Thanks, Google!

Late Night Haiku XVI

XXXXIV. Tattered, it flutters,
“Is this all there was for me?”
Quoth the butterfly.

XXXXV. Late summer evening,
Not as musical as before,
Bugs sing their last songs.

XXXXVI. Was it yesterday,
That summer's joy passed by me,
While I looked elsewhere?