If you’ve already got a pretty nice music collection Google Music is great. It allows you to upload up to 20,000 songs and access them from anywhere. Especially if you have an Android device, but you can still access your music on iPhone or iPad by navigating to http://music.google.com.

via awfulannouncing.com

One of these gentlemen was from British Columbia, Canada. We’ll call him “Bill”.

Bill really liked one of the items I was selling, but lamented the fact that he had just purchased another similar item and really didn’t have the extra money because he was waiting to have surgery.

He and I proceeded to exchange a few emails. I told him how much I loved the Northwest and thought it would be great to live there. I also wished him the best regarding his surgery.

This was his reply:

I know things seem greener on the other side until we dig into it a bit further. It is like the so-called free medical we have here, if you can get it it is free. So people die before they can be treated as the waiting list is so long and the quality is really substandard. Most of the doctors that were any good left for jobs in the US and the ones that remained are from India, China and places like that without proper training here. If you want something done in a hurry you pay for it yourself and get it done in the US. That is what all the politicians do here. Thanks for the good wishes though, I’ll need it here.

I’ll tell you the same thing I told him:

Wow, I couldn’t have asked for a better validation of my feelings about government run health care.

He told the rancher, “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.”  The rancher said, “Okay , but don’t go in that field over there.”  As he pointed out the location.

The DEA officer verbally exploded saying, “Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me!”

Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the rancher.  “See this badge?!  This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish, on any land!!  No questions asked or answers given!! Have I made myself clear?   Do you understand?!!”

The rancher nodded politely, apologized, and went about his chores. 

A short time later, the old rancher heard loud screams, looked up, and saw the DEA officer running for his life, being chased by the rancher’s big Santa Gertrudis bull.  With every step the bull was gaining ground on the officer, and it seemed likely that he’d sure enough get gored before he reached safety.   The officer was clearly terrified.

The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs:

“Your badge, show him your BADGE!”

I don’t know if you can get much cooler than Clapton getting a call from Buddy Guy.

I don’t have a horse in this race…I use Ubuntu!

via The New Yorker

Here is their list:

BOLD if available now / ITALICS is rumored release date

1. Acer Liquid – A1 – November 28th
   
2. Compulab Exeda
3. Dell Ophone mini3i – Benzine
4. Geek Phone One
5. General Mobile DSTL1
6. Haier H7
7. HKC Pearl
8. HighScreen PP5420
9. HTC Click – Fiesta – Tattoo
10. HTC Desire 6200 – November
11. HTC Dragon – Zoom 2
12. HTC Dream – T-Mobile G1
13. HTC Hero – G2 Touch
14. HTC Lancaster
15. HTC Magic – Sapphire – T-Mobile myTouch 3G – Google Ion – Dopod A6188
16. HTC Passion
17. HTC Predator
18. Huawei U8220 – T-Mobile Pulse
    
19. Huawei U8230
20. Innocomm Skate
21. Kogan Agora
22. Koolu Freerunner – Openmoko GTA02
23. Lenovo O1 Ophone
24. LG Etna
25. LG GW620 Eve – November 2009
26. LG GW880
27. Motorola Calgary
28. Motorola Devour
29. Motorola Droid – Sholes – Tao – November 7th
30. Motorola Heron
31. Motorola MB200
32. Motorola MB300
33. Motorola Morrison – Cliq – DEXT
    
34. Motorola Motis – 2010
35. Motorola Sholes Tablet – 2010
    
36. Motorola Zeppelin – 2010
    
37. Philips V808
38. Qigi i6
39. Samsung Behold 2 T939 – November 18th
    
40. Samsung Bigfoot
41. Samsung Galaxy i7500
42. Samsung Galaxy Lite i5700 – Spica – 2010
43. Samsung Houdini
    
44. Samsung m850 Q
45. Samsung Moment – InstinctQ m900 – November 1st
46. Sciphone N12
47. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 / x10 Rachael – January 2010
48. Sunno S880
49. Tiger G3
    
50. ZTE Android

This doesn’t include the other Android based devices we’ve seen announced or released.  Such as Raytheon’s RATS for the US Military, Barnes and Noble’s eBook reader, or Dell’s MID Device.

Via Google Android Blog.

The only publicly known user of the Motorola Droid, Boy Genius Report, has published the first review of the new Android based phone, and it’s glowing.

While he does give some of the credit for the experience to the new and improved Android 2.0, he does say this is by far the best Android phone to date.  The only most negative part of the review is regarding the physical keyboard, but as BGR points out, you can use the virtual keyboard in both portrait and landscape mode.  Read the full review and see all the pics at Boy Genius Report.

Over the last couple of weeks The Boy Genius Report has taunted us with pictures, videos and screenshots from a device that most believe is a Motorola Droid (aka Sholes, aka Tao).  Finally BGR has brought the Droid out of the shadows and we see it in all it’s glory.

Not an in depth review, but several nice pictures and it does confirm many of the rumors we’ve heard about this phone.

Including:

• It does run Android 2.0 (Eclair)
• It is only a couple of millimeters thicker than an iPhone 3Gs including the slide out keyboard
• It is the fastest Android phone out there (running a TI OMAP3430 processor)

Plus, they offer up these juicy tidbits:

• Google had direct input on the design of this phone.  They even imply that Google dictated virtually every move Motorola made regarding this phone.
• It will come with a docking cradle/charger that will allow it to become a desktop info screen, displaying weather and time.  (One could assume this could spawn a whole slew of apps such as a stock ticker, sports score scroll, news updates, RSS headlines, etc…)

It looks like this could be a win-win-win for Motorola, Google and Verizon.

Read More at Boy Genius Report.

iDon’t have a real keyboard.
iDon’t run simultaneous apps.
iDon’t take night shots.
iDon’t allow open development.
iDon’t Customize.
iDon’t Run Widgets.
iDon’t have interchangeable batteries.

DROID DOES

via Boy Genius Report.

The rule of four and two (also called ‘Solomon’s Rule’) is a very simple method for estimating odds in your head.  It’s especially useful for those who have a difficult time doing long division without a piece of paper or calculator.

To estimate the odds that you will hit a given hand after the flop, just count up the number of outs, multiply that number by 4 and the result is the approximate percentage chance that you will hit your hand on the turn or the river.  If none of your outs come on the turn, just multiply the number of outs by 2 to get the odds you’ll hit on the river.

Here’s an example:

You’ve got the ace and queen of hearts in your hand, the flop comes out six of hearts, ten of hearts and 3 of clubs, giving you four cards to a heart flush.  That means there are nine more hearts out there that will make your hand.  So to estimate the odds that you will hit your hand on the turn or the river just multiply 9×4 giving you a 36% chance that you’ll make your hand.  The actual odds that you’ll make your hand are 34.9%, so the answer is close enough and MUCH easier to calculate.

If that heart doesn’t come on the turn, simply multiply the number of outs by two (9×2=18) to estimate the odds that you will make your hand on the river.  The actual odds are 19.5%, again close enough.  Calculating accurate odds on the river is much simpler, but this method is still easier.

There is one exception to this rule, if you have more than 9 outs, you must make the following adjustment when estimating odds after the flop.  Multiply the number of outs by 4, then subtract 8 from the number of outs and subtract the result from your estimate.

If you had 12 outs, you would multiply 12×4=48, subtract 8 from 12 giving you 4, then subtract 4 from 48, so your approximate odds would be 44%.  The actual odds are 44.9%.

Incidentally, the formulas for caculating actual odds are as follows:

After the flop:

((outs/47) + (outs/46) – (outs/47) x (outs/46))x100 = Odds you’ll make your hand on the turn or river.

i.e. 9 outs to make your flush:

(9/47) + (9/46) – (9/47) x (9/46)

(19.14 + 19.56) – (19.14 x 19.56)

.387 – .0374 = .3496

.3496 x 100 = 34.96%

(47 is the number of unknown cards after the flop (The 5 known cards being the two in your hand and the three on the board) and 46 is the number of unknown cards after the turn.)

After the turn:

(outs/46)x100

9/46=.195

.195 x 100 = 19.5%

(I’m no mathematician, and I usually do these calculations in my head, so my notation may not be 100% accurate.)

From CreateDigitalMusic.com:.

I had tried Linux in 2005 on PowerPC-based Mac laptops, though at the time I couldn’t get audio working, even after extensive tweaking. But I had kept an eye on Ubuntu ever since. After considering MacBook Pro prices, I checked out the new netbooks coming to market and picked up a refurbished Dell Inspiron Mini 9 with Ubuntu pre-installed.

I loaded up my Dell with all a selection of Linux audio applications and brought it with me on tour as an emergency backup to my tottering PowerBook. The Mini 9 could play back four tracks of 24-bit/96 kHz audio with effects – not bad for a netbook. The solution to my financial constraint became clear, and I bought a refurbished Dell Studio 15, installed Ubuntu on it, and set it up for sound production and business administration. The total cost was around $600 for the laptop plus a donation to a software developer — a far cry from the $3000.00 price tag and weeks of my time it would have cost me to stay locked-in to Apple. After a couple of months of solid use, I have had no problems with my laptop or Ubuntu. Both have performed flawlessly, remaining stable and reliable.

The Smoke in this Flash ad on the Subway website spells out the word SEX!.

Allen James Cole, 34, a government teacher at Travis High School in Austin, Texas has been arrested on allegations that he had sex with an 18-year-old female student more than 20 times in five days.

No wonder he looks so smug in his mugshot:

"Yep, that says MORE than TWENTY times in five days."

via Apple Downplays Fiery iPod Incidents – Money News Story – KIRO Seattle.

An Ohio man, fed up with deceptive junk mail, made the mistake of losing his temper while on the phone with a St. Louis company pitching an extended auto-service contract. Now he finds himself behind bars, where he is charged with making a terrorist threat.

According to court documents, Charles W. Papenfus, 43, allegedly told a sales representative during a May 18 telephone call that he would burn down the building and kill the employees and their families. He was indicted for making a terrorist threat, a Class D felony; and he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison if convicted.

Obese Exposed as Swine Flu Collides With Fat Epidemic

Rightfully so!

The Fed continuing to attempt to stabalize the economy by monetizing US debt will lead to hyperinflation.

This honest, logical assesment exposes how our war on drugs has enriched criminals, militarized our police forces, and endangered our freedoms while having very little impact on the availability of illicit drugs.

Order Now!

Billy Mays Caps Lock is a simple application that lives in your systems tray.  The sole purpose of this application is to play famous Billy Mays soundbites everytime you press your caps lock key.

Billy Mays Power Mask allows you harness Billy Mays’ awesome powers by printing and wearing a Billy Mays mask.

What companies is Google working with to support Google Chrome OS?

The Google Chrome OS team is currently working with a number of technology companies to design and build devices that deliver an extraordinary end user experience. Among others, these companies include Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.

Not surprisingly, like most Linux distributions, it will be free:

Is Google Chrome OS free?

Yes – Google Chrome OS is an open source project and will be available to use at no cost.

Read More…

From Google Blog:

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Read More…

From Alternet:

The high-school class of 1996 was the first one to increase its use of drugs since the across-the-boards decline of the eighties. That group of students had entered kindergarten around 1983, the same year that the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, now D.A.R.E. America, was founded by Los Angeles Police Department chief Daryl Gates.

Read More…

Great story about 3 geeks who use MobileMe and a Macbook with a 3G dongle to track down and confront an iPhone thief.

Apparently, I share this opinion with others…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers to stop using three products marketed over-the-counter as cold remedies because they are associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia). Anosmia may be long-lasting or permanent.

Hilarity ensues…

Microsoft Windows = Linux

While I don’t really expect everyone, or anyone, to go out and change their OS, there are a couple of Linux distributions out there that are up to snuff for the novice user. There are many different flavors (distributions) of Linux, but my personal choice would be Ubuntu. If you know someone who is new to computers and only wants to do email and internet, I would really recommend Ubuntu Linux. It’s virtually unbreakable. In addition, there are literally thousands of free programs available for Linux that are easily installed using the Synaptic Package Manager.

Microsoft Office = Open Office

Open office offers equivalent programs that save in the MS Office formats (Office 2003 format):

MS Program = OO Program
Word = Writer
Excel = Calc
Powerpoint = Impress
Access = Base
Visio = Draw
Equation Editor = Math

Photoshop = GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program)

From gimp.org:

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.
GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.
GIMP is written and developed under X11 on UNIX platforms. But basically the same code also runs on MS Windows andMac OS X.

In addition to it’s own impressive set of Plug-ins and Scripts, GIMP also supports many of the Plugins, filters and brushes made for Photoshop.

AIM, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, Google Talk, ICQ, Facebook Chat, Myspace IM = Pidgin

Pidgin is an all-in-one replacement for every instant messaging program out there.  You can replace the menagerie of IM icons in the notification area with just one.  Pidgin allows you to set your status in every IM program and on Facebook and MySpace simultaneously.  In addition, it supports plugins including such features as ‘Psychic Mode’, where you are notified a person is about to IM you as soon as they start typing.  In order to use Facebook Chat in Pidgin you’ll need to install the Pidgin Facebook Chat plugin.

Nero/Roxio Easy CD Creator = InfraRecorder

From InfraRecorder.org:

InfraRecorder is a free CD/DVD burning solution for Microsoft Windows. It offers a wide range of powerful features; all through an easy to use application interface and Windows Explorer integration.

InfraRecorder is released under GPL version 3.

Features

• Create custom data, audio and mixed-mode projects and record them to physical discs as well as disc images.
• Supports recording to dual-layer DVDs.
  
• Blank (erase) rewritable discs using four different methods.
• Record disc images (ISO and BIN/CUE).
  
• Fixate discs (write lead-out information to prevent further data from being added to the disc).
• Scan the SCSI/IDE bus for devices and collect information about their capabilities.
  
• Create disc copies, on the fly and using a temporary disc image.
• Import session data from multi-session discs and add more sessions to them.
• Display disc information.
• Save audio and data tracks to files (.wav, .wma, .ogg, .mp3 and .iso).

Adobe Acrobat (Distiller) = PDFCreator

PDFCreator allows you to make a PDF File from any program by printing to a PDF printer.

WinZip/Windows Zip Utility = 7-Zip

Are you tired of waiting hours for the built-in Windows Zip extractor to uncompress a zip file?  Get 7-Zip!
7-Zip features most of the same features included in WinZip, but it’s free and has no nag screens.

Adobe Premiere = VirtualDub

While not as user friendly and as full featured as Premiere, VirtualDub is an incredible package of video processing and compression software, once again, for FREE!

From VirtualDub.org:

VirtualDub is a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP), licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).  It lacks the editing power of a general-purpose editor such as Adobe Premiere, but is streamlined for fast linear operations over video.  It has batch-processing capabilities for processing large numbers of files and can be extended with third-party video filters.  VirtualDub is mainly geared toward processing AVI files, although it can read (not write) MPEG-1 and also handle sets of BMP images.

Sound Forge = Audacity:

From audacity.sourceforge.net:

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• And more! See the complete list of features.

Microsoft Internet Explorer = Mozilla Firefox

Many of you already know about Firefox.  Judging by my website stats most of you use it.  Firefox is one of the pieces of open source software that absolutely blows it’s commercial counterpart out of the water.  Beginning with Firefox 2, it set the standard for web browsers left Microsoft scrambling to catch up.  Beyond being naturally faster and more intuitive than IE, it’s also extendable through plugins, extensions and themes.  Firefox extensions allow you to completely customize your browsing experience from removing every advertisement with adblock plus to adding functionality to control iTunes to the status bar.

The most likely way that your computer is going to be infected with adware or a virus is through security holes in Internet Explorer.  More security flaws in IE are found all the time, and Microsoft is ususally the last to know.  For a more customizable and secure browsing experience get Firefox today.

Check out my series of blog posts about my favorite Firefox Extensions.

Microsoft Outlook (Express) = Mozilla Thunderbird

While Thunderbird hasn’t matured quite as much as Firefox, it is still a highly customizable email client that gets more and more so every day.  Much like Firefox, Thunderbird supports extension and themes, including adblock, that allow you to create your own email experience.  You can install extensions that turn Thunderbird from a client like Outlook Express into a more flexible version of Microsoft Office Outlook.

More to come soon!

This is only the beginning of the list.  I’ll post more free Open Source alternatives to high priced commercial software soon!  In the meantime you can check out the home of Open Souce on the internet sourceforge.net.

After uploading a few pictures to Facebook today, I remembered how handy having the Facebook Button in Picasa was and I thought everyone might not know abou it, so here it is!

Having the Facebook Button for Picasa makes uploading a one step process.  Well, one step if you use Internet Explorer.  If you’re scared of the security, or lack thereof, in IE (like me) and use Firefox or Chrome you’ll have to enter your password each time.  

Hint: To avoid having to approve your uploaded photos each time, just click the Enable Extended Access link at the bottom of the screen where you choose what album to put them in.  From that point forword you’ll no longer have to log in to Facebook and approve the photos.

This is a must have for anyone who uses Facebook and Picasa.

Straight out of Compton: Dirty lyrics only…

W. K. Kellogg, the founder of Kellogg’s, was the brother of John Harvey Kellogg.  J. H. Kellogg was the founder of the Battle Creek Sanatorium.  They originally had a partnership in a cereal company, but it was dissolved after J.H. Kellogg refused to add sugar to his recipe.  

Both W.K. Kellogg and C.W. Post (the founder of Post cereals) were frequent visitors to the Battle Creek Sanitarium and believers in what J.H. Kellogg did.

Here are just a couple of his abhorent beliefs:

Kellogg worked on the rehabilitation of masturbators, often employing extreme measures, even mutilation, on both sexes. In his Plain Facts for Old and Young, he wrote

“

A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of phimosis. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed.

”

and

“

In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid [phenol] to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement.

”

He also recommended, to prevent children from this “solitary vice”, bandaging or tying their hands, covering their genitals with patented cages, sewing the foreskin shut and electrical shock.

On Race Relations:

In 1906, Kellogg founded—together with Irving Fisherand Charles Davenport—the Race Betterment Foundation, which became a major center of the new eugenics movement in America. Kellogg was in favor of racial segregation and believed that immigrants and non-whites would damage the gene pool. Also, Kellogg gave a large portion of the common stock of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company to the Race Betterment Foundation. Whether any of that stock has been converted into Kellogg Company stock is unknown.

 

From the email:

As a valued Google Earth customer, we want you to be the first to know that Google will no longer offer Google Earth Plus. With new enhancements to Google Earth released this week, we believe the needs of many Google Earth Plus customers will be met with Google Earth 5.0, which is freely available to all our customers.

…

The latest version of Google Earth lets customers import and track global positioning system (GPS) data. Our Google Earth Plus customers told us GPS tracking is one of the main reasons they choose Google Earth Plus. Now, since you can use this feature for free in Google Earth 5.0, there’s little separation between Plus and the free product. In order to simplify the decision of which version of Google Earth best meets our customers’ needs, we decided it no longer made sense to continue Google Earth Plus.

I’m definitely one of those customers.  The only reason I paid for GE+ was for the GPS support.  

Get Google Earth 5.0 here.