Shut Up!! Just ....

I'm recently rekindling my love for music. We've been cold to each other lately, what with all the work and stuff you know .... the usual, you know .... I try to always be there for her, you know .... try to listen to her, you know ..... I love you pooo, I love you too, you know. But things get in the way of a good relationship, you know. Still I try to make it work ..... but she goes ..... Black Eyed Peas – Shut Up

You have to pardon the rambling above, I'm just trying to see if last.fm and snap.com will work together. Please bear with me, you know.

Another nifty tool: Snap Shots!

"Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out."

Yep. Just copied the above post from them. They were nice enough to suggest that this new feature be announced in my site to "warn" my fictional readers. So there.

An addendum here: I opted for snapshot to be triggered by mousing over the balloon or bubble or whatever they call that icon there beside the links. I figured you guys might not want the darn thing popping up every time you mouse over a link. I know, that's awfully nice and thoughtful of me. You can thank me by donating to your favorite charity.

Part III: Art Blogs

This is part 3 of 3 (part 1 here, for part 2 click here) posts on blogs of note, a list of blogs I've often visited (more like marauded). The following are web logs I've dubbed "art blogs": blogs by talented artists that caught my fancy. At the outset, let me warn my imaginary readers that some sites (if not all) are for mature audiences only. Those who haven't attained enlightenment yet are advised to go through a hundred more rebirths until, reaching nirvana -- or at least a state of dizziness due to several karmic cycles -- one can't make heads or tails of life and thus is ready to venture into the world of these wonderful (and in case of some, funny) artists. Here we go:

7. Okonomide -- art blog by Audrey Kawasaki. Very beautiful art by an equally beautiful woman. Here's a sample of her creations. The site is a livejournal blog, nicely done. I discovered her through motel de moka (one of my recommended blogs listed in part 1). She's actually selling prints of her work so those interested should head on to her site and get details on how to order.

8. Geek and Poke -- funny toon on technology and its follies. Geekoids and their sub species will be pleased, as long as they can still laugh at themselves. The cartoon is a cross between Bill Gates and Gary Larson. Here's a sampler:

9. Left-Handed Toons -- another funny cartoon blog with a new (at least to me) concept. Drawings are made using the left hand by presumably right-handed individuals. The results are quite unique. Plus I like their humor, weird in a nice way and makes me always wish I said it first.

10. rapeme -- last but not least is Ryuko Azuma's art posts. Looking at his drawings one can easily conclude that they're products of a very talented, though perhaps at times, apparently troubled mind. At this point I must again remind the brave souls of the webverse to think twice before visiting the site. Some images are quite disturbing. But there are very nice art works there like these:

Well, this ends the series on blogs I like. It also underscores one thing: there are lots of interesting and substantial blogs unlike mine. So go away and leave me alone.Ü

A widget, a widget real good.

Quick blog update here: installed (and updated) some widgets in my blog.

Installed three (3) widgets from last.fm namely: recent tracks played, my recommended playlist and top tracks. Why? Because I can, it's my blog after all. Also updated the digg.com widget to display the top stories. Lastly, changed my blog design to make the entire thing sorta blend, sorta. Lacking creativity, I went for black since I figured, the presence of all the colors is better than the absence thereof. Arguably, I still used colors albeit all of it. If you so desire, you can get your own widgets from the site links provided above.

More Blogs: Part II

Here's part II (part I here) of recommended blogs I've been stalking lately. The following are what I call humorous blogs that help me get through the day. They're a lot cheaper than Prozac:

4. ScorchedHotTub -- Brian's blogspot postings. Like yours truly, Brian of NY started scratching the writing itch at friendster. Likewise, he moved on to answer the call of nature in blogspot/blogger. Unlike yours truly, this guy's postings are funny. The blog self-critique is especially hilarious and original (I think). Anyway, as with the other blogs to be featured in these subsequent posts, this guy's ranting require parental caution. Only mature readers should venture to his site -- or at least really immature ones.

5. Anonymous Lawyer -- "Stories from the trenches, by a fictional hiring partner at a large law firm in a major city." This guy churns out good material, quiet the talented writer, funny too. Talented and funny enough to land a book deal (lucky bastard!). So my fellow bloggers, there is hope yet. All we need is some talent and we're on our way.

6. The Sedated Ape -- Just recently discovered this guy. I've found his posts humorous and witty so far. But I have to warn my fictional readers, these posts have been compared to my blog mainly (where else?) and therefore standards aren't really that high if you think about it. I mean, Anne Frank's diary would probably contain more humor than my blog. Oh, wait, that's totally wrong. I take that back before I get sued. Nobody should find anything related to the holocaust -- and consequently, my blog -- remotely funny.

Up next: Part III, art blogs.

Girlfriend 7.0 vs Wife 1.0

Here's a good one going around the web:

Dear Tech Support:

Last year I upgraded from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0. I soon noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of space and valuable resources.

In addition, Wife 1.0 installed itself into all other programs and now monitors all other system activity. Applications such as Poker Night 10.3 , Football 5.0 , Hunting and Fishing 7.5 , and Racing 3.6.

I can't seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background while attempting to run my favorite applications. I'm thinking about going back to Girlfriend 7.0 , but the uninstall doesn't work on Wife 1.0 . Please help!

Thanks,
Troubled User…..

___________________ __________________
REPLY:
Dear Troubled User:

This is a very common problem that men complain about.

Many people upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0, thinking that it is just a Utilities and Entertainment program. Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM and is designed by its Creator to run EVERYTHING !!! It is also impossible to delete Wife 1.0 and to return to Girlfrie nd 7.0 . It is impossible to uninstall, or purge the program files from the system once installed.

You cannot go back to Girlfriend 7.0 because Wife 1.0 is designed to not allow this. Look in your Wife 1.0 manual under Warnings-Alimony/Child Support . I recommend that you keep Wife 1.0 and work on improving the situation. I suggest installing the background application "Yes Dear"
to alleviate software augmentation.

The best course of action is to enter the command C:\APOLOGIZE! because ultimately you will have to give the APOLOGIZE command before the system will return to normal anyway.

Wife 1.0 is a great program, but it tends to be very high maintenance. Wife 1.0 comes with several support programs, such as Clean and Sweep 3.0 , Cook It 1.5 ! and Do Bills 4.2 .

However, be very careful how you use these programs. Improper use will cause the system to launch the program Nag Nag 9.5. Once this happens, the only way to improve the performance of Wife 1.0 is to purchase additional software. I recommend Flowers 2.1 and Diamonds 5.0 !

WARNING!!! DO NOT, under any circumstances, install Secretary With Short Skirt 3.3 . This application is not supported by Wife 1.0 and will cause irreversible damage to the operating system!

Best of luck,

Tech Support

__________________________________

And here's my two cents: Personally, I use Deny Everything 3.1. It's an automatic system response protocol that is fully self-sustaining and compatible with most third generation softwares. I say most because some versions of Wife 1.0 and the beta version of Wife 1.1 are apparently immune to system-generated responses like Deny Everything 3.1 or the popular Yes Dear application. In such cases, you just have to get used to the idea that your hard drive is cooked, your system hacked and that you've been completely pwned. (Hopefully, the wife will find this funny too or I'm really in trouble and not the "troubleshooting," tech-support kinda variety.)

For some more "resources" (i.e., variations of the above) go to these pages: here and here.