Monthly Archive for July, 2009

Keane & Kanye West Collaboration

Published on July 20, 2009 in Ricky. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

I’m an interesting person when it comes to music. I listen to this odd hybrid of British indie/piano rock and American alternative/indie. I use indie lightly, because I don’t claim to know what it means. I just like what I like, and that’s emotional, meaningful music that I can picture in the movie of my life. More often than not, if I’m listening to music, it’s something from Keane, the wonderful group that gave the world Somewhere Only We Know, We Might As Well Be Strangers, Is It Any Wonder?, Spiraling, and Perfect Symmetry.

Against all odds, I manage to make these preferences sync with a passion for the music of Kanye West. Despite all you’ve heard about his lackluster personality, he’s a musical genius. There’s something indescribable to it. The best I can do to is say that I have a blast listening to it.

Imagine my shock to learn today (thanks, Tom!) that Keane have confirmed a collaboration with Kanye West.

Chaplin said the band have already spent a day in the studio with the rapper, and that the resulting song – which still needs to be finished off – will hopefully be released before the end of the year.

“We worked with Kanye just for one night, but we’re hoping to get some more stuff done with him in the next few weeks,” the frontman toldNME.COM after playing the Ibiza Rocks festival. “But he’s obviously a very busy man, and we’re quite busy as well at the moment. But we should have something really, really great to show for it hopefully later this year.”

I think I just died happy. This will either be the best four minutes of music ever, or the weirdest.

Summertime Traditions

Published on July 16, 2009 in Computer Academy and Dover Carnival. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
Summertime Observations
Although I haven’t written about it this year, yet, I’ve been really enjoying my job at the Computer Academy, just as I have in years past. This year, I’m teaching children all day; in the morning, I teach a programming class, and in the afternoon, web design.
Teaching at the Computer Academy is very rewarding. I’m teaching topics that I’m passionate about, and the students, for the most part, seem to share my passion. After all, that’s why they’re there.
Besides, what could be better than a job where you get to teach children, while they’re still impressionable, that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is responsible for somewhere near 90% of the world’s problems?
Just as in years past, the Dover Carnival is happening at the same time as my four-week summer job. I attended last night. What used to be a full-fledged obsession for me has deteriorated to something between a nuisance and spectacle. I’ve been giving it some thought, but I can’t pinpoint what, exactly, has changed. Although there was the notable escalation of violence last summer, I assume that I have changed more than the Dover Carnival.
I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing; it’s just a thing.

Although I haven’t written about it this year, yet, I’ve been really enjoying my job at the Computer Academy, just as I have in years past. This year, I’m teaching children all day; in the morning, I teach a programming class, and in the afternoon, web design.

Teaching at the Computer Academy is very rewarding. I’m teaching topics that I’m passionate about, and the students, for the most part, seem to share my passion. After all, that’s why they’re there.

Besides, what could be better than a job where you get to teach children, while they’re still impressionable, that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is responsible for somewhere near 90% of the world’s problems?

Just as in years past, the Dover Carnival is happening at the same time as my four-week summer job. I attended last night. What used to be a full-fledged obsession for me has deteriorated to something between a nuisance and spectacle. I’ve been giving it some thought, but I can’t pinpoint what, exactly, has changed. Although there was the notable escalation of violence last summer, I assume that I have changed more than the Dover Carnival.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing; it’s just a thing. It’s interesting to publicly document my changing feelings for my Summertime Traditions.

Quick Praise for the Apple Store in Danbury, Connecticut

Published on July 5, 2009 in Apple. 0 Comments Tags: .

I’ve made a habit of calling out bad customer service in the past. However, today, I’d like to mention some great customer service I was the recipient of two days ago from the Apple Store in Danbury, Connecticut.

I had a MacBook Pro battery that was randomly shutting my computer off when draining down. Dismayed, I took it to the Apple Store to see if there was anything that could be done. I knew that AppleCare, Apple’s extended warranty that I highly recommend for laptop computers, generally allowed for one replacement battery. Unfortunately, this battery in question *was* my replacement battery.

The gentleman at the Genius Bar was kind and listened to me. I like it when, if I know what I’m talking about, people treat me like I know what I’m talking about; this man did. Within a few minutes, I had another replacement battery, and I was on my way home.

New Battery

New Battery Screenshot

Gmail Gfail

Published on July 4, 2009 in Tech. 0 Comments Tags: .
Gmail Gfail

Gmail Gfail

Remember my ecstatic post three days ago about ridding myself of the wretched Invite a Friend box from Gmail? Well, it’s back.

I’m going to have to investigate this further. I don’t want to use a browser extension to hide it. However, if that’s my only option, I may cave.

Happy Birthday to Blog

Published on July 3, 2009 in Site News. 2 Comments

My blog is two years old today. Although I may not use it as furiously and regularly as I used to, it’s still one of my most valuable assets. I have many great memories with it, including getting into college, having a tympanoplasty, finding solutions for broken Apple SuperDrives, and organizing Register for Change. Those awesome memories, projects, and goals will only continue to grow. To celebrate this occasion, I’m going to repost a heart-warming blog comment I received recently.

Dear Richard,

Thank you for your descriptive and honest blog. I wish I had googled this topic earlier, I am about to undergo my third tympanoplasty. I got my ear wet after the first operation, and blew my nose after the second. My surgeons never really emphasized how fragile the graft really is, they just kept telling me about high percentage rates of success. Although I have not been the best patient in the past, I am going into this third surgery ready for hybernation. I plan on locking myself up for 8 weeks: no work, no showers, no physical activity, no blowing my nose and no sneezing. I hate to resort to this extreme form of rehab, but am desperate. How did your rehab compare? How did you take care of things like hygiene, congestion, and the constant idleness? Any advice is appreciated.

Yet another holy eared one,

Adam

The idea that people from across the world can search for stories about almost anything and bond over their experiences still surprises me, despite the fact that I’ve been on the Internet for close to six years now. It’s so amazing. Thank you for continuing to read what I have to say and have an awesome holiday weekend if you’re in the United States!

And that’s my obligatory birthday post.

Removing the “Invite a Friend” Box from Gmail

Published on July 1, 2009 in Rants and Tech. 18 Comments Tags: , .

I’m a control freak when it comes to my critical information systems, especially when it comes to managing my email. For years now, I’ve been staring at my “Invite a Friend” Box in my gmail account, and for years, I’ve had no need to invite anyone. I’ve googled for hacks or Google Labs features to remove the box, but never found an acceptable solution.

Then it hit me. If I use up the invites, the box should go away. If it doesn’t have a purpose, a reason to exist, the server gods at Google will surely remove it from my Gmail web interface, right?

Fortunately for me, yes! And all I had to do to claim those pixels was to send 99 gmail invites to myself. Piece of cake.