Another Idol Observation

Katy and I have been watching the current season of American Idol, and we noticed something after watching the LA auditions tonight. East Coast and West Coast contestants are whiners - they tell the judges they're idiots or the cry and plead to be let through. The contestants from The South primarily said "thank you" when told that they were terrible and asked to leave.

Maybe that's just the spin the producers put on what happened, but it sure seems like East & West Coasters are more belligerent and whiny than their Southern counterparts.

American Idol

Katy and I watched American Idol last year. We actually liked Taylor Hicks from the time of his audition. Frankly, I never felt that he was a mediocre Idol choice. I really liked Chris Daughtry and Katharine McPhee throughout the competition, and was looking forward to their releasing an album. So today, Ms. McPhee released her album. Here's the cover art:

She looks like a prostitute.

There. I've said it. And really, that's all I wanted to do. (It makes me wonder if her "wardrobe malfunction" really was just that.)

Vista

So I went to Office Depot and played with Vista yesterday, and I like it. Actually, I like it a lot. It's got so much good stuff, and so many little things about it that improve the overall experience to the extent that I'd be willing to plunk down $200 bucks right now for the upgrade. (Unfortunately it's not compatible with my employer's software, so I can't run it.)

The interface is way more pretty than anything that exists... except OS X. The transitions and transparency add so much to the aesthetics - it just looks nice and clean. When you hover your mose over a file - or a picture - a context window pops up. There's even an alternative to Konspose (on the Mac) that lets you switch between windows in a very sleek way. There are so many little things I can't even remember - you should drive down to Office Depot - or wherever - right now and go use it to see what it's like.

Unfortunately my computer (Compaq Presario R3247US) will not run the Aero interface. It also requires 15GB of space to upgrade, with 40GB recommended. Crazy.

I'm waitin' for the new notebooks to come out with the Hybrid Hard Drive, so I can get an instant-on machine. The new Toshiba Portege is a great step in that direction, and if I was buying one today I'd get it (if i had $2,500.00 layin' around). Toshiba has a very close relationship with Microsoft and, as far as I know, is the first manufacturer to make a machine with the new external display that transmits info to you when the notebook is closed. It works best for those with a built-in WAN modem (cell phone modem). I just don't wanna pay 80 bucks a month for an unlimited data plan.

Hope you enjoy Vista!

New Blogging Philosophy

So I've got a new way of thinking about my Blog.

Before, I really had standards that were just too high. I was entirely too idealistic and unrealistic about the quality of my posts. That probably comes as a surprise to you - my dear reader - since the quality here is not all that high. So after almost deciding to shut this thing down I've decided to lower my standards - thanks to my Wife.

So get ready for a bunch of new, random and gramatically poor posts.

Thanks for still reading.

Luke