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OSX vs OpenSuSE

[music | Leaether Strip - What If (Beats on classic mix)]

The Amarok discussion usually comes as a result of a wider discussion/flamewar about the "little things" that bug the shit out of me a year after dropping SuSE for OSX as my home desktop. I used Linux as my desktop for about 8 years, and before that for more "traditional" server type applications. I've had a Linux desktop since Redhat 4.1, but it didn't replace Windows completely until about 1999. That gives me a different perspective on how a computer Should Just Work. My definition of that is skewed by things like uptime and standards compliance. I have no idea what the Standard Uptime is for a Windows desktop machine. My Windows desktops have always stayed up for months and months, because they do nothing except run Outlook and specialty business software that I couldn't get to work under Wine.

So from that perspective, OSX is not particularly stable. The only time I ever rebooted my linux machines was when either the power went out or I was upgrading SuSE. Aside from that, they Just Worked. I don't count things like upgrading KDE as a reboot, because it was just an X11 restart, ctrl-alt-backspace, new DE starts, no reboot. Leopard is more stable for me than Tiger was, especially in terms of returning from standby on the laptop. However in terms of applications "beachballing" and having to force-quit things, well that kind of thing rarely happened to me in SuSE. I'd probably kill Firefox every couple of weeks because something screws up or its footprint was too huge. I have to force-quit Safari every day or two (no SIMBL or other wackiness anymore until I figure out why this is).

Here's a quick list with some detail about what really bugs me, and what I really like in OSX:

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Amarok vs iTunes

I get asked a lot why I hate iTunes and what's so much better about Amarok. This is about Amarok 1.4.7, since there is no good way to run Amarok 2 yet. When I can get any copy of Amarok 2 to load a track and play it, either via the KDE4 Live CDs or from RangerRick's KDE on OSX native project, I'll give it a spin.

Here's a quick list of beefs with iTunes:

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New CDs

[music | Dr. Octagon - Waiting List (DJ Shadow/Automator Mix)]

I don't usually post about new CDs, I just get way too many of them. But I've been waiting patiently for two independent CDs and they both came in recently, and I really liked both of them.

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technorati

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Rev. Horton Heat @ The Roxy

[music | Sandra Lee's insane boozahol'ing]

Here are some of the good photos from the Reverend's 11/17/2007 Boston show.

Nashville Pussy and Hank Williams III/Assjack opened, and the crowd was really wound up and active an hour before the Reverend came out, which is the highest praise I can give an opener, so let's stop there. If you're unfamiliar with Hank III / Assjack, he does basically two sets, a psychobilly set and a thrash/hardcore set. So we basically got 4 bands for the price of 3, and it was awesome. I'm still trying to figure out the roots of the gg allin & Murder Junkies connection, since he remains a local legend and heroic hardcore pioneer. It was good to see props in a big way. I know they've got allin & MJ family on board, playing with Merle Allin et al, which is great. Here is a good interview on NHPR with G.G. Allin & the Jabbers members, since I'm on the subject.

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Happy Birthday to Me

[music | Me, humming Big Red Rocket of Love quietly]

Get a present, lose a toenail, here's what tonight's Rev. Horton Heat show did to my foot :-) :

Due to my age and state of my knees, I've re-assigned myself from dancing in the pit to doing "Pit Maintenance" around the outside, this is what you get when you don't wear steel toe caps.

Natalie actually thinks that, as disgusting as this is (and more importantly, will become), my abilities to spread and bend my toes like fingers is worse:

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The Cult @ Hampton Beach Casino

[music | The Bruisers]

You will find a long-winded post on The Cult show at Hampton Beach Casino

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last.fm is retarded

[music | Gabby La La - Be Careful What You Wish For...]

I guess it's determined by its users, but any page that lists Gaby Lala as being similar in the slightest to Veruca Salt, Sheryl Crow, or Joan Osbourne has serious flaws.

Secondly, why do I live on the wrong side of the continent to see any of the artists I've listened to tonight?

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Leopard Love/Hate

[music | Bauhaus - Exquisite Corpse]

Mostly hate, but there are some things to like here:

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Milford Halloween

[music | Big Black - Dead Billy]

After we gave out candy to some of the most polite kids ever, we jumped over to the Lull Farms farmstand.  I had had to make an emergency pumpkin stop on my way home and saw them setting up "some kind of display".  Turned out it was hundreds of jack-o-lanterns, with a few really large pumpkin sculptures as well.  Here are some of the less blurry photos:

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