Something old, Something NEW!

Nothing better than when an old gadget gets some new life. I've had a ZEN XTRA MP3 player for some time - I then upgraded to a ZEN MICRO so that I could download music from Rhapsody onto my MP3 player. I'd read rumors about Creative porting the Plays For Sure firmware back to the ZEN XTRA, and well - they did!

This gives me two big benefits - first, I can now have 30G of music from Rhapsody for trips, etc. Second, the ZEN XTRA never had direct USB file transfer, but the Plays For Sure firmware allows direct USB file transfer on any XP machine. Yes, I know, it requires Windows - but it works :)

The new firmware is here - Please read the warnings - and note that it will delete all existing music...It installed with no issues on my player, and it seems to work great.

Rhapsody now works in web browser, and on OS X + Linux!

One of my favorite services - Rhapsody - is now available as a web browser application, and it also works on OS X and Linux. I tried it in Firefox on my PC this morning, and on our Mac Mini - I'll give it a shot under Knoppix later.

If you've never used Rhapsody before, its basically a streaming music service that lets you listen to what you want, when you want. The fat client (windows only, sorry...) also supports saving the subscription music locally to save bandwidth and to support offline listening.

I also use Rhapsody to fill my Zen Micro - the "Plays 4 Sure" firmware allows me to listen to music I don't own on my MP3 player.

Sure, its DRM and all that - but it lets me try music I wouldnt buy - and when I do find something good (for a change) - I buy it and rip it :)

Probably the coolest thing about Rhapsody is that it shows Influences, Contemporaries, and Followers for each band - so when you find something you like, you can "music surf" your way to other music you might like.

Tis the season...

To finish a semester (class project, presentation, 2 finals...ug...), start the year end performance management process at work (more ug...), facilitate an offsite meeting for 20 people, and oh yeah, MOVE. I've been a big ball o' stress for 2 weeks, but it looks like the next two weeks might be a little better. Happy Holidays :)

I posted another 100 pics from the construction - take a look.

The Big Mess...

The house construction is underway. I'm way behind, and need to really get moved out of the garage and my office ASAP. They are pouring concrete on Monday. Pics are here.

I can see the light...

I've been in this degree program since 2000, and wanted to quit more than a few times. I've had some people really encourage me to keep going, even when it seemed that the end would never be in sight. Well, I just received my grad check, and it looks like the right 3 classes will have me graduating in less than a year....Now to make it happen...