NSLog();

Yes, we just released build 10, but here is Rock Star build 11. Grab it from the same location as before. This time the file is 1.4 MB, not 11.3.

What's New In Build 11

• now graciously asks user to locate iTunes folder if it isn't at its expected location (~/Music/iTunes/) and stores the selected path as a user default so it will know the next time where to look
• checks before displaying playlists if the user even has any playlists at all that have at least 25 eligible songs; if not, simply displays a message screen explaining the problem
• we now display a dialog on first launch asking the user if they want to use full screen or windowed modes; we save whatever mode user was in upon quitting and then start up in that respective mode on next launch
• fixed a bug whereby the first score is always the score shown at the end, regardless of what the player did during that game
• we now kick anything that is not MP3, AAC (protected or unprotected), AIFF, and WAV
• we now kick tracks classified as "Spoken Word" and "Books & Spoken" in their genre
• added key equivalents to all the game screens so you can use it without a mouse if you'd like
• you can now double-click a playlist to start the game
• answer choices are now clickable
• added the icon
• we now only reload the XML file if it was modified after the last time we loaded it
• fixed the infinite loop bug reported by Simon Jacquier

NSLog(@"Finish Reading %d Words", 457); »

Some folks are discussing whether "10 million Mac OS X users" is really the same as "the transition is essentially complete." They say Apple is ignoring 60% of its market. Some simple math backs up Apple's statement.

Apple ships around 500,000 computers per quarter. Macs need a G3 and USB ports to run Panther, and such machines have been available since late 1998 - that's 22 quarters of "capable Macs." (2 in 1998, four each in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003). 22 quarters x 500,000 machines/quarter = 11 million machines capable of running Mac OS X.

If we consider that there are about 25 million active Mac users, then clearly about 14 million Mac users are using machines incapable of running Mac OS X. 11/25 = 0.44. In other words, nearly everyone capable of running Mac OS X is.

The transition is complete. Those with machines incapable of running Mac OS X will be running it when they buy a new machine. You can't market an OS to people with hardware incapable of running it - you market hardware to those people.

This isn't rumor. This isn't speculation. It's simple math. Nearly everyone capable of running Mac OS X is running it.

The transition to Mac OS X is complete.

If you'd like to download an in-progress copy of Rock Star, you may do so here. There are quite a few things left to be done:

• Multiplayer game
• High Score Implementation (local and Web-based)
• A bug regarding the score at the end of the game
• Weeding out of some more file types (.aa, "Spoken Word" genre, etc.)
• Some UI enhancements
• Complete directions
• Registration setup
• Preferences

If you've got any feedback, leave it below in the comments. Please police duplicates yourself and refrain from saying "me too" unless you have more to offer on a particular item. I believe that this version (no high scores, no multiplayer) will eventually end up as the demo version, so here you go! Play around, have fun.

P.S. Some quick notes: Requires 10.3.x. Caps Lock pauses. Cmd-Opt-A toggles full-screen or windowed mode.

Question: On a scale of 1-10, how well has Bush done? 1 = shitty, 10 = awesome.

My Answer: I'm the last guy you want to ask about politics, but as much of the "policy" put into place by the current administration affects me or the things in which I am interested in (not to mention things everyone is interested in, like sanctity of life and privacy), I've read more about Bush than most former presidents. I'd have to give him a 3. Heck, Bush and West Wing have me leaning towards the Democratic side of things more than ever.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

So, in the next month or two I will have all of about eight days off. That's what a six-day work week brings you. But hey, I asked for it and a person on my team was let go. Things will be better this way, probably for everyone involved.

FWIW, Sunday is my new "day off" for awhile.

Question: How many times, if any, have you been to Cupertino? Do you want to go for the first time or again?

My Answer: I've been to the iHolyLand about eight times. iPlan to return, perhaps for WWDC 2004^*. Ooh, that reminds me - I've gotta renew my ADC membership in February…

^* Yes, I know WWDC is now in San Francisco. It's about an hour's drive to Cupertino, and I'd make that drive.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act. It is a habit."
-- Aristotle

Question: Are you as physically attracted to members of other races as you are to those of your own?

My Answer: What attracts me to a woman has nothing to do with race. I'm not as attracted to blondes as I am to brunettes, for example. I've found quite a few black, Asian, etc. women attractive, but on the whole my type is "brunettes" and most black women don't have brown hair (it's… black). Nor, for that matter, do most blondes.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: Casual sex: good or bad?

My Answer: I don't care for it personally, but have nothing against it. I'm a bigger fan of intimacy than just "getting off," so that doesn't leave a lot of room for picking up a chick in a bar.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I'm not resigning, but someone I know is quitting. Quitting after being at his job for around six months. Quitting after going on a two-week vacation that stretched to three weeks one week after he started. Quitting after passing up on a few hours, whining, disobeying orders, and more "fun stuff" in six months.

What's worse, the guy is trying to take people down as he goes. He's a nobody - the equivalent of the person taking your orders at McDonald's - and yet he thinks he's important enough to be worthy of discussion. A few days ago he said "I am a man of my word" and I laughed. You, lame sir, are not.

NSLog(@"Finish Reading %d Words", 446); »

Question: Should Puerto Rico become a state?

My Answer: That's up to them. If I lived there, I wouldn't. They've got the perks of a state without the downside (taxes). I've never been there, so I'm a bit out of my depths, but hey, let them do what they want, and they don't want to become a state. It's those Canadians that worry me… when will Québec break off?

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

This article and a comment on this entry have got me thinking again: I've been flying a bit low lately. I want to get back to being an opinionated, outgoing person here on my blog. I want to write more and I want to write longer articles that have more thought.

Lately, I've been tired, but I'm no longer going to accept that as an excuse for myself.

Question: Abortion: yay or nay?

My Answer: I'm not a fan of convenience abortions - the "oops, the condom broke" variety - but in some situations, I accept that a first-trimester abortion is the best choice.

Several years ago a friend of my mother almost had to make the choice between her own life and her unborn child's. The Catholic Church, it was explained to me then, would rather see the child born than the mother's life saved.

That makes no sense to me. I may have the story wrong, but that's how I remember it, and in a "mother vs. child" situation, I'm probably gonna side with letting the mother live every time.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Just as I arrived home to check my email, I began getting an inordinate amount of blog spam. By "inordinate" I mean nearly 100 spam comments. I immediately began clicking the links to remove the comments and add the blog spam to the MT-Blacklist, but for awhile, the rebuilding process wasn't adding the spamming domains quickly enough to stem the flow of spam. My email checked every ten minutes, and here's how the progression went:

5, 16, 13, 7, 16, 17, 17, 6, 1 = 98

Since that "1" snuck through about an hour ago, MT-Blacklist has denied over 1000 more attempts to spam my blog with the domains. Somehow, all of the attacks are coming from differing IPs:

2004.01.12 01:58:48
210.254.214.210
MT-Blacklist comment denial on NSLog();: xxxxxxxx.com

2004.01.12 01:59:04
211.22.79.221
MT-Blacklist comment denial on NSLog();: xxxxxxxx.net

2004.01.12 01:59:13
69.0.231.132
MT-Blacklist comment denial on NSLog();: xxxxxxxx.com

2004.01.12 01:59:18
218.188.8.182
MT-Blacklist comment denial on NSLog();: xxxxxxx.net

(Domains removed to prevent them from getting any exposure)

My MT-Blacklist remains here: http://nslog.com/blacklist.txt.

One of my favorite quotes from West Wing is this:

Leo: I gotta say, I love the way he did it full speed, bam. Like there's a Sam Seaborn-shaped hole in the wall.

That quote reminds me of myself. I'm not a man of inaction. I'll do something - and it may not be right - but I'll give it my all and the results will often be spectacular.

Another quote about Sam:

Don't go for the geniuses. They never want to sleep.

More on Sam (found while trying to get the wording right for the first quote).