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Recent Tunes 2.0 is coming along. My previous blog post spurred Jason on a bit, I suppose. So, now my left-hand "Current iTune" is working and so is my list. Jason's not quite finished up the HTTP-GET implementation (c'mon man!), but that's what I'll be using as soon as that works. I'll have a database of all of my recent songs, and my site will query the database. Easy enough! Goooooooo Jason!

I know that at least one of my other friends is waiting for HTTP-GET. Recent Tunes 2.0 will remain freeware.

When Freshly Squeezed Software introduces its new site (coming in less than a week), it will do so with updated versions of the following software:

• BackLight (2.0)
• Terminal Pal (2.0)
• MailDrop (1.3)
• FTPeel (1.1 beta)
• iChem (1.3)
• Booklet 1.2

Missing from this list is Recent Tunes (2.0), for which I'll have to beat Jason. BackLight 2.0 might be our most anticipated software release. It remains free, of course, and 2.0 resolves a problem with Exposé

So, happy holidays! This is how we celebrate. How about you? 🙂

Question: What's the closest you've come to death?

My Answer: I once spun out doing 45 on a highway, across the median (a big grass dip in the road) and across the three lanes of traffic on the other side. It was late at night, and it was raining a bit, so there were very few cars on the road. I stopped a few feet from the guard rail but safely out of the way of oncoming traffic.

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

Question: What's the most random or spontaneous thing you've ever done?

My Answer: Once, while driving to work at the Erie Zoo, I decided that since my parents were away, I'd drive to Arizona instead. And so I did. Then I drove right back. But hey, I got to pee in about 12 states within two days!

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

Question: Have you ever sought to have anyone fired?

My Answer: Since this question is in the past tense, I can say no. But ask me again in a few months, heh. 😛 If I ever did, I know it would not be for any sort of personal reason (unless they were my employee), but for (in)competency.

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

Nielsen Ratings called me. After asking how their call did not violate the DNC (they're not selling anything), I answered 30 minutes of questions. One of my answers included the phrases "because Tom Cruise is in it" (in reply to "What is your primary reason for not planning to see Samurai). Another was "Not every action movie needs a romantic subplot. Sometimes it's okay to just blow shit up."

Today I sat in a Target parking lot for about half an hour while my free Roadside Assistance sent a tow truck. You see, my battery leaked, and caused a short or two, and so my car didn't start. Ho hum.

The tow truck driver, upon getting into his cab for the dealer, immediately launched into a tirade about how his job sucked. 15-hour days, six-day weeks. Bad pay. Something like that. He says this to the guy whose car he's towing, and honestly, I really didn't care. What kind of a position was I to sympathize? My day had just been hampered. Not ruined, but dinged up just a bit.

Anyway, four hours later, I was back at home. New, non-leaking battery in place (and an oil change to boot). We'll see how it lasts. Florida heat is deadly on batteries.

Question: How many of your playlists are smart playlists?

My Answer: I use entirely smart playlists. Only when I'm making a CD will I make a "stupid" playlist. I've got smart playlists for each decade. I've got a smart playlist called "All Songs" (I can do things there that I don't want to do in my Library). I've got playlists called "Sound Effects," "Audible.com," "Classical," and "Dictionaraoke." I've got playlists called "Holiday," "Favorite Artists," and "Moldy Songs." Some are named "Most Played 250," "iPod Hits," "Recently Played," and "The Girls." Finally, my most valuable playlist (I typically just shuffle play songs from my Library, after all) is called "Unrated & Unplayed." It lists all of the tracks which have either not been rated or played (the word "or" takes up valuable space that a single-character ampersand gives back).

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

CNN was playing in the car dealer's waiting room today (more on that later perhaps), and one of the stories was Washington, D.C.'s plan to give out condoms to the public to prevent or retard the spread of AIDS.

Now I'm sorry, but that's gotta be one of the most bass ackwards types of programs I've ever seen. Thank goodness my tax dollars aren't funding the sex lives of people who fuck other people that can't even be trusted to answer a simple "do you have any STDs?" question. Hell, come to think of it, maybe my tax dollars are funding the program for all I know.

All I know is this: if I don't know someone well enough to trust that they'd give me an honest answer to that question, I sure as hell won't be sticking any of my body parts into any of theirs, protected or not.

Condoms aren't the answer. It's like it's condoning sex with HIV carriers. "Just put on a condom, you won't DIE!" Condoms break. Skin touches skin outside of condoms. People scratch during sex. And isn't the HIV virus so small that it can actually pass through condoms fairly easily? That's what I remember hearing.

Stupid. Stupid on so many levels. And as always, if I'm wrong, tell me. I like to learn.

I picked up some new music at Target today:

Liz Phair's Liz Phair
Nelly Furtado's Folklore
Barenaked Ladies' Everything to Everyone
No Doubt's The Singles 1992-2002
Michelle Branch's Hotel Paper
Sheryl Crow's The Very Best of Sheryl Crow
Sarah McLachlan's Afterglow

So, among the list, all females (or with the word "ladies" in the name, heh). Most pop music, though I'd vouch for the artistic integrity of most names up there. I've yet to listen to many of these songs, but at least I can take a few of them out of my iTunes Music Store shopping cart. Oh, and for my own sake, the total cost of these seven CDs at Target: $89.32 after taxes.

You know, I might consider color-tinting my iPod if the company doing the tinting would show real images and not flaky, poor renders. If I'm going to drop $49 and permanently alter my pristine iPod, I want to know exactly how my little pal will look in the end. Exactly how it will look. The same holds even truer of a PowerBook!

I watched Celebrity Poker on Bravo tonight (well, my TiVo got it for me). It's pretty good, and it showed me what little I know about poker. I think I've only ever seen five-card draw played, according to Eric. Texas Hold-Em and these other types of games seemed odd to me. I quickly picked up the basics, but it's now obvious that I've got a lot to learn in a very short amount of time if I expect to make any money at a weekly poker game in the next year.

Does anyone play poker? What's a good site or a good quick book which lists the basics so I can get up to speed quickly? I know card games are simply a matter of math, so I should be fairly competent once I get the gist of it all.

Question: Are you a gambling man (or woman)?

My Answer: Yeah, I can be. I tend to bet small sums of money on silly things like "I bet he's five minutes late" or a small-stakes poker game. I hope to get a regular poker game going soon when a work buddy moves in to my apartment complex. We shall see, though. We shall see. Oh, and when I was golfing regularly, I was betting regularly too. Almost forgot about that!

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

Every month (since February) I post my site's referral search terms (not what people search for on my site). It's an interesting peek that illustrates "how people are finding me." Here's November's…

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I've already posted a QotD on hunting, so I won't be doing that again. Feel free to answer there if the image here stirs you to do so:

Today's the first day of buck season (for rifle hunters, anyway) in PA, and my dad got a good sized 8-point buck fairly early in the morning. There are some point restrictions in place, so he'd passed up a six-pointer earlier in the day.

Gutted, the deer weighed in at around 125 lbs, which will provide about 65 lbs of meat for my dad and mother. Perhaps they'll bring some down for me at Christmas. Mmmmm, venison!