mattmcdougall.com is mine again! Stupid me let the domain go so long past the expiration date at GoDaddy that I had to wait until just now to get it back.
If you value your domains, don’t let them expire! =)
After two years of secretive development, Google Chrome is finally here. I spent the entire day using nothing but Google Chrome in lieu of my previous favorite browser Firefox 3. So far so good in Google’s neighborhood.
The Good: Let me say this first… Google Chrome is fast… wicked fast. I’ve used every major browser from the past few years on Windows and Linux and nothing has come close to this speed. Pages pull up almost immediately on a fast connection, faster than I’ve ever noticed on FF3. Tab switching is nearly instantaneous, as well. The interface is also very clean and efficient. Gone is the status bar of old and it is now replaced by a sort of status pop-up bar… it will pop up when hovering over a hyperlink or when loading a new page, only to disappear when the page load is complete. Also gone is the bookmark bar. Technically its still there, but its missing from most browsing. If you import settings from IE or FF, you’ll see the bookmark bar when you open a new tab. Google refined Chrome to remove most of the traditional clutter, leaving me with a welcomed two bar browsing interface consisting of just the tab bar and the address bar. No screen real estate is wasted, nor is any more necessary for most tasks.
Cons: These are really just minor gripes that I’m sure will be fixed with subsequent releases. First off, I’ve become a huge fan of Winamp Remote. I highly recommend that, but that’s another post altogether. What Winamp Remote does that makes me have my first minor gripe about Chrome is that each time I hit play it will download and execute a Shoutcast stream. In Chrome, the downloads are all located in a welcomed download bar at the bottom of the screen. In FF, I would need an addon to get that functionality. What Chrome does not do that he FF addon does, however, is that it does not allow me to keep the download bar minimized effectively making me have a long row of Shoutcast streams along the bottom of my screen. The next one is that as much as I find the blue color scheme very easy to use and the color contrast works very well, I’d eventually like to see a black color scheme to better fit the rest of my interface. Last, but not least, would be the ability to synchronize with my del.icio.us bookmarks. I mainly use it to synchronize my bookmarks across several PCs, and until Chrome has that functionality I will still have to occasionally load FF3 to load or save bookmarks.
My final word today is this… Google has made an exceptional browser. Considering this browser just came out, my gripes are really quite minor. At first I was worried about Google’s choice with using WebKit considering I’ve heard horror stories about how Safari renders pages, but I can safely say that I’ve had zero problems with rendering in Chrome. Chrome is quite an accomplishment and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for it in the future. It is now my favorite and current default browser!
Posted: September 3rd, 2008
at 7:13am by Matt McDougall
Categories: Tech
Comments: No comments
“Gateworld reports today that Don S. Davis, who protrayed Maj. Gen. George Hammond for seven years on Stargate SG-1 has died of a massive heart attack.”
Being a huge Stargate fan, this is a huge shock. I was looking forward to meeting him at DragonCon. My heart goes out to his family, for the world has lost a great artist and sci-fi icon. Rest in peace, sir.
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Posted: June 30th, 2008
at 11:43pm by Matt McDougall
Categories: News
Comments: No comments
This whole democracy thing is getting out of hand, people! Come on? First we have EXTREME everything, and now DEMOCRACY everything? What’s next, EXTREME DEMOCRACY?
Sheesh.
Okay, so the folks at Mountain Dew had this thing where the public could design and vote on a new Dew concoction and now we’re down to three finalists: Voltage, Supernova, and Revolution. Okay, so they’re not the greatest names, but its not like the other Dew flavors have awe-inspiring names either! I just noticed them on the store shelf this past week, and being the cheap bastard I am I picked up a 12 pack of all three! Okay, so I could have saved a ton and just stuck with the store brand cola I usually get, but what’s a recovering Mountain Dew addict going to do? I *ALWAYS* check out the new Dew flavors.
Before I get into the new flavors, I’ll give some insight on where I stand with the existing flavors. Code Red is my personal favorite of the Dews with extra flavors as I’m a sucker for anything with a hint of cherry. LiveWire is also good as I love orange soda. Pitch Black was just okay with me, as I don’t think the whole grape thing mixed well with Dew. Baja Blast is pretty good, but I think its only at Taco Bell and I’m not there a lot. However, the original Mountain Dew still reigns supreme.
Voltage - This is the raspberry citrus flavor, and it tastes exactly like I’d expect a raspberry citrus Dew to taste…. like Ice Blue Kool-Aid. Of the three, this is my personal favorite.
Supernova - Here we have the strawberry melon flavor. Honestly, it tastes like a subdued version of all those cherry limeade sodas that were all the rage not long ago. This would be my second favorite of the three.
Revolution - Wild berry for this Dew. On my first drink it hit with a bite, but the berry flavor came as an aftertaste. It seems that to get the full effect of the berry flavor you need to take larger gulps. I can’t really say that I’m a huge fan of berry stuff, despite liking the Voltage flavor. This is still a good Dew, but my least favorite of the three.
All three of these have a bit of ginseng in them, though I don’t know how much. Since I don’t know what ginseng tastes like, I can’t tell you by taste alone.
In the end, I’ll be voting for Voltage as its the only one of the three that can stand up against the existing flavors. Others may disagree, and that’s fine… this is a DEWmocracy, after all!
This is going to be a short review, as I’m not really good at lengthy reviews. Suffice it to say, I found Indy 4 to be a bit of a disappointment. This is not to say that its not an enjoyable movie. I would put it on par with Pirates 2 as far as enjoyment goes. However, I found the movie to be somewhat braindead and lacked that ultimate smart puzzle solving element that separated Indana Jones from all the movies that came before and after it.
On its own, this would be a decent adventure flick, but its an Indiana Jones movie! It has a hell of a lot to live up to, and in my opinion it did not. Besides the braindead factor, there are two other factors I nitpick… one is the film’s resolution, which I won’t go into as it contains spoilers. The other is the overuse of CGI and post-production effects that create an almost blurry image. The first movies were created before CGI was truly feasible, and I wish they could have gone to great lengths to stick to that tradition.
In the end, I’ll have to give Indy 4… 3/5 stars.
Posted: May 22nd, 2008
at 9:49pm by Matt McDougall
Categories: Movies
Comments: No comments
Every summer this happens… I find myself listening to ska again. To appease the purists, I’m listening to third-wave ska-punk… sheesh. I break out the Reel Big Fish, the Catch 22, the Voodoo Glow Skulls, and I always dig something else out that I’ve not listened to in a while or have never listened to. The kicker this year was going to the Less Than Jake show a couple weeks back. Now, that was spectacular. Honestly, I never gave LTJ much of a listen before, but I knew of them and I’ve listened to similar bands… and hell, it was a punk rock concert, so I knew it was going to be one hell of a good time.
So, the day came… I had to work 1PM to 5PM, but until I got to work I had no idea I was getting off at 5PM. As soon as I found that out, I knew what I was doing after. I put out an APB, but only one friend came along… I put on my Doc Martens, my brown LL Bean corduroys, my A-shirt (or ‘wife beater’, if you prefer), and my green and black bowling shirt… and headed off to the show. The first band, a local Knoxville band by the name of Kiss Your Ghost, was actually quite good. They were a bit too pop-punk for my tastes, but still a good band. The second band, The Swellers out of Flint, Michigan, took the stage and hit the crowd with hard and fast punk rock… just enough to get the pit started. When Less Than Jake took the stage, the pit was unstoppable, and my love for ska-punk was rekindled.
Thus began the transformation of my thought process for summer… Soon enough, I was shopping around for a trombone. That’s right, a trombone. I already had a guitar, Josh’s old guitar, to be exact. I wanted a trombone, as I had played one back in middle school. Most of my favorite ska-punk has a trombonist, and I thought it would be super fun to get back into it. So, I finally found a Getzen 300 series trombone for $170. Its not in bad shape, either… basic wear and tear from being used in school marching band and whatnot. Oh, and I actually managed to sound a decent note the first time I tried… a good sign, perhaps?
Alright, so I’m back into the music, I have musical instruments, now its time for the ska shows. The big event around here is Ska Weekend, an annual ska festival where acts from across the nation come to play. This year it is held in the World’s Fair Park right under the Sunsphere. It is going to be one seriously wicked good event with everyone skanking everywhere!
Now, I’m starting to think more ska-punk related with my clothing. I already wear an almost ska’ish get-up to work, what with my rolled up sleeves and tartan plaid tie. Time to take that just a bit further though, with a short sleeved dress shirt and some new black Chucks.
Am I going too far, or is this just another grand summer of ska?
Think back to the 80s when CDs were still in their infancy and the audio cassette was the reigning king. Remember when terms like Hi-Bias and Dual-Head meant something spectacular? This was the time when music piracy was just beginning… where the art of the mixtape first came into being.
Imagine hearing that song on the radio for the first time and thinking “Hey, I’d like to hear that again!” Or, perhaps you’re over at a friend’s house and he’s listening to the new Violent Femmes and you really like a particular song and would like to have a copy of it. Perhaps best of all, when you make a mixtape for someone. You take pride in the product you are creating because you want them to enjoy it as much as you do.
As Rob Gordon said in the movie High Fidelity, “Now, the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art. Many do’s and don’ts. First of all, you ‘re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel. This is a delicate thing.” This is entirely true. You cannot just throw together a bunch of songs and call it a mixtape. You have to start out with a zinger, a real upbeat fun song to catch their attention. From there, you build upon that to a crescendo and set off another winner. After that, its just smooth sailing until you finally lead out to the end of the tape. There is a special flow that you must maintain at all costs.
On top of all that, I want you to imagine taking that tape and creating all of the cool artwork on the back side of the paper liner to make it even more special for the recipient. You might draw art inspired by the artists on the tape, or maybe just put the recipient’s name in big bold letters. It was up to you to decide. It was truly an artform.
In the end, with the Compact Disc age coming and going, and with the advent of digital music, we must say goodbye to one precious art form as it fades away into history…
Or do we really have to?
Making a mix CD is certainly easier if you have a computer and the proper software, but it lacks the bit of passion that went into creating the cassette version. It doesn’t have to be entirely lost, though. You can still follow the guidelines to creating a solid mixtape and make your CD. You can still create the artwork on the CD.
Even better still are the myriad of options for the case itself. My personal favorite is this origami design for a spiral data tato that I found on instructables.com: Spiral Data Tato
In conclusion, we don’t have to say goodbye to the mixtape just yet. It may lack a bit of the charm of yesteryear, but it still has that personal spark that made the mixtape special. I only wonder that when the compact disc finally goes the way of the dinosaur, will the mixtape go along with it?
Like the guy in this article, I am one very insanely happy movie guy today upon reading this. The Boondock Saints is one of my favorite movies, and has become a St. Paddy’s Day tradition that I watch it every year.
From geeksofdoom.com:
Troy Duffy, genius-to-be who was lost in the carnage that is Hollywood, as well as the writer/director of The Boondock Saints, has posted a video officially announcing the sequel that the entire cult following has been clawing and scratching for like Britney Spears at a “Free Crack Samples” stand — The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day.
I am seriously almost foaming at the mouth from hearing this….. suffice it to say, I’m very happy. =)
Posted: March 19th, 2008
at 7:38pm by Matt McDougall
Categories: Music
Comments: No comments
I don’t know where this is from… I saw it on garry.tv. I laff.
Posted: March 18th, 2008
at 2:54pm by Matt McDougall
Categories: Gaming
Comments: 2 comments
