Flickr Downloadr
A way to batch download your Flickr photos. Windows only, in German.
TopDesk: Expose for XP
TopDesk: Expose for XP. [Via PaulStamatiou.com.]
FlickIt 2.1
FlickIt 2.1 has been released. In order to use FlickIt, you must have 2.1 installed.
TUG going through a few changes
Between now, and this weekend, our web site will be undergoing a few changes. Please be patient with us, as we only have time to make updates in small blocks.
We’re planning for better ways to display our featured items, as well as our most up-to-date posts that we’re writing, as well as involving TUG Radio. We’ve got a lot to accomplish, and very little time.
I hope you like the changes we make over the next week.
Universal binary anxiety is picking up pace
Was I right when I asked about the anxiety revolving around the current Macintosh application market, and those that are updating to universal binaries?
As I mentioned, I think the real impetus these developers feel stems from their fear of being left behind by their competition, more than the performance differences between running natively and letting Rosetta do her thing. The evidence of this has been the countless number of applications making point-release updates since early in January which claim to be universal binary releases. Even those that do not have access to Intel-powered Macintoshes were able to bring their source to Macworld and start to convert their applications beginning last year, so it is of no surprise that we are starting to see these application upgrades popping up.
It appears that Apple is buying, or perhaps prodding, this feeling of anxiety by releasing a site that lists the applications that have made the switch to universal binaries. But doing this, they will ensure that almost every application that is available for the Macintosh, and which is under active development, will be converted to run natively even prior to the large-scale upgrades of the current user-base to Intel-powered Macintoshes.
Again, this is definitely a good thing. Competition usually ends up benefiting the consumer, so I’m happy to see all of these developers doing their best to release universal binaries as fast as they can.
I think the question that remains is, which version of the Mac OS will be the version that halts the universal binary and is Intel-only, forcing the user-base to buy new Macintoshes to benefit from the software upgrades.
James Blunt - Tears and Rain
Song:Tears and Rain
Artist: James Blunt
Album: Back to Bedlam
Why This Song? Much to the dismay of my Indi-purist contemporaries, this week’s Song of the Week comes from, the now commercially successful, James Blunt, in the form of “Tears and Rain”.
I, for one, am a fan of James Blunt’s raspy British voice. I feel in this song is one that does a great job in displaying the emotion that is expressed from this ex-Army member’s voice. “Goodbye My Lover” is probably his most “emotional” song, however, I feel that song is a little too over the top in it’s melodramatic theatrics.
“Tears and Rain” is a very “nice” sounding song and is very accessible to almost anyone. It doesn’t take too picky of an ear to find something to enjoy in the song, whether it be the music itself, the singer’s voice, or the combination of the two. For my part, I give it a thumbs-up all around.
Lyrically, this song is one of the most mature tracks on the album and shows much more depth than his sometimes overly-simplistic lyrics (which are par for the course with this entire album).
The underlying message of the song is that he lies to himself on the inside and puts on a front for everyone else. This fundamental element of almost anyone’s life and, no doubt, touches a nerve. Who hasn’t fought inner battles with themselves about who they truly are and what they let other’s see? This song will strike a chord with anyone who has felt overwhelmed by these feelings of being false to yourself.
How I wish I could surrender my soul;
Shed the clothes that become my skin;
See the liar that burns within my needing.
How I wish I’d chosen darkness from cold.
How I wish I had screamed out loud,
Instead I’ve found no meaning.
Jame’s even references Oscar Wilde’s novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” In the novel, Dorian Gray, a very youthful and good looking man, recognizes that he will lose looks in time. However, he has an image painted of himself and realizes that while his real looks will deteriorate, the picture will always remain young. He sells his soul to have the picture age instead of his physical looks. However, he loses his innocence and becomes extremely superficial and morally depraved. In doing so, the picture becomes hideous and his looks in the painting reveal how disgusting he has become. When he realizes how horrible he has become, it is too late. He decides to destroy the painting and in the process he kills himself. When his body is found it is a shell of a man.
That literary reference makes the song all the more relevant to anyone how who has felt that way. The book and the song are warnings to not hide your true self. If you do, you could ultimately lose yourself in the process. It is a timely warning for a society that puts so much emphasis on entertainment and “having fun” that people hardly realize that, sometimes, these are just being used to cover up how depressed and lost they actually are.
I can definitely relate to these sentiments. I have been this way in the past and see many of my friends do this all the time. They ignore the fact their life is in shambles and try to hide their true emotions and regrets by hiding behind a facade of happiness. Their life sucks but they choose to continue what they do and pretend that they are happy. They do this not realizing they are only digging themselves deeper and deeper into something they at one time could have shaken, but now, may have already dug too deep. It is a regretful occurrence but one that has always taken place and, sadly, always will. Obviously, I, like many others, can relate to the song and it makes it all the more poignant.
Despite the fact that this album occasionally feels over-produced and sometimes seems like the songs were just made to sell records, I highly recommend the album. It’s sometimes touching, sometimes over-dramatic, but almost always entertaining. It is an album that, despite it’s flaws, essentially has something for everyone.
Related sites
Recent features
The Format - Give It Up
Leah Andreone - Break Your Fall
Coheed and Cambria - The Velorium Camper II: Backend Of Forever
Song of the week
Sara Bareilles - Between the Lines
Sara Bareilles' "Between the Lines" is the Song of the Week for April 20 to 26.
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