Apple sure are funny. True, they're interesting, but they're also hypocrites.
Speaking of funny...I want this alarm-clock! Is €200 too much?
TechRepublic has posted this list of the top ten peeves of a support tech. Some of these are clearly written by a very frustrated support tech-person who isn't very into the service-profession. True, a lot of users literally lose their heads and say almost anything during a conversation, especially during the first part, when they phone in and are often hysterical. But your role as a support tech-person isn't merely to solve their problems - you have to calm them, stop thinking about your ego and resolve the situation; somebody who thinks solving an issue for another person is #1 has got a thing coming. Most surveys based on end-users' response clearly state that on a top-ten-list of their needs in a support tech-situation, the actual solution comes in at #5. Number one is the feeling of contact with the person on the other side, that they're listening to you and that they're returning quickly to you. The most basic human needs, pees.
I'd love to see "Dave Chappelle's Block Party". Just check the grades! The soundtrack
Speaking of good music, David Byrne and Brian Eno's masterpiece "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" has been remastered and will be released on the 28th of March. Yes! Finally! The CD will include bonus tracks and a video for "Mea Culpa". A little more info is available at the Nonesuch Records site on the album.
On the other hand...what's happened to The White Stripes? At first, they start hating music critics using fairy-tale language and calling everybody "children", pretty much Mariah Carey calling her fans "lambz", but they're also not wanting to "play" with Billy Childish, whom they're bad-mouthing. I don't know about you, but if I was getting hate from people spewing it to their peers, who they address as "children", saying they wouldn't want to "play" with me and were being "polite in a foreign country" I'd just hope they'd cut a chunk out of their Coca-Cola ad and seek therapy as soon as possible. Insane. And now Billy Childish has struck back, hah!
Speaking of music, here are three very short reviews of some music that's caught my ears.
Hala Strana - “Fielding“
This immediately sounded like the blast of “Armenia“, the track Einstürzende Neubauten once wrote for their “poppy“ album “Tabula Rasa“, but is more droning. No song. Fiddles and clarinets resound, making this sound more and more like a klezmer record, as if Pavement had made it, because this is very lo-fi; everything sound as if the sound engineer has placed filters on everything, sounding like badly scratched vinyls. This is clearly for drone-fetishs, already available to buy.
[audio:https://niklasblog.com/wp-content/2006-03-04-hala.mp3]
Ministry - “Rio Grande Blood“
“I am a dangerous, dangerous man, with dangerous, dangerous weapons. [...] I am a weapon of mass-destruction. I am a brutal dictator.“
It's nice to hear Ministry giving in more and more to their political side ““ as if they haven't, this far. As George Clooney needs a soundtrack against the people recently calling him a traitor (basically because “Good Night, And Good Luck.“ is nominated for an Oscar, and maybe because of the contents of that film) this is as hardcore as “Psalm 69“ and doesn't slow down for anybody. Grinding, quick-paced guitars to drum-beats that make old EBM-fanatics gleam make this an album for everybody who like “Psalm 69“. Possible exception being American conservatives, for this is not an album that is easy on the conservative mind. Samples of Dubya and Reagan spatter along the lines of tracks like “LiesLiesLies“. This gets better by the listen. To be released on the 13th of April.
[audio:https://niklasblog.com/wp-content/2006-03-04-ministry.mp3]
Barbara Morgenstern - “Grass Is Always Greener“
Alternative electronica with great melodies, impossible, you say? It's here, with pianos. German-and-English-singing Morgenstern churns "The Operator" where melodies and electronica blend together beautifully. Here's a little snippet off that refrain, that made sure I'll buy the album as soon as it pops up, on April 24th.
[audio:https://niklasblog.com/wp-content/2006-03-04-barbara.mp3]