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Although I’ve found a way to share user files on my PowerMac G3 (B&W) running OS 10.4 I found it nearly impossible to find anything online that would allow me share the secondary drive on my Vista laptop.

Enter SharePoints. This program allows someone designate a mount point for your share in the System Preferences of your OS X computer.  You can browse to the share that you want and name the point whatever you want.  Make sure to enable Windows Sharing within the SharePoints pane.

When you head to Vista’s networking window type in your username and password and you’ll notice your new share point is within the bulleted points of the network share.  Enjoy.

There are much better instructions on the SharePoints page.

I bought a laptop a few weeks back and it was preinstalled with Vista.  Vista was the only supported OS on the laptop (no XP drivers wouldn’t work).  I quickly found out that my Blue Mic Snowball USB mic would not work in Vista.

Since I noticed the mic wouldn’t work with Vista I’ve been looking at Blue update page.  It looks like today I struck gold (or Blue in this case).  It looks like the low gain firmware update seemed to work with Vista.

I followed all of the on-screen instructions, after the download, and everything installed like a champ.  I even ran Cool Edit and ran two mics through (for my podcast) and everything worked OK.  My only complaint is that the low-gain upgrade brings the levels of the mics way down.  Hopefully Blue will certify the high-gain option for Vista soon.

You can take these few steps and cut down on the amount of trash you and your house throws out. If you pay for garbage collection, this will help on your bill. If you get a municipal pick-up (aka pay through taxes) this will help the earth.

I have two small kids, a wife, and a dog. Our weekly trash can fit into a tall kitchen bag. That includes the baby’s diaper table waste and bathroom waste. We’re not perfect, but the amount of garbage we get rid of is a lot less than our neighbors.

Here’s a few helpful hints. You can take them, leave them, or go beyond them. They’re just some ideas to get your creative juices flowing on how to cut down on waste.

1) Recycle. I know this sounds silly but people still don’t recycle. Reuse cardboard boxes for tossing in your paper goods and other packages you get at the grocery store.

2) Buy in bulk. Head to the bulk-foods section of your local supermarket. Buying bulk seeds, flour, grains, nuts, etc will cut down on the packaging you find in other sections of the store and may even save you some money.

3) Use cloth diapers. I know this is a big one and not applicable to everyone who reads this. Cloth diapers mean there’s very little waste you create with your little one. The only thing you’re throwing out from you baby is the wipes. You will also save a lot of money.

4) Reuse. There’s no reason why you can’t use regular plates instead of paper in most situations. You can also get cloth napkins and toss them in the wash when the meal is done. In my county 41% of the trash in the county dump is paper goods. Granted that also includes newspaper and such, but I’m sure paper plates and napkins are in there too.

5) Compost. If you through all of your organic waste in a compost heap you will make awesome fill dirt or potting soil for when you work on the yard. You’ll also cut down on the smell associated with a garbage filled with old coffee grinds, egg shells, and the like. Here’s a quick guide on composting (external link)

6) Make your own meals. If time allows making your own meals saves you money (depending how many of you there are) and also cuts down on waste. Throwing out that pizza box or chinese food bag with 4 containers adds to the weekly garbage.

7) Watch out for individual servings. Do you really need to get the “Fridge Packs” that are so common these days? Buying a two liter of soda saves on waste and money. Buying powdered drink mix for the kids stops on the piling of juice boxes in the garbage. Who’s to say that bringing a bottle from home is not cool now with kids. Your kid may be the cool one if they reply to their classmates with, “I’m helping save the planet”.

The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has now officially declined to investigate an inquiry into the behavior of telephone companies in American.

There have been many news reports claiming telephone companies like AT&T, BellSouth, and Verizon have willingly sent information on their networks to the National Security Agency (NSA) in a way to support the “war on terror”.  In one case there was a report that AT&T gave the NSA access to install optical splitters at locations.  This would allow the government instant access to the Verizon network.  Some intelligence officials want retroactive immunity to phone companies in their service to our nation.
The Democratic head of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, Rep. Ed Markey, has been asking the FCC for a number of months to launch an investigation into this “agreement” between the NSA and telcos.

Kevin Martin, Chairman of the FCC wrote to the US Attorney General saying that an investigation would jeopardize national security of the US.
The Attorney General’s office has not responded to Chairman Martin’s message.  When pressed for a response from Martin the AG’s office reffered him to J.M. McConnell the Director of National Intelligence.  McConnell said that this investigation would cause “grave damage to national security”.  Martin then responded to Congressman Markey.
Markey then release this statement on the issue:
“I am disappointed by the FCC’s response.  I still hold that it is well within the authority of the independent agency responsible for the enforcement of our nation’s communications privacy laws to investigate the very serious reports that the intelligence agencies were using telephone companies to obtain phone records and Internet data on citizens without proper, prior authorization. I believe the agency could conduct its own examination of such reports in a way that safeguards national security.”

In a Duluth Minnesota courtroom Jennifer Pariser the head of litigation from Sony BMG took the stand.  She said in this case (Capitol Records v Jammie Thomas) that file sharing has damaged the record industry.  It’s not only P2P sharing, it’s normal people doing something that is violating copyrights.

Pariser said that labels don’t make their mony touring or in merchandising, like bands do.  Their only way to get money is to sell records.  And they haven’t been doing enough of that lately.  Since 2000 Sony BMG is half the size.  This is do to illegal file sahring.  She added “when people steal, when they take music without compensation, we are harmed.”

She also suggested that what millions of music fans do is also a copyright infraction.  Essentially ripping in your own CD is considered theft by Ms. Pariser.  She added, “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” Making “a copy” of a purchased song is just “a nice way of saying ’steals just one copy’”.

She also added that portable media players facilitate in this illegal ripping.  Since many songs on a device (like an iPod) are ripped in by the owner of the CD they are making a copy on the computer.  A “copy” is just a nice way of saying “stealing”, Pariser inferred.  Many PMPs come with software to rip in CDs (like iTunes).  This is all making more and more people “steal” music, in Ms. Parisers eyes.

Watch out Jennifer may be appearing in your court case when you get sued for making a copy of your own CDs.

The 1990s showed lots of promise for alternative music. Its a shame it didn’t last. What does last is the enduring sounds of some of the hardest music heard to date. Here’s a list of albums that are alternative & hard, but not metal.

Before you start reading this list please note: This is my personal list that I wanted to share. There are many albums/artists on this list that you would classify as “metal”, but I do not. Most artists would be classified as punk, alternative, industrial, techno, break-beat, and the like…not metal. With that said, here we go:

10.5
Judgment Night (stdk)
by Various Artists (1993)

This gets a .5 rating due to the fact that half of the bands on the album were metal bands. Couple that with rap bands of the day (both sets of groups in their pr

imes) and you have a great CD. Hightlights from the CD include the Helmet/House of Pain tune “Just Another Victim”, “Judgement Night” by Biohazard and Onyx (both of which were pretty hard bands), “Disoder” by Iced-T and Slayer (the apex of the CD).

10
Manic Compression
by Quicksand (1995)

Although some would argue that Quicksand’s second effort “Manic Compression” was not their best, it certainly makes your heart race. It has the perfect blend of punk agnst, distorted bass, and crunchy guitar licks.

09

Rage Against The Machine

by Rage Against The Machine (1992)

This first time I heard “Bombtrack” the lead track off of the debut CD from Rage Against The Machine I was hooked. Many rap/rock band owe Rage for their ability to break through with the genre.

With the music talent and songwriting ability of the members of Rage this album is solid with awesome music, production, and lyrics that many listeners took to their hearts and still hold close today.

08
Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes & Undeniable Truths
by Clutch (1993)

Clutch has been making music for well over a decade now and their success is due, in my opinion, to their debut CD “Transnational Speedway League…”. These guys took the southern-fried rock that ZZ-Top brought to us and added some gasoline, adrenaline, and pure rock fury. By the time you hit the 4:52 mark in “Binge in Purge” you need release of rock and Clutch delivers.

This CD is true to its roots from start to finish.

07
Burn, Berlin, Burn!
by Atari Teenage Riot (1997)

In the late 90s grunge was fading away and some of us were looking for some to blow our minds out of the water. Atari Teenage Riot made our head bleed with some of the hardest beats, samples, and rage of the 90s with “Burn, Berlin, Burn!”. Complete with break-beat drum loops and anime samples this album deserves a spin around the block with the volume cranked up.

06
Nevermind
by Nirvana (1991)

Some may think that Nirvana’s “Nevermind” started the grunge scene in America (and they’d be right) it also ushered in a time when hard rock was accepted in main-stream media.

Although “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is one of the defining tunes of the grunge era it also is one of the heaviest. “”In Bloom” was certainly playing in the bed room of Rivers Cuomo (Weezer) due to it’s blend of catchy vocals and tough guitar chords.

Perhaps it was Kurt Cobain’s inability to follow the rules on guitar that made this album so rough around the edges and so dear to many a fan of 1990’s music.

05
La Sexorcisto-Devil Music Vol. 1
by White Zombie (1992)

At first glance one would think that Rob Zombie, leader of White Zombie, was Al Jourgenson’s younger brother that would not hold water once he started singing. Zombie was able to fuse rock with style of b-horror films. This album’s sales soared once the video for “Thunder Kiss ‘65″ made its way to MTV’s “Beavis and Butthead”. Aside from the cartoon dumb-witted duo, Many music critics think this is one of the best albums of the 90s.

04

The Fat of the Land

by Prodigy (1997)

In the early 90s Prodigy made head-way as a techno band but in 1997 they took a turn to the dark side. They caught a lot of flack for the tune “Smack My Bitch Up” from people who thought the lyrics were inappropriate. No one can deny that tunes like “Breather”, “Firestarter”, and “Funky Shit” (taking a Beastie Boys sample) were on the cusp of a new genre close to the metal/industrial/techno border.

03
Angst
by KMFDM (1993)

When I was in college I put this album cover on a poster for a radio show I did. It caused one of biggest stirs of my junior year. This album had the same reaction to listeners to the German-based band, but that time in a good way. Taking a page from the hip-hop of the 90s KMFDM’s Angst starts off with a track where they talk about great they are. With killer guitar riff and a line like “Easy to swallow, KMFDM light” they had me sold. Other notable heavy tracks include “Drug Against War”, “Sucks” and “Glory”.

02
Cleansing
by Prong (1994)

Prong’s “Cleansing” knocked my Doc Martins off when I first heard it. There were awesome drum beats with bass kept the great guitar and vocal tracks going. There’s not really too much more I need to say about this record except to say that if you like this list so far and have never heard this CD try to hear tunes like; “Whose Fist Is This Anyway?”, “Broken Pieces”, “Cut-Rate”, and my personal fav, “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck”.

01
Psalm 69
by Ministry (1992)

The first time I heard a song from this album it was for a video game (Predator vs. Robocop). After hearing that song I thirsted more…and I was not disappointed. This album has more than enough hard sounds and killer riffs coupled with teenage/college angst. It was a perfect record for me. Although there are plenty of great tracks on this album I would suggest N.W.O. (featuring Bush 41), Just One Fix, Jesus Built My Hotrod (my favorite on the album), Psalm 69, and Corrosion (the tune from that video game commercial). This album was one of a few that changed my whole perspective on music and dare I say, life. If you haven’t heard this I would suggest you give a listen to it.