PhoneBoy Says

Yesterday, I did something I can't remember the last time I did: bought music. Generally speaking, I don't buy music. Not because I acquire it through means some might view as less than legal, but because I've got a lot of the music I want already, or can obtain it through legal means.

As you've undoubtedly heard by now, Trent Reznor has released a new Nine Inch Nails "album" called Ghosts--a 2 CD set of instrumental music. It was released with much fanfare because it offered many different ways to purchase--anywhere from $5 for the electronic bits only all the way up to $300 for an uber-deluxe box set signed by Trent Reznor himself. I opted for the simple 2 CD set, which costs a whole $16.99 with shipping.

The thing that wasn't given nearly enough press here was the fact that Reznor released the music under Creative Commons licensing. Specifically, Ghosts I-IV is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. That makes it perfectly legal to bittorrent the entire album.

If the music is free--I can and did download it via Bittorrent before purchasing--why did I choose to pony up the money? Because I like the music. I want to see them make more music. I doubt I'd ever go to a Nine Inch Nails concert, so buying a CD is the next best way to show my support. I feel good because I get a tangible good out of the deal.

The folks at VoIP Guides have uncovered a "secret" to free calling "forever." You essentially use an "infinite" number of email addresses and sign up for Jaxtr, which gives you 100 free minutes upon signup.

This is what happens when you are a one trick pony and you essentially give the service away. People always figure out how to abuse it.I've called Jaxtr's business model into question before. In light of the fact that Jaduka is offering a similar service, has a clear revenue model--hint, it's not this service--and has a more scalable infrastructure, I wonder what exactly Jaxtr's revenue or exit strategy is.

I've never really like the idea of Daylight Saving Time. Apparently, some folks in the 1950s didn't like it either, as this Drive In Intermission excerpt shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt1pRAT63x4The conventional wisdom has always been that Daylight Saving Time saves energy, but that's based on highly questionable data from the 1970s. We got some much more recent data when the state of Indiana finally passed legislation to get the whole state under Daylight Saving Time. Guess what? Indiana actually used more energy with Daylight Saving Time. My feeling? Put us on DST permanently. Quit changing the damn clocks around.

Trapster lets people with mobile phones document the exact location a speed trap or red light camera is. It works best with GPS and WiFi-enabled Windows Mobile or Symbian devices, but they have ways that people with any cell phone can report speed traps.I reviewed the Symbian version of the app, which like the service itself, carries the beta tag. If you don't have a Symbian or Windows Mobile device, but have a phone that is capable of reaching the Internet, you should be able to hit http://www.trapster.com/m and get a mobile version of the trapster site to report speed traps. If you have a send and end phone (i.e. a phone with no Internet), you can hook up with Jott and speak you speed traps into the phone.I think this service has great potential. However, I also think it has a ways to go before the masses will start using it. GPS in mobile phones is still relatively uncommon. The User Interface for this app--at least on the Symbian version--clearly needs some work. It is a service worth watching, however.

The rumor being reported by Engadget is that AT&T will finally get the Nokia N95-3 sometime in the second quarter of 2008. While there hasn't been any major advancements in mobile phone technology since the Nokia N95-1 originally came out over a year ago, and the N95-3 is miles ahead of anything currently available through a carrier store, I can't help but wonder when the gap will decrease between device releases in Europe and in the U.S. will decrease. It's gotten better, but I think it still has a ways to go.

What will be interesting in all this is what "carrier customizations" will be present on the AT&T version of the N95. What differences in functionality will exist between an unbranded N95-3 and an AT&T-branded N95-3. I don't know, but I do know that if the restrictions are too onerous, you can bet people will unbrand it as quick as they can.

photo credit: jurvetson

I obviously didn't get to this before now, but last Monday, my wife took Zoe to the vet. She didn't come home this time. I did get some lap time with Zoe before her spirit departed this world, so I took some pictures:

Zoe did get even worse. She had a difficult time even drinking water. Her last night, she didn't cry or make any noise at night like she had been doing the previous night. Any attempt to feed her was absolutely futile. About the only thing she'd consume was milk off a plate.My wife took her to the vet and was surprised how quickly the euthanasia shot worked. From alive to dead in two seconds. Guess they have that down to a science, and at least her suffering came to an end.This was hard on Jaden. We had a few nights of being really sad at bedtime. Completely understandable. Gracie, well, she hasn't asked where Zoe is yet. We have no idea what to tell a three year old about death, which makes us somewhat glad she hasn't asked about the Zoe in a while.On the plus side, we now have less pet-related expenditures every month. Zoe's meds and food were a bit pricey--to the tune of about $100 a month! Toby can eat anytime he wants now, and I don't have to spend my time trying to get Zoe to eat--which got more challenging as her condition worsened.Hopefully, Zoe's up there somewhere meowing at us from afar. We'll all miss her.

It was a difficult decision for my wife to make either way, but Zoe came home from the vet on Thursday. She was at least eating a few days ago, but over the past couple of days, that too has stopped. Her back legs are getting gimpy. At night, she cries every couple hours like a baby, begging for water from the sink. Because of her legs, even that is harder. At least Zoe still purrs when you pet her or she sits on my wife. Since it is unlikely Zoe is going to magically get better, my wife is planning to bring Zoe into the vet tomorrow and have her put down. All we can do until then is make her comfortable.

The clan is a bit somber this evening as we come to terms with the fact that Zoe (pictured left) is rapidly deteriorating. She has a vet appointment tomorrow and we're not expecting good news. We are not expecting Zoe to come home from the vet tomorrow.Several years ago, Zoe suffered kidney failure. We rushed her to the vet and, through lots of subcutaneous fluids, medication, and special food, she got back to normal. We still had to feed her special food--difficult to do when you have a second cat like we do--and give her medication to maintain her health, but she was relatively stable for the last several years.On the last vet checkup, the doctor told us her kidneys were getting worse. The medication she was taking for her kidneys was now starting to make her sick. We gave her what amounts to an antacid, which helped, but we also knew it was only a matter of time before she needed something else.Over the past few weeks, she'd almost entirely stopped eating. She hasn't bathed herself properly in who knows how long. We loosened her diet, feeding her "human food" in addition to her prescribed diet. A couple of days ago, we stopped with the prescribed diet and got her "the good cat food." My wife even got her cake donuts, which are Zoe's favorite. Zoe's still barely eating.This evening, my wife took some what we expect are final pictures of Zoe and broke the news to Jaden, who was saddened as my wife and I are. Gracie's still too little to try and explain this to yet, though if Zoe doesn't come home, I expect her to ask where Zoe is, eventually.Meanwhile, Toby (the other cat) is going to be lonely. He won't have anyone to attack or share the litterbox with anymore. He has been a lot more lovey lately, which is unusual given his usually surly nature. I suspect he knows something's not right with Zoe, but it's not like he can talk to us about it or anything.We'll see what happens tomorrow. All we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

This was put in the sidebar on an article about local bloggers here in Gig Harbor. Since the article was about personal blogging, my Vox blog was what was featured, rather than phoneboy.com. Hopefully the Peninsula Gateway understands this falls under fair use--I am talking about the article, after all--and won't send me a takedown notice. :)

As I write this, the article isn't online yet. Here's the article in it's online form. They seem to be slow at getting online versions of their dead tree material up. They also seem to miss out on posting pictures for many of their stories--including this one.

We've had our dose of winter yesterday. We got some snow that, at least in Gig Harbor, was washed away by the rains of the Pineapple Express.

Meanwhile, Jaden took the opportunity to make a rather small snowman with the snow we had on our front lawn:

Today, we went to our old neighborhood to go to a Christmas party and have dinner with Yammy and Pop-Pop. As usual, it still had a layer of snow despite all the rain. However, the kids got to make gingerbread cookies:

And, of course, saw Santa: