Sunday, September 30, 2007

Average Joe Radio Episode 44: Back On Track

New this week on



Average Joe Radio

Episode Forty-Four: Back On Track

Free MP3 Download



Finally back on track -- and back on my own computer -- with a newly installed hard drive and system board. It's was a long two weeks without it!

New Jazzy Intro by Charlie Catura

Muppet Laboratories by Rob Balder of the FUMP Project, parody of Jonathan Coulton's Skullcrusher Mountain

Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathan Coulton

Hello Hello by Geoff Smith

Behind the Mask by Strangers In Wonderland

One More Night With You by The Brian Setzer Orchestra (Brian Setzer, formerly of the Stray Cats)

I'm Letting Go and Bob Sells Chevrolets by Josh Woodward

Freak Flag by Ron Rutherford

Fox Guarding the Henhouse by William Brooks

50 Ways To Lose Your Luggage by Robert Lund of the FUMP Project

Another Man by Rich Palmer (inspired by J. C. Hutchins novel 7th Son)

You've Got Hogwarts by Robert Lund of the FUMP Project

Message by Shane Beales

Thanks to other podcasters for playing the Average Joe Radio/Malcolm Singleton promo:

Audio Gumshoe
It's A Frog's Life Acoustic Podcast
Ed's Mixed Bag
Call (206) 600-4JOE with the name of the song I ask for in this episode to receive a free copy of the album Lone Wolf by Ron Rutherford, and listen for a special episode featuring this album soon.

Feedback Line: (206) 600-4JOE

All music, commentary, and download hosting provided by:
IODA PromoNet
Magnatune.com - We Are Not EvilAirPlay DirectPopuluxe Records
SUBSCRIBESubscribe in iTunes

Thursday, September 27, 2007

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Happy 9th Birthday, Google! Call me a fan boy, but I sure enjoy using Google's many products!


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President Bush's Weekly Radio Address

20070922.a.mp3
(audio/mpeg Object)

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "In just eight days, the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- or "SCHIP" -- is set to expire. This important program helps children whose families cannot afford private health insurance, but who do not qualify for Medicaid, to get the coverage they need. I strongly supported SCHIP as a governor, and have strongly supported it as President. My 2008 budget proposed to increase SCHIP funding by $5 billion over five years, a 20 percent increase over current funding."

Scot Longyear - Tired Song

About two weeks ago, Scot Longyear performed a new song of his at the closing of our church service. Here it is:



Or follow the link here.

Joe

Scot Longyear - Tired Song

About two weeks ago, Scot Longyear performed a new song of his at the closing of our church service. Here it is:



Or follow the link here.

Joe

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Ubuntu Linux -vs- Windows Vista

I finally picked up my laptop computer yesterday from the Toshiba Authorized Service Provider. It was gone for two weeks. When I dropped it off they said it could take up to two weeks, but I never really believed it would take the full two weeks. It was a hard two weeks. Email, Twitter, two podcast episodes, everything I do on the computer on a regular basis, and I had to share my wife's computer for everything.
 
So I picked up my computer, with a new (blank) hard drive and a new system board installed. Like a fresh, clean start. And I thought, Hey, why not try to kick the Microsoft habit completely now and install Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows Vista? After all, I was starting with a clean hard drive. Even the Toshiba restore partition was wiped out (I could probably call Toshiba and get them to send me a restore disk, but what for -- so I could have loads of trial software on my computer?). So last night I was up past midnight installing Ubuntu Linux on my computer, getting the desktop to look just the way I wanted it, downloading the most recent version of Firefox, setting up some bookmarks -- pretty much just trying to make myself feel at home within Linux.
 
Today at work I tried to use the Linux media player RhythmBox to play some MP3 files. No luck. Seems that the MP3 codec is not included in the Ubuntu distribution. Must have something to do with the MP3 licensing requirements. I'm sure the coded is available somewhere online for download, but I never got to looking for it because I spent the entire evening tonight trying to get my Wireless card to work properly in Linux. I found several sites that had all of the necessary files and instructions to install and configure the drivers for my particular wireless card to work with Linux (it's an Intel card, and Intel actually supports Linux), but I couldn't find anyone that could tell me how to interpret what the directions were trying to say. There is no simple installer that you can double-click and just sit back while the system does the rest. Instead, you have download a .tar file (which, apparently, is a Linux archive file, similar to a .zip file), extract the files, then try to figure out where to put them. Then you have to key in several commands somewhere, blah, blah, blah -- if I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't be talking about it because I would have been able to get it to work.
 
Instead, I'm typing this post once again on my wife's computer while Windows Vista reinstalls on mine. Yes, I'm a Linux failure. I admit it. I just don't have the time or the patience necessary to make Linux a viable alternative to Windows. I wanted so badly to make it work, because I really don't care much for Windows Vista. It's okay, but there are just so many little Microsoft-isms in it that make it not so user-friendly as I would like.
 
Unfortunately, with a new hard drive and a new system board, when my computer connects online to try to activate my copy of Windows Vista it will probably be rejected by Windows Genuine Advantage because it will appear to be a totally different computer with the same product key assigned to it. Hopefully, if that happens, a phone call to Microsoft will clear things up.
 
Sorry, Linus Torvald, and all you open-source developers out there. Ubuntu really looked cool, and sounded promising, but if you ever want to take it mainstream, you really have to come up with some simple way for users to install new applications without getting a PhD in technology first.
 

Sunday, September 23, 2007

The Drama of Returning from Vacation

It has been a very dramatic week at work since returning from vacation. It started with a phone call at home on my last night of vacation, when I learned that a Manager -- my so-called "business partner" -- had not been to work for several days. I went into work the following morning to discover that another Associate had quit without notice while I was away.

The first day back was hectic, as can be expected. I quickly called several applicants to schedule interviews for the week, and wondered exactly what would happen with my "business partner."

My second day back to work was when the drama really got intense. I had received another call the night before, on my way home from work, to inform me that my "business partner" no longer was. He had been released from employment with the company. His Assistant Manager had worked the past ten days without a day off, and no sign of one in the near future.

As I drove across Indiana on Interstate 70 heading to work, I was making good time, expecting to arrive at work about 15 minutes early. I was toying with the idea of stopping for coffee when brake lights and flashers lit up the highway ahead of me. The rapidly approaching offramp was clogged with stopped traffic, as well. Not knowing the cause of the delay can make choosing a course of action a bit difficult: join the clogged traffic on the offramp, or park myself in the fast lane and wait. I chose the latter, hoping traffic ahead would begin moving soon.

It didn't. No faster than 3 or 4 miles per hour, anyway. I inched my way forward to a break in the guardrail, crossed the median, and headed back a quarter mile to the west-bound offramp. I joined some mildly congested, though moving, traffic on U.S. 39, hoping to detour the highway traffic by heading through Plainfield.

On U.S. 40 in Plainfield, my plans changed again. As I merged in with all of the other motorists who had chosen the same detour, the traffic again became heavily congested and snail-paced. I quickly made a turn onto Indiana 267 and began a second detour toward Avon.

Indiana 267 to U.S. 36 to Interstate 465, and I was back on track. Back on track, but not back on time. Instead of arriving at work 15 minutes early, as I'd anticipated, I was almost 45 minutes late. It turns out that a semi truck and trailer had turned over in the median in I-70, causing the delay.

Not long after arriving at work, I discovered that the store had been the victim of vandalism and theft. There is a secured, gated area next to the building, and there were some cars parked in this area. The gates were locked, and the fence is protected with barbed wire at the top. At some point during the evening, person or persons unknown entered the gated area from the back side of the building, dismantling the fence to gain access by peeling the chain link away from the corner post. The opening was large enough to drive a small vehicle through. This person (or persons) proceeded to the front of the secured area, past several other vehicles, to a Ford Probe parked near the front gate, and proceeded to strip the vehicle of anything of value.

Several things made this interesting, and just a bit suspicious. First, the perpetrator(s) went straight to this one vehicle, and no others were touched, indicating that they (and I'm pretty sure there was more than one) knew exactly what they were after and where to find it. Interesting.

Second, the car was left with no wheels, sitting up on bricks. Bricks that were not readily available in the parking lot. Bricks that the perpetrators brought with them. Interesting because they knew they would need the bricks, meaning they knew they would be taking the tires. Interesting because they chose to use the bricks, not wanting to cause damage to the vehicle. Your average thief would not care about damaging the vehicle and would have just dropped it on the blacktop, resting on the hubs. Who would want to protect the vehicle from damage? Interesting.

Another interesting thing: the driver's door was left standing ajar. But there had been no signs of forced entry. The doors had been locked the night before, but the perpetrators gained access to the vehicle without using force. How could they have done that? Interesting.

But there's more. One of the most interesting parts of the story is the list of what was stolen. Tires and rims, as I've already said. Stereo. Speaker boxes. A performance intake from under the hood! A performance starter! Who would have known to even look under the hood for performance engine parts? Or under the vehicle for a performance starter?!

These were not your common thieves. These were trained mechanics, or people with mechanical skills and experience. People who knew where the vehicle was and what was on it. People who cared about not causing damage to the vehicle after stealing thousands of dollars worth of goods from it. Obviously either (1) people who had a vendetta against the owner of the vehicle, or (2) people who, one of which, was the owner of the vehicle.

It became clear which was the case as the story unfolded. When the owner of the car was contacted and told his car had been burglarized, he responded with a very unenthusiastic "Oh really?" When he arrived to meet the police to file a report for the theft from his vehicle, he was shocked to learn that my company was not responsible for the loss of items from his vehicle while on our lot. And after speaking with the police, they were very certain, as well, that the owner of the vehicle was indeed the perpetrator of the crime. And his status as a student at the local automotive school wrapped up the case nice and tight.

Of course, there was nothing to charge him with. The car was dusted for prints, but it was his car -- his prints would be all over it. And apparently the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department didn't feel they had probable cause to visit his home and scout around for the stolen goods.

The drama didn't end there. Oh no. The day was a very hectic day, right up to quitting time, when I walked across the parking lot to my car and saw another of Indy's Finest, inspecting a pickup truck with latex gloves on. Curiosity got the best of me, and I approached the officer to investigate. Every single interior panel had been removed from inside the vehicle and discarded into the bed of the truck. When I inquired about this, the officer told me he believed that someone had been searching the vehicle for hidden drugs. It had been stolen and abandoned in our parking lot. I later learned that the panels had not been removed while searching for drugs, but to allow access of the thief to thousands of dollars in high quality audio equipment that had been installed (and subsequently removed) from the vehicle.

Next day, more drama, starting again with the drive to work. Another commute on I-70, and another delay. This time, apparently, they were repairing the guardrail that had been destroyed by the flipped truck the day before. Traffic kept moving and only delayed me about ten minutes this time. Not much more drama, really, but I stopped for gasoline during lunch, just up the street from my store, and once again, there was Indy's Finest, with a car stopped blocking most of the parking lot of the gas station (two cruisers), cuffing the driver of the car. Don't know what that one was for.

The rest of the week was a bit less dramatic, but no less hectic. Here's hoping for a smoother week starting tomorrow.

Joe

Muscle Shoals Native Malcolm Singleton Returns to Googies Lounge Over the Living Room this Thursday, September 27

September 23, 2007

For Immediate Release:

MUSCLE SHOALS NATIVE, MALCOLM SINGLETON, RETURNS TO GOOGIE'S LOUNGE OVER THE LIVING ROOM THIS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27.

Download the Promo

MUSCLE SHOALS, ALA. – Back in August, Malcolm Singleton made his debut appearance before a standing room only crowd in New York City at Googie's Lounge Over the Living Room. On Thursday September 27 at 7:30 p.m., Malcolm will return to Googie's to perform.

Malcolm has created buzz about his music in the City since his first trip to New York. Average Joe Radio, an Internet/New York based radio show and podcast, has featured Malcolm's songs and most recently, dedicated an entire show (#42) to Malcolm. His airing on Average Joe Radio has sparked interest from other Internet shows, who are now promoting his upcoming Googie's show or rotating his songs in their shows. In addition to being featured on Internet radio shows, he has been in the studio putting finishing touches on several songs that will be featured on his upcoming CD to be released later this year or early in '08.

Not only will Malcolm perform this week, but he and his producers Eddie Martin and Daniel Beard also will hold several meetings with key industry representatives in New York.

"We are thrilled with the buzz that has been created in New York about Malcolm and his songs," said Eddie Martin, co-writer and producer. "We are looking forward to another outstanding performance and standing room only crowd at Googie's."

Malcolm's music is recorded on the independent label, TRI-OOMPH Entertainment. You can listen to song clips from his EP This Feeling at www.myspace.com/malcolmsingleton. For more information contact: Kara Kennedy, Publicist, (205) 370-1677.

Kara Kennedy

President

Kennedy Resource Development

Phone: (205) 370-1677

kara_kennedy@kennedyresourcedevelopment.com

www.kennedyresourcedevelopment.com


Muscle Shoals Native Malcolm Singleton Returns to Googies Over the Living Room this Thursday, September 27

September 23, 2007

For Immediate Release:

MUSCLE SHOALS NATIVE, MALCOLM SINGLETON, RETURNS TO GOOGIE'S LOUNGE OVER THE LIVING ROOM THIS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27.

Download the Promo

MUSCLE SHOALS, ALA. – Back in August, Malcolm Singleton made his debut appearance before a standing room only crowd in New York City at Googie's Lounge Over the Living Room. On Thursday September 27 at 7:30 p.m., Malcolm will return to Googie's to perform.

Malcolm has created buzz about his music in the City since his first trip to New York. Average Joe Radio, an Internet/New York based radio show and podcast, has featured Malcolm's songs and most recently, dedicated an entire show (#42) to Malcolm. His airing on Average Joe Radio has sparked interest from other Internet shows, who are now promoting his upcoming Googie's show or rotating his songs in their shows. In addition to being featured on Internet radio shows, he has been in the studio putting finishing touches on several songs that will be featured on his upcoming CD to be released later this year or early in '08.

Not only will Malcolm perform this week, but he and his producers Eddie Martin and Daniel Beard also will hold several meetings with key industry representatives in New York.

"We are thrilled with the buzz that has been created in New York about Malcolm and his songs," said Eddie Martin, co-writer and producer. "We are looking forward to another outstanding performance and standing room only crowd at Googie's."

Malcolm's music is recorded on the independent label, TRI-OOMPH Entertainment. You can listen to song clips from his EP This Feeling at www.myspace.com/malcolmsingleton. For more information contact: Kara Kennedy, Publicist, (205) 370-1677.

Kara Kennedy

President

Kennedy Resource Development

Phone: (205) 370-1677

kara_kennedy@kennedyresourcedevelopment.com

www.kennedyresourcedevelopment.com


Average Joe Radio Episode 43: Computerless

New this week on



Average Joe Radio

Episode Forty-Three: Computerless

Commercial Free MP3 Download



Shane Beales:

One Day
courtesy of Shane Beales


Mike Errico:
How It Ends
Girlfriend Weather
Sweet Anesthesia
Better Here

courtesy of Mike Errico
call 206-600-4JOE for a chance to win a free CD


Malcolm Singleton:
Wanted You To Know
courtesy of Malcolm Singleton
call 206-600-4JOE for a chance to win a free CD


Matthew Ebel:
Lost My Way
courtesy of Podsafe Music Network


Feedback Line: (206) 600-4JOE

All music, commentary, and download hosting provided by:
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Magnatune.com - We Are Not EvilAirPlay DirectPopuluxe Records
SUBSCRIBESubscribe in iTunes

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

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Can You Believe This Gas Price?!?


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Cast Your Vote for Ron Rutherford Today! (and Tomorrow, and the Next Day)

Please cast a vote for Ron Rutherford! Then catch him this month in a special episode of Average Joe Radio. You can vote every day. Vote early, and often!

You can vote this artist by clicking on this link.

http://myrecordlabel.net/vote1.php?anr=MTU0&gen=NDY=

If the link does not work please copy and paste the URL into your browser.

http://myrecordlabel.net/vote1.php?anr=MTU0&gen=NDY=

Joe

Cast Your Vote for Ron Rutherford Today! (and Tomorrow, and the Next Day)

Please cast a vote for Ron Rutherford! Then catch him this month in a special episode of Average Joe Radio. You can vote every day. Vote early, and often!

You can vote this artist by clicking on this link.

http://myrecordlabel.net/vote1.php?anr=MTU0&gen=NDY=

If the link does not work please copy and paste the URL into your browser.

http://myrecordlabel.net/vote1.php?anr=MTU0&gen=NDY=

Joe

Monday, September 17, 2007

President Bush's Weekly Radio Address

I missed the President's Weekly Radio Address last week, due to vacation, so here is last week's as well as this week's:

20070908.a.mp3
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In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "Next week, after consulting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, my national security team, Members of Congress from both parties, and Iraqi leaders, I will speak directly to the Nation about the recommendations General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker have presented to me. I will discuss the changes our strategy has brought to Iraq. I will lay out a vision for future involvement in Iraq -- one that I believe the American people and their elected leaders of both parties can support. By coming together on the way forward, we will strengthen Iraq's democracy, deal a blow to our enemies, secure interests in the Middle East, and make our Nation safer."


20070915.a.mp3
(audio/mpeg Object)

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, " The success of a free Iraq is critical to the security of the United States. If we were to be driven out of Iraq, extremists of all strains would be emboldened. Al Qaeda could find new recruits and new sanctuaries. And a failed Iraq could increase the likelihood that our forces would someday have to return -- and confront extremists even more entrenched and even more deadly. By contrast, a free Iraq will deny al Qaeda a safe haven. It will counter the destructive ambitions of Iran. And it will serve as a partner in the fight against terrorism.”

Joe

Friday, September 14, 2007

Average Joe Radio Episode 42: Malcolm Singleton

New this week on



Average Joe Radio

Episode Forty-Two: Malcolm Singleton

Commercial Free MP3 Download


As Independent Musician Malcolm Singleton prepares to return for a repeat performance at Googie's Lounge in New York City, he spent a little time with me -- virtually hosting episode 42 of Average Joe Radio -- and left a few goodies behind.



From Malcolm's debut EP, This Feeling:

  • This Feeling
  • Counting On You
  • Wishing Away
  • I Want You So Bad
  • I'm Over You
  • New Way

From Malcolm's forthcoming follow up album:

  • Be There
  • I Want To Be On The Radio
  • I Blame You

Malcolm will be performing at Googie's Lounge Over The Living Room on September 27, 2007, at 7:30 pm. If you're in the area, you won't want to miss this awesome performer!

However, if you can't make the show at Googie's, you can still enjoy Malcolm's great sound, on Average Joe Radio Episode 42. And even better, you can enter to win one of four free copies of Malcolm's debut EP, This Feeling, just by calling 206-600-4JOE and leaving some audio feedback for the show.

Special thanks to Malcolm for providing the music, the giveaway CDs, and for hosting this episode of Average Joe Radio with special introductions to his tunes.

And special thanks to Mrs. Joe (my wife), for letting me take over her computer long enough to get this episode posted while my own system is in the shop having the hard drive (and possibly motherboard) replaced under warranty.

Directions to Googie's Lounge can be found here.

Feedback Line: (206) 600-4JOE

All music, commentary, and download hosting provided by:
IODA PromoNet
Magnatune.com - We Are Not EvilAirPlay DirectPopuluxe Records
SUBSCRIBESubscribe in iTunes

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Bin Laden a Phony?

This has got to be the biggest fake ever! Phony as a three dollar bill, as they say.

From News.com:

Researcher: Bin Laden's beard is real, video is not

Posted by Robert Vamosi

On the Friday before the sixth anniversary of 9/11, Osama bin Laden appeared in a new video, his first since prior to the U.S. presidential elections in 2004. In analyzing the video, Neal Krawetz of Hactor Factor, an expert on digital image forensics, said in his latest blogs that the video contained many visual and audio splices, and that all of the modifications were of very low quality.

Most striking is bin Laden's beard, which has been gray in recent images. For this video it is black. "As far as my tools can detect, there has been no image manipulation of the bin Laden portion of the image beyond contrast adjustment. His beard really does appear to be that color." The Washington Post has the full video here.

Krawetz says the inner frame of bin Laden was resaved at least twice, and not at the same time. The images show fine horizontal stripes on bin Laden and a background indicating these came from interlaced video sources. In contrast, the text elements, such as the As-Sahab logo, appear to be from non-interlaced sources.

The September 7 video shows bin Laden dressed in a white hat, white shirt and yellow sweater. Krawetz notes "this is the same clothing he wore in the 2004-10-29 video. In 2004 he had it unzipped, but in 2007 he zipped up the bottom half. Besides the clothing, it appears to be the same background, same lighting, and same desk. Even the camera angle is almost identical." Krawetz also notes that "if you overlay the 2007 video with the 2004 video, his face has not changed in three years--only his beard is darker and the contrast on the picture has been adjusted."
More important though are the edits. At roughly a minute and a half into the video there is a splice; bin Laden shifts from looking at the camera to looking down in less than 1/25th of a second. At 13:13 there is a second, less obvious splice. In all, Krawetz says there are at least six splices in the video. Of these, there are only two live bin Laden segments, the rest of the video composed of still images. The first live section opens the video and ends at 1:56. The second section begins at 12:29 and continues until 14:01. The two live sections appear to be from different recordings "because the desk is closer to the camera in the second section."

Then there are the audio edits. Krawetz says "the new audio has no accompanying 'live' video and consists of multiple audio recordings." References to current events are made only during the still frame sections and after splices within the audio track." And there are so many splices that I cannot help but wonder if someone spliced words and phrases together. I also cannot rule out a vocal imitator during the frozen-frame audio. The only way to prove that the audio is really bin Laden is to see him talking in the video," Krawetz says.

Another bin Laden video was released on September 11 and was much more straightforward. There was a still image of the black-bearded bin Laden (oddly, using a frame not used in the previous video), and then, as has been a tradition at al-Qaida , there was a long, unedited video of a statement read by Azzam Al Amriki, also known as American-born Adam Pearlman, who is currently being sought for treason and thought to be living in Pakistan. That doesn't mean the 9/11-released video wasn't doctored.

Click here and mouse over the image to see Krawetz's 75 percent error level analysis of one image. The white frame around Azzim reveals that his video was composited against the drawing of the World Trade Center being attacked. As Krawetz presented at this year's Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, al-Qaida has a history of doctoring background either to present propaganda or simply to disguise locations. In a separate interview, Krawetz talks with CNET News.com about some of the tools he used in his analysis.


Joe

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