Monthly Archive for September, 2007

Break Out of the Nine to Five

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 28, 2007
in Variety
. 2 Comments

A lot of people are going to think that I am crazy for doing this, but I am going to start working Nine to Six. This means that I will be able to take a two hour lunch in the middle of my day. Two hours of freedom from work where I can unwind and get all my blogging activity done.

I thought of this idea when I realized that I wasted the time when my brain is most active and creative being at work. I could use this time to blog and brainstorm my art projects if I wasn’t there. So I figured out that I could take a two hour lunch if I just push my leaving work time to six instead of five.

Next week I am going to start this so I will keep you posted. You never know, I might not be able to handle getting out so late, but I think the two hour creative window will be worth it. Plus, now I have no excuse not to update everyday, since I will now have two hours to do it.

eMusic and Amazon: A Match Made in Heaven

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 26, 2007
in Music
. 0 Comments

iPod TouchI have honestly not illegally downloaded music in years, I don’t believe in it. I feel that the record labels that support the artists I enjoy deserve my money, too. So I buy my music legally. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a rip off to pay $15-$20 for a CD, so I buy my music digitally. That way I get the cheaper prices and the labels and artists still get supported.

The cheapest place I have found to download music is eMusic, which offers subscriptions plans for credits to download music. The plan I have is $9.99 for 30 downloads a month, it means that I can download 30 tracks at only$0.33 each. On top of that their DRM Free which means that I can use them on any mp3 player, put them on as many computers as I want, and burn them an unlimited amount of times.

The downside of eMusic is that since it is DRM Free and so cheap, a lot of major labels will not sell their music with them. They mostly have music on independent labels or larger labels older catalog. So when I couldn’t find it on eMusic I usually would have to go to someone like iTunes to get the music. But that meant that I would have to pay more for music that had DRM. Which I never like to do so I only did it on the rare occasions when I really wanted an album.

Amazon Mp3 has come to my rescue and is now offering DRM free music, from major and Indie labels for only $0.89 each. That is $0.10 less then iTunes and it’s DRM Free! Now when I can’t find it on eMusic I will just got to Amazon next. That way I still get DRM Free music legally and at a decent price.

Finally there is a decent alternative to the iTunes music store. Maybe now more labels will take DRM Free music seriously. If I pay for something I do not want to be limited to what I can do with it. All DRM does is punish the people that buy music legally and sadly most major labels don’t realize that.

Note: Amazon Mp3 link is am affiliate link.

Listen to Bacon on the Radio

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 25, 2007
in Variety
. 1 Comment

Bacon BurgerI know you all have been dying to hear how my interview with WGN 720 in Chicago went. Well, they just posted it to the audio archive section of their site. Here is the link to it. Sadly you will need to install Real Player to listen to the file.

My favorite part of the 15 minute long segment was the callers. Who knew people would be actually listening at 11:07 pm. Also, I mentioned Heather from Bacon Unwrapped so be sure to check her site out, too. Well that’s about it, go listen to it now!

Needs More Bacon

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 21, 2007
in Recipes
. 1 Comment

A few days ago I posted a recipe for Bacon, Cheese, and Potato Chowder. Well, this week I gave it try and wanted to let you all know what I thought about it.

Here is what the chowder looks like:
Chowder

This is what it looks like being consumed:
Eating Chowder

My only complaint about the recipe is that it only calls for two strips of bacon for the whole recipe. This is supposed to top six bowls. I knew this would be a problem so I cooked up five strips instead. Compulsively, I ended up eat two before I could top my soup. So trying to make the three strips that were left stretch over two bowls was a challenge. I think the recipe should call for two strips per bowl, not two for six.

Other than that I give this recipe a Greasy Thumbs up!
Chowder Thumbs Up

If you know any good bacon recipes you want me to try, just send them to me in an email.

MrBaconpants Sponsors the Creative Marathon

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 19, 2007
in Events
. 0 Comments

The 24 Hour Creative Marathon is a round-the-clock artistic blitz followed by a gallery show and sale. It will be located at the Creative Treehouse in Bellevue. I could make this a long post about the event, but am just going to direct you to their website.

24 Hour Creative Marathon

I participated in this event last year and had an amazing time. I ended up selling two art pieces. This time around I wanted to be more involved, so I am donating 4 cases of water and will cook up some bacon for artists Saturday morning.

This is the first event my blog has sponsored, and I hope more follow. Since I am starting to make some money blogging, I now have a promotional budget. I could use the money to buy more junk I don’t need, but I feel helping out local art and music events is more productive. This will kill two birds with one stone by supporting local artists (Me) and giving MrBaconpants great publicity.

A List of News About the iPod Touch

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 18, 2007
in Technology
. 3 Comments

iPod TouchWhen I first heard about the Apple iPod Touch I was extremely excited. I can now get an iphone with out the dumb Phone part. But then the news started flying around about the bugs that plagued the Touch. The first news story was about how some Touches had no OS installed on them. Then there was news that it thinks it’s still an iPhone. The latest word on the street about these things is that some have low resolution screens, so the video looks dark and unimpressive.

With all this bad hype, I wonder what Apple was thinking when they were releasing this thing. You think they would have waited until they worked out all the bugs. But I guess Job’s was in a hurry to stick it to AT&T. He no longer wants his awesome toy to be their new exclusive phone.

If you have been in the dark about this, here is a nice long list of stories about the iPod Touch. Enjoy!

CrunchGear.com - Some iPod Touches Have Screen With Cruddy Video Quality? – September 18th, 2007

SlashGear.com - Unboxing - Apple iPod Touch – September 16th, 2007

CrunchGear.com - iPod Touch Mistakes Itself For An iPhone – September 16th, 2007

Washington Post - First Look: 16GB iPod Touch – September 16th, 2007

Engadget.com - An iPod touch ships without OS X – September 14th, 2007

iFixit.com - First iPod Touch Dissection - September 14th, 2007

CrunchGear.com - Hands On With The iPod Touch, Nano, Classic – September 9th, 2007

CrunchGear.com - iPod Touch Is Not The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread – September 5th, 2007

BoingBoing.com - Confirmation: No Bluetooth in iPod Touch – September 6th, 2007

CrunchGear.com - iPod Touch Tour – September 5th, 2007

Even with all the news about bugs I still want one, but I am going to wait until after Christmas. Maybe by then all the bugs will be worked out.

Also, when are they going to come out with an iPod that cooks bacon?

I Hate Mac Haters

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on September 14, 2007
in Technology
. 17 Comments

Old AppleA few people I know hate Apple and they always tell me about it every time I mention anything to do with Apple. I always ask them why and I never get a satisfying answer from them. I usually get something along the lines of, “Apples suck and I can more on a PC”. At this point I usually just shake my head and walk away. You can’t reason with these people.

I am still waiting for the day when someone can tell me what you can do with a PC that you can’t do with a Mac. I know games are limited, but I’m talking about real productive work. The best thing about the Mac is that it comes with very useful programs right out of the box. When was the last time you used the software that came with your Dell? If you know of anything that a PC can do that a Mac can’t please tell me.

Another complaint I hear is, “Why do they have a one mouse button, I hate that”. Well if that bothers you can buy a two button mouse. But I find using the keyboard and mouse is faster and easier then right clicking to get a contextual menu.

I think people that hate Macs hate them because they hate change. The reasons these people hate Macs are the same reasons I could hate a PC with Linux installed on it. But I don’t hate Linux; I just understand that it’s a different way of doing things. I personally find my Mac easier to use than my PC and enjoy working on it everyday.

In closing I would just like to say, if you hate Macs ask yourself why. Is it really the fact that they supposedly can do less than a PC or do you hate them because they are popular and/or hip?

Whatever reasons you have, they are fine by me. I really don’t care what computer you use or like. It’s just if you’re going to tell people you hate something, you better back it up.