First it looked bad, then it looked worse. And now it it’s brightening again. Maybe the upcoming year won’t turn out as bad as I had feared.
Happy 2009 everyone. It’s the year of the Earth Ox, by the way. That’s probably a good thing. Or not, what the hell do I know. Crazy Chinese people.
The year 2008 draws to a close and it’s time for the obligatory annual roundup. It’s a sacred tradition to be obeyed by ever blogger, magazine and radio station. Actually it’s not so much sacred as it is pesky but hey, I didn’t make the rules. So without further ado I present to you my Picks of the Year.
Please note that this is not exactly a “Best Of” but a list of songs that have had an impact on me in one way or the other during the past 12 months. That’s the reason why you’ll find songs that weren’t actually released in (but came to my attention during) 2008.
Yes, only 2008 releases qualify for this category :-)
Outstanding releases that didn’t quite make the cut to the top three.
On a personal note I have to inform you that due to private reasons I probably won’t have time to write much during the next few weeks. I wish everyone a merry Christmas and peaceful holidays.
Occasionally people ask me why I even bother to blog. Why, they wonder, do I spend so many hours of my life on this website? Isn’t there something a little more useful I could do with my time?
Okay, that’s a complete lie. Nobody ever asks that.
But they might as well. Why indeed? I do not have any illusions as to the number of people who actually read this. If it’s more than five plus the occasional Google victim, I’d be surprised. But that is irrelevant, this isn’t about publicity, it is for my own joy that I do this. I do it because I like to distinguish myself (as pathetic as the attempt may be) and because having a blog is good way to encourage yourself to practice your writing. It’s an end in itself, not my means to fame.
And yet, the question remains. Truth be told, blogs like mine are exactly the kind of things I bitch about on a regular basis. It’s fairly generic, probably quite unimaginative and full of pointless stuff that nobody other than me really cares for – precisely the sort of website the world doesn’t need more of.
But while I do put my unsolicited opinions out there, I try to do so in an unobtrusive fashion. I do not advertise this site other than linking to it on my last.fm and Facebook profile (of which the latter is only visible to people who already know me, so that doesn’t even count), and I try not to molest anybody with that obnoxious “read my blog, dammit!” attitude. For now I’m perfectly content with the little niche I have on the web, and if the organic growth I secretly hope for holds off and this blog once again disappears in the vast desert of meaninglessness from which it came, so be it.
But maybe, just maybe the things I write here will help someone fend off his or her boredom for a little while or may even turn out to be useful to future visitors. Who knows, stranger things have happened. It’s the blessing and the curse of the internet: I’m free to write and share whatever I want, just as you are free to ignore it. Let’s meet half way.
It’s been a while since I got my new computer and so far I am really happy with it. It runs rock solid and is plenty fast for everything that I’m using it for. But what I’m most impressed with is not its speed, it’s how clean and organized its interior looks. My old PC was a bloody mess:
Power cables all over the place and there isn’t really a whole lot you can do about it. So much for air flow. Now with the new one it’s a totally different story due to three main reasons:
There’s admittedly a little less hardware in it (one HDD and DVD drive instead of two), but that wouldn’t have changed much. Compared to my old PC the new one is the Martha Stewart of computers, behold:
Another thing that surprised me a little was how huge everything has gotten. Take a look at the graphics card or the CPU heatsink, it’s easily twice the size of its predecessor. On the upside the fan runs at less then 1000 rpm at barely makes any noise at all, even if the processor operates under full load for hours. I was a little worried that the graphics card would be a little too noisy under “office conditions”, but it’s hardly noticeable. All in all it’s a really silent machine for the punch that it packs. Makes me a happy camper :)
