This is "Not Phil" again, reporting on Windows Vista.  Now that I've spent a few months with it, I can properly discuss why everyone hates it...I think.

Actually, I'm not sure why people dislike it so much. The only reason I've heard that even comes close to making sense is that it acts too much like a (albeit slow) Mac. I've had very few problems that are serious enough to want to install another OS, though that might change depending on just how easy it is to install Linux.

Well, that last part's not quite right. In the last few days, I've had the strangest error: windows refuses to acknowledge that it has an internet connection. As you can guess, this isn't really the case (I'm on the laptop right now!).  Every non-OS program on my computer that can access the internet is working fine. Windows Update, however, absolutely refuses to connect to something that doesn't exist.

(That's it! Windows is an atheistic program!)

Anyway, my options are to either wipe the hard drive (185GBs worth of data) or to just ignore that Windows can be truly stupid at times. Since I've been actively pursuing option two for four years now, why change my strategy?

-Jake

UPDATE — Of course, a few days later, here I am setting up a dual-boot with Ubuntu and Windows. Not quite sure how that happened, but...

At least it looks nice and runs smoothly after startup.

I've finally finished two new pieces, both of which are slated for possible performance.

The first, Sound Sequences, has been slightly modified for a possible performance by members of the Canton Youth Symphony. The present version is scored for flute, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, piano, violin, cello, and percussion (triangle, snare drum, cymbals, and an off-stage mechanical siren). Click here for a page from the manuscript.

The second is a piece for two pianos, tentatively titled Photonic Collisions. It aims to depict the flight of particles in an atom smasher through pulsing ostinatos and sporadic, often dissonant interjections. The piece ends with the Piano II running his fingers over the lower strings of the piano, creating a sonic "black hole" that fades into silence. Click here to view a page from the completed score.

Right now I'm at Panera, enjoying a mango smoothie, free wi-fi, and generic bossa nova. I would be at home, but it turns out even Linksys routers don't work too well without electricity.

I've never been that kind of tweedy, quirky person who hangs around in coffee shops. I don't have that kind of money to spend on sub-par pastries and innumerable bastardizations of coffee. I also don't have a car or my license. But I do have a family that, having discovered RoadRunner, can't live without the internet. Hence my presence at Panera on a Monday.

In spite of its location at a strip mall (aptly named "The Strip"), there's a good number of laptop-toting people who don't look like they're in any hurry to get anywhere. Some of them are artsy-fartsy "cultured people," and probably latent homosexuals. I don't see too many Macs around, and that makes me feel a little bit special, and a little bit strange. I forget that PC users aren't nearly as territorial as are we Macheads.

My "Downloads" folder is a Starbucks cup. I'm thinking of changing it to a Panera...bread?

I wish I had brought headphones. Cookie-cutter ambient jazz is only good for so long. It spoils quickly. Classical music has remained fresh and alive for over 1,000 years.

I've made it to the whipped cream, and just realized that I've been dripping mango smoothie all over myself.