I knew there was a reason why I messed around with the MT StyleCatcher plugin so much when I first switched the site to where it is now. I've been thinking about changing the format to 2 columns for some time now, but if I had known it would be this easy I would've done it sooner. I changed one line and deleted two lines in the html, and voila!
Now all I have to do is work on fixing the sidebar to get all the link things I want on there.
Between Rhapsody and Last.fm, I've pretty much became a music lover again. Well, I've always loved music, but there was a long period of time when I wasn't buying a lot of new music, and I certainly wasn't trying to find anything new to listen to.
I've pretty much spent the last hour on Last.fm finding new things to listen to through Rhapsody. I've also been simultaneously reading feeds and I discovered a post on Lifehacker about Fifteen Last.fm Power Tweaks. That's where I discovered this fun little Last.fm Mainstream-O-Meter. This simple little app looks at your Last.fm tracks and calculates how mainstream you are. Apparently with my total tracks I'm 41.27% mainstream. With my weekly tracks I'm 36.15% mainstream. I actually expected it to be higher, but I'm pretty happy with that! I don't mind clicking around other people's profiles, or checking out my recommendation channel and looking at new stuff, but I do also have to thank Andy for his music recommendations, it makes it easier when the great music shows up in your inbox.
I'm happy that I can finally start using Last.fm again. If you've been following my music journeys here you probably know that I haven't been able to use Last.fm due to its incompatibility with Rhapsody. There is a scrobbler for Rhapsody out there but it never worked for me. Finally I discovered Yottamusic. At first I didn't get Yottamusic, it's really just another website that allows me to listen to music through Rhapsody, if you have a Rhapsody account then you can access the music catalog like you would Rhapsody. Rhapsody already has their own online player so technically Yottamusic is a bit redundant. The websites are supposed to sync, so if I listen to something in Yottamusic then it will show up in my Rhapsody listening history. Of course I was pleasantly surprised to discover that things I listen to through Yottamusic can be scrobbled to my Last.fm account. Actually the whole thing is kinda messed up because if Yottamusic can be a bridge to Last.fm, why can't Rhapsody just incorporate Last.fm support into its player already? Of course I seemed to have found a workaround to my whole Last.fm problem so I guess I shouldn't complain.
Technorati Tags:music, rhapsody, last.fm, yottamusic
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
My one complaint about most operating systems is how they let me manage my desktop. Most seem to be impractical to how I work or how I want to see my files presented to me. Several years ago I tried to find the best solution to my working habits, focusing on virtual desktops. I knew the only way to accomplish what I wanted in a "perfect desktop" solution was with virtual desktops, but most still didn't give me exactly what I wanted.
First off, I put tons of stuff on my desktop, I can't help this. I do the same thing with physical items too. I've given in to the fact that this is the only way I can work, because I realize now that if I don't actually see the stuff I'm supposed to be working on, it will never get done. Hence the many piles of crap I seem to have lying around my apartment at the moment (well it's that a little bit of laziness thrown in). This extends to my desktop, files put into folders get buried and then I forget about things that I'm supposed to be working on. The balance between my physical space and digital space is hard enough, the more these two spaces mimic each other the more productive I am.
The problem with most computer desktops is that you can't pile stuff. Items end up on the desktop one file at a time, with no great grouping options. I don't want to organize my files by date, type, or filename; I want them to be organized by function or activity. I also don't want to overwhelm myself with a million icons when I start my computer every time either, this also stifles productivity.
A few years ago I became frustrated with all operating systems, I'm a Windows person but there's only a few things I liked about Macs (none of which would compel me to switch completely), I also like Linux's virtual desktops, but they don't allow me to customize desktop icons that appear on each desktop, which is what I really wanted in a virtual desktop utility. Even some of the Windows applications that mimic either the Mac features or Linux's desktops didn't do this, so I just gave in to Windows' poor desktop management options.
A few months ago, after I got my new computer, I also discovered the Dexpot desktop manager. This manager has exactly the features I wanted several years ago. I can create many desktops based on themes and switch between those depending on the type of work I want to do. I have about 10 desktops right now, including ones for work, school, geocaching, and even games. Between tracks and routes, my geocaching desktop seems to have the most files, but none of these I need to see when I'm working on school projects, so it's nice to hide these away when I'm not dealing with those files. I like having a very simplistic main desktop too. I only have 3 icons here, one for the recycle bin, and another for my backup drive, and a shortcut to a blog post template in MS Word. It's also nice to see what my background image looks like too!
Dexpot isn't without its annoyances though. Sometimes for no clear reason my files and icons will rearrange themselves onto my main desktop again, or throw themselves into random positions on other desktops. I do try to setup a profile and save each time, but that doesn't always help. These are the kinds of features I've been waiting a long time for in desktop management though, so I guess I'm willing to deal with the annoyances. I still wish this could just be something that my operating system already does. I suppose until somebody invents a Macwinux OS, I'll have to make do with what I got.
Technorati Tags:dexpot, linux, mac, windows, virtual desktops, operating systems
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
Wow, I realize I have not contributed a real blog post here in a long time. I started my Fall class last Thursday and I was thinking about my class project just now. I have to create a dynamic website of some sort, of course my choices include just about anything, but there seems to be no point of doing a project like this unless I can apply it to something useful in the library realm. I know this is overly ambitious but I would love to try my hand at a public library catalog.
As a side note, I've dropped the use of the acronym OPAC from my vocabulary. I'm trying very hard to avoid using this, even with my colleagues. I think OPAC should be banished from our vocabulary for good. I especially think we should not be using this term with our patrons, and I know quite a lot of librarians who do. One of the first things I did at our branch was change our signage, our public catalogs were labeled as OPACs which is just not right.
Back to my project, obviously I can't create a system with the functionality of a complete ILS, but I might be able to attempt something on the public side that at least outlines what features are completely missing from the vendor choices we have now.
Since this is an ambitious project I might have to have a backup project on hand, since with this class our website actually has to work.
Technorati Tags:library catalog, opac, class project, school, library, libraries
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
