Another Nevermind piece.

With the 20 year anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind upon us, everyone seems to be writing a nostalgia piece about how Nirvana’s album changed everything. This one is no different, really. It’s just my version.

I first encountered Nirvana when one of my friends asked if I’d like to come along to a show at Green River Community College in Auburn, WA. We went to see Skin Yard, and they were great! I remember Ben (RIP) filling the room with smoke from a portable fogger and jumping into the air and landing flat on his back while flailing wildly. I was used to massive arena shows, and frankly it felt a little dangerous being that close their manic energy. It was an incredible performance, but on the way home all I could think about was Nirvana. They had brooded, screamed and bludgeoned their way into my heart for all time.

I grew up in a sub-suburb of Tacoma in a totally normal neighborhood. I had been a metal kid. In rough chronological order my taste in music went something like this: Journey > Styx > Van Halen > Def Leppard > Ratt > Iron Maiden > Metallica > Slayer. Around 1988, I was aware that an underground music scene existed, but not much more. I was into a few lesser known bands like Bad Brains and the Accused. (When a friend slipped me a copy of Soundgarden’s Ultramega OK, my limited frame of reference told me that it sounded like a cross between G’n'R and Jane’s Addiction.)

When I heard Nirvana I completely lost my shit. They were playing a slightly heavier style then, but it was everything that Metallica wasn’t. Songs were short and visceral. In and out in 2 minutes, no exotic tempo changes, no extended solos, no “music theory”. This was everything that my friends and I had been banging out in our garages but didn’t have a name for yet. The other guys in my circle of friends were really excited about Soundgarden and Mudhoney, but for me it was all about Nirvana. I remember reading about their upcoming Bleach release in Seattle’s Backlash magazine and trying to think of any way to get up there and buy it. Unfortunately, when I got to Seattle no one seemed to have a copy. Every store knew about it, but no one had it in stock. I guess they had just sold out the initial pressing. I bought everything else that I could find with the iconic Sub>Pop logo and went home.

Eventually I got my copy and lived in my headphones for the next several weeks. This was *my* band in a very personal way. They were one of those bands that’s so special that you’re torn between wanting everyone to know about them, and wanting to keep them all to yourself. I scrawled their name on desks, walls, and my Vans.

Around this time, the “grunge” thing happened. Everyone grimaces at the word now, but at the time I was appreciative of the label. It was easier than saying “well…punk but not punk, and heavy but not metal, but with distortion…” I remember watching the infamous Soundgarden interview on Headbanger’s Ball and giggling as they sat there and took the piss out of a somewhat bewildered Riki Rachtman who didn’t seem capable of processing a band that didn’t answer the standard questions with stock answers. During this interview, the guys in Soundgarden name-dropped Nirvana as a band to watch.

The story of the release of Nevermind has been told a thousand times, but it was a FEELING I’ve never experience since…and I’ve watched a lot of my favorite bands break through to the big time. I remember friends calling and telling me that they heard Nirvana being played on mainstream stations, or that they heard an interview where some far off prince or unlikely celebrity mentioned that they were currently his/her favorite band. It was a very unique time, and I’m glad that I was in the right time and place to experience it.

And that’s really what the story of Nirvana comes down to, and this is the part that the rock critics generally get right. The stage was set by countless other bands. The music scene was literally a bunch of oily rags in a garage, just waiting to explode. If it wasn’t Nirvana it would have been another band. But they were just heavy enough to pick up the metal kids, and just punk enough for the punks. They were a little bit Aerosmith and a little bit Beatles. Kurt was like our Lennon and Petty and Jimi and Dylan. Didn’t much matter that his poetry was mostly incomprehensible, in a way I think this left it up to the listener to project their own subconscious onto the blood curdling screams. I’m sure we all have misheard lyrics that we liked better than the ones we eventually read.

Then came superstardom. Then a really weird sounding album that seemed slighlty schizophrenic, as if it was trying to please everyone and hated itself for it. Then he was gone, and that was that. There were countless copies. Some watered-down copycats calling themselves Radiohead eventually managed to redeem themselves. There was Bush, STP and then some teenager from Australia who was a virtual identical copy of Cobain. Then a shitload of absolutely worthless bands who took five percent of Nirvana’s look and sound and grafted it onto the same old boring formula hard rock and called it grunge. Those bands are still out there, and new ones are still coming. It’s a sad, sad legacy.

Hair metal bands came back with a different haircut and denim instead of spandex and claimed the name “grunge” for themselves. Slayer, Sepultura and a handful of lunatics in the cold, dark parts of Europe managed to keep the heavy stuff alive, though the near extinction experience that grunge provided seemed to infuse them with a new vitality.

The good news is that the true spirit does live on in a ton of great bands who are making amazing records completely under the radar. When the time is right maybe one of them will explode up the charts, or maybe the lesson learned by all this is that it’s better to stay small. Whatever you take away from it, Nevermind was a watershed moment, and I’ll always remember where I was when it happened.

Display quality of HTC Inspire 4G super LCD vs. Apple retina.

I spent a lot of time agonizing over display resolutions when choosing my latest phone, the HTC Inspire 4G.
I had seen an iphone 4 at the Apple store and was impressed with it’s nearly pixel free clarity. For reasons I won’t get into here, an iphone wasn’t an option this time, but I wanted to make sure I got the nicest looking display I could. I read a ton of reviews and really nerdy arguments about displays and competing technologies; qHD…s-lcd…amoled…WTF?
I’m here to tell you friends: It’s moot. These newer non-retina displays are beautiful. I could walk around on stage in a mock turtleneck being a pompous prick if it would help convince you, but trust me you would not be ashamed to take these ladies to the prom. All the things that I looked for and was so impressed with on the iphone are here. Text is nice and crisp with smooth curves. Corners of rounded app buttons are smooth, even when you look at them from up close.You’d have to get nose grease on the glass to be bothered by pixels.
My point is that while mathematically and intellectually you could argue the fine points of display tech and pixel density, even someone who spends a lot of time assessing visual quality doesn’t think there’s enough difference here to make this a factor on the pro/con list. You’d be wiser to consider whether you’d rather see videos and rich content or a blue brick when you visit a web site.

Weird is good.

Have you noticed those adds that say things like “Lose your belly fat with this one weird trick“? They’re usually for a product related to weight loss or “male performance” or hair growth or reducing the appearance of wrinkles or earning $5550 in a week. I’ve never clicked on one of these ads, but I always find it interesting when a new advertising device begins to emerge. Remember a few years ago when everything was “invented by a teacher” or “discovered by a mother” and advertisers seemed to be trying to trade credibility across professions? (Airborne, the makers of bubbling snake-oil tablets, was the first to catch my attention – though I’ve seen quite a few since.) I find it humorous that at this point credibility is no longer even desirable. Advertisers seem to think that bracketing their claims with “This is going to sound like a crock, but…” makes them more believable. I guess they’re trying to appease the part of your brain that detects bullshit by letting it smell their hand first. “See, I’ve already admitted that this doesn’t sound possible, so I can’t be trying to trick you, right?” Or maybe they’re just trying to tap into our curiosity click-reflex: Forget “proven”. Forget “tested”. This is not your grandfather’s ad campaign. This is some WEIRD shit I found in a dark alley of the internet, but you’re in luck because I’m willing to share it with you for $39/mo, plus $10 shipping (Refer 10 friends and I’ll throw in some açai berries!).

Super quick no frills wireless router shootout: Linksys E1000 vs. Netgear WNR1000v2

Are you ready? This is going to be a really quick one. Here goes:

Buy the Linksys E1000, it’s stronger* and it looks like something from Tron.

The End

*Ok, seriously. I loaded up Speedtest.net on the iPad and took multiple readings at different locations around the house. I repeated the test using both wireless routers. At the furthest corner of the house, the Netgear was delivering about 2-3 Mbps while the Linksys was delivering 6Mbps. At the point where data rate started to fall off with the Netgear (down to 15Mbps from 20), I was still getting full strength on the Linksys. Also worth noting; even though this is the bottom rung on the current ladder of Linksys home wireless routers (which run from about $70 to ~$200) I haven’t found anything that it doesn’t do well, from gaming to streaming Netflix movies. Downside: Comcast will give you the Netgear for free if you ask.

Hidden Comcast/Xfinity data restrictions

Let me just quote this to start, it’s from a hidden Comcast FAQ  related to a data usage cap that was not disclosed during any part of the service order/contract process:

What will happen if I exceed 250 GB of data usage in a month?

The vast majority – more than 99% – of our customers will not be impacted by a 250 GB monthly data usage threshold. If you exceed more than 250 GB, you may receive a call from the Customer Security Assurance (“CSA”) team to notify you of excessive use. At that time, we will tell you exactly how much data you used. When we call you, we try to help you identify the source of excessive use and ask you to moderate your usage, which the vast majority of our customers do voluntarily. If you exceed 250 GB again within six months of the first contact, your service will be subject to termination and you will not be eligible for either residential or commercial internet service for twelve (12) months. We know from experience that most customers curb their usage after our first call. If your account is terminated, after the twelve (12) month period expires, you may resume service by subscribing to a service plan appropriate to your needs.

The back story

I recently switched to Comcast because Qwest had been unable to provide the level of service that I’ve been paying for; typically delivering around 1.5Mbps rather than the advertised 7Mbps. At peak times Qwest performance would drop to near dial-up speeds, and at best we would clock close to 5Mbps around 3am with no one else using bandwidth in the neighborhood. We’ve been streaming a lot of movies on the Xbox recently, and this requires a fairly steady data rate for uninterrupted playback. Qwest just hasn’t been able to keep up. Picture quality is dynamically adjusted by the Netflix Xbox application to attempt to account for bandwith issues, but even with the picture at low quality there are still times where we can’t maintain a playable stream at all.

So when a Comcast rep knocked on the door offering higher speeds for roughly the same price, we decided to give it a shot. After a few hiccups (they wouldn’t drill through stucco, so we had to have a separate contractor put in the jack) we got Comcast internet yesterday. This morning, a graph appeared in my Customer Central page that wasn’t there last night. The graph shows my total data usage out of  a max of 250GB, already at 6GB used. It’s been a little over half a day’s worth of use. My math says we’ll be over the threshold about 21 days into a 30 day cycle. So then what happens? Like I said at the top, I had to do a little digging to find the answer.

Let’s take it point by point:

• “The vast majority – more than 99% – of our customers will not be impacted by a 250 GB monthly data usage threshold.”
  • Decodes to: If you exceed this limit, you’re an oddity. The problem is You the customer, not Us. Granted, my internet usage is heavy, but higher than 99% of all Comcast internet users? Even those that purchase the top tier speed package?
• “If you exceed more than 250 GB, you may receive a call from the Customer Security Assurance (“CSA”) team to notify you of excessive use. At that time, we will tell you exactly how much data you used.”
  • Decodes to: We have a special department to meter, micromanage and badger you about your internet usage. I haven’t dealt with this kind of heavy handed bandwidth management since the days of the local ISP operating out of a small office with a T3.
• “When we call you, we try to help you identify the source of excessive use and ask you to moderate your usage, which the vast majority of our customers do voluntarily.”
  • Here’s where it starts to get nasty. Comcast is now judging my internet usage and applying the term “excessive” and then hinting around at a threat: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, buddy.”
• “If you exceed 250 GB again within six months of the first contact, your service will be subject to termination and you will not be eligible for either residential or commercial internet service for twelve (12) months.”
  • Ah-HAH! The threat at last. Decodes to: If you don’t stop using the product which you are paying a heavy monthly fee to use, we will kick you off the internet for a year.
• “We know from experience that most customers curb their usage after our first call.”
  • Decodes to: We are very proud of the fact that most customers are sufficiently intimidated by our threat that they stop using the product that we’re billing them for.

I find this interesting. Comcast is unable to provide the level of bandwidth that they’ve contracted for, so they avoid embarrassment by pushing the blame back onto their customers. In the modern era, 250GB of data is a lot of data, but certainly not the unreachable limit that they make it sound like. We watch by far less streaming programming than the average family watches TV, but we prefer the option of being able to choose when/what we watch. There’s nothing really “excessive” about it. It’s a feature that is offered on all standard game/entertainment consoles, and even smart phones and iPads.

So right now the plan is to watch our usage for the first month, and if necessary invoke the 30-day service guarantee. But I’d much rather have the best of both worlds, the unlimited usage we had with Qwest, and the speed that we’re getting with Comcast. I don’t fancy the idea of having to closely watch our data usage. This should be transparent to the end user, especially when you’ve contracted for the top tier of residential bandwidth.

The Elements

Last night, purely on impulse and a nudge from rabbit, I picked up a copy of The Elements by Theodore Gray. It’s an element by element rundown of the periodic table, and it’s thought-provoking, informative, enjoyable and laugh-out-loud funny. I finished it in about 4 hours, with lots of stopping to read the really interesting and funny bits to my partner.  That’s the first time I’ve managed to get a book completed in the last couple years, and the first time in the last twenty years that I can recall knocking a book out in a single sitting.

The author is one of the founding partners of WolframAlpha, who are famous for Mathematica and for just being really smart folks in general. He’s also one of a rare breed of collectors who focus on trying to obtain a sample of all of the elements – or at least all the ones that are possible to obtain (in keeping with the laws of the land and the laws of physics). His writing style is conversational and witty. He gets into the underpinnings of atomic structures and electron orbitals without going so far off into the woods that a layperson wouldn’t get it. I found it particularly enlightening to read about all of everyday uses for “uncommon” elements. Uncommon not necessarily meaning less plentiful in abundance, but rather the ones that aren’t quite the household names that they probably deserve to be (and the ones that were once household names, and really shouldn’t have been). Like Radium.

I forgot to mention the photographs. Every page has big beautiful photos of the elements  in their purest available form, as well as examples of objects containing those elements. If you’re already someone who watches shows like Mythbusters, this book is right up your alley. If Dancing with the Stars is more your speed, you’ll probably still enjoy turning the pages and looking at the pretty pictures – or you might just see a bunch of shiny rocks.

Quick memo on prayers to God.

I got an email today that had a picture of a child who had lost her hair due to chemotherapy. The letter asked that I pray to God for a cure for cancer, and came with a side order of guilt should I choose not to forward the letter or pray as directed.
I got to thinking… Is this the problem with the cure for cancer? Did God just not hear the prayers? Then I thought, “well, you know…He is God and He must certainly get a lot of prayers…” So I wanted to offer up some tips on getting responses from people. We use these a lot at work, so maybe they will work with God as well.

1. Start your prayer with “ACTION REQUIRED:” This lets God know that it’s not just another “thanks for giving us beer and Kevin Smith movies” prayer, and that you really actually need Him to do something.
2. ! Flag your prayer as Important, so that it stands out in His Inbox. You can’t argue with the power of that little red exclamation point.
3. Set a due date. People and deities often work more diligently when they know they have a firm end date. You have to remember, God is infinite. Maybe God has “Cure Cancer” on His calendar for 10,192AD, right after creating the Muad’Dib to liberate Arrakis. For an infinite being it’s right around the corner. For someone waiting for a cure it’s far too late. Try setting a firm date, eg. “I need a cure for cancer by EOD (end of day) Friday, or the following Monday morning at the latest!”

Hopefully these tips will bring about the desired result. If not, try science. I hear they can already cure several types of cancer. You might also try donating to cancer charities.

Does Kalashnikov make a lawnmower?

After attempting to repair two gas lawnmowers in two weeks (the score is 1:1)  I’m astonished to report that the proper operation of a Tecumseh engine comes down to tiny pores in metal barely visible to the eye, and springs scarcely larger than those in a ball point pen. Is this really the best we can do? I understand planned obsolescence, but one of these babies only lasted 2 months before failing to start. How are we supposed to maintain our lawns after the zombie apocalypse with such delicate machines?

Growing up we had just one lawnmower and we never babied it. I don’t recall dad putting fuel stabilizer in it, running it empty at the end of the season or rebuilding the carb every year. Maybe he did without me knowing, but anyway… They don’t make them like they used to.

Briggs & Stratton, you’re on my list too.

Dyson guy, if you’re out there, lawnmowers need a thorough reinventing. I just want it to work properly, as you say.

MP3 files won’t add to iTunes on your Mac? Solution here.

Have you ever had MP3 files that just wouldn’t add to your iTunes Library no matter what? I had a few MP3s that played fine in QuickTime Player and even played through the finder preview, but would not appear in iTunes no matter what I tried. Here’s the solution:

Download MP3 Scan + Repair, launch it, and drag the files onto it. That’s all. It rebuilds the file and then you can add it to iTunes. Easy.

I’m not OK with Islam. Just sayin’.

About six times this week, over on Facebook, I’ve had someone in my group of friends post or comment on a link to Keith Olbermann’s bit about how the “Ground Zero Mosque” isn’t really at Ground Zero, and isn’t really a mosque. Alright. Granted. So it’s not a mosque and it’s not really at Ground Zero. That still doesn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I wouldn’t be happy about a new Islamic center being built waist deep in Everglades muck either. I’m just not all that stoked on Islam at all.

Lest we forget. This is the religion that kills cartoonists and made similar threats in my own back yard, recently! I just cannot abide a religion without a sense of humor. This is also the religion that tries to blow planes out of the sky every so often, and would succeed more often if they could figure out how to get electronic fuses on-board. I don’t like religious nutjobs of any stripe, but it’s not Ted Haggard or Fred Phelps that I’m worried about at 30,000 feet. When I’m traveling in Asia, it’s not Christian missionaries that make it so I have to stay in a hotel guarded by men with machine guns. It’s not Jews, and it’s not Hindus, or Mormons, or Sikhs or Buddhists…

Yes, I know that there are “radical” Muslims and “moderate” Muslims and probably some “really nice” Muslims. I don’t give a shit. Religious tolerance is just the thin end of the wedge. We’ve been entirely too tolerant of religion, all religion, for far too long. We’ve been too eager to embrace religion and give it a place of privilege outside the law. Too hesitant to criticize, even when it’s deserved, out of our desire to uphold the protections in the Constitution. But the Constitution exists to protect our individual rights as well. I fail to see how indulging intolerant religions leads to more individual freedom.

In the UK and elsewhere, Muslims are demonstrating because they don’t feel they should be bound by the law of the land, but by God’s law. Isn’t that the same as establishing a parallel theocratic government? I find that terrifying. And they will likely get their way because people are afraid to be accused of suppressing religious freedom. Who is willing to stand for secular freedom and the freedom to not be bound by any irrational religious law?

I do not want my art, music, fashion, commerce, speech, literature, sexual practices, food or social interactions to be restricted to the subset that is acceptable to a certain branch of Islam (or Christianity for that matter). I’m not interested in being stoned to death for speaking to a married woman. I’m not interested in having my future daughter’s face mutilated because she committed some offense against an imaginary deity. I would like to retain my freedom to be as far away from Islamic law as humanly possible.

There are very good reasons – rational reasons – why we should closely scrutinize the people involved with the construction of this religious center in Manhattan. (Can we be sure they won’t offer “study abroad” courses at sister schools in Pakistan where you can major in subjects like Roadside Electronics and Exploding Underwear?)  This doesn’t mean I’m hopping into bed with Newt and Sarah – I don’t agree with their theatrics and false outrage; this doesn’t mean that I’m going to start demanding my own copy of Obama’s birth certificate, or that I think the earth is 6000 years old. I’m writing this in part because this debate seems to be taking shape along familiar left/right lines, and I don’t see it that way. It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than Keith Olbermann’s accusations of nationalist extremism to make me think that I’m being too hard on Islam. Go ahead and build your church…er, community center…but I’m still free to be pissed off about it. For now.