Muffin Bottoms [not] Just another WordPress weblog

01/04/2009

Microsoft Actually Does A Quickfix!

Filed under: Mundane Or Sublime,News,Tech — admin @ 7:45 pm

Microsoft announced yesterday they have a fix for what people started calling the Zune 30 leap year bug.

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
  2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
  3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that’s 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
  4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

My Zune 30 has been working fine today. Should I be worried?

Nope, your Zune is fine and will continue to work as long as you do not connect it to your computer before noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).

Note: If you connect your player to a computer before noon GMT on January 1, 2009, you’ll experience the freeze mentioned above—even if that computer does not have the Zune software installed. If this happens, follow the above steps.

What if I have rights-managed (DRM) content on my Zune?

Most likely, rights-managed content will not be affected by this issue. However, it’s a good idea to sync your Zune with your computer once the freeze has been resolved, just to make sure your usage rights are up to date.

What if I took advice from the forums and reset my Zune by disconnecting the battery?

This is a bad idea and we do not recommend opening your Zune by yourself (for one thing, doing so will void your warranty). However, if you’ve already opened it, do one of the following:

  • Wait 24 hours from the time that you reset the Zune and then sync with your computer to refresh the usage rights; or
  • Delete the player’s content using the Zune software (go to Settings, Device, Sync Options, Erase All Content), then re-sync it from your collection.

Microsoft’s first response had been:

There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.

And the next one quickly followed:

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

For Zune developers to respond next with these step by step fix instructions in realtime like this is perhaps just as newsworthy as the problem in the first place. I think that when a corporate structure this big reacts so readily to such an issue I’m moved to say “kudos.”

12/22/2008

Journal Poem 23 – Dedicated To Roberta Blackgoat

Filed under: Mundane Or Sublime,News,Poetics — admin @ 5:28 am

JOURNAL POEM 23

        Pomegranite.

Does anger have taste?
Car's down 'til roads clear.
December the freezin' season.
2-8 a.m. only good times to drive;
Least bit of thaw slides you
        Off-road.
Big Mountain, thrown off a horse;
Hauling water & hay for the elders.
Fixing hay shack, chopping wood.
VW microbus' 1st gear freezes stuck.
'Til 10am or so. (so cold & dry.)
Jan. 7, 1992. 9am. Lamb born to
The sheep who looks like Don King.
Denny makes coffee for wider eyes;
And 85th monkey follows the wind
Pondering the 4 directions. Red,
White, yellow and black; Nevada,
Mexico City, Washington, or Spain.
James buys Edensoy in Winslow's
Art Colony Fish Hatchery Homeless
Veterans Shelter. Vanilla's good;
Original's not. Run cooperatively
Sells bikes and skateboards too.
Customary cleaning woodstove each
Sunrise. Ash is for the outhouses
Always keep hot water on in case
Company comes. And the door key
Hangs from lower branch of a tree.
What's yellow, black and white?
        Uranium.
Headache and much noise. "Don't herd
The sheep near the uranium wash,"
Auntie says, "makes them act wild."
Well, you would too if you had those
        Headaches.
Told my guardian angels are spiders,
Whales, porcupines, buffalo, crows,
Badgers, turtles, bats & dolphins.
Roasted pinons; like chestnuts the
Size of roasted coffee beans.

“Nova” means food in Hopi.
“O” is yes in Navajo. “Ba” is bread.
Go figure.
So what’s red, white, yellow and black?
Pomegranite in a wash full of
Uranium.

 

Previously published in a $5 Chapbook entitled "I Slurp My Coffee." 

Currently released as an album at:
http://www.reverbnation.com/marcfruchtpoet
And you can get the whole album as a printable .zip file at:

http://www.frucht.org/Poems4RobertaBlackgoat.zip

12/21/2008

Bragging Rights

Filed under: Academic,Food,Humor,Mundane Or Sublime,Music and Stuff,News,Sports,Tech — admin @ 7:19 pm

Half.com 100%
Twitter 96.1
Linked In 90%
UConn 3.751
UWGB 3.667

12/19/2008

Wow, The 24 Hour Podcast. What an Idea…

Filed under: News,Tech — admin @ 6:22 pm

Geek News Central’s Todd Cochrane has announced the tentative schedule for the 24 Hour Podcast, a marathon celebration of indie media scheduled for December 20-21st.

Here’s what Todd has to say about the event:

I kick off the event at 6am HST / 8am PST / 11am EST and go for 24 hours straight. We will be talking with some very cool people during the event.

This event will be streamed live on Ustream and everyone patched in via Talkshoe. I hope that you will join me. If you are guest on the 24hr Podcast an you have a time conflict email me immediately and we will get you scheduled in a new slot.

[ref]=[ http://www.podcastingnews.com/2008/12/19/24-hour-podcast-update ]

11/28/2008

Black Friday = Long Lines ? Else Just Cheap Black Hats !

Filed under: Humor,Mundane Or Sublime,News,Tech — admin @ 6:11 am

11/15/2008

Alice Walker’s Letter To Obama Is More For All Of Us, I Think.

Filed under: Mundane Or Sublime,News — admin @ 6:56 am

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.
I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people’s enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely.

However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, “hate the sin, but love the sinner.” There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people’s spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to “work with the enemy” internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,
Alice Walker

——————————————–

The Dalai Lama wrote a good one worth looking at too.

At first I couldn’t find a joke or a funny saying or anything in His Holiness’
letter to the new President Elect.
And I know he’s never said something
publicly that didn’t have at least something humorous in there somewhere.

So I started to think it was a fake.

But then I noticed it.
Can you find the joke inside?

——————————————————–

November 5 [HHDL to Obama]
H.E.

Barack Obama
President-elect of the United States of America
Washington, DC
U.S.A.

Dear President-elect Obama,

Congratulations on your election as the President of the United States of America.

I am encouraged that the American people have chosen a President who reflects America’s diversity and her fundamental ideal that any person can rise up to the highest office in the land. This is a proud moment for America and one that will be celebrated by many peoples around the world.

The American Presidential elections are always a great source of encouragement to people throughout the world who believe in democracy, freedom and equality of opportunities.

May I also commend the determination and moral courage that you have demonstrated throughout the long campaign, as well as the kind heart and steady hand that you often showed when challenged. I recall our own telephone conversation this spring and these same essential qualities came through in your concern for the situation in Tibet.

As the President of the United States, you will certainly have great and difficult tasks before you, but also many opportunities to create change in the lives of those millions who continue to struggle for basic human
needs. You must also remember and work for these people, wherever they may be.

With my prayers and good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

THE DALAI LAMA

[ref]=[http://www.theroot.com/id/48726]

[ref]=[http://www.tibetcustom.com/article.php/20081107073149110]

10/21/2008

Is it me, or is Firefox 3 sucking?

Filed under: News,Tech — admin @ 5:32 am

Do you have a computer that’s older than, say oh, I dunno, about 5 weeks old?

Are you noticing Firefox grinding your entire system to a crawl?

You might try what I did. And I don’t enjoy saying this because I love Firefox. No, I mean I really love firefox. I even have a daypack with a huge orange logo to prove it. Yes, I rolled back to version 2 because version 3 only seems to work with the newest of new boxes.

For instance, I can run it on my newest desktop just fine. Yes, the one I downgraded from Vista to XP; but that’s a whole other story I’ll tell some day. But my older desktop? My laptop? My phone? Nope. None of them will run ver 3 very well at all! And with my laptop it was the worst.

Bootup took forever whether I was trying to get into the browser right away or not.
The browser got an error almost every time I opened more than 3 or 4 tabs, and often times it would just hang. Completely. Taskbar and nuking it, was the only remedy sometimes. So after much other heartache and troubleshooting, I was able to determine most of my problems.

Firefox 3.0 will use up all of your RAM no matter how much you’ve got. There *might* be a setting you can calm this down from, but I never found it.

Til 3.9ish or 4.1ish I’m sticking with Firefox2, ok? There, I said it. Sorry to let you all know, but you might wanna look over your stuff too. Maybe you’d benefit a rollback as well.

10/09/2008

Blackfire Wins Two Awards At 10th NAMMYS!

Filed under: Music and Stuff,News — admin @ 6:36 am

TENTH ANNUAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED

BLACKFIRE & NATIVE ROOTS TOP THE AWARDS WITH TWO

LYNYRD SKYNYRD’S RICKEY MEDLOCKE, REDBONE

AMONG THOSE HONORED

Niagara Falls, NY – On Saturday October 4, 2008 the Tenth Annual Native American Music Awards (N.A.M.A.) was held at the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York and awarded over 35 artists in a four hour event with 12 onstage presentations and special Hall of Fame inductions and performances that had the packed crowd dancing on their feet. The growing success of the Awards show is now setting industry standards for professional Native American musicians who want to achieve greater acceptance and exposure from mainstream audiences.

Taking two honors each was; the New Mexico-based Reggae group, Native Roots and the Arizona-based punk rock/Alter Native band, Blackfire. Native Roots’ recording, Celebrate won for Best World Music Recording and earned them Group of the Year. Native Roots gave a high-energy live performance with their messages of pride, unity, and respect among all nations. Blackfire, is comprised of two brothers and a sister with a style that encompasses traditional Native American music with rock that bears socio-political and human rights messages. Blackfire’s (Silence) Is A Weapon won Record of the Year and their producer Ed Stasium (Ramones) took the Native Heart award.

On hand to receive their awards were: Janelle Turtle for Best Native American Church Recording with New Beginning. Janelle is the first female to receive this award, and the great great great granddaughter of Dog Woman who was the first woman to run meetings among the Cheyenne people; Jan Michael Looking Wolf, winner of Flutist of the Year with his recording, Unity, gave one of the most poignant and genuine speeches that embraced his friend JJ Kent and the recent loss of Kent’s wife; the Cherokee National Youth Choir who took Best Gospel Inspirational Recording and performed traditional Cherokee songs in the Cherokee language. The Choir came into existence from the vision of Principal Chief Chad Smith.

Other Award recipients in attendance included; Nicole for Best Female Artist, Edmund Bull for Best Male Artist who also performed an acoustic song from his album, Follow Your Dreams. After facing one of his toughest personal years with the loss of both parents and best friend, Golana received a nod for Best Instrumental Recording for Mirror Lake. Taking Artist of the Year was multiple award-winner Jim Boyd, with Blues to Bluegrass. This was Boyd’s eleventh release which explored many genres – from rock and bluegrass to blues and folk, and was the first recording since the tragic loss of his son, Jim Boyd, Jr.. Carroll Medicine Crow (Best New Age Recording), Jimmy Wolf (Best Blues Recording), Tracy Bone (Best Country Recording), Cheryl Bear (Debut Artist of the Year), Red Hawk (Best Historical Recording) Adrian Brown, Tim Sampson producers for Still No Good, Dago Braves (Rap Hip Hop), NightShield (Song Single of the Year), Ken Quiet Hawk (Spoken Word Recording), and Brule & AIRO (Long Form Video) were also on hand to receive their awards.

Special guests included; Buddy Big Mountain, Lifetime Achievement Recipient Johnny Curtis, the great great grandson of Geronimo, Houston Geronimo and Lance White Magpie, a direct descendant of Crazy Horse.

Capping the evening’s ceremonies was a collaborative performance between Joanne Shenandoah and Corn Bred who performed a unique version of “At Last” with two traditionally dressed dancers dancing a romantic slow dance. Internationally renowned and multi-million record selling band members; Rickey Medlocke of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Janice Marie of Taste of Honey, Pat Vegas of Redone & Felipe Rose of the Village People all gave compelling performances following their inductions into the N.A.M.A. Hall of Fame. Rose performed a medley featuring his award-winning, “We’re Still Here” and “Trail of Tears”. Pat Vegas performed “Come And Get Your Love” and was then joined by Janice-Marie Johnson for “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” Show closer Rickey Medlocke performed a five song medley that included “Gimmie Back My Bullets”, “Train Train” and “Highway Song.” N.A.M.A. proudly honors these legendary performers and songwriters who have been leading forces in mainstream music and in the Native American community.

A post-show VIP party followed the Award ceremonies and featured some impressive and memorable collaborations and jams including; “Rumble” by the late Link Wray’s grandson, Chris Webb, and Jimmy Wolf, as well as a chilling performance of “Proud Mary” by Tracy Bone, Cheryl Bear and Digging Roots’ Shoshana Keech.

N.A.M.A. and its Advisory Board contingency congratulate all the winners and look forward to entering a second decade with them as the country’s leading resource for Native American music initiatives. For the past decade, N.A.M.A. has been nominating and awarding prominent national music figures of Native American heritage at its annual Awards ceremony, and has steadily and repeatedly attempted to prove that the Native American music community is a viable and impressive industry that is owed reverence and respect.

The Native American Music Awards & Association, founded in 1998, is the world’s leading membership-based association consisting of music industry professionals directly involved in the recording and distribution of traditional and contemporary Native American Music initiatives.

See below for a complete list of winners or visit www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com for more information.

511 AVENUE the Americas #371 New York NY 10011 Tel 212.228.8300 Fax 646.688.6883

Email Nammys@aol.com www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com

10th ANNUAL NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS
WINNERS LIST

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Jim Boyd

Blues To Bluegrass

BEST BLUES RECORDING

Deep Downtown

Jimmy Wolf

BEST COMPILATION RECORDING

Old Style Round Dance Songs

Various

BEST COUNTRY RECORDING

No Lies

Tracy Bone

DEBUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Cheryl Bear

The Good Road

DEBUT GROUP OF THE YEAR

Injunuity

Unconquered

BEST FEMALE ARTIST

Nicole

Deep Dreams

BEST FOLK RECORDING

Where The Green Grass Grows

The Crow Girls

FLUTIST OF THE YEAR

Jan Michael Looking Wolf

Unity

BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING

Precious Memories

Cherokee National Youth Choir

GROUP OF THE YEAR

Native Roots

Celebrate

BEST HISTORICAL RECORDING

Chief Seattle Speaks 1854

Red Hawk

BEST INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING

Mirror Lake

Golana

BEST MALE ARTIST

Edmund Bull

Follow Your Dreams

BEST NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH RECORDING

New Beginning

Janelle Turtle

BEST NEW AGE RECORDING

Homeland Security

Carroll Medicine Crow

BEST POP RECORDING

Phoenix

Fara Palmer

BEST POW WOW RECORDING

Hear The Beat

Blackfoot Confederacy

BEST PRODUCER

Adrian Brown, Tim Sampson, Jonathon Joss, Charles Button

Still No Good

BEST RAP HIP HOP RECORDING

Native American Hustle

Dago Braves

RECORD OF THE YEAR

(Silence) Is A Weapon

Blackfire

BEST ROCK RECORDING

The Sun & The Earth

Stevie Salas

SONG/SINGLE OF THE YEAR

Broken Dreams

Nightshield

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR

Star Nayea

Silenced My Tongue

BEST SPOKEN WORD RECORDING

The Story Tellers

Ken Quiet Hawk

BEST TRADITIONAL RECORDING

Traditional Navajo Shoe Songs

Gilbert Begay Sr

BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO

The Enlightened Time

Jana

BEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO

Live At Mt Rushmore

Brule’ & AIRO

BEST WORLD MUSIC RECORDING

Celebrate

Native Roots

NATIVE HEART

Ed Stasium

(Silence) Is A Weapon

511 AVENUE the Americas #371 New York NY 10011 Tel 212.228.8300 Fax 646.688.6883

Email Nammys@aol.com www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com

10/08/2008

McCain Called Obama “That One Over There.”

Filed under: Academic,News — admin @ 3:14 am

I ranted at angry journalist . com again today.  It’s been a while.

The rest of the corporate media seems to not care
about the fact that Senator McCain is perhaps the
most “under the breath” racist candidate America
has seen since, since, well since it’s beginnings
even.

I challenge people to run this thesis through each and
every filter you’ve got anything to do with.

If I’m wrong, I’d be happy to have that come to pass,
but I’ve been watching him interact with Navajo and
Hopi people and recent immigrants on and off the
camera for years now and it’s really bad.

I’ve seen him not pay attention to African Americans
AT ALL, unless spoken to directly by them, and now
that he’s faced with dealing with one across the
aisle you see the same thing essentially. He refuses
to look at them, and even when he’s spoken directly
to and it’s suggested that he look at him and talk
to him, he’ll look at his left foot and all the verbage
is as if he’s not in the room, and most of it is
directly or supportive of code language!

Is no one picking up on this???

Are people afraid???

I know you’re not dumb. Wake up before it’s too late.

09/26/2008

Looking To History In Divining/Defining The Future

Filed under: Academic,News,Sports,Uncategorized — admin @ 6:54 am

During the years 1783-86 Ledyard tried, on both sides of the Atlantic, to find an entrepreneur willing to finance him and provide him with a ship to reach the northwest coast. In the United States, however, from the end of the war on, the state of commercial affairs was becoming worse in the seaports. By the spring of 1784 the glutted market, scarcity of specie, and overextension of credit all combined to produce a serious commercial depression. Although the merchants in Philadelphia and all along the coast were in difficulty, the depression hit New England states the hardest.

— p13 reprint of John Ledyard’s “Journey Through Russia and Siberia”e

http://books.google.com/books?id=kz48AAAAMAAJ&q=john+ledyard+russia+siberia&dq=john+ledyard+russia+siberia&client=firefox-a&pgis=1

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