May 3, 2010

Sounds Like A Geek.

This is sort of like the fact that every Star Trek movie utilizes a different transporter effect, but as you probably know, just about every version of Windows uses a different set of sounds, including the startup and shutdown sounds. On the various Windows and Linux computers I use both personally and professionally, I often modify the sound schemes to the one from the Longhorn Beta, which ultimately turned into Windows Vista. Unfortunately, the Longhorn Beta sounds didn’t make it into Windows Vista (or Windows 7, for that matter), which is a shame because quite frankly I find them to be the most soothing of the Windows sounds.

Yes, I am soundly a geek when it comes to sound. (There’s some of that wit!)

Here is a YouTube clip of the Longhorn Beta startup and shutdown sounds. I really like the ethereal sound of these. I have the whole Longhorn sound scheme and someday I’ll post instructions on how to make these beta sounds your default on your computer. I hope I’m not infringing on someone’s copyright by doing that.

Anyways, here’s the sounds I was just talking about.

J-Town

So tonight I am spending the night about two minutes from the office because I need to go back to work and run some network tests with a colleague at 23:00. (That’s 11:00 p.m. for you non-geeks). The tests shouldn’t last too long and I opted not to work the night shift but instead just go in for an hour or so and then sleep at the hotel; I’m actually excited about this because I’ll get to sleep in in the morning. I haven’t done that on a workday in a few months. It’ll be a nice change of pace.

I haven’t done much to celebrate this little bachelor thing I have going on tonight. I’ve spent most of the time on the computer catching up on blogs, reading laptop reviews (I’m buying a new laptop) and other various mayhem. Johnstown isn’t the liveliest of places on the planet but I like the sleepy feeling they have going on here. This Microtel seems to be quite new and it’s comfortable. I feel like I’m in a dorm room with the yellow and lime green walls and the couch built into window box and over the air conditioner/heating unit. I have noticed that the walls are thin; this may prove interesting later this evening.

I went to a Chinese restaurant for supper and that was a rather disappointing experience. The food was mediocre at best, the waitress didn’t speak English (every time I said something to her, she looked at the hostess on the other side of the restaurant, who screamed a translation back to her and then smiled and said to me “so sorry”.) To keep things interesting the couple with their rugrats across the aisle from me let their kids play a game of “let’s fake vomiting”. Nothing adds to a Chinese meal and ambience like a screaming hostess sounding like she’s just found Pearl Harbor (yes, I know it wasn’t the Chinese that attacked Pearl Harbor and yes I know that I sound racist with that statement but it’s funny and you must admit that you snickered, even if just a little bit) and the sounds of a four and six (or so) year old making pukey noises into their fried rice. I think the whole experience turned me off of a Chinese food permanently and now the only way that I’ll eat something from the Far East is if it’s at a Hibachi Grill with my closest friends and a lot of what they call “Saki Bomb”.

I haven’t been blogging much lately and that’s because I’ve been too damn busy. I usually come up with the best blog entries when I’m getting ready for work. I recite them in the shower, I recite them whilst shaving, I mumble them around my toothbrush. None of these recitals aid in getting the damn entries into the computer and since people scold me for typing whilst driving I guess I’ll just start making videos from the shower, whilst shaving and whilst brushing my teeth in the future. That way you can see me in all my morning glory and hear some fascinating wit.

Now, if I could just find my camera.