Ever in Flux Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll...and video games!

Allow me to present…

Mr & Mrs Wannerbob.

Best of 2009? Really?

Ok. What is up with this? 64 million? 64 MILLION sites with "Best of 2009?"

Results of 'Best of 2009' search on 12/15/2009. 64,700,00

Recently, friends have been sending me links to "Best of 2009" lists. Best of 2009? Really? I believe it's still the year 2009. How can anyone be deciding what's the best of anything for this year when it's not even done yet?

Winners aren't declared in sporting events until it's done. Movies don't start rolling credits 5 minutes before the end although some should. Your torrent is not marked as completely downloaded when you've only got 95% of the file(s).

I understand we're only a few weeks from the end of the year, but no matter what category your list covers, there is still a chance that something or someone could happen to change your feelings about any items on it. Patience, people.

Goodbye Gnome, hello KDE. Goodbye KDE, hello wmii

It's not unusual for me to try out different window managers for Linux.  In fact, I've tried most of them: Gnome, KDE, Enlightenment (DR16 and E17), jwm, twm, XFCE, *box, LXDE and Awesome to name a few.

While I enjoy having a modern, graphical desktop, every single one of them fails to be functional for me in one way or another. Thus, I always have at least one open Terminal window. Some things are easier and faster that way.

So, recently I stopped using Gnome because I was unable to compile a new version of Gnome due to some dependencies on Mono. I'm not a Mono hater, but I'd rather use software I know will remain free forever.

Switched to KDE because I have friends who swore that 4.3 was the bees knees. If you're looking for a slick, shiny user interface, then KDE 4 is a real treat. I enjoyed it for about 3 weeks, then I became disheartened with how sluggish my computer felt. That, and I spent more time in Terminal than in any part of the GUI.

About a week ago, I switched to wmii. Minimalist interface, manages windows (a good goal for a window manager), and stays the hell out of my way. While there's a bit of a learning curve, it's not so steep that I had to spend hours tweaking it before I began using it.

One of my favorite features is the "tagging." Similar to having multiple desktops in another WM, tags create separate screens for applications. So, tag 1 has a terminal maximized, tag 2 has my browser window and tag 3 has IM, irc, or whatever.  Any WM does this, but what wmii does better is that when there are no more apps on that tagged screen, it disappears.  This means I never have an empty workspace unless there's only the one.

Another is a feature that's implemented in similar window managers: tiled windows with layouts. I can have all my windows line up like little tiles in the one screen, have them overlap each other with only their title bars showing or even have some windows float while others remain attached to the background.  Handy.

Most interesting for me is the way that I can interact with wmii. wmii implements a Plan 9 interface to itself. That means every piece of the wm can be accessed as a file. No more wondering where the configuration is hiding (Gnome and KDE could take a lesson from this.)

So ends Bean’s Free Music Month

Last month I ran an experiment, of sorts. I listened to nothing but "Free" music. I dubbed it Bean's Free Music Month and removed from my playlists any music that was married to a restrictive license. For all of October, I listened to artists and tracks that I was able to download and distribute.

Jamendo was a predictable starting point for this adventure through the world of liberally-licensed music.  I had already thrown a few of the more popular artists into regular rotation: Tryad, [add info about the band], [list 2 others w/info].

 I've already been listening to some of the top artists there but decided to branch in to genres that didn't lean toward the electronic. I am a fan of electronic music (some of my favorite artists being The Crystal Method and BT), but I wanted to hear something that would be similar to the rock I love to listen to most.  Artists like Disturbed, Staind, dredg and the many others that produce commercially available music.

So, I began looking around on Jamendo for rock acts or at least bands that didn't describe their music using an electronica genre.  One band I found, TenPenny Joke, was a welcome discovery.  At times sounding like Silverchair, this aussie band knows how to play rock.  Their melodies remind me of 80s post-metal alternative with an updated style.

One thing I can say now that October is over and I've re-added some commercial artists into the mix is this: Much like open-source software, free music suffers from a glut of glorious garbage. However, if you weed through it, there are some real treasures to be found.