Apple finally gets with the program and ditches DRM.  About freaking time.

I browsed through the iTunes Store to take a look at their many new “+” offerings, and it seems to me that their 80% (8 out of 10 million) of iTunes tracks figure doesn’t hold true, unless somewhere there is a huge back catalog of unwanted music that is all iTunes Plus.  Granted, my survey was not particularly scientific - I basically just started browsing by clicking randomly on a featured album on the homepage, and then following the chain of “Listeners also bought…” links until I hit a dead end.

As an aside, I did discover 2 things through my intensive six degrees of separation surfing:

1. If you follow the chain for long enough, you will eventually find yourself stuck in an endless loop of links to Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana, and Vampire Weekend albums.
2. People who buy Ryan Adams music only buy Ryan Adams music.

I’m in the process of constructing the new theme, so things may look a little… unsettled.  Management apologizes for the inconvenience.

So said my friend as I showed her my new Asus EEE PC.  I’d had my eye on these things since the first one came out, and armed with an Amazon gift card from the work holiday party and a little extra cash, I finally took the plunge and picked up the 900HA.  After a few hours spent wiping Windows XP (”Windows is meant to be endured, not sought after) and installing and setting up Ubuntu EEE to my liking, I I had in my own little slice of ultraportable heaven.

There are still a few little issues, some software (flash doesn’t work right) and some hardware, but overall I couldn’t be happier with my little splurge.  It feels solid, and despite the negative reviews, I’m pretty happy with the keyboard - yeah, it’s a little small, but it doesn’t feel all that flimsy, and I managed to adapt to the iPhone keyboard, so this is like a walk in the park.  My biggest hardware complaint thus far are the mouse buttons - you really have to push the little suckers to click (although, maaybe all Windows/generic PC laptops are like this and I never noticed, having been spoiled by the clickability of Mac trackpads).

So I’ve decided that at least for the short term, I’m going to forego my MacBook Pro and use this thing exclusively for my mobile computing needs.  I’ll continue to chronicle my journey (among other things) here in the future, so stay tuned.

Welcome to the newest version of the Inn.  There have been many Inns before this one, and there will likely be many more to come in the years to come. Enjoy your stay.