The Way of the Johnny

Yesterday, I finished installing Windows 7 on my mom's computer. I upgraded my Macbook Pro with a SSD drive, so I took the old HDD , bought a 3.5" HDD enclosure adapter, and threw it in my mom's Dell Dimension E510 desktop computer with the intention of installing the Windows 7 RC on it. I'm very impressed with Windows 7 RC on my mom's desktop. Before I get into my list of observations, here's a short list of the E510 specs: -CPU: Intel Pentium D 2.80 GHz -RAM: 2.5 GB - HDD : 2.5", 120 GB, 5400 RPM -old HDD : 3.5", 80 GB, 7200 RPM -wireless network adapter: Netgear -Monitors: (1) 15", 4:3 ratio Dell connected via VGA and (1) 17", widescreen Dell connected via VGA to DVI port using adapter -Keyboard and mouse: wireless Logitech set with Dell label -Printer: Canon Pro9000 -Scanner: Epson -And various USB devices ( muli -card reader, 30 GB external HDD , etc.) As you can see from the specs, my mom's computer isn't the most pow...

I've never liked American Idol. Being an instrumentlist and trained in jazz, it's pretty much the opposite of what I like in music. Don't get me wrong, I like really good singers, and I've learned a lot about singing from my wife (she's classically trained). But to me, American Idol feels too much like overblown karaoke. But I DO really like So You Think You Can Dance. I grew up doing Filipino folk dances and had lots of fun learning ballroom dances from my parents, so I have an appreciation for great dancers. From what I observe on So You Think, the bar of excellence is much higher on that show in relation to Idol. If Idol adopted the following approaches (maybe it does already, but I haven't watched in months), I would definitely be more interested in watching: 1. Make the singers learn original songs. The dancers on So You Think have to learn new choreography in different styles and have to perform the choreography with very little practice. Even if...