Lots has been going on, where to start? Windows Live keeps telling me to log in even though I'm already logged in. Lame.

Speaking of LAME, Sony BMG apparently broke the law in their recent Digital Rights Management (DRM) rootkit coverup fiasco because they used the open source LAME MP3 decoder without following the terms of the GPL license - doh! Also, not only does the removal uninstaller tool Sony hurriedly released actually opens up another security hole, but their backdoor also affects Macs, not just PCs. They have finally recalled 4.7 million affected CDs. Businesses are advised, however, to scan their networks for Sony malware. Luckily, Microsoft will detect the rootkit and remove it, but I can't say the same for Apple. Sony, at least, is finally sucking it up and offering to exchange affected CDs for clean ones. Finally! Affected CDs include albums by Celine Dion and Neil Diamond, among others.

Speaking of Macs, Apple's iTunes has a new security hole, in addition to the recent Quicktime flaw from a few weeks ago. The iTunes flaw affects Mac OS 10 users, not just PCs. The real shaft, though, is that it was discovered just two days after their recent security patch was released (which, of course, didn't patch it). They'll have to release another patch next week. They're turning into Firefox, which is turning into Microsoft! I guess imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

We found the "Decoy" cache today. A new twist! I tried out Frappr, which is making news in the podcasting world on such shows as Cnet's Buzz Outloud and Adam Curry's Daily Source Code. Interesting (a cross between Flickr and Google Maps).

I've been enjoying some wonderful new music lately, sweet tracks all:

"There She Goes" and "Summertime" by Brother Love
"Fly, Fly, Fly" by Adrina Thorpe
"Rocket Science" by Brain Buckit
"Bad Religion" by Jimmie Bratcher
"Photograph" by Nickelback
"Get Through This" by Art of Dying
"Waking Up The Neighborhood" by Planet of Women
"Upside Down" by Bob Gentry
"In A Long Time" by 46bliss
"Wasting My Time" and "Drive Away" by Mathew Ebel
...as well as some wonderful tracks by the Candy Butchers and Mike Viola (his solo stuff).

Shopping for Home Owner's Insurance is like pulling teeth. Enough said. We drove by our new house (we haven't closed yet, though) and there was a sign on the front lawn saying "Sale Pending". It was cool to know that it was referring to us!

For my recent birthday, I scored a new MP3 USB FM Modulator for the car. I simply plug in my USB thumb drive into it and it broadcasts the MP3s straight to the car radio - no iPod or cords needed! Works like a charm! I also scored "Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith" on widescreen DVD. Nice. =)

I was also surprised by being taken to view Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire at the theatre (Edwards Nampa Stadium 14). Down side: even though we got our tickets via Fandango, we still had to wait in line for tickets since the fandango kiosk was out of order. Lame - especially when the movie starts in 3 minutes, but the line is at least 4 minutes long!

My ISP, Qwest, is one giant, collective idiot it seems. They claim they don't block port 3389 (terminal services/remote assistance), and yet it doesn't work. They claim it's because my router is doing NAT (network address translation), despite the fact that I've done terminal services, remote desktop connection, and remote assistance many times before on different connections (i.e., from different ISPs such as SBC, Charter, and ATG), always from behind NAT routers and various firewalls. Their answer: "try port forwarding". Um, yeah - doesn't work. Qwest is the problem, and they won't fess up to it. It's interesting to note, however, that port 3389 services didn't work by default on these other lines - it took a phone call or two and some patient yelling to get them to unblock the ports. (Thus, the only thing left to do here with Qwest is to figure out who I've got to talk to who actually knows what I'm talking about.)

They also don't provide an outgoing SMTP mail server to customers, just an MSN mail account - what's with that? Whatever. I can't complain about the speed, though, it's 5 mbps down/896 kbps upload (and, yes, I'm actually getting those speeds). Not bad for DSL. Too bad the customer service sucks so bad. Am I the only one who thinks that Keira Knightly and Natalie Portman look like identical twins?

The new Google Sets beta site is interesting. Their newly-free Google Analytics also looks promising. Also, Google Print is now called Google Book Search.