Tokarski

I remember being amazed at the satellite views available via Google maps the first time I saw them. Yesterday, I read a post on Download Squad that mentioned Microsoft had added about 3.8 terabytes of image data to its Live Maps.

Of course, the first thing I did was load my home address to see what kind of views of the house I could find. Amazing (and a bit scary even). In addition to the incredible image quality and color, I was floored by the ability to change the direction of the view.

While Google has been soundly beating Microsoft from an innovation standpoint, here is one instance where the old lumbering giant seems to be fighting back and making some headway. Of course, expect Google to respond in kind in short order.

Comments Off

In a previous post, I thought I had info on the cover of the forthcoming album from Rush (my favorite group), due on May 1. It turns out I was wrong. Various sites have been updated (including the Amazon page and Wikipedia entry for the album) with the cover pictured here.

In “The Game of Snakes and Arrows,” by drummer Neil Peart (the latest in a series of essays he writes to accompany the release of each new album), he mentions that the cover uses a painting by Harish Johari for “Leela, The Game of Self-Knowledge.”

The CD should be out in about a month. I’ve already pre-ordered the DVD-album version which “comes in a deluxe box, and includes these 13 new songs in hi-resolution audio, the entire album in 5.1 surround sound, a video documentary on the making of the album, and more.” It looks like the DVD will be out at least a couple of weeks after the CD is released….so I’ll still pick up the CD first thing on Tuesday, May 1.

Comments Off

Just wanted to document a great quote I ran across perusing 37signals’ Signal vs. Noise blog today: ‘Excerpts from Stephen King’s “On Writing” ‘

I have to use this next time my daughter complains about her violin lessons…

Comments Off

Summary: As expected, this race signals the championship battle for the season – Räikkönen against last year’s champion Alonso – both in new teams. A great drive from Alonso’s rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Race result:

1. Räikkönen (Ferrari)
2. Alonso (McLaren)
3. Hamilton (McLaren)

Next up: Malaysian Grand Prix, 7-April, 1:30 AM Central pre-race live on SpeedTV.

Comments Off

I received the email tonight @ 6:45 PM that Far Cry was finally up on iTunes. If you’re a fan at all, swing by the iTunes music store, get the song, and support the band.

Comments Off

I’m currently watching the the practice session for the Australian Grand Prix live on SpeedTV. It’s great to hear the Bob Varsha and David Hobbs commentary again. The live coverage for the race starts @ 9:30 PM (Central) on SpeedTV Saturday night.

Another sign Spring is on its way.

Comments Off

So, after being all excited yesterday about the first single off the new Rush album being available for streaming, I checked back again in the evening and saw that the steaming player was gone. All that was left was a message that said “New single at radio March 12th.”

!?!

And here I thought my favorite band ‘got it’ – build excitement for the new album on the Web by not just making available a sample / clip for playback, but the full song. After less than half a day….it was apparently pulled. Too good to be true – and I resigned myself to having to play radio lotto to hear it again.

After a bit of searching, I read on one of the Rush message boards that some folks were able to extract the location of the source MP3 file from the page flash code and it was already making its rounds on the Web. Disappointing. As a result, the streaming link was taken down until they could patch things up a bit and encrypt the source music file.

Sure enough, the streaming link was back up on the site later in the day.

Much of this could have been avoided by just offering the single on iTunes. That was the first thing I checked – it would have been much easier to drop $0.99 and support the band, rather than to skulk around in the page source looking for the file.

A few minutes ago, I found out that the track is indeed available on iTunes – but only in Canada. It hasn’t escaped notice that the record company listed on the Canadian iTunes is Rush’s own record company, Anthem….. why, again, is it that Atlantic is needed?

Short of creating a new Canadian iTunes account, does anyone know of a way to get this song (legally)?

Comments(1)

As I’ll be doing daily until the album is released, I checked the Rush site and saw that it was updated this AM. Prior to the May 1 release, I was hoping to grab a random listen of the first single on the radio, since it was supposed to be first aired sometime mid-month.

Well, surprise, surprise…..the full song is available via streaming on the site!! (boy, these internet tubes are something else….). After a few listens, I’m loving what I’m hearing and can’t wait for more.

Comments Off

With a little over seven weeks (May 1) until the release of Rush’s new studio album, “Snakes & Arrows,” I eagerly search for any news tidbits about the content, cover art, etc.

Blabbermouth.net reports the track listing as:

01. Far Cry
02. Armor and Sword
03. Workin’ Them Angels
04. The Larger Bowl
05. Spindrift
06. The Main Monkey Business
07. The Way The Wind Blows
08. Hope
09. Faithless
10. Bravest Face
11. Good News First
12. Malignant Narcissism
13. We Hold On

If you look at studio releases of their original material (not counting live albums, compilations, or their ‘Feedback’ covers), ‘Snakes & Arrows’ matches ‘Vapor Trails’ for total number of songs.

Rush (1974 – 8), Fly by Night (1975 – 8), Caress of Steel (1975 – 5, or 10 if you break up The Necromancer and Fountain of Lamneth into sections), 2112 (1976 – 6, or 12 if you break up 2112 into its individual sections), A Farewell to Kings (1977 – 6), Hemispheres (1978 – 4, or 9 if you break up the Hemispheres suite into individual sections), Permanent Waves (1980 – 6), Moving Pictures (1981 – 7), Signals (1982 – 8), Grace Under Pressure (1984 – 8), Power Windows (1985 – 8), Hold Your Fire (1987 – 10), Presto (1989 – 11), Roll the Bones (1991 – 10), Counterparts (1993 – 11), Test for Echo (1996 – 11), Vapor Trails (2002 – 13)

There’s still no definitive word on the cover art, as Power Windows has identified a couple of possibilities (shown above) – and Amazon still lists ‘no image available’ on the pre-order page.

It’s funny how a new Rush release makes me feel like that same music-crazed adolescent again, and I can’t wait for the hours of listening and inspiration it’ll bring.

UPDATE 2: it looks like update 1 was wrong….the image on the right (a colorized version of the image above) seems to be the cover. The Amazon page now reflects the cover art.

UPDATE 1: the left-most image in the post graphic above has been verified as the final cover art and a 45-second audio sample of the album’s first single, “Far Cry”, has been posted online at this location.

Comments Off

It’s been a long Winter….. but Spring seems around the corner with the start of the 2007 Formula One racing season in two weeks in Australia.

The Australian Grand Prix will be televised live on SpeedTV on Saturday, March 17th @ 9:30 PM central. (Qualifying is on Friday, March 16th @ 10:30 central).

Most of the races will be televised on SpeedTV, while four races, the Canadian, US, French, and British Grands Prix, will be televised on broadcast TV.

Season schedule:

01. Australia MAR 18
02. Malaysia APR 08
03. Bahrain APR 15
04. Spain MAY 13
05. Monaco MAY 27
06. Canada JUN 10
07. USA JUN 17
08. France JUL 01
09. Britain JUL 08
10. Germany JUL 22
11. Hungary AUG 05
12. Turkey AUG 26
13. Italy SEP 09
14. Belgium SEP 16
15. Japan SEP 30
16. China OCT 07
17. Brazil OCT 21

Comments Off