Let's make the best of the situation

There are three of us working in the IT Support room in the Dean of Students Office. One is me, one is my friend Mark, and the other is Laila, the graphic designer. Her name is pronounced like Lila, but it hasn't stopped the song "Layla" from getting into my head whenever I go to work.

We're halfway through the fall semester. More than halfway, I guess. But in any case, it's been a while, and I don't think I've yet met anyone I really fancy. (This term is British but appropriate.) It makes me wonder how people move somewhere and boom, they're dating someone. Just like that. Boom. Like a cannon. I guess it's because they go out and do things, and I don't. I have resolved to fix this problem. I wanted to go out on Friday night, but everyone is going to the homecoming pep rally, which I have already elected not to go to. I don't want to pay money to see a band I don't like that much and a comedian I've never heard of.

"omg jordan," you say, spelling my name wrong, "u dont like steve miler band????" To which I reply, you don't like Jon Reep or whoever he is? Game, set, match. UCF's homecoming will have bands (as in, multiple bands) that college students (and I) like, and it's free. FSU had Stephen Colbert at their homecoming a few years ago. Who doesn't like Stephen Colbert? Answer: no one. I would pay dozens of dollars to see him.

Anyway, I solemnly resolve to go out and do something, preferably with some people, once a week or at some other interval. Or something like that. I guess I should just ask my friends or acquaintances where they go and ask to tag along. Except this week, when everyone will be going to the lame pep rally that's probably already sold out.

I listen to music with Rhythmbox, and it rox my sox. One relatively recent update added the ability to play tracks without any silence in between, but I was still getting a gap. I finally found the solution, which I'll post here in case other people don't find it obvious. You have to go to the Preferences, click the Playback tab, and select "Use crossfading backend." Set the crossfade duration to 0.0 seconds and check the option to crossfade between songs on the same album. Restart the program, and you're good to go. This makes listening to many albums (including Abbey Road and The Dark Side of the Moon, two of my favorites) much more enjoyable. (As an added bonus or annoyance, tracks fade out or fade in when you pause or unpause them, respectively! I choose to view this as a fun feature.)

This probably would have been useful a few months ago: Stormpulse provides information about, and maps of, active hurricanes.

Here's the answer to the question everyone has been asking: Is Barack Obama Muslin?

Yeah, more political stuff. Here's a video debunking some lies from John McCain's campaign ads.

Psst... go here and look at that number!