Email blogging test!

Enabled new features tonight. I can now blog by sending an email (even with some formatting) and each of my blog posts is mirrored on Twitter (so follow me if you do that) and Yahoo updates. Attached photos show up at the bottom of the post, and on Twitter with a short link to the full post. Nicely done WordPress! Email attachments will be included in your published post as follows: A single image is displayed inline with your post, if your email client supports this, or will be attached to the end of your post. Multiple images will be displayed as a gallery at the end of your post. Shortcodes Special shortcodes can be embedded in your email to configure various aspects of the published post. I can use them to mark categories, set a password, set tags, etc. Shortcodes can be included anywhere in the body of your email and must be in lowercase. via – theohaga Things that don’t work: From Yahoo email rich text, things lost by WordPress: centering of text, colored fonts, indents. Entire post is put inside a table for some reason. Font is smaller on WordPress. [title Your post title] short code failed to work. blogging this way from Sprint picture mail includes all kinds of crummy Sprint logos and formatting. Things that work: Adding an image at the bottom, links bold and italics categories short code

Renters Insurance + Finding out you paid too much

I’m moving. What to keep? What to give away?

For what I keep, I’m getting renters insurance.

(Just putting the words “insurance” or “mortgage”  in a post on your blog is like putting a plate of raw meat out for spam bots, so I’m sure this post will be flooded with comment spam, but I still think this is an important topic.)

I found a policy at Farmers Insurance for $500,000 of personal liability and $100,000 personal property coverage with a $1000 deductible for under $250/year.  ( When you buy Insurance be sure to get “the declarations page”. This explains what they really cover. Are there limits they cover for certain kinds of items, for example?)

Looking at the details is the only way to know if you are getting a good deal.

I should shop around, because as I now inventory my crap and find out how much it is worth, I see I’ve made some really terrible purchases. I’ve been ripped off for hundreds of dollars because I did not look up the price on line.

Anyway, do I need $25K, $50K or $100K coverage? could I have actually accumulated $100,000 worth of stuff?   They say it is possible.

Once I have sorted out what to keep, I’ll calculate the worth of my personal treasures. Have you ever done this?

I’ve known people who live out of a single suitcase while others have quite a collection of stuff. Here is how I’m breaking mine down. (Isn’t it interesting what “stuff” other people have?)

• Art Supplies
• Bathroom / Cleaning Supplies
• Books/CDs/DVDs
• Camping Gear
• Cash/Rare Coins/Stamps/Archaeological treasures
• Clothes/Shoes
• Computer Equipment
• Decorations/Statues/Paintings/Frames
• Electronics
• Furniture
• Guns/Amo/Swords/Body Armor/Security Systems
• House Plants/Garden Supplies
• Kitchen appliances
• Kitchenware
• Lamps
• Major Appliances
• Medicines/Vitamins
• Music Equipment
• Musical Instruments
• Office Supplies
• Rugs/Curtains/Linens
• Software
• Tools
• Toys/Gadgets/Sports Equipment/Weights

How do you decide what to keep? What if I need that _____ someday even though I have not used it for two years?

To calculate your values, I recommend using a spreadsheet. If you don’t already have one, get OpenOffice (free). OO  includes free  software similar to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.

Password Protected Posts

I’m playing with password protected posts tonight. Email me and tell me who you are and what you do for a living and why you want to read the post. I might send you the password.

New Free Xeno Song: “Home to You”

To celebrate surpassing 1 million hits on this blog, here is the third free song, two weeks in the making. “Home to You” is a three minute space rock opera.

Influences: Klaatu, CAKE, the Beatles, ELO, David Bowie, Jason Mraz.

It was going to be a science fiction story, but Lulu wanted a love song, so I made it a mix of the two. Special thanks to my roommate, “Irina the Astronaut Rescue Robot”!

It will make much more sense when someone makes a video for it… Here is the daydream which spawned the song.

The idea is that in the future when you are going on a rescue mission to save the Earth from a solar flare, you can stay in constant contact with someone remotely. Technology will allow you to be in two places at once.  You can also feel people (the Internet has evolved to include the sense of touch). Major Tom is both dancing with his wife and flying his space ship at the same time. Kim is on Earth, but is also hearing what is going on on the space ship.  The green parts are a virtual connection.

Home to You, A Miniature Space Rock Opera

Stunningly attired for the apocolypse, Kim, the astronaut’s wife smiles
As they slow dance in the underground gymnasium
He is virtually there, as he is flying towards the sun

Bang! There is a powerful explosion in the dark matter engines
And she looks deeply in his eyes, looking for a sign

And he says, “This is what I was meant for, you have always known that”
“This is what I came here to do.  Life is unpredictable
And love is indestructable
And if I can I will get home to you

Masterfully his fingers work the instruments
With seconds left to spare he does the job
As they ride the escalator to the balcony
The solar flare that would have fried the Earth goes into space

“Ground Control, it’s Major Tom. I just saved the Earth
Along with everything I ever knew, I’m coming home

Some damage in the delicate navigation grid
Sends him on a spiral back in time
He lands on Earth and nearly hits a dinosaur
He is actually scared, for the first time in his life
But he says, “This is what I was meant for”
“I have always known that this is what I came here to do.”
“Live is unpredictable, and love is indestructable”
“And if I can I will get home.”

He activates the beacon in the rescue pod
Maps the planet then sets up a base
He drops a teriyaki pterodactyl wing
A year later when they find him he can not believe his eyes
“Hi. I grew a beard and kept a journal. Such amazing beasts and weird plants too.”
Tears as his wife appears.
The kiss sends a shiver from his toes up to his neck and he says

I’m the one you fell for, you have always shown that
And while away my love just grew
Live is unpredictable and love is indestructible
It’s so good to be home. It’s so good to be home.

Xeno Song update: Empty Bucket

The first song of my new blog album, Everything Works Out Fine titled “Empty Bucket” (free download) is now redone with some heavy rock drums, a few guitars thrown in, improved lyrics, etc. Still a work in progress. Some of the vocals are nice, but some are sketchy and need to be redone. Enjoy version/mix #5!

Note to self: Had a crash in Cubase 5 as I was attempting a final Audio Mixdown to MP3. Somewhere along the line deleting unused files and emptying the trash caused the loss of sound files actually needed in a different song. Always back up your work… even when you are using a computer not connected to the Internet, running the latest greatest fully licensed 64-bit software on powerful hardware and you don’t expect a single crash. Using a recovery program, I was able to pull some of the deleted audio from the hard disk. Took hours to run.

Want a job? Give Bozeman your Facebook, Google passwords

If you’re planning to apply for a job with the city of Bozeman, Mont., be prepared to hand over much more than your references and resume.

The Rocky Mountain city instructs all job applicants to divulge their user names and passwords for “any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.”

“Before we offer people employment in a public trust position, we have a responsibility to do a thorough background check,” Chuck Winn, Bozeman’s assistant city manager, said in an interview on Thursday. “This is just a component of a thorough background check.”

“Shame on us if there was information out there available about a person who applied for a job who was a child molester or had some sort of information out there on the Internet that kind of showed those propensities and we didn’t look for it, we didn’t ask, and we hired that person,” Winn said. “In many ways we would have let the public down.”

After local news reports highlighted the requirement on Wednesday, a firestorm of sorts has erupted online: irate e-mail messages have jammed mailboxes in City Hall, snarky Twitter.com comments have poked fun at a place once awarded the sobriquet of “All-America City,” and a poll indicates 98 percent of respondents believe the city’s policy amounts to an “invasion of privacy.”

In addition to the usual requests for a home address and Social Security number, Bozeman’s one-page background check form asks for the account information for “current personal or business Web sites, Web pages or memberships.” It assures applicants that any information received “is confidential.”

… An attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group based in San Francisco, questioned Bozeman’s decision to ask for user names and passwords.

“I think its indefensibly invasive and likely illegal as a violation of the First Amendment rights of job applicants,” said EFF attorney Kevin Bankston. “Essentially, they’re conditioning your application for employment on your waiving your First Amendment rights…and risking the security of your information by requiring you to share your password with them.. Where does it stop? How about a photocopy of your diary?”

via Want a job? Give Bozeman your Facebook, Google passwords | Politics and Law – CNET News.

Welcome to the million hits club

I see from my stats that over a million visitors have stopped by this blog now. Thanks, and tell a friend. Posts will resume soon … dealing with a computer crash.

Last night of harmony festival

Last night of harmony festival, originally uploaded by xeno735.

I’m lucky to be alive tonight. On Highway 101 South a large deer walked onto the freeway in front of my car. I had to slam on the brakes and swerve. The Prius I was driving handled very well breaking hard at freeway speed.

Got two hour sleep Friday night due to noisy hippies in our camp. Mostly had a great time. Saw Cake, the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains … tons of music of all kinds. Missed George Nori, but saw some other speakers that were great. Inspirational weekend.

Google Gears 0.5.21.0 Firefox WordPress Image Upload: Crash Crash Crash

Google Gears 0.5.21.0 crashes Firefox when I attempt to upload an image to WordPress. If this happens to you, just disable to Google Gears add-in for Firefox.
Google was having some problems this morning. This may be related.

New free Xeno song: Night with an Empty Bucket

New free Xeno song: Night with an Empty Bucket

This song is what happened as I was testing various instruments in Cubase 5 which I just purchased.

It is odd for me to write a song with no guitar.

Inspired by hearing about people who travel to foreign countries to help people less fortunate, and by this picture which accompanied this story:

Gunshots ricocheted around Nairobi’s streets and houses and shops burned today as Kenya’s post-election violence escalated. The Foreign Office has now warned ‘against all but essential travel to Kenya’ and British tour operators have cancelled tours to the country for the rest of the week. The Federation of Tourist Operators is also considering travel arrangements for the 7,000 Britons already on trips in Kenya – metro

See the box on the left for the song. Click to play or download “Night with an Empty Bucket”.

I sometimes change the song that is uploaded on the box to improve the mix  so if you download you may get an older version, but please steal this for your iPod or whatever if you like listening to it.