Monday, May 13, 2002

The burn worked flawlessly. Cool! (And the TiBook makes a nice disc holder until I can put the backup safely away). Looking at the console, it appears that underrun protection (Burn Proof) isn't available on the DVD/CDRW combo drives found in, at least, this generation of the TiBook. 9:41:13 PM

This should be interesting... I'm currently burning a CD [backup of random hunks of my user account-- nice not to have spread stuff out across the filesystem!] while riding on the train and actively using the computer. Usually, the train ride feels something like riding on a dirt road in a car with a bad suspension. I wonder if it'll burn at all, much less result in a usable backup? (My replacement TiBook has a CD burner built in. As a result, I have found myself backing up critical hunks of data on a much more regular basis. It is incredibly convenient under OS X-- insert blank, click prepare button, drag-n-drop, click burn, *done*. At less than 5 cents a CDR, I don't even feel guilty only shoving 25MB onto a 650+MB CDR. Admittedly, I usually try and find a random hunk of 600+MB to drop on just for the sake of having it backed up-- apps, downloaded data, and other stuff that is easily replaced.) 9:26:10 PM

I have been wondering what Peter Gabriel has been up to recently. Gabriel has always been a favorite of mine. From Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (Genesis) to Passion to Security to all of his wonderful work with making "world music" widely available, the depth and breadth of this individual's creative efforts are awesome! However, Gabriel has been extremely quiet in the last few years. Outside of the OVO millennium show in 2000 (obviously), the last major release of new work was US in 1992. It seems that the dry spell has ended. I was at the the world's most dangerous CD/record store over the weekend (after WWDC)-- the SF location-- and had a flip through the Peter Gabriel section. I was nicely surprised to see that most of Gabriel's catalog has been remastered. Definitely welcome considering the abysmal quality of a number of the original US releases of his work. However, I was ecstatic to find a new release that I hadn't heard of. Specifically, Gabriel put together a soundtrack for a movie by an Australian independent filmaker entitled Rabbit Proof Fence. The album is titled The Long Walk Home. In short, it is halfway between Birdy and Passion. Overall, it is relatively dark and emotional as the former, but integrates many elements from native Australia much as the latter integrated many elements from middle east. Overall, I'm enjoying the album thoroughly and imagine that it will remain on my iPod for a long time to come! (Amazon has a listing, as well, but it is not yet released. They also have import versions available now for considerably more money than the copy I purchased from Amoeba.) Further examination of Gabriel's site reveals that he has a new album in the works, as well! 8:27:34 PM