Opera Software has deviated from their weekly build schedule, and released a new build early. You’ll find more information on the new build of Opera 9.0 here.
Archive for March, 2006
New Opera 9.0 (Mid)-Weekly Build
Thursday, March 30th, 2006Google Music Store In The Works?
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006Could media giant Google be working on their own downloadable music service? One ZDNet blogger thinks so, and I’d have to agree with him.
The basic framework for a possible web-based, Google Music Store has already been laid out. Google could simply build upon the existing Google Video service so that it also contains music, probably in an MP3 format. A Video + Music service could then become Google Media, Google Entertainment, or something like that.
The possible payment system is already in place as well with Google Payments, which Google is using with Google Video and Google Base.
So, how would a Google Music service work? Well, here is my idea…
A user would log into the service, search for and then buy whatever song(s) the user was after. The purchase might offer two options. The first, and cheapest option, would store the song in the user’s account and allow the user to listen to the music via a browser (from any location and maybe via GMail?). Probably costing around $0.50. Now, because most people will want to put the music on a portable media player, there would have to be a download option as well. So, for around $1.00 the user can purchase a downloadable version of the song, which is also stored in the account for playback.
Computer crash and you’ve lost all your music? No problem, the Google Music store keeps every purchase you’ve made in your Google Account and all you have to do is redownload the song(s).
We can get even more far fetched (or is it?), by saying that the Google Desktop could contain the media player for Google Music, perhaps with playback controls built into the Google Toolbar. Maybe even tie into Google Mobile for easy access? No need to buy a special player, just use a web enabled phone.
Hey, anything is possible, but right now it’s just speculation and rumors. Though one thing is for certain, Google is quite capable of creating such a service.
WoW Downtime Gets News Attention
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006I posted earlier this morning about yesterday’s World of Warcraft patch and how it kept the servers offline most of the day. Well, as I was doing my morning round of news reading, I saw that C|Net* and ZDNet*, which are part of the same network, are carrying a story talking about the downtime.
You’ll find the article’s here and here.
*C|Net Networks also owns game enthusiast news portal GameSpot.
World of Warcraft 1.10 Patch
Wednesday, March 29th, 2006During yesterday’s scheduled maintenance Blizzard rolled out the 1.10 patch. For better or for worse, it’s here…. and from the looks of things, it should be classified under the for worse part. Most US servers were offline for a majority of the day. Maelstrom, for example, didn’t come up till after 8:00 PM EST only to be brought back offline about an hour later. I’m not sure when or if it ever came back up.
Those of you needing to download the patch, you can of course use Blizzard’s horrible patch downloader, or grab it at one of these places:
I’m sure there are other places as well that are 100 times faster than Blizzard’s downloader.
A full list of changes is in the patch notes.
Interesting (And True) Quote From MM
Monday, March 27th, 2006I use the Google Personalized Page has my default page while at work, and one of the things on it is a random quote (or quote of the day). Usually I don’t give it much thought; however I thought I’d share the one provided today…
“Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised.”
That is from Marilyn Manson.
I don’t care what you think about him or his music, but that quote is absolutely true.
New Google Layout
Monday, March 27th, 2006Is Google experimenting with a new layout for search results? From the looks of things, the answer to that is yes. Want to see what they are playing around with? Use the following code in your browser’s address bar:
javascript:alert(document.cookie=”PREF=ID=fb7740f107311e46:TM=1142683332:LM=1142683332:
S=fNSw6ljXTzvL3dWu;path=/;domain=.google.com”)
You’ll need to remove the line break. I’ve tested it in Opera and Firefox and it works there. No reason it shouldn’t work in IE as well.
d3bruts1d.com
Monday, March 27th, 2006I’ve taken a moment to look around d3bruts1d.com and seen some things I liked and didn’t. One of the most obvious is that while this is my own personal site, it doesn’t really have that personal feeling.
So, I’ll be making a few changes around here. You’ll notice that the title reads d3bruts1d.com :: The life and times of Bryan McDaniel. This is my site, so people need to know who is writing all this crap, right? Yeah… I thought so. :p
You’ll begin to see more post about general stuff. I’ll continue to post about tech related stuff that I find interesting, but I’ll also post more about what’s going on with me, my family, and whatever. So yes, in some ways this will become more of a true “blog”.
I plan on adding more links and images to the appropriate places in the next few days, so be sure to keep an eye on those. 
Congrats To SSC
Monday, March 27th, 2006Wanted to post about Shatter Scar Clan, the World of Warcraft guild I belong to. This has been a pretty big month for SSC.
Yesterday night, SSC for the first time downed the brood mother, Onyxia. After several failed attempts over the past weeks, she finally died. Congrats to the SSC team that was there. I wish I had been. 
Besides Onyxia, SSC also has most of Molten Core down to “farm status”. They have managed to make it all the way Major Domo, which means only one boss remains that they have not killed… Ragnaros. I’m sure that the slaying of Ragnaros is only a few more weeks away. Then it won’t be long until SSC is ready to take on Black Wing Lair. Again, nice work gang.
Both of these great feats were accomplished by the number of new recruits that SSC has gotten in the past several month. I have no idea how large we are now, but I continue to see new members each day that I do not recognize. Welcome to the guild. One of these new recruits happens to be a level 41 rogue by the name of Dethala. For those of you who don’t know, that’s my wife’s character.
While most of the guild has been busy in Onyxia’s Lair and Molten Core, another part of the guild “SnackAttack” (the PvP team) has been busy tearing up the battlegrounds. I never thought I would see the alliance teams give up and leave at the sight of an SSC group, but it has been happening more and more as of late.
The PvP team has a number of people on their way to High Warlord (Rank 14). Kazarath will most likely make it tomorrow, with a couple other people in line for next week. Me? I’ve still got a few more weeks to go. I should hit rank 10 tomorrow.
I'm Sure Glad It's Spring
Monday, March 27th, 2006One week ago was the beginning of spring, and yet around Knoxville it’s been nothing but cold. There was (a little) snow and sleet yesterday, and this morning I had to scrape frost off my truck. What’s up with that?!
Ahh… good ole East Tennessee weather. It’s enough to make a person sick (literally)!
Dude, You're Getting An Alienware
Thursday, March 23rd, 2006The rumors have been circulating around for a while, but all of that was put to rest yesterday. That’s right, Dell finally announced that it will acquire maker of high-priced, over rated PC systems, Alienware.
Apparently no one was really thinking of the Dell brand when it came to high-end, performance PCs. Go figure. Dell hopes that the acquisition of Alienware will change that. If I had money to bet, I’d be willing to say people will continue to think ill of Dell and more people will begin to think twice about Alienware. But, I’m just a geek, so what do I know.
Don’t take my word on it, here places you can find thoughts from other geeks.
I think I’ll continue to build my own systems.