This week's album is a collection of 2 EPs from Beirut. The first EP is a collection of songs written by Beirut, performed by a Zapotec band in Mexico. This means you will get the full 20 piece band, full of horns, playing through the unique stylings of Beirut. This in itself is worth it for me, but then you get something totally different with the second EP. This is a collection of mellow electronic rock that is relatively well done. Good stuff all around again by Beirut.
Archive for February, 2009
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March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland
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No Way Down
This new album by a band called Air France is another great chillout electronic album. It has enough variety and interest to keep you entertained, it is not over the top to distract you from something else. Fantastic for background music or just something to put on when you are relaxing, this is a really nice album. -
And WordPress Moves Into the Lead!
There has been some competition in the open source CMS area in the last couple of years, specifically between Drupal and WordPress. As each grows and matures, they each gain loyal followers who claim that their system can do everything the other can do, and more! While I am not here to speak on which you should be using, I will say that the recent release of WordPress 2.7 has potentially changed the game. Users of both systems know that the biggest headache for either is trying to keep it up to date, not only the standard install, but also with plugins/modules for each. WordPress 2.7 introduced the ability to update from within the browser and with this, makes it my recommendation until Drupal does the same. If you have not used one or both of these systems, I can show you what I mean.
Updating the Core System
Below are two series of screenshots, one for Drupal and one for WordPress on updating the core system.
Drupal
WordPress
As you can see, after the WordPress update was completed in 3 steps, while after two steps with Drupal, I am just getting to downloading the core and then have to FTP it to my site and hope nothing is overwritten.
Updating Plugins/Modules
Here are the respective upgrade paths for add-ons for each system
Drupal
WordPress
Same thing here, WordPress is updated through the browser, Drupal I have to download and FTP. An added step for Drupal is making sure there are no dependancies on other modules which also need updates. This means that you might have to run your system with the big red banner on it for awhile until the supporting modules are also available.
Admin Interface
Taking WordPress really over the top is the new admin interface. When Drupal came out with a new default design in version 6, it was a big step up from the previous theme. The problem is that they didn't go far enough because they didn't address the structure and organization of the admin panel. Below are two views of the Drupal admin panel, one with what shows up above the fold, the second a full list of a typical install.
Now compare that admin navigation to the sidebar in WordPress 2.7, both standard and fully expanded
In preparing to write for this, I gave myself the minor task of trying to figure out how I would change the sidebar of my site in both systems. I won't go into the detailed process on how to do this for either system, but I will just show you two options below and let you decide which is easier to figure out how to change.
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No Valentine’s Love from the TiVo HD
For a combo Valentine's/Birthday gift, Rebekah got me something that had been on our wish list for awhile, a TiVo HD. We currently have a Series 2 TiVo and with Southslope offering HD service now and the Netflix viewing through the TiVo HD, it was a great time to upgrade. Or so we thought!
A little background info, our current Series 2 TiVo works with our cable service by taking in a composite signal from the cable box and uses an IR blaster to change the channels on the cable box. This works well since our cable service is IPTV and comes through an Ethernet cable, not a coax connection, so we need our cable box. This is where problems start with the TiVo HD.
The TiVo HD was designed to be a replacement for your cable box. It only has a coax input and leverages the CableCARD technology to basically replace a standard cable box. This is a problem for us, since we don't have a coax connection. I checked the Southslope cable box and it does have a coax out, so I had some hope we could get it kinda working. My dreams were dashed though when I found the TiVo HD doesn't support the IR blaster, so even if we could route the signal through the TiVo, we couldn't change the channels.
Unfortunately, this meant the TiVo had to be shipped back. This was disappointing for both Rebekah and I, and while there is some blame to be passed to both TiVo and Southslope, I blame TiVo more. They basically removed functionality from the Series 2 to the HD. Right now, we are able to record and watch TV through the TiVo Series 2, but the new TiVo wouldn't work at all. I might blame Southslope for having a unique cable setup, but it isn't like this is some old technology, it is up and coming. I would hope TiVo would be looking for ways to support this. The TiVo HD even says that it cannot support satellite connections at this time. That is a rather large market to not support, again when you have a technology already that does work with it.
Hopefully TiVo works on adding these other markets in the future. What it does do for us is make me look at other technologies that I had ignored because I was so pleased with the TiVo service. At the end of the day, we will likely stick with TiVo, but it isn't good for business when customers start looking at other options.
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In Our Bedroom After the War
This is an album from 2007 that I found out about after I made my top ten list, which is why it was not on there. This is a fantastic album and one of the best examples of a male/female vocal duo out there. The play between the two lyrical stylings is almost perfect, accenting each other throughout. Add in quality instrumental work and you have catchy album that isn't too poppy, but is accessible by a wide audience.