I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bit hasty sometimes. I can remember years ago when I first gave T9 text input a try. I was just beginning to send text messages from my cell phone and thought I’d give it a try. I started punching numbers like I normally would, which translated into complete garbage on the screen. I thought all T9 did was suggest a word while you were typing, which it wasn’t doing a very good job of. I decided it sucked in those initial 5 seconds so I disabled it, and never looked back. I thought, when am I gonna send text messages very often anyway?

Several years and cell phones later, I am beginning to find myself text messaging much more often. Three or four times a day is becoming standard. Today I thought maybe it was time to give T9 another shot and headed over to the website. After a quick review, I am now typing messages much more quickly and efficiently.

And it made me wonder, how many other times have I decided something sucked because I didn’t spend any time learning about it? How many great products never succeed because the general population can’t figure it out in 5 seconds?

I’ve been using the Royale Theme for a while now and am really likin’ it a lot better than the default Windows XP theme. It’s officially from Microsoft, which means you don’t have to install any additional software (like WindowBlinds) to use it. In fact, it is the default theme that ships with Media Center Edition.

Click to view fullsize image.

If you’re interested in giving your Windows a little face lift, download the Royale Theme here.

Anyone know of any good slideshow software? I’m gonna be helping my girlfriend create one for her sister’s wedding during the next couple of weeks.

I need to be able to:

• Easily add pictures & create transitions
• Fade sections of songs in and out for the background music
• Create a DVD with a menu
• Maybe add a pan/zoom effect to each picture to give the slideshow a little something extra

I’ll be trying out Ulead Picture Show 3 and Adobe Premiere Elements this weekend.

Damnit! I’ve been tagged.

The rules:
List ten songs that you are currently digging…it doesn’t matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they’re no good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the ten songs in your blog. Then tag five other people to see what they’re listening to.

Basically, I picked 10 songs out of the Recently Played & Top 25 Most Played playlists in iTunes that I’ve been listening to a bunch over the last couple of weeks.

da’ list

1. Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh | Bright Eyes | Fevers & Mirrors
   I’ve actually been listening to quite a bit of Bright Eyes lately. Dude can write some lyrics.
2. Rebellion (Lies) | The Arcade Fire | Funeral
   A band I was just recently turned on to, The Arcade Fire is quite good. I also really like the song Une Annee Sans Lumiere on the album.
3. Badd feat. Mike Jones & Mr. Collipark | Ying Yang Twins | USA (United State of Atlanta)
   Cute face, little waist, wit’ a big behind..
4. Change Your Mind | The Killers | Hot Fuss
   I’m kind of burnt out on the album as a whole, but I still listen to this song a bunch for some reason.
5. Photobooth | Death Cab For Cutie | Forbidden Love [EP]
   Death Cab is probably my favorite band at the moment, and this is probably my favorite song by them. I’m still mad at myself for not going to see them when they played here in Birmingham a little over a year ago.
6. Hate It or Love It (feat. 50 Cent) | The Game | The Documentary
   G-G-G-Unit! I don’t really listen to a lot of rap, usually just when hangin’ out on the weekends and such, and this is one I’ve been listening to as of late.
7. King Of The Rodeo | Kings Of Leon | Aha Shake Heartbreak
   Some buddies from Florida State turned me on to the Kings a few months back. Great album.
8. Brand New Colony | The Postal Service | Give Up
   From the lead singer of Death Cab and others, this song starts out sounding like it belongs in a Nintendo game. Cool line: “I’ll be the platform shoes, undo what heredity’s done to you. You won’t have to strain to look into my eyes.” I’ve been hearing several of the songs from this album lately as background music during commercials, segways, and such.
9. Gone For Good | The Shins | Chutes Too Narrow
   Great song from an even better band. Kind of has a country twang to it. Great lyrics.
10. Your Ex-Lover Is Dead | Stars | Set Yourself On Fire
    The album itself is OK as a whole. I’ve just really taken a liking to this track lately.

On to the tagging

• Jeremy
• Ian
• Christopher Update: He did it
• Jean Marie Update: She did it

To be honest, I really don’t know 5 people that have a blog that I could tag. I’m the only one out of my friends that has a blog, or even knows what a blog is for that matter, so if you want to have a go at this, leave a comment and I’ll pass it to you, too.

Palmeiro swore in court that he has “never used steroids. Period.” Now he claims it was not intentional. Please… Guess he thought that needle was something else poking him in the ass every week.

Are we really supposed to believe any of these clowns anymore? Why in the hell would they be taking supplements and using lotions they know nothing about, especially this season with all the heat from the baseball commission and media? The reason is they know exactly what they’re doing.

When their career begins to fade, a baseball player has to make a choice. Retire and fall back on the ol’ degree they got some 15 years before, or the luckier ones become part of baseball media. Either way the salary is a measly comparison.

Or they can continue to play, sometimes even better than when they were in their “prime” back when they were 28 or 30. They can continue to make millions. They can continue to live in the way they’ve grown accustomed. The hardest part is subsiding a fear of needles. Steroids, not the little blue pill Palmeiro advertises, are the fountain or youth for these guys.

And if you get caught? Deny, Deny, Deny. That’s it! All you get is a slap -more like a flick- on the wrist! Palmeiro will have to miss 10 games and will lose a little over 160 thousand - pocket change to him.

Recently, Palmeiro joined the league of greats by becoming only the 4th player with 3,000 hits and 500 homeruns. In my opinion, it’s all bullshit. The day you cheat, your “records” shouldn’t mean shit. He should be denied a place in the baseball Hall of Fame and I hope he loses all of his multi-million dollar sponsorships.

But until the day comes when the consequences of steroid use match it’s effectiveness, aging baseball players or those looking for an edge have an easy decision to make.