RKNet Blog... Thing

I realize that everyone’s probably already sick to death of hearing about Chrome, but I thought I’d chime in anyway.

Here’s a memory usage shot of Chrome versus Opera.

Click the image to see the big picture

It’s not really a fair comparison, as the same things aren’t open, but I realized that with the way I have Opera configured, it couldn’t be a fair comparison anyway. I have around 50 RSS feeds, one mail account, and at least one IRC channel which all contribute to the overall memory load Opera exerts on my system. That said, this shot was taken with 3 actual web page tabs open in Opera, and 3 browser extra tabs open (IRC, details for one feed, and the transfers window), and only Gmail and the about:memory pages open in Chrome.

Opera in this instance is using less memory. (WHOOO VICTORY!) Hardly a scathing indictment of Chrome’s use of system resources, as if I had Gmail open in Opera the memory usage stats would undoubtedly be much in favor of Chrome. Which in my mind is simply a strong argument in support of the idea that browser speed is absolutely predicated by the way the browser is used. A new install of Firefox will always be faster than one with plugins added. A new install of Opera should be faster before all the extra features are configured. IE will be faster without toolbars. Etc, etc. The base speed tests and resource usage tests that browser superiority enthusiasts look to for support of their favorite browser (in theory) only indicates the speed or resource usage of the browser at its optimum settings, meaning regular users may never notice a difference between browser speeds or system burden.

The operating system certainly plays a factor as well. Having played with Opera on Ubuntu lately, I noticed that the Windows version of Opera (9.52/9.51) is more stable and less demanding than it is on Ubuntu (7.10, Gnome). If anyone has an advice on how to make Opera and Ubuntu (or more to the point, Flash, Opera and Ubuntu) play nicer together, I’m open to suggestion. I’m actually rather new to this “linux” thing.

Incidentally, I found out about the about:memory feature via Lifehacker. If you haven’t done it already, I strongly suggest using the about:internets (yes plural) feature. :D

(Edit: Despite being the “code” view, the wordpress post editor function still has WYSIWYG properties at times, like automatically inserting line breaks even if it means breaking apart an existing element incorrectly, as was shown above for a while. Should be all better now though! )

I don’t know about you but I love the fact that my friends listen to notably different stuff. It means more opportunities to discover new things. Also, what a great example of a simple chart indicating massive amounts of information.

If you’re on Last.FM, add me! I love to find out what music drives people.

Monday and Tuesday I was at the An Event Apart conference in Boston, Mass., and I’m still buzzing about it. Soon I’ll have my condensed notes up for your enjoyment, as well as some trip specific observations.

Hopefully with everything I learned, I’ll soon be able to rock this shirt with complete and utter confidence.

In the meantime, I did tweet like a fiend during the conference itself read up for some of my keen as-it-happens reporting in action!

I was poking around for more information on Liber AL Vel Legis earlier and found SourceryForge.org (I c wut they did thar). A little further sniffing about turned up this really neat Tarot spread generator. Though still under construction, it offers four types of readings: single card, 3 card relating to influence, 3 card relating to time, and a celtic cross spread. (The celtic cross spread function is the part that’s still being worked on.)

It allows you to choose whether or not cards may be shown as reversed, it allows you to restrict your results to Major Arcana only, also. Each card gets linked to the appropriate page in the SourceryForge wiki so you can read more about it as you choose. And of course a code generator so you can embed it into your blog like I have done above.

Looks like a neat little tool, and probably useful for those who are making a study of Tarot and cannot afford a deck, or are familiar with Tarot and wish to see how a digital deck holds up to their more traditional experiences.

Because I love you all so dearly, gentle readers, I have put together another mixwit tape for your enjoyment. In this installement I share with you a variety of delightful mashups. What is a mashup, you may ask? Something akin to a remix, but in this case more focused on taking two (sometimes more) songs and melding them together in such a way that you’d never want to hear them any other way. Generally speaking, this mix is intended to at least get you chair dancing, if not full out dancing your ass off. Three from A plus D, three from Instamatic, three from DJ Lobsterdust.

1. A plus D - Love Will Tear You Apart (She Wants Revenge vs. Joy Division vs. Bauhaus)
• Not much to say about this one. Consider it an appetizer for what A plus D has to offer.
2. A plus D - Sexy Peek-A-Boo (I’m Bringing Siouxsie Back) Justin Timberlake vs. Siouxie & The Banshees
• Ordinarily I’d have nothing to do with Justin Timberlake. I really don’t go in for “pop” music. This changes things a lot. Trust me. Also, accordian.
3. A plus D - Don’t Stop Believin’ In Planet Rock (Journey vs. Afrika Bambaataa)
• Journey never had so much funk. Nor did they expect to have it. Yet… it feels so right.
4. Instamatic - Crazy Marvin (Gnarls Barkley vs. Marvin Gaye)
• That song you couldn’t get away from meets a soul master for a refreshing look at both.
5. Instamatic - Electric Loop (Judas Priest vs. Pendulum)
• Chosen mostly for the liberal Willy Wonka (original film thankyouverymuch) sampling, in all honesty. Fast-paced and fun.
6. Instamatic - Ghetto Tits 2006 (Benassi mix of Outkast vs. Peaches vs. Scissor Sisters)
• This is mostly Peaches, and therefore has liberal use of various sexually charged terms some folks consider foul. NSFW I guess. Probably my fav of the Instamatic remixes.
7. DJ Lobsterdust - SaySayism Allstar Jam
• When they call this an allstar jam they aren’t at all kidding. This is my favorite mashup of all time. Just listen. The transitions are masterful, the songs flow like an undeniable force of nature, and I pretty much guarantee you’ll smile at least a little.
8. DJ Lobsterdust - RightNowRightNow (Beastie Boys - Love Psychedelico)
• I think if the Beastie Boys had met Hot Chip, or hung out with the guys hacking their C64 to make chip tunes they might have made something like this on their own.
9. DJ Lobsterdust - Glass Octopus (The Beatles vs. Blondie)
• This may be the most approachable mashup for people who don’t really care for hip hop or techno or dance-oriented music. It’s Blondie’s Heart of Glass mixed with The Beatles’ Octopus’s Garden in a really fun, natural way. Still got a great beat for those who do enjoy a good excuse to dance.

That’s all for now! I hope you have as much fun with this as I have!
Image on the tape is art from P. Robertson’s Kings of Power 4 Billion %. Download it. Watch it. He’s great.

Makes sense to me. Another gem from Pixdaus.

Did I happen to mention that I love making mix tapes?? I am already hopelessly in love with Mixwit.

On this mix:

Blonde Redhead
Sonic Youth
Of Montreal
Royksopp
David Bowie
SUPER SECRET SPECIAL THING! FOR YOU!
The Knife
Shael Riley (AKA Disk Masta Smokabitch) x 2!
Jose the Bronx Rican

Traipsing about my collection of RSS links, as I am oft wont to do, I discovered one labeled Blackr. Despite the obvious Web 2.0 name, it struck me as curious and I proceeded.

Blackr is described as a way to view Flickr content without all the noise of navigation, comments, and various whatnots. There weren’t any examples provided, but the general concept was sound.

I was presented with four bookmarklet options: black background, black background with a white border, white background, and white background with a black border. I chose the bookmarklet for viewing pictures with a black background and a white border.

As a test, I hopped over to Gatochy’s photo stream, a personal favorite Flickr gallery. Picking an enchanting photo of Anna May Wong, I clicked the bookmarklet with my breath held for impending browser doom. (As an Opera user, I tend to be a little skeptical of neat new add-ons, as most of them are designed with Firefox in mind.)

The results?

Wow! The photo really stands out with the crisp border and the dark background, like putting diamonds on black velvet. I imagine that this tool would be most useful for people who have to find photos for a specific purpose and need a lightbox approach to viewing Flickr images. People who really prefer a minimalist approach to image searching, and people who like fancy web toys might also find a lot of use for this bookmarklet.

It’s also got keyboard shortcuts available to change the background/border, and to turn the effect off so you can continue on your Flickr-y way. (The 1,2,3,4 options listed on the Blackr site don’t work for me, as they’re already assigned as Opera shortcuts.)

All in all, a really neat bookmarklet tool for Flickr fanatics! I give it a 4 out of 5.

I went in to reproduce the first wallpaper in a more common format and went and made a different one entirely. Luckily for you this one is in 1024×768, which is much more common than the previous one which I have yet to doctor into something more practical.

For this I found myself inspired by the age-old saying: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” - which is a load of crap, but somehow charmingly sentimental. Ah well. Enjoy the fruits of my blood, sweat, and tears you freeloaders… er, I mean, enjoy the wallpaper. Don’t forget to re-visit this and the previous post for more sizes of each. Card friendly PDF versions for easier printing will be generated on-demand.

Let it never be said that I throw complete disfavor upon arbitrary, stupid holidays based around the martyrdom of one of three possible guys in order to overwrite pagan tradition. Far from it, any excuse to get more color in my dreary winter, and of course free candy, is a good excuse.

That said I have prepared a lovely little something to give to the one you’d like to get all cuddly-wuddly with for this (contrived, commercialised) Valentine’s Day. It works well as a wallpaper for 1600×1200 displays. I may edit this later to include other, more common screen sizes, so be on the lookout.

Please enjoy! The majority of this was constructed using photoshop brushes located over at brusheezy. They’re absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend checking them out at your next earliest convenience.