Okay, listen: I tried to give Vista a chance, I really did. And if you think about it, it’s not even really Vista’s fault (although maybe it is…) that I plan on going back to XP. Mostly I blame Creative, who can’t seem to get their act together to release a decent set of sound card drivers. I ended up tracking down a set of “unofficial” drivers provided by daniel_k which gave me much better results, but still not perfect.

Time to head back to the OS where everything actually worked.

I was greatly surprised when my PC contracted a virus, even more so when I couldn’t easily remove it.

Instead of spending several hours trying to get things back to normal (and afterward not even being sure that everything had been cleaned properly) I decided to reinstall the OS. Instead of re-installing Windows XP I decided to force Windows Vista on myself.

Before the cries of disbelief and rage start being flung my way, let me explain that there is only one reason I am doing this: it will make me use my Mac more.

I just received an e-mail from YouTube that said the following:

“This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by VAN MORRISON / EXILE PRODUCTIONS / EXILE PUBLISHING claiming that this material is infringing:

Hamburg Street Performers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Yj9c66jZE“

Since the video is no longer viewable (“This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by VAN MORRISON / EXILE PRODUCTIONS / EXILE PUBLISHING”) I’ll have to summarize its content for you. While I was in Hamburg, Germany I happened across a couple of street performers (one on guitar/drums, the other on upright bass) that were playing various songs. I took a short video of them with my digital camera and uploaded it to YouTube, where it has sat for almost a year. The song they were singing was a Van Morrison tune — regardless, I find this very surprising.

Not being able to take video on a public street without someone claiming copyright is a little too Big Brother for my taste.

It looks like I just missed the rain. The above image is a picture I took from the front porch just before I went on my semi-regular walk around the neighborhood. The days here have been lovely lately.

My best friend is getting married on Saturday. I can’t believe we’re all grown up… but I’ll continue to enjoy the fact that we’re all still young adults!