I’m now on Twitter: isucompositeur.

Well, development on StudioMan is progressing quite nicely. I’m much happier with how the UI and features of this incarnation are turning out, and while I’m sure I won’t be ready for a release any earlier than this summer, it’s definitely coming along.

That said… I’m getting a little tired of staring at the standard Apple application icon everytime I launch a debug build! I would like to give StudioMan its own unique icon. The problem is, I just don’t have the skill to do it myself.

Is there anybody out there who likes this sort of thing that would want to take this up? I’m not in a position to pay you at this point in time, but you would be given credit for the icon in the program, and I’d be more than willing to arrange for a payment if at any point StudioMan goes up for non-free distribution.

Here’s what I’m looking for: I need a 128×128 PNG file with a transparent background. What I would like for the icon is an image of a grand piano, shown from the perspective of somebody sitting at the keyboard. In place of music on the “music stand” (I’m not sure what that’s called on a piano…), there’s a page of what looks like a calendar view from iCal (a weekly view, with different colored event bubbles–if you don’t have iCal, the Google Calendar view looks pretty similar).

If you’re artistically inclined and this seems like your kind of challenge, contact me or leave a comment here, and thanks for your help giving StudioMan an identity!

//edit: apparently the size needs to be 512×512… Apple went and changed their guidelines at some point.

I’m a very patient and accomodating person. Frankly, I wasn’t happy with how the Bush administration handled North Korea. It probably put us in the position we’re in now.

That having been said… it’s getting old. Flatten Pyongyang, for all I care. They really need to be put in their place. Since they seem to want war so bad, let it be brought. Maybe we can end this horseshit once and for all.

So, the regular season is over. The playoffs start this week… here’s my take on the matchups.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Boston vs. #8 Montreal: This has the potential to be a really good matchup. Unfortunately, I’m afraid it’s going to stay just that–potential. These are two teams headed in complete opposite directions. There may be a little nastiness befit these Original Six rivals, but in the end I think Tim Thomas and the Bs are going to wipe the floor with the Habs. Boston in 4.

#2 Washington vs. #7 New York Rangers: I’m not sure what to think about here… I was hoping Carolina would be in the #7 spot and the Rangers would meet up with the Devils in a 3/6 matchup… alas, it was not to be. I think this matchup will be a lot more even than the Bs/Habs matchup; Washington has more offensive power (Ovechkin, Semin, Green… to name a few), but New York definitely wins in the goaltending department. In the end, I think the Caps will take it because they’ve just been relaxing and having fun, while the Rangers have had to fight their way back into contention. Washington in 6.

#3 New Jersey vs. #6 Carolina: After Martin Brodeur came back from missing most of the season after elbow surgery, the Devils looked unstoppable. However, since Brodeur set the record for most wins by a goaltender in his career, he and the Devils have looked much more human. Meanwhile, Carolina has been on a tear (I believe the second-best record in the league since the All-Star break, behind St. Louis) and Cam Ward has been quietly pretending he’s Henrik Lundqvist or (har har) Martin Brodeur. I think this matchup has upset written all over it. Carolina in 7.

#4 Pittsburgh vs. #5 Philadelphia: Pittsburgh was heading the wrong way down a one-way street as recently as the All-Star break, while Philadelphia has quietly been playing excellent hockey all season. However, the firing of Michel Therrien and the promotion of Dan Bylsma has lit a fire under Sidney Crosby and company, and they have re-emerged as a powerhouse team in the East. This will be a tight matchup, but in the end I think Philadelphia’s physical presence will wear the Pens out. Philadelphia in 6.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

#1 San Jose vs. #8 Anaheim: This divisional matchup will be one of the nastiest in the first round. San Jose has been throwing their weight around all season, with newcomers Rob Blake and Claude Lemieux filling in their roles very well and coach Todd McLellan bringing his Cup-winning experience over from Detroit. However, Anaheim has recently shown a lot of spunk in fighting back into playoff contention, and the return of Francois Beauchemin cannot be overstated. This will be a closer series than many think, but I just don’t think Anaheim has the tools to finish off a San Jose team that just seems to have it all this year. San Jose in 6.

#2 Detroit vs. #7 Columbus: Detroit has been playing inconsistently all season, especially in net; the only thing they’ve been doing consistently all season is scoring goals. Columbus, on the other hand, has been playing the best hockey in their 9-year existence, with a goaltender in Steve Mason who has a legitimate shot at winning not only the Calder trophy as rookie of the year, but also the Vezina and Hart trophies. I believe this series will go as Steve Mason goes, and I think that while Mason will give Columbus a chance to win every game, Detroit just has too many ways to score for Columbus to compete in a seven-game series. Detroit in 6.

#3 Vancouver vs. #6 St. Louis: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–St. Louis is the feel-good story of the year. Dead last in the West at the half-way point, the Blues have had the best record in the league since the Break, including going 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. Chris Mason, the career backup who came over from Nashville last year, has been a rock in net for the Blues, starting each of the last 38 games and winning 24 of those. While Vancouver has played well down the stretch and goalie Roberto Luongo will always give them a chance to win, I think St. Louis’s momentum and youthful enthusiasm gives them the edge, especially if stars Paul Kariya and Erik Johnson make it back into the line-up. The Blues will continue their winning ways and steamroll Vancouver. St. Louis in 5.

#4 Chicago vs. #5 Calgary: After nine straight years of missing the playoffs the Blackhawks are here and they’re hungry. With a solid youthful core, a reborn Nikolai Khabibulin, and a new coach in Joel Quenneville who seems to be able to squeeze every last bit of effort out of his immensely talented team, the Hawks have gone from bottom-feeders to contenders in the span of a season. Meanwhile, Calgary has finished another in a stretch of solid seasons, despite the fact that Mikka Kiprusoff has looked mortal for much of the season. The addition of Olli Jokinen (who will be seeing the first playoff action of his career) makes the Flames stronger down the middle, but I believe the Hawks are not only the more talented team, they are the hungrier team. Chicago in 5.

Please feel free to discuss these with me and make your own predictions if you’d like. I’m off to bed.

Minny’s out.

St. Louis is in.

I’m really hoping St. Louis stays in the 8th seed because they are going to destroy whoever they meet up with in the first round.

Mmm… two weeks left ’til the playoffs.

Minny’s still out.

St. Louis is in, for the moment. Along with the other four Central Division teams. You want to know why the Sharks are leading the points race? Because the other four teams in their division are currently outside the bracket.

The Devils seem to have cooled off since my prediction post. We’ll see what happens.

Well, this year’s severe weather season picked up right where last year’s left off:

March 23 tornado paths

The red arrowheads are the beginnings of each tornado’s path, the green circles are damage path markers. The white dot is where our house is.

Needless to say, it was kind of scary Monday afternoon. I like weather and all, but I’ve had about enough of these close calls. It’s a little less fun when you actually own the residence in question.

We’re ten short games from the beginning of this year’s playoffs (where in the hell did the time go?).
I wish they started today; if the Eastern Conference bracket stays like it is now, the matchups would be:

1. Boston vs. 8. Montreal
2. New Jersey vs. 7. New York Rangers
3. Washington vs. 6. Carolina
4. Philadelpha vs. 5. Pittsburgh

Four epic, rivalry-loaded divisional matchups. What a treat. Unfortunately, the Western conference doesn’t look nearly as exciting. My predictions from the beginning of the month are still holding true right now. I’m hoping St. Louis can manage to slip in, they’re two points out right now in 9th place; they really deserve it.

I became a free man on Friday.

I’ve spent most of this weekend catching up on sleep and recovering. Did some more unpacking and setting up too… finally got around to wiring the home theater up–took almost 50 feet of wire to run the two back speakers around the room. At least I managed to do it in a way that makes it a little less visible. 3M Command clips are awesome. Also finished setting up Maggie’s computer desk and took care of some odds and ends.

I also got some programming work done; I brought my laptop and picked at it over breaks and such the past couple of weeks. Check out the enaWare blog if you want to hear more about that.

Work is going well. The training is very extensive, there’s quality documentation for everything I’ll be supporting, the tools are intuitive and easy to use, and I feel like I’ve already begun to gain a reputation as a go-to guy for certain things, which is cool. Not to mention that my co-workers are an interesting bunch and very fun to be around. We have one more week of training left and then start taking calls on the floor next week. Scary but exciting at the same time. Sometimes I still pinch myself wondering how I scored the opportunity to work for an internet giant like Yahoo!.

I’m looking forward to choir on Monday, I haven’t sung in three weeks; the first week after our last concert there was no rehearsal, and the past two weeks rehearsal fell during my six hours of allotted sleeping time.

Trying to decide if I’m going to make it back to Ames next weekend for Burton’s recital. There’s a Masterworks concert this coming weekend, but seeing as how I haven’t rehearsed with the group since the last concert I’m not thinking it would be the best idea to sing at this one. Also thinking about coming back to Ames for VEISHEA, and we’ll definitely be back for John and Gaila’s wedding.

I should probably go be productive for a bit…

Today was a complete and total waste of a day, and it was wonderful. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a weekend where I didn’t have something going on and I wasn’t sick or worried/nervous about something. I even have the run of the place, since Maggie’s out of town at a church event this weekend. I definitely needed the downtime; hopefully I’ll be ready to start my new job on Monday.

It would have at least been nice if one of my teams had won today. Minnseota, St. Louis, and Detroit all lost… Detroit got shellacked by another Central Division team again today. They’ve been so schizophrenic lately that I don’t know what to think.

Now to work on some programming before I hit the sack. No late night like last night… I need to be ready to sleep mid-afternoon tomorrow so I can try and go into this thing fully-charged. Wish me luck.