Important: Bonus Features and Soundcloud

An important read for anyone who is even remotely involved in application development: [ http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2006/11/01/922449.aspx ]

I am not fond of any application that does anything that I don't explicitly tell it to do, or software that causes unnecessary clutter. I do enough of that on my own, actually- and I routinely clean up my desktop as a result.

Just because I clean my desktop regularly does not mean I am okay with unnecessary features. I detest the installation of items in my taskbar or browser unless I specifically request them and install them myself- all of the installers that have the "We recommend _____ toolbar..." and have the option to install it automatically checked is deceiving and borderline malicious, in my opinion.

Enough ranting.

I'm no professional discjockey, but I put together some bass-heavy dubstep to listen to.

Dubstep Mashup Mixtape Eins by cleancutwellkept

What are your thoughts?

Spotlight: Classic Novels

Straight to-the-point and delivering more concise review than you could beat yourself about the head with, [ http://classicnovella.blogspot.com/ ] is a shining example of someone who supports the literary canon.

I'm an avid reader, myself (albeit more for pleasure and entertainment than education in prose), and I find that the man in charge of Classic Novels has a lot to offer.

Toward which blogs would you turn the spotlight?

Good news, everyone!

Okay, fantastic news!

I've recently discovered that I may have a (semi-free) hosting plan to move myself onto another server and switch from Blogger to a WordPress-powered system!

I do appreciate the snappiness that the current solution provides and also like the simplicity of it- but I also want to have a bit more leeway with design, which is hard to accomplish within the limitations of a stylesheet and my rather poor knowledge of CSS.

I'm learning a bit about how it works by reading the documentation, but my wizardry is not on par with what I'm currently using and/or the WordPress theme equivalent.

I'm currently testing the possibilities of a WordPress-powered system over at [ http://cleancutwellkept.co.cc ], but the free hosting (provided by the fine folks over at [ http://freehostingcloud.com/ ]) is a tad sluggish, even post-optimization.

The WordPress software is available over at [ http://codex.wordpress.org ], which is also (conveniently) a repository of documentation for the aforementioned software.

In all seriousness, I'm not sure that the .co.cc address is loading for any of y'all. I'm considering trying out .tk as well, but some of the experiences I've had in the past with their use of interstitials leaves me a bit wary of using the service again.

In unrelated news, I'm thinking about trying to acquire a decent entry-level DSLR (a la the Nikon D90 or a Canon Rebel XS), and starting something up on tumblr or another hosted site on the same service.

More on that to come later.

EDIT: I've also taken the liberty of registering m512.tk and pointing it to this blog. It'll be my shortform address, since cleancutwellkept is a long name and definitely prone to errors.


I might also rename the blog, but that's iffy.

Stuff I like: RainyMood.

In essence, it is the best white-noise generator I have ever located: [ http://www.rainymood.com/ ]. It's a thirty-minute loop of rain and a thunderstorm, and it makes everything more enjoyable (including listening to music). It is also an interesting sleep aid, because the thirty-minute cycles could (theoretically) affect circadian rhythms. More about that later.

I find that I achieve the best results when combining RainyMood with some Last.FM or even just music straight from my computer- it takes the edge off of silence and adds a subtly uplifting mood to being awake or a relaxing mood to fall asleep to.

What do you think of RM?