King  Gary 

Browsing my iTunes library to play a specific song used to be a chore on Windows. I had to open up iTunes (which takes a short moment to load on Windows), go to the playlist that I wanted (so that the songs that are looped were the ones that I wanted), type the name of the song in the search box, play the song, then clear the search box so that the other songs in the playlist were also included in the song loop.

Well, I’m no Quicksilver aficionado, but I do know that I can use it to do exactly what the above paragraph describes - all without even leaving the window that I’m working on at the time. Hitting ctrl+space just opens the little window that you see below; I then type in the first few letters of my playlist (my favorite playlist is aptly named ‘good songs’, and so I just type ‘go’ to find it), hit the right arrow key, then start typing the first few letters of the song I want.

When I compare the iTunes method with the Quicksilver method, the iTunes method took 15 seconds while the Quicksilver method took no more than 6 seconds. Just imagine multiplying that over several dozen times a day (yes, I have picky song choices sometimes!). How’s that for great productivity?

Popularity: 17% [?]

Update: There are some photos available now, provided by Edge.ca.

I’ve returned from EdgeFest 2. There was a mish-mash of marijuana, brassieres, and loud music.

The following bands played at the event, and bands that I specifically watched and listened to are marked in green (they are in order of showing, and also probably in order of least popular to most popular, generally speaking):

Main stage (in order of showing) Anberlin Ill Scarlett Matchbook Romance Story Of The Year Hawthorne Heights All American Rejects Yellowcard ‘Next Big Thing’ stage (in order of showing) Damone Tokyo Police Club Lovedrug (did not show) In Flight Safety Panic And The Rebel Emergency Magneta Lane The Miniatures ‘Bedlam Society Stage’ Inamere Attack In Black Johnny Truant Cancer Bats The Junction Sydney

Yellowcard Ticket

What happened

Three friends and I went down to the Molson Amphitheatre, in Ontario Place, to attend EdgeFest 2. We met at Scarborough Town Centre, took the RT and the subway down to Bathurst, and then took the tram to Ontario Place. Once we reached Ontario Place, it was 11 am but there was still quite a line there already for the event, and so we decided to line up. Let me remind you, it was EXTREMELY hot today, this afternoon (42 C last I heard). We waited outside for about 2 1/2 hours before the line began moving, and we then proceeded to find ourselves some seats. It’s a good thing that we were near the lake, so that the air was a bit cooler and there was more of a breeze, so it felt somewhat more refreshing than it would have been if I were still in Scarborough.

It was surprising to me that there were actually not many people attending the event; there were a lot of seats available throughout the entire event; probably only 3/4 of the seats, at most, were filled (The seating plan has 4 sections: Level 200, Level 300, Level 400, and then the Lawn Seating (which is where you sit on grass.)) Also, upon entering the stage, all our bags were checked, unsurprisingly. But I found it strange that they told us to remove all bottle caps from our water bottles before entering the premise; I suppose it’s so that, either the audience can’t use the bottle caps to throw on stage, at people, etc. or also so that if you have a water bottle full of water, and you throw it while it’s NOT sealed, then the water comes out, and then the water bottle is not used as a weapon that is basically a heavy piece of plastic with all that water in it.

Now, on to the performances. The music was mostly rock and hard rock as the House of Blues described themselves, and as this isn’t my forte, I don’t know the bands quite as well. The two that I know the most are the All American Rejects and more recently, Yellowcard, which I both like more so than the rest. But, some of the ’side’ bands were, surprisingly, the type of music that more closely resembled what I like. One of them was Magneta Lane, which really reminds me of a band that I like, Stars; more specifically, the lead singer for Magneta Lane really looks similar to Amy Millan, at least to me.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

I haven’t biked in years! My current bike is probably 10 years old by now; I’m sure I could travel with it, but it’d be very, very uncomfortable. A lot of my friends have apparently again picked up the activity of biking, just for the sake of biking, so I suppose I might as well do so, too. I haven’t biked in years, but I guess as they say, once you learn to bike, you never forgot!

Popularity: 16% [?]

Usually when I dream while sleeping, I dream about things that have never happened, but would be nice if they happened. Like becoming a billionaire. Being a world dictator loved by all. Or getting my university degree. But last night, I didn’t dream about any of these things. Instead, I dreamt about my prom that passed about a month ago. How boring is that? I think I’ve gotten so bored that my mind is just recycling old memories and playing those as dreams instead of thinking of new things. Dammit!

Update: I remember some more details now. During the prom, I forgot to bring my suit so I was wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. I didn’t enjoy the prom as much this time, and so it sucked this second time around.

Popularity: 15% [?]

My grad photos that I ordered arrived today. I’ve got a few wallet-sized ones, for those who’ve been asking for them continuously. Get them while they’re hot!
Update: I ordered them AFTER school ended, since people bugged me for my wallet-sized photos during the yearbook-signing period.

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I got the package that tells me which residence I’ll be living in at Waterloo in the mail today. It came as no surprise that I was going to be living in MKV, the residence that I ranked #1; as I already chose 3 roommates to live with, my chances to be chosen to live in MKV increased exponentially, and we were also all stream 4 co-op students, and so that simply clinched the deal for us. But, I suppose this package can act as a way of finalizing the fact that I’ll be living with 3 strangers with whom I’ve only met online and have seemingly similar interests as I do. Yep… sounds like fun!

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Update: The list of DVDs that I own and the movies that I’ve seen in theaters or somewhere else are now listed here.

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These are some of the DVDs that I own over the years so far. I finally got around to cataloging them. I used Delicious Library to create this virtual bookshelf.

Update: For those of you who just want a list of the movies, well, here they are:

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I like to travel. Going to different countries, taking in the different cultures, and even struggling to learn the different languages, are all activities that I simply enjoy doing when I have the time. As a result, I’ve created this page, which lists all of the countries I’ve visited, US states I’ve visited, Canadian provinces I’ve visited, and European countries I’ve visited.

Here’s my ‘visited countries’ map of Europe, for example:

Some quick stats that I’ve discovered after finishing up the maps:

• I’ve visited 28 countries, or 12% of the world.
• I’ve visited 10 states, or 19% of the United States.
• I’ve visited 2 provinces, or 15% of Canada.
• I’ve visited 19 countries, or 37% of Europe.

I notice that I’m really lacking in the ‘number of provinces that I’ve visited’ category. I know that I’ve barely scratched the surface of my great country, but on the flip side, there’s a lot to see in northern Ontario, and that’s where I usually go if I’m sightseeing in Canada!

I’ll keep this maps continuously updated as I go to different countries, states, and provinces. As I always go on my mandatory yearly vacation (the stress really piles up, you know!), I’ll have at least three more countries to add to the list once this summer’s over. I’m nearing my ever-so-close goal of visiting every (okay, maybe half is more likely) European country before I graduate from university.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I indeed did buy the same book twice, by mistake, while shopping on Amazon. There was a 3 day interval in between each purchase. I suppose I really wanted the book! Doh!
Anyways, if anyone wants the extra book, give me a shout.

Popularity: 12% [?]

I’m 2 weeks into my summer, and I’ve been gaming quite a bit. During school, I don’t have the time, but now, I’ve spent a good percentage of my time playing games - specifically, Call of Duty 2 and Civilization 4. I just finished another round of Call of Duty, on the same server that I always play. My score was 49-19 that round - not too shabby. I guess my trigger finger still works! If you play Call of Duty, then come join me sometime.

For Civilization 4, I almost always play a multiplayer game with David. The games are sometimes stretched out and long because he lags a lot due to his (cheap) connection, but reading a magazine between turns can solve that. (Yes, it’s a turn-based strategy game. Deal with it!) I use Xfire to log how many hours I play, and to chat with David while play Civilization. I’ve played more hours in the past week than I’d like to admit!

Also, on a side note, I’ve been watching TV show DVDs. Specifically, My Name is Earl. I really like the show; it’s good when you don’t want to think and you can still enjoy it! (I would watch more, but I’ve already burned through ALL the season DVDs of both 24 and Scrubs. Those were GREAT DVDs to watch.)

Update: I just played another game today, and looks like I’m being more and more consistent. My score was 42-18, so somewhat similar to yesterday’s game.

Popularity: 12% [?]