It’s the band I fell in love with… four or five CD’s ago. Anyone else remember the comparisons to Eddie Vedder, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Travis Tritt all blended into one? This CD gets back to their original infectious trademark Southern-tinged rock and it… well, ROCKS!!!

The “Xbox Next” will use PowerPC-based architecture similar to the chipset powering Apple’s G5 computers. That being the case, Microsoft’s early “Xbox Next” development kits have been little more than modified Apple G5 systems pre-packed with “Xbox 2″ emulation software. “I heard [Apple CEO] Steve Jobs found it pretty ironic and funny that Microsoft has been shipping Apple systems to developers,” one studio source joked to IGN on the subject.

As Ray Charles played and sang, his stiffly swaying shoulders suggested some invisible tug of war between a devil and an angel. Charles, who died Thursday at age 73, was a musical innovator who combined the rollicking ‘bad boy’ free-spiritedness of rock ‘n’ roll with the pious aching of gospel and soul to create a new style in such hits as ‘What’d I Say,’ ‘Hit the Road Jack,’ ‘Georgia on My Mind’ and ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You.’

A chance viewing of last years CMT: Crossroads special featuring Ray and Travis Tritt was an awesome performance and prompted me to listen to more of Ray’s music… which most of us at one time or another have had stuck inside our heads.

The Sonos Digital Music System is being previewed this week at the ‘D2: All Things Digital’ conference in Carlsbad, Calif and will ship this Fall. The multi-zone digital music system offers a wireless, full-color LCD screen controller to controll playback of digital music on the Sonos ZonePlayer, a networked audio player that distributes, plays and amplifies music in any ‘zone’ in the home. With both wired and wireless connectivity, the ZonePlayer offers a 50 Watts/channel amplifier with component-quality audio specifications and support for MP3, WMA, AAC (MPEG4) and WAV files stored on a PC, Mac or Network Attached Storage as well as customizable Internet Radio stations. The ZonePlayer is $500, while Controller is $400. An introductory bundle ($1,200) features two ZonePlayers and a single Controller.

The perfect product… just too much money. I wanna know if I can control it from my Powerbook?

Apple today unveiled AirPort Express, which it says is “the world’s first 802.11g mobile base station that can be plugged directly into the wall for wireless Internet connections and USB printing, or thrown into a laptop bag to bring wireless freedom to hotel rooms with broadband connections.” Airport Express also features analog and digital audio outputs that can be connected to a stereo and AirTunes music networking software which works seamlessly with iTunes, giving users a simple and inexpensive way to wirelessly stream iTunes music on their Mac or PC to any room in the house.” AirPort Express features a single piece ultra- compact design weighing just 6.7 ounces, and will be available to Mac and PC users starting in July for $130.

I WANT ONE NOW!!!!

I’m livin’ in a world that won’t stop pullin’ on me
I’m not complaining but it’s true
It’s like I owe my time to everyone else
‘Cause that’s all I seem to do

You might not notice but I need a good friend
Someone to talk to when I’m down, down, down
There’s so much on my mind that I want to get out
But there’s no one around

Sometimes I can’t help thinkin’ what about me
Some days go by that I don’t even see
Yeah I’m doing everything right and I can’t break free
Oh is this the way it’s always gonna be
What about me

Microsoft has been granted a patent for double clicking and for different functions based on the time a user presses a (mouse) button, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. US Patent No. 6,727,830, granted on April 27, 2004, is being protested by the New York-based Public Patent Foundation, as Microsoft last year said said ‘it would be seeking to improve earnings from technology which it claims it invented and would be using its patent portfolio to do so.

Are they really hurting that bad for money??

Add another alterna-chick to the list. Bethany sounds a little like Jennifer Knapp (who’s music I’ve fallen in love with again) and I love her songwriting.

Thought he belonged
But he knows he don’t
Thought he had love
But it is not enough
The pain inside is speaking to him
How could he feel like this
So aimless

Don’t forget to check out her web site.