My Winamp config

And then there was Foobar. A blogger once said:

Use WMP if you want your player to work like WMP,
Use iTunes if you want your player to work like iTunes
But use Foobar if you want your player to work like anything.

It isn't much of an exaggeration; Foobar is infinitely more customizable than any other media player. There are several user interfaces, the foremost being the Default UI, ColumnsUI, and PanelsUI. I had initially settled with PanelsUI, but couldn't get used to the playlist based browsing. Additionally, the panels config is mouse based with very little input from the keyboard. Even worse, it was resource intensive. There are some fantastic configs for the UI, though, and it should not be written off entirely.

I ended up using the DefaultUI. It is simple, easy to use, low on resources, and very customizable to a point. My monitor resolution isn't fantastic, so I needed something compact. Luckily, Foobar allows the insertion of any number of tabbed containers, in which can be stored any of the panels accessible under the interface. For instance, I can create a tabbed containter with two tabs, the first contains album art and the second could contain metadata. I can switch between these tabs depending on what I want to view at the time. Tabbed containers allow the player's components to be compressed into the space one component (panel) would normally occupy, thus slimming the player significantly.

But to get the player's playlist view that slim, I had to do some tinkering. In my old iTunes setup, I had columns for everything. My standard setup might include Track No., Disc No., Title, Album, Artist, Date, Rating, Genre, Format, Bitrate, Date Added, and all other manner of headings. Consequentially, I had a very, very wide library view (see Winamp screeshot for an idea). I would have to eliminate most of these.

My custom DefaultUI Config

Radiohead - Idioteque [2000]

I ran into an issue when the %track artist% field was empty. I had originally set %album artist% as the first field, but I already have the album artist displayed under the playlist heading for each album, and redundancy equivocates to a waste of space. What did not have displayed anywhere was the track artist. There usually is no difference, but on my many Techno and Trance compilation albums, I had no way of displaying the track artist at the time. I tag my compilations' %album artist% field as either the mixer of the album or "Various Artists" if there is no clear mixer.

So I inserted the track artist tag as the first field in the titlebar. Many of my artists don't have any track artist listed, however. The titlebar would display:

? - Idioteque [2000]

I remedied that with this string:

$if2(%track artist%,%album artist%) - [%title%] ['['%date%']']

the "if$2" operator tells the program: "If there is a track artist, display it. If not, display the album artist." by this method:

if$2(x,y) / If X contains at least one present field, execute/display x, otherwise execute/display Y.

So any and all tracks with a missing %track artist% field revert to the %album artist% tag. My next target was the Playlist Group Heading (seen in the example as "Radiohead - Kid A [MP3]" in the grey text above the tracks). If I could display the artist and album there, I would have no need for the columns. I did so with this string:

[%album artist% - ]%album% ['['%codec%']']

Which groups the tracks in the playlist by Artist/Album/Codec as well as displaying the header. At his point, I had all my major fields displayed without their respective columns. So I set about creating a suitable layout. I use the Facets browsing interface, which is similar and far superior to iTunes' browser, so I set that in a tab (seen in the screenshot as "library"). Also in the library tab, I placed all the controls, buttons, and seekbars. I also set the album art and the visualizer into their own tab. In the final tab, I placed the playlist manager and the spectrum together. Beneath the entire container I put my playlist view.

My end result (see screenshot) was better than anything I could hope for from Winamp, so I am sticking with it. I also get all the other benefits of Foobar; comparability with all major codecs, low resource usage, and a massive base of user supported plugins and components.

The origins of this contest are unclear, but it has been a hot debate for years. It seems that everyone has a clear side, and everyone feels like they are right. I know this from personal experience. Simply the mention of a Pirate or Ninja being cool can start a heated argument. Whether it be on the bus, over the web, or in the cafeteria, Ninjas and Pirates are constantly at war. Perhaps the strangest part of the argument is that the likelihood of a Pirate and a Ninja ever even seeing each other is almost non-existent. Even so, there must be a clear winner, right?

I am going to attempt to compare these legendary factions and determine the victor.

Pirates

Pirates are commonly seen as rough, sea worn men with earrings, eye patches, peg legs, hooks for hands, and parrots on their shoulders (demonstrated at left). They make enemies walk the plank and swing across ships on ropes with swords in their mouths. Pirates are often considered cool, such as in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Pirates are a common sight in America, such as is seen at football games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pirates are fun. Entertainment fodder for the average American.

Pirates in History

The classic pirate era lasted from about 1560 up to the 1720s. Most piracy occurred in the Caribbean Sea because of the large amount of small islands on which pirates could hide and store their plundered goods. The average citizen of today pictures a pirate as a rough, rebellious, and someone to be idolized. In reality, pirates often ate poorly, lived in filthy conditions, and died young. Pirates were bad people, they often raped and pillaged entire towns, kidnapped young boys, and murdered anyone who got in their way. Pirates, however, are not infallible. In correspondence with popular belief, pirates would often lose limbs and eyes in battles. But these injured pirates would rarely participate in raids and would often become cooks.

Goals

Pirates main goal was to plunder small towns and defenceless ships. This could be seen as cowardice, and brings the issue of idolization of pirates into question. Pirates could be prosperous, or fail and kill each other over jealousy and other issues. Pirates often lived in a democratic state, where the most experienced and wisest man would become the captain. He would have to be a fierce fighter, and someone his men could trust. After a raid, plundered materials (a.k.a. "booty") would be divided up, commonly with a little extra for the captain or injured men. Scuffles often broke out on pirate ships, sometimes ending with mutiny, the captain often being executed.

The cutlass is a short sword often used by seafaring men, expeccially pirates. Its blade was usually curved and often featured a decorative handguard.

The trademark pirate weapon, the flintlock pistol was invented in the mid 1500's. Flintlock pistols generally fired round musket balls and were accurate from about 40-100 yards.

Modern Pirates

Piracy continues to this day, though it is much different from the way it was 300 years ago. Seaways are not protected the way they used to be, and naval warfare has all but ceased. But the shipping lanes are busier that ever. Pirates are no longer large ships filled with rough-n-tumble men wearing eye patches. Pirate ships are now fast, agile, and normal looking boats that you could not pick out from any other fishing boat. Pirate attacks tripled between 1993 and 2003. The first half of 2003 was the worst 6-month period on record, with 234 pirate attacks, 16 deaths, and 52 people injured worldwide. There were also 193 crew members held hostage during this period. Pirates are rarely after cargo, but take passengers personal items. They are commonly after a ship's safe, where large amounts of money are kept to pay for port fees. Modern piracy is no joke, and the pirates of today are just as bad as murderers on land. Modern pirates usually carry guns, and do not hesitate to kill innocent people

The Average Pirate

The average pirate of the old days is a gruff male with knowledge of seafaring and maybe some basic combat skills. He has probably been through a lot and seen many years at sea, if he has been lucky enough to survive. He often has to skip meals, and has a high likeness to suffer from scurvy. He most likely has very little interaction with anyone outside of his ship. If he dies he will be thrown into the sea, and his possessions will be divided among his crew mates.

Ninja

Despite their popularity, very little is known about ninja (yes, the plural is ninja). Because ninja never left a trace of their doings or behaviour, their history is sketchy. Ninja were said to be silent assassins and spies in feudal Japan. Ninja utilized the stealth art of Ninjutsu, or "the art of stealth" which involved training in disguise, escape, concealment, archery, medicine, and explosives. Ninja were disciplined and did not hesitate to kill when needed. And they were exceedingly efficient at it.

The origins of the Ninja are unknown, but they may have been an offspring of the Samurai, powerful and very loyal warriors of Japan. Ninja first flourished during the Sengoku Period (from the 15th to 17th centuries). They were often utilized by daimyo (powerful feudal leaders of Japan) to silently eliminate opposing daimyo. Great legends were told of the Ninja's deeds but could never be proven because if the veil of mystery wrapped around the silent assassins. There are, however, some confirmed instances of these warriors massacring opposing armies. But these instances rarely do justice to the Ninja because they often occur when Ninja on the defence, and are not using their surprise attacks and silent ambushes. An example of this is when the Ninja clan of Sanada, led by Sanada Yukimura assisted in the defence of Ueda Castle. Their force, under 2,000 (a small fraction being Ninja) decimated the forces of Tokugawa Hidetada, which were 50,000 strong. Ninja continued to destroy enemies until the 200 year long peace of the Edo period. During this time Ninja seemed to disappear, as is their style of living when not in battle. They silently faded out of culture and became little more than legend. It is speculated that the Ninja still remain, but this is impossible to prove, of course. Because Japan has become modernized it is not the ideal setting for the Ninja, and it is most likely that the Ninja have spread to all reaches of the world.

Ninja often operated in clans, tight-knit groups of warriors raised from birth to be Ninja. They are trained rigorously, taught in every way the art of the Ninja. Ninja clans were headed by the jōnin (High Ninja), who trained and mentored the chūnin (Master Ninja) who led and instructed the genin (Apprentice Ninja). Upon receiving a mission from daimyō, the jōnin would use the chūnin to select necessary personnel from among the genin. These groups would silently gather intelligence as a team, or assassinate enemies in force. Some Ninja groups would be small and unstructured for covert operations. Others would be structured like an army with a battle leader or shō.

There were female Ninja as well, though they took non-combative roles. Female Ninja were still instructed in the path of Ninjutsu, but became household servants to spy on the enemy. Female Ninja were renowned for their skill with a bow and arrow. They would only use their skills when discovered or absolutely necessary, and were every bit as powerful as male Ninja.

Stealth

Ninja were not always silent. They often worked as spies, blending in with the enemy or common folk. They would infiltrate enemy organizations, and though they were easily seen, they could not be differentiated from other people. Though Ninja did wear their characteristic black outfits, they only did so at night or when it suited them. They would dress as everything from monks to enemy guards. A Ninja could be anyone or anywhere. They could be right next to you, completely silent. Or they could be right next to you and holding a conversation. You would never know. Such is the way of the Ninja.

The Ninja could use almost any weapon, if prompted But they did have favorites. One of the most famous is the Shuirken or Throwing Star. Ninja would often lack the resources to buy expense weapons, so many of their tools came from other uses. Shuriken originated from the tools Japanese carpenters used to remove nails from wood. Contrary to popular belief Shurikens were not killing weapons, they would often be used to distract or intimidate opponents. However, they could be come lethal when dipped in poison, as many Ninja weapons were.

Ninja swords, or ninja-to, were considerably shorter then those used by other warriors, such as the Samurai. This was mainly because of the difference in the way they were both used. Samurai would swing their sword, severing limbs and slashing at the opponent. Ninja, on the other hand, used the sword more in a quick, stabbing motion. This required more skill, and could be just as deadly. Ninja swords could also be used as an impromptu step stool, jamming the blade into the ground and stepping on the hilt.

The Ninja would often use weapons to silently eliminate enemies from afar. One example of this is the highly versatile blowgun. The blowgun was used for firing darts (sometimes poison tipped) silently from a distance. Blowguns were usually made from short bamboo stalks. They could also be used as a snorkel so that the Ninja could breathe underwater.

Another important weapon to the Ninja is the bow. Both long bows and short bows were used by Ninja. Their tips were sometimes tipped with poison. Female Ninja were usually well trained with a bow.

It is not well known that many breakthroughs in explosives were developed by the Ninja. The Ninja were among the first to use Smoke Bombs to aid in escape. They were also the first to use land mines. Ninja even possessed cannons. The secrets of the production of gunpowder and gunpowder related weapons were closely guarded secrets in Ninja clans.

In Japan, Ninja were regarded as ghosts, things to be feared. They would not socialize with communities and would not remain in the same place for long periods of time. The abilities of the Ninja were often exaggerated. People believed that they could become invisible, multiply themselves, and fly. Ninja would not deny these misconceptions because it gave them an advantage in battle. Some Ninja were recorded to have faked their own deaths to appear immortal.

Little is known of what became of the Ninja. During the 200 year peace of the Edo period, Ninja silently faded from Japanese society. Ninjutsu is still taught in some isolated schools of Japan. But the students cannot become true Ninja, because murder is now frowned upon in modern society, and it is difficult to find work that involves the use of stealth and martial arts.

The word Ninja means "one who operates under concealment." So the secret agents and spies working for establishments such as the CIA and NSA might be considered modern Ninja, though their tools and methods of operating may be different then their 17th century counterparts.

The Battle

You've seen the two factions. Which one to you favor? I am going to put the two into some different situations. Hopefully, there will be a clear victor at the end. Maybe not. We'll see.

A Ninja and pirate stand 20 feet apart in the middle of a small field. The pirate has in his possession a cutlass, a Flintlock pistol, and a small knife. The Ninja has his small ninja-to sword, 4 shurikin, a smoke bomb, and a blowgun. The pirate is already at an advantage because the Ninja has lost his most important strength: the element of surprise. Both the Ninja and the pirate's weapons are sheathed, unloaded, and unlit. Already the pirate is growing uneasy, the Ninja has not moved since they arrived. In a flash of less the one second, the Ninja has thrown 2 shuriken at the pirate and drawn his sword. He is charging at the pirate at full speed. The pirate knows that his pistol is useless unless he can buy some time, the pistol takes over 20 seconds to load and fire. He ducks under the shurikens, but one grazes his right arm. Fortunately, it was not tipped with poison. The Ninja has already drawn blood. The pirate unsheathes his cutlass and parries the Ninja's first blow. The Ninja strikes in short, jabbing motions. His sword becomes a blur as the pirate attempts to block his attacks. Their swords become locked, and the pirate uses his large size to force the Ninja's sword out of his hand. The Ninja glances hard at the pirate, then draws something from his belt. The pirate raises his cutlass to deal the finishing blow, but an eruption of smoke appears in place of the Ninja and the sword glances off the ground. The pirate turns around, looking for the black shape of the ninja in the grey smoke. He sees something to his left and turns, but the shape is gone. He hears a soft sound, as if someone had spat on the ground. He feels a pain in his leg. He looks down to see a small, black shaft of wood buried in his skin above the kneecap. The pirate cries out in alarm, but he has little energy to yell. Things become blurry. The last thing he sees is the Ninja bearing down upon him with his sword.
Winner: Ninja

There is little contest with this battle. Without weapons and other pirates, a pirate would have little chance against a common soldier, much less a Ninja. Ninja train their entire lives to fight with nothing, with the odds against them. A pirate knows little in the ways of martial arts. The Ninja are disciplined in the ways of Ninjutsu, one of the most lethal forms of oriental martial arts.
Winner: Ninja

Now for the issue of what would happen if a small band of pirates faces a small group of Ninja. First of all, it must be realistic. The Ninja should be out numbered 3 to 1. Let's say 5 Ninja and 15 pirates. Second, it is night and the pirates have just pulled into harbor. They have secured the ship, and left a guard of 15 on board. 7 are on deck, 4 are engaged in a card game below, and 3 are in the quartermaster's study, observing maps and counting booty. Three of the Ninja have been under the dock for 3 days, breathing out of bamboo rods. A Ninja agent had stolen the records of the pirates a week before, at a port hundreds of miles away. He relayed the information to his counterparts in this city. Unfortunately, he was captured after slaughtering eleven of the men on board. Before he could be interrogated he broke the wrist of the interrogating officer, stole his knife, and used it to commit Seppuku. The other Ninja heard of this and, following the principles of Bushido, prepared to eradicate the pirate menace.

The three Ninja await a signal under the dock. In the mean time, the other two Ninja are scaling the side of the ship. The first ninja creeps on board in slips behind a wooden crate. Two pirates stand on the other side of the box, chatting about the weather and rum. There is a sound, the thunk of something hitting wood. The two pirates stop talking.

"Aye, why don't yeh check that out?" says the first.

"Alrighty, but I'm sure it's nothing." says the other. The pirate walks in the direction of the noise. The glint of metal catches his eye. He bends down to find a square metal object embedded into the wood of the deck. The pirate plucks it out and touches the tip. He cries out in pain, it is very sharp, and opens a cut on his finger. There are strange characters engraved in the object.

"What do you reckon this is?" he says to his partner. No answer comes. The pirate turns. His friend is gone. Something moves in the corner of his eye. He turns and looks over the side of the boat. A hand darts out and grabs the front of his shirt. He is pulled over the side of the ship and crashes into the frigid water.

The five remaining guards hear the splash. They rush to the side of the ship and look over. There is nothing. They look around and realize that their two comrades are missing. The pirates spread out and search the ship for traces of their allies. One pirate find a small, square metal object laying on the ground. There is blood on the edge. He goes to cry out for his friends to take a look, but a sharp pain erupts in his throat, and no sound comes out. He clutches his neck, there is a thin piece of wood lodged in it. A black shape moves over him, and his vision ceases.

The largest of the pirates is patrolling the starboard side of the ship. He trips on something. He looks down to see the fallen body of one of his fellow pirates. He draws his sword. There is a soft noise behind him, like a feather landing on grass. The pirate whirls around. A small man is standing there, clothed in all black. He would have to be a head shorter than the pirate, and 150 pounds lighter. The man is masked, and the expression in his eyes is neutral. The pirate bears down upon the Ninja with his sword, but with surprising speed and strength the Ninja deflects the blow. The Ninja sweeps his right leg under the pirate, pulling his feet out from under him. The pirate falls on his back. The Ninja dives for the pirate, blade out, but the pirate kicks out hard. He catches the Ninja in the chest and sends him flying overboard. The pirate gets up and looks over the side of the ship. Suddenly, a blade is thrust upwards into the pirate. The injured man slumps forward and falls over the deck. The Ninja is helped over the side of the boat by his comrade, and pulls something out of his pocket. A spark appears and the fuse of a small, round object is lit. He drops this over the side of the ship.

Three Ninjas await a signal underwater, under the nearby dock. They observe a small round object drop into the water nearby. There is a flash, and they begin to swim under the boat.

Four pirates continue their card game, slightly intoxicated and having a good time. There is a squeak as a nearby porthole swings open. One of the pirates turns just in time to see a small canister drop through the hole. There is a flash, and smoke spews from the flask. The pirates stand and draw their swords.

"We're under attack. Alert the captain!" says one with an eyepatch.

"Aye." says another, and rushes off through the smoke. The pirate with the eyepatch turns just in time to see s straight, thin blade swing through the air at his eye level.

The captain of the ship is just beginning to roll up his maps as his two advisors leave his study. Suddenly, another pirate bursts through the door.

"Smoke bomb in the galley!" he says.

"Ninjas." grunts the captain. Just as he finishes his sentance, the large window behind him shatters and three black shapes swing into the room. One of the pirates pulls his pistol and fires a shot into the chest of the first Ninja. The Ninja grunts, then charges the stunned pirate. He quickly judo chops the pirate before falling to the ground. In the mean time the other two Ninja have incapacitated the other pirates and are holding the captain.

"I ain't never givin' yeh me booty!" says the captain.
"Good." said one of the Ninja, as he throws the captain overboard.
"Becasue we didn't want it!" The Ninja begin to plant explosives on the ship and leap off just as it is destroyed. Winner: Ninja

So who's more intellegent, pirates or Ninja? Well, that answer is pretty obvious. NInja spend their entire lives studying military tactics and have the ability to think on their feet. You have to be smart to be a Ninja. Pirates...no. Winner: Ninja

Cool Factor

When you get down to it, the cool factor is an important part of deciding who's better. Let's look at pirates. They've got sucky guns, sort of cool. They've got cutlesses, cool. They steal booty, cool. They smell, not so cool. Pirates are alright. Then look at Ninja. They're shadow warriors who silently eleminate opponents and know kung fu. Ninja are waaaaay cooler than pirates.
Winner: Ninja

When you review the facts, pirates don't stand a fighting chance against Ninja. Not only are they inferior in combat, but they're not nearly as cool. Ninja shouldn't even be comapared with pirates. It's insulting. But what do you think?

The other day David downloaded Google's latest marvel: Google Earth. An advanced version of Google Local, Earth is just awesome. It must be downloaded to work, unlike Local. Local is a two-dimensional map of the Earth that can be viewed as a display of streets and states, a terrain map, or a hybrid of the two. Earth is similar, but way cooler. You start zoomed out like you were standing on the moon, with the Earth in the distance and stars twinkling around you. From there you can zoom in if you want, or type in an address. If you type in an address, the camera zooms in in a 3D way, and brings you to a view of that spot from about 10000-1000 feet. Most places look fairly normal from that distance, not too fuzzy or pixilated. If you type in our address for instance, you can almost make out the divided highway next to our house. But when we tried my Dad's old house in Cincinnati, you could make out the tree in his yard, and see the driveway perfectly. The clearness of the picture usually depends on your distance from a major city. We could also see my Dad's old house near St. Louis perfectly. If you go to New York, Earth really starts getting cool. If you type in Empire State building, the camera will zoom out, then go to New York, then zoom in to the building. You can see it perfectly, along with most of the greater metropolitan area of New York. Then you can begin to play with some of Google Earth's more exciting features. When you check the "Buildings" option, everything turns gray, and then becomes three-dimensional. You can tilt and circle the Empire State Building or Trump Tower, and see every outline of the building's shape in a three-dimensional view. This works for all of New York. Now, this option won't do anything for Lakeland, but you can turn on the "Dining" feature almost anywhere. This will show nearly every restaurant in the country (or if you need, the world, though there aren't as many in other countries). This all makes for one cool experience. Unfortunately, there isn't yet a version for Mac (they say they're working on it), but you can still view Local online. Google offers three different versions of Earth, the free version, Plus, and Pro. Plus is $20, and allows you to synchronize with your GPS. Pro is $400, and depicts the entire Earth is high-def and 3D. You can get directions that display in 3D, and even scan blueprints into buildings. It ends up looking like an advance version of Sim City 4. I don't know how Google can afford to offer so many great features for free, but I hope they keep doing it.

Now Playing: Dogs by Pink Floyd

Now Playing: Fire On High by Electric Light Orchestra

MIAMI --On their way to another perfect season and a national football championship, Lakeland's Dreadnaughts had only one real scare.

They tasted vulnerability only once. They didn't like the way it tasted, and they used it as a motivating tool for Friday night's convincing 39-10 victory over Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 5A state championship game.

Lakeland outscored its first 13 opponents by a combined 513-62, and rarely used its regulars late in the fourth quarter. But in the state semifinal up in Niceville, they found themselves backed up to their own 4-yard line in the closing seconds, clinging to a seven-point lead. Niceville had the football and the momentum, and Lakeland's defense appeared to be out of gas until linebacker Troy Johnson came up with a clock-killing and game-saving sack.

The 28-21 victory was good enough to move the Dreadnaughts into the championship game and maintain their No. 1 ranking. But it was not good enough to erase doubts over whether they could beat Aquinas again after the Raiders routed Bradenton Manatee, 45-17, in the other semifinal.

"Everybody thought we weren't as good because we gave up big plays against Niceville," said defensive tackle John Brown. "We had to go out and prove ourselves again."

Nobody is better at that than Lakeland, which got every opponent's best shot after going into the season as the top-ranked team in the USA Today national poll. County rivals Winter Haven and Lake Gibson stayed with the Dreadnaughts as long as anyone, with the exception of Niceville.

But Lakeland passed every test, most of them easily.

"It's hard to do," said coach Bill Castle, "and that's a tribute to our football team to go out there with a target on your back and get it done every week."

The scare at Niceville couldn't have come at a better time -- or at a worse time for Aquinas.

Jamar Taylor, who ran for 154 yards and three touchdowns against Aquinas, said there wasn't much talking on the bus ride to Dolphins Stadium, especially from the defensive players.

"We were upset because we know we have a better team than that," Taylor said. "We had to step our game up."

Lakeland's defense stepped up indeed, coming up with six takeaways against the nation's fourth-ranked team.

In fact, the Dreadnaughts made Aquinas look every bit as overmatched as their first 14 opponents, the notable exception being Niceville in the fourth quarter.

"I think that got us ready for this week," quarterback Billy Lowe said. "We were ready because of that."

(get the widescreen from the wallpapers page)

"What If" is alright, the piano in the beginning works well with the vocals. It is a little repitive, though, and doesn't have anything that makes it special. Three stars.

"White Shadows" is okay, it's got a good beat to it. As with the majority of the songs on X&Y, it starts out slow and then builds with some electric guitar. Three stars.

"Fix You" really stands out against the other tracks on X&Y. The first half of the song is a long vocal solo with acoustic guitar in the background. Then the song has a long build of electric guitar untill the entire band chants the chorus. Outstanding. I saw the live music video on VH1 and it gave me goosebumps.

"Talk" is probably my favorite track on the album. The echoing guitar in the beginning is great. The chorus is outstanding, but not too different from all the other choruses. It still is a great song, though. The guitar solo at the end is good, too. Five stars.

"X&Y" is a decent song. It has a good build to it, though the vocals aren't too outstanding. Three stars.

"Speed of Sound" is probably the most widely publicized track, and the only song from X&Y I've ever heard on the radio. It is certainly worthy of the publicity, it is a great song. The vocals are good and it certainly has a ring to it.
"Speed of Sound" is the first Coldplay song I ever heard, I purchased it off the iTunes Music Store shortly after the album came out. I don't listen to it nearly as much now, though it sounds just as good to me now as it did then. Five stars.

"A Messege" is another good song. As with many of the songs on the album, it has a slow acoustic solo in the beggining and builds. Four stars.

"Low" is a good song, the beat is good, the vocals are good. Pleasant to listen to. Three stars.

"The Hardest Part" is okay. The vocals are kind of silly, but the melody is nice. The song is upbeat and nice to listen to. Three stars.

"Swallowed in the Sea" is my second favorite song on the album. Most of the song is fairly slow, one of the few like it on the cd. I can listen to the song over and over and not get bored of it. The vocals are great. Very soothing. Five stars.

"Twisted Logic" isn't too outstanding. There's not a lot of struture to it. Granted, it is still a good song, but not too good. I don't listen to it too often. Three stars.

"Til' Kingdom Come" (otherwise known as "+") is okay. The song is pretty slow, and stays that way. I don't listen to it that often.

In conclusion, X&Y is a great album is is worth the full price of the CD. I'd definitly recommend it.

An ordinary cassette player, right?

WRONG!

The inside

The regular side

I will build machines which simply fail when overloaded, rather than wipe out all nearby henchmen in an explosion or worse yet set off a chain reaction. I will do this by using devices known as "surge protectors."

There are three pages, make sure you read them all. You can see the original site by clicking the copyright notice at the bottom of page one. There's also a rather stylin' widget for all you mac users out there.