I know I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I love the SongBird media player.

From the SongBird site:

Songbird is a desktop media player mashed-up with the Web. Songbird is committed to playing the music you want, from the sites you want, on the devices you want, challenging the conventions of discovery, purchase, consumption and organization of music on the Internet.

Songbird is a player and a platform. Like Firefox, Songbird is an open source, Open Web project built on the Mozilla platform. Songbird provides a public playground for Web media mash-ups by providing developers with both desktop and Web APIs, developer resources and fostering Open Web media standards, to wit, an Open Media Web.

LogMeIn is an awesome Remote Desktop App, very highly recommended and free! I’m not sure if it’s good or bad that I can now log into my Dad’s PC remotely to troubleshoot his problems. I can see his computer problem list growing out of control as we speak I type.

So surprisingly enough, I have actually started buying CDs again. I’ve picked up a handful of CDs over the past couple months and thought I’d offer my opinion. First off, let me just say that there are a bunch of really good quality albums that have been popping up lately that are worth checking out.

1. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

I’ve actually had this CD for quite a why, but recently I’ve found myself giving it a lot of listens. When I first bought this CD I was a little disappointed, as it wasn’t your typical Ghost is Born, or Yankee Hotel, both having the similar style Wilco sound that we all know and love. This CD is a much more chill, soft, quiet CD. It is one of those CDs that grows on you the more you listen, and you find yourself appreciating it more you listen, it is a very soothing album. Every track is good but the standout for me is What Light.

2. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

First off let me just say that I spent $20 on this CD at Best Buy. Let me repeat: TWENTY DOLLARS! Yeah I know I got took, but I justified it because I was using a free gift card. I have no clue why this CD costs so much, maybe the fancy album cover and contents? Who knows. I do know that my PC’s CD drive couldn’t read the contents of the CD. This and another problem I had with another CD I bought (that I will get into later) leads me to believe they the record labels are using cheaper materials to manufacture CDs. Anyways, back to the album. This is a another great album that has a bite to it, I even like it better than the last Modest Mouse album (GNFPWLBN). Overall its just a fun album, a lot of upbeat tunes that are great to listen to. If you’re looking for one track to listen to, I recommend Florida.

3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

I absolutely love this album and cant stop listening to it. They recorded the album in an old church in Canada and include the church’s pipe organ in several tracks. That, in addition to an orchestra sound on several other tracks give this album a very rich feel. For the most part the album is pretty upbeat, however it does have a dark edge to it. Intervention and Windowsill are two of my favorite tracks worth checking out. The only beef I have with this is the quality of the disc. Not only did this CD fail to play in my friends truck while we were on a 16 road trip to Florida, but it has started skipping already and it doesn’t have a single scratch on it! I’ve contemplated returning it but I’m not sure Best Buy would take it back, has anyone tried returned a CD that they have already used before?

Thats pretty much it for the new albums I’ve picked up recently. I have a couple more on the way including the new Spoon and Rilo Kiley (for Amy). Here are a couple more that I’m looking to pick up:

Icky Thump - White Stripes
Our Love to Admire - Interpol
Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams
Wincing the Night Away - Shins

If you are looking for a new way to find some new artists, I recommend checking out lala.com. Lala is primarily a music community based around trading CDs with other members, but the site has a lot of other features as well. One feature I find useful is the ability to create a playlist of various songs of your choosing. You can then publish your playlist so that others may listen in. These playlists offer a great way to find new artists. You can find playlists by genre, or by artist. Searching by artist will usually turn up playlists created by members that have similar taste in music but who may have found an artist which you have yet to hear. Lala also leverages its community of users to rank albums by popularity among users. This is usually another good way to find good albums, especially since the rankings are void of corporate influence.

To check out lala, go to www.lala.com, click on “Discover”. This will display popular albums (”Top Picks”) among users. To find playlists, click on “Discover By: Playlists”, you can then find playists by genre, or find playlists that feature a specified artist.

I saw this post from Mashable today (one day after my WebOS post). It’s basically a list of sites offering applications that claim to offer an OS for the web. It seems that these sites have some good use, such as consolidating and organizing different web applications to give a more clearer appearance of an OS for the web, but when it comes down to it, I think they may be taking the whole concept of an OS for the web a little to literally.

Just to follow up my previous post on Billing Reminders, here is yet another web application, PingMe, to enter the digital reminder market.

[via Web Worker Daily]

What is it about the summertime that makes people want to read? I could be on a island about that but its definitely true for myself. If you haven’t found a good book for the summer, try checking out The Modern Library 100 Best list. I’ll sadly admit that I probably only have a handful of books knocked off that list (of which most are attributed to English class in grade school), but I plan to change that this summer. Nothing suits your fancy on that list? If your into sci-fi, I recommend Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash (or anything from Stephenson for that matter). While its not on Modern Library’s list, it is a critically acclaimed novel that I’ve seen on many other “Best Of” lists.

I had dinner the other night in DC at Cafe Deluxe and I must say I was very pleased with the whole experience. If I had to sum up Cafe Deluxe in a few words it would probably be “upscale neighborhood diner”. The night I attended was half price wine night which seemed to add to the already lively atmosphere attracting locals and the after work crowd alike. Don’t get me wrong, I like a nice restaurant but when I cannot pronounce half the items in the menu it is a little intimidating. This was not the case with Cafe Deluxe. The menu was simple yet sophisticated ranging from pan roasted sea bass to chicken pot pie. And if that doesn’t entice you the prices will. The most expensive entree was $22 (filet mignon) while most items averaged around $12-$15. I would definitely recommend Cafe Deluxe as a great dining option for any occasion.

I have found my new favorite show on TV. Bear Grylls hosts Man vs. Wild, a survival show where Bear demonstrates how to survive in extreme conditions with limited resources. In the most recent episode, Bear demonstrates how to survive in the African Savannah. Not only did he come across every imaginable wild African animal (Snakes, Elephants, Lions, Hippos, etc.), but he shows survival techniques such as drinking the moisture from fresh elephant dung, and eating the flesh from a fly infested Zebra carcass. This guy is definitely the real deal, check it out if you get the chance. You can catch it on the Discovery Channel on Fridays at 9 p.m.