Do you like RedHat Linux but don't like red hats? Would you prefer seeing a bunch of, say, pink ties instead? Well, gosh darn it, what do you know. Someone's created just that: Pink Tie Linux. All the goodness (and badness, I assume) of RedHat with the red hats replaced with pink ties.

I dusted off my copy of Niep! and listened to some music in chipmunk-mode. It's one of the features that I like to have every now and then that iTunes doesn't have. It actually goes up to 8x playback, but 2x is pretty much the limit. Some observations:

• slower songs and singers with deep voices sound better at 2x. i.e. Johnny Cash is pretty good at 2x
• Moonlight Sonata is remarkably spiffy at 2x
• At 2x the piano sounds like that baroque pre-cursor to the piano (can't remember what they're called...it'll come back to me). Matchbox20's "3am" (accoustic piano version) is a good candidate to demonstrate this effect (also recommended, any piano rendition of Pachelbel's Canon).
• At 2x, some slower songs acquire a nice beat. E.g. first minute of Guns 'n Roses "November Rain".
• Techno can get kinda hectic at 2x. Someone should make techno with an ultra-bass track that can only be heard when played back at 2x that maintains a decent rhythm at that rate.
• If you want chipmunk techno, try Hawaiian music.
• For some reason, crickets sound like crickets even at 2x.

I got an email from Cee, who just got back from 3 weeks in South America (Peru and Ecuador). In the email, she wrote about some of the anti-US sentiments she encountered:

The South Americans, like the rest of the world, are upset about the war and the current state of United States politics. People everywhere were friendly, but as soon as we told people we were from the States, many found a way to quickly, (and politely) finish the conversation. The graffiti painted everywhere, and the protests in the streets told of people's opinions.

Every traveler we met from other parts of the world were wary of us. Only after we explained that we were, in fact, against the war, did they warm up and ask us what was going on. I had heard reports from other travelers about going abroad (Mexico, Europe and even Canada) and the anti-American sentiments overseas, but I was a bit unprepared for it. When we were in Asia, people were still very warm due to 9/11, but now there is no more sympathy. I am fearful now to be back in the country, knowing that so many people around the world hate us, more than ever before.