So my life in May was pretty much on hold because I was switching jobs.  And as regular readers might be aware, any slight modification in my life results in massive neglect to excellent online (hey, we've been doing this for over ten years, that says something right?).  I was contacted by a recruiter for a Seattle-based company back in February and went through several phone interviews.  After each one, I'd wait a week then politely ask for the status.  Another week would go by then a response saying that I've advanced to the next step.  So persistence is their first test.  How badly do you want this job?  Bad enough for you to keep emailing us?

After four phone interviews (all with their appropriate delays), I get invited for the onsite.  I was pretty anxious this whole time but the onsite interview really kicks it into overdrive.  Now I'm plagued with thoughts like, "how am I going to find a place to live in Seattle" or "will I adjust to the lack of sunshine."  Truely first world problems because obviously I can adjust to anywhere.

While this is happening, I interview with a local company (I'm in southern California, btw) and they offer me the position but I tell them that I cannot accept until I interview in Seattle.  I'm not going to bore you with the details of the interview other then to say it was a full day (10:30am-5pm, also interviewed during lunch!) and was the most intense interview I've ever had.  They asked if I wanted to stay in Seattle an extra day to check out the city.  But I was a big bag of nerves and wanted to get home as soon as possible and get back to my wife and kid.  The weekend was more of the same, a nervous wreck.  They were going to notify me on Monday evening about the status so I was super pissed that I didn't get a response until Tuesday morning.  They declined.  Bummer.

So I accepted the position from the other local company and while I'm sad that I'm not moving to Seattle, I think staying down here is good for me for right now.  So that's why there hasn't been a post in a while.  ;)

It seems like Coachella was only yesterday. Since this year's Lolla headliners (and then some) leaked long ago, we already knew about Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, Tool, Kings Of Leon, the Killers, Lou Reed, Decemberists, Neko Case, and Andrew Bird. Not too shabby. But almost too shabby. If that assortment of talent didn't convince you to attend, maybe this will: Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, Deerhunter, Bat For Lashes, TV On The Radio, and Vampire Weekend. And an Animal Collective DJ set. Here's the whole lineup, in poster and video form because festival reveals come with videos these days.Continue reading Lollapalooza 2009 Lineup: Now With 100% More Animal Collective... - Source

There's an interesting rumor that's been rolling around on European tech-geek sites this week. Apparantly someone's discovered that European copies of the new BEASTIE BOYS album, "To the 5 Boroughs," comes complete with a nice little executable trojan program that installs itself when you put the CD into your CD-ROM. The program then proceeds to wreak all kinds of copy-protection higgeldy-piggeldy in your hard drive, attempting to disable your computer from ripping and burning the disc. Again, this is just a rumor right now and involves no confirmation other than people talking about it in computer forums... AND it appears as though the program is ONLY on the European version of the disc and NOT on the American OR British versions of the disc. Just to be on the safe side, though, if you DO own the disc, and you DO want to stick it in yer CD-ROM, all it takes to defeat the Auto-Run feature on Windows is to hold down your SHIFT key while loading the CD.

Beastie Boy MIKE D. has this weekend confirmed the closure of GRAND ROYAL RECORDS, the influential label founded by the Beasties in 1993. Citing mounting financial problems, the news of the label's demise is shocking to music fans and critics alike, as Grand Royal had built a name for itself as one of the most successful artist-controlled labels. "Our intentions were always simply to create a home for exciting music and the people who were passionate about it," said Mike D. in this weekend's final press release.