Chances, Winamp, and Insanity

Sometimes I become insanely reflective. Such is the case today.

Have you ever conceded the fact that someone in your life might be there purely by chance? Who the hell knows - I have a story of chance so full of dramatic twists and turns that it might just be a piece of historical fiction one day. In all honesty, I'm not sure where I would be today, or who my friends would be, if it were not for my roaming, curious eyeballs and a chance encounter unexpectedly set up by an old friend of mine, Aryn. Point in case: I feel damn lucky that I had a chance encounter that helped me meet one of my current best friends, and the past couple of years have been rocky no doubt, but as of late, it's been an altogether-awesome time.

Am I too sentimental? Probably...

Anywho, random news. AOL released Winamp 5.5 today. As one of the oldest MP3 jukebox applications available, Winamp holds a special place in my heart. I fell in love with it back in 1999, when it was one of the few free applications to play MP3 files (a necessity during the days of Napster). Winamp 2.x was incredible, Winamp 3.0 might as well have been a turd on my hard drive, but Winamp 5 took the cake: a slim yet fully-featured jukebox application that was stable as hell and highly extensible. It's been the backbone of my music collection management software for three years now.

Because big corporations like to muck up what works, AOL eventually pissed all over Winamp by bloating it up with their own content and bundles, and I found later Winamp 5.x releases to be burdening. I have stuck with the first Winamp 5 release over the past three years. Today, Winamp celebrates its tenth birthday with the release of Winamp 5.5, and it gets a quasi-face lift and some functionality changes. Point in case: I've downloaded it, out of sheer curiosity, and thus far I'm finding it to be a half-decent evolution of my favorite jukebox. I will present a more detailed analysis later on, but I enjoy its blend of early Winamp 5 functionality with a new iTunes-style layout and all-in-one user interface design. Of course, UI fall-backs to the old skins exists, but so far I'm finding 5.5 to be a worthy point to upgrade to. My biggest reason for this so far? It supports tight control and integration with my Zen Vision MP3 player, software much better built for managing my device than what Creative supplies. I'll report more later.

However, it is worth noting that updates in the next six or seven days will be sparse. I have two major projects underway for my CS classes, and a short story to finish by October 28th, so I'm at the point of the semester where I must begin to cut parts of my life out to accommodate school. Already out the door are video games: my DS, Wii, and PS2 are all out of my daily sight. Next, I'm narrowing my social life into a very small time frame per day/week. It all sucks, but I need to get very serious about my CS career very quickly.

Well, without further ado, I have a very hard day ahead of me. Tests, tests, English class, and tons of programming in the evening, with a small side of New King Buffet in the afternoon. I can't wait.

Out.