Songbird Launch: Fly 1.0! Fly!

The 1.0 release of Mozilla-based open source media player Songbird has finally arrived, and trust me, as someone whose true love has worked on this from the beginning, no one has wanted this more than me. I'm too close to know what people are going to say about this, but in 2005 they were calling this an open source iTunes killer - difficult shoes to fill with a primarily volunteer workforce and a player that still can't rip CDs or sync to your iPhone. So let me tell you what it does have - WinAmp-esque skins (feathers), concert touring info, a LastFM extension, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - heart.

WHY SWITCH FROM ITUNES TO SONGBIRD?

Logical Argument: Honestly, most of us just want to play the music we love whenever we want. Multi-device compatibility and cross format file support is really only important when you've got a party full of people and a device full of unplayable files. Listening should be seamless, and it isn't with iTunes or Songbird. The Songbird guys are the first to admit it. The difference is that iTunes and even the iPhone are purposely built to be incompatible with everything unApple. Meanwhile, Songbird's 35 employees and 4,500 volunteer community members are trying to fix this. Hell, if it really grinds your gears, you can fix it.

Emotional / Ad Hominem Abusive: You like us right? You want us to stay in America right? Well it's pretty hard to stay in the freaking country when the smart one doesn't have a visa. Get Songbird.

Stress

GAHHHH!

And Tango Makes Three

I went for an interview at a cool tech/cause NGO this morning and then headed over to Songbird to freeload pizza and catch up on reading. According to HuffPo, the "gay" penguin book, "And Tango Makes Three" is the book most objected to in US public libraries. Based on a true story, the book tells the tale of Roy and Silo, two male Chinstrap penguins who hatched an egg in NY's Central Park Zoo. (Awww)

WHAT I DON'T GET...
I understand that homophobia is still an awful reality, but what I don't understand is how we know that the birds are gay. Were they practicing Bob Fosse numbers with their tiny jazz flippers? Are heterosexual males incapable of cooperating as parents?

Doesn't anyone else remember Three Men and a Baby? It won a People's Choice award and homosexuality was never even discussed. Do we just assume that if they were gay, Magnum P.I. and Sam Malone would've kicked Steve Guttenberg to the curb?