Apparently, women like guys who can play the guitar. Who knew?

Today I decided to accept a new position, as a Java developer at the Virginia DEQ. Still working at the same place, but it'll be in a different office. Instead of managing the website and doing small-to-medium-sized public information applications, I'll be working on larger systems that deal with the agency's core data. And instead of working (primarily) alone, I'll be working with other developers in a team.

It's a good position for me, because it gives me experience in areas that I haven't had much exposure to yet; but I'm not sure yet how everything will play out. I love my current position; it's a great job, but I've decided that I need to try something new. Hopefully I'll like the new job as much as this one. If not, hey, that's life. Can't win if you don't try.

I'm going to miss working in the Public Affairs office - I've been there for over three years, and have enjoyed every minute of it.

This is an important step on the path I'd like to take; I would like to be someone who Designs and Builds Very Big, Important Pieces of Software That Do Very Important Things, Solve Very Difficult Problems, and Generally Make People's Lives Easier. Essentially, a software architect. Can't get there working alone, so now that I've broken into Java, it's time to be part of a larger shop and stretch my limits a bit.

So there it is… the big decision.

From my last.fm profile last week:

We had a really fun and interesting day today; it was the kind of day where things happen that you don't expect and weren't really planning for, but it ends up being really cool and you're glad you decided to roll with it.

The plan was to head down to a friend's house on the south side of Richmond to pick up their old bike trailer that they weren't using anymore. This would be the kind of trailer that your kids can ride around in. For a couple of weeks now, we've had visions of doing family bike rides, and last weekend I got our bikes out and fixed them up.

After that, we were going to meet some friends and head to the folk festival. Then we were going to go home and start getting ready for our trip to Texas next week.

We went down and loaded up the trailer; they also hooked us up with a bike they weren't using anymore. Which is awesome, because it turned out that my old bike needs more work than I thought - the front shifter is missing, and the chain broke on my first ride out. So now I have something to ride until I get the other one fixed.

By the time we got the bike lashed to the top of our car, my daughter was having a blast playing with a couple of other girls. They were all going to a harvest festival at Riverside Outfitters. Our other friends hadn't called yet, so we decided to go over there with them.

The festival turned out to be pretty awesome; there were lots of kids there, and some interesting activities; Riverside Outfitters does tree climbing camps, and they were set up for people to climb an enormous pine tree, probably fifty or sixty feet. It was incredible; at the top, I could see the Carillon, and my arms are still burning from working the rope.

Also, I got to check out our friend's new espresso cart; he bought it on eBay, and he's going to build up a coffee cart business. He brought it out there and set it up. The coffee was excellent, and the cart was really cool - completely self-contained, fully equipped.

We had a great time meeting various people and hanging out. The guy who belayed me during my climb talked with us about how he wanted to offer their climbing programs to more underprivileged kids. We stayed for five hours. It was nothing at all like what we were planning, but it ended up being really outstanding. You have to abandon your plan sometimes…

In my inbox just now:

THANK YOU FOR ORDERING IN RAINBOWS. THIS IS AN UPDATE.

YOUR UNIQUE ACTIVATION CODE(S) WILL BE SENT OUT TOMORROW MORNING (UK TIME). THIS WILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO THE DOWNLOAD AREA.

HERE IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE DOWNLOAD:

THE ALBUM WILL COME AS A 48.4MB ZIP FILE CONTAINING 10 X 160KBPS DRM FREE MP3s.

In Rainbows is, of course, the new Radiohead album. I am beside myself with excitement about this. For me, any new Radiohead album is cause for rejoicing; but this one comes with an added bonus: this is the first album that Radiohead has released outside of a record contract. Because of this, they can offer the music as a DRM-free download under the "it's up to you" pricing scheme. This is exciting in itself; In Rainbows is a valuable opportunity to find out what major-label music is like without the major labels.

I thought a lot about what price to pay for this album. I believe records are overpriced, because I believe that the services record companies offer to musicians are overvalued and encourage the production of crappy music. I think artists are not compensated enough for their work. And I've always talked about how great it would be if there was a way to send money directly to the artist.

I certainly wasn't going to pay the minimum price (1p) - I'd find that pretty insulting as an artist, I think; and besides, that would just give the record companies cause to shout about what would happen if everyone cut them out of the process.

I thought about paying what I think records ought to cost - say, roughly about $10 (with a significantly larger percentage going to the artists). That would be fair, certainly - Radiohead, after all, would see nearly all of that, instead of the minuscule cut they'd get from a label album.

But In Rainbows is more than just the music. It is, as I've said, an opportunity to try something new in music production and distribution. Everyone knows the old system can't sustain itself. The Internet has empowered the artist again - it's the biggest distribution and marketing network ever created, and you don't have to pay to play. It is entirely conceivable, these days, that a determined artist could go from unknown, to cult favorite, to international superstar, entirely without the involvement of record companies. It hasn't happened yet, not really, but it will; and it is going to take bold moves by artists like Radiohead, Prince, and Nine Inch Nails to pave the way. They can afford to drop their contracts and experiment with alternatives, and once we figure out what works, it's going to become a lot easier to get noticed on the Internet.

I want Radiohead's grand experiment to be successful, and I want people to take notice. I don't want it to make as much money as a label album; I want it to make more. And I want to express my appreciation to Radiohead for doing this.

So I'm proud to say that I paid £20, or just over $40, for In Rainbows. It's already worth every penny to me, and I don't even have the record yet. Tomorrow morning, when I stumble out of bed and start downloading it, is going to be the start of a new era in the music business. And I'm beside myself with excitement.

… this morning …

… felt: little splashes all over my back …

… heard: "i tryin to wake him up wif my bubbles, but it not workin" …

… and later …

… "the dark is all away, it got morning! …

I love that the page for The Doors on FoxyTunes Planet pulls pictures of doors from Flickr. Right now it's some garage doors from different angles.

It would even be better if the page for Riders on the Storm had pictures of storm doors, and the page for Light My Fire had pictures of fire doors. But they don't. But it would be cool. You know, if they did.

I'm really curious what Flickr would have for The Revolting Cocks. But I can't bring myself to look.