.

Many of you iTunes users may have recently (and possibly inadvertently) downloaded the new iTunes 10.  While there are many positive changes included in this new version (e.g. faster performance, UI improvements, etc), there are some odd design decisions in the program as well.

What the hell were they thinking?

One of the more perplexing changes was the vertical alignment of the control buttons (the “Stoplight buttons” as some people call them, now even more true to the nickname).  What would prompt Apple to go against their own, time-tested, mother-approved OS interface standards?

While I may not be able to answer the “why”, I can tell you how to change your iTunes control buttons back to horizontal.

Here’s how:

1. Close iTunes (if its not already closed)
2. Open Terminal app
3. In Terminal, type the following command:
   defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1
4. That’s it!  Open iTunes to see the changes you’ve made!  If you happen to want to restore iTunes 10 back to the vertical buttons, go to step 5 below
5. To restore buttons to the vertical layout, paste this command into Terminal app:
   defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -0

Your iTunes control buttons should now look something like the picture below:

Aahhh, much better

So here I am, sitting on the sixth (and top) floor of my office. Idiotically, I volunteered to do a project over my 20 day Christmas vacation…what I

5.8 Earthquake Centered about 20 miles SE of Mexicali

was thinking, I still don’t know. In any case, I’m the ONLY PERSON on the floor.

As I pour through some CSS my monitor does a little shimmy (I would compare it to a chubby girl doing a quick hula dance). From my back, I hear some unnatural creaking, cracking and groaning sounds coming from the core of the building.

I am by no means a stranger to earthquakes, but being high atop a building, alone, wondering if its going to take the plunge…not my favorite moment of 2009.

Thankfully, the quake didn’t last long, and I only felt 2 of the aftershocks. I still haven’t heard how Mexicali is doing, but the quake was a 5.8 so I have to assume there was some damage down there.

Here’s to no earthquakes in 2010!

.

So, you’d like a Google Wave invite, eh? Well, the first 5 people to follow my devious instructions below will get their very own Google Wave invite. Follow along carefully, I have to be fair about this or I’ll get complaints. Do exactly as I say below:

Tweet this: “@empirenine is giving away Google Wave invites. Please follow him and RT this!”

or you can just click here to magically tweet it.

YOU MUST HAVE MORE THAN 500 FOLLOWERS TO QUALIFY!!!

Once you tweet it (and if you’re one of the first 5), I’ll ask you for your email address.  Tweet on y’all!

(I know that this may seem like a pain in the ass, but I also know that Google Wave invites are in high demand.  My friends and family are begging me for the invites but I’m actually spreading them out into the public.  If you know how to get a Google Wave invite by other means, go for it!)