HeidiAllen.com

If you’ve downloaded the WRW (WorldRadio Widget) from the Apple Dashboard Widget website, and you can’t get it to work, you probably don’t yet have RealPlayer or Flip4Mac Player installed. (For RealPlayer, use version 10. Version 11 causes dropouts when switching back to your desktop.)

WRW enables you to listen to over 1,000 radio stations from around the globe… very cool! However, it’s a little bit buggy. Once you install it, click on the “i” in the lower right corner, then select the ‘Update’ tab and click on the ‘Download all radio stations’ button. You’ll get a message telling you how many stations there are to download. (Don’t worry. The download is quick.)

You have to click on the ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ buttons. These are nearly invisible and located to the right of the message. You’ll then get a message when the download is complete, and will have to click the ‘Ok’ button. This is another almost invisible button just below the message.

Next, select a country and a radio station, then click on the Play arrow. You should see “Contacting../Connecting….” in orange letters on WRW’s screen. Sometimes, it takes minute or two to connect. When the “Connecting…” message disappears and there’s still no music, the widget has given up trying to reach that station. Try another one.

If you aren’t able to connect to any station and the controls stop working, you may have to close WRW and start the whole process over again. In fact, you’ll have to do this every time you restart your computer, but hey!… It’s free.

Be forewarned that it will take a little time to find interesting music. I had no idea how severely bad dance pop has infected the planet. Apparently, you can’t escape it anywhere. I just listened to an Egyptian station playing clone-pop that featured male singers demanding sex… now!

Not exactly what you’d expect, but then again, isn’t that what channel surfing is all about?  ;)

Easter’s coming, and that means that many people will be tempted to buy chicks, ducklings and rabbits as gifts for their kids. Every major animal advocacy organization in the US has come out against this practice, and for good reason. Rather than repeating their warnings, allow me to share my own personal experiences related to this annual tragedy.

When I was in the fifth grade, our teacher thought it would be a good idea to bring in five or six tiny chicks for us to celebrate Easter. She let the class come over to the incubator tank to “pet” the chicks. I was a skinny, short kid, so I was one of the last kids to get a turn.

By the time I stood up on my tiptoes to look through the glass, only one chick was still alive. And it wasn’t going to be alive much longer. One of its legs had been ripped off. The tank was filled with chick blood and chick parts. It was very traumatic for me.

The teacher came over to see what was wrong and was shocked by what she saw. She demanded to know who in the class would have done such a thing. All the kids sincerely swore that they’d only pet the chicks. I knew they weren’t lying. They were just kids, and they were used to petting dogs and cats.

Chicks and ducklings are unbelievably fragile. A simple attempt by a child to run their fingers through the chick’s fluff can result in ripping off a wing. And even if the chick or duckling manages to survive a child’s curiousity, what will your family or class do with them when they grow up?

As for rabbits, they don’t like to be picked up or cuddled. They can really hurt you by biting, or kicking off against your chest, arms or legs by using their rear claws. And they require a lot of specialized care.

I used to go walking in a big park almost every evening. A couple of days after Easter, rabbits started showing up everywhere. They weren’t the small, brown rabbits I was used to, but rather, were showy and large.

The rabbits were terrified of everything. I couldn’t get near them. Meanwhile, people would take their dogs to this park and let them run off-leash. The dogs would attack the rabbits, and within a few months, all that was left to remind me of the whole nightmare were the rabbit bones scattered everywhere.

On a side note, dumping dogs or cats in rural areas to “live in the wild” doesn’t have a happy ending, either. I’ve been living out in “the country” for the past 7 years or so, and what I’ve seen is that coyotes are very grateful when you give them tasty kitty snacks. Farmers will shoot any unknown dog to make sure it doesn’t attack their livestock.

We met one of our cats when he showed up on our front porch one day and rolled over to reveal the bloody, black, twisted mess that remained of his testicles and belly. A chicken/goat farmer down the road had decided to teach him a lesson by employing a goat castration elastic. Cat flesh just isn’t remotely as tough as goat flesh. We were able to save his life with emergency surgery, but he’ll always have problems as a result of his experience.

Bottom line: Don’t bring an animal into your home unless you’re prepared to care for it for the rest of its life, which can be a considerable length of time. Learn in advance what its needs are. You may not be able to meet them.

Know that you won’t be able to just drop it off at a shelter if things don’t work out. Most shelters stay full and it can take months before they have an opening. Shelters with faster turnover tend to euthanize (kill) animals that aren’t adopted quickly. And releasing an animal “into the wild” will probably result in its death.

If you’re still determined to bring a pet bunny, chick or duckling home for Easter, see these care tips for rabbits or these care tips for chickens and ducks.