Land of Oz

Lo-Fi

I find it interesting that the pursuit of pre-recorded music seems to be reaching for ever more poorer sound quality. It's interesting that some of the latest "advances" in music actually make the sound poorer. Let me tell you that I can't hear very well, and the average MP3 sounds just as good as a freshly pressed LP over a good audio system.

I would guess that the best sound reproduction would come from either an LP - yep, that old plastic dinosaur, or a good tape recorder. By good, I'm talking about one of the high-speed, reel-to-reel tape recorders, not cassette. I'd also like to mention that I haven't been involved too much lately with high fidelity audio. My idea of a good system still involves a large reel-to-reel feeding a pre and power amp into a large set of high efficiency tuned ported speakers.

The problem with today's reproduced music is that most of it is digital while the source is analog. When CDs first came out, there was arguments about digital sampling. If you don't know, an analog sound wave (like from an instrument) is all (more or less) smooth curves similar to a swinging rope. A digital sound wave looks more like a flight of stairs. Now even though it's usually sampled and reproduced 44,000 times a second which sounds like a lot, it is still a distorted reproduction.

On top of that most sound files are compressed. And most of the compression isn't lossless - which means after compressing and expanding there is something lost - sound information. And then you have speaker systems. I get a kick out of these soon to be deaf idiots with their high-powered auto-audio systems that sound very similar to a 1960s mono transistor radio sitting in a metal pail.

I have heard that there is a small, but growing group of audiophiles who are getting back to LP sources and tube amps with quality speakers. While I think tube amps probably have more measured distortion, it seems the distortion may actually be advantageous to sound reproduction when compared to transistorized amps.

So grab your little MP3 player with teeny ear-plugs and your digitized compressed audio and don't tell me about good sounding music.

Parking

Long time readers of my stuff - surprisingly (and thankfully) there are a couple, know I have a thing (one of many) about idiots who can't park. I haven't updated my parking photos lately, but it definitely isn't because people have learned how to park.

Yahoo News MAHOPAC, N.Y. - A shopkeeper got so angry about the way a man had parked his car that he climbed into a forklift, placed the fork under the car and lifted it off the ground, police said Wednesday.

While I can't condone such actions (heehee) I can certainly understand them.

My latest personal parking peeve is at work. For the last couple of years, Monday through Friday, month in and month out, I park in the same exact place. Northeast of a particular light pole in the peon employee parking lot. (We have a different parking lot for those deemed exalted employees.) It's not like it's convenient - there's probably only a couple of dozen - out of hundreds - of slots that are farther away from the entrance. It's not like my car isn't recognizable - there's only one other bug, and it's a dark blue. In spite of all that, or perhaps because of, there seems to be someone, every now and then (more so lately) who parks in my slot. Yes, I know it's not reserved and I don't have it assigned to me, but still...

I guess I gotta keep an eye open for a forklift.

Why I'm Grouchy

This is the kind of stuff that ticked me off even before today was half over:

People not turning right on red - and there wasn't any traffic.

People driving under the speed limit - and on almost empty roads.

Shopping carts left rolling around the parking lot - put them away.

No prices on stuff in stores - and that's against state law here.
And by the way, they didn't put those price scanners in place for your convenience, it's so they don't have to hire someone to help you!

Peeing on the toilet seat - and leaving it wet.

Taking the last cup of coffee - and not starting another pot.

Negative political ads - tell me what you're going to do, not what the other did.

$350 baseball game ticket prices - and those are the cheap ones.

People trying to turn left onto very busy roads - go to the nearby traffic light.

People blocking aisles in grocery stores; again and again and again - move your damn cart over!

Your brand is out - the remaining brand isn't as good and costs more.

Selling your kid's candy at work - annoy your family, not your coworkers.

Making things mandatory - you just removed whatever fun may have been there.

Waiting until the last minute to merge - the sign was two blocks ago.

// posted by Jim-of-oz @ 10/20/2006 07:56:00 PM

Sex

Well, that should get the search engines' attention, shouldn't it? Actually, this is about a recent Detroit Free Press article (I think it was the only one this week that didn't mention baseball). It seems that a graphic sex book was found in one of the Detroit School of the Arts' libraries. After finding this and after the resulting uproar, it seems that all books about sex were removed from the library.

That seems to me, and to the columnist, a little extreme. From the partial description of the book in question (tell me more, tell me more) it seems that the book in question probably didn't need to be in the public school library. However, I find it troubling that they decided to remove all books about sex in response to this.

Now anyone knows, who's looked at elementary/high school library books anyway, that any book that has any kind of reference to anything even remotely sexual, scatological, or otherwise racy, is going to be underlined, outlined, cut out, or otherwise marked. (At least it was when I was young (back when Eve when was still alive). However, I suppose now with the Internet and MTV, sexual images aren't quite so hard to come by and probably a listing of "vagina" in Webster's isn't going to seem so "racy"."

The problem is that are probably some kids who are going to get their info from the library. Their parents aren't going to tell them about it, and what her classmates believe will lead them to being teenage parents. In this case I think the harm in showing some 14 year old how a condom is rolled on a penis in a picture in a book is going to be much less than having to show a 15 year old how to change diapers.

Old...

(Update 10-19) - It gets worse. Can you possibly understand why anyone would want a computerized toothbrush? Here's a link to the Oral B ad (another example of Flash bloated advertisments by the way). When I was a kid, we used chewed up willow twigs and liked it!

Well, it's official. I've wandered way beyond the limits of desirable marketing targeting. Very little except Buicks, Depends and Polident even try to market to me. Most background music sucks. There's stores in the mall, I can't even enter because the "music" is too loud and too bad. Salesmen (and I'm old enough to call them salesmen, not salespersons) in electronic stores look at me with pity in their eye and try to direct me to Matlock tapes and Lawrence Welk cassettes.

The counter-jockeys at the local Miky D's hashhouse offer me a cup of senior joe when I ask for coffee. Half the magazines I subscribe to offer Sansabelt pants and shoes with ugly velcro straps on them as the main ad on the back cover. I found the surest way to befuddle my coworkers (I work in an Internet company where most workers are half my age) is to bring my MP3 player to work - they're surprised I can deal with it - even though it's probably four years old. Hell, I've got computers that are older than some of the people I work with. Don't believe me? Look up M-100 or PC-1500.

While I enjoyed loud 8-tracks back in my day, I think the kids with cars and loud stereos with cheap speakers that vibrate like a tin can, are just stupid and I have little desire to wander Best-Buy while losing my hearing. The pants of the "guys" shopping for video games look like they took a crap and forget to do it in the bathroom. And who on earth needs a cell phone ring of music that sounds like 5 cats drowning in a bucket of dirty water.

The thing that set me off tonight was the new V-Dub commercial for the New Beetle Volkswagen. Some background here - my very first car was a Beetle - and it was one that didn't need water. My current car is a Beetle - at least from the outside. From 1975 to 1985 I drove a Thing and yes, I'd still be happy with my 40HP and I don't need a 100 amp alternator to run my radio or 350HP to get to the local five and dime. Offering an electric guitar has got to be the most stupid way to sell a car I've ever run across in my oh-to-many years of being bombarded with marketing. I figure what - there's gonna be five or six guys max who run down to buy a VW with an included guitar. With any luck, they'll play it in the rain and be electrocuted before I have to listen to them.

One Day?

Yahoo News: It seems Miami and Florida International football students decided to appear like real thugs this weekend. I saw some of the "highlights," if you want to call them that, of the fight on the news. This wasn't a matter of a couple of guys throwing some punches after a bad hit - it was an out and out brawl that seemed to include most of both teams' players along with idiots who were on the bench and not even playing.

I watched "players," and I use that term ever so loosely, kicking, stomping, swinging helmets and the news even mentioned some guy swinging his crutches at other players. To me this is just a reflection of the growing thuggery that is becoming more and more a part of sports - both pro and amateur. There should be no place for this stuff in today's sports. This weekend I watched a player who's team was 30 points down, celebrating when he made a tackle! That's what you're supposed to do. Nowadays a player makes 5 yards and he has to celebrate like he just won the Super Bowl singlehanded. Last month a local 12 years old flag football team was called at the half because of bad behavior!

I'll have to admit, that the majority of pro-football players act quite well on the field. Let's face it, getting mashed into the ground by a 350 pound lineman every other play would frazzle anyone's nerves. But for the most part, the pros just don't let that stuff go by. One player last week was suspended for several games because of his disgraceful violent behavior - to the tune of $190,000 of missed paychecks. But you see hockey idiots fighting every game - and being encouraged to do so. What makes a hockey game anymore acceptable for brawling than any other sport?

For my final word on this Florida fiasco, is that I find a one game suspension to be nowhere near what those thugs in uniform should be given. Multiple games, if not the remainder of the season would make a much better point.

Ebooks

Since I'm heavy reader, someone sent me a link to an article about ebooks the other day. It basically wonders if the latest iPod whatever will make ebooks successful in general.

My opinion is no. I'll be up front and let you know that I think most things Apple are overhyped, and that I'm one of the probably two or three semi-techies left who don't own a iPod. But that is really immaterial here.

There are a great many things that ebook readers will probably never be, that to me, seem necessary for success. Number one is the cost - $200 to $300 is just too much for a reader. If I have a paperback and drop it, the most I lose is one paperback - $7 retail and $0.50 via Salvation Army, and that's assuming I drop it down a hole or into the toilet - probably nothing will happen to it. If I drop my ebook reader - Apple or otherwise, I lose not only that book, but the $300 infrastructure needed to support it - along with any other book I may have had loaded. And let's face it, the probability of damage is WAY so much higher dropping an ebook reader.

Batteries are a big problem. Most current ebook thingies need to be recharged. They have some super-duper lithium cell inside that often can't even be user replaced. My Palm IIIxe, yes that old thing, at least uses standard AAA batteries. One set will last for weeks of use and I always keep a couple handy for replacement. Most of the new readers (specialized ones as well as general purpose PDAs) have battery life that is measure in hours.

I'm not a real fast reader, but can go through two or three good paperbacks on a 8 - 10 hour bus ride. From what I've read, most ebook readers would need recharging during this trip. For a long trip, I often buy cheap used paperbacks and leave them when I finish. I'm not going to do that with a $300 reader.

The place I can see ebooks coming into their own is in schools. It's nothing to spend $100 for a couple of text books that will be obsolete next semester. Tossing them into an ebook would be the way to go. Updates would be easy (how many times have you sweated over a math example just to find out the example was incorrect). Using them for reference would great as well - quick, how many times does "cold" appear in Macbeth? Of course, knowing universities, they'd still probably charge $100 for them.

To me, a usable ebook reader for enjoyment would have to be relatively cheap - definitely under $200; sturdy - dropping it off my desk shouldn't cause a twinge of worry; have the ability to use standard batteries (at least for emergency backup); and sized no bigger than a paperback (reference/school versions could be more the size of a text book).

The Experts

Is it any wonder nobody really knows what is going on these days? It doesn't have to be some government secret spy torture or war thing. It doesn't even have to be some big industrial espionage secret type thing, or even some super-secret religious zealot ritualized something or other.

Hell, the experts can't even figure out how many people are working or not. On one hand the Labor Department says "The U.S. jobs picture may have been better than first estimated...", on the other hand it says, "U.S. employers added a scant 51,000 jobs in September, far fewer than expected."

I guess things changed in the two hours between those new headlines.

Crap

I'm not usually this openly disgusted with religion, but the news this morning has me completely disgusted. I was listening to the radio on the way into work, when they started reporting on the gunman at the Amish school. Since this may be read at some time in the future, there was a shooting at a one room Amish school yesterday where at least 5 young girls were killed and more wounded.

Someone said this was a test of faith. Bullshit. If you're worshipping a god who's going to test your faith by killing little girls, you really need to find a different religion - perhaps materialism or satanism. Adults getting punished or killed for their sins I can buy. They should know better, but kids? No how, no way. If you're going to try to tell me that the parents of some little starving kid shot in Africa is having their tested, you're nuts. If you're going to tell me that the killings in Pennsylvania are a test in faith, you're nuts and so's your god. He/she/it doesn't deserve my contempt let along my worship. I also found this quote, "Doutrich is sure it can't stay that way. The Amish are resilient, he says, and will move past the school shooting by telling themselves it was God's will."

The only thing about religion I hope is working is eternal damnation. There has to be a special place for people like this guy who shoots up a school full of little girls.

Lock and Load

Yahoo News "Officers fired 110 rounds of ammunition at the man suspected of killing a sheriff's deputy, according to an autopsy and records released by the sheriff's office Saturday." The dead guy shot one deputy eight times and killed him, then shot his K-9 and killed it, and shot and wounded another deputy. He also shot at a sergeant and another officer from the Lakeland Police Department. When he was pulled over he was carrying the dead deputy's pistol which he didn't put down.

Polk County Sheriff Grady said, "I suspect the only reason 110 rounds was all that was fired was that's all the ammunition they had,... We were not going to take any chance of him shooting back."

I'm sorry to say that the Sheriff will probably get a lot of flack over that comment. I'm also guessing he'd get a lot less flack if the people who do give him grief were standing next to the shot officers at the time. What I would be concerned about is the 42 times out of that 110 that SWAT missed instead of hitting their target.