Author: paul

the best is the enemy of the good

most people listen to music in environments that are full of compromises: the solution, according to the snobs (call it what it is), is to stop listening. better to listen to music you like and follow the trend of better equipment/better encoding that not listen at all, don’t you think?

Lou figures out that the mp3 standard is not wonderful. My reply at ZDnet, if I had felt like registering one more %^&*( time just so I could leave a comment:


every recording is a degradation of the live, in-person performance. the question is, what trade-offs are you comfortable with? if you don’t have an audiophile playback system, what good are high-end recordings?

most people listen to music in environments that are full of compromises: the solution, according to the snobs (call it what it is), is to stop listening. better to listen to music you like and follow the trend of better equipment/better encoding that not listen at all, don’t you think?

[From Rocker Lou Reed takes aim at new technology | Tech News on ZDNet]

Questions:

  • how is mp3 “new” technology?
  • how perceptible is the difference between a WAV file and a 320k mp3 or mp4/aac file?
  • does he have any idea what he’s on about or is he just one more “traditionalist” in a changing world?

links for 2008-03-13

expenses

a new radiator (the existing one has come apart, with the top part of the tank leaking coolant with very little encouragement needed), with a new temperature sensor and gasket(s) a new drive axle and rubber boot, as the one in place has split and allowed rocks and road grit to commingle with the bearing — leaving the mess in place, even cleaned up, is a gamble I’d rather not take

After noticing my van’s (the family car) showing signs of running a little hot (the temperature gauge would actually move), I took it to my mechanic this morning. I actually need:

  • a new radiator (the existing one has come apart, with the top part of the tank leaking coolant with very little encouragement needed), with a new temperature sensor and gasket(s)
  • a new drive axle and rubber boot, as the one in place has split and allowed rocks and road grit to commingle with the bearing — leaving the mess in place, even cleaned up, is a gamble I’d rather not take
  • a timing belt replacement (recommended after 5-6 years or 90k miles: a 98 model with 80K is overdue) as a broken belt is a shortcut to a ruined engine.

About $1700 in expenses. If only the thrill of driving a Dodge Caliber (with satellite radio — 193 channels and still nothing on!) made up for it . . .
Is it true you can make money on the Internet? Wish it were so . . .

on trust fund hippie kids

When you know your whole life that you can have what you want, what they want is to be in a tribe and care about nature and spirituality…. When privileged people have everything they want, the next thing they want to do is build amazing things for other people (and celebrate and be nude and beautiful).

Yeah, it is infuriating that they can use the safety of their middle class lives to tell themselves they are adventuresome. If they’re sanctimonious on top of that, that’s really frustrating. BUT. Think of it this way. This is what people do when they know they are safe. These kids have felt safe their entire lives and trust the world, and what do they do with that? They choose a lifestyle of openness and gentleness, of connectivity and consciousness. When you know your whole life that you can have what you want, what they want is to be in a tribe and care about nature and spirituality. (Maybe they care about nature and spirituality in an easily accessible way, but as far as cheap philosophies go, it is a kind one.) This is also what impresses me about Burning Man. When privileged people have everything they want, the next thing they want to do is build amazing things for other people (and celebrate and be nude and beautiful). People who have never been scared don’t want dominion. They want expressiveness and connection. [From Go to work!]

So young and yet so wise.

hmmmm

how to derive a heuristic like this?

If you find 3 or more typos in the menu, ask for bottled water; 6 or more, consume only that water; 9 or more, take the menu home as a souvenir.

how to derive a heuristic like this?

If you find 3 or more typos in the menu, ask for bottled water; 6 or more, consume only that water; 9 or more, take the menu home as a souvenir. Submitted by: abrador, Professor, Berkeley, CA, USA [From ORTHOGRAPHY AND HYGIENE IN RESTAURANTS]

why would you say a thing like that?

In case you missed it, Hillary Clinton (D-Entitlement) thinks that she and Sen McCain (R-Whichever Way the Wind Blows) are qualified for the job, and Obama isn’t.

Whatever her answer, it would tell us something we need to know: either that her doubts about Obama are so serious that she would not be willing to support the nominee of her own party, or that she would support someone she thinks is unfit to serve, or that she does not believe a word she said about Obama, and is willing to impugn a fellow Democrat’s fitness to serve as President because her own interests matter more to her than her party’s or the nation’s.

In case you missed it, Hillary Clinton (D-Entitlement) thinks that she and Sen McCain (R-Whichever Way the Wind Blows) are qualified for the job, and Obama isn’t.

Whatever her answer, it would tell us something we need to know: either that her doubts about Obama are so serious that she would not be willing to support the nominee of her own party, or that she would support someone she thinks is unfit to serve, or that she does not believe a word she said about Obama, and is willing to impugn a fellow Democrat’s fitness to serve as President because her own interests matter more to her than her party’s or the nation’s. [From Crossing The Threshold]

I’ll take judgment over experience every time.

story ideas

I keep flashing back to Bill Bryson’s Short History of Nearly Everything and the idea that a meteor 1 mile wide could destroy all life on the planet, as he explains it…. I realize it’s unlikely no one else would spot it, but for reasons of narrative, no one does.

One more. This one is probably just a short story. I keep flashing back to Bill Bryson’s Short History of Nearly Everything and the idea that a meteor 1 mile wide could destroy all life on the planet, as he explains it.

What if two astronomers spotted one that was on course with sufficient velocity to do just that? There’s nothing anyone could do. Do they announce what they have found and when the end will come? Or do they keep it to themselves?

Having two people makes it possible to look at both sides of the story. I think they agree not to tell anyone, not even their own families.

I realize it’s unlikely no one else would spot it, but for reasons of narrative, no one does. Deal with it.

What would you do?