Thank you for coming! I've decided to seek your Collective Wisdom to revitalize this blog.
Why?
As you can see, it's been a long time since I've blogged here. This because even when I was posting more often, the number of comments I got was...minimal.
What was wrong?
Some guesses, in no particular order....
1. It started before social networking took off. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Delicious.
2. Following #1, there weren't enough good ways to bring it to the attention of potential readers.
3. Perhaps my posts were too detailed? I tried to change that, with no appaent effect.
4. Not snazzy enough? Doing a blog through Blogger limits you in what you can put up here.
What solutions?
1. Take advantage of social networking (#1 previous section).
2. Use #1 and #2 (previous secion)to make more noise!
3. Stop using greasy kid stuff (Blogger). Get my own domain, fire up WordPress.
4. Import some of the content from here to the new blog, keeping in mind any comments you have on #3 (previous section).
How can you help?
1. Nose around. Consider my points above, and feel free to add to them.
2. Tell it like it is. You can't offend me.
3. Be practical. Saying "you need more oomph" isn't practical unless you clue me to how I might get the oomph.
What do I promise?
1. I'll consider each and every comment carefully.
2. I'll reply to each and every comment here.
3. I will act on as many as I can.
4. I will acknowledge your help in my new blog.
5. I will be ever so grateful!
I look forward to your thoughts.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
OT: Hey, Mac People -- You're Not in Kansas Anymore
Precisely.
I had an experience which proves it.
The issue devolved on a wonderful mp3 program, Audion. Best encoder going, bar none. Same for editing and playing. Mac only. What's not to like?
Just one thing. After a computer restart, the thing wouldn't open. Froze solid. Took a "force quit" (Mac-speak) to get it gone. More than annoying. Worse, all the usual remedies didn't work: trash the preferences, repair permissions (more Mac-speak).
Time to crawl into the ductwork. The Mac OS X operating system is based on Unix. A wonderful, aesthetic, intuitive interface. But underneath is Unix. Just like older versions of Windows sat atop DOS. And therein lies a tale.
Unix is not user-friendly. It's user-hostile. At least. It extends a hand which really grabs you...in all the wrong places. DOS comes from Unix, which explains many of its charming quirks. You see where this is leading.
I've spent 20 years on DOS/Windows systems. You've got to be able to crawl into the ductwork and fix things. Or you're dead. And that's what I did here. It was an obscure issue of how Unix handles passwords. Don't ask -- it only affected Audion. I found it by a process of elimination.
So I'm up and running with Audion. I don't regret all the time I spent on DOS/Windows. Would never have been able to fix this otherwise.
As for all you Mac Cult people out there. Your beloved Leopard, under the hood, is no better than Windows, or as you snidely call it, Windoze, used to be.
I had an experience which proves it.
The issue devolved on a wonderful mp3 program, Audion. Best encoder going, bar none. Same for editing and playing. Mac only. What's not to like?
Just one thing. After a computer restart, the thing wouldn't open. Froze solid. Took a "force quit" (Mac-speak) to get it gone. More than annoying. Worse, all the usual remedies didn't work: trash the preferences, repair permissions (more Mac-speak).
Time to crawl into the ductwork. The Mac OS X operating system is based on Unix. A wonderful, aesthetic, intuitive interface. But underneath is Unix. Just like older versions of Windows sat atop DOS. And therein lies a tale.
Unix is not user-friendly. It's user-hostile. At least. It extends a hand which really grabs you...in all the wrong places. DOS comes from Unix, which explains many of its charming quirks. You see where this is leading.
I've spent 20 years on DOS/Windows systems. You've got to be able to crawl into the ductwork and fix things. Or you're dead. And that's what I did here. It was an obscure issue of how Unix handles passwords. Don't ask -- it only affected Audion. I found it by a process of elimination.
So I'm up and running with Audion. I don't regret all the time I spent on DOS/Windows. Would never have been able to fix this otherwise.
As for all you Mac Cult people out there. Your beloved Leopard, under the hood, is no better than Windows, or as you snidely call it, Windoze, used to be.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Naxos Music Library: Feast for the Ears
Thanks to the kindness of the good people at Naxos Music Library, and Joe Pisano of Mustech (see my entry for 12/19/2008) I've been having a tryout of the Naxos Music Library.
It's better than I could have imagined and, to quote Harrison Ford, I can imagine quite a lot.
For example, want to follow up on my Sibelius suggestions (my entry for 12/21/08 )? Head to the site and stream the BIS recordings of his piano music? Got Scarlatti on your mind (who doesn't?)? Stream the Naxos ongoing series of the complete sonatas. Want to remedy your ignorance of Medieval music (the case of The Arpeggist)? Stream Machaut.
You get my point. You want it, you can hear it. In a couple of clicks.
It's not free. But very affordable.
A full review is coming soon....
It's better than I could have imagined and, to quote Harrison Ford, I can imagine quite a lot.
For example, want to follow up on my Sibelius suggestions (my entry for 12/21/08 )? Head to the site and stream the BIS recordings of his piano music? Got Scarlatti on your mind (who doesn't?)? Stream the Naxos ongoing series of the complete sonatas. Want to remedy your ignorance of Medieval music (the case of The Arpeggist)? Stream Machaut.
You get my point. You want it, you can hear it. In a couple of clicks.
It's not free. But very affordable.
A full review is coming soon....
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