Closed Tabs, Open Entries
Joan Baez? Woody Guthrie? Springsteen? Marvin Gaye ? Anybody know any other songs from Mr. Marvin? On the verge of another war, are more political tunes imminent? SOAD, BSF, Metallica?
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out in the media. And if a new, brave, band like the legends of yesterday appear again.
Time will tell. And by time, I’m thinking of Saddam Hussein. And the other Middle East adventures our nation has become involved in.
Was going through a bunch of old disks today. USB drives. Doing some cleanup, and realized life has been pretty damn awesome. Mostly, because of music, but also because of technology. Media has provided the incentive to be curious about technology. And since the late 90’s/early 00’s, motivated and inspired to research and learn.
The trip to New Jersey, to see the Fire (for like the 10th time). North, south, central areas of the state…simply travelling for concerts. The bluegrass state, for the “Initial” fests.
Golf trips, also inspired by media reviews; golfnow. Trips to the upper Midwest and southern states.
The very early days of my own computer/technology introductions…Gateway, Encarta.
Research before my favorite vacation (as a kid). The trip to Alcatraz, Oakland, Monterey, CA.
It continues to be fun.
“Cut the cord”, cable, etc has been a practice occurring for the last two decades. Some of us like to catch the occasional sporting broadcast, so that’s become more difficult. But, services like Sling are beginning to offer some nice options including one day subscriptions for $5. Much less than a price for a ticket to one game (if you’re in the vicinity).
The other thing is, OTA (antenna) channels just have much more to offer than they did years ago. Crisp, clear, digital picture through simple rabbit ears, if set up right. Right now, I’m getting two Bounce networks, and that’s worth the price for the antenna alone. The movies and shows are great! Add to that, ION network (and X-Files on occasion), and it’s a no brainer.
So don’t break out the popcorn, break out the peanuts! In the shell, the ones you have to crack to open. Like at the game. You pay peanuts, we eat peanuts, we love living off of peanuts!
Yo P-Nut, Beat that thang!
In addition, local coverage pertaining to news, weather, updates seem to be more accessible/relaiable through antenna access. (especially during outages).
Just out of curiosity, I did some searching the other day. Instant messaging software introduced me to many like minded people and music, movies, even art. It was no surprise that AIM and YIM have been gone for quite some time. ICQ, the most recent victim of modern technology and trends.
What surprised me is that IRC is still active. Granted, it appears limited to those there for nostalgia or the extremely tech oriented, but it’s great to see one of the old chat clients still up and running. Through various servers and users. I’ve discovered quite a few bands, movies, and learned quite a bit. My first (chipped) original xbox software was released and supported through irc channels.
Social media and platforms such as discord have replaced many of the “old school” favorites. It would be great if something basic like AIM could be released again, because it was a perfect platform to meet people with similar interests. As well as discuss and discover new things. And it didn’t feel overly invasive.
Years ago I would search the internet for various devices to assist me OR help me create the perfect media setup. Preferably, an army of SBC’s networked through a NAS server in a central location. At that time, 2TB drives were massive, and the specialty disks you bought were expensive. Wireless internet was still a bit limited, so hardwiring with cat5 seemed the best option for networking. You would have to buy the kits, the connection testers, and of course the hardware.
Refurbished pcs were the best option in the beginning, then of course, SBCs made a lot more sense for “frontend” devices. Full Linux systems, in the beginning, evolved into much more tailored Linux systems (apps/software for popular mobile devices appeared much later). All this had me ordering many test/development hardware components (I probably had no business buying). But, did learn a lot!
The beauty of the internet, for me, has always been options. It’s what makes building PC’s so much fun. You choose the hardware, the components, eventually the price, and then finish a project (keeping purpose and functionality in mind, of course). For media projects, I’ve purchased “beta” components from S. Korea, Israel, and had fun testing those RPi’s in the very beginning. Anyone remember the OUYA?
Outside of tech related internet purchases, I’ve purchased wine (from a movie) from California. Wine from a band (from AZ). Before gardening season, hard to find seeds from all over the country.
Did you know that Amazon sells bifocals? If you need spares, you can buy a few for under $20. Silk screening kits, beer brewing kits, etc. All interests and products I’ve enjoyed using and hobbies I dabble in now and then.
Options are good. The internet has created many. No matter how young or old you are.
From the Computer Love (ZAPP) man himself Roger Troutman (OH)
Anyone else looking forward to Spring? The longer days, the temperature, the gardening adventures? Right now, I already started a small group of tomatoes that have just sprouted. Probably way too early. They are going to need to be transplanted several times.
The big question is always: how many seeds are going to be planted this year? How many plants and vegetables are adequate to maintain? Given the cooking I’ve been recently doing, I think some peppers would be a great addition. Several blackberry plants already populate the garden, and they are an excellent addition to yogurt and cereal. Nothing beats dark berries for flavor and nutrition.
The recent winter storm proved that the battery powered snow blower was perfectly capable of handling nature’s challenges. The battery powered mower has impressed me over and over again with it’s abilities. What I have yet to test is the rototiller. I’m looking forward to testing it out this year.
It’s very early, but I’m already looking forward to that time change. Moving the inside plants out, and getting a little help from what seasonal nature provides…
Oops. Forgot to mention. Since I’m not currently on any social med (3 yrs. at least) . I’ve updated the “About” page. (It was recommended)
It’s around 9:30 pm on a Saturday. I’m sipping a Sam Adam’s Cold Snap (probably my favorite beer). Like a good swath of the country, our area is on the verge of a snow emergency. At this point, I filled the car with gas, boiled eggs, made some cold pasta meals, some rice, beans, and checked the stock of milk and cereal. All good.
The batteries are charged for the flash light, as well as the batteries for the snow blower. Will it make it through several inches of snow on the driveway? Time will tell… and all this gets my mind going. How much profit is created off emergencies? The threat of catastrophe? For products? For behavior? For behaviors that create more profit, from products and services that remove worry and resolve conflict?
Shovels. Food. Seasonal Machinery. Spirituality. Assistance. Products? What is necessary?
After Covid, it seems that several services absolutely took off. Especially the “stay at home” kind. Online medical appointments, grocery pickup and delivery, pharmaceutical deliveries, even car buying on line. Was any of this a direct result of covid? When did the influx of all these damn prescription pill advertisements start on TV? For anxiety. Depression. Cancer. Psychological Disorders. Diabetes?
A marketplace?
The main argument against academia, and the pursuit of higher education is that it creates, then instills, too many questions in students. Are it’s pupils intelligently questioning the status quo and those that rely simply on “faith and confidence” in an existing system? Where does consumerism, marketing and advertisering fit in?
The culture definitely changes with every major event that occurs. Are we, as a society, recognizing this?
Edit: Off the album: This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In!
-SK
If you like this song, this is another great tune by the band. Love music always.
So I’ve been reading about a few people having trouble accessing and/or downloading music for multiple songs off YT for listening (later) on various devices. Many browsers (Firefox, Chrome, etc) have extensions or addons which can be used to accomplish this feat. If you are a fan of live music or mashups, these are excellent tools to use to transfer to USB or device.
Firefox offers downloadhelper (and other extensions), which allow you to download in audio format. Of course, you can use this tool to download full podcasts, or any sort of audio also.
Recently, I downloaded this old school mashup.
I’ve been using refurbished or recertified computers for many years. Look on any auction site and you can find plenty. An old computer “genius” friend of mine started swapping and buying components years ago and rebuilding pcs, servers, and gaming systems. He always had luck with it.
From my perspective, the older machines and components seem to be built better. They are more manageable with easily accessible components from their cases and shells. Of course, I’m speaking in generalities here, your mileage may vary. Obviously, another big advantage is you typically get more bang for your buck in storage space, processor, and RAM.
Where does this “thinking” apply elsewhere, outside of the nerdosphere?
I’m getting old. And find many items from clothes to phones, cars to music (mostly), better in the past. The design of cars, a dress shirt, the rhythm and focus of a song, movies, shows, etc. Yes, I’m getting old… did I mention that?
So what is acceptable in an age where “new” is advertised and encouraged? Consumerism is a very powerful collective practice in America, but I think I’m starting to really change my viewpoint when it comes to materialism and products. Entertainment and even travel.
Anyone feel the same? Leave a comment below… wait a second.
So what’s been going on with this site, me, and where is this leading to? This site…probably nowhere. It’s a place to be humorous and occasionally discuss tech and music (mostly). The past year I took a long break from technology (although not completely absent). Also had the chance to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a very long time. Which to me, is more valuable than anything else I have to talk about here or elsewhere. Often times I think tech interferes with our vision of the world, perhaps persuades and manipulates are viewpoints. Sometimes things are black and white, but often times things that should be pretty straightforward get translated in the wrong language (I am talking about foreign languages to you and me, due to mindset, agendas, values, and understandings of the world).
I mentioned Sirius/XM radio in another post somewhere, and I’ve been introduced to a lot of good music. Do you ever come across that one song you hear only one time and know you have to purchase it? It plays in your head for hours, perhaps days, and finally you either buy the digital download or the whole album. This has been that song for me (the recent one).
Crazy thing is, these guys were almost certainly playing at some festivals/shows I’ve been to in the past. Perhaps I didn’t make it over to their stage. But it’s great to see them still going strong. Definitely recognize the name, had a couple songs on some comps/mixed lists back in the day. Excellent tune. Beware of the internal disc jockey spinning this constantly in your head.