Archive for August, 2006
- Oceanharp - August 31st, 2006
- No More Aggregations - August 31st, 2006
- The Studio in the Dining Room - August 30th, 2006
- when you need it bad… - August 29th, 2006
- Beware AOL’s Freeware - August 29th, 2006
- Customer (dis)Service - August 28th, 2006
- New Keyboard - August 28th, 2006
- submissive vs. subordinate - August 27th, 2006
- A Monitor for the HDR Set - August 24th, 2006
- Canon ups D-SLR Ante - August 24th, 2006
- So, Now We are Eight … - August 24th, 2006
- CMPG Meeting - August 23rd, 2006
- Such a Bargain! - August 22nd, 2006
- Wanted - Cheap - August 21st, 2006
- Reducing String Costs - August 21st, 2006
- just when my miles were adding up - August 17th, 2006
- We are living in a material world… - August 17th, 2006
- New Windows Cometh … - August 17th, 2006
- so why can’t i get going? - August 15th, 2006
- DTV Reception on the Cheap - August 15th, 2006
- Hey, I like that! - August 14th, 2006
- Effective Practice Method - August 14th, 2006
- Steely Dan at Nissan Pavilion - August 13th, 2006
- Alphabet Soup — Buying a New TV - August 11th, 2006
- Windows and Heatpumps and Ducts … Oh My! - August 10th, 2006
- Please Stand By … - August 9th, 2006
- More D80 Comments - August 9th, 2006
- The New Nikon - August 9th, 2006
- Cambridge Council Moves Despite Lawsuit - August 8th, 2006
- Expansion of the Mind - August 7th, 2006
- Prints Like Polaroid? - August 2nd, 2006
In case you forgot, I’ve got this little category about strange musical instruments. This is one of them.
This thing is called an Oceanharp, and it’s an acoustical friction instrument that sounds like a synthesizer. Filled with water it produces a magical sound reminiscent of whales.
Find out more, or buy one, here.
Never a dull moment here [...]
Astute visitors will notice that I’ve removed the “Aggregations” page from the site, mostly because the pages I was aggregating weren’t updating with any particular regularity, with a couple of exceptions. No big loss, I don’t think.
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The Studio in the Dining Room
Uploaded by gerenm.
For lack of a better place, the new keyboard’s been set up in the dining room. The “workstation” is made up from closet organizer units from Target. (!) They were relatively cheap, and, once we decide where to set everything up permanently, I can get a Jerker workstation [...]
Do you remember the commercials years ago: “When you need it bad, we’ve got it good…Florida!” I have no particular affinity for Florida, but boy do I need a vacation! We’re planning an extended weekend in Maine in October, and it can’t come fast enough for me! But at least we’ve got [...]
According to a New York Times article:
“Dealing yet another blow to AOL, a leading software watchdog group warned users away from AOL’s free client software yesterday on the ground that it displayed characteristics consistent with “badware.â€?”
I couldn’t agree more. Having AOL software installed on your computer is a bad thing.
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What’s up with the current lack of customer service?
We’re having problems with two service providers. One, the new landscaping/gutter-cleaning company, failed to cut the lawn on the first promised date, the second promised date, and finally got out here to cut it 10 days later after Geren had to threaten cancellation of the brand-new [...]
After the band disaster last year and subsequent sell-off of everything keyboard related, we decided that it is again time to have a keyboard in the house. However, this time, we had much different requirements in a keyboard — 88 piano-weighted keys, excellent piano sound and easy use were paramount.
We (well, I, really) had decided [...]
Today was the famous (or infamous?) passage in the church’s cycle of readings: the one about “wives submit to your husbands…” &c., but in this particular translation, subordinate was used in place of submissive. This was disturbing to me because subordinate implies a permanent role that is unequal and beneath, whereas submissive implies equality [...]
Researchers have developed a video-display technology that can produce an unlimited range of colors by flexing tiny artificial “muscles” that generate different shades by expanding and contracting in response to electricity.
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Canon have announced thier newest D-SLR, in response to Nikon’s new D-80. The new camera sports a 10.1MP imager with a CCD cleaning system similar to that found on the latest Olympus eVolt models. Canon has chosen to stick with standard CF cards with thier new model (Nikon switched to SD cards), and has kept pricing [...]
And the Plutonians are sure gonna be pissed!
It’s a really strange feeling when things of astronomical proportions change. The International Astronomical Union has decided, after serious wrangling for the past couple of weeks, that Pluto just doesn’t cut the mustard as a planet. Too small, too far away and too cold.
Sounds to me like it’s just [...]
Regular CMPG meeting. See http://www.cmpg.org for details.
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Appparently, I got more of a bargain than I bargained for when I picked up my Soundcraft 200BVE mixer. It’s, as mentioned previously, a modest mixer: 16 mono inputs, 4 sub-groups and a stereo mix. I bought it, used, from its original owner. The mixer is better than 20 years old, but operationally, it’s a [...]
I’m looking for some parts to upgrade my Soundcraft 200B 16-channel mixer. The idea is that I want to turn it into a larger mixer, with 24 inputs. That means I’m looking for a 24-channel frame, 8 #2106 input modules and another 8 channel input backplane. I guess an 8 channel 200B would work for [...]
The bass strings on a classical guitar often go dead before the trebles. However, the strings are usually not worn out — the windings are just cruddy. They can be cleaned and re-used!
Remove the bass (wire-wound) strings only. Loosely coil them and place them in a large mixing bowl (preferably metal or glass). Cover the [...]
my NWA miles are ‘that’ close to a free ticket again…perfect timing, eh?
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Maybe we can say that Americans aren’t the only or most materialistic society — check this out.
And then again, to whom will they market…guaranteed it won’t just be South Koreans, and the U.S. will probably top the list.
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… and not the computer kind.
We decided last night on a vendor for our new windows. Yay! In reality, the process was not as brutal as I had expected it would be. I had scheduled four window companies to come out and do their pitch. I cancelled the fourth, because, frankly, I didn’t get a [...]
another one of those funks again, but this one has lasted for a few weeks now. i have so much to do, but i can’t get going. i know what the answer is: mood follows action (never the other way ’round) but still, i’m frozen by the list. sort of a deer-in-the-headlights look. ugh.
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At the end of my discussion on getting a DTV set without breaking the bank, I mentioned that you can view these beautiful digital pictures without spending an arm and a leg, too. What’s the secret?
There are a few ways to get digital signals into your home. You desires and viewing habits will dictate the [...]
I’ve discovered that I actually like Blues Traveler. I didn’t used to.
I was watching Austin City Limits the other night in HD. They’re actually shooting the show in HiDef now, and, man oh man, it looks friggin’ AWESOME! Anyway, Blues Traveler was on, and they’re really, really good. I think the one thing about them [...]
We’ve all got spare change. Here’s a way to put it to good use and improve your playing — no matter what instrument you play! In particularl, it’s a good way to work on those “problem areas” in any piece you’re working on.
First define the exact cause of the problem. This is something usually quite [...]
We’re goin’, with friends Bob and Linda.
Tour Info Here.
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As I’ve written before, TV as we now know it in the United States is due for a change.
Since I wrote that last article, the end date of the transition from our current broadcasting standard has been set: February 17, 2009 is the date that your standard television set will go dark. Or, more appropriately, [...]
So, what a bunch of schiesters! So many Toms, Dicks and Harrys out there think that they’ve got a clue how to run a home improvement business. Yeesh!
If you didn’t guess by the title, we’re into home improvement mode. The house is 22+ years old, and still has the original windows and heat pump. The [...]
[UPDATE] We have completed the update to WordPress 2.0.4 on Blather de la Semaine. Everything appears to have gone quite smoothly. Please let us know if, unbeknownst to us, something really fell in the crapper.
I also cleaned up a bunch of extra garbage that was hanging around the installation — mostly plug-ins and themes that [...]
Thom Hogan makes some interesting comments about the new Nikon D80.
However, in a couple of areas, he’s a bit off the mark. For instance, he asserts that there’s no reason to by a D70s, because “the D80 outfeatures the D70s in so many ways at not much more price…” I’m sorry, but a $300 price [...]
For the first time Nikon has launched a new camera without trademarking it…
This new camera is the natural successor to the D70/D70s with a refreshed design, user interface and a wide range of new features. Headline improvements are; 10.2 mp CCD, new image processing engine, 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 11-area AF system, configurable Auto [...]
This message was received via e-mail, and references opposed development adjacent to and upstream from the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, near Cambridge, Maryland — development that is potentially devastating to the surrounding, protected wetlands area.
Last Friday night, we recieved news that despite the pending lawsuits that CBF has filed, despite the pending decision of the [...]
I haven’t written anything in the music notes department in quite some time. Frankly, I’ve just not been inspired to play any music, or write any music, or even to write about any music for a long time — since the band broke up in December of last year, really. Sure, I’ve posted a little [...]
As some may know, I recently replaced yet another printer. This time, the new printer is an HP Photosmart 8250. I really like the print quality, the speed and the pricing. But, I’ve noticed a couple somethings that are a little odd …
For test prints and “contact sheets,” I don’t really like to use the [...]
