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The Sound of NOW
Posted 13 years agoSome time ago, I wrote a journal which was basically about how the music industry was being killed by the music industry:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2382815/
I've got some thoughts to add to it.
As I've mentioned numerous times, I'm in the middle of the sisyphean task of cataloging my music collection in MP3 format. The current stage of this task concerns something I call decompiling. Essentially, I'm taking various compilation albums, and breaking them back into individual singles. The collection I'm currently working on is Billboard's top 100 hits from the year 1984. After that I move on to Billboard's Top 100 hits from the year 1983, and so on.
I'm finding cover and label art for each individual 45 RPM, and entering them into itunes as singles. Decompiling the compilation.
I like doing it that way because that way what I end up with is more like a jukebox. Each track has it's own cover art, with it's own correct year (or near as correct as wikipedia can be) and I've made some interesting discoveries along the way. (For example, one song on one of my 80's New Wave Hits CDs was actually from 1978.)
But the point of all this, is that it started me thinking about the hot hits for an individual year. The songs that people actually listened to. The actual popular songs. The ones that defined a decade.
Getting back to my earlier journal, I mentioned the genres that defined each decade. Your Doo-Wop, your Disco, your New Wave, your Grunge...
And I started thinking, what are the hot hits of right now? If there were to be a top 100 album for THIS YEAR, what would be on it?
My guess is, it wouldn't contain anything that was actually on the radio. Because what's on the radio? Classic Rock. Oldies. Talk. I said it before. There's very little space on the radio for anything new. Everything on it is either old, or retreads of old. In much the same way that the Motion Picture industry is keeping itself afloat atop a pile of endles sequels, remakes, and reboots on the grounds that this is somehow safer than taking a risk of showing us something new that we may not like, The music industry is just repackaging and reselling The Same Old Thing.
Now, I frequent a number of Livestream channels, inhabited by the sort of people who would fit the mould of "consumer demographic for current popular music" and during those streams, although we tend to play a lot of classic songs, when it comes to new music, what are we listening to?
We're listening to Pony Music Videos. We're listening to songs bodged together out of Team Fortress 2 soundclips. We're listening to remixes of the end theme to Portal 2. We're listening to original songs written by performers who have never been within a mile of a recording contract.
We're listening to things made by people in their bedrooms.
It's the do-it-yourself ethic that Punk Rock used to embody, gone mainstream. And I use that word with precision, because THIS is the mainstream. This is the now. This is the Hot Hits of this generation. When today's youth look back on this era with nostalgia (and they will) this is what they'll be remembering fondly. These songs may never make it onto a Billboard compilation, if such a thing even still exists on that fateful future day, but this will be what defines the decade.
Radio is dead. The Recording Industry is dead.
Long live the YouTubes.
Long live the bedroom musicians.
Long live the sound of NOW.
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2382815/
I've got some thoughts to add to it.
As I've mentioned numerous times, I'm in the middle of the sisyphean task of cataloging my music collection in MP3 format. The current stage of this task concerns something I call decompiling. Essentially, I'm taking various compilation albums, and breaking them back into individual singles. The collection I'm currently working on is Billboard's top 100 hits from the year 1984. After that I move on to Billboard's Top 100 hits from the year 1983, and so on.
I'm finding cover and label art for each individual 45 RPM, and entering them into itunes as singles. Decompiling the compilation.
I like doing it that way because that way what I end up with is more like a jukebox. Each track has it's own cover art, with it's own correct year (or near as correct as wikipedia can be) and I've made some interesting discoveries along the way. (For example, one song on one of my 80's New Wave Hits CDs was actually from 1978.)
But the point of all this, is that it started me thinking about the hot hits for an individual year. The songs that people actually listened to. The actual popular songs. The ones that defined a decade.
Getting back to my earlier journal, I mentioned the genres that defined each decade. Your Doo-Wop, your Disco, your New Wave, your Grunge...
And I started thinking, what are the hot hits of right now? If there were to be a top 100 album for THIS YEAR, what would be on it?
My guess is, it wouldn't contain anything that was actually on the radio. Because what's on the radio? Classic Rock. Oldies. Talk. I said it before. There's very little space on the radio for anything new. Everything on it is either old, or retreads of old. In much the same way that the Motion Picture industry is keeping itself afloat atop a pile of endles sequels, remakes, and reboots on the grounds that this is somehow safer than taking a risk of showing us something new that we may not like, The music industry is just repackaging and reselling The Same Old Thing.
Now, I frequent a number of Livestream channels, inhabited by the sort of people who would fit the mould of "consumer demographic for current popular music" and during those streams, although we tend to play a lot of classic songs, when it comes to new music, what are we listening to?
We're listening to Pony Music Videos. We're listening to songs bodged together out of Team Fortress 2 soundclips. We're listening to remixes of the end theme to Portal 2. We're listening to original songs written by performers who have never been within a mile of a recording contract.
We're listening to things made by people in their bedrooms.
It's the do-it-yourself ethic that Punk Rock used to embody, gone mainstream. And I use that word with precision, because THIS is the mainstream. This is the now. This is the Hot Hits of this generation. When today's youth look back on this era with nostalgia (and they will) this is what they'll be remembering fondly. These songs may never make it onto a Billboard compilation, if such a thing even still exists on that fateful future day, but this will be what defines the decade.
Radio is dead. The Recording Industry is dead.
Long live the YouTubes.
Long live the bedroom musicians.
Long live the sound of NOW.
Comissions Are Sold Out
Posted 13 years agoWe're down to the last two commission slots.
Grab em' if you want 'em!
First come first serve.
Same rules as always:
COST:
Inked: $20 per character
two character MAXIMUM.
EXAMPLES:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8553547/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8140621/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8452647/
RULES:
PRIVATE MESSAGE me if you want to get on the list.
1 character per slot (if you want a commission containing 2 characters, that uses up 2 slots).
Speedy payment (via Paypal) is key; if you can't send payment within the day please don't ask for slots.
I won't draw: Cubpr0n, Scat, Gore, complex details or backgrounds.
A privacy fee ($20) applies if you do not want your commission uploaded to my gallery.
Also - These will be DIGITAL ONLY. I don't have a printer. However, I will be happy to send you the full-size file, if requested.
1.
eyegrim
2. eyegrim / inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8720657/
3.
winkin
4. winkin inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8749927/
5. winkin
6. winkin inks / PAID
Grab em' if you want 'em!
First come first serve.
Same rules as always:
COST:
Inked: $20 per character
two character MAXIMUM.
EXAMPLES:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8553547/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8140621/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8452647/
RULES:
PRIVATE MESSAGE me if you want to get on the list.
1 character per slot (if you want a commission containing 2 characters, that uses up 2 slots).
Speedy payment (via Paypal) is key; if you can't send payment within the day please don't ask for slots.
I won't draw: Cubpr0n, Scat, Gore, complex details or backgrounds.
A privacy fee ($20) applies if you do not want your commission uploaded to my gallery.
Also - These will be DIGITAL ONLY. I don't have a printer. However, I will be happy to send you the full-size file, if requested.
1.
eyegrim2.
eyegrim / inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8720657/
3.
winkin4.
winkin inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8749927/
5.
winkin6.
winkin inks / PAIDBacon Sarnie Miracle Cure
Posted 13 years agoYou know the drill.
You wake up feeling like hell. Your head feels like it's stuffed with a mixture of cotton wool and freeway gravel. Your mouth just tastes ... wrong. Like you've been sucking on a used teabag all night.
You've got a hangover.
You may not even have been drinking, it may just be one of those things. You just woke up yucky.
Well there is a cure, and here it is: BACON SANDWICH!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/0.....hangover_cure/
Here's how I like to make 'em:
four slices of bacon.
two slices of bread.
ketchup.
steps:
1) lay out the bacon in a frying pan and start it cooking.
2) spread ketchup in a medium-thin layer on one side of one slice of bread. Go for complete coverage. Don't be afraid to let it go over the edges a bit.
3) Flip the bacon over and cook the other side.
4) spread ketchup in a medium-thin layer on one side of the other slice of bread. Same as above.
5) Odds are, since you're moving slow, the bacon should be nicely cooked by now. Take it out of the pan to drain on paper towels.
6) put one slice of bread in the bacon grease in the pan, and fry it, ketchup-side down. Not long, just about ten seconds or so.
7) take the bread out of the pan. put the other slice in, and fry it ketchup side down, too. ten seconds. Basically the point is to cook the ketchup, but not the bread. If you've covered the bread completely, the ketchup will also act as a barrier to prevent the grease from soaking into the bread too much as it cooks.
8) assemble sandwich. bread/ketchup/bacon/ketchup/bread
9) smash it down flat with your hand, so it's crushed thin. Kinda like a panini.
10) eat that thing.
You should feel alive again before you finish it.
This is the miracle of the bacon sandwich. Bask in it's glory.
You wake up feeling like hell. Your head feels like it's stuffed with a mixture of cotton wool and freeway gravel. Your mouth just tastes ... wrong. Like you've been sucking on a used teabag all night.
You've got a hangover.
You may not even have been drinking, it may just be one of those things. You just woke up yucky.
Well there is a cure, and here it is: BACON SANDWICH!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/0.....hangover_cure/
Here's how I like to make 'em:
four slices of bacon.
two slices of bread.
ketchup.
steps:
1) lay out the bacon in a frying pan and start it cooking.
2) spread ketchup in a medium-thin layer on one side of one slice of bread. Go for complete coverage. Don't be afraid to let it go over the edges a bit.
3) Flip the bacon over and cook the other side.
4) spread ketchup in a medium-thin layer on one side of the other slice of bread. Same as above.
5) Odds are, since you're moving slow, the bacon should be nicely cooked by now. Take it out of the pan to drain on paper towels.
6) put one slice of bread in the bacon grease in the pan, and fry it, ketchup-side down. Not long, just about ten seconds or so.
7) take the bread out of the pan. put the other slice in, and fry it ketchup side down, too. ten seconds. Basically the point is to cook the ketchup, but not the bread. If you've covered the bread completely, the ketchup will also act as a barrier to prevent the grease from soaking into the bread too much as it cooks.
8) assemble sandwich. bread/ketchup/bacon/ketchup/bread
9) smash it down flat with your hand, so it's crushed thin. Kinda like a panini.
10) eat that thing.
You should feel alive again before you finish it.
This is the miracle of the bacon sandwich. Bask in it's glory.
Mitt Romney has declared war against me
Posted 13 years agoPeople who know me know that I tend to be somewhat outspoken politically.
However, from the day I first joined FA, and up until today, I have never once posted anything political in any of my journals. I just didn't feel it was the place to do so. I've confined my angry diatribes to subjects ranging from NEW KNIGHT RIDER: GOD, DOES IT SUCK to BOY, APPLE SURE HAVE HAD THEIR HEADS RAMMED UP THEIR BACKSIDES LATELY to WINDOWS 8! AUGH!
Unfortunately, a situation has now arisen that compels me to talk about it and this seems to be the best place to lay it out on the table, before those who it will impact the most:
"Trueman, the president of Morality in Media, contacted the Romney campaign earlier this year about the “untreated pandemic” of Internet pornography. “They got back to us right away,” he said."
***
“Wong assured us that Romney is very concerned with this, and that if he’s elected these laws will be enforced,” Trueman told TheDC. ”They promised to vigorously enforce federal adult obscenity laws.”
http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/18/r.....osecutor-says/
Ladies and gentlemen, let's be blunt. I am an internet pornographer. If you follow me, then chances are you are a fan of such things, and this affects you as much as it does me:
UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh told TheDC earlier this year, however, that the Supreme Court has ruled that private possession of pornography is constitutionally protected, but that private receipt is not — meaning that individuals, too, could be prosecuted.
Post porn to the internet? GO TO JAIL.
Download porn from the internet? GO TO JAIL.
If you think it can't happen because Hey! It's just drawings! Those don't count!, think again. Last time these holier-than-thou cretins went on an anti-pornography crusade, Omaha The Cat Dancer was among the items they deemed obscene enough to merit jail time, so if they decide to start cracking down on the internet, WE ARE NOT SAFE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_.....l_Defense_Fund
Look, I don't care what your political affiliation is. Liberal, Moderate, Conservative, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Martian, WHATEVER...
If you are on Fur Affinity, and you like the erotic images posted here, then you have no business voting for an asshole like Mitt Romney. In fact, you'd have to be insane to even contemplate it.
Or are you prepared to let a guy stiffer than Ned Flanders decide if what you do on the internet is too obscene to be legal?
“unless it’s just waist-up nudity of women’s breasts it probably can be found obscene somewhere in the country.”
This is what they have planned. This is what's coming if Romney gets elected.
If you can't bring yourself to vote for Obama, Do the rest of us a favor on election day - either vote third-party or just stay home.
However, from the day I first joined FA, and up until today, I have never once posted anything political in any of my journals. I just didn't feel it was the place to do so. I've confined my angry diatribes to subjects ranging from NEW KNIGHT RIDER: GOD, DOES IT SUCK to BOY, APPLE SURE HAVE HAD THEIR HEADS RAMMED UP THEIR BACKSIDES LATELY to WINDOWS 8! AUGH!
Unfortunately, a situation has now arisen that compels me to talk about it and this seems to be the best place to lay it out on the table, before those who it will impact the most:
"Trueman, the president of Morality in Media, contacted the Romney campaign earlier this year about the “untreated pandemic” of Internet pornography. “They got back to us right away,” he said."
***
“Wong assured us that Romney is very concerned with this, and that if he’s elected these laws will be enforced,” Trueman told TheDC. ”They promised to vigorously enforce federal adult obscenity laws.”
http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/18/r.....osecutor-says/
Ladies and gentlemen, let's be blunt. I am an internet pornographer. If you follow me, then chances are you are a fan of such things, and this affects you as much as it does me:
UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh told TheDC earlier this year, however, that the Supreme Court has ruled that private possession of pornography is constitutionally protected, but that private receipt is not — meaning that individuals, too, could be prosecuted.
Post porn to the internet? GO TO JAIL.
Download porn from the internet? GO TO JAIL.
If you think it can't happen because Hey! It's just drawings! Those don't count!, think again. Last time these holier-than-thou cretins went on an anti-pornography crusade, Omaha The Cat Dancer was among the items they deemed obscene enough to merit jail time, so if they decide to start cracking down on the internet, WE ARE NOT SAFE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_.....l_Defense_Fund
Look, I don't care what your political affiliation is. Liberal, Moderate, Conservative, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Martian, WHATEVER...
If you are on Fur Affinity, and you like the erotic images posted here, then you have no business voting for an asshole like Mitt Romney. In fact, you'd have to be insane to even contemplate it.
Or are you prepared to let a guy stiffer than Ned Flanders decide if what you do on the internet is too obscene to be legal?
“unless it’s just waist-up nudity of women’s breasts it probably can be found obscene somewhere in the country.”
This is what they have planned. This is what's coming if Romney gets elected.
If you can't bring yourself to vote for Obama, Do the rest of us a favor on election day - either vote third-party or just stay home.
COMMISSIONS ARE CLOSED
Posted 13 years agoAll slots are filled.
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3508138/
Hope you got one if you wanted one.
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3508138/
Hope you got one if you wanted one.
True Fact!
Posted 13 years agoIf you mix PEPSI and Coca-Cola together in equal parts, it tastes exactly like RC.
An open letter to MOZILLA
Posted 13 years agoDear Mozilla,
I have been content with your web browser, Firefox, for a good many years. I have fond memories of Netscape Navigator from the wild and wooly days of the early web, and it's good to know that the browser I'm using comes from such pedigree stock. Also, it isn't Internet Explorer.
Now, I have an iPod touch, and although it is quite nice, it has a few annoyances built into it. The lack of a Firefox browser is one of them. And, as there seemed to be a firm dismissal from your company that one would ever appear on the iDevice platform, I resigned myself to using the built-in Safari browser, because it was already there.
I was therefore pleased to hear that a new offering was in the works - a Mozilla browser for the iOS. And I eagerly sat down to watch the discussion video on this webpage:
https://air.mozilla.org/product-design-at-mozilla/
It was a bit off-putting. And not so much due to the tech demo, as due to the clueless nature of the discussion:
Why would anyone choose Firefox over Chrome?
Since your employee there seems to think that there isn't a reason, allow me to give you one: PLUGINS.
That's it. That's the reason your icon is on my desktop. That and nothing else.
I use Firefox for the plugins I have attached to it. My Adblock, My Noscript. My Ghostery, and on and on and on.
When I started using Firefox, it was the only browser that offered these. I got it so I could get them.
So, when your man there starts saying that in order to stay one jump ahead of everybody, that you need to do the tried & true thing, of screwing with the interface, I can only respond thusly: STOP WASTING MY TIME.
One of the great things about Firefox, is that over the years, and through all the varied tampering with the interface by your employees, from one version to the next, Firefox's plug-in architecture and skinning have allowed me to undo damn near every single change they have introduced. My Firefox looks and acts almost exactly the same way it has since that day I first installed it.
Because that's how I want it.
You want to impress me? You want me to use your client on an iDevice? Then give me what Safari can't.
Give me my damn plugins.
Give me my customization.
Give me control of my user experience.
Freedom Of Choice is the killer app.
You want in?
Get on it.
I have been content with your web browser, Firefox, for a good many years. I have fond memories of Netscape Navigator from the wild and wooly days of the early web, and it's good to know that the browser I'm using comes from such pedigree stock. Also, it isn't Internet Explorer.
Now, I have an iPod touch, and although it is quite nice, it has a few annoyances built into it. The lack of a Firefox browser is one of them. And, as there seemed to be a firm dismissal from your company that one would ever appear on the iDevice platform, I resigned myself to using the built-in Safari browser, because it was already there.
I was therefore pleased to hear that a new offering was in the works - a Mozilla browser for the iOS. And I eagerly sat down to watch the discussion video on this webpage:
https://air.mozilla.org/product-design-at-mozilla/
It was a bit off-putting. And not so much due to the tech demo, as due to the clueless nature of the discussion:
Why would anyone choose Firefox over Chrome?
Since your employee there seems to think that there isn't a reason, allow me to give you one: PLUGINS.
That's it. That's the reason your icon is on my desktop. That and nothing else.
I use Firefox for the plugins I have attached to it. My Adblock, My Noscript. My Ghostery, and on and on and on.
When I started using Firefox, it was the only browser that offered these. I got it so I could get them.
So, when your man there starts saying that in order to stay one jump ahead of everybody, that you need to do the tried & true thing, of screwing with the interface, I can only respond thusly: STOP WASTING MY TIME.
One of the great things about Firefox, is that over the years, and through all the varied tampering with the interface by your employees, from one version to the next, Firefox's plug-in architecture and skinning have allowed me to undo damn near every single change they have introduced. My Firefox looks and acts almost exactly the same way it has since that day I first installed it.
Because that's how I want it.
You want to impress me? You want me to use your client on an iDevice? Then give me what Safari can't.
Give me my damn plugins.
Give me my customization.
Give me control of my user experience.
Freedom Of Choice is the killer app.
You want in?
Get on it.
iOS6: yawn different
Posted 13 years agoSo, the word is out about iOS6, the latest shiny thing from apple. I've got a website here that lists the new features, all of which appear to fall into one of three categories:
A) Things I don't want.
B) Things I don't need.
C) Things I won't be allowed to use.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/11/ap.....es-ios-6-wwdc/
Let's run through them:
1) New Siri Abilities: Siri doesn't work on ipod touch. Category C.
2) Siri for iPad: I don't have an iPad. Category B.
3) Facebook Integration: I don't Facebook. Not interested in selling my soul to the Zuckerberg. Category A.
4) New Phone app: I'll never even see this one on my ipod touch. Category B.
5) FaceTime over Wireless: Requires a phone connection. See item 4. Category B.
6) Photo Stream: I can share my photos just fine without the need for an iDevice-only locked app. Category B.
7) Safari/iCloud Tabs: I will never use this. In fact, if there's a way to deactivate it, expect that to be step one. Category A.
8) Mail VIPs: A SPAM filter that doesn't filter SPAM. Nice. Category A.
9) Passbook: This sounds like such a security nightmare, in app form. Category A.
10) iOS 6 Maps: one of the bullet points they use to promote this actually says "Hoorah! Turn-by-turn navigation is in the works." meaning it's not even as useful as the thing it's replacing. Category A.
So, the final score:
A) Don't want it: 5
B) Don't need it: 4
C) Can't have it: 1
"far and away the most exciting product announced has to be refreshed and replenished mobile operating system." ...is the saddest sentence on the entire page.
Yeah. I'm really feeling the excitement, here.
A) Things I don't want.
B) Things I don't need.
C) Things I won't be allowed to use.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/11/ap.....es-ios-6-wwdc/
Let's run through them:
1) New Siri Abilities: Siri doesn't work on ipod touch. Category C.
2) Siri for iPad: I don't have an iPad. Category B.
3) Facebook Integration: I don't Facebook. Not interested in selling my soul to the Zuckerberg. Category A.
4) New Phone app: I'll never even see this one on my ipod touch. Category B.
5) FaceTime over Wireless: Requires a phone connection. See item 4. Category B.
6) Photo Stream: I can share my photos just fine without the need for an iDevice-only locked app. Category B.
7) Safari/iCloud Tabs: I will never use this. In fact, if there's a way to deactivate it, expect that to be step one. Category A.
8) Mail VIPs: A SPAM filter that doesn't filter SPAM. Nice. Category A.
9) Passbook: This sounds like such a security nightmare, in app form. Category A.
10) iOS 6 Maps: one of the bullet points they use to promote this actually says "Hoorah! Turn-by-turn navigation is in the works." meaning it's not even as useful as the thing it's replacing. Category A.
So, the final score:
A) Don't want it: 5
B) Don't need it: 4
C) Can't have it: 1
"far and away the most exciting product announced has to be refreshed and replenished mobile operating system." ...is the saddest sentence on the entire page.
Yeah. I'm really feeling the excitement, here.
REMINDER - Commissions are open.
Posted 13 years agoIt looks like I'm going to be short on car insurance money, so I've opened up fifteen slots in an attempt to cover the bill.
If you want in, get in.
It's first come-first serve.
COST:
Pencil line-work:
$15 per character, two character MAXIMUM.
EXAMPLE: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/8001613/
Inked:
$20 per character, two character MAXIMUM.
EXAMPLE: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/3579534/
RULES:
PRIVATE MESSAGE me if you want to get on the list.
1 character per slot (if you want a commission containing 2 characters, that uses up 2 slots).
Speedy payment (via Paypal) is key; if you can't send payment within the day please don't ask for slots.
I won't draw: Cubpr0n, Scat, Gore, complex details or backgrounds.
A privacy fee ($20) applies if you do not want your commission uploaded to my gallery.
Also - These will be DIGITAL ONLY. I don't have a printer. However, I will be happy to send you the full-size file, if requested.
01.
ilikepies inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8034641/
02.
rexkitsune inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8059719/
03.
lovelymiyu inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8103462/
04.
shade1111 inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8140621/
05.
scout26405 inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8219421/
06.
dasherwhitetail
07. dasherwhitetail inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8282607/
08.
doodles inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8320819/
09. dasherwhitetail
10. dasherwhitetail inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8412650/
11. winkin inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8452647/
12. winkin inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8512005/
13.
oreopanda06 inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8553547/
14.
electra
15. electra inks / PAID / DONE
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8706249/
If you want in, get in.
It's first come-first serve.
COST:
Pencil line-work:
$15 per character, two character MAXIMUM.
EXAMPLE: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/8001613/
Inked:
$20 per character, two character MAXIMUM.
EXAMPLE: http://www.furaffinity.net/full/3579534/
RULES:
PRIVATE MESSAGE me if you want to get on the list.
1 character per slot (if you want a commission containing 2 characters, that uses up 2 slots).
Speedy payment (via Paypal) is key; if you can't send payment within the day please don't ask for slots.
I won't draw: Cubpr0n, Scat, Gore, complex details or backgrounds.
A privacy fee ($20) applies if you do not want your commission uploaded to my gallery.
Also - These will be DIGITAL ONLY. I don't have a printer. However, I will be happy to send you the full-size file, if requested.
01.
ilikepies inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8034641/
02.
rexkitsune inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8059719/
03.
lovelymiyu inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8103462/
04.
shade1111 inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8140621/
05.
scout26405 inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8219421/
06.
dasherwhitetail 07.
dasherwhitetail inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8282607/
08.
doodles inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8320819/
09.
dasherwhitetail10.
dasherwhitetail inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8412650/
11.
winkin inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8452647/
12.
winkin inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8512005/
13.
oreopanda06 inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8553547/
14.
electra15.
electra inks / PAID / DONEhttp://www.furaffinity.net/view/8706249/
Windows 8 pt II
Posted 13 years agoJust for fun today, I typed "Windows 8 Microsoft Bob" into Google, to see if I was alone in making the mental connection between Metro and Bob.
It appears that I am not:
Windows 8 is the next Microsoft Bob
Microsoft gives its developers Windows 8 tablets with a taste of Bob
...and those are just the first two hits. There are also a ton of forum posts from various people on various message boards, with titles like Microsoft Bob returns as Metro and Windows 8 is now MS Bob 2.0.
I was also sent the following images:
Good Shit
Windows Evolution
Microsoft MarchesOnwards!
It appears that I am not:
Windows 8 is the next Microsoft Bob
Microsoft gives its developers Windows 8 tablets with a taste of Bob
...and those are just the first two hits. There are also a ton of forum posts from various people on various message boards, with titles like Microsoft Bob returns as Metro and Windows 8 is now MS Bob 2.0.
I was also sent the following images:
Good Shit
Windows Evolution
Microsoft Marches
Windows 8
Posted 13 years agoI got my hands into a copy of windows 8 at a friend's house earlier. He'd downloaded the freebie beta version from Microsoft's website and set it up to see how it would run on his new computer.
I say this with all sincerity: if Windows 8 doesn't put Microsoft out of business, it will only be because someone with some sense managed to pull the plug, before it was too late.
To explain how bad it is, let me first remind you of something you had either forgotten, or were deliberately trying to forget.
Microsoft Bob:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob
For you lucky folks who never ran into it, Microsoft Bob was a dumbed-down interface that was invented by Bill Gates' then-current girlfriend. Instead of the normal windows arrangement of folders and files, you had a screen with a big colorful picture of a room, and buttons placed over objects in the room, so you could easily open programs by clicking on them.
Well, it's back, minus the pretty pictures. Microsoft's new "metro" interface is a stripped down variant of Microsoft Bob, with blank rectangles where there once were pictures. Nothing more, nothing less.
But, you say, there's a way to get a normal windows desktop! Just click here, and there it is. Folders and files and all.
Yes, there it is. Windows 3.1. That is essentially what they provide: A shinier version of the 3.1 interface. Usable for viewing files and folders, and that's about it, really. It's nothing but a drawer you can open to reach around inside and eventually close again. You cannot use it as a replacement for Metro, because it's just slapped onto the side, and entirely subservient to it.
I cannot understand how this thing managed to pass through the corporate chain, without someone someplace saying "hang on, a minute." An outdated design strapped to another that was so universally despised that the very mention of it's name is enough to induce vomiting.
Remember when I said the future was retro? Well, the future is here and it's outdated crap.
Welcome to a shiny new Microsoft Bob, and it's complimentary copy of Windows 3.1.
You'd think that, after the disaster that was Vista, Microsoft would have learned a few things about trying the limits of their customer's patience.
I wonder how soon after Metro pile-drives into the tarmac, we'll see a panic release of "Windows 9: The Apology."
I say this with all sincerity: if Windows 8 doesn't put Microsoft out of business, it will only be because someone with some sense managed to pull the plug, before it was too late.
To explain how bad it is, let me first remind you of something you had either forgotten, or were deliberately trying to forget.
Microsoft Bob:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Bob
For you lucky folks who never ran into it, Microsoft Bob was a dumbed-down interface that was invented by Bill Gates' then-current girlfriend. Instead of the normal windows arrangement of folders and files, you had a screen with a big colorful picture of a room, and buttons placed over objects in the room, so you could easily open programs by clicking on them.
Well, it's back, minus the pretty pictures. Microsoft's new "metro" interface is a stripped down variant of Microsoft Bob, with blank rectangles where there once were pictures. Nothing more, nothing less.
But, you say, there's a way to get a normal windows desktop! Just click here, and there it is. Folders and files and all.
Yes, there it is. Windows 3.1. That is essentially what they provide: A shinier version of the 3.1 interface. Usable for viewing files and folders, and that's about it, really. It's nothing but a drawer you can open to reach around inside and eventually close again. You cannot use it as a replacement for Metro, because it's just slapped onto the side, and entirely subservient to it.
I cannot understand how this thing managed to pass through the corporate chain, without someone someplace saying "hang on, a minute." An outdated design strapped to another that was so universally despised that the very mention of it's name is enough to induce vomiting.
Remember when I said the future was retro? Well, the future is here and it's outdated crap.
Welcome to a shiny new Microsoft Bob, and it's complimentary copy of Windows 3.1.
You'd think that, after the disaster that was Vista, Microsoft would have learned a few things about trying the limits of their customer's patience.
I wonder how soon after Metro pile-drives into the tarmac, we'll see a panic release of "Windows 9: The Apology."
The Future Is Retro
Posted 13 years agoI have seen the future, and it looks a lot like the past.
Cable TV rose to prominence in the 70's and 80's, when it provided a service you couldn't get elsewhere. Perfect TV reception, serving up an array of channels, far greater than anyone had ever seen before. Until cable came along, our area had access only to channels 3 (NBC), 6 (ABC) 10 (CBS), 12 (PBS) and four UHF stations (17,29,48,57)
But then there came cable TV, and with it you had a hundred choices including movies, and music. And as the VCR was still a fairly new concept to most people, cable TV was a goldmine of video. I have memories of my folks bunding us into the car and driving us over to my uncle's place, to watch Hangar 18. Everybody was so excited, because the idea that you could actually watch a recent movie at home was such a new, novel concept.
But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.
The VCR became a household name, and with it we saw the rise and bust of the videocassette rental market. Cable tv operators divided the country up into monopolies, and everything settled into a flabby, lazy, middle-of-the-road slump. No more expansion was possible, and no more great ideas came forward. everything was same-old, same-old for a long time. The cable companies started acting like the monopolies they were, cranking up prices, and lowering service quality. Forcing you to buy content that you didn't want, to get the stuff you did.
And then the internet happened.
And then so did digital HD.
And with those two things, the game changed.
I've been hearing it more and more from the people around me:
The cord is being cut. Cable TV is on the outs. The antenna is back.
With digital TV, you either get a perfect picture or no picture, there is no middle ground of snowy, half-signals flickering and waving like the background from a 70's pop performance. And it's beamed out into the air for free. And since the digital channels are more tightly packed into the available spectrum, (and I checked on this) locally you can get about fifty channels with an antenna. That includes the old 3,6,10,12,17,29,48 and 57 - and a ton more.
And it's all UHF. My tech geek friend clued me to that little tidbit. Even the "big three" broadcast networks are now sending out a UHF signal, because you need those higher frequencies to handle the digital stream.
And if you want movies, $80 gets you a Roku, with access to hulu plus, netflix, amazon streaming, etc....
The avenues for access to video have opened up, wide. And yet, the cable companies still act like they have a monopoly. The only thing that the cable companies still had going for them was perfect picture quality - And now, even that has been taken away from them. They keep on as if nothing had changed since the 80's, charging ridiculous prices, and delivering a substandard service. And that isn't doing them any favors. They are bleeding customers, who have been eager for alternatives for a long time.
Say hello to the alternatives.
We seem to have come full circle.
The future looks a lot like the past - the antenna, and UHF. They're both back.
Hand in hand, and marching onwards.
Far out.
Addendum:
You can find out here: http://www.tvfool.com/
what channels you can get, with what type of antenna.
Cable TV rose to prominence in the 70's and 80's, when it provided a service you couldn't get elsewhere. Perfect TV reception, serving up an array of channels, far greater than anyone had ever seen before. Until cable came along, our area had access only to channels 3 (NBC), 6 (ABC) 10 (CBS), 12 (PBS) and four UHF stations (17,29,48,57)
But then there came cable TV, and with it you had a hundred choices including movies, and music. And as the VCR was still a fairly new concept to most people, cable TV was a goldmine of video. I have memories of my folks bunding us into the car and driving us over to my uncle's place, to watch Hangar 18. Everybody was so excited, because the idea that you could actually watch a recent movie at home was such a new, novel concept.
But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.
The VCR became a household name, and with it we saw the rise and bust of the videocassette rental market. Cable tv operators divided the country up into monopolies, and everything settled into a flabby, lazy, middle-of-the-road slump. No more expansion was possible, and no more great ideas came forward. everything was same-old, same-old for a long time. The cable companies started acting like the monopolies they were, cranking up prices, and lowering service quality. Forcing you to buy content that you didn't want, to get the stuff you did.
And then the internet happened.
And then so did digital HD.
And with those two things, the game changed.
I've been hearing it more and more from the people around me:
The cord is being cut. Cable TV is on the outs. The antenna is back.
With digital TV, you either get a perfect picture or no picture, there is no middle ground of snowy, half-signals flickering and waving like the background from a 70's pop performance. And it's beamed out into the air for free. And since the digital channels are more tightly packed into the available spectrum, (and I checked on this) locally you can get about fifty channels with an antenna. That includes the old 3,6,10,12,17,29,48 and 57 - and a ton more.
And it's all UHF. My tech geek friend clued me to that little tidbit. Even the "big three" broadcast networks are now sending out a UHF signal, because you need those higher frequencies to handle the digital stream.
And if you want movies, $80 gets you a Roku, with access to hulu plus, netflix, amazon streaming, etc....
The avenues for access to video have opened up, wide. And yet, the cable companies still act like they have a monopoly. The only thing that the cable companies still had going for them was perfect picture quality - And now, even that has been taken away from them. They keep on as if nothing had changed since the 80's, charging ridiculous prices, and delivering a substandard service. And that isn't doing them any favors. They are bleeding customers, who have been eager for alternatives for a long time.
Say hello to the alternatives.
We seem to have come full circle.
The future looks a lot like the past - the antenna, and UHF. They're both back.
Hand in hand, and marching onwards.
Far out.
Addendum:
You can find out here: http://www.tvfool.com/
what channels you can get, with what type of antenna.
I've just seen the most wonderful movie (a review)
Posted 13 years agoWhen reviewing creative output - be it films, television or even music, I tend to be a rather tough critic. Anyone who's read my various scratchings over the years can attest to the fact that I can be an absolute bastard when I feel the people involved haven't given me my time or money's worth.
Well, for the first time in a long time I've seen a film that I can find nothing wrong with - and actually that's not true. There is one thing about this film I don't like, and that's that I missed it during the original theatrical run. According to Wikipedia, the blame for that can be laid directly at the feet of Paramount Pictures, who changed the title, scrapped the publicity campaign, and yanked the film from theaters after only a few showings, because the producers involved left for another studio.
A terrific film, cut down in its prime, purely out of spite.
Typical Hollywood game playing. I despise it more deeply than words can express.
The film in question is 1992's BRAIN DONORS.
Now, from the title, one not already familiar with the film might assume that I was referring to some low budget scifi/horror pastiche with lots of blue lighting and rubbery effects sequences. This could not be further from the truth. In fact what this film is is....well... there's no other way to say it.
This is the lost, final film of The Marx Brothers.
Once again, according to the Wikipedia, the script is based loosely on their film A Night At The Opera, and while it does share a number of key elements with that film, the story, and the script are actually both dissimilar enough to stand on their own two feet. (It is, in fact, actually less similar to Night At The Opera, than Disney's "The Muppets" is to Disney's "The Country Bears" for which I can only say "Bra-vo Disney, way to churn 'em out!")
It is as if somewhere in some dusty closet whose contents hadn't seen the light of day since 1939, the script had been discovered, and some demented film-maker decided to put every page of it into his camera, exactly as he found it. (With the exception of the fact that their "Harpo" character has a speaking part, which I can forgive because he is still brilliant.)
Visual gags. Prop comedy. Snappy patter. There's even a Margaret Dumont character.
I sat through most of it with my mouth hanging open, scarcely believing that somehow, and against all odds, I had stumbled upon buried treasure. It was like expecting to be served a McDonald's hamburger, and instead receiving a bacon-wrapped filet mignon with a parmesan crust and au jus.
If you like the Marx clan, and you haven't seen Brain Donors, you need to go and do it, as soon as you are able.
This is not a modern film, reliant on overblown camerawork and clashy effects sequences. You will not see a single NOKIA advert.
This a classic. An absolute classic.
I have never given a five star review. I am now doing so.
Well, for the first time in a long time I've seen a film that I can find nothing wrong with - and actually that's not true. There is one thing about this film I don't like, and that's that I missed it during the original theatrical run. According to Wikipedia, the blame for that can be laid directly at the feet of Paramount Pictures, who changed the title, scrapped the publicity campaign, and yanked the film from theaters after only a few showings, because the producers involved left for another studio.
A terrific film, cut down in its prime, purely out of spite.
Typical Hollywood game playing. I despise it more deeply than words can express.
The film in question is 1992's BRAIN DONORS.
Now, from the title, one not already familiar with the film might assume that I was referring to some low budget scifi/horror pastiche with lots of blue lighting and rubbery effects sequences. This could not be further from the truth. In fact what this film is is....well... there's no other way to say it.
This is the lost, final film of The Marx Brothers.
Once again, according to the Wikipedia, the script is based loosely on their film A Night At The Opera, and while it does share a number of key elements with that film, the story, and the script are actually both dissimilar enough to stand on their own two feet. (It is, in fact, actually less similar to Night At The Opera, than Disney's "The Muppets" is to Disney's "The Country Bears" for which I can only say "Bra-vo Disney, way to churn 'em out!")
It is as if somewhere in some dusty closet whose contents hadn't seen the light of day since 1939, the script had been discovered, and some demented film-maker decided to put every page of it into his camera, exactly as he found it. (With the exception of the fact that their "Harpo" character has a speaking part, which I can forgive because he is still brilliant.)
Visual gags. Prop comedy. Snappy patter. There's even a Margaret Dumont character.
I sat through most of it with my mouth hanging open, scarcely believing that somehow, and against all odds, I had stumbled upon buried treasure. It was like expecting to be served a McDonald's hamburger, and instead receiving a bacon-wrapped filet mignon with a parmesan crust and au jus.
If you like the Marx clan, and you haven't seen Brain Donors, you need to go and do it, as soon as you are able.
This is not a modern film, reliant on overblown camerawork and clashy effects sequences. You will not see a single NOKIA advert.
This a classic. An absolute classic.
I have never given a five star review. I am now doing so.
Birthday 42
Posted 13 years agoIt happened. I'm 42.
Let the Douglas Adams jokes commence.
Let the Douglas Adams jokes commence.
John Cleese on creativity: YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS
Posted 13 years agoI've actually sort of known this for many years, but I always just thought of it as "getting into The Zone." The explanation here makes a lot of sense to me, and explains quite a bit about "The Zone" or "The Open Mode" that I did not previously understand, though.
Well worth a watch for we of the creative bent, and well worth showing to those of a non-creative bent who have to put up with us.
Rewriting The Muppets (some spoilers)
Posted 13 years agoAbout 24 hours ago, I sat down and watched the new The Muppets movie. And while it was okay, it really wasn't that great a film. I'm kind of glad I didn't pay the exorbitant cost of a movie ticket for it.
Something about it just didn't click. The feeling I got from it wasn't that I was watching a movie. It felt more like I was sitting through one of those made-for-TV reunion shows.
Here are the changes I would have made:
First - Lose the entire plot with the puppet brother, the human brother and the girlfriend. Just dump it and get back some of the screen time it used up. This would put the Muppets back as the focus of the movie, rather than having them be cameos in someone else's story.
The main character is now Beauregard, the Muppet theater's janitor.
We start the film with a series of flashbacks showing the Muppets at their peak, and their prime. The glitz, the glamor, the celebrities... THAT WAS THEN
Then we fade to modern day and the dilapidated theater. THIS IS NOW
Beauregard is now "The Last Muppet" - one by one, the others have all moved on, and he is left alone to look after the Muppet Theater. The sole survivor. Last man standing. Keeper of the legacy, and all that. The place is falling apart, and the landlord is in talks with a businessman to preserve the place and turn it into a museum (as per the current script)
However, it is Beauregard who overhears the conversation about the businessman secretly planning to tear the place down. Not to drill for oil, but to put up a shopping center. The whole drilling for oil thing is a little too extraordinary, and the reason for tearing the place down should be mundane, to drive home the feeling that The Muppets just aren't important anymore. There's nothing special here - The theater is junk. But the land is worth a fortune as a development property, so bulldoze this antique eyesore and get on with life.
At this point we start to head back into the area of the current script. Beauregard jumps into the aging Muppet Bus, and heads out to find the Muppets and bring them home, to save the theater. The businessman, not wanting his deal interfered with, sends a flunky to chase Beauregard and The Muppets across the country (much as Doc Hopper chased the Muppets in The Muppet Movie)
Other than that, the script would play out pretty much as it does in the current version. I'd keep the scenes between Piggy and Kermit untouched, as those really worked well. I think I'd lose the hag-Piggy impersonator though. I think it's important that there be a gap where Piggy should be, until she arrives to fill it.
The final change would be the end of the film. As it currently stands, the end of the film is a total cop-out. The Muppets lose the theater, but then that ending is entirely undone with a throwaway mention that oh, by the way, they actually got it back.
I would lose that throwaway line. They lose the theater, but they gain each other. The Muppets aren't about a building, the Muppets are about their relationship with each other. Not just friends, family - and now that they have rediscovered this they can start over again, together.
The movie actually went there, and that throwaway line totally undermined it. I can kind of see why they felt the need to tack it on though, since the script as it was filmed had them not just losing the theater, but also the rights to their own names. So, I would trim all that, and have it just as them losing the theater. Why would their names be important if they're all washed-up has-beens who nobody cares about anymore? It's more realistic. It also provides a leaping-off point for future projects of a more unlimited scope. The Muppets can literaly go anywhere from this point, and do anything, as a bright new future looms on the horizon.
Anyway, that's my list of edits. I think the end result would have been a much stronger movie.
[Additional afterthoughts, several hours later:]
If you really want to end on a note that says "We're back" you could end the film with the Muppets running around backstage as they prepare for tonight's broadcast of a whole new show, in their new headquarters. The "Muppets Tonight" TV studio.
Something about it just didn't click. The feeling I got from it wasn't that I was watching a movie. It felt more like I was sitting through one of those made-for-TV reunion shows.
Here are the changes I would have made:
First - Lose the entire plot with the puppet brother, the human brother and the girlfriend. Just dump it and get back some of the screen time it used up. This would put the Muppets back as the focus of the movie, rather than having them be cameos in someone else's story.
The main character is now Beauregard, the Muppet theater's janitor.
We start the film with a series of flashbacks showing the Muppets at their peak, and their prime. The glitz, the glamor, the celebrities... THAT WAS THEN
Then we fade to modern day and the dilapidated theater. THIS IS NOW
Beauregard is now "The Last Muppet" - one by one, the others have all moved on, and he is left alone to look after the Muppet Theater. The sole survivor. Last man standing. Keeper of the legacy, and all that. The place is falling apart, and the landlord is in talks with a businessman to preserve the place and turn it into a museum (as per the current script)
However, it is Beauregard who overhears the conversation about the businessman secretly planning to tear the place down. Not to drill for oil, but to put up a shopping center. The whole drilling for oil thing is a little too extraordinary, and the reason for tearing the place down should be mundane, to drive home the feeling that The Muppets just aren't important anymore. There's nothing special here - The theater is junk. But the land is worth a fortune as a development property, so bulldoze this antique eyesore and get on with life.
At this point we start to head back into the area of the current script. Beauregard jumps into the aging Muppet Bus, and heads out to find the Muppets and bring them home, to save the theater. The businessman, not wanting his deal interfered with, sends a flunky to chase Beauregard and The Muppets across the country (much as Doc Hopper chased the Muppets in The Muppet Movie)
Other than that, the script would play out pretty much as it does in the current version. I'd keep the scenes between Piggy and Kermit untouched, as those really worked well. I think I'd lose the hag-Piggy impersonator though. I think it's important that there be a gap where Piggy should be, until she arrives to fill it.
The final change would be the end of the film. As it currently stands, the end of the film is a total cop-out. The Muppets lose the theater, but then that ending is entirely undone with a throwaway mention that oh, by the way, they actually got it back.
I would lose that throwaway line. They lose the theater, but they gain each other. The Muppets aren't about a building, the Muppets are about their relationship with each other. Not just friends, family - and now that they have rediscovered this they can start over again, together.
The movie actually went there, and that throwaway line totally undermined it. I can kind of see why they felt the need to tack it on though, since the script as it was filmed had them not just losing the theater, but also the rights to their own names. So, I would trim all that, and have it just as them losing the theater. Why would their names be important if they're all washed-up has-beens who nobody cares about anymore? It's more realistic. It also provides a leaping-off point for future projects of a more unlimited scope. The Muppets can literaly go anywhere from this point, and do anything, as a bright new future looms on the horizon.
Anyway, that's my list of edits. I think the end result would have been a much stronger movie.
[Additional afterthoughts, several hours later:]
If you really want to end on a note that says "We're back" you could end the film with the Muppets running around backstage as they prepare for tonight's broadcast of a whole new show, in their new headquarters. The "Muppets Tonight" TV studio.
Kickass 80's From The Magnetic Vault
Posted 13 years agoWhen I was a teen, back in the 80s, I had not one, but two, count 'em, two bigass boomboxes. The first one, a SANYO, lasted a few years and then fell apart. But the second, man that second was pure gold. And it went with me pretty much everywhere. It was a Panasonic RX-CW50, with detachable speakers and an EQ and everything. I had the outside covered in stickers of all kinds, from skateboard logos to underground band logos, to those "itallian!" stickers I was supposed to be putting on the boxes when I made the sandwiches at my weekend burger job.
Lovely foto:
http://i50.tinypic.com/6ykz9d.jpg
Unfortunately, after many years of loyal service, I did a dumb thing. I took it to work in one of my many and varied jobs, and on the day I was eventually fired (for not kissing up to the boss's toady) I was so bent out of shape that I just plain forgot it. It remained behind, in the back print room at a place called Today's Graphics, in Philly PA. Which is no longer there, as I later went back to check.
Anyway, the point of all this is, over the lifespan of both boomboxes, I had cassette tapes. And I still have almost all of them. Two big bins full. My magnetic vault. Some of the tapes are a bit cracked. I have one on the desk here in front of me with half of one side missing. But it still plays.
And what's on them? well apart from the store-bought ones, the rest of them are like unto an audio collage of what was coming out of my boombox at the time. Songs, snippets of DJ banter, and even the occasional commercial fragment. And the station? Phiily's home for Hot Hits, 98-Now, WCAU FM. The station where the Hot Hits programming phenomena came into its own:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Hits
As some of you folks know, I've been taking on a somewhat unending project in my spare hours - cataloging my mp3 collection. I've been working on collecting not just the albums of my youth, but also cataloging the singles from them as well (with cover/label art, not an easy feat) and as I've been going through these old cassettes to list the songs on them, I've been surprised by how few of these singles I actually have. I have some of the songs as part of an album, but a good majority of them I didn't have at all.
So now I've given myself a new quest. To catalog the singles on these old cassettes, and build myself the ultimate kickass 80's hot hits collection. Everything I used to listen to on the radio.
And thanks to modern technology, I'll be able to carry all of them around in a pocket, on my ipod. My big bin of busted dusty cassettes is gaining a new lease on life.
Here's a sample of the stuff I've found on the cassettes:
nena - 99 red balloons
eddy grant - electric avenue
rockwell - someone's watching me
journey - only the young
matthew wilder - break my stride
lionel richie - running with the night
duran duran - union of the snake
julian lennon - too late for goodbyes
glen frey - the heat is on
Heh, now if only I could find a good clean collection of the 98-Now call-sign jingles to play between the tracks.
EDIT:
Found a foto of the SANYO boombox, too:
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/.....19569e899f.jpg
Lovely foto:
http://i50.tinypic.com/6ykz9d.jpg
Unfortunately, after many years of loyal service, I did a dumb thing. I took it to work in one of my many and varied jobs, and on the day I was eventually fired (for not kissing up to the boss's toady) I was so bent out of shape that I just plain forgot it. It remained behind, in the back print room at a place called Today's Graphics, in Philly PA. Which is no longer there, as I later went back to check.
Anyway, the point of all this is, over the lifespan of both boomboxes, I had cassette tapes. And I still have almost all of them. Two big bins full. My magnetic vault. Some of the tapes are a bit cracked. I have one on the desk here in front of me with half of one side missing. But it still plays.
And what's on them? well apart from the store-bought ones, the rest of them are like unto an audio collage of what was coming out of my boombox at the time. Songs, snippets of DJ banter, and even the occasional commercial fragment. And the station? Phiily's home for Hot Hits, 98-Now, WCAU FM. The station where the Hot Hits programming phenomena came into its own:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Hits
As some of you folks know, I've been taking on a somewhat unending project in my spare hours - cataloging my mp3 collection. I've been working on collecting not just the albums of my youth, but also cataloging the singles from them as well (with cover/label art, not an easy feat) and as I've been going through these old cassettes to list the songs on them, I've been surprised by how few of these singles I actually have. I have some of the songs as part of an album, but a good majority of them I didn't have at all.
So now I've given myself a new quest. To catalog the singles on these old cassettes, and build myself the ultimate kickass 80's hot hits collection. Everything I used to listen to on the radio.
And thanks to modern technology, I'll be able to carry all of them around in a pocket, on my ipod. My big bin of busted dusty cassettes is gaining a new lease on life.
Here's a sample of the stuff I've found on the cassettes:
nena - 99 red balloons
eddy grant - electric avenue
rockwell - someone's watching me
journey - only the young
matthew wilder - break my stride
lionel richie - running with the night
duran duran - union of the snake
julian lennon - too late for goodbyes
glen frey - the heat is on
Heh, now if only I could find a good clean collection of the 98-Now call-sign jingles to play between the tracks.
EDIT:
Found a foto of the SANYO boombox, too:
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/.....19569e899f.jpg
SoFurry.Com - all interface, all day
Posted 14 years agoIt appears that SoFurry's degeneration is nearing it's final stages.
Once upon a time, it was YiffStar, an energetic young website dedicated to providing furry stories. And it lived a relatively happy life, but as that familiar refrain goes "all good things must come to an end."
And so it turned into SoFurry.com, and puffed out into a code-heavy monstrosity, with an interface that lost several key features. The worst of these changes, to my mind at least (and I wrote about them extensively elsewhere) was the loss of the standardized keywords list, and the ability to block stories with certain keywords from appearing, when you visited the site. But even as bad as that was, the site was still somewhat usable. True, you now had to wade through a sea of topics you might not care to even think about while trying to find something you'd actually want to read, but it was still possible to occasionally locate something on the site. There was also a five-star rating system that was utterly useless since every story on the site ended up with a four or five star rating, and so using it to try and judge actual quality just didn't work.
Well, the NEW SoFurry has just debuted, and rather than correcting the oversights with the previous version, the new one goes even further in the wrong direction. The interface has now bloated to the point that the site is about ninety percent interface, and ten percent content. It's no longer a content delivery system. It's an interface with scraps of content as decorations. I'm amazed that during the production of this beast, someone didn't turn to someone else and say "Isn't this a bit much?" That obviously didn't happen though.
So, here's another good old saying - LESS IS MORE.
There's a reason why Fur Affinity, for all it's problems, is still the number one website for fur fans. it's because the page design doesn't get in the way. People don't come to FA for the interface, they come for the content, and so the interface gets out of the way and lets the content command center stage.
SoFurry has gone the exact opposite direction. It's now more filler than meat. Go to the stories page and instead of a simple list of stories, One story, right at the top gets a whacking huge display that lets you read all the information, but the rest are crammed into a multi-column arrangement that leaves little room for the story title, let alone the keywords.
Do a search and the result is even worse, as the returns come packed in little boxes, with the title and keywords peeking out at you, in a layout more suited to images than text.
It could have been so much more. They could have trimmed it down to do one thing and do it well.
Instead they did this.
With SoFurry tossing aside the mantle of being the web's premiere furry story site there is now a gap waiting to be filled. The web needs a dedicated furry story site that just does stories.
Just stories, and nothing else, and does a damned good job of providing them. If any of you enterprising folks out there would care to fill this gap, please do.
And don't forget the standardized keywords, please.
And also don't forget to go light on the interface.
Once upon a time, it was YiffStar, an energetic young website dedicated to providing furry stories. And it lived a relatively happy life, but as that familiar refrain goes "all good things must come to an end."
And so it turned into SoFurry.com, and puffed out into a code-heavy monstrosity, with an interface that lost several key features. The worst of these changes, to my mind at least (and I wrote about them extensively elsewhere) was the loss of the standardized keywords list, and the ability to block stories with certain keywords from appearing, when you visited the site. But even as bad as that was, the site was still somewhat usable. True, you now had to wade through a sea of topics you might not care to even think about while trying to find something you'd actually want to read, but it was still possible to occasionally locate something on the site. There was also a five-star rating system that was utterly useless since every story on the site ended up with a four or five star rating, and so using it to try and judge actual quality just didn't work.
Well, the NEW SoFurry has just debuted, and rather than correcting the oversights with the previous version, the new one goes even further in the wrong direction. The interface has now bloated to the point that the site is about ninety percent interface, and ten percent content. It's no longer a content delivery system. It's an interface with scraps of content as decorations. I'm amazed that during the production of this beast, someone didn't turn to someone else and say "Isn't this a bit much?" That obviously didn't happen though.
So, here's another good old saying - LESS IS MORE.
There's a reason why Fur Affinity, for all it's problems, is still the number one website for fur fans. it's because the page design doesn't get in the way. People don't come to FA for the interface, they come for the content, and so the interface gets out of the way and lets the content command center stage.
SoFurry has gone the exact opposite direction. It's now more filler than meat. Go to the stories page and instead of a simple list of stories, One story, right at the top gets a whacking huge display that lets you read all the information, but the rest are crammed into a multi-column arrangement that leaves little room for the story title, let alone the keywords.
Do a search and the result is even worse, as the returns come packed in little boxes, with the title and keywords peeking out at you, in a layout more suited to images than text.
It could have been so much more. They could have trimmed it down to do one thing and do it well.
Instead they did this.
With SoFurry tossing aside the mantle of being the web's premiere furry story site there is now a gap waiting to be filled. The web needs a dedicated furry story site that just does stories.
Just stories, and nothing else, and does a damned good job of providing them. If any of you enterprising folks out there would care to fill this gap, please do.
And don't forget the standardized keywords, please.
And also don't forget to go light on the interface.
All this and more
Posted 14 years agoDerpy Hooves
Rickrolling
Epic Rap Battles of History
Yo Dawg, Xzibit Heard You Like...
Star Wars Kid
Fanfiction
Teenage Mutant Ninja Noses
Numa Numa
Hitler Hears About...
X vs Y Audio Mashups
Epic Sax Guy
FUCK IT! WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
I Don't Know, Therefore Aliens
Anagrammed Movie Posters
The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Dysfunctional Family Circus
Nope.avi
I Like Turtles
Trololo
Sad Keanu
Tron Guy
Picard Facepalm
Leeroy Jenkins
Bill O'Riley Can't Explain That
Literal Music Videos
Fry Not Sure If...
film trailer - The Shining: A Romantic Comedy
Pepper Spray Cop
Premakes
Auto-Tuned News
Photoshop Disasters
Krystal Can't Enjoy Her Sandwich
....brought to you by a SOPA/PIPA free internet.
Do your congresscritters support or oppose? Find out here.
http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
Want to contact them to voice your opinion?
http://sopatrack.com/
Rickrolling
Epic Rap Battles of History
Yo Dawg, Xzibit Heard You Like...
Star Wars Kid
Fanfiction
Teenage Mutant Ninja Noses
Numa Numa
Hitler Hears About...
X vs Y Audio Mashups
Epic Sax Guy
FUCK IT! WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
I Don't Know, Therefore Aliens
Anagrammed Movie Posters
The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Dysfunctional Family Circus
Nope.avi
I Like Turtles
Trololo
Sad Keanu
Tron Guy
Picard Facepalm
Leeroy Jenkins
Bill O'Riley Can't Explain That
Literal Music Videos
Fry Not Sure If...
film trailer - The Shining: A Romantic Comedy
Pepper Spray Cop
Premakes
Auto-Tuned News
Photoshop Disasters
Krystal Can't Enjoy Her Sandwich
....brought to you by a SOPA/PIPA free internet.
Do your congresscritters support or oppose? Find out here.
http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
Want to contact them to voice your opinion?
http://sopatrack.com/
████ ██████ ██ ████
Posted 14 years ago████ █████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ████ █████████ ██ ███████ ███ ███████ ████████████ ████ ████ █████████ ███ ██████ ██████ ██████████ ████ ███████████ ███ ███████ ████████████ ██████ ███████████████ ███████ ███ █████ ███████ █████████ ██████ █████████████ ██ █████████████ ███ █████████ █████████████ ███ █████ ███████ █████ ████████ ████ ██████████ █████████████ ███████ ████ ██████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ██████ █████ █████ ██ ██████ ███ ████████ █████████ ████ ██ ██████ █████████ ████████████ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ ████ ██████ █████ █████ ██████████ █████ █████████ █████████████████████ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ██████ ██████ ██ ██ ████████ ████
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01.....-sopa-and-pipa
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01.....-sopa-and-pipa
Even More Magic
Posted 14 years agoMany years ago, in the MIT tech department, there lived a PDP-10 computer.
Glued to this computer's case was a switch with two settings. One said MAGIC. The other said MORE MAGIC. Flipping this switch would cause the computer to instacrash. Examination of the switch revealed that it had but a single wire leading from it, which was attached to a ground on the motherboard. The switch itself was a standard, off the rack switch. Nothng special, and connected in a way which served no electrical purpose at all. Logically, it seemed, this switch should have had no effect on the computer.
And yet it would remain switched to MORE MAGIC, because invariably, flipping it the other way caused the machine to crash.
This story has been handed down from tech geek to tech geek over the years as an illustratration of the fact that sometimes, things happen for reasons you simply cannot comprehend, and this goes double when you're dealing with technology.
I find myself in a such situation at the moment. I have an APC battery backup unit, which has worked reasonably well for several years now. Recently it started having a problem. The battery indicator would flash and the unit would beep. I would later find out that these were the hallmarks of a worn-out battery. Battery life is 3-5 years, and I was due for a replacement.
However, I discovered something, and it still doesn't make any sense to me.
I have an electric space heater on the same circuit as the battery backup. And I discovered that when the heater was on, the battery backup suddenly started working normally again. It would "find" the battery, report a full charge, and go about it's business. It would also slowly use up the battery.
If I turned the heater off, suddenly we're right back to beeping and flashing again. No battery found.
Now, it could be that switching the heater on caused a drop in power flowing into the unit, making it think that the power was browning out, and the battery needed to come online. That seemed reasonable. What wasn't, was that if I unplugged the unit, it would simply shut down and report the battery as gone missing, again. Beep beep. Flash flash.
Somehow, the load from the space heater kept the unit operating normally. As long as that extra electrical drag was there, everything was hunky dory.
I plan on getting a new battery tomorrow. I guess I'll see if that fixes things. As for why the heater was making my aging battery work again...
...well, that may just be dipping into the realms of magic.
Glued to this computer's case was a switch with two settings. One said MAGIC. The other said MORE MAGIC. Flipping this switch would cause the computer to instacrash. Examination of the switch revealed that it had but a single wire leading from it, which was attached to a ground on the motherboard. The switch itself was a standard, off the rack switch. Nothng special, and connected in a way which served no electrical purpose at all. Logically, it seemed, this switch should have had no effect on the computer.
And yet it would remain switched to MORE MAGIC, because invariably, flipping it the other way caused the machine to crash.
This story has been handed down from tech geek to tech geek over the years as an illustratration of the fact that sometimes, things happen for reasons you simply cannot comprehend, and this goes double when you're dealing with technology.
I find myself in a such situation at the moment. I have an APC battery backup unit, which has worked reasonably well for several years now. Recently it started having a problem. The battery indicator would flash and the unit would beep. I would later find out that these were the hallmarks of a worn-out battery. Battery life is 3-5 years, and I was due for a replacement.
However, I discovered something, and it still doesn't make any sense to me.
I have an electric space heater on the same circuit as the battery backup. And I discovered that when the heater was on, the battery backup suddenly started working normally again. It would "find" the battery, report a full charge, and go about it's business. It would also slowly use up the battery.
If I turned the heater off, suddenly we're right back to beeping and flashing again. No battery found.
Now, it could be that switching the heater on caused a drop in power flowing into the unit, making it think that the power was browning out, and the battery needed to come online. That seemed reasonable. What wasn't, was that if I unplugged the unit, it would simply shut down and report the battery as gone missing, again. Beep beep. Flash flash.
Somehow, the load from the space heater kept the unit operating normally. As long as that extra electrical drag was there, everything was hunky dory.
I plan on getting a new battery tomorrow. I guess I'll see if that fixes things. As for why the heater was making my aging battery work again...
...well, that may just be dipping into the realms of magic.
This Is My New Year's Revolution
Posted 14 years agoFor many years now, I have had two computers sitting on my desktop. Well, actually that's not really accurate - I had one computer, and the monitor for a second, along with control setups for each. But I digress..
Two machines. One an iMac, of the "screen on a swivel-arm, with a mushroom shaped base" variety, and the other my windows box. And I do mean box. The Ghodbox, as it was christened, was originally running an AMD 64 fx-53 chip. State of the art, cutting edge, high powered ghodlike computer power, in an oppressive black cube of a case, three feet high, wide and deep. Think of the monolith from 2001, only shorter and cubelike. With lights inside.
At the time, two computers was a good idea. Since both were relatively slow, (even as cutting edge as the ghodbox was at the time) having two meant that I could leave one tied up with one job (3d rendering for one of my toy company clients) while I got on with something else on the other one (drawing dirty pictures in photoshop.)
But, as time has passed on, my formerly high-powered AMD chip went from cutting edge, to midrange, to "people still use those?" And over the past several months, I have been ripping bits out of The Ghodbox and replacing them. I've stepped up to quadcore. I've got two double TB drives. I've just added a beefier power supply and a shiny new GeForce GTX-560 videocard. And while the Ghodbox is no longer a cutting edge machine, techology has moved so far along, that it's still at least four times the computer it once was.
And in the meantime, the iMac has slowly turned into more and more of a doorstop. It's had all the memory expansion it can handle, even the slot that end users aren't supposed to access themsleves saw a memory upgrade. And yet, even after all that, it's still stagnated. It's a 700MHz PowerPC G4, running 10.4.11 and therefore at the end of it's ability to advance. 10.5 requires an Intel based Mac, to even install. And honestly, 10.4.11 isn't exactly zippy on it.
And it seems like nobody makes software for 10.4 anymore. Youtube videos won't play. I just get a message on the youtube page telling me I need an upgrade. The dvd drive inside also appears to be incompatable with current-day DVDs. Not sure how that works, but there it is.
Now, if you've sat through all that gobbledygook technical crapola, you're probably wondering what the point of all this is. What does it mean for you, the fan of crossdressing teddybear porn?
Well, here it is: It's time for me to ditch the imac. And I plan to replace it NOT with another computer, but instead with a second monitor, attached to the Ghodbox.
Okay, okay. That was more technical crapola. Be patient. I'm building to a big climax.
Not that kind of climax. Down boy.
Once the second monitor is in place, I will be able to do something which I haven't before. Which is LIVESTREAM. Specifically, Livestream myself drawing the aforementioned crossdressing teddybear porn. I have already set up a livestream account, and customized myself a nice livestream page. I've run a few test broadcasts across it to make sure it all works at least reasonably well. I am also in the process of transferring everything off the imac that I need, such as my many and various font collections, and folders of photoshop files. I already have a copy of Photoshop 6 loaded.
It probably doesn't seem like much of a revolution on your end, but for me this is a pretty big step. That iMac has been my go-to machine for over half a decade. It's been with me through three career changes, and two different homes. It's also the first computer I ever paid for entirely with my own money. (My previous computer, TARDIS, was a win95 box built out of secondhand computer parts that my various friends had upgraded away from and had laying around waiting to be thrown away. The most expensive piece of it was the case, which I believe ran me $50 because it had a blue neon light inside)
I've been told that I can hook both my wacom tablet (which is currently on the imac) and my trackball (the ghodbox's current mouse) up at the same time, and use whichever I feel like grabbing. I'm actually kind of looking forward to photoshop, without the pauses and delays caused by having to run it emulated in mac os9, under OSX. I might even try out that SAI thing all the hip kids are into these days.
Anyway... It's not really a New Year's resolution. It's more like a plan I have. And the only major step is to go buy a monitor. I expect to do that fairly soon.
But, this is what is coming for 2012. The end of one era, and the beginning of a new one.
My New Year's Revolution.
Two machines. One an iMac, of the "screen on a swivel-arm, with a mushroom shaped base" variety, and the other my windows box. And I do mean box. The Ghodbox, as it was christened, was originally running an AMD 64 fx-53 chip. State of the art, cutting edge, high powered ghodlike computer power, in an oppressive black cube of a case, three feet high, wide and deep. Think of the monolith from 2001, only shorter and cubelike. With lights inside.
At the time, two computers was a good idea. Since both were relatively slow, (even as cutting edge as the ghodbox was at the time) having two meant that I could leave one tied up with one job (3d rendering for one of my toy company clients) while I got on with something else on the other one (drawing dirty pictures in photoshop.)
But, as time has passed on, my formerly high-powered AMD chip went from cutting edge, to midrange, to "people still use those?" And over the past several months, I have been ripping bits out of The Ghodbox and replacing them. I've stepped up to quadcore. I've got two double TB drives. I've just added a beefier power supply and a shiny new GeForce GTX-560 videocard. And while the Ghodbox is no longer a cutting edge machine, techology has moved so far along, that it's still at least four times the computer it once was.
And in the meantime, the iMac has slowly turned into more and more of a doorstop. It's had all the memory expansion it can handle, even the slot that end users aren't supposed to access themsleves saw a memory upgrade. And yet, even after all that, it's still stagnated. It's a 700MHz PowerPC G4, running 10.4.11 and therefore at the end of it's ability to advance. 10.5 requires an Intel based Mac, to even install. And honestly, 10.4.11 isn't exactly zippy on it.
And it seems like nobody makes software for 10.4 anymore. Youtube videos won't play. I just get a message on the youtube page telling me I need an upgrade. The dvd drive inside also appears to be incompatable with current-day DVDs. Not sure how that works, but there it is.
Now, if you've sat through all that gobbledygook technical crapola, you're probably wondering what the point of all this is. What does it mean for you, the fan of crossdressing teddybear porn?
Well, here it is: It's time for me to ditch the imac. And I plan to replace it NOT with another computer, but instead with a second monitor, attached to the Ghodbox.
Okay, okay. That was more technical crapola. Be patient. I'm building to a big climax.
Not that kind of climax. Down boy.
Once the second monitor is in place, I will be able to do something which I haven't before. Which is LIVESTREAM. Specifically, Livestream myself drawing the aforementioned crossdressing teddybear porn. I have already set up a livestream account, and customized myself a nice livestream page. I've run a few test broadcasts across it to make sure it all works at least reasonably well. I am also in the process of transferring everything off the imac that I need, such as my many and various font collections, and folders of photoshop files. I already have a copy of Photoshop 6 loaded.
It probably doesn't seem like much of a revolution on your end, but for me this is a pretty big step. That iMac has been my go-to machine for over half a decade. It's been with me through three career changes, and two different homes. It's also the first computer I ever paid for entirely with my own money. (My previous computer, TARDIS, was a win95 box built out of secondhand computer parts that my various friends had upgraded away from and had laying around waiting to be thrown away. The most expensive piece of it was the case, which I believe ran me $50 because it had a blue neon light inside)
I've been told that I can hook both my wacom tablet (which is currently on the imac) and my trackball (the ghodbox's current mouse) up at the same time, and use whichever I feel like grabbing. I'm actually kind of looking forward to photoshop, without the pauses and delays caused by having to run it emulated in mac os9, under OSX. I might even try out that SAI thing all the hip kids are into these days.
Anyway... It's not really a New Year's resolution. It's more like a plan I have. And the only major step is to go buy a monitor. I expect to do that fairly soon.
But, this is what is coming for 2012. The end of one era, and the beginning of a new one.
My New Year's Revolution.
Can Crusher Get
Posted 14 years agoWoohoo! I got one of those lever-pull can crushers for xmas, and I just finished installing it in the basement stairwell.
I drilled holes, I screwed screws. I'm all sweaty, and I feel like a man.
Power tools! *grunt*
I drilled holes, I screwed screws. I'm all sweaty, and I feel like a man.
Power tools! *grunt*
SOPA immunization shots now available
Posted 14 years agoSince nobody trusts a politician to think with anything other than their bank accounts (and more specifically with the piles of cash dumped into them by the media cartels) workarounds are already available, for bypassing SOPA blockage:
http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-.....ckades-111130/
"Named “The Pirate Bay Dancing,” the Firefox add-on undoes local DNS and IP blocks by routing users through a series of randomly picked proxies. "
http://torrentfreak.com/firefox-add.....ocking-111220/
"When installed, users can click a single button to resolve a blocked domain via foreign DNS servers, bypassing all domestic DNS blockades and allowing the user to browse the site though the bare IP-address (if supported). "
The internet is self-healing. Damage will be routed around.
http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-.....ckades-111130/
"Named “The Pirate Bay Dancing,” the Firefox add-on undoes local DNS and IP blocks by routing users through a series of randomly picked proxies. "
http://torrentfreak.com/firefox-add.....ocking-111220/
"When installed, users can click a single button to resolve a blocked domain via foreign DNS servers, bypassing all domestic DNS blockades and allowing the user to browse the site though the bare IP-address (if supported). "
The internet is self-healing. Damage will be routed around.
The Internet Is OFFICIALLY For Porn
Posted 14 years agohttp://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-5.....ate/?tag=rtcol
"it gave Polis an excuse to insert the full lyrics of the popular Internet meme "The Internet is for Porn" into the official congressional hearing record for SOPA."
Now that's comedy.
"it gave Polis an excuse to insert the full lyrics of the popular Internet meme "The Internet is for Porn" into the official congressional hearing record for SOPA."
Now that's comedy.
