They never fall who never climb, and today I took a tumble with my choice of software. All the work done for my new show is incompatible another change I have to make. It was a chance I willingly took. The bright side is I can do it myself. More good news. Remember that DVD with 4,000 programs from England? I gave Arnel a copy and he reports that many of the applications we need, including Virtual Sound Tech (VST), were on that disk. This folks, is where real teamwork pays off. I had the disk for years used only the software I needed. He finds the music apps right away and knows how to use them. I told him if he keeps up such good work, I’m going to have to pay him back that twenty dollars I owe him.
Arnel was in the shop for several hours, during which we plowed through program after program. One of the more interesting items is a music compressor. It makes all the tunes on a playlist come out at the same volume. We got WinAmp to play back my MP3s, and the “ticky-bop” problem (from the stage show last week) cannot be fixed. Hence, the incompatibility just mentioned and the need to re-do everything.
A lot of guitarists may not appreciate what I say next, but so what? Most guitar strums are really nothing more than extremely simple piano boogie riffs. Midi has a hard time producing realistic guitar sounds. Arnel just fills back in but that is the one thing I can’t do. Applying the principle in reverse, he replaced some of those strange Karaoke guitar tracks with VST piano. What an incredible sound! This is a winner and it meshes with my piano mind-set.
Thanks to my gear not working right, I had to do my traditional show at Jimbos tonight, and it should surprise nobody the tips were pretty light. My regulars accept that a transformation is underway. There was a heckler in the audience but these people get nowhere in the face of my regular crowd.
Looks like I’ve written myself into a corner. A few days back I made the statement that I did not know what a proxy server was in my early days. Turns out lots of people don’t know either, so I will generically describe one. For security, a LAN (local area network) is channeled through a single computer, which in turn handles all Internet traffic. The local users only think they are connected directly to the Internet when they are actually connected to a single computer. This computer has an internal side, facing the LAN and an external side facing the Internet. It examines every packet of information going either way to make sure it is legitimate.
This computer contains heavy security and anti-virus software. It usually creates a log of every keystroke and every operation. It blocks certain sites and filters incoming traffic. That computer is called the proxy server. There are infinite variations but the concept is simple. A common arrangement is to have the proxy server on its own separate mini-LAN with two specially configured routers creating a “demilitarized zone”. Any intruder who breaks through the firewall only gets as far as the proxy server, which contains no sensitive company files. When installed in this way, the proxy server is also referred to as a “bastion host”. You can look that one up yourself.
If you must know, my area of experience is the configuration of those special routers, of which most home users have only one. I still know practically nothing about proxy servers other than what I just told you. The majority of routers I configure are to the bare minimum standards for home wireless. You know, the kind you need to turn on your laptop’s antenna before you can use it.
Author's note 2015-03-27: In the end, I never did get Arnel back the twenty. I stopped by at his place dozens of times, it being right on my way home. His van was there but no answer. I can only presume he is working the cruise ships again. My conscience is clear, I really tried. This was the twenty I borrowed that day I took Theresa to the show and lost the twenty I had on me. I found it a week later in my right shirt pocket.
