Author's note 2015-04-14: in the end, I did not publish. Other than on-line, publishing requires a large cash outlay.
The work I had for today once more reflects one of those dismal features of computers: they just do not emulate stupid people very well. Centuries of progress have been lost by having to clean up after dolts. If half-educated people were not required to pretend bureaucracy works, you might be receiving this message from across the Milky Way. I think Capitalism may be at fault. Capitalism lets the cheapest system that works get entrenched past the point of no return. Witness VHS tapes, the way Christmas lights always tangle, and on-line dating.Take this hostage thing in Somalia. This ship happened to have an American crew, which emphasizes that the other ships did not, now making other US ships a high-value target. Hours ago it is reported that three US snipers took out three Somalis in a split second. Talk about your cover-up. Even if it were possible to hit a moving target from a moving target with such precision, it is idiotic to let the enemy think you even can. Applying Occam’s Razor, the Navy slipped a couple of agents over the side of the life-boat and applied the low-tech solution. This SEAL thing is for public consumption. Expect a round of movies.
Back to computers, I am referring to the Karaoke systems that are in place (as being examples of bad programming). Nobody programming midi appears to have known that popular music and lyrics go together. I do partially fault [the situation] the way computer programming is taught, but that is asking me to believe not one of the programmers ever noticed the words between the little round dots in 300-year old sheet music.
The rush to dominate the market means nothing in Karaoke works totally right. It seems clear that the original midi format should have been adapted to include lyrics, almost as clear as the fact it was omitted, likely due to licensing fees. Maybe soon I will discover how the original Karaoke midi files are being produced. For the moment, all I’ve found are more applications that add lyrics to existing formats, producing for example, CD+G tracks. As if you don’t have enough headaches already.
I know that applications like “Cakewalk” will add lyrics to an actual midi track, producing the kar format. What I have not found is an application that does so in a rapid, convenient fashion using available text. Each software package tested to date shows a piecemeal and short-sighted approach to the whole music/lyric combination and I lack the skill to do anything about it. Same thing with those Christmas lights.
One of my regular customers asked for some advice today. He is in school on a government program and nearing the point where a career decision is critical. I can’t give such advice except in uselessly wide terms. For example, it is easy to say make sure whatever career you choose will pay off the costs of school. Or when in doubt, stay in school as long as you can without plunging into debt. Or avoid any gaps in your schooling. However, the fact is, many people these days will never recover the costs of their own education. Jobs have been dumbed down along with the general population. The best paying work they will ever get will merely stave off defeat.
This made me reflect on my own experiences. Years ago, before he got married, I had a business partner named R. During summer breaks, he worked for the power company, I worked in construction. Don’t mistake anything I say; R succeeded entirely on his own. But at least part of his way was paved by environment. His family knew the family of the local power company manager.
While R did not take any personal favors, the following fact cannot be ignored. During work hours and breaks, R very often rubbed elbows with the upper 10% of management who actually make decisions. These were people with first-hand knowledge of the world who could give him excellent advice born of personal experience. On the other hand, in my job, all I ever heard were the losers who could only give you bad advice they must have followed themselves. Thus, while R was listening people who in the flesh had made the big money in Saudi Arabia, I was hearing nothing but tripe. I recognized it, but the consequent lack of good information and immediate need for money meant I never knew what was available out there until [it was] too late to change horses.
Since my customer is an avid athlete, I suggested he look into any type of medical career that repairs or works with muscle and bone. There are many fields short of becoming a doctor where knowledge of anatomy and health are in demand. Look at David Janss, my buddy from Los Angeles. He was a sonogram technician making three times as much money as I was at my union job. And David was still broke all the time. That was because he would do things like hire a married couple who just got out of jail to tile his spare bathroom. I remember them as Bonny and Clyde, here we go loopty-loo.
If I had to do it over again, I would look into radiology. My aversion to needles is well known, but I also have this revulsion to getting up close and touching fat people. You know, the ones who get sick an awful, awful lot. The kind of sick that requires handling. Whereas I couldn’t give these people massage therapy without gagging, repeatedly blasting them with particle beams is something I am pretty much okay with.
