One year ago today: February 25, 2019, car ownership blues.
Five years ago today: February 25, 2015, Florida con-men.
Nine years ago today: February 25, 2011, nothing is free.
Random years ago today: February 25, 2007, jammin' in French.
Here’s an irrelevant picture of what my work shed looks like in Tennessee during the summer. The boys and I went up to Lebanon Pike fo buy me first set of lined winter boots in maybe forty years. On the way back, I stopped at the Thrift to pick up some DVDs. You have to walk past the winter clothes aisle and man, was that picked over. Only the $20 stuff was left. This is also the spot where the doggies like a walk around the transformer substation. And whoever lives there is still sleeping out in the open. I understand why some people do it, but there is really no call for it in America.
I’m no exception. I know, but still don’t understand why, a server is needed to publish a web page. Maybe if you want your site to be up and running 24/7, but that is not always the case, is all I’m saying. And what the hell is it with calling the thing a “host” when in fact, you are given no choice if you want it or not. Another thing I’d like to know is why I have to “register” a domain name. Give me an unused IP address and strike it off the list so nobody else has it and call it even. One of my first objections was having to upload your web page files to this server or it would not work. Putting your files on somebody else’s computer has a nickname. It’s called Idiotware. If you haven’t heard that before, it could be because I think I just made it up.
The concept behind the Internet was decentralization. Instead we have the opposite, a few over-powerfule corporations dictating what goes one, even down to which new equipment is ever installed and who gets access to it. Don’t give up hope, though. Just as Google gobbled up the Internet on a lucky break, they are susceptible to the same treatment. Same goes for Facebook. Like MicroSoft, they were shitty products that got to market in a manner that allowed them to trounce the competition. The difference is, this time the competition isn’t really going away. I would like to see the eFAG community required to establish their own separate web presence and not allowed to interfere with the part that kicked them out.
This morning I also noticed on the utility bill that you need acceptable Tennessee ID to get service. This prompted me to look at the requirements for TN ID, and one of them is a utility bill in your name. I warned you the system was getting ever tighter and that is another step toward the bureaucrat’s Utopia. Where every file is circular and intertwined with every other. This new requirement is disgusting. Under the guise of stopping people from using one piece of ID to get more, it is another hoop meant to encompass everybody, suspect or not. I am against this for very good reasons.
There are just not enough people who realize what has happened to our society when a bank statement as become an acceptable form of ID.
Another unexplained thing is how music like Nickleback’s “Far Away” is classified as rock music. And I like the band, just not over-orchestrated studio-heavy recordings. These guys come from a nearly identical town as I did. Middle of nowhere, population 2,500. These guys sailed to the top, mine didn’t. Many reasons are given but the obvious answer is some behind-the-scenes influences, likely huge $$$ support from relatives with connections making an appeal to the government to promote them. (The band is from a rural town in Canada.) On a recommendation of a friend, I listened to this tune and got about half-way.
Professional photography, nowadays.
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It’s time, says the LA Times, to regulate the Internet like “any other utility”. Yep, in other words destroy the very concept the ‘net was intended for, namely the FREE transmission of FREE information. I predicted this would occur when the system first began to allow online credit card purchases. That’s hard to follow, but it’s supported by a lot of facts. Prior to that, you could order on-line, but pay by some other means. Inconvenient, yes, but relatively quite secure. The instant credit went on-line, every grab-artist and slickboot was handed a new layer of electronic anonymity. Not even the word “free” was safe anymore.
By the mid-90s, as the Internet caught on, it was for a brief spell what was intended. A few knowledgeable persons posting accurate articles and the proletariat could now instantly see how much they did not know. It was quite the workable system. The reason was it was just difficult enough to use to discourage casual interloping. The average user had to have at least some clue as to how things went. But, average being what it is, sites like AOL that promised every easier access grew big and the user-brains got smaller. Think about it, who else orders a Netflix movie based not on the content, but on what other people are watching?
I stepped away from the keyboard for a refill and found this on the screen when I returned. ID3#######TCON#######Bluesÿú�ÀÅ###T‰ðò@™5Âþ¿_€32àR###F3C#ÿ%Œclb##". I think it is the secret code for the next winning lottery numbers. Can’t be the cat because of the shift key. That means my computer has intercepted the transmission between the real lotter headquarters located in Lichetenstien and their secret bunker disguised as a Starbucks in St. Louis, though many say it could be the other way around. Or maybe it is one of those over-popular Chinese passwords.
If you crack the cypher, I get 5% for. reproducing it here in original form. Some say it is really the reaction of Bernie’s fellow Democrats when Trump congratulated him. Trump would like few things better than to have a millionaire commie run against him in November. That's the liberals, encouraging immigrants to vote for exactly what they fled from.
ADDENDUM
Maybe the cool temperature is a boon for my homework. It turns out my old bingo sets are not right for my new act, so a lot of hours have to be put in on turning out new disks. It’s not as easy as just recording the tunes. Outside of the gain (volume) differences, I have to remove the DC offset of every piece. Then there is the fun of getting them to display in the right order for a set, rather than alphabetically. My show does not allow for time to be searching for tunes on stage, and my act is based on a one-hour set at a time.
The new DVD player is quite a capable little unit. This photo shows the pleasant blue display, that’ a plus on stage. To the squinty-eyed, the screen is not displaying my list. The question remains how rugged can it be for $50, but I’ve had $180 units crap out on me. Price-wise, it just might be better to keep three of these to have adequate backup. MP3s come from such a variety of sources, most untrained, that playback volume is a concern. With bingo, I was sitting down and had two foot-pedals to compensate. This time I’ll be standing up so the volume has to be preset. I had tried this with my old compilations and it is quite a task. I won’t have to do any cross-fading, so I’m hoping one pedal will suffice.
The set material is pretty random except starting and ending each with one of my power tunes. The show works best because of its novelty, but don't conclude it is some cheesy presentation. The sound quality is on a par with the best DJ material and I've been playing bass on stage since before my teen years. The show is very much the real thing, just not for everybody.
