Category: Technology

Last.fm discovery by me

January 13th, 2009 · · Entertainment, Technology One comment - Tags: , , , , , ,

I’m not sure if I have mentioned listening to streaming music in a previous post or not, but at this point it doesn’t matter to me. This has replaced having the television on while I write at home just for background noise. Frankly I’m happier because I get to listen to what I want instead of being at the mercy of a top 40 station or some randomized stream.

The wonderful site I have (personally) discovered is Last.fm. Yes, they have been around for awhile, but the site is new to me.

Last.fm allows you to add artists, albums, and even single tracks to ‘your’ radio station. Last.fm then streams the tracks randomly when you listen to your station. To make things even more fun, you and friends can recommend tracks to each other.

Want to hear a song more often? Click ‘Love’. How about not hearing a track ever again? Click ‘Ban’.

To me this is about the greatest service ever. To boot, it’s completely free to use.

Go to Last.fm and see what you think. If you like it, add me (dirtvoyles). Perhaps we can help each other discover some new tunes.

Why do we put up with the format wars?

January 5th, 2009 · · Entertainment, Legislation, Politics, Technology 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Compact disc, mp3, tape, SuperAudioCD, DVD,etc.

We as a culture enjoy music. This is something that I think most anyone can agree is a fact. Now, types of music are a completely different matter for another forum. Some prefer rap, country, rock, religious traditional, or some other type or sub-type of music that could take forever to list here.

What I am pondering as I write this blurb is how we keep allowing ourselves to be forced into the latest and greatest new medium for enjoying the music we purchase. I caught the tail-end of cassette tape’s life, and purchased several Garth Brooks albums on that medium. (Yes, I like his music and have about everything produced. Still missing the McDonald’s CD if anyone knows where I can aquire one.) When compact disc came out, I purchased everything again in that medium.

The argument here would be that compact disc was a vast improvement in sound quality and lasts much longer than tape can/could. I’m willing to accept that to a certain degree, however why do I have to pay again for the ability to listen to music I already paid to listen to? I wouldn’t mind if I could ‘trade-in’ my cassettes and pay a small fee for the cost of the CD or whatever the new medium is, but paying the same or more for a catalog album seems ridiculous to me.

Compact discs have a negligible production cost (somewhere around a couple bucks last I checked), but yet they are continually priced at a 500% profit. How much of that is seen by the artist? I would wager not much. I understand that some cost is associated with studio costs and promotion, but I doubt it takes quite the markup that we see as consumers.

Now, we are faced with the mp3 upgrade. This new round lends itself to at least one quandry unseen previously – ripping from CD to mp3. There are a few caveats to this process, the DMCA and sound quality.

Continue reading »

Stress and coping

January 4th, 2009 · · Family, Jaycees, School, Technology No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

As you all know (or should by now) I have 2.5 jobs, attend school full time, play a major part in the local Jaycees chapter, and still maintain some semblance of a family. I have to say that everything together was just becoming too much. While I am still very busy, I have cut way down on my level of involvement in the Jaycees.

Over the past 3 years I have loved and hated my time with the Jaycees and everyone involved. Unfortunately at this time in my life something had to go, and as much as they have helped me grow and make community contacts, they are a volunteer organization. I enjoy giving of myself, but sometimes you have to realize your limits and step back as I have done.

Working at Ecodigital is still awesome and teaches me how to better support IS every day, not to mention it pays. 🙂 The gas station isn’t bad. My co-workers are all great, and the customers are usually regulars and quite nice themselves. Fixing PCs helps me learn more, and gain some extra cash too (albeit very little). School is soooooo very close to being done for now, I can taste the parchment.

I think that with the slight stress reduction I can continue working 2 jobs, finish school, and still enjoy time with my great family. Those of you who have been emailing support, thank you very much. It means more than you know to hear that people other than family and super close friends care about me and how things are going.

The career advancement continues

January 2nd, 2009 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon, Technology 5 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday (12/31) I had an interview that I really would like to go somewhere. Out of respect for them and my current employer I won’t say anything until I hear positive or negative. This coming Wednesday (1/7) I will have another interview, however it is only for a 3rd job, not a replacement.

I really enjoy my time at Ecodigital, but I don’t know if they will keep me after my degree is done. My superior is aware that I am looking around, and that I’m not planning on leaving unless something spectacular comes along. I enjoy everyone I’m working with and the challenge of all the different facets of IT that I get to tackle every day. One minute I’m installing a new virtual server, the next figuring out a routing problem, the next working on one of the Xerox machines. It’s always interesting.

Em is still insistent on going to Texas. I don’t see the draw, but if there is nothing around here I’ll consider moving seriously. Gotta do what you gotta do. Leaving family and the town I’ve lived in for 30 years isn’t very enticing, however southern Illinois’ economy is even worse than the rest of the country. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do the things that you don’t neccessarily want to do.

At the very least, I am getting some experience in interviewing again, and making some contacts. Plus, I get to learn more of what several different employers are looking for in new/replacement employees within our field. Thanks for reading, and feel free to offer leads if you have any.

No Walgreens’ Computer Room for me

December 8th, 2008 · · Illinois, Mount Vernon, School, Technology 4 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

Most of you know that I recently interviewed for a position within the Walgreens’ DC Computer Room. I have been waiting for about 3 weeks to hear if I was selected or passed. Normally, Walgreens will send out the infamous ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ postcard, and I hadn’t received one so I was hopeful.

This afternoon I received a call from the lady who was part of my interview team. At that point my heart lept. In my experience, calls were reserved for offers and the postcard of doom was sent to those not chosen.

I was wrong. In this case they were nice enough to call me and let me know that I was not selected for the position.

As much as I hoped for the position, I can say I am still happy that I will be able to finish my degree this spring and find another position. If I had been hired by Walgreens, I probably would have been locked into that employment for some time given the current economic climate and incompatability of their schedule with the classes offered at RLC.

Needless to say, it has been a tough day with finals throughout, and then not getting the position. I feel that we will carry on and survive through it all though.

In case anyone misread what I have written here, I really am thankful for a phonecall instead of the postcard-of-doom. It’s nice that they were able to give me a courtesy call rather than a cold postcard. For that, I say thank you.

Time to bunker down for my hardest semester yet…