October 2007 Archives
A while ago i went on a quest to find a replacement for iTunes, that would allow me to still use my iPod, but would do some other neat things that iTunes didn’t, and still doesn’t, do1. I was also quite adamant about not getting into any proprietary audio formats, never minding that the MP3 format isn’t non-proprietary, but when looking at lossless formats, i didn’t want to give in to Apple’s. That left only one choice, FLAC. The drawback being, of course, that iTunes and the ‘pod don’t support it. I’d have used WAV (or AIFF), but there is no support for tagging those files, and i love my meta-data. I also wanted something that would work with my slimserver and player.
Water has passed under the bridge, my time and patience have been reduced, and i find myself looking for the easiest solution to my audio library woes.
So, while winamp was my solution for a time, i’ve re-enbraced iTunes, and am converting the CD’s that i formerly had in FLAC format to Apple’s lossless format. Fortunately, the slimserver will play and transcode Apple’s format, so i don’t loose out there.
I’ve also switched over to Apple products for my network, both an AirPort Extreme and an Express. I’ve been happy with both, despite a brief disappointment when i first got the Extreme home and it didn’t connect to my DSL provider. But, within a week there was a firmware update that fixed the problem, and i was all grins again. Aside from the wifi speed of the Extreme, i also acquired it for its USB port, so i can do printer sharing on the network. I finally don’t have to have a computer on all the time acting as a print server. The Express is to get the network into a room that isn’t wired, and i’m also using the AirTunes feature to get audio into the stereo there.
So, now comes the incredibly tedious task of re-ripping all the CDs we have. And hope that i don’t have to do it again!
1: Mostly transcoding on the fly while syncing. Man, i wish iTunes would do this! It would make it pretty much perfect - keep all your stuff on your huge HD in high quality, and then have it in smaller, lossy format (AAC or mp3) for the iPod.
“too good to throw out, but not good enough to use” - this pretty much sums up why i have so many computers and other odds and ends in the basement. And why i’ve got to get on that Computer Museum project!
Some photos from our trip in April… Yes, i know, kind of old, but hey, it was fun, and the pictures are pretty good!
Tony posted some great questions in his comment to my first Computer Museum post. I never thought of the geographic angle, but it is an important one to keep in mind. There were many computers and other technical artifacts which were important in one area but never made it to another. Ones which first come to mind is the French Minitel system, and the Amstrad Sinclair line of computers in the UK.
Some place to post all those ‘what the future will look like’ clips and prognostications, and what people thought of what the future would be like back then, could also be easily integrated into this museum. I’m thinking specifically of the crazy future of Logan’s Run and some of the music/disco scenes from Rollerball and the original Battlestar Galactica.
Thanks for the comments! This is, obviously, and idea that needs to be developed more, so this discussion is very helpful.
OMGWTFBBQ. Yes yes yes, not really a tla but 3 tla’s squished together! Excellent! Found via this awesome LOLCATs comic. You should read them all. Yes, you should. Now. Go.
