A different kind of talent.
I found her on South Park. I didn't imagine she was real and has a real career.
She even sings AC/DC! Don't miss this.
I've actually bought her rendition of Highway To Hell on iTunes. Heavy metal doesn't come better than this.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Boiler Room
Scam alert.
Last year, a friend of mine who lives in Denmark, had visited London and like the anglofile he is, bought the Times, and found in it a lottery ticket, which indicated that he had won something. He was quite excited, but the ticket indicated that the prices were only available to UK residents, so he asked me to help.
It was all quite complicated, there were many different prizes one might have won, and to find out which, one had to call a number and go through a lengthy phone menu. The number was a pay-per minute number, but surely it was worth it. At the end was a number I had to write down, they had not warned about this, so I had to call twice... Altogether I think it cost me $15 (£8). Plus my time.
On and on, mail in coupons, blah blah blah. I don't remember all the complexities, but in the end, no prize has ever materialized for my friend, only quite a few junk mail "opportunities" for me, since I had put his name on my address. (I sent them back and they stopped coming.)
Say they get 50,000 people to call that phone line at one pound per minute. That's good "business".
Last year, a friend of mine who lives in Denmark, had visited London and like the anglofile he is, bought the Times, and found in it a lottery ticket, which indicated that he had won something. He was quite excited, but the ticket indicated that the prices were only available to UK residents, so he asked me to help.
It was all quite complicated, there were many different prizes one might have won, and to find out which, one had to call a number and go through a lengthy phone menu. The number was a pay-per minute number, but surely it was worth it. At the end was a number I had to write down, they had not warned about this, so I had to call twice... Altogether I think it cost me $15 (£8). Plus my time.
On and on, mail in coupons, blah blah blah. I don't remember all the complexities, but in the end, no prize has ever materialized for my friend, only quite a few junk mail "opportunities" for me, since I had put his name on my address. (I sent them back and they stopped coming.)
Say they get 50,000 people to call that phone line at one pound per minute. That's good "business".
Monday, October 01, 2007
iPod Nano design
I cracked, and got one of the new iPod Nanos. It really is a big step up in design, it is gorgeous. Best hardware anywhere. And the high-rez screen is amazing.
Aesthetically, one small flaw, in my taste: the white scroll wheel does not match the subtle blue of the case. Even grey or black would have been better.
More seriously: I had looked forward to the high-rez screen, so I can read the full title of an audiobook without having to sit and wait for several seconds like a chump, waiting for the text to scroll by at its snail's pace. (I often use this, because audiobooks are divided into several parts, and the number of the part only come after the title, which often is long.) And what did they do? They put the book cover filling half the screen so the text has to scroll anyway...
But wait: didn't I see an option in iTunes to turn off the art on the screen? Oh yes I did. Plug in the pod, and turn this off. Testing, testing. Now, instead of the album art (which was too small to be useful anyway) is... a generic iTunes musical note icon, even less useful, and still using the space which could have been given to the text.
Sigh.
Same old story: the hardware people giweth, and the software people taketh away.
[Update: I just updated the software on the iPod, and it deleted all my careful selections of the main menu items. Oh, come on. Apple, you can do better, you do so all the time.]
Aesthetically, one small flaw, in my taste: the white scroll wheel does not match the subtle blue of the case. Even grey or black would have been better.
More seriously: I had looked forward to the high-rez screen, so I can read the full title of an audiobook without having to sit and wait for several seconds like a chump, waiting for the text to scroll by at its snail's pace. (I often use this, because audiobooks are divided into several parts, and the number of the part only come after the title, which often is long.) And what did they do? They put the book cover filling half the screen so the text has to scroll anyway...But wait: didn't I see an option in iTunes to turn off the art on the screen? Oh yes I did. Plug in the pod, and turn this off. Testing, testing. Now, instead of the album art (which was too small to be useful anyway) is... a generic iTunes musical note icon, even less useful, and still using the space which could have been given to the text.
Sigh.
Same old story: the hardware people giweth, and the software people taketh away.
[Update: I just updated the software on the iPod, and it deleted all my careful selections of the main menu items. Oh, come on. Apple, you can do better, you do so all the time.]
Economic expansion
I must admit to historical and geographic ignorance, but I've just heard something which seems very interesting:
Which two countries had the greatest economic expansions after WWII?
Japan and Germany.
Which two countries were not allowed to use any resources on military power after WWII?
You think those free-up resources had anything to do with that economic expansion?
Which two countries had the greatest economic expansions after WWII?
Japan and Germany.
Which two countries were not allowed to use any resources on military power after WWII?
You think those free-up resources had anything to do with that economic expansion?
Leonard Cohen and Martha Wainwright
I am just watching the "Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man" movie. One of the best bits is Martha Wainwright singing "Traitor":
I think "I'm Your Man" is one of the best songs of the 20th century. I can't find a good version on YouTube though. Here is one with the man himself. But like everybody else, live, he messes up the delightful "macro rhythms" the studio version has. By which I mean that slow, heavier beat about every three seconds. What's that called?
Update: OK, I found the studio version playing over the title sequence, here it is:
I think "I'm Your Man" is one of the best songs of the 20th century. I can't find a good version on YouTube though. Here is one with the man himself. But like everybody else, live, he messes up the delightful "macro rhythms" the studio version has. By which I mean that slow, heavier beat about every three seconds. What's that called?
Update: OK, I found the studio version playing over the title sequence, here it is:
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Wealthy Barber
The Wealthy Barber, a book on personal economy. His "humorous" style with fictional characters debating and chiding each other is an acquired taste, but the book has much sage advice.
I've been thinking a little about the "penny wise and pound foolish" principle. Meaning of course that many of us often can't see the forest for the trees. (If you can explain a proverb with another one...)
For example, many people, including myself, will use a lot of thought and effort saving a few cents in the groceries and the daily life, and then we might suddenly spend hundreds of dollars on a purchase without considering if we really need it or want it. Or if we could get the same or similar much cheaper with a little comparison shopping. (Very easy after the Internet arrived.)
In my experience, a bit of thought going into prioritizing pays off big.
My sister and her husband both work hard and long hours to pay for their nice life and the two boys. And they have a large house which is well heated due to my sister's liking for a warm room. I asked my sister what their heating bill is like. She said she has no idea. I asked her husband the same. He said the same. They have no idea.
That's silly. I have no doubt that they could save serious money if they paid just the bare minimum of attention to such things. And such savings could go towards more leisure time with their kids, or towards a rainy day, or towards the education of the children.
Final Identity said...
My "right path" is (as would be a similar case for nearly anyone) lots of sex with nubile co-eds, and lots of sitting on the beach reading good books, and lots of hanging out at sidewalk cafes discussing politics and philosophy. Any thoughts about how "finding" that "right path" leads to profit?
Eolake said...
I think you took a wrong turn off the right path before this lifetime. You should have been born into a wealthy family with a lezzie-faire attitude to work ethic.
(Lezzie-faire: lesbian sex with blondes.)
---
Anyway... it seems to me that the objections to this book, that it won't work in practice except if people are already predisposed for it, can also be levelled against The 4-Hour Work Week. N'est pas?
I've been thinking a little about the "penny wise and pound foolish" principle. Meaning of course that many of us often can't see the forest for the trees. (If you can explain a proverb with another one...)
For example, many people, including myself, will use a lot of thought and effort saving a few cents in the groceries and the daily life, and then we might suddenly spend hundreds of dollars on a purchase without considering if we really need it or want it. Or if we could get the same or similar much cheaper with a little comparison shopping. (Very easy after the Internet arrived.)
In my experience, a bit of thought going into prioritizing pays off big.
My sister and her husband both work hard and long hours to pay for their nice life and the two boys. And they have a large house which is well heated due to my sister's liking for a warm room. I asked my sister what their heating bill is like. She said she has no idea. I asked her husband the same. He said the same. They have no idea.
That's silly. I have no doubt that they could save serious money if they paid just the bare minimum of attention to such things. And such savings could go towards more leisure time with their kids, or towards a rainy day, or towards the education of the children.
Final Identity said...
My "right path" is (as would be a similar case for nearly anyone) lots of sex with nubile co-eds, and lots of sitting on the beach reading good books, and lots of hanging out at sidewalk cafes discussing politics and philosophy. Any thoughts about how "finding" that "right path" leads to profit?
Eolake said...
I think you took a wrong turn off the right path before this lifetime. You should have been born into a wealthy family with a lezzie-faire attitude to work ethic.
(Lezzie-faire: lesbian sex with blondes.)
---
Anyway... it seems to me that the objections to this book, that it won't work in practice except if people are already predisposed for it, can also be levelled against The 4-Hour Work Week. N'est pas?
Friday, September 28, 2007
Amazon MP3 store
Amazon has opened its MP3 music store.
The files are free from digital rights management code, so they can be played on any device or computer you want, unlike previous online stores, including iTunes. Generally in the past you could use an iPod or other devices, but not both.
TidBITS article about this.
... I notice that today's top band on Amazon is Pink Floyd. Man, do those guys have stick-around power! I heard once that Dark Side Of The Moon has been on the top 100 for decades. An astounding accomplishment in pop music, a business which more than any other is known for one-hit wonders and three-year careers.
TTL ventured:
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognise that the whole idea of a centralised MP3 store is passé to begin with. Fer heaven's sake, just upload your MP3s on your web server, put a PayPal (or Google wallet, or whatever) buy button on your page, and have a simple script e-mail the song to whoever buys it from you.
It's a bit like when the web was new, there were all kinds of "shopping malls" where you were supposed to rent a page to sell your wares. Shopping malls make sense in the physical world because otherwise it would take a lot of calories to move your body from shop to shop. But here in cyberspace it's just a mouse click no matter what the distance.
The only reason these MP3 stores exist today is because artists have signed their work away to record companies. But if you want to buy older music you might as well buy the CD from Amazon and get a physical backup of the data.
For newer music, why have Amazon/Apple/Wal-mart as a middle man? I don't get it.
You're not alone. I've been thinking about these things myself. And I think you're right... but... there is another side to it:
1: Most people can't handle the technical side of things. It took MySpace and Blogger to make many people get their own web sites. And taking payments is still a couple of technical steps beyond that, easy as it looks to a geek like you.
2: I may be biased, being a publisher and editor myself, but I think those may still be needed. Look at all the drek and the horrible web interfaces you have to wade through on the web just to find one good song (or picture or whatever). A good publisher/editor can remove the bulk of the crap and make the interface much more pain free.
The files are free from digital rights management code, so they can be played on any device or computer you want, unlike previous online stores, including iTunes. Generally in the past you could use an iPod or other devices, but not both.
TidBITS article about this.
... I notice that today's top band on Amazon is Pink Floyd. Man, do those guys have stick-around power! I heard once that Dark Side Of The Moon has been on the top 100 for decades. An astounding accomplishment in pop music, a business which more than any other is known for one-hit wonders and three-year careers.
TTL ventured:
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognise that the whole idea of a centralised MP3 store is passé to begin with. Fer heaven's sake, just upload your MP3s on your web server, put a PayPal (or Google wallet, or whatever) buy button on your page, and have a simple script e-mail the song to whoever buys it from you.
It's a bit like when the web was new, there were all kinds of "shopping malls" where you were supposed to rent a page to sell your wares. Shopping malls make sense in the physical world because otherwise it would take a lot of calories to move your body from shop to shop. But here in cyberspace it's just a mouse click no matter what the distance.
The only reason these MP3 stores exist today is because artists have signed their work away to record companies. But if you want to buy older music you might as well buy the CD from Amazon and get a physical backup of the data.
For newer music, why have Amazon/Apple/Wal-mart as a middle man? I don't get it.
You're not alone. I've been thinking about these things myself. And I think you're right... but... there is another side to it:
1: Most people can't handle the technical side of things. It took MySpace and Blogger to make many people get their own web sites. And taking payments is still a couple of technical steps beyond that, easy as it looks to a geek like you.
2: I may be biased, being a publisher and editor myself, but I think those may still be needed. Look at all the drek and the horrible web interfaces you have to wade through on the web just to find one good song (or picture or whatever). A good publisher/editor can remove the bulk of the crap and make the interface much more pain free.
Low light
Some of the first low-light photos to be show, from the Nikon D3. Highly interesting, to say the least, for people who like to photograph in available light.
These are small samples, though. There are some large samples here.
These are awesome. It's at least a two-stop improvement in low light performance over the D2x. If you consider what a two-stop improvement costs you in terms of money and weight in a lens...! For those not familiar with that, we are talking something like a half or a whole kilo more weight-wise, and a thousand dollars more, maybe two. And beyond that you also "pay" in much reduced depth-of-field and more critical focus. None of these things applies to a gain in the camera sensor, it's "free". Fantastic.
If Nikon manages to build in this image quality into a much lighter and cheaper body (similar to Canon 5D), they will have a huge bestseller on their hands.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
You don't know how...
Nicolas Refn, who made the Pusher trilogy (see post earlier this week) had been accepted to the Danish film school when he got the chance to make Pusher I for admittedly a low budget (a million dollars), even by Danish standards, but still much more money than he could have raised himself.
It is very hard to get into the Danish film school, and both of his parents urged him not to leave the school in order to make the film. "You haven't been to school, you don't know how to make movies!" said his mom.
He decided to go for making the movie without using four years of his life in film school. (Causing a minor scandal, nobody had ever left the school before.) And he ended up making one of the most popular and respected Danish movies of the nineties. And to continue from there to become one of the biggest directors of Europe.
Maybe we need to forget a little of all the "you don't know how" we are swimming in, especially in Europe.
It is very hard to get into the Danish film school, and both of his parents urged him not to leave the school in order to make the film. "You haven't been to school, you don't know how to make movies!" said his mom.
He decided to go for making the movie without using four years of his life in film school. (Causing a minor scandal, nobody had ever left the school before.) And he ended up making one of the most popular and respected Danish movies of the nineties. And to continue from there to become one of the biggest directors of Europe.
Maybe we need to forget a little of all the "you don't know how" we are swimming in, especially in Europe.
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