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I'm heading in to work tomorrow at 3am to trigger the time lapse camera that I setup this afternoon using my A7IV. If all goes to plan it'll take at least 3000 still frames over a 24 hour period and not fall from the sky (it's mounted ~100' in the air). It's on a smallrig mount with multiple tethers so it shouldn't be capable of flight and should be rigid enough to be stable/consistent throughout. If I get the video cleared for public release I'll post it.

Oliver Lieb's latest release -- nice background music, pretty much designed for coding/researching/reading/&c. Just energetic enough to energize me; just diverse enough to keep my interest without demanding to be engaged with my frontal lobe. https://oliverlieb.bandcamp.com/album/recovered-frequencies-vol-1

Cumbias Chichadelicas: Peruvian Psychedelic Chicha, ‘cause Chicha + ‘cause I’m studying the Inca in class.

I made a jambalaya that turned out well enough I didn’t get to take a picture of it.

Thanks non-robot buddy!

My point was not that made in china was crappy, it was that made in china is priced such that made in usa cannot compete. Audio-GD for example makes ultra high caliber equipment, and at a price that i cannot even buy the parts for. Ksa5 boards now on ebay that are my layout stuffed with parts and assembled and sell for a fair bit less than i can buy the parts for.

This is not aerospace. It is not even a cell phone. It is a crappy little headphone amplifier which is just some standard off the shelf parts soldered to a simple PCB. It is going to be the same whether made in China, Russia, or the U.S. Whether it sounds good depends upon the design and implementation of the circuit, not the quality of the PCB or the manufacturing.

I think Dinny it's on to something. This whole new world of viral/community marketing makes me uneasy. Best thing that could happen would be some legal authority to come along with a flamethrower and scare the living bejesus out of a lot of people. Let's face it, for all the good in online communities and much of the rest of it, there's a tremendous amount of greed involved. marketing through communities costs next to nothing. And there's a sense that there's no risk involved. No accountability. And the day to day culture is corrosive. There's no way somebody can spend all day stealing copyrighted work and keep their moral compass. There damn well needs to be some risk. Bring on a dangerous person, I say.

^This doesn't address the issue I highlighted (if indeed it was even meant to do so). That sites cater to the business end and not the hobby is manifest and has been for some time. That's fine and is a business decision I have no problem with. However, I continue to be mystified by how people who run such sites can get comfortable with their endorsements (express or implied) of vendors who are making false claims or who have outright committed fraud--in some cases using the forum as the medium, at least in part. I certainly would not be comfortable with that from a risk/liability perspective. We all say that "they don't care." In my opinion, "they" should. Not because it's "right," but because there's real risk. All it takes is one nasty AG with a bug up his ass. Accordingly, the notion that only one side (i.e., the positive side) can be presented doesn't make any sense to me.

I wonder how forums that allow ads, sponsored content, and shilling are not more concerned about their own liability viz. the veracity of their MOTs' claims and some of the serious vendor flameouts that cause people to lose money/gear. I know I would be.

I also truly don't get this utter delusion of "discussing the issues" with the manufacturers as a way of getting anything done. This is not how the world works and never has. That said I have tried this with both Cavalli and Woo Audio, neither have listened. This was also the basic stuff that any competent engineer should have avoided in the first place. Seriously, exposed pins on the PSU of the WES carrying +600V with more than enough current to kill you and the Exstata being designed to throw away parts on purpose. Something that springs to mind are the guidelines Hifi News and Record Review used back in the day when reviewing gear. They were the first to test the operational parameters of the gear so what should they do if the gear was way out of the published spec or simply sounded horrible? This was in the 60's so the components quality and build standards were not as consistent/good as they are now. They decided that the manufacturer was offered a chance to supply a new unit that worked to spec as shit happens but failing that, the full review was posted with all the gory details. As is clear to everybody we do our projects out in the open with nothing to hide. If there are issues then we address them but don't try to hide it. Shit happens is a good motto to have but it's hard to accept when one does have a god complex...

Fair dinkum, oldie, since when does it become a crime to expose second-rate workmanship on a second-rate circuit that's housed in a good looking case and charged an arm and a leg for the privelege of owning it..?? Would you be happy to own one, having paid full price for it, and then shown the level of workmanship inside? If so, then you don't have enough smarts to see what's going on. If not, then you would be backing Birgir's expose - and you'd be free to let Alex know what you think of his product's design and build quality control.

^ Nailed it. Too much of this behind the scenes wink wind nod nod say no more shit going on. Maybe instead of sending shit to shills to blow more sunshine up orifices, invest in a unit to someone knowledgeable like Kevin or Birgir to look it over and evaluate it and provide feedback. I think both of them have already offered way more than enough constructive help regarding the Exstata (assuming I have the story straight and remembered it correctly), which apparently fell upon deaf ears. I must have misread this the first time because I didn't really think much of it, but alleging that Birger (or someone) went over the solder joints on this to make them appear bad is ludicrous, and has been pointed out, normally, an experienced tech (and I am one) would be adding solder to joints. Many of the joints appear to have too little solder, and poorly flowed.

^This, 1000 times, this. That line of thinking is truly absurd. Their thinking is basically thus: "If you really wanted to help, you would keep it a big secret." Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

I am truly at a loss as to why spritzer would get any crap for doing what he does other than from the shill brigade. It is very obvious what his intentions are, and grawk nailed it.

it comes down to: protect the companies or protect the consumers.

Sadly, the Head-Case intelligence quotient is now less.

My advice to you is--if you really do want to understand what you think are divergent opinions--to go back and read the last several posts carefully and get the not so subtle hint.

Nate, you make some valid points. I do not know you at all other than my impression of you based on your posts, but I greatly respect your viewpoint because of them. You have long been one of the core group of people here and at HF who's opinions hold great weight. I totally understand your viewpoint on this. I really do. Perhaps a few here (myself included) have come off a bit harsh and/or disrespectful to Alex. Having said that, in my view, this thread started out as an exposé of an inferior design with safety issues and shoddy workmanship. That all changed with the blasé poofy response from Alex. Glossing over obvious facts (like the soldering), having the "if it does not fail, it must be fine" attitude, and ending with the statement he did is a bit insulting, no? Also, in my view, it is extremely insulting to the consumer to shell out a LOT of money for an obviously inferior product. So yes, you are right, a few of us might have been disrespectful to Alex, but a few words are a lot more benign than selling what he is for the price of a used car while telling people to accept it for what it is.

RIP Marjane Satrapi, director of ‘Persepolis’, “who died of sadness a little over a year after the death of Mattias Ripa, her husband and the love of her life” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/marjane-satrapi-dead-persepolis-director-56-1236613671/