TMoney

^ Potential mini-meet opportunity? They do have a website but it just has the same "upcoming events" over and over again so I have no idea. http://www.coltranechurch.org/

Out of curiosity, Voltron, as a fellow Bay Area resident have you ever been to the Church of St. Coltrane? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_coltrane#Religious_figure

With the help of a friend I swapped out a long-malfunctioning Khozmo pot in my HV for an RK50 over the weekend. For the longest time I put up with clicks/pops/random volume cut-outs and blasts at max volume from the Khozmo pot seen here. A couple of weeks ago my friend and I decided to take the Khozmo apart and see if we could find the source of the problems and potentially repair it. What we found was kind of shocking. On one of the four channels of the Khozmo there is clear signs that someone goofed up during the manufacturing process. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that something sharp had cut some of the traces on PCB. Look at the traces coming from pads 3 and 4 and you'll see the scratch. Also, if you look very closely you can see that pads 3 and 4 have been bridged. For reference, here is a photo of one of the (presumably) fully functioning channels. Unlike the channel above there is no scratch on the PCB, all the traces appear to be fine, and none of the pads are bridged. Judge for yourself whether this kind of workmanship from Khozmo is acceptable on a nearly $300 part. In any case, I figured in order to avoid any more problems with the pot I might as well go for the gold (literally) and throw in an RK50 purchased from Justin as a replacement. Thankfully my friend and I were able to borrow a drill because the volume control post on the RK50 is friggin massive. Not only is it 8mm thick (10mm at the base), it also is quite a bit longer (30mm) than the Khozmo (20mm). Drilling the front panel went smoothly and the RK50 mounted nicely. However the volume knob ended up being a bit more of an issue. The knob I was using was (A) for 6mm shaft, and ( only 21mm deep. We ended up having to drill out the knob to within a mm or two of drilling all the way through to get the thing to mount without a large gap between the edges of the knob and the front panel. It still doesn't look perfect, but it will work for now. I'm happy to say that the amp is now back up and running and fully functional. I'm not sure the RK50 is worth the extreme cost, but it really tracks well. The sound is beautiful and there are no more pops/clicks/etc. Mission accomplished.

Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates Its not often that I hear something that makes me sit up in my chair and take notice, but when "We Belong Together" came on I was wow'ed. Its one of those songs you just have to play again right away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNgSb1TGGcQ Christgau gives the album a C+ which I think is insane. To his credit he says: " In short, she writes and sings and composes as if she has something to hide. From herself, most likely" I agree with him, I just dont see it as a negative the same way he does.

After a day, I really like it. I think there are some things that are going to get worked out in the next few "point" releases, but on the whole I think the changes are mostly for the better. The animations are pretty smooth on my iPhone 5, but the retina iPad is definitely dropping frames all over the place. IMO the best change by far is the ability to finally put all those Apple applications you don't use into folders. I hated how in IOS 6 I was stuck with stuff like news stand that couldnt be filed away even if you didn't use them.

It just finished downloading on my iPhone. Whoa boy. It sure looks different. A lot of less informed users are really going to freak out when they see it for the first time. Initial impressions are pretty positive, but there is a zoom-in/zoom-out animation that happens EVERY SINGLE TIME you open anything that is either going to have to be sped up significantly or done away with all together. I'm already sick of seeing it and it hasn't even been 1/2 an hour.

Happy Birthday!

Just Finished Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It took me a while to get through it because it is so dense. The chapters are like morsels to be savored, thought over, and discussed. It is fabulous. Easily one of the most important books of the 1970's. It helped a lot that, as a philosophy major, I had read nearly all of works Prisig discussed back in undergrad.

Omar is great, no doubt, but its a series full of great characters. He makes my top 10, just not my top 5. I also kind of like his character a tiny bit more in Boardwalk Empire. Speaking of other HBO shows, how oddly appropriate is it that Tommy "the Horse-trader" Carcetti is Littlefinger in GoT? Made me laugh when I realized it was the same actor.

Finally finished last night. Man… what an ending. Season 5 was just masterful TV. I wasn't feeling the whole "one of the best TV series ever written" thing until I finished Season 5. Just wow. A very satisfying conclusion. I loved the stuff with the news media. Easily my second favorite season after the first. Top 5 Characters: 1. Bunk 2. Prop Joe 3. Sgt. Landsman 4. DeAngelo Barksdale 5. Carcetti's Aide Norman

I'll be at the other California Audio Show going on at the same time. You know... The one that isn't for dorks. http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/home/

Coming from the retina iPad the 7-inch screen is a revelation. I considered the iPad mini, but I like the idea of a 1920x1200 screen and streaming bluray rips in native 1080p off my NAS.

On a whim I picked up a nexus 7 over the weekend. I really like it. It is a heck of a device for only 230. It might be the beginning of the end of my allegiance to iOS.

Carmack is one of the smartest guys in the entire PC/gaming industries and I love hearing his keynotes. They are pretty technical, but very very informative. I have it on in the background while I'm working this morning and I'm really enjoying it. Link to part 1 (starts at 15:00)

The weather wasn't great this weekend so now I'm through all of season 3. Gotta say, one of my favorite parts of the series so far is when Lt. Daniels lectures McNulty on how closing the case will never "be enough" and the he will never really find satisfaction in doing what he is doing. When you think about it, its not just Daniels talking to McNulty but also the writers of the show making a joke at the expense of the audience. We as viewers will also never quite "have enough" when the case closes. We also also unsatisfied and are going to want another case. Good writing. Good acting. Good show.

This list is also interesting. Seeing as how our British cousins appreciate well written TV more than we do I'm shocked that more of these British shows did not make the American lists. In 20 years are people still going to be thinking shows like Breaking Bad and Modern Family are classic TV? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_British_Television_Programmes

Got through 3 more episodes last night. Season 2 is still decent, but it is taking them way too long to get momentum built up on the main story threads. The pacing could use some work. It is not as tight as season 1.

4 episodes into season 2 and still enjoying it, though not quite as much as the first season. It'll be interesting to see where they go with things. I don't really know what to make of the dockworkers, though that Ziggy kid better get what is coming to him. I miss having DeAngelo being more of a central character. He always kind of felt like a cypher for the audience as he was always easy to understand and sympathize with. After 4 episodes it feels like act one is about to end and the season is ready to move on to act two. Also, as Ric and others have alluded, the Tom Waits intro a definitely a major plus.

I started Season 1 last week and finished it yesterday. Pretty good. I'll start Season 2 this week. I went to college in Annapolis and spent a lot of time in and around B'more so it was fun to see that part of the country again. Also, being an attorney, the procedural stuff can be fun. A law school classmate of mine was always calling me "McNulty" and now seeing the way he is irreverent towards authority figures I can see why. I have no idea how they are going to carry the show through 5 seasons but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I have also had problems with Khozmos. One totally failed which they replaced, but now the replacement is acting up.

Been listening to a lot of the Carpenters lately. Between Karen's amazing voice and her tragic story its hard not to get emotional. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for Altos.

Wow. Look at that brick wall. That being said, I find with a lot of recent releases the vinyl release gets a way better (read: more dynamic) mix. Maybe once someone gets their hands on a vinyl copy they can report back?

I have it and played the first 30 minutes or so. Whoa. I haven't had a free weekend to sit down and finish it out yet. Agree with the above comment RE it coming to PC. It is hard to go back to consoles after spending so much time on PC. 30fps sucks relative to 60.

I just finished Blood Meridian. Probably the most intense thing I have ever read. It literally took acts fortitude to get through it at times. Utterly amazing. I heard the NYTimes polled authors as to what is the most important American work of fiction in the last 30 years and Blood Meridian tied for second. That seems fitting. Judge Holden can never die.