TMoney

Happy birthday, chalk-man!

👀

Order in for the 16". So far on paper my expectations were exceeded. We will see how it is in person hopefully next week.

I too finally got out to my first show post-lockdown to see Phoebe Bridgers at the Greek in Berkeley. It was so much fun to be part of a big crowd again.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-10-11/mlb-rule-changes-atlantic-league-tests-tweaks-meant-to-save-baseball Fun article. The MLB knows it’s game is losing fans (too many strike outs, too few balls in play, not enough stolen bases, too many mound visits), but they are trying to fix it with experiments in the minor leagues. Examples: automated balls and strikes (thank god!), larger bases to make steals easier, moving the pitching mound back a foot or two to give batters more reaction time.

If you had asked me 15-20 years ago would Grado have survived to still remain a going-concern today I'd have said "no, no chance." Here we are in AD 2021 and they are selling pokemon headphones. Annnnnnd this is why I index my investments. I can't predict the future for shit.

Feels appropriate to leave this here: Pokemon x Grado collab! That is a line I never thought I'd ever write. Life is indeed stranger than fiction sometimes. https://blog.gradolabs.com/pokemon-center-grado-headphones/

RIP Ray Fosse, Oakland A’s longtime broadcaster and former MLB Catcher. Ray’s broadcasts taught me to love the game. His understated dignity and professionalism was something I’ve always admired. He was always a very stark contrast with the Giants broadcasters across the bay. I still don’t forgive Pete Rose for nearly ending Ray’s career in a violent collision at home plate durning an all-star game that didn’t even count. https://www.sfgate.com/athletics/article/Ray-Fosse-former-A-s-player-TV-commentator-dies-16531377.php

Finally!

Went to a friend’s wedding last night. First wedding I’ve been to since COVID. So much fun.

Am also waiting on 16" M1/M2/M1X/whatever to replace 2016 MBP. Soon™?

After seeing the new hotness it is pretty wild going 20+ years back in time to the older gen destroyers.

Fleet week in SF with Grahame. USS Michael Monseur first up.

I'm also starting to eyeball some of these new DACs. Both Denafrips and Holo Spring seem to have compelling R2R NOS options at or around 3k.

Our Bande Apart - Third Eye Blind. Pretty much exactly what I would want from late-career 3EB. Very pleasant listen.

Yeah, PFAS is no joke. It comes up on every financing I work on for California Water Districts, particularly when their water sources include pumped ground water. Thankfully, people are aware of it now. At least in California we are measuring PFAS and taking steps to mitigate the problem.

And it defaulted me to subs because that is how I watch! Really smart as I’d bet for a lot of casual viewers they would switch the show off before going in to the menu to change it from the default.

I’m happy the show is blowing up everywhere. It is legitimately pretty great. Thought this was interesting from a story in the WSJ today: ”’Squid Game’ went through some primping to become a global megahit. With a potential language barrier, Netflix emphasized visuals, outfitting competitors in green tracksuits and building colorful sets resembling children’s playgrounds. Some of the rules for the traditional Korean games were simplified or altered. Many Americans also enjoy watching foreign shows with English-language dubbing, rather than subtitles—a choice that Netflix’s algorithms can automatically select for users based on their past viewing.” So Netflix cranked the visual style up to 11 to carry the show cross-culturally. That was brilliant. Also cool the algorithm can guess whether a viewer would prefer subtitles or dubbing. Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/netflixs-squid-game-is-the-dystopian-hit-no-one-wanteduntil-everyone-did-11633183200?mod=hp_lead_pos9

Yeah, I didn’t mean that they changed the laws of physics and chemistry, only that they probably don’t run the dedicated PC OLED screens are hard or have other tech tricks to avoid burn in that they’d employ that would not be necessary on a TV. I think you’ll be just fine. I’ve seen that Dell laptops (at least I think they were Dell) with the OLED screens and they look great.

I assume the displays for PCs and laptops have enhanced anti-burn in tech that isn’t present in TVs. That being said, I’d check the warranty terms just to be sure.

OLED TVs make shit computer monitors. This is well known. Zero burn in on my 2017 model LG that is used for tv/video.

I follow a few game designers on twitter who were talking about the new Netflix show, "Squid Game." I started in on it last night. It is surprisingly compelling! I am impressed so far.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, Caribbean Santa!

Great interview with Sean Olive (of Harman target curve fame) on a summary of his headphone research over the years.