catscratch

Causa Sui - Summer Sessions (volumes 1 and 2), Pewt'r Sessions (volume 1) Um, yeah. Because this: Basically, this is how you do blues rock, at least based around a sustained bass line. Also, this band is how you do instrumental improvisational prog rock:

Rule of Acquisition #10: greed is eternal.

I've been thinking. Bad habit, I know... The PC, as a gaming platform, is superior to consoles. It is more powerful and more customizable, it offers unparalleled support for third party controllers as well as support for independent developers. It is cheaper to develop for, and its native keyboard and mouse interface is significantly more precise than a dual analog stick controller. But all of this comes at a cost - a good gaming PC is a lot more expensive than a console, and it also requires time to set up as well as some technical skill on part of the user. Consoles, in the meanwhile, are cheap, easy to use, require almost no effort to set up, and offer a platform that is at once uniform for everybody and also gives large publishers near total control over content. In the long term, if you want to make a lot of money, cheap usually wins out over good. But, given that PCs cannot compete on price, they need to offer a superior gaming experience over consoles in order to justify their price (and effort) premium. They certainly have the power to do this, but are game developers and publishers willing to take advantage of that power in order to justify the PC's increased cost? More and more AAA titles for the PC are simply console ports that don't offer anything over their console versions - in fact, many offer less. There are a few PC-specific things that are key to the gaming experience on the PC that don't really exist on console - things like FOV sliders in 1st and 3d person games, re-bindable controls, support for high frame rates, and customizable graphics settings - and which are commonly not addressed in a typical console port. Then, PC-exclusive AAA titles are more commonly bound up with draconian DRM - as we've seen in Diablo 3 and now Sim City, just to name a few standout examples. All of this creates frustration for the gamer, and hurts the gaming experience. Still, I think this is not even the worst of it. Games are becoming more and more dumbed-down. This is not a sinister conspiracy, it's simply the side-effect of games that are made with consoles in mind. The typical console controller has less buttons and generally less precision than a keyboard and mouse setup, and a game that is made with that controller in mind has to have by necessity a simpler interface, and more importantly, simpler mechanics. The FPS genre is a great example. In the past, we've had games with complex mechanics, like the movement in the Quake or Unreal games, which are only possible on keyboard and mouse. But now, with developers like Bungie flat-out stating that most players are preferring to play shooters on a console, such mechanics are largely going to be a thing of the past. Now, I'm not enough of a gamer to list off every single example of mechanics being simplified for consoles, but if even I have noticed it, then it has to be a pretty significant issue. Entire genres of gaming are now at risk - things like traditional RTS or complex simulation games like the combat flight sims of yore. In essence, this leads me to believe that in order for the PC to survive and indeed thrive as a gaming platform, it needs developers to take advantage of PC-specific strengths, which is unlikely with games that are made with cross-platform compatibility in mind. Unfortunately, this is not the last of it. Given how far tablets and smartphones have come, I simply don't see the need for a casual user to even own a PC. There really is no reason why you can't do social networking from a tablet just as easily, and a tablet is a lot cheaper, easier to use, and one heck of a lot more convenient than a PC. This, together with the price factor, is why I believe the PC is likely to become a much more niche thing in the future. Being a niche thing is fine, but being a expensive, high-performance niche is very dangerous. In order to take advantage of the power, you need large developers with extensive budgets making AAA titles. In order for those titles to justify their development cost, there needs to be a more extensive market. A high-performance, expensive platform does not lend itself well to supporting an extensive market, and this is why I'm worried. Some part of my pessimism is selfish - I'm an FPS player, and I like strategy games as well, both turn-based and real-time. I also have a lot of nostalgia for the old-school space sims and combat flight sims. All of these are genres that are either inferior or straight-up impossible to do on console. Now, there are still games that I enjoy on console - like fighting games, which is probably where I'll migrate to eventually - but I don't want to see the games I enjoy most disappear, or become dumbed-down to the point where I no longer enjoy them, which has already happened with modern FPS. Thoughts? Am I totally off-base here? What is the way for PC to justify its increased cost and survive as a gaming platform in the future? Will all of this be fixed simply and elegantly with a console that offers native keyboard and mouse support and allows me to play the kinds of games I want to play? Is independent development going to carry the PC, inferior budgets and all, or will somebody make a console that's indie-friendly, thus removing even this market from PC exclusivity? And am I alone in thinking that things like DRM and Microtransactions irritate the hardcore gamer to the point where they consider not buying the games they would otherwise buy in the first place?

Another episode that's only decent. The BRZ/FRS review was pretty good and the interview was ok, but the main film was, dare I say it, a bit boring. Besides, Clarkson's anti-American rant is getting a bit old by now.

Pretty good episode, though a bit too much silliness in places. I'm definitely a fan of the LFA. Beautiful filming, even more so than the norm. As a laser tag player the fact that they called laser tag Laser Quest - since Quest is my most universally hated laser-tag system ever - made me rage a little.

Well AFAIK the chassis is basically the Zonda R, so I would have expected an even faster time. But then again it's not on slicks and is probably set up quite softly for the road. Also that was a damp track in parts. Still, the time is less impressive when you consider that the Ultima GTR did a 1:12.8 on road tires, and without a Stig at the wheel. It did a 1:09.9 on slicks. Now that's a glorified kit car so it doesn't have to put up with the same set of regulations as a production car, but still, it puts things into perspective. Great episode on the whole. The last 5 minutes may have been a bit idiotic but the rest felt like straight-up old-school Top Gear from before season 9. [Edit: the Pagani does seem to take its inspiration from the coachbuilt luxury cars from the late 30s - the Talbot-Lagos, Delahayes, Bugattis, and so on. It certainly has that obsessive level of detail, and it's quite an engineering feat that in today's world of regulations - one in which small car manufacturers are intentionally almost incapable of surviving - such a car even exists at all. I'm not the supercar type, I'll never have one and I never did have those Ferrari and Lamborghini posters when I was 10. I never cared. But I do understand why this thing is so magical, and if I ever lusted after a supercar, it would be something like this. Just change the damn name. I thought the Ruf Porsches were already ridiculous - the only car name that can be pronounced by a dog. This Huayra can be pronounced by a dog... vomiting.]

Bad shill is bad. I suggest heading over to head-fi to learn to do it properly.

There's also the argument that not being able to tell the difference in commercially available vodkas has as much to do with the quality of (most of) said vodkas as does the palate of the drinker. I did a double blind test on many popular vodkas, but because the testing methodology was so flawed essentially I concluded that the vodkas I liked were the vodkas I don't usually like. Failed experiments aside, I like Nemiroff Honey and Pepper vodka, and did kinda like 3, which probably means I'm partial to things that burn like a flamethrower. Luksusowa is pretty good too, very smooth.

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-town-allows-teachers-carry-concealed-guns-081017416.html Looks like you're not alone in your thinking Larry.

Agree on the war on drugs issue, but that's a totally different story. I'm pretty sure history will look at prohibition and everything associated with it as one of the major repressions of the 20th and 21st centuries. Right now the issue to me seems to be limiting crimes of opportunity vs penalizing legitimate, responsible gun ownership. If there is a way to do the former without infringing upon the latter - such as stricter gun control for people with a history of mental problems, or perhaps making it a crime to allow guns to fall into the hands of relatives/friends with mental problems - I'd be all for it. Otherwise, I'm fairly strictly in the pro-gun camp. Background-wise, I'm from a family of immigrants that left Russia right after the fall of the Soviet Union, or more specifically political dissidents that were persecuted during Soviet times and which were very fortunate to be able to leave. I'm named after an uncle that spent a fair amount of time in prison for so-called political crimes. So if I'm a little gung-ho about "liberty," whatever it means, there's an understandable reason for it.

Comparing gun ownership to slavery is, I think, a little over the top. Agree with the mental health issue, and there's something else I've been wondering: was the shooter on SSRIs or prescription amphetamines? Amphetamine psychosis is a very real thing, and I've always wondered how much connection there was between documented SSRI side effects and a possibility for this sort of behavior. Given how psychiatric med-happy this country is, it's probably something that needs to be looked into.

Don't worry about it, and feel free to call me out on anything. It's fine. It's not just that I disagree with gun control in principle, I simply don't think that it will be effective, or that it will fly politically. Gun ownership is too culturally ingrained. Regardless, America is not the only country with this kind of prevalence of available guns, yet there seems to be a cultural difference in America that makes it statistically more likely for this sort of behavior to occur, and I'll be damned if I know what that is. Anyway. Sorry about perpetuating this discussion - I agree that now is not the time.

I'm with Dusty on this one. Yes, this is a very messed up thing to happen, but if we over-react and institute some sort of draconian law that negatively affects absolutely everyone, these guys win. While my heart, such as it is, does go out to the families affected by this, this doesn't automatically mean that all of our children, everywhere, are at suddenly at mortal risk. The worst thing we can do is screw up the school environment even more because of this. On the other hand, some basic emergency response training for teachers should probably be mandatory, if it isn't already. Plus, it's easy to point at this incident and say "see, this is why we need stricter gun control," but the people that want to get their hands on guns are going to get their hands on guns anyway. I don't think that's the answer. What the answer is, and if there is one, I don't really know.

I like Bourdain. I've been on a No Reservations binge lately. It's always nice to see a series that hasn't been dumbed down or over-Americanized, and Bourdain himself has a ton of charisma. It's a good series if you need a vicarious living fix, and occasionally it does make you think. Great soundtrack too in a lot of episodes.

Thanks for the heads up. Pretty entertaining special. Though I'm about as close to agreeing with them as I am to being British.

Brighter tonal balance on the SR-002 is what I expected, and what I didn't want to hear. That's too bad - given how practical IEMs are, the 002 will really have to stand out on sound quality. I've been using my IEMs over the 001 just because it isn't better enough sonically to put up with the bad fit and bulky amp, not to mention no isolation whatsoever. Somebody needs to slap Stax upside the head.

Tair 11a is a pretty good place to start. 135mm F2.8, with a 20 (!) blade aperture, which gives it a pretty unique bokeh. Incredibly solid build quality, at least in the one that I've used, but there are rumors of production variances so I would read up some more. You do need to stop it down a bit for maximum sharpness but either way it's a great lens. M42 mount.

I'm still holding out for a full-frame interchangeable lens mirrorless. The nex-7 is pretty neat, my father uses one, and it's quite a bargain considering that there are adapters now being made for it that make it compatible with a huge variety of lens mounts, so you can use a lot of vintage lenses with it. He's got a fair bit of old russian lenses - some of which are optically superb - as well as Canon FD lenses, which are now dirt cheap for the quality that you get. The biggest plus on the nex is the focus highlight - it highlights everything that is in focus, making manual focus about as easy as it can possibly get, which together with easily accessible manual aperture and shutterspeed controls make it a great handling camera. My only issue is the APS-C sized sensor. I want my 50 to be a 50 and I like wide-angle, and I don't want to pay Leica prices for something like this. The moment someone makes something like this, I'm all over it. And afterwards, the prices of vintage lenses are probably going to go up.

Still no power. Not good. Now that our 100 year storms are becoming 5 year storms, our power grid has to be prepared, and clearly it's not. I don't want to complain too much though since so many are so much worse off. I'm glad that this group at least seems to have dodged the bullet.

I find it massively dissappointing that a company that is synonymous with electrostatic speakers would choose to not make electrostatic headphones. They had an opportunity to stand out and they chose to play it safe. Stylewise, yes they look good but it makes you wonder how much money was left to spend on sound.

There are quiet generators, though they cost 10x more. And yes, up here not being able to heat your house in winter is not so good.

Power's out at our office too, and we're losing significant money for every day without power. Not good. Could be worse though. The office is surrounded by trees which JUST managed to miss it on the way down. No estimate from the power company save that it will be "a while." Now the issue is finding a working gas station for cars and generator. Living in a storm area and NOT having a generator is asking for it. Especially with winter and hypothermia on the way.

Power's out. A fence fell on my car but it's fine. Lots of upturned trees here and some houses had their siding torn off, otherwise things are fine.

Oh good, it's headed right for us. At least I'm 30 minutes away from the coast. I've got provisions too, and a nice noisy generator to bring the sound of the Industrial Revolution to this green, quiet suburban hamlet.

Now you see why I've been rabbiting on about this ever since I compared the two side by side, and why I feel like banging my head against the wall when people tell me the Mk2 doesn't have its problems. Now take the next step and get a better amp. It's as significant to the 007 as going from the Mk2 to the Mk1. More so, actually. The excessive politeness will go away. What will make me even more happy is if Stax pulls their heads out of their collective asses and fixes the problems in their lineup. Hopefully the money infusion from Edifier - if it even exists - will let them do just that.