Dusty Chalk

I really like my Etymotic ER-6i's. I've heard good things about the ER-4's, though I don't know which ones are best unamped. Sony MDR-V6/-7506's are pretty good unamped as well.

Capacitance.

So, (a) grawk was right, the inner is the signal; ( I was right, he's using air as the dielectric, but © there's more to it than that (see the "...at close to a 90 degree angle from each other..." statement). EDIT: And after looking at the image again, I have to agree that the inner looks thinner.

They look the same to me. Thickness of the two wires in one interconnect, that is. Any differences in thickness are probably just an optical illusion.

I just emailed him and asked him. The whole concept behind the anti-cables is using air as the insulator (because it has minimal dielectric effect), so I presume the coil is to force spacing between the two wires. But that's just my theory, I'll post his answer when I get it.

I didn't realize that, but based on the pictures, I agree that there's no way there's a shielded. And yes, I like shielded. We live in a RF-dirty world. There are quite a few high-end cables that aren't shielded, but for every one that you can cite, I can probably find one that is. I know the Outlaws are shielded. And there's no excuse for not shielding a balanced cable. But I still intend to try them. The lack of shielding may be outweighed by everything else, if it is as good as it says it is. And yes, those pics are hot.

I've been meaning to try something called Anti-Cables -- I've heard good things about them at, for example, audiokarma.org.

And here I always thought that was a pocketknife. But now that I look at it more closely, I can see that it's a closeup of a nib...and that's pretty much all I can see. Well, I can see that it's at least partially made out of gold...or gold-plated... Goddamnit!

Okay, that just means I need to re-read it.

I should also mention the last thing I read (after the Baroque cycle -- which is excellent beyond words, but is a long and difficult read for some reason, probably the language) was the 30 Days of Night -related novel, Rumors of the Undead. Took me about ten days to read/finish. Probably not the best place to start in the 30 Days of Night world, but a good read if you've already read everything else (30 Days of Night, Dark Days, Return to Barrow, Bloodsucker Tales, etc.), as most, if not all of those other stories are spoiled in this one. ...oh, hot shit, they're making it into a movie...

link Requires Java (not just javascript)

So...you hated Dante's Inferno? I don't mind suffering as long as it is ultimately either redemptive or tragic or somehow else dramatic.

Mm...no promises. It does have a certain amount of a VR world in it. Forewarned is forearmed and all that. I don't remember much nanotech, but I could be wrong. It's been long enough that I could probably re-read that book right now.

Diamond Age is a completely different story from Snowcrash, and in some ways, I like it better. It's not "cyberpunk" the way Snowcrash is, but it's still sci-fi. I don't think you'll have the same trouble getting into it the way you did with Snowcrash. You might have different trouble, but you won't have the same trouble.

I am between books at the mo'. Feel free to make suggestions from the following: Robert Ludlum Tad Williams -- probably the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn cycle, as I already read the Otherland cycle and Tailchaser's Song something else

Just use the "most recent posts" link at the bottom of the page instead. Unread posts never worked well for me.

I have found repeatedly dropping it works pretty well. This works especially well if one performs the repeated dropping in immediately successive steps, such as dropping it down a stairway. What's the difference between a stairway and a stairwell, anyway?

Sony on Porn

Correction: Spybot Search & Destroy is the full name of the software that you want to download and install. You do not want to download a spybot, that would be deliberately sabotaging your own computer. Spybot bad, Spybot Search & Destroy, good. I usually recommend Ad-Aware at the same time. Since you run them manually, they're not mutually exclusive. There's a couple of freeware -- upgradeable to better Norton replacements. Avast is a good one. Need more details on the trojan in order to help you remove it. What I usually do is google on whatever is reported, and find some manual removal instructions and execute them. Don't blame Norton -- remember that virus fighting software will always be one step behind the people who write the viruses. Your best bet is to go Mac or Linux, although that just lowers your risk, does not eliminate it completely.

link

I'd like to change my response to simply: "Yeezh."

I call bullshit (on the doctor, not on the article). Chopping the penis off would be over-reacting. Cutting it up into tiny bits so that it couldn't be repaired -- that's malice.

(sniff) That was beautiful, man. Pure poetry.

'found like poo'? I think you mean, 'found rike poo'.

Fair enough. But you realize that association is in your head. The solution is to either listen lossless or at least rip at a higher rate (realizing you can't do that with tracks purchased from iTunes).