HeadphoneAddict

Happy late birthday!

Happy belated birthday!

happy birthday!

Thanks everyone, we appreciate it. It's not much easier to deal with today. We picked this momento up from the vet, his paw print in clay.

So, in July 2011 my father-in-law passed away, and we inherited his 12 year old cat, Greystone. Greystone was frightened by the ambulance and the police and ran off that day, and it took 3 weeks for my brother-in-law to lure him back into the house. My wife's siblings were unable to keep the cat, so we agreed to take him. When we picked him up he was in poor health, with a mouth full of rotten teeth and he was malnourished and all skin and bone, weighing about 7 lbs. We took him to the vet whom we've used for 6 years with our other pets, and Greystone had to have all of his remaining teeth pulled. We nursed him back to health but he couldn't gain weight. He had normal thyroid tests but was diagnosed with early inset renal failure, and placed on a special kidney disease diet and benazapril. Nevertheless, over the past two years his renal function has gotten worse on his blood work. He never did gain much weight, but for the past two years he was a happy old cat, being affectionate and loving attention from everyone. We all fell in love with him, especially my son, and the cat would sleep with him every night. About a month ago Greystone seemed dehydrated and had dropped from 7.5 lbs to 6.7 lbs, so the vet gave him some subcutaneous fluids and he perked up for a couple of weeks. But about 10 days ago he started sleeping more and being less active, until late Thursday night when he seemed listless and would not eat, and he was very wobbly when he tried to walk. We were able to get him to drink an ounce, and forced another 2 ounces down him with a syringe, so he perked up and ate a tablespoon of moist cat food. We all went to bed, but he wasn't feeling much better the next morning. So I called the vet and got an appointment for 2pm to get him some fluids. But after weighing him we find that he'd dropped from 7.6 lbs (weight after last fluids a month ago) to only 5.6 lbs! He was also hypothermic (97 degrees too low for a cat), and after examining him the vet said that he only had maybe one more day to live, and that he was likely suffering from a very high blood urea nitrogen. We spoke at length and she didn't think there was anything we could do to extend his life, and she felt that it was time to put him down. She said that giving him fluids today would only delay the inevitable for a day. I had a friend pick up my son after school and bring him to the vet, and we gave him the options, and we all agreed on euthanasia as the most humane option. Ben didn't want to stay for the injection, or keep the ashes because he thought it would haunt him. So, tonight has been miserable for the family, with lots of tears and regrets (we had them do a paw print in clay as a momento but my son is paranoid that we needed several as a backup in case it breaks). He usually can't sleep without his cat. Prior to Greystone his previous cat got outside and never came back, at a time when we had coyotes roaming the neighborhood, and Ben slept on the couch for over a year! I hope that doesn't happen again. So, I raise my head-case brandy snifter to the sky, and salute Greystone the cat, for over two wonderful years. We will miss you so much...

I also avoid the included external HD software like the plague. The one time I installed the Seagate software on my iMac then my external drive would randomly turn "write-only" after just a couple of GB of file transfers.

I've always felt that something like a Millett Hybrid was an excellent match for Grados, and especially the HP-1000 that I once owned.

That's exactly my reasoning. My iPad 4 LTE in a case weighed about 1 lb 15 oz, and now I've shed over half a pound with my Air in a lightweight 3rd party case, which is pretty noticeable when reading one handed. I have a 2012 Macbook Pro Retina that I use as a desktop replacement, but it's not nearly as portable as a Macbook Air or iPad to carry around "everywhere". The Macbook is nice for longer trips where we bring it along and share it, but we leave it in the hotel room (or at home). Also, the new A7 processor's power will come in handy later on, when bloatware becomes the norm and everyone with an older iPad starts to complain that they are too slow to run the newest software. After giving my iPad mini to my wife last week I've really missed the small pocketable size for using while I'm running errands. My wife appreciated my gesture to give her my mini, so she is letting me replace it with a new retina mini, which has an ETA between 11/26 & 12/4. She doesn't really care about the screen, because she uses reading glasses full-time and it won't help her give them up by going bigger or sharper, etc. I can still get by without glasses for now, but when the mini is mounted on the dashboard to use the GPS it's too small to read the street names and the 9.7" iPad is much better. In the end I'll have simply moved from iPad 4 + iPad mini > to the Air + mini retina. iPads and iPhones have decent resale value, so the upgrade isn't as expensive as if I were hoarding all our old gear rather than selling it. I've had every iPad that's come out on day one, since the beginning, because it's fun. And my wife who doesn't care about upgrades is always happy upgrading to my old model. But in all honesty, I was not unhappy at all with the combo of iPad 4 + iPad mini, using each for different occasions. I probably could return the Air and keep the 4, if the mini retina is as sharp as i hope it will be, but I'll likely keep it.

Those are good watch choices. I liked the Seiko 5 but was concerned about the shallow water resistance. Swimming and jumping off diving boards can put a lot of pressure on the seals, and they often recommend 100M for anything more aggressive than rain showers and hand washing. I do like the watch you just bought - it looks like a watch that you could wear almost all the time except at the gym and pool, and it might make the Seiko 5 seem redundant. Having different watches for different occasions is fun, but not so fun if many are too similar. Back in medical school I had to wear a tie each day, and at one point I must have owned about 50 different ties. Now I hate ties but love watches. Here are my thoughts on the watches you're considering - for the tl:dr peeps, they can stop now. I went into the watch shop to buy an orange monster, and left with a Seiko SKX173 (dive watch style). It's a great watch with good looks and good time keeping (on winder or wrist), plus it has incredibly bright and long lasting lume. I wasn't too keen about the rubber strap that came with it, so I bought a really nice stainless bracelet on Amazon for $50, but a simple NATO strap would have worked too. This is my favorite beater watch, and seeing it side by side with the orange monster helped me choose it. My Orient Mako also keeps very good time and looks great as well, and for some people the slightly smaller size would be more appealing than the Seiko (about the same size as my Submariner). But the lume isn't quite as bright as the Seiko and it doesn't last quite as long (although still very adequate in both areas, and better than many of my Citizen watches). It was a steal for $119 with SS bracelet, at a fraction of the cost of the seiko with SS bracelet. But since I have the choice between this or the Seiko, I always pick the Seiko. Something made me want to buy this, but I've only worn it once for some reason, even though it's a great watch. Too many to choose from I guess, and I had the Seiko first and put light scratches on it, so I didn't want to scratch the Orient just yet (type A). If I didn't already own either, I'd probably still pick the Seiko for it's superior lume, but would be happy with the Orient if money was a big issue. My Hamilton Khaki field automatic (see pics a couple of pages back) keeps time very well on my wrist, but can lose up to 10 seconds a day when kept on the winder for a long time. The lume comes in a little behind the Seiko or Orient, which only need sunlight during the day to glow all night long. With this watch I sometimes need to shine a flashlight on it for several seconds if I want to be able to read it later at 3-5AM. I'm one of those weird people that sleep while wearing my watch, and I like to be able to read the time in the dark. The Hamilton SS bracelet is not as adjustable as the others, and I had to have a set of extra holes drilled into the short clasp, since it was either too tight or too lose when adding or removing links. It only had two sets of holes to choose from, while other watches may have 4-5 sets of holes in the clasp. That shop that sold it to me did that for free, but I'd already spent over $400 on it. I like it as a dressier watch than my divers, and it's one that reminds me of my 1970’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual that was stolen. It was getting equal time with the Seiko diver until I bought the Hamilton Harrison Ford Conservation Auto Chrono a few weeks ago. It's probably still the cheapest Swiss Automatic that's worth owning, and a solid watch. So the 4 watches that I wear the most lately are my Submariner, Hamilton Harrison Ford Conservation, Hamilton Khaki Field Watch, and the a Seiko SKX173. Lately I've fallen in love with mechanical watches and I don't feel as excited about wearing my Swiss or Japanese Quartz watches. Of my Quartz watches my favorite 4 are my Luminox 1842 Field alarm chrono, Victorinox Dive Master 500, Citizen titanium perpetual calendar, and a used TAG classic that I bought on this forum.

I'm pretty happy with the 128GB Air for AT&T. The drop in weight is noticeable and does make it easier to read while holding it one handed, and that was the big draw for me. The main draw for the iPad mini for me is the ability to put it in my pants pocket or my jacket, but I don't like the smaller non-retina screen very much since it's harder to read. I haven't really noticed much of the speed increase. My wife has to carry a full size iPad 2 with keyboard case that was issued to her by her job with their apps installed, and she would carry around her personal iPad 2 as well because it has 3G and all of her own apps and media. That was over 4 lbs in her purse that was a real pain, literally. So this weekend I gave her my iPad mini LTE, and then we gave her iPad 2 3G to our daughter to use at college. I will still consider a iPad mini retina when released, but don't know if I'll trade-in my old iPad 4 LTE towards the mini, or just sell it outright. Amazingly my iPad 4 has not received one dent or scratch in the 11 months that I've had it. Every iPad prior to that got dented in the first two weeks, so that I would joke about needing to buy them pre-dented to save the misery. As for iOS 7, some things are better but I think they went much too far in the other direction to get away from the skeuomorphism of old. I hated the fake leather and felt just as much as anyone else, but was hoping they'd keep some contrast. Now there isn't enough contrast between info and buttons for sure. And the iOS 7 calendar for iPhone is clearly worse with less info on one screen, and it's now harder to get to the day view you want when selecting it from the month view. I had to switch to Fantastical2 calendar for my iPhone 5s, but will never use Sunrise calendar after they were hacked and calendar data was exposed. In five years of owing an iPhone I've rarely had to use a third party app to do what was already built-in, until now (except for using atomic browser to spoof sites into using the full desktop version occasionally.)

I did the same thing with RK surgery around 1995. It's called mono-vision and it worked great. I was 20:15 in the corrected eye, and 20:40 in the un-corrected eye. At first I could read close up with the corrected eye if I strained, but as I got older I could only read up close with the untouched nearsighted eye. Now after 18 years I've developed a little astigmatism and my vision slipped to 20:25 right eye and 20:50 left eye. The eye doctor let me try out some contact lenses that would simulate improving my left eye's close-up vision, and my right eye distance vision. With the lenses I could see everything crystal clear with my left eye from a few inches out to about 3-4 feet, but my right eye didn't kick in till about 8 feet and further, so everything in between 4 and 8 feet was blurry. Yuck. So I'm better off now without a touch up, being able to read approx from 18" out and farther. It's mostly a problem in dim light, where I can't read a menu in a dark restaurant or read street signs on a dark street corner at night. Does Gail have those issues yet?

Our 60" Panasonic rear projection LCD from 2006 (theater room in basement) allows us to do split screen between two different inputs, although I think it's about a 60/40 split. Our girls would often play a movie on one side of the screen with audio via 5.1 receiver, while my son would play a game with audio via headphones plugged into the TV at the same time. A few times I'd watch football while my son did a game on one side. It' same neat feature sometimes.

We recently got a 55" Samsung active 3D LED HDTV without the smart tv functions, because our Sony blu-Ray and Apple TV already have all the smart online features we need. Model: UN55FH6030FXZA I wanted a plasma, but this was on sale for several hundred less than a similarly sized plasma. And the glasses were only $19 each, although they're not rechargeable for that price (good for about 40 hours on a set I'm told). We've been really happy with it, and now I don't regret skipping the smart version. The picture is awesome, although I did have to turn down the De-judder and De-blur effects a bit so movies look more like film than soap opera. The one thing that baffles me is the lack of picture in picture. Every large TV we've bought in the last 20 years has had that feature. I'm not too upset about the lack, because I'd only use that option a couple of times a month.

My JH13 and JH16 both use the same 2-pin cable. I wonder if they will change them soon to have them all use the new connector that was on the Roxanne demo.

I've had the Kumho 711 and 712 tires in the past, and they were fairly decent for 3-seasons, but not the best for winters in Colorado. They'd be fine in Houston. You made the right choice. The Michelin MXV4 tires are good enough to do SCCA autocross in the street-touring division, and while not as sticky as a summer tire like Falken Azenis or Bridgestone RE-02, they last a whole lot longer and do better in the winter. The problem with summer tires is that winter's in Houston can still get really cold, and summer tires use a rubber compound that isn't likely to stick well in very cold weather.

I first suggested two different all season tires, including the ones she was considering which I've owned. I added the winter tire recommendation as a "PS:" for anyone interested, so that I didn't have to create a second post. PS: when I lived in Houston we had many ice storms that left roads almost un-drivable without a winter tire to grip the ice better. So, it was still relavent.

Interestingly, my ZDT is dead silent with IEM, and sounds magnificent. My Woo WA6 is also dead silent with IEM and sounds wonderful with them. Neither amp has any channel imbalance at very low volumes as a bonus. These are by far my favorite desktop amps for IEM. My DACmini has a very tiny bit of hiss, but it's mostly noticeable with my ES3X and not my JH13/16, and it sounds like a WA6 clone with IEM and full size phones, but with much more power than the WA6.

When I had an MRI they let me plug in an iPod in the control room and listen to my own music. The headphones sucked though - it was like the old airline headphones where the speaker is in the machine, and it uses a stethoscope like apparatus (air tubes) to transmit the music to your ears.

So sorry Brent. Glad everyone is okay.

My last set of tires on the G35x were the Michelin Primacy MXV4 225/55-17. When new they were fairly decent on snow, and quite good/sticky on wet & dry pavement for fast and spirited driving through the mountain passes and curves. For the first two summers they were also very quiet, and didn't squeal through hard turns. As they wore down they got noisier with normal driving, and started to squeal when pushed hard. Because I was so hard on them, after the first winter I had to switch some winter tires, since my teenage kids would also drive the car and I didn't want them to have an accident. I still had about 5/32 when I took them off a couple of months ago (about 30k miles) and replaced them because wet performance was starting to suffer too. But I've saved them in case I get my son started with autocross next summer. I replaced them with Continental Extreme Contact DWS, which are more aggressive for winter driving and have a softer sidewall for quieter and smoother ride, but they don't feel quite as "planted" due to sidewall flex. They are still very sticky for hard summer driving, and extremely good in the wet. We'll see how they do in snow tomorrow. PS: a good budget winter tire is the General Altimax Arctic, which are about $100 cheaper than Blizzak WS7, and last longer. We've had these on the Subaru Impreza, G35x, and RAV4. On the low power cars without fast driving they'll last a good 4 seasons.

The USB audio dongles are pretty much a gateway drug in my eyes, but many of them clearly provide an upgrade to the built-in audio of the PC and Macs out there. For some people that will be the end point. This new Pulse is obviously a step up from the Geek Out dongle. I'd order one to play with if I didn't already have a plethora of nice sounding multi-input DAC/amps to choose from (DACmini, DAC-100, HDP with S11, HR Microstack, HiFi-M8, Audioengine D1, etc...)

Looks interesting. Good price point.

Yep. Apple keeps their cards close to the chest, and even their AppleCare and Genius Bar is not privy to the inner workings sometimes.

Happy Birthday!

I was frustrated that AppleCare, Apple post sales, and the Genius Bar all denied that they'd heard of any 5s that had an accelerometer calibration problem, and they wanted to replace the hardware instead (but then didn't have any in stock to offer me). They took the typical Apple attitude that if they don't acknowledge the problem then it doesn't exist, even if the journals and forums are writing all about it. From what I was reading on the forums, a replacement phone would have the same issue, as the week 42 phones had the same issue as my week 38 phone. If they would have shared with me on phone or in person that they were working on the issue with a software fix then I would have kept it past AT&T's 14 day return period. Apple obviously DID know about the problem, because they were working on a fix in iOS 7.0.3 but then denied it at the same time. They obviously didn't wait to start working on the patch until the day after I returned mine. There was also no guarantee that Apple would have a global software fix, as the iPhones had a wide range of accelerometer errors that could point to the need for individual calibration. At this point I'm glad I returned mine, as I'd rather get a retina iPad mini since my iPhone 5 is just fine.