Thursday, 25 September 2003

Intel's "One Unwired Day" is today In case you missed the blanket ad campaign: today, Intel is offering free Wi-Fi access for one day only at participating locations, like Borders & Starbucks. [BoingBoing] 3:24:22 PM    comment []; True 5.1-channel surround sound speakers? Tom's Hardware Guide review of Zalman's new ZM-RS6F headphones, which are the first to offer true 5.1-channel surround sound (other surround sound headphones, like the ones from JVC we mentioned last year, only simulate 5.1-channel sound). The get true surround sound, the ZM-RS6F actually has six transducers, or speakers, in it so that all six audio channels can be properly reproduced. The downside is that you need to have a sound system or a PC sound card with front, rear, and center audio jacks, something that your average portable DVD player, which typically only has a regular old two-channel stereo headphone jack, doesn't usually have. [Gizmodo] I already heard a couple of years ago that one could get true 5.1 headphones from AKG - of course they cost around 20 grand and involved flying to Austria to have one's ears laser-measured...but..... 3:21:19 PM    comment []; San Antonio - Merchandise We love the Majestic Theater in San Antonio. It is beautiful and sounds lovely....but the theater wants to take 35% of our merch sales and we find that is over the top.... So, we have made arrangements to sell merchandise and CDs after the show - can't sell during intermission because the theater does not allow multiple entries - across the street from the Majestic on the patio of the Gunther Hotel starting about 15-30 minutes before the end of the show....We will announce this during the show as well... Sometimes U gotta find another way.... 3:01:13 PM    comment []; Nokia's newest ugly phone Think Nokia has exhausted its crazy design ideas? [Mobile Burn] I am undecided on the big clam-shell versus brick issue. I have owned both. Opening a clam-shell or unlocking the keyboard takes about the same time, so that really doesn't matter to me. However, bluetooth has become a necessity for me and that means that Sharp or Samsung phones are out for me, which is too bad because they are making some great phones like this one or this one... 10:38:26 AM    comment []; nouveaumatic - extra tracks Those of you who bought the new nouveaumatic album found a URL on the back for "credits and 2 extra tracks"....and yes, there you will find credits, but no extra tracks. The two songs might have to wait a while as I forgot to bring those with me to upload and nobody can find stuff in my studio - not that I would let anybody rummage around in there anyway.....so - I'm sorry, but you will have to wait a while for the 2 extra tracks. We will put them up as soon as we are back from this tour. These tracks will not appear in our Listening Lounge as they are a special thank you for those who purchased the album. 10:28:11 AM    comment []; Open mouth My father used to say close your mouth or flies will get in...ever notice musicians with their mouth ajar? They are not drooling or mindless...it is a fact that you can hear better with your mouth open, which is especially handy when you tune your instrument... 10:16:30 AM    comment []; Cynanide fishing devastating coral reefs Catching fish using cyanide is easy. All you do is crush a few tablets of sodium cyanide, mix them up with some water in a plastic bottle, go find your fish and squirt. With a little care, the mixture will stun the fish without killing it. Thousands of Philippine fishermen are doing it every day - and selling the live fish to the restaurants of Hong Kong and southern China. It is one of the most lucrative fish businesses on the planet, worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. [iceplant radio] Does it tingle on the tongue, when people eat the fish? Just terrible. 8:51:36 AM    comment []; Electronic-paper from Philips Researchers at Philips have created a new kind of foldable electronic-paper that can actually display full-color video, which means we're now one step closer to electronic-ink newspapers filled with annoying and distracting video ads. Though it would be nice to have a paper-thin TV to hang on the wall here at home. [Gizmodo] 8:43:13 AM    comment []; Thu 25 Sep: Austin, Texas We arrived in Austin yesterday morning. Changed strings on my Flamenco guitar as they need quite a while to "warm" up. D'Addario claims they need about 6 hours of playing in, but I don't think it is quite that much. However it is never a good idea to restring your classical or flamenco guitar right before a concert or studio session. If you have a session on Thursday, restring your guitar Tuesday if you can... Had a good view of the "Bat Bridge" from the balcony of the hotel, but didn't see much. Saw a bunch of individual bats silently glide through the air, but the big black cloud of bats emerging from under the bridge at dusk never materialized...still, a nice experience...bats are cool Slept in a hotel room for a change...almost missed the lull of the wheels rolling down the highway...didn't miss the noise of the diesel... . 8:36:57 AM    comment []; The Hunter Becomes the Hunted Saying that the music industry is ripping off its file-sharing software to track down music pirates, Kazaa is suing for copyright infringement. [Wired News] Oh boy, what a soap opera it has become. I can't take my eyes off the wreck.... 8:22:59 AM    comment [];

© Copyright 2003 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 25.09.03; 15:24:57.