MERRY CHRISTMAS
This will be an odd one. Becca and I will be traveling all day. :D
Sunday, December 25, 2005
iTunes GRRR
okay, I'm not upset or stressed over it but...
I got an iTunes gift card (thank you Kisers) and decided to use it. I guess I just don't quite have the right mindset for buying music at the moment. I'm really not sure what I want. There are a couple of albums I want but I think I'd rather get the CDs than simply download them because, well, CDs are a higher quality than the compressed files that are sold online. I'm not really an audiofile so I probably shouldn't worry about it. Actually, I probably can't tell the difference, at least not on any sound equipment I have right now. I'm only worried about it on albums I think I'll love. All the other stuff I can download without being bothered by it. I'm just having trouble finding something I want. I find some things to get. I was looking mostly for "secular" music from the early to mid nineties. It's stuff I didn't buy then because, well, I tend to avoid pop music, but somethings filtered down through the culture into my psyche and now make me want to buy them... for old times sake. I found some songs and added them to my shopping cart. I didn't do things right so I actually ended up buying 3 songs with my own money instead of the gift card money. It's a good thing I didn't have the shopping cart loaded up with songs for the full amount of the gift card... of course, that still wouldn't be too costly to me.
I'd like to find some cool new musical favorites. Some music by Christians, but not necessarily "Christian" music. I feel like being a fan again, not just a consumer. I have a large collection of music (98% legal) but it's starting to feel stale.
Somehow, though, I just don't feel like searching for the perfect songs. They didn't have a lot of the things I was looking for. Maybe I'll break down and buy the albums I want and forget about future quality concerns. Maybe I'll just buy some of the songs that are in Karaoke Revolution so I actually know more than two songs that game.
I got an iTunes gift card (thank you Kisers) and decided to use it. I guess I just don't quite have the right mindset for buying music at the moment. I'm really not sure what I want. There are a couple of albums I want but I think I'd rather get the CDs than simply download them because, well, CDs are a higher quality than the compressed files that are sold online. I'm not really an audiofile so I probably shouldn't worry about it. Actually, I probably can't tell the difference, at least not on any sound equipment I have right now. I'm only worried about it on albums I think I'll love. All the other stuff I can download without being bothered by it. I'm just having trouble finding something I want. I find some things to get. I was looking mostly for "secular" music from the early to mid nineties. It's stuff I didn't buy then because, well, I tend to avoid pop music, but somethings filtered down through the culture into my psyche and now make me want to buy them... for old times sake. I found some songs and added them to my shopping cart. I didn't do things right so I actually ended up buying 3 songs with my own money instead of the gift card money. It's a good thing I didn't have the shopping cart loaded up with songs for the full amount of the gift card... of course, that still wouldn't be too costly to me.
I'd like to find some cool new musical favorites. Some music by Christians, but not necessarily "Christian" music. I feel like being a fan again, not just a consumer. I have a large collection of music (98% legal) but it's starting to feel stale.
Somehow, though, I just don't feel like searching for the perfect songs. They didn't have a lot of the things I was looking for. Maybe I'll break down and buy the albums I want and forget about future quality concerns. Maybe I'll just buy some of the songs that are in Karaoke Revolution so I actually know more than two songs that game.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
What did your website look like in 2000?
Here's how mine looked.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010613105117/dwburman.com/oldsite/
I've had a website online since at least 1998... I think back as far as 1996. This was the first decent looking one. :D
http://web.archive.org/web/20010613105117/dwburman.com/oldsite/
I've had a website online since at least 1998... I think back as far as 1996. This was the first decent looking one. :D
Saturday, December 10, 2005
House church Christmas party is at 6pm on Sat. I hope I don't forget. I signed up to bring drinks (I think) so I guess everyone else hopes I don't forget.
I got my oil changed today... about 1,200 miles late. I don't know why I did that more regularly with poorer quality car.
Well, I don't feel like writing much so you don't get to read something clever and entertaining from me. I guess you've come to expect that. It's not like I try very hard.
Good night.
I got my oil changed today... about 1,200 miles late. I don't know why I did that more regularly with poorer quality car.
Well, I don't feel like writing much so you don't get to read something clever and entertaining from me. I guess you've come to expect that. It's not like I try very hard.
Good night.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
The dryer (which broke sometime last week) was fixed yesterday. Yay. I have a full complement of clean clothes again.
My cell phone is still out for repairs. Apparently *I* provided misinformation so the phone went to the wrong place. It took them over ten days to realize they couldn't handle it in Indiana so they shipped it to Texas to be fixed.
hopefully they'll get around to fixing it before I go on holiday. grr.
so interesting, eh?
My cell phone is still out for repairs. Apparently *I* provided misinformation so the phone went to the wrong place. It took them over ten days to realize they couldn't handle it in Indiana so they shipped it to Texas to be fixed.
hopefully they'll get around to fixing it before I go on holiday. grr.
so interesting, eh?
Friday, December 02, 2005
Movie, Underwear and Phone Update.
I watched Sky High tonight. I enjoyed it. It's nice to watch something lighthearted and family friendly once in a while. I won't say it was the best film I've ever seen or that it wasn't predictable. I mean, there were things I didn't predict but then again I'm not the best predictor even when the predictions are somewhat obvious. Yes, it was formulaic and will most likely be over played on one of the Disney Channels.
Also, today was the first day in my life that I wore boxers. I'll spare you the details.
My phone is still out for repairs. I should've gone through T-Mobile to get it fixed. I may have been able to buy a cheap replacement for $20. I don't know. Someone I know did that with another phone company.
Also, today was the first day in my life that I wore boxers. I'll spare you the details.
My phone is still out for repairs. I should've gone through T-Mobile to get it fixed. I may have been able to buy a cheap replacement for $20. I don't know. Someone I know did that with another phone company.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Motorola - Support - Track the Status of my Service
Repair Status
We've received your phone, and we are working to get it back to you. See below to check where we are in the repair process. It typically takes us ten to fifteen business days to complete the repair from the time we receive your phone.
Notes: Our technicians are working on your phone. As soon as it's working just the way we'd like it to, we'll send it back to you in good working condition.
---
I wish I knew beforehand that it'd take 10 to 15 business days to fix my phone. Oh well. I suppose I could just try to think of going phoneless as retro.
We've received your phone, and we are working to get it back to you. See below to check where we are in the repair process. It typically takes us ten to fifteen business days to complete the repair from the time we receive your phone.
Notes: Our technicians are working on your phone. As soon as it's working just the way we'd like it to, we'll send it back to you in good working condition.
---
I wish I knew beforehand that it'd take 10 to 15 business days to fix my phone. Oh well. I suppose I could just try to think of going phoneless as retro.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
advice column - mix CDs
"What if you want to download music to make someone a cd? You want to basically make them a mix cd...well, is there anything unethical about that? 'cause it's basically on your hard drive?"
That depends on where you got the music from. I don't think the free downloads would be a problem unless the site you get it from said it would be. I think with iTunes, you're allowed to make a certain number of copies
but i don't know if that's supposed to be for yourself alone.
It could boil down to your view of ethics vs. the law. The law itself isn't always "ethical." There are people who think restrictive licensing in itself is unethical and ultimately harmful to the industry and artists.
If you've entered a license agreement with itunes, it'd probably be unethical to violate that agreement.
Ask yourself this question. Was it ethical to copy songs off a cd to make mix tapes for your friends? It's the same with copying songs off a hard drive and putting it on CDs for your friends.
I don't know if there's even a mechanism to own multiple licenses for one song. You can now buy songs for people on itunes, but then your friends would have to sign up for it.
It kind of sucks being conscious of rules and wanting to obey them when all you want to do is share something nice with someone.
The artists probably don't even get much from the sale of songs to individuals. I'm sure it accumulates but I've heard most of an artist's income is from licensing to TV and touring and merch.
Maybe it's a situation like the speed limit or fireworks where the rule is there but you're almost expected to break it. You can get in trouble if you break on it but you really have to get caught doing some else, doing it in excess or be doing it when the cops are in a bad mood.
There's been talk of the system getting so bad that basically everyone is breaking the law and we should trust the industry to not prosecute except in the bad cases. A comparison was drawn with airports in Russia where you had to leave Russian currency at a certain point in the airport (I'm assuming you exchanged it for dollars or whatever) but the carts you could rent in the airport (beyond the checkpoint) only accepted Russian currency. In order to rent a cart you had to break the law. (the details of the story may be wrong but the concept is what I remember).
I'm not advocating that you break the law. It's just sad that something as simple as making a mix cd is such a hassle.
That depends on where you got the music from. I don't think the free downloads would be a problem unless the site you get it from said it would be. I think with iTunes, you're allowed to make a certain number of copies
but i don't know if that's supposed to be for yourself alone.
It could boil down to your view of ethics vs. the law. The law itself isn't always "ethical." There are people who think restrictive licensing in itself is unethical and ultimately harmful to the industry and artists.
If you've entered a license agreement with itunes, it'd probably be unethical to violate that agreement.
Ask yourself this question. Was it ethical to copy songs off a cd to make mix tapes for your friends? It's the same with copying songs off a hard drive and putting it on CDs for your friends.
I don't know if there's even a mechanism to own multiple licenses for one song. You can now buy songs for people on itunes, but then your friends would have to sign up for it.
It kind of sucks being conscious of rules and wanting to obey them when all you want to do is share something nice with someone.
The artists probably don't even get much from the sale of songs to individuals. I'm sure it accumulates but I've heard most of an artist's income is from licensing to TV and touring and merch.
Maybe it's a situation like the speed limit or fireworks where the rule is there but you're almost expected to break it. You can get in trouble if you break on it but you really have to get caught doing some else, doing it in excess or be doing it when the cops are in a bad mood.
There's been talk of the system getting so bad that basically everyone is breaking the law and we should trust the industry to not prosecute except in the bad cases. A comparison was drawn with airports in Russia where you had to leave Russian currency at a certain point in the airport (I'm assuming you exchanged it for dollars or whatever) but the carts you could rent in the airport (beyond the checkpoint) only accepted Russian currency. In order to rent a cart you had to break the law. (the details of the story may be wrong but the concept is what I remember).
I'm not advocating that you break the law. It's just sad that something as simple as making a mix cd is such a hassle.
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