rostasi

Yup, I'm sticking with my setup until I feel that SSDs are more reliable. They last a long time, but large data backups are iffy - even with using a UPS to stave off the power flux we often have here. Still, my favorite, most reliable drives, have been the Seagate Ironwolf. I use them inside a Mediasonic bay enclosure that fits 48TB of storage. Cloud storage is thru Backblaze. I try to read their very thorough reports on drive tech. I can get a free zip file instantly for smaller downloads (if I have to, let's say, retrieve that folder of files I tossed nearly a year ago) or: For music, I keep the restore drives. Yes, they are on "My Book" drives, but they aren't used - just physical backups: I'm on the plan that saves everything for one year, so I'm very happy with that setup. Music: it's like having your very own radio station pruned and curated to your personal taste.

There's also a new(ish) kind of SSD (well, to me, anyway) that's shaped like a stick of gum that's supposed to be better, but that's all I know until the time comes when I need to know.

I haven’t moved forward on SSDs for that reason … plus cost, years ago … but, also, that SSD circuits work on the capacitors and power supplies, which can fail and corrupt your data during a power surge or failure, so that’s why I haven’t yet gone over to them. Even as a boot, what I’ve used for the last decade is so quick - on the rare times I’ve needed to reboot - that it’s kind of a non-issue for me.

I have clunky “My Books” on the floor in my office that I’m no longer using - usually because they’ve just given out and you can’t just open them up and get the drive out (believe me, I had to give up a number of times), so they’re doorstops now. I’m more partial to drives that are not closely encased, so if you want to stick with something other than an SSD, then either go with bare drives in a docking station or bay enclosure … and if you do stick with an enclosure, then, yes, I’d second the “My Passport” idea. Also, I’d add: the only closely encased drives I get now are ones sent to me filled with music that I’ve saved ”in the cloud.” The cloud service I use will send me them in 8 TB encased drives if I want to safekeep. This means that they’re filled drives in storage - unused - so I don’t have to be worried about “wear and tear” on them.

Also, is it not possible to load tunes on a cell phone? I've often thought that if my iPod ever goes, I can probably buy a phone to do the same job. I've never had a cell phone, so I don't really know the answer to this, but it seems like this could be the case?

Did you check your settings on the WD Utilities app that comes with the drive? It works the same way as the settings on the PC that was just recommended, but is in the prefs of the Utilities app. I mention this because a very long time ago, I had a similar problem. I now have a different setup because of the size of my collection (28 TB of drives).

After watching John Oliver on the terrifying state of America’s freight train industry and the funny/sad tale at the end narrated by Matt Berry, I discovered this funny bit about Mats Gustafsson written by R. Crumb:

For most of my life (so not just “these days”), I’ve had access to a large number of books from various local libraries … tho, I have to say, I’ve never felt the need to comment on the fact that I’ve not read most of them. It’s kind of a given.

Denny Laine is in my ears and in my eyes.

Years ago, they used to send previous festival goers an email asking for three suggestions for future festivals.

Wait. The person looking for funk recommendations is posting more funk than others? OK.

"A Drink With Shane MacGowan" is a hilarious book that my wife and I both enjoyed. Both of us are big fans of The Pogues and've seen the band (have the t-shirts, etc.), so we were bummed about hearing this. Remember reading how folks pitched in to get him a new set of teeth. 😀 He was in pretty bad shape these past few years, but he left us with the memory of a unique voice and a helluva good band! Also, it's "MacGowan."

See, I can do that with anything that I really want to listen to.

Access is different from buying. Access, as a verb, also refers to the process of examination, so, yes, I'll very definitely partially listen to all kinds of things - especially when arranging a radio program - or in order to decide if I want to finally buy it. Kinda like sampling vinyl in a store or off a cassette that someone's given you, but on a much grander scale. I'll stream thru something completely if it's engaging enough - and that happens quite often these days - especially these days! So yeah, access? That's an absolutely great thing!

Not in this house anymore.

Early Recordings of Ives, Komitas & Cowell, ca. 1957-70 by Maro Ajemian & Anahid Ajemian with Elden Bailey