J Larsen

I don't think he is a very exciting player whether he cheated or not. He has a selfish, non-team oriented approach to playing the game. Every night it's like there are two events on the field: the Giants game and the Barry Bonds show. I've been sick of it for a long time. As to whether he cheated - dude, you have to have your head burried way in the sand to even be stuck on the question.

David Bowie Iman Don Imus Don Ellis Elliot Sharp Richard Feynman

Anchor Steam. Finally got clearance from the doc so no more sneaking around.

See you at the shows, Margaret - I don't think you know me by name but we have had a couple brief chats at shows.

If so, basically every cd player is only a fast computer with a super eye looking for very small holes turning in a disc, ergo all the quality of the sound relies on the D/A converter, am I right? So why are cd player manufacturers talking about error correction in cd player? I can't see any possibility of error in your explanation. On the first question, I don't think that is quite the full story - there are other electronics that go into the design of the cd player, but I'm not qualified to get into that - my only background in this area is in magnetic memory systems - I picked up my basic knowledge of how cds work by osmosis. On the second question, you'd really have to point me to some specific examples for me to be able to comment - I don't read up on audio manufacturers' or dealers' claims (mostly because the bullshit factor is enough to make my head explode). However, I can speculate about what they *might* be talking about. Say one bit of audio data is redundantly coded as 7 datapoints on the cd surface, and that you only need three of these to solve your polynomial. Furhter suppose that you damage the disc, so that five of the datapoints have been lost - now you are one short. The cd player could try to interpolate what the bit should be by looking at the previous bit, the next bit, and the two datapoints remaining for the current bit. But this is NOT error correction - it is data interpolation. Error correction is making an error go away and getting the right answer with certainty. Data interpolation is making an educated guess as to what the data probably is. However, I have seen this language abused before, and it wouldn't surprise me if this were the case in the audio literature. They could possibly also be talking about minimizing tracking problems, but again this would be an abuse of the language.

I think Sangrey is juicing. No way you can get to 22,000+ posts by natural means.

A couple things struck me - I always assumed that the error correction option referred to the internal error correction for the iPod's harddrive - NOT the error correction on your cd-rom drive when you are importing your CD. I'll have to double check wih one of my buddies about this, but I always thought that CDs literally could not work at all without error correction - the beam doesn't focus on a single bit, it focuses on a an area on the disc, and needs to find at least three data points w/in any given area to make a bit. Secondly, the guy starts off talking about how he had previously "never bothered with these little players or compressed digital audio," but then to buy himself some credibility on the subject asserts that he has worked in exactly that field since the 70s and "delivered a paper" on AAC "years ago" - WTF??? I'm not saying the guy is a charlatan, but you combine the second apparent contradiction with what I believe to be an obvious technical gaffe on CDs and I do have to wonder a little.... What is the guy's name? Good points, though I am not sure about your theory about the three points, I mean I always thought that the error correction occurs when the three point are not exactly 'aligned' (?), so the processor extapolates the signal from some algoritms. Nowadays it should really matters in term of sound quality expecially when you consider the amount of researches of cd-rom and cd player manufacturers in order to mimimize the effect of error correction in their products. And the same effort of Toshiba Lab to produce software that has the minimum of errors in it. That's not quite right. Each bit of information on a cd actually corresponds to more than three data points on the cd itself - something like 7 (or 9?) - these datapoints all lie on the solution to a polynomial equation that your cd player is programmed to solve - as I recall it is an order 2 polynomial so that three datapoints imply a solution, but it could be of higher order in which case you would need more than three datapoints - my memory is fuzzy (in general, unfortunately). The point is that the disc has more information than you need to solve the equation (they call this "data redundancy") and the solution itself is your effective "1" or "0". Because you have more information than you need to get the solution, you can lose some of the datapoints (by, say, dropping the disc and scratching it) without causing any problems. This is not something you can turn on and off; it is an essential element of how cds are designed.

A couple things struck me - I always assumed that the error correction option referred to the internal error correction for the iPod's harddrive - NOT the error correction on your cd-rom drive when you are importing your CD. I'll have to double check wih one of my buddies about this, but I always thought that CDs literally could not work at all without error correction - the beam doesn't focus on a single bit, it focuses on a an area on the disc, and needs to find at least three data points w/in any given area to make a bit. Secondly, the guy starts off talking about how he had previously "never bothered with these little players or compressed digital audio," but then to buy himself some credibility on the subject asserts that he has worked in exactly that field since the 70s and "delivered a paper" on AAC "years ago" - WTF??? I'm not saying the guy is a charlatan, but you combine the second apparent contradiction with what I believe to be an obvious technical gaffe on CDs and I do have to wonder a little.... What is the guy's name?

In that case, this is definitely your man. He'll say it will take a month and it will really take two, but the quality of his work is beyond reproach.

I think back in Barry's non-steroid days he was exciting to watch....now he bats a few times a game a few days a week, provides very little excitement on the base paths or in field....not really that exciting (to me). m~ Non-steroids day...? I wasn't aware there was any proof to that effect. Besides, he's 42 years old and with bad knees. Anybody would slow done at that point. For the record, Bonds was MVP seven times before being accused. The rumors/accusations date back to at least to 2001, the season he hit 73 dingers. Check out the photos from his early career and then look at him beginning in '99 http://espn.go.com/mlb/gallery/19379070.html well them Clemens must of done steroids too cause if you look at early photos of the rocket and now look at him. He looks triple the size. It's funny how no one sees this ? No one sees it????? DUDE, I barely follow sports anymore and I've been hearing stuff about Clemens juicing for years!

Say no more, if you don't think you could handle it, no way I could. J, I'll send you a note when I decide what I'm going to do. Actually, I just found the guy's website: http://www.tubesville.com/repairs.php He focuses on guitar amps on the site, but I know he works on hi-fi gear, and I'm 99% sure he does solid state in addition to tubes. BTW, check out his custom builds - some of them have pretty wild designs: http://www.tubesville.com/custom_builds.php

If you decide to go with a pro, I can recommend one in Manhattan. He does an outstanding job with my guitar amps and I've heard people rave about his work on studio gear (builds his own models, too). If you are interested I'll dig up his card. I don't have it handy.

I think that essentially what I said in my original post.

great one! Any word on whether this has all of the 8 tracks from the session that appeared in the Mosaic?

You are correct - the D/A converter is obviously a huge part of the puzzle. Is there a way to bypass the internal D/A converter in an iPod? I honestly don't know. For that matter, I don't even know the specs on the iPod's internal converter - I would expect that they aren't very good. FWIW, I have a friend who has 24bit converters on his computers and he says that he gets excellent sound quality playing lossless files from harddisc (he does production and mastering).

Then I must have supernatural powers of wish-fulfillment, because the difference between the lower & higher bitrate files is real... As I tried to say above (but evidently wasn't as clear as I should have been), this is NOT a matter of "retrieving information" - that is impossible. HOWEVER, you can run an algorithm designed to make a compressed file sound better to a human ear. It doesn't necessarily sound the same as the original lossless file (except for by extraordinary conincidence), but it can sound less harsh and more full.

Sort of. You can write code that removes harshness and makes a small file sound more pleasing to the ear, but (except for extraordinary coincidence) it isn't the same data that you would have in a lossless primary source file. Interestingly, astronomers were working on very similar problems when the data recording systems in the Hubble failed in the mid 90s. Edit - my typo rate has increased by about 100-fold over the past couple months - WTF? No, I wasn't looking for/expecting lossless sound, just an improvement, of which I got a notable one. So you're saying that if the downloaded file isn't enoded/protected in such a way that prevents it, then something like GoldWave can take a crappy sounding MP3 file and improve it simply by saving that file at a higher bit rate? Yes - I know it is possible in principle but frankly I haven't followed what GoldWave et al are up to. Off the cuff I would guess that they are doing some kind of FFT and then restoring some of the clipped waveforms. My cousin does this kind of work - I'll ask him about it the next time we talk.

Sort of. You can write code that removes harshness and makes a small file sound more pleasing to the ear, but (except for extraordinary coincidence) it isn't the same data that you would have in a lossless primary source file. Interestingly, astronomers were working on very similar problems when the data recording systems in the Hubble failed in the mid 90s. Edit - my typo rate has increased by about 100-fold over the past couple months - WTF?

Great to see this in the mainstream news at last - it was on CNN.com this morning as well. As an outside observer, the cell phone theory doesn't wash for me - it does not explain the patterns that have been observed, and there is not clear reason why it would suddenly pose such a huge problem within the last nine months. I'm betting it is one of these newer nicotine-based pesticides that have already been demonstrated to be toxic to bees. Granted I am not a biologist, but it seems plausible to me that low doses of a poison could lead to an immune system failure, which could explain the micro-organisms that have been found in the dead bees. If I am right, I only hope that the manufacturer(s) of the responsible agents will do the decent thing and not do everything possible to block the investigation and ultimately elimation of the products. However, I would not hold my breath.

I think back in Barry's non-steroid days he was exciting to watch....now he bats a few times a game a few days a week, provides very little excitement on the base paths or in field....not really that exciting (to me). m~ I'm right there with you - he is now a poor fielder, poor runner and streaky hitter with a knee held together with duct tape and no respect for the strategic nuance of the game - not at all exciting to me.

Yet, a lot of New Yorkers don't know it. Which is great, because if they did it would no longer be true! Shutting my mouth now...

Don't do the cargo compartment if you can help it. It really freaks them out. Every animal I've seen come out of cargo was *flipping* out. If your pet is small enough some airlines will let you keep them on baord with you in a Sherpa bag. This is the way to go, assuming we're talking a small critter. The Sherpa website has some info on what various airlines allow: http://www.sherpapet.com/airlines/index.php?air_type= Where are you going? In the states you won't have a problem bringing your pet anywhere, as long as it is not an exotic breed. Going abroad various countries have odd restrictions (I know that France, for example, will not allow a house cat weighing more than 10kg and has a 24 quarantine period when you arrive - a friend had to put her cat on a diet in order to bring it back home!). The dog is actually my parents. Usually they leave it with my sister when they travel, but this time they are going back to Italy to stay and the dog is coming. The dog is a West Highland Terrier so they are border line weight and size wise with a carrier included. I'm afraid to tell them but I think the dog is going to have to ride with the luggage. The best fares are flying into London from JFK. In the past the U.K. has very strict quarantine rules but it looks as if they have relaxed them as long as you have all the records. London would just be a lay over as they planned on going to Amsterdam or Frankfurt while waiting for the car. So, I have no idea what quarantine rules/laws apply. Well, it won't be pleasant, but I'm sure the dog will get over the ordeal. BTW, I always get better fares flying from Newark to London - Newark is a far more convenient airport, too. I'm sure you've done your homework - just a general FYI.

Don't do the cargo compartment if you can help it. It really freaks them out. Every animal I've seen come out of cargo was *flipping* out. If your pet is small enough some airlines will let you keep them on baord with you in a Sherpa bag. This is the way to go, assuming we're talking a small critter. The Sherpa website has some info on what various airlines allow: http://www.sherpapet.com/airlines/index.php?air_type= Where are you going? In the states you won't have a problem bringing your pet anywhere, as long as it is not an exotic breed. Going abroad various countries have odd restrictions (I know that France, for example, will not allow a house cat weighing more than 10kg and has a 24 quarantine period when you arrive - a friend had to put her cat on a diet in order to bring it back home!).

I'm going every night but Thursday, when I'll be seeing Jarrett in lieu of Vision Fest's poetry night. I have week passes.

For the price I guess they are a low-risk proposition, but the sound isn't to my taste.