J Larsen

I've wanted to get some of those for my desk as a subtly subversive joke.

Nah, I'm waiting for the Mosaic.

Aggie solved the puzzle!

In the past when this has been used, we've sort of talked them through it... we're not quite that cruel. I didn't have the heart to bring this up.

Consider me zinged!

BTW, imagine being some poor sap right out of grad school trying to work this out on a blackboard in an interview... that's what's in store for my victim this afternoon... Where is the evil laughter smilie?

I was going the "twin" route too. If you consider the available options: 1. 1, 1, and 11 (product = 11) 2. 2, 2, and 9 (product = 36) 3. 3, 3, and 7 (product = 63) 4. 4, 4, and 5 (product = 80) 5. 0, 0, and 13 (product = 0) But in order for one of these to be the solution, you'd have to have a reason to know there are twins (which we don't), and you'd have to know what the house number is. edited to include option 5 (youngest two sons just being born that day), though that's probably not really an option, since there wouldn't be a House #0. I just PM'ed you about this w/ a clue... you are getting warmish. If everyone else wants a clue, I'll post it.

Yes, although there is one slightly cheesy aspect to the solution. Edit: That being said, the cheesy part isn't related to the "leap" you need to make to solve the problem.

Here is one that has been used at my workplace: Two Chinese men meet on the street. The first asks the second how his family is, and the second answers: "They're great. I have three sons. They all have their birthday today. The sum of their ages is 13. The product of their ages is equal to my house number." The next day they meet again, and the first man tells the second: "I almost have it, but I need one more piece of information before I can tell you how old your children are." The second answers: "Oh, my oldest son plays the violin." The first man says: "Okay, I've got it." How old are the children?

Meg White ain't THAT bad either! Yeah, she really is.

In fairness to myself, those are almost all cdrs of oop albums or live bootlegs, which I would gladly purchase legit copies of if reissued.

Guy, what about the argument that by creating a copy, you are artificially boosting the supply? For me, the issue really is that when artists sign their contracts, they understand that purchasers of their discs will have the right to re-sell them, but not the right to copy them. Having people pirate their discs isn't part of the bargain they made. Now excuse me while I hide a few hundred cdrs under my bed before anyone around here notices....

Buddy Rich Denardo Coleman Ringo Starr That woman in the White Stripes Steve Reich (sorry, but "Drumming" is LAME)

Well, if it's for Trane fanatics, I guess I'm going to have to hunt myself up a copy, whether through this particular dodgy label or some other dodgy label...

That being said, there is, as you point out, a cd-r issue, but that doesn't bother me quite as much as it probably should. I guess I'm just a jaded New Yorker in that way. I'd never buy that stuff, but it doesn't surprise me or particularly put me off that it is there.

No, it's more of a price/attitude/treatment of staff issue. One guy there is cool, the other isn't. Don't really want to say more in public.

I agree on J&R. I have problems with DMG that do not relate to the quality of their stock, with is beyond reproach.

Am I right that a lot of these OJCs are starting to disappear? If so, I'll do some major stocking up this weekend. I downloaded most of them from emusic, but mp3s sound very harsh to me. Fine for when I'm on the go, but not for at-home listening.

I just dropped by the one on Wabash Ave in downtown Chicago to check on progress. 30% off most stuff, 25% off box sets. There was a lot less activity than when the sale first started and a lot of "product" left on the shelves. Anyone have any other Tower sale checkups to report? There is almost nothing worth looking at in the 4th & BWay store anymore. As I originally suspected, it looks like they are trying to shut this one down quicker than the others due to the monstrous rent. I get the feeling that they must be moving product from this store to others, because based on my observation it doesn't look like consumer activity alone can be depleting the shelves at this rate.

I'm not familiar with FLAC files - are they compressed, or do they store the same amount of information as a CD? MP3s and Apple files sound really, really bad to me - in my book they are really only acceptable for portable applications.

And I'm NOT going out and buying an SACD player. At least not until after Christmas...

Yeah, the Flaming Lips record does have an interesting sound. It isn't technically great, but it's a nice sound all the same.

Lon is still about. I've been talking less audio things for two reasons: a) as my system has evolved everything sounds better and I've paid less attention to various remasterings, and I have so much to listen to, and so little discretionary funds, that I'm not upgrading necessarily, though I'm buying all the RVGs I can as I like the series and when I see deals on them I grab those I don't already have. b) I've been spending the last 11 months helping my wife battle her lymphoma which has meant six full months spent in temporary lodgings in another city away from my collection and my stereo and listening to an iBook and Bose powered speakers and headphones (nice Sony for a while, now B&O A8s which I love). . . as a result I appreciate any music I have a chance to listen to and am not focusing on sonic qualities at all. As regards polarity. .. I always pay attention on JAPANESE RVGs to polarity when I'm at home with my stereo. Most sound best when the polarity is reversed on speaker cabling. . . TO ME. As far as recommending good sounding jazz discs. . . I'm so glad I have the "Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy" SACD. I think that is a fantastic sonic presentation of one of my biggest sentimental favorites and I recommend seeking it out if you have an SACD player. I also really like the sound of the last two Miles Davis boxes, the Jack Johnson and the Cellar Door. Excellent cd remastering! Really sorry to hear about your wife - that's really horrible. I really don't know what to say. Best wishes. I'm more than willing to try your reversed polarity for JRVGs suggestion - if I ever buy a JRVG. I haven't played those last two Miles boxes in my system yet - that's the first thing I'll try when I get home. Sonic quality is obviously of marginal importance compared to musical quality, but I'm finding that it can be fun all the same. I'm tempted to ask you about your perception of the virtues of Sony vs. B&O vs. Grado headphones, but there's probably another thread on that somewhere. Take care.

Yeah, I won't invoke my physics credentials here because honestly I was never much one for electronics, but if there was anything whatsoever to power cables having an effect on the performance of electronic equipment, I would expect to see physics labs and hospitals using these supposedly high-grade $1,000 cables. They do not.

I'm guessing this was a consulting firm or an I-bank. I had a few interviews like that, including the one for my current job. I screwed up a very basic probability question (something like "If you test positive for a disease two out of three times, and the test gives false positives 60% of the time and false negatives 5% of the time, what is the probability you have the disease... c'mon, we don't have all day..."), but was still hired. (Who knows, maybe it cost me a few grand a year, though...)