J Larsen

I waited directly behind Moby in an very long, slow line this morning. MTV was there to film Moby's voting experience. If they show the clip, I'm the corporate square looking guy right behind him.

They had to slow down the G5 chip a lot to overcome the heat concerns that go along with putting it in such a small package. This is also why no one in the know is too excited about the idea of G5 laptops.

I had my collection in Access for a couple of years, didn't like it. Set it up again in SmartWare where I started it in 1986. While Excel is useful as a database for very limited projects, e.g., bills, it is a spreadsheet program and as such, falls very short if one wishes to put together a highly functional jazz CD/LP database. For example, if you want to list sidemen and/or tunes as I do for each CD or LP, a spreadsheet program just doesn't do the trick. Are you familiar with the Vlookup function? That, coupled with a well-thought out ID numbering system helps Excel simulate many of the features of a proper database program like Access. I think we would agree that Access is a better tool for the job, but I can understand someone finding it a bit thick.

Access can be a little thick, but I really like its flexibility. I can understand someone finding it to be overkill for a music DB, though.

I don't know... do I? Sorry, I'm not too fluent in this language. I know B&W make speakers, but can you give me some details?

I've only had a few hours with the 542, but I'm happy so far. I had no idea how aggressive my old Phillips player was. It really boomed the bass compared to the NAD. The NAD has a much cleaner, pure sound. Can't wait until I've played it enough to get the capacitors warmed up so that I can hear what it can really do. Thanks for the advice. PS: Does the NAD have a slightly noisy tray, or is that just me? I feel like I'm hearing the sound of the disc spinning a little more than I should.

Despite what I said about not wanting to sink too much into my audio system on my CD player thread, hearing my new NAD cd player has me wondering where I would get my best bang for the buck were I to go back on my word and do one more upgrade this year. Here is my audio system as presently configured: HK 3380 Receiver NAD C542 CD Player (thanks for the advice on this one) Technics SL1200 Turntable (mainly a remnant of my DJ days, but I think it is a pretty good sounding table) Standard cheap-o RCA interconnects that came with the components 10-year old Infinity Stirling Series floorstanding speakers Monster Cable speaker cables My bet is that the speakers are the weak link. They aren't terrible speakers, but they are very Circuit City. If I upgrade the speakers, I would like to get a pair that have a less obtrusive physical presence, as I have a downtown Manhattan sized 1BR apartment. I need to keep any upgrades under $750. I would rather upgrade a single component to something really good than upgrade two components to moderately better units. I can always do another upgrade next year. Thanks in advance for your input.

If you have a rainy afternoon to kill, Access or Excel would be good ways to go. I've been thinking of writing my own program, but that project is very low on a very long list of priorities.

Warning: If you send your iPod back to apple to get the battery replaced, they send you back a replacement iPod w/ a clean harddrive. I.e., you lose all your songs. The service is $99. You can also replace the battery yourself for far less. I've opened up my iPod to investigate the possibility of various hacks. It's very easy. Here is a site that sells the batteries: http://www.ipodbattery.com/

Thanks for the replies. I bought the 542 while the board was down. I found it for $425 inc. tax and shipping from AudioLab, which was only about $100 more than I was going to pay for the 521 w/ tax. The sad thing is that I've been so busy with work and school that I haven't even had a chance to take it out of the box yet! Can't wait to hear it this weekend.

My cd player seems to have been a casuality in my move to a new apartment downtown a few weeks back (no internet access in the new place, hence my re-disappearance from the board). Here are the options I've scouted out: NAD 521BEE for $285 NAD 542 for $475 I have a real job now, but I was poor for so long that $475 still seems like a *lot* to spend on a cd player. Anyone know if the 542 is hugely better than the 521? The rest of my system is fairly low-end: HK receiver and Infinity floor-standing speakers. No plans to upgrade either anytime soon; I'd rather save up for a nice vacation. Given these constraints, would I even hear the difference between these two models? Any other suggestions in the price range, or is NAD pretty much the way to go for <$500? I know there are a few cd player threads kicking around, but my situation is a bit different. I'm not looking for a machine for occasional use. Sadly enough, at least 90% of my home listening is cd-based these days. I had to pack up the records to keep the cat from getting to them, and now it's just too much of a hassle digging them out. So I'm looking for something to use three to four hours per day for hopefully the next three or so years. Thanks in advance for your insights.

This keeps popping up as "news" every few months. I think physiologists now generally agree that stretching is best saved for after exercise. I think it was Johns Hopkins that did a major study published last year that found no correlation between pre-exercise stretching and reduced risk of injury. The key point they reported was that they found that the overwhelming number of sports/exercise related injuries occur within the normal range of motion, hence the underlying issue for most injuries is lack of strength, not lack of agility. At least, that's what my old trainer told me.

When I moved out here from the west coast, I put everything I wanted to keep, including a huge number of records, in boxes with bubble wrap and packed it onto a freight train. It was ridiculously cheap (something like $1/lb), and everything arrived in time and in perfect condition.

I like the early stuff sometimes - I and II in particular. I used to have a really cool edition of Ralf & Florian with a gold-imbossed design on the cover that looked like an electric circuit, and a bizarre picture of them gazing into each other's eyes on the back. Hawked it on eBay a couple years back when I was hard up. Tonefloat was sort of interesting, too. I've never liked the later synthy stuff, not even Autobahn.

Doubling up on a cd has a silver lining for me. It shames me into slowing down. For about a week.

Another reason for this is that if you play frequently, those ultra-stiff racquets are hell on your arm. You see a lot of injuries in the amature world because of those things.

Having shopped around in the recent past, the cheapest haircut that you can get at the Vidal Sasoon on 5th ave it $100. For a master stylist it starts at $150-$200, plus whatever special thing you're getting done. I really don't mind paying what I pay. Thanks to my recent work/school arangement I can afford it, and I don't mind shelling out for services if they're done well. Plus I was *really* tired of having not had hair longer than a half inch for so long. One thing that surprises me a little is how many men I see at the place I go. I'd say its close to being a 50/50 mix. Of course, I am in Manhattan...

Um, yeah there are...

I saw the first tower fall from 4th and BWay. It didn't seem real to me. My mind couldn't process it. I stared at where the tower once stood for a long time, thinking that what I saw happen really didn't happen, that my mind had played some sort of trick on me (I had the same feeling earlier this week, for those who read that other thread). I still almost half expect to see the towers still standing there when I look south down Mercer on the way to my office. My girlfriend's aunt was on the 86th floor, and managed to escape. My company, however, lost 269 people that day. I expect the city to get hit again (which is ironic; the terrorists must not understand how little NYC represents America). I think they'll likely go after the subway system next time, which, in addition to causing massive loss of life, would really shut the whole city down. It's frustrating, scary and sad, but what can you do? That's life these days.

My hair is SO much thicker than that! (And I don't wear glasses - 20/15 vision.)

OK... it's time to post a picture. I have a picture I'll try to find from when I was 16 and had a sense of humor about my hair. I grew it out about five or six inches long. It was almost as thick as its length! I looked like a mushroom! I then shaved off the sides, while leaving the hair on top. It was still at least two inches from the surface of my hair to my head! Every haircutter I've ever been to has said I have the thickest hair they've ever seen. The guy I go to now has a method of cutting most of the hair very short, while leaving a portion of it the length I actually want. It ends up looking very natural. The only drag is that it is high maintenance; I have to go in once a month.

I pay $100 and tip $25, but that's only because I have *absurdly* thick hair, and if I don't go to someone really top-notch I look absolutely ridiculous.

That's not so outrageous for a power player. What makes you say Serena had no intention of going to Athens? Her injury status was up in the air.

I figure the chances of any large object falling from the sky and landing in my general vicinity again in my lifetime have to be pretty damn low.

That was just in the last set. Serena would have broken in the second set if it hadn't been for a SCORING ERROR (!!!!) by the totally incompetent chair. Serena hit a winner that was clearly in, and the line judge called it in, but the chair just effed up and gave the point to Crapiati, who proceeded to celebrate the error! It was totally unbelievable! An analogy would be you're at a ballgame where the home team hits a homerun, but the ump gives the point to the visitors! The &$#(# chair then refused to correct her obvious error!