From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V16 #502 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Thursday, February 14 2008 Volume 16 : Number 502 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Why do they like porn? (was: Re: why do they hate Hillary?) [Tom Clar] Re: videogames [Rex ] Re: why do they hate Hillary? ["Terrence Marks" ] Re: Okay! The Big Moment... [Michael Sweeney ] Re: Okay! The Big Moment... [Rex ] Re: videogames [Rex ] Re: videogames ["Stewart C. Russell" ] Re: videogames [Carrie Galbraith ] for lennon fans [HwyCDRrev@aol.com] (More, Worse) Data Recovery Blues [Rex ] soundcards for Linux PC [Dolph Chaney ] Re: fegmaniax-digest V16 #501 [grutness@slingshot.co.nz] Re: "Premature Evaluation" of new R.E.M. by Matthew Perpetua (fluxblog, Pop Songs 08) [Rex ] Re: soundcards for Linux PC [Rex ] it is what it is [Jill Brand ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:54:17 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: Why do they like porn? (was: Re: why do they hate Hillary?) On Feb 13, 2008, at 4:12 PM, Rex wrote: > On the off-chance I'm wrong, what recent porn recommendations does > the feg > community have? (smiley emoticon here if I used them) It's all pretty hardcore these days. Get an account on puretna.com and search for "Classic". - -tc, "from what I've heard, anyway..." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:04:14 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: videogames On Feb 13, 2008 4:50 PM, Tom Clark wrote: > On Feb 13, 2008, at 4:22 PM, Rex wrote: > > > Why can you not create a game for a console without > > going through the console manufacturer? > > I believe the answer to that is because game developers are > specifically licensed to create games for specific platforms, i.e., > the development environment and manufacturing are tightly controlled > by the platform maker. > Well, that's the problem, then. The censorship (fascism?) is firmly rooted in the capitalism. Governmental oversight is just an afterthought. That leads me to the same question Eddie posed: do people hack the console code and do bootleg-type games, or is that just too much trouble-- which would cause them either to abandon consoles for PC and online games, or just lump it and take their games with a healthy (?) side of corporate self-censorship? - -Rex, who learns something new every day ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:20:30 -0800 From: "Terrence Marks" Subject: Re: why do they hate Hillary? Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:44:59 -0800 From: "kevin studyvin" Subject: Re: why do they hate Hillary? > Yahh, it was pretty clear to me just how socially useful these labels were > going to be when the first one I saw was on Zappa's Jazz From Hell - which > was, of course, nothing but instrumental music. Granted there were titles > like "G-Spot Tornado," but the music itself was just 40 minutes of Frank's > Synclavier noodlings and I can guarantee you, it was no threat to anybody's > value system unless they have a problem with weird polyrhythms. Of course. It wouldn't have got that warning if they thought he was noodling with integrity. Terrence Marks ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:35:11 -0800 From: "Marc Alberts" Subject: RE: videogames Tom Clark wrote: > > Why can you not create a game for a console without > > going through the console manufacturer? > > I believe the answer to that is because game developers are > specifically licensed to create games for specific platforms, i.e., > the development environment and manufacturing are tightly controlled > by the platform maker. > I think you're correct, Tom (I mean "fuck you, etc. etc."). I remember seeing an original Xbox partner license and it pretty much said that you agreed, in becoming a partner, not to create games that contained porn. That was a long time ago, so I'm not sure if they've changed that or not, but it's basically a case (in this instance) of Microsoft not wishing to associate their game platform with smut. Heavy-duty violence, however, is just peachy. Marc ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:41:32 +0000 From: Michael Sweeney Subject: Re: Okay! The Big Moment... >[Eddie and Rex contemplating their debut spins of "Tusk"] ...OK -- I know it's due to nearly 30 years of appreciation of the album (it was really the thing that got me focused in on Lindsey Buckingham, and made me a big fan of his playing, production, and writing) PLUS the emotional baggage of it being a soundtrack for an important, tumultuous period of my life (approx. 17 - 20)...but I feel somewhat like I imagine a nervous father might, sending his progeny off to play in a Big Game or show off their long-practiced skills onstage. ...I know -- stupid. It doesn't matter if others like or dislike some piece of work that means much to me. It cannot diminish or dilute its impact on me or my enjoyment of it. But, still... You just want what you like to also be liked by others, I guess -- not so that it is "popular" and the "majority" is with you...as much as just looking for the widest amount of potential appreciators for it. Well, at least I do, anyway... Hope you enjoy it, guys... Michael "Not that funny (is it?)" Sweeney _________________________________________________________________ Shed those extra pounds with MSN and The Biggest Loser! http://biggestloser.msn.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:55:10 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: Okay! The Big Moment... On Feb 13, 2008 6:41 PM, Michael Sweeney wrote: > >[Eddie and Rex contemplating their debut spins of "Tusk"] > > > Michael "Not that funny (is it?)" Sweeney > As of now that made me flash on the CVB version of that song, which for some CVB-ish reason ends with quotes from "Rock Lobster"... - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:56:30 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: videogames On Feb 13, 2008 6:35 PM, Marc Alberts wrote: > Tom Clark wrote: > > > > Why can you not create a game for a console without > > > going through the console manufacturer? > > > > I believe the answer to that is because game developers are > > specifically licensed to create games for specific platforms, i.e., > > the development environment and manufacturing are tightly controlled > > by the platform maker. > > > > I think you're correct, Tom (I mean "fuck you, etc. etc."). I remember > seeing an original Xbox partner license and it pretty much said that you > agreed, in becoming a partner, not to create games that contained porn. > That was a long time ago, so I'm not sure if they've changed that or not, > but it's basically a case (in this instance) of Microsoft not wishing to > associate their game platform with smut. > > Heavy-duty violence, however, is just peachy. > As long as at least some of the blood is green, I've come to understand. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:11:40 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: videogames Carrie Galbraith wrote: > > My point? The games industry has been living with this for a long time. You've made me feel very old. Back when I was a 1337 game reviewer -- 19 years ago -- there wasn't much you could do in 320x200x16 colours. Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:55:18 -0800 From: Carrie Galbraith Subject: Re: videogames On Feb 13, 2008, at 6:56 PM, Rex wrote: > > As long as at least some of the blood is green, I've come to > understand. Lord keep me away from the consoles. I'm looking at an online games job these days. - - c ************************************** Questions are a burden for others. Answers are a prison for oneself. ************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:04:05 EST From: HwyCDRrev@aol.com Subject: for lennon fans _http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/life/spring1998/john.lennon/_ (http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/life/spring1998/john.lennon/) **************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. Go to AOL Music. (http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:08:36 -0800 From: Rex Subject: (More, Worse) Data Recovery Blues Dear Computer-Savvy Friends, I just had a large (5GB) external drive eat it. Lots of files gone (many only just recently restored from a state of David Byrninity. The majority of them had been backed up recently (Nov), but a large handful added since then are pretty much irreplaceable (family stuff going back decades, artwork & demos, etc.)... and by irreplaceable I mean "some of the media ceased to exist in the course of digitizing it, and others just went live straight onto the disc. The manufacturer assures me that the data can be recovered for the low low price of $700 - $3000. Anyone know of anyone reliable who might be able to do it just a wee bit cheaper? Thank you, and yes I have leaned a lesson: back up not only often, not only early, but in fact once every five minutes around the clock. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:05:39 -0600 From: Dolph Chaney Subject: soundcards for Linux PC Hi all -- Sorry to those for whom this will be meaningless. The feglist contains the most concentrated numbers of audio-lovin' Linux-heads in my acquaintance, so I'm calling on Feg for advice... It would appear that my soundcard's analog inputs are crapping out. Output is fine, but the line and mic inputs are both static-y now. I've tested multiple input cables, and all give the same result. I've run my analog studio to an analog cassette unit, and the sound is normal. So, it does seem to be down to the soundcard inputs. Problem is, it looks like Linux and audio have a long and stormy history together. I'm having no luck finding recommendations for soundcards that work well in a Linux environment (or even have Linux drivers), and from the Linux side I'm seeing little in the way of development / support for sound quality optimization. For example, the prevailing answer to "we'd really like to have an EQ in our mp3-playing software, O Captain Programmer" seems to be "Bah! Buy better speakers." Anyway, does anyfeg have a recommendation for a soundcard that will work well in a Linux environment, ideally with some level of driver support beyond ALSA or OSS? Current soundcard: Turtle Beach OEM (original, from back when this PC ran Win XP) CPU: Pentium 4 2.40 GHz RAM: 1.2 GB O/S: Ubuntu 7.10 (gutsy) Software: Audacity 1.3.3-beta (Unicode) As we say in Chicago, "Youse guyses rocks." - -- Dolph ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:17:06 +1300 From: grutness@slingshot.co.nz Subject: Re: fegmaniax-digest V16 #501 > > <"Celebrity's Lives Are Important To Me"> >> >> don't mention this to be a dick, but only because it's kind of humorous: >> as >> written, this means that there's *one* celebrity, with *many* lives. > > >Was it written by a Shirley MacLaine fan? It does parse, if you assume Celebrity to be a collective metaphor for the famous, or having many parallel different facets, each of which can be described as a "life". Mind you, that's pushing it. >From: "Stacked Crooked" >Subject: Okay! The Big Moment... > >somebody uploaded *Tusk* to usenet, so i went ahead and downloaded it, and >am about to listen to it for the first time. i've heard the camper van >beethoven version (and hated it), but never the original. > >for frame of reference: i like *Rumours* well enough, and quite dig about >half of *Tango*, and enjoy the singles just fine...but have always been >just a little bit too lazy to check out *Tusk*. until now. > >wish me luck! >From: Rex > > >Oooh... can you hold off on posting a review until I've had a chance to do >the same? I have EXACTLY the same frame of reference as you*, which I would >expect is rather unusual. good luck to you both - two reviews coming up, I hope? James (suffering knee-itis) - -- James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:54:23 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: "Premature Evaluation" of new R.E.M. by Matthew Perpetua (fluxblog, Pop Songs 08) On Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 9:05 PM, 2fs wrote: > from Stereogum: < > > http://stereogum.com/archives/premature-evaluation/premature-evaluation-rem-accelerate_008061.html > > > > Well, what can I say: I think I'm actually gonna buy this when it comes > out. > Loud guitars, shorter and faster songs, no bloated running length? Plus: > some Mike Mills vocals. The video is up, and it's also mighty vintage R.E.M.-y to my eyes: http://www.remhq.com/supernatural_superserious.php nb. the band members look pretty vintage themselves, but I'd have to say this is the first video (by anyone) that I've actally enjoyed since, I dunno, "What You Do to Me" by Teenage Fanclub in nineteen ninety-something. (I haven't seen many since then, though, and I imagine there are a few New Pornos videos I might enjoy... no, the band, not actual new porno videos (that's the other thread (chew on this parenthetical nesting, Mr. Sweeney!))) - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:13:38 -0600 (CST) From: Capuchin Subject: Re: soundcards for Linux PC On Thu, 14 Feb 2008, Dolph Chaney wrote: > Problem is, it looks like Linux and audio have a long and stormy history > together. I'm having no luck finding recommendations for soundcards > that work well in a Linux environment (or even have Linux drivers), and > from the Linux side I'm seeing little in the way of development / > support for sound quality optimization. For example, the prevailing > answer to "we'd really like to have an EQ in our mp3-playing software, O > Captain Programmer" seems to be "Bah! Buy better speakers." Huh... I don't know anything about that. There are plenty of quite nice sound applications. > Anyway, does anyfeg have a recommendation for a soundcard that will work > well in a Linux environment, ideally with some level of driver support > beyond ALSA or OSS? What do you need beyond ALSA? The ALSA project includes mixers for every card and reasonably good ways to deal with all of a card's configurable interfaces. OSS is dead. Don't even think about using it. ALSA is part of the mainstream kernel development and has been for ages. The only reason to touch OSS would be some ancient hardware and some specialized use for it. That's the list of ALSA supported cards. Those drivers shold be pretty great. By the way, I may be getting some MIDI hardware in the very near future, so if anybody has Linux experience with that, let me know. J. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:36:57 -0800 From: Rex Subject: Re: soundcards for Linux PC On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 4:13 PM, Capuchin wrote: > > By the way, I may be getting some MIDI hardware in the very near future, > so if anybody has Linux experience with that, let me know. > Completely useless sidenote: it boggles my mind that MIDI is still in use. I remember encountering it before I'd even so much as heard of Compact Discs. - -Rex ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:20:50 -0500 (EST) From: Jill Brand Subject: it is what it is I've been sticking my big toe back into sports radio waters in the last few days. I had to avoid it after the Super Bowl because there were too many bridges in the vicinity that I wanted to jump off of. Anyway, now talk has turned to Roger Clemens and, since there is no fury like a sports town spurned, everyone is drooling over the opportunity to stick it to Clemens. Did any of you hear the hilarious request of one congressman from who-the-fuck- knows-where asking for an explanation of "it is what it is", claiming that it was a New Yorkism (where he got that idea from, I don't know) with which he was unfamiliar? Then, NPR did a whole spot on it on Morning Edition today. Since "it is what it is" is Bill Belichick's favorite expression, we are just reveling in this right now. Whatever. Jill ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V16 #502 ********************************