iPod – Day One
The iPod arrived yesterday.
First, a big thumbs-down to buy.com. I ordered the iPod last Tuesday – “In stock – delivery in 3 to 5 days”. They claimed to have shipped it on Tuesday – “order by 4pm EDT for same day shipping”. However, all they apparently did was send the package info electronically to Fedex Ground. Fedex didn’t see the package until Thursday. They delivered in Monday, 6 days from ordering (not 3-5 as advertised). On top of that, the packing list in the box was for some poor person in Parma, OH for a rack-mount Ethernet router. I hope that item made it successfully.
The box that it comes in is tiny – and so is the iPod itself. It’s about the size of a cassette tape case (or, if you’re really young a cassette case is about the size of an iPod). It seems to have come about 80% charged – I had to plug it in for about an hour to fully charge it.
Installing the software was tricky. I had to load the CD, wait for it to activate, and then plug in the iPod through the USB cable. It chose to format my iPod (since I’m a Windows user rather than Mac). After the reboot, the computer didn’t see the iPod for a while and I had to pull the USB cord (after waiting 15 minutes with “Do Not Disconnect” on the screen) and re-enter it. It then let me into the serial number screen. That accomplished, the PC rebooted and iTunes came up.
I’d already loaded music into iTunes, so it started sync’ing the approximately 350 MP3 files. That took quite a while (at least 45 minutes). While I was waiting, I ripped a few more CD’s, though that ran at 1/2 speed (about 3x).
So far, so good. I’ve used it at work, and the sound quality is very good. I used the Apple earbuds for a while, but found them to be uncomfortable after an hour or so. I plugged in the cheapie headphones that I keep at work, and had to crank up the iPod’s volume (though not all the way up – full volume is still too loud). These headphones play treble stronger than the Apple buds, but I was able to turn on Bass Booster on the iPod and it seems to help.
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The User interface is pretty straightforward, once you figure out that you have to drag your finger around the dial to get the menus to move. I haven’t had any trouble finding the menu options that I want. The games are a little hard to play, but that’s not why I bought it.
My music selection is decidedly skewed by the small number of CD’s ripped thus far – and the fact that they were all sorted together on my shelf. I suspect that Shuffle will produce more random play once I’ve got more CD’s loaded.
I definately need some accessories:
Car Cassette Adapter
Car Charger
Better headphones
I also want to download and play with iArt to put album cover art on the Photo iPod.
Joining the iPod Generation
I’ve decided to join the iPod generation.
I’m a Systems Analyst. I do project planning, requirements definition, design, programming, testing – the whole gamut of the system project lifecycle. That means a lot of time spent sitting at my desk typing. I work in cubicle-land, and until lately my cubicle neighborhood has been pretty sparse. However, it’s getting more crowded lately – and therefore noisier.
I’ve burned an MP3 CD and listened to it on my PC at work, but I get tired of the number of songs that fit on one CD. I also listen to Internet radio, but I assume that someday the network folks are gonna catch on and ask me to stop. Therefore, what I need is a way to carry my CD collection around with me.
Sounds like an iPod to me.
I ordered an iPod Photo 30GB from buy.com last Tuesday. I’m a little annoyed at them for slow shipping – they claimed to have shipped it the same day on Tuesday, but Fedex’s system shows that they didn’t get the trailer until Thursday. It’s really a one-day delivery to me, but it’s not here yet. Should arrive this afternoon. buy.com claims “3 to 5 day delivery” for this item, so they didn’t make it.
The element – Vardenafil hydrochloride viagra professional australia is said to be a boost to diabetes patients. This buy levitra where discover for source is the inability to gain or sustain erections. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of sneaky companies who know they can make your condition worse. http://mouthsofthesouth.com/locations/estate-auction-of-terry-stewart-deceased/ cialis properien Making tattoos on the body parts have been evaluated, you’ll be able on your medical doctor to work out regardless if you are, in truth, cheapest cialis enduring Hyperactivity. In order to get ready, I downloaded iTunes from Apple and installed it on my home PC. I then started what I thought was the CD burning process. It was taking just a few seconds per CD, and I went through a small pile in an hour.
That’s when I realized that I wasn’t getting anything in iTunes from the CD’s.
As it turns out (after an hour of digging on the Internet), my old Dell (purchased 1/2000) needed an ATA driver update in order to play/rip CDs with iTunes. After installing that, it worked fine.
I have two drives – DVD/CD reader, and a CD burner. I got about 7-8x speed on my ripping 192 bitrate MP3’s. That translates to about 10 minutes per CD, or 6 an hour. It’s gonna take me quite a while to get all of my 100+ CD’s (probably more like 150) ripped.
I’ll post more as I get a chance to play with it and use it. I expect to be buying some accessories as well – probably an AC charger for work and a car charger plus a cassette adapter for the car.
Louie Louie and Benton Harbor, MI
Paula Dawning, the Superintendent of Schools in Benton Harbor, MI, has banned the McCord Middle School marching band from playing Louie Louie this weekend in the town’s Grand Floral Parade. (AP Story via Yahoo)
Apparently, she’s concerned about the “raunchy lyrics”. As far as I know, NOBODY knows what the lyrics to the song are. However, the ability to play it must be a human instinct – I’ve never seen a marching band use any sheet music yet all marching bands are able to play it instantly with or without a conductor.
I sent the following letter to Ms. Dawning urging her to reconsider:
Dear Ms. Dawning,
I read a news story today stating that you had banned the McCord Middle
School band from playing the song “Louie Louie”. I would urge you
to reconsider.
At age 36, I fondly remember my years playing music in school. I
strongly believe that my musical experiences, in addition to being fun,
were a major part of the foundation that was built for my future
success. I played in the school’s band and jazz band, and
ultimately was a member of the NJ All-State Band and All-State
Orchestra. I went on to be a member of the Rutgers University
Marching Band and Pep Band.
Music is important in many ways to a student. It builds
confidence through public performance. It builds character
through the discipline required to practice and learn your
instrument. It builds the ability to work smoothly in
groups. Evidence shows that music builds mathematical ability as
well.
And “Louie Louie” is an important tradition in marching bands. I
have never been a member of a marching band where that song was not
played. I have never met anyone who belonged to a marching band
that did not play that song. In fact, “Louie Louie” seems to be
more of a natural instinct – I have never seen any sheet music for it
but I’ve also never seen a band that didn’t know how to play it –
nearly flawlessly on the first try. If you leave a marching band
alone long enough, it will spontaneously play “Louie Louie”.
I feel that I must address the question of the lyrics. While I’ve
never met a band that didn’t know “Louie Louie”, I’ve also never met
ANYONE who knows the lyrics. In the 1960’s, the FBI investigated
the allegedly obscene lyrics and concluded that they were not obscene,
and in fact were “unintelligible at any speed”. I have seen many,
many Internet websites purporting to have the lyrics – and no claimant
has any better claim than any other. The song has just never been
understandable.
I hope that you will reconsider your decision, and allow the band to play “Louie Louie” this weekend.
Sincerely,
Mark Smith
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UPDATE: (5/6/05) – The superintendent has relented. After hearing from a majority of parents (and not just the single complainer), she has decided to let them play Louie Louie in the parade.
And I got a nice note from the band director in response to my e-mail above, which I had forwarded to him.
NOTICE TO READERS FROM THE FUTURE: Convention
Filed under: Can't Make This Up, Current Affairs, Science, Travel, Web/Tech
The Time Traveler Convention
May 7, 2005, 10:00pm EDT (08 May 2005 02:00:00 UTC)
East Campus Courtyard, MIT
42:21:36.025°N, 71:05:16.332°W
(42.360007,-071.087870 in decimal degrees)
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Please note that the date is in reference to the Gregorian Calendar in use at the host time.
I’m posting this here, as I believe that my blog will become so popular that transcripts should be available well into the future!
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