Sunday, March 29, 2009
Also, Comcast sucks
By the way, if you ever want to get your name changed on your Comcast bill, you have to actually physically go into the Comcast office. For whatever reason, they don't do those changes over the phone. They are certainly happy to take your money though, even if the name on the credit card doesn't match the name on the account. Awesome, thanks guys.
Weekend Update
Lots of stuff happening recently, so not so much happening here in written form. Two weekends ago, Molly and I went to Traverse City for a friend's birthday (along with a whole bunch of other people). We had a bus-driven wine tour on Saturday, which was quite awesome. I did re-stock my wine cabinet, which is again nearing fullness. The weekend was great, although I don't have a lot of exciting pictures to show for it. Being the end of winter, it wasn't terribly scenic.
Molly has been looking into a new car for a while now, and last weekend Molly and I started doing some (a lot) of test driving. The car shopping process is rather challenging, and it was especially for Molly who wasn't real sure what size of vehicle she wanted. I'm not sure how many cars we test drove, but over the last week it was probably about 10. Which is pretty epic, considering all the shenanigans that you have to go through at each dealership. Anyway while the time spent talking to slimeball car salesmen wasn't real enjoyable, test driving (or riding) a bunch of new cars was fun. And especially since they all have Molly's phone number, not mine!
It did make me a little bit want a new car...but probably not enough to actually do it. More accurately, it did make me want to test drive some cars myself that I would think about purchasing. It would be real nice to get into a slightly less expensive car and have it paid off sooner. But the whole car salesman process is really what I'm afraid of. I so don't want to be in that situation of getting pressured all the time, and having to evaluate how badly the salesman is lying to me. Ugh.
And speaking of cars...I've also been dealing with my own car issues. There was a minor "incident" in the driveway that put my car into the body shop. Which is actually awesome, because I think I'm going to have the egging mark in my door removed as well. But I've had a rental car for about a week now, and that's just more stuff to deal with. At the moment I'm driving a Nissan Altima, which is actually quite nice. I'm loving this pushbutton starter no-key-required business. It makes so much sense to not have to use the key to get into or start the car. Just get in and start the car, no key touching required at all. Such a small thing, but it's really awesome.
Spring is here, so that means it's baseball season! We got our season tickets (as posted here) a couple weeks ago, and the ticket draft was this week. I got a lot of the tickets that I had targeted, which is good. I did some scouting ahead of time, trying to get my tickets spaced out over the season (we each got 6 games). I did good in that regard, they are definitely spaced out. However I didn't really account for day of the week, so 4 of my 6 games are weekday games. Oh well.
That's what's been happening....the next couple of weeks promise to be pretty awesome too. Next weekend, Saturday specifically, a bunch of us from work are having a LAN party titled "Laneurysm 2: Tha Lanniversary". Last year we rented a giant hall, which was too expensive and too big. So we're downgrading this year to a significantly smaller location located in the Grand Ledge area. It's a senior center and boy scout building most of the time, but apparently they rent it out too. Who knew? That should be a good time. Then Sunday is Wrestlemania, also a good time.
Then the next week...the Lugnuts open their season on Thursday, which I have tickets for. Friday (Good Friday) is Opening Day and it's a free vacation day at work. Easter over the weekend, then Tuesday I'm going to Grand Rapids to see the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert. It's probably the same one that Pete, Ben, and I saw in Chicago last year. I'm okay with that, because that was an incredible show.
So that's the story. I've got a few other topics to talk about, but those probably deserve their own posts. Until then...
Molly has been looking into a new car for a while now, and last weekend Molly and I started doing some (a lot) of test driving. The car shopping process is rather challenging, and it was especially for Molly who wasn't real sure what size of vehicle she wanted. I'm not sure how many cars we test drove, but over the last week it was probably about 10. Which is pretty epic, considering all the shenanigans that you have to go through at each dealership. Anyway while the time spent talking to slimeball car salesmen wasn't real enjoyable, test driving (or riding) a bunch of new cars was fun. And especially since they all have Molly's phone number, not mine!It did make me a little bit want a new car...but probably not enough to actually do it. More accurately, it did make me want to test drive some cars myself that I would think about purchasing. It would be real nice to get into a slightly less expensive car and have it paid off sooner. But the whole car salesman process is really what I'm afraid of. I so don't want to be in that situation of getting pressured all the time, and having to evaluate how badly the salesman is lying to me. Ugh.
And speaking of cars...I've also been dealing with my own car issues. There was a minor "incident" in the driveway that put my car into the body shop. Which is actually awesome, because I think I'm going to have the egging mark in my door removed as well. But I've had a rental car for about a week now, and that's just more stuff to deal with. At the moment I'm driving a Nissan Altima, which is actually quite nice. I'm loving this pushbutton starter no-key-required business. It makes so much sense to not have to use the key to get into or start the car. Just get in and start the car, no key touching required at all. Such a small thing, but it's really awesome. Spring is here, so that means it's baseball season! We got our season tickets (as posted here) a couple weeks ago, and the ticket draft was this week. I got a lot of the tickets that I had targeted, which is good. I did some scouting ahead of time, trying to get my tickets spaced out over the season (we each got 6 games). I did good in that regard, they are definitely spaced out. However I didn't really account for day of the week, so 4 of my 6 games are weekday games. Oh well.
That's what's been happening....the next couple of weeks promise to be pretty awesome too. Next weekend, Saturday specifically, a bunch of us from work are having a LAN party titled "Laneurysm 2: Tha Lanniversary". Last year we rented a giant hall, which was too expensive and too big. So we're downgrading this year to a significantly smaller location located in the Grand Ledge area. It's a senior center and boy scout building most of the time, but apparently they rent it out too. Who knew? That should be a good time. Then Sunday is Wrestlemania, also a good time.
Then the next week...the Lugnuts open their season on Thursday, which I have tickets for. Friday (Good Friday) is Opening Day and it's a free vacation day at work. Easter over the weekend, then Tuesday I'm going to Grand Rapids to see the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert. It's probably the same one that Pete, Ben, and I saw in Chicago last year. I'm okay with that, because that was an incredible show.
So that's the story. I've got a few other topics to talk about, but those probably deserve their own posts. Until then...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Does anyone else think it's weird to see more than one USPS mail truck
at once? It's like seeing two Santa Clauses.
at once? It's like seeing two Santa Clauses.
(real post coming soon, I promise)
Monday, March 23, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Aluminum Foil
Has anybody stopped to think about how awesome alumnium foil is? It's
a roll of metal that you can buy at Meijer. Outstanding.
a roll of metal that you can buy at Meijer. Outstanding.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Happy Birthday Uncle Chuck!
Today is Chuck Norris' 69th birthday. Happy birthday Chuck. Because remember, when Chuck Norris jumps into a pool, he doesn't get wet - the pool gets Chuck Norris'd.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Light restored in flip clock
I got an old school flip-style alarm clock from eBay a month or so ago, which I was pretty excited about. It worked quite well, especially considering it's aged a few years. However, I realized shortly after that there was a light in this clock, just it seemed to be burned out. It was making some rattling noises anyway, so that was a good excuse to open it up and find out what was going on.
Upon opening up the clock, I discovered a bunch of broken plastic, and a light bulb that was actually on, but was solid black (mostly anyway) on the inside. It was black enough that I couldn't see it at all at night, although in retrospect had I known it was there I probably could have seen it (since it was obviously lit when I looked at it). I poked it with the voltmeter and discovered it was a ~100v AC lightbulb, which my brother pointed out is pretty much a standard lightbulb. Hmm, go figure.
I went to a few home improvement stores to see if they had anything close - unsurprisingly, none did. I stopped into Radio Shack and while the guy in the store was convinced that I was clueless that it was an AC lightbulb, I picked up the closest thing I could find, a small amber...AC...light thing.
Today I finally got around to assembling the thing, and much to my surprise, when I connected the new bulb it worked! So I removed the old wires, put on the new bulb and some new twist-together wire connectors (which are awesome, FYI) and rock and roll. It does look a little funny, as the light I picked up is meant to be part of a control panel, so it's a directed sort of light as opposed to the Christmas-light-like bulb that was in there. Directed...off to the side, or something, sadly.
Anyway it's 100% more viewable than it was before in the night, which is a good thing. With any luck, it won't break the light or the clock, or burn down the house! So far, so good!
Upon opening up the clock, I discovered a bunch of broken plastic, and a light bulb that was actually on, but was solid black (mostly anyway) on the inside. It was black enough that I couldn't see it at all at night, although in retrospect had I known it was there I probably could have seen it (since it was obviously lit when I looked at it). I poked it with the voltmeter and discovered it was a ~100v AC lightbulb, which my brother pointed out is pretty much a standard lightbulb. Hmm, go figure.I went to a few home improvement stores to see if they had anything close - unsurprisingly, none did. I stopped into Radio Shack and while the guy in the store was convinced that I was clueless that it was an AC lightbulb, I picked up the closest thing I could find, a small amber...AC...light thing.
Today I finally got around to assembling the thing, and much to my surprise, when I connected the new bulb it worked! So I removed the old wires, put on the new bulb and some new twist-together wire connectors (which are awesome, FYI) and rock and roll. It does look a little funny, as the light I picked up is meant to be part of a control panel, so it's a directed sort of light as opposed to the Christmas-light-like bulb that was in there. Directed...off to the side, or something, sadly.
Anyway it's 100% more viewable than it was before in the night, which is a good thing. With any luck, it won't break the light or the clock, or burn down the house! So far, so good!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Live from fuddruckers
Edit: Hah, I just noticed that this isn't actually what I meant to say. I apparently mistyped "good" as "food", FYI. And it was tasty!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
MusicBrainz.org
For a long time, I've wished my iTunes library had more detailed tag information for each MP3. That is, my songs don't have all the information that they should. A number of years ago, I started on the quest to find artists for as many songs as I could. That was a good start, and I've kept up on that pretty easily. Then a little later, I started trying to find albums for all my songs. That didn't go as well, and it's something that I've been working on (not regularly) for years now. It's gotten better, but it's far from perfect.
Album art is another one. I think I have all the album art for any full CDs that I have, or really anything that I have more than just a couple tracks from one particular CD. Far from perfect, and that's partially because of the above missing album problem.
Today, I was inspired to look for a tool to help me solve this tagging problem. I've used applications in the past for correcting capitalization, finding album art, and lyrics. But finding albums...that was a manual process via Google. Today I found one heck of a tool in the website MusicBrainz.org. Basically, it uses "audio fingerprinting" as well as plain old searching to find a ton of information about whatever track you point to it. So you point the app at an audio file, and it does its best to fill in a ton of information about that song. Pretty much awesome...mostly.
I discovered a number of things using this process. Mostly related to the fact that the internet truly is a worldwide phenomenon. A lot of times when looking through albums trying to find where a particular song was released, I find there are a ton of different versions for different countries. Some countries get more songs, some get different songs, and some countries get slightly different versions of songs. Well this makes things a little interesting when searching on musicbrainz.org, which is certainly a globally-used site.
A lot of my music library...well, we'll say has been achieved through various channels. So what might be track 1 in the USA, is track 5 in Germany. Generally not a big deal, but it's interesting. Even the track length sometimes varies a second or two between countries...that, or the people that uploaded said information are having the same problem that I am.
A couple of months ago, I had enough with renaming all my artists to lastname, firstname. It makes sense to me - if I was looking for Phil Collins I'd immediately look under "C". But that's not the way the world works. Last.fm being a big factor...they kept telling me my track names were wrong, because they were lastname, firstname. iTunes or Amazon.com doesn't do it that way either, so I'd have to rename music that I actually purchased. So I gave up, and used another tool to rename all of my songs to be firstname lastname.
Well I just realized that with all this updating of tags with MusicBrainz, it's inserting data into the "sort artist" field. That means that now, any track that I've updated with this software, is going to have the "artist" field in firstname lastname, and the "sort artist" field lastname, firstname. Sounds like the best of both worlds, right? Yeah, it kinda is. Except it's going to take me forever to get through all of my library, and in the meantime, who knows where my songs are going to be found! I completed the "A"s today, so Aaron Carter is now sorted under the Cs, where Tony Bennett is still under the "T"s. Chaos!
Despite the challenges listed here though, I'm excited about the possibility of getting all of my music properly tagged (currently just over 40gb, if you're counting). I'm also working on rating all of my songs, which is probably never going to be finished. I'm approaching halfway done with the rating, but it's pretty ridiculously slow going. The good news is that I'm assuming most of my favorite songs are rated high already, and probably the songs that I have only for either completeness or DJing are ranked really low. Everything else is pretty mediocre, which is where it should be.
I remember when Kyle R. wrote a batch script for renaming all of his MP3 files into a strict artist - album - songtitle format. I'm not sure if that's more or less dorky than trying to get the release years on nearly 8000 songs....
Album art is another one. I think I have all the album art for any full CDs that I have, or really anything that I have more than just a couple tracks from one particular CD. Far from perfect, and that's partially because of the above missing album problem.
Today, I was inspired to look for a tool to help me solve this tagging problem. I've used applications in the past for correcting capitalization, finding album art, and lyrics. But finding albums...that was a manual process via Google. Today I found one heck of a tool in the website MusicBrainz.org. Basically, it uses "audio fingerprinting" as well as plain old searching to find a ton of information about whatever track you point to it. So you point the app at an audio file, and it does its best to fill in a ton of information about that song. Pretty much awesome...mostly.
I discovered a number of things using this process. Mostly related to the fact that the internet truly is a worldwide phenomenon. A lot of times when looking through albums trying to find where a particular song was released, I find there are a ton of different versions for different countries. Some countries get more songs, some get different songs, and some countries get slightly different versions of songs. Well this makes things a little interesting when searching on musicbrainz.org, which is certainly a globally-used site.
A lot of my music library...well, we'll say has been achieved through various channels. So what might be track 1 in the USA, is track 5 in Germany. Generally not a big deal, but it's interesting. Even the track length sometimes varies a second or two between countries...that, or the people that uploaded said information are having the same problem that I am.
A couple of months ago, I had enough with renaming all my artists to lastname, firstname. It makes sense to me - if I was looking for Phil Collins I'd immediately look under "C". But that's not the way the world works. Last.fm being a big factor...they kept telling me my track names were wrong, because they were lastname, firstname. iTunes or Amazon.com doesn't do it that way either, so I'd have to rename music that I actually purchased. So I gave up, and used another tool to rename all of my songs to be firstname lastname.
Well I just realized that with all this updating of tags with MusicBrainz, it's inserting data into the "sort artist" field. That means that now, any track that I've updated with this software, is going to have the "artist" field in firstname lastname, and the "sort artist" field lastname, firstname. Sounds like the best of both worlds, right? Yeah, it kinda is. Except it's going to take me forever to get through all of my library, and in the meantime, who knows where my songs are going to be found! I completed the "A"s today, so Aaron Carter is now sorted under the Cs, where Tony Bennett is still under the "T"s. Chaos!
Despite the challenges listed here though, I'm excited about the possibility of getting all of my music properly tagged (currently just over 40gb, if you're counting). I'm also working on rating all of my songs, which is probably never going to be finished. I'm approaching halfway done with the rating, but it's pretty ridiculously slow going. The good news is that I'm assuming most of my favorite songs are rated high already, and probably the songs that I have only for either completeness or DJing are ranked really low. Everything else is pretty mediocre, which is where it should be.
I remember when Kyle R. wrote a batch script for renaming all of his MP3 files into a strict artist - album - songtitle format. I'm not sure if that's more or less dorky than trying to get the release years on nearly 8000 songs....
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