Failing Memory at 53!

When it rains, it pours! Well, I wasn't trying for a literal expression but I guess that it was a fact today for the good old 'wet coast'.

No, I meant trouble comes in pairs. I noticed before leaving for the weekend last Friday, that my ADSL modem wasn't working. It was recently installed but had apparently already given up the ghost. I suspected a power supply problem. I called technical support as soon as it opened this morning and a technician arranged to ship me a replacement by post. I did walk uptown, however. I knew the Telus Mobility store in the mall would swap modems. They only had the type which included wifi but I own my own wifi router. I was hesitant but decided to take one. Their equipment works just fine, so I guess I will put away my router.



Also, the old PC, which had become my media server, has been acting flaky lately. I was getting crashes with the strangest error codes in the Win 8 evaluation copy! I wondered if it was a memory problem. After running the Windows memory test, I finally got it to agree. Hum. I pulled out several of the aging DDR2 DIMMS. It was a total turkey shoot. Of the four sticks which made up the 4GB, it could have been any. As they work in sets, I just shuffled the four and put two back into the initial slots. I successfully made it through a two-hour HD movie test on Netflix without a hitch.

I like it when troubleshooting apparently works out. That is my birthday gift today.

It's Time for a Dedicated Server

It seems as though I'm always giving exams. Presently my students are working on their Final for the module materials. There was a listening section and now they're writing. Sometimes, I finish correcting other things but still find myself with some time.

Even the weak wifi connection in SE26 is adequate for working on my tiny little netbook. I love my Acer One and I must depend on it a lot this week. Of course it's great for toting to work. The screen is a perfect size for travelling but it's a bit small for everyday use. I will be using it a lot this week though, as my big home PC is unplugged and in the storage room at home. When ripping up our old wall-to-wall carpet, I decided to get rid of the unwieldy computer desk. It did hold my CPU tower, keyboard and mouse, monitor, printer, and router. It held all of that plus a whole lot of extra junk. I originally planned on replacing the desk with a new one.

Now, however, I am thinking about organizing my equipment differently. I think I want the current computer to become my main server. It will connect only to the wide-screen TV for media functionality. I'll still run the Internet into it and connect it to my HTS receiver. So in many ways, it will work as it always has.

The big difference is I don't want huge desk taking up precious space in my tiny living room. Therefore, I've decided that the box will not have a monitor. As I will be streaming to my television, I can turn on that screen to do maintenance or specific Windows 7 tasks. For regular around-the-house computing, I will pick up new, inexpensive laptop. If I get one with a 16 inch screen, I can avoid having to use a special desk. Rather, I will be able to sit at the ordinary table. Or I could lie on the floor, stretch out on the bed, or go out on the balcony.

I could never give up easy access to a computer, but I am redefining my own idea of what that means. Nowadays computing doesn't have to take place at one, centrally-located home computer.

Warning: Nerd Alert!

THE FUTURE: 1950 STYLE

Eventually, automated homes such as those described by Ray Bradbury will exist. As of today, I am one step closer to the part where the house plays music. Let's forget about the exact scenario of the short story from The Martian Chronicles as I'd rather leave the fear of nuclear devastation for another blog entry. Also it's important to note that he wrote this short story fifty-eight years ago. Smart houses are assuredly taking longer to come to fruition than my childish notions would've predicted.

SERVING MEDIA

I'm thinking about There Will Come Soft Rains, as I have thousands of .mp3 and .wma files on an external hard drive near my computer. I use it for the collection and backing up important info. from my main drive. As discovered on Saturday the new PlayStation 3 will play these networked songs through the built-in media server in Microsoft's MediaPlayer 11. My PS3 lacks a direct DTS output for stereo files, unlike my computer's sound card. However, there's something quite simple and satisfying about making a selection on the large TV screen. It just feels right to pick music with the same remote I use when watching a DVD.

GETTING IT TOGETHER

Many people already have some sort of home network today. Most are wireless and used just to get the Internet on a notebook computer without a plug. This could be a wonderful basis for a smart house. The problem is that most of our consumer electronics products do not get along. Most of the devices are not designed for interoperability. In order to make any of them work together one must work too damned hard.

TO KNOW ME IS TO LOVE ME

I envision a day when, as one walks into the house, all gadgets will ask permission to connect to the home's network. For example, I should be able to listen to a podcast on a visitor's iPod. If the system were clever enough, a graphic representing the temporary device would automatically appear on a screen showing the current technology environment. As well as the calling-card information previously entered by the visitor, the system would recognize the unprotected media on the device. I'd simply be able to direct the system to play the podcast.

FIGHTING IN A FUTURE

This is a little more complex than Ray Bradbury's circuits and tapes in the walls. However, I can easily think of a good topic for a new, short story. Let's assume that all the system devices on our imaginary network have a priority on the system. What if various devices started fighting for supremacy in the heirarchy? Every iPod Nano lusts for power, you know. Somehow, that'd make for an interesting read.

Learning to Share

A Sony Playstation 3 can use its local network in order to play files shared under Windows MediaPlayer. Who knew?

Breathing New Life into Old Audio

[Audio links reconnected on July 19, 2026]

Once in a blue moon, I look over some of the standard information on my site. It's all so general that I almost never need to update it. I do periodically modify the date on my resume document; however, as I'm not looking for a new job, nothing else ever needs changing.

I did try to play some ancient audio files this morning. They were originally recorded on a cheap cassette tape recorder sitting near a transistor radio. I encoded them as Real Audio files at least a decade ago. Unfortunately, that file format is no longer very cool nor even playable. Nowadays, up-to-date  software cannot even locate the old, streaming codec of that era. I knew if I wanted them to remain at all useful, I'd need to convert them.

Fortunately, after a half dozen false starts, I found a piece of free shareware called AudioVideo_to_Exe. It converted the old steaming .ra files to standard .mp3 format. The conversion did triple the file size but, of course, could not improve the quality of the sound. Still at around thirty minutes each, 14 mb files ain't bad.

I'm such an armchair archivist!

MP3 AUDIO

---

1994 Radio Archive: Dubai FM, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Educationally Yours. The HCT BBS
Mike Friganiotis, Mohammed Al-Shamsi, and Dennis Hurd. (30:06 minutes)

---

1995 Radio Archive: Dubai FM, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Educationally Yours. The Internet
Mike Friganiotis, Tonia Huculak, and Dennis Hurd (25:39 minutes)

Streaming vs. Podcasts

If you'd asked me a couple of months ago about audio on the Internet, I would've only been able to talk about streaming. 

Podcasting is so cool. I like being able to walk out of the house with hours of radio which I've chosen to take along. I never use the FM tuner in the Zen. People may not know how easy it can be with aggregator software. Most of my friends probably know nothing about RSS feeds. It's simply a universal method to automate new Internet content so that it can be easily shared.

The image above is software that I use to collect my audio postcast episodes. Rather than getting involved in Apple's iTunes, I simply enter the rss feed into the ZENcast Organizer. It automatically updates all programs I've selected for download. Some programs might be daily while others weekly or monthly. It doesn't matter because as soon as a new show is released, it is waiting for me on my computer. I can listen on the PC or simply press a button to have the files copied to my Creative Zen.

It might take some looking around on the net to FIND the feeds but as soon as they're subscribed to, it becomes effortless. There are things from literally all over the globe. I favour technology over the news, and podcasting allows me to chose exactly what goes into my ears.

A Day Late, a Dollar Short, and ...

... a Beer Behind.

It does seem to go like this at times. This is an old phrase that can be used to describe the guy who's never on time, can't it? Okay, maybe the beer behind part was my own invention! I can't really remember. Some days I feel like that. Alright, you caught me, so let me be more truthful: There are some YEARS I feel like that.

Recently I've been very aware of audio communication. Did you check out yesterday's syndication of the beginning episode of X Minus One? I guess 1955 is a bit on the late side. You could, of course, listen at your computer but the whole idea of podcasting is to neatly tuck it into an iPod or mp3 player for later use. Now, there's noise, noise, everywhere!

I'm a beer behind due to the fact everyone is probably playing with Internet video nowadays. The more I try to catch up the behinder I sometimes get. I do provide answers to student exercises by audio though. I'll put a short example here. I made this one earlier today, so the students in the labs can correct their work at their own pace. So, although I'm not exactly state of the art, I am a few years ahead of many of my peers.

A Penny for My Thoughts

I'm pretty cheap, eh?

Pick Up Styx

I've always appreciated popular music but have never been a fanatic. Of course, during one's formative years, music may occupy a more important place in life. If I'm an example, knowledge of what's hot decreases during one's thirties and forties. I will admit nowadays I've been catching a top 20 video program on a local television station. Much of what's being played now is quite interesting. Additionally, because of the visual element, there's something to experience even if one doesn't find the music engaging. It's just that, for the most part, I've not the energy to even bother learning the new artists' names.

In addition, there seems to be too much variety out there. I am a bit thankful that I grew up before the invention of mp3 players. My generation was forced into homogeny. Music was just a backdrop to events. The radio taught us what we should like. My most favourite songs were ones I learned when my friends and I ran a summer arcade. With the old jukebox, people actually paid for the privilege of selecting something to listen to. That meant everyone within earshot was also forced to experience the same artists. Now, listeners select and tote around their own, individualized audio experiences.

I chose this topic today because the other evening I was listening to an album I wanted to mention. The particular one I'm discussing is very logically organized. I would suppose that kids no longer listen to an entire album in order and I suppose we did only because it was too difficult to skip a track on a phonograph.

Regardless, I was impressed with Styx. Earlier I mentioned the term 'formative years' and this group fits the bill exactly. Their Grand Illusion was released in 1977 which is when I graduated from high school. Cornerstone came several years later. The album that sounded so good the other night was Paradise Theater. It made its debut in 1981. I completed college the same year.

Even though a quarter of a century old, the music rocked in .wma format through my computer's HDA Xplosion card and out to my aging Onkyo home theatre system in DTS. You might even say it was The Best of Times.

Sri Lankan Music Video

I frequently capture parts of television broadcasts as mpeg files. It's very easy to burn a bunch of them to a DVD. Of course I generally only work with segments from shows such as Mad TV or sections of the Discovery Channel so I can share with others. For example, I sent a copy from an old analog camcorder tape to a former colleague who still works overseas. He was only in about ten minutes of the original tape. Yet, it'd have been silly to fill less than 10% of a DVD, so I simply included tidbits of Monty Python and television adverts I liked.

Readying an mpeg file for DVD is simple. Trying to prepare video that will stream well over the Internet is more of a struggle. The process reminds me of trying to suck a Dairy Queen Blizzard through a baby straw. This music video was captured from a weekly, half-hour Sinhalese program originating from OMNI2 in Toronto, Canada. Click on the player below to attempt to view a broadband .wmv file.

It Takes A Few Versions ...

... but eventually Microsoft gets around to tweaking till it has a winner.



At one point in time, I couldn't imagine a much better mp3 player than WinAmp. Things have changed after waiting a while. The default album cover interface of Microsoft's Media Player 11 is superb!

I'm running MS Explorer 7 beta 2 and from today this new component. At this rate, we won't have to upgrade to Windows Vista as we'll just acquire it one download at time!

Let's Be Frank

I blog as regularly as clockwork, generally. However, it's time for a short vacation to New York City. We'll leave here late afternoon and connect to catch a red-eye from Las Vegas. We might find our way into an Internet cafe, but the full run down will not appear until after we return to New Westminster on May 18th.



Sometimes there is no better way
to express a feeling than by finding a
person who's already said it.

By Popular Demand

Click the player to hear a 4:48-minute song by Bob and Doug McKenzie. It's a Canuk-inspired version of the 12-Days of Christmas. Oh, by the way, a tuque is the Canadian term for a knit, winter pull-over, stocking cap.


(This Windows Media Player file requires the minimum of a solid 56K modem connection.)

Encore Performance

I can check to see how visitors find their way to this page. I find it interesting that so many people come in through Google searches. Hundreds of visitors have made it to the blog because of this song which was first available last December.

[LINKS ARE LONG PAST THEIR PRIME] 

Click the player to hear the 2:48-minute song. It is Santa Baby sung by Eartha Kitt. (This Windows Media Player file requires a 56K modem connection, at minimum.)

[MODEM?  HAHA]

Ch-Ch-Cha-Changes

Until the recent trip, I hadn't been to Sri Lanka for a long time. I visited a number of times when working in the Gulf. In the thirteen years since my last time there, changes have occurred. Here are a few which I noticed. Now, everybody seems to be running around with cell phones, food packaging has become very convenienct and modern, and there were many more TV channels to choose from. Computers are more prevelant, and of course, there were no Sri Lankan Internet cafes in 1991. I picked up a CDROM of mp3 music files from street vendors near the Petta bus station. Here's one I liked from the disc which had over 100 songs.

On a Retro Roll

If you're mature enough to remember the type of sneakers I discussed yesterday, then you should have no problem identifying this television theme. Press play to hear a one-minute Windows Media audio file.



Really stumped? Write me a message and I'll spill the beans.

Dammit!

You'd think I was talking about the Columbia River. Last week, my entries included photos from Grand Coulee Dam.


Okay here's the real stretch in logic. I
searched my musical database and came up
with this gem, Dammit, Janet, from the
Rocky Horror Picture Show. I recently got
that DVD and found it most definitely ...
before its time.

Iceless Follies

You know there are deals just too good to pass by. Sears advertised an extra ten bucks off pairs of in-line skates and I just couldn't help but to spend a little to save some.

How hard could skating be? I am Canadian now, so be it on ice or pavement, I should have acquired the skill by osmosis, right?

The weather today is excellent. It seems as though there's a high-pressure area over us that reminds the weather prognosticators of a summer pattern. It is also Good Friday and therefore a vacation day for most workers. What a great day to walk to the New Westminster Quay and strap on the new devices.

As strange as it may seem, I never really spent time on ice skates as a New Hampshire kid. I do remember that one of the town road ploughs used to get out on Sunapee Harbor on years of sufficient ice. It’d dig down and create a rink. I wonder if that still happens. I am sure I spent a few days skating with school kids at rinks in Kuwait and the UAE; not necesarily the first places one would consider taking up ice skating.

Regardless, the process today surely wasn't like riding a bicycle. In order to move well one has to be on a smooth hard surface. The problem with that is when one falls, it also occurs on a smooth hard surface!

My ankles hurt. I only fell down once but there was enough of an audience at the busy Quay today. Practice will make perfect so I have to promise not to let 'em sit in the closet.


For some reason I just had to include this
song by Melanie. I guess this goes to show
my age as I thought of this song before
Avril Lavigne's Sk8er Boi.

Spring Forward

Last night we set the clocks ahead before going to bed. Daylight Savings Time is now in effect. Windows XP knew and didn't even bother to ask if it was okay to change.



This song by Styx seemed appropriate
for today! Although I lost an hour of sleep
last night, I've got extra time this evening.

Computer World

My first job after college was in Kuwait and I recall buying this cassette that year. Kraftwerk was composed of some German guys, drum sets, synthesizers, and tape decks. Had the term techno-pop been coined yet? They'd been creating music throughout the 1970's; however, this album was born at a special point in time. A confluence of technology was starting to enable the dawn of a new information age.


Remember, this music was released the
same year that the IBM PC rolled out. Just as in
Windows XP today, you were not able to set
those system clocks prior to 1980!