Category: Music

Caught in the Net net

I have a bunch of Google Alerts. One that I deleted was for the Beatles, because thanks to Beatles News there wasn’t a need for it. One of the active alerts is for my not-so-secret shame, K3, and in today’s catch I was expecting something like this…

… but instead I found this.

Dedicated eBook readers have, I feel, a rather limited number of potential customers. The extended battery life with e-paper when the transmitter is turned off is nice, however. I’m not very sanguine about large, backlit LCD touch panels, either, because the battery life will undoubtedly be poor. Which is why I’m intrigued by something that was pointed out to me by tech-savvy tastewar.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/the-pixel-qi-display/

vis Elvis

It’s hard to imagine what Elvis would be like today, at age 75. When Elvis died, Nashville notable Shelby Singleton, Jr., rushed out a commemorative LP on the Sun label, which he’d bought from Sam Phillips in 1969. Singleton died this past October.

Side 1 is about Elvis and Sun Records…

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/ElvisSun01.mp3]

… and Side 2 has a collection of interviews and odd recordings.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/ElvisSun02.mp3]

Logitech rules — or at least controls

Oh, the fun and frustration of technology in the home. We now have thirteen(!) devices in the house that depend upon, or use, the Internet.

I’ve come across another quirk with playback from Logitech’s Squeezebox music server. The good news is that Logitech has a PC client called SqueezePlay. The bad new is it’s beta code, and it shows. Squeezeplay lets you choose which Wi-Fi radio in your home network you want to control. The player called Neptune is the Chumby One in the kitchen.

The interface is a slightly modified Squeezebox Radio screen, which is very nice…

… but if it plays on the PC — and that’s a big if — it sometimes sounds almost like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music!

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/Squeezeplay.mp3]

When you don’t hear anything, that probably means control has reverted to the Squeezebox Radio. I assume Logitech can fix this, and I’d be delighted if they would help Chumby develop a Squeezebox UI, because their products really don’t compete directly with one another.

Brunch with the Beatle Years

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s hoping for a good 2010. There were highs and lows in 2009, with the low being my wife’s illness, and the high being contacted by Prue Bury.

Two syndicated radio shows I listen to are The Beatle Years and Beatle Brunch. Both programs are carried in Boston by WODS-FM, Oldies 103. If you click the link below you’ll find six months of shows available for streaming, and you can even download them. Elvis fans will find something there, too.

http://www.wods.com/Oldies-On-Demand-Audio/4334827

A particularly good example is the most recent Beatle Years installment that’s been posted. From November, 14 — “Works in Progress.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/BeatleYears_14Nov09.mp3]

Beatle Brunch from November 8 also has excellent alternate takes of songs.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/BeatleBrunch_8Nov09.mp3]