Nobody is asking me what my computer speakers are, that make differences in audio quality so apparent. So I’ll ask for you!
These are my speakers — the Logitech Z-3. c|net gave them only a so-so review, but I think they’re very good, and besides, J&R Musicworld had them for only $45, plus $5 shipping. They’ve been replaced by the Z-4.
Friday, December 8, has no entry. It’s blank. The day that John Lennon was killed in 1980. I’d like to say I did that intentionally, to symbolize the space that could never be filled; but, the fact is, I screwed up.
The first Beatles song that I was aware as being “a John song,” was “I Feel Fine.” I’ve always considered “I Feel Fine” to be very innovative, and not just for the guitar feedback intro. To me it represents the point when The Beatles started to really break away musically from Beatlemania.
The audio player has the original single, 42 years old, that belonged to my big sister. Perhaps it still does, but she’ll never get it back! 😉 When that finishes, a second track will kick in with take 6 of the instrumental for “I Feel Fine.” This one you won’t find on “Anthology.”
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Sounds/Wordpress/DEC06/IFeelFine45.mp3,http://www.dograt.com/Sounds/Wordpress/DEC06/IFeelFine.mp3]Technical note: Listen to the cymbals in the left channel of the studio session recording. Hear the smearing and slurping effect? The original is perfectly clear and clean. This is a good example of where 128 Kbps MP3 comes up short.
This is the start of the most significant blog posts I can ever possibly make. It’s about the most incredible and amazing magazine article I ever read, or ever could read, published in my lifetime. It predicted the future with uncanny accuracy. It’s about people who said, “This is what we are going to do.” And they did it.
Let me show you an example of what I’m talking about. Here is a laptop for accessing the Net.
The year? 1972. That isn’t a typo. I’m talking about the year of the Watergate break-in. More in Part 2, coming up.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/NOV06/Wizard.flv 425 240]
NOTE: This is a special guest blog written by honorable son Eric:
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17 years before Nintendo’s motion-sensing Wiimote/Nunchaku, there was the Power Glove for the NES. An interesting early experiment in gaming technology, it was a barely functioning “glove” that sensed your arm and finger motions and let you control games with them. In stark contrast to the Wiimote’s small and slim sensor bar, the Power Glove required that you place these three somewhat bulky sensors on the corners of your TV. It sold fairly well due to a successful marketing campaign, but it was totally impractical to use when compared to the normal controller. The Power Glove was immortalized in the 1989 movie The Wizard, starring Fred Savage and a ton of Nintendo product placements. The clip above contains the infamous scene! “I love the Power Glove. It’s so bad.” That quote can be taken in several different ways, don’t you think? |
The history of radio technology is clearly understood. There is little doubt as to who did what technically, and who did what to whom. Television has a much muddier picture, because there were many people working independently on its creation.
Edwin Armstrong made AM radio practical and he invented FM radio. Philo Farnsworth invented purely electronic (as distinct from mechanical) television. Both men were destroyed by David Sarnoff, a founder of RCA and its longtime chairman. More about “General” Sarnoff later.
AT&T — the original Ma Bell — had one of the labs that was trying to come up with a working TV system. In April, 1927, two months before my late mother was born, AT&T demonstrated mechanical television with 50 lines of resolution. Click here to read a bit about it, and see a simulation of how the picture may have looked. The photo above is of Edna Mae Horner, “one good-looking girl with fluffy hair,” who appeared on camera during the demonstration.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Movies/Wordpress/NOV06/South_Park.flv 400 300]
Eric has, at last, experienced the eagerly-anticipated Nintendo Wii! At a demo kiosk in the Natick Mall.
It’s been a long wait for the Wii, which was originally going to be called the Revolution. Here’s hoping Santa does a good job making sure they’re in ample supply for the Holidays Christmas! No! Wait! I got that backwards. Holidays Christmas. *Whew* There, that’s better.
There’s another Eric who’s anxious to play the Nintendo Wii. The foul-mouthed kid on South Park. Well, every kid on South Park is foul-mouthed. The language on the video above has been reasonably cleaned up with some judicious editing.
I’m not particularly a fan of the show, in part because of the needlessly gratuitous profanity. I made a point of watching the Scientology show, however, and it was quite good. I’m not saying the writers don’t score points against their targets, but for me the swearing muddies the message.
