Some Thoughts On NetMD

Sony's stopped updating their original NetMD software for transferring music files from a computer to a MD recorder about the same time they stopped making the recorders themselves. But fear not, intrepid MD Warriors! Several very industrious devotees have stepped up and created software that is—for all intents and purposes—better than Sony's original.

One of them is PlatinumMD:

I couldn't get this working the first time I tried it, but apparently the author released an update that works with the M-series Macs, and now it works just fine. The downside is that a bunch of ancillary code must be installed via HomeBrew in order for this to work at all, and not being at all familiar with HomeBrew, I really didn't have a clue what I was doing. But it worked…

Another one is WebMD Pro (requires the Chrome browser, which I loathe). Fortunately there is also a standalone application, electronwmd that has native MacOS support built-in:

Until I got Platinum MD working, this was my go-to NetMD application, and it's astoundingly simple interface is what still brings me back when I need to do some quick-and-dirty editing (or verify that what I did in PlatinumMD actually worked).

Finally, today I discovered NetMDWizard, a nifty application that lets you directly transfer/encode music tracks from CD to MD:

When recording, the absolute best quality you can get is a direct optical cable connection between your CD player and your MD deck. That being said, the whole NetMD ecosystem produces results that I (and many others) are hard pressed to find fault with. For all intents, the MD recordings sound as good as the originals. Yeah, yeah, I know…converting from one lossy codec to another will produce undesirable artifacts, but except for some minor sibilance heard with certain percussive instruments—or strident overtones heard with certain electronic compositions (and then only when recording in SP2 mode)—the quality certainly is good enough that unless you have the hearing of an 18-year-old, you'll never notice any degradation.

 

The Real Cost Of This Hobby

The initial outlay for the equipment is one thing, of course. But then there's the discs (both new and "recycled," currently in the range of about $3-4 a pop) and all the ancillary stuff: glossy sticker paper, X-acto blades, cutting mat, Goo-Gone to remove existing labels…and then the toll the labeling itself has taken on my fingernails! (I finally got smart and bought a plastic scraper and blades.)

Still…it brings me joy and keeps my mind off everything else that's going on in the world.

DO SOMETHING

And it is doubly insulting to Michelle Obama that the same MAGA folks who were okay with Trump and Melania refusing to attend Biden's inauguration are the ones who are outraged at Michelle's decision.

Let's not forget, Trump attempted a coup, and in any other developed democratic republic would not have been allowed to run for office again–and most likely would be doing jail time or be in exile.

Given that–ALL of the former presidents and first ladies should have refused to attend the traitor Trump's inauguration in protest.

Michelle is the only one who was strong enough to do the right thing.

The Week In STOOPID

From Jeff Tiedrich:

As another stupid week comes to a close here in America, let's look back at some of the highlights.


monday: who would Jesus infect

it's been a hot minute, so let's check in on America's new christofascist overlords. here's newly-elected Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.

"with your help, together, we will make Indiana a truly free state … where we can raise our children as God intended, without interference by woke schools, doctors or courts … where we are no longer vaxxed or masked."

sure, absolutely. it's a well-known fact that Jesus was all about spreading preventable diseases. it's right there in the Sermon on the Mount: blessed are the science-deniers, for they will choke to death on their own infectious mucus.

I'm no scholar, but I'm pretty sure that there's nothing in the Bible about vaccinations — but as long as we're going to adhere to "God's intentions," here's one he's pretty specific about.

if you wear linen and wool at the same time, you should be fucking slaughtered.

Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

that's good old Leviticus 19:19. now here's Leviticus 19:27.

Ye shall not round off the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.

what do you have to say for yourself, Todd, you infidel? because it looks to me like you're definitely marring the corners of thy beard.

that's what I love about these cristofascist hypocrites. they cherry-pick the Bible to prove whatever oppressive notion they want to inflict on the rest of us — but when it comes to actually adhering to the laws that are right there in the Bible, it's fucking crickets.


tuesday: hly fcking sht, lern hw to fcking spel

Tuesday was Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing, and Senate Republicans brought all the props out in support of his candidacy — because nothing says I'm a serious legislator whose issues should be taken seriously more than misspelling the word military.

in their own defense, Senate Republicans had been out all night getting hammered with Piss-Drunk Pete, and were too hung over the next morning to notice.


wednesday: I download Supreme Court decisions for the idiocy

during oral arguments regarding a Texas law requiring age verification in order to access porn sites, Fishin' Trip Sammy Alito raised a cogent question.

"Justice Alito is asking if websites like Pornhub have 'essays, modern day Gore Vidal, stuff like that' like the old Playboy."

um, who wants to tell him?

I suppose on the one hand, it's admirable that Steal Stoppin' Sammy should be so ignorant of the online porn experience that he'd ask such a ludicrous question — but on the other hand: why the fuck are ancient white men allowed to rule on technologies they're too out-of-touch to understand?

remember the old "the internet is a series of tubes" meme? here's where it came from: an old white man who had no clue what he was gibbering about.

back in 2006, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was railing against streaming services. he wanted to shut them down. he was convinced they were going to break the internet — because, as he explained it, the internet is "a series of tubes." here is exactly what Senator Stevens said.

"And again, the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material."

these people should not be setting policy affecting millions of Americans. they should be enjoying a nice, hot cup of shut the fuck up in a managed care facility.

oh, and for the record, "I download porn for the articles" is a joke I made twelve years ago.

you're welcome.


thursday: mirth of an abomination

oh frabjous day, the toxic incels are at it again.

pro tip: posting shit like this is proof you've failed as a human being.

also, can you fucking idiots get your stories straight?

just two weeks ago, the Space Nazi was extolling the virtues of c-sections — promising that if women would opt out of giving birth the old-fashioned way, all of us could have brains as big as his.

"There are certainly other factors at play, but heavy use of c-sections allows for a larger brain, as brain size has historically been limited by birth canal diameter."

so which is it, incels?


friday: stand back, Rand Paul's about to say something stupid

while writing these daily posts, there's a line find myself I using over and over: "it's so easy to solve all the world's problems when you have no fucking clue what you're talking about." the reason I keep repeating it, is because Republicans keep proving it's true.

here's failed wig model Rand Paul, explaining how he knows more about water management than all the water managers.

"I see these homes burning and I'm like wow, if they just had a generator and a hose, you start sucking the water out of the The Pacific Ocean. but you can do more than that. you can pump it and put it in cisterns up in the hills a mile or two in. why don't they take the ocean water and put it in cisterns have a bunch of water ready when a wildfire shows up? once again, bad local government."

hey everybody, Rand Paul just invented reservoirs. that's some Nobel Prizewinning stuff right there.

this fucking arrogant asshole, lecturing Los Angeles on why don't you just have reservoirs?

you nincompoop, Los Angeles has reservoirs. plenty of them. and they were all full when the fires started. that's not the issue. Rand Paul is conveniently forgetting about the part where LA was dealing with literal hurricanes made out of fire that were too massive and fast-moving to control or contain — by any fire department, anywhere.

talking out of your ass from the floor of the Senate is easy. actually dealing with problems is hard — and Republicans are proving it every day.


saturday: ?

hey, it's still morning as I sit here writing this. but give it time, I guarantee you that some dipshit wingnut is going to do something stupid before the day is over. you can set your watch to it.

Yet Another Quote For Today

Tom Nichols, writer for The Atlantic, on The Felon:

"Paradoxically, however, [The Felon]'s reckless venality is a reason for hope. [The Felon] has the soul of a fascist but the mind of a disordered child. He will likely be surrounded by terrible but incompetent people. All of them can be beaten: in court, in Congress, in statehouses around the nation, and in the public arena. America is a federal republic, and the states—at least those in the union that will still care about democracy—have ways to protect their citizens from a rogue president. Nothing is inevitable, and democracy will not fall overnight."

There will be methods to contain The Felon, even though the GOP will goosestep for Hair Furor every chance they get.

[source]

Quote Of The Day

What did Liberals do that was so offensive to the Republican Party? I'll tell you what they did. Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed Liberals on every one of those things, every one. So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work because I will pick that label up and wear it as a badge of honor." ~ Lawrence O'Donnell

Marching Orders For Democrats

First: Do not help Republicans. Not in any way. On any issue. Republicans can't pass a budget, or raise the debt ceiling? Tough luck. Do not provide them any bailout votes on any issue. Period, the end.¹

Second: Make Donald Trump own every bad outcome that happens, anywhere in the world while paying special attention to areas where Republicans are particularly vulnerable. Like housing and Ukraine.

BUT WILL THEY DO IT?