Category: Legacy

Posted on by lhl

webGUI is a discussion list for people interested in talking about the present and future of building thin-client applications which are pre-dominantly but not solely distributed and displayed using the standard available technologies of the world wide web: HTTP, HTML++, Flash, Java, plug-ins, ActiveX, new W3C standards, new XML standards, etc.

Posted on by lhl

CD Baby is a great online record store which sell’s only indie CD’s (indie as in directly from musicians w/ no distributors). They also run a slash-based community site and are doing business like gangbusters, recently breaking $3 million in musician payouts (musicians get $6-12 per CD). Oh, and they answer their email super fast – 2 minutes at 11:30PM. 🙂

Minor quibbles: they have a ‘wishlist’ feature, but it’s only enabled if you have an account, which can only be made if you start an order (it in fact doesn’t appear at all unless you’re logged in). The wishlist is really important because it’s the most convenient way to store out of stock items. Another quibble with the wishlist,: it’d be nice to move (instead of copy) from your cart to wishlist.

I’ve been playing around w/ Dia (dia Win32 Installer) again recently, so in keeping with the recent flow craziness, here’s how I think it should work:

fixed wishlist interaction

Posted on by lhl

My old NEX II MP3 player just recently died on me. I started taking it apart, and it looks like I might be able to do some soldering to possibly get it working, but chances are slim (approximately corresponding to my soldering skills). It looks like the new NEX ia is coming out though, with voice/FM recording, better firmware, and possible Ogg Vorbis support, among other things. I sent an email to see what the recording quality is (hopefully with line-in capabilities), and to see if some slightly annoying NEX II bugs have been fixed.

From correspondence w/ Frontier Labs:

  • improvements: multiple folder support, alphabetical song listing, more buffering, improved shuffle (but no m3u support, so you’ll want to keep your CopyNex handy – see also: FATSort, PlaylistExpander)
  • Ogg Vorbis is actually being worked on, for the NEX II’s as well as the NEX ia and will be released as a firmware upgrade
  • 64Kbps recording (can record at higher bitrates, but no selection mechanism in the firmware right now)
  • No (recording) level-meter
  • No line-in, the only external input is the built-in voice recording microphone
  • Can play back MP3 files at the same time as recording

Perception Digital has a PD-095-01 Portable MP3 player which has a can record from an internal mic, FM, or a line-in at 13Kbps voice or 48-320kbps MP3 (!). That’s pretty frickin’ awesome. It’s a little bit on the chunkier side, and only accepts SmartMedia, no Compact Flash though. Still, tempting, if I could find some uesr reviews…

The e.Digital Odyssey 300 (SmartMedia) looks interesting, although it also looks like it’s no longer available. [the Mpio DMB+ looks like the same thing]

Also, PoGo! Products has their RipFlash line of Recordable Digital Audio Players (the TRIO is one w/ mic and line in, but is not memory expandable). Uses SD/MMC… (CNet RipFlash DX review)

See Also: minidisc.org’s Portable Recorders with Uploading Facilities list.

Places to buy: e.Digital Odyseey 300, PoGo! RipFlash Trio, Perception Digital Hercules (PD-095-01), NEX + accessories

Posted on by lhl

Independents’ day – What record industry slump? Independent labels say business has never been better. Some good /. postings:

For the record, I’m an artist. That’s what I do for a living. Copyright’s very important to me, but jail time for somebody downloading or distributing a copy of my work is ridiculous. I’d rather just figure out a way to work with them on it. If they’re willing to redistribute my work, then maybe there’s a deal that can be made there. “At least advertise my deal for purchasing stuff.”

The only time I’d be really worried about somebody redistributing my stuff is if they’re making money off it illegally. That’s really what copyright law is for. It’s not about suing America’s future.