Until I started doing DIY recording for my brother's rock band, I didn't have the skill to tell much difference in sound quality. However, when mixing lots of different instrument audio and actively paying attention to the EQ bands, my ears started to have the ability to discriminate between frequencies and hear how they fit together better in a song mix.

It's the same thing that happens when you learn how to hear the different notes on the musical scale. As a beginner it's hard to tell if something's sharp or flat, but as you practice it becomes obvious.

Essentially I learned to hear better quality by actively paying close attention to it. I can easily discern the difference between an .mp3 and an uncompressed file format these days.

That's why audiophiles are such snobs, they feel like they have a superior skill that an ignorant listener just doesn't understand, and basically they're right (even if they're also a bit obnoxious about it)

However, for typical pop music and rock, it really doesn't matter that much. For subtle music, and when listening with a good stereo or headphones is where it's obvious. And even then it's a marginal gain. I don't mind listening to a decently encoded .mp3, it still maintains most of the important frequency info. I only have about a dozen albums I listen to in an uncompressed format and those recordings are all orchestrations.

I will say though, when one really listens to a well engineered and an impressive musical performance on proper gear it can be an awesome experience. I think that's what the audiophiles might lament most, that folks are missing that opportunity. I'd point out that such has always been the case though regardless of digital or analog recording.

He acknowledged his actions, but never apologizes for them. He still considers himself a victim.

It's everyone else's fault but his.

This is what I get from the article. My bet is that the folks that had to deal with him knowingly threw him into a legal bureaucracy that would have dire consequences and let him suffer for it. Why?

Because he was a grade-a asshole. Nothing he did technically deserved the sum or the ordeal he went through, but you best believe everybody that had to deal with the guy were more than pleased to send him into it and were eager to humble the son of a bitch.

Think there's anyway we could get Karl Rove to fly BA?

I observed left wing ideology satire in the bottom of my coffee cup. The dried up grounds made an analogous Rorschach pattern that would certainly give Dick Cheney the willies if he had seen it before I let the barista throw it in the sink.

It looked like Richard Nixon giving the bullocks to Checkers. That's what I saw in it anyway. Boy, Cheney would be mad --if only he saw that!

Lame article. Why attach somewhat insightful reasoning to some fantasy hatred of the VP's tastes in popular entertainment? Seems petty and sad to me.

When I grab stuff from iTunes I can start watching it WHILE it's downloading. Since it downloads faster than it takes to view the program in real time I'm, in effect, streaming the content.

I watched about 6 episodes of "The Office" like this just a few days ago.

3MB Illustrations of sexually alluring faeries on a dark canvas. That's at least, what, about 15 percent of the background abuse on My-space? That's my informal guess.

It's lame and tacky if one wants it to be so. Or, just lame and tacky 'kuz it reflects the normal user.

Not to mention the horrendous ads.

I delved into the html options and redesigned and cleaned up my band's Myspace page on the first day we had an account. Sadly, lots of folks like that kitchy mystical hoo-hah. Welcome to the typical American aesthetic. Velvet art goes digital.

I haven't bothered with facebook because it's been shut out from the broad public, but I'll check it out. Hopefully it's better than the others. Livejournal is a nasty offender too.

No, I can't imagine Ernie Harwell behaving this way. Check out the audio link.

http://www.wcbs880.com/pages/425245.php?contentType=4&contentId=47322

"Oh My Gawd!"

Uh, I can imagine my life without a cell phone, because I don't have one. I gave it up 4 years ago. Phone calls don't have to be instantaneous whenever one gets the desire to make one. Yes, believe it or not, it is true.

I cannot be contacted 24 hours a day. For me, my quality of life improves because of that fact.

What's up with Airbus? Are their designs apt to failure? Are they less forgiving if a pilot makes a mistake? From what I read about their operation, the flight computer has contributed to some serious accidents by mis-interpreting the needs and commands of the pilot. Is this true?

The sky is blue.

Um, here's the thing, the administration knew they could/can get away with it and once they uncorked the genie that's all that matters. The rationale getting to the goal isn't important, the deed is and was.

If there was an opposition party that had principles and could do something about it, this would matter. We don't and it doesn't.

Tangle yourselves up in he said/she said for the next 50 years. It's a moot point. The time to make a difference and push back or make a stand against the PNAC ideals was before, and that's the unfortunate reality.

I'm gonna buy a nano.

It is a products that delivers what I want; Nothing more, nothing less, and at a price point I agree with.

I'm pretty sure there might be more people that feel these recent Apple products worthwhile than those that do not. And even if that's a false assumption, Apple is still going to sell alot of these devices.

Your blog doesn't display properly on my Safari browser. CSS hover tags perhaps?