Product Review

PMX 60 Neckband Headphones

Can’t beat it with a stick

So I was recently down in the Data Center, doing my usual overnight equipment setup, configuration, cable making or whatever. I had received a set of Sennheiser MX 500 earbud style headphones for Christmas, and I was listening to my iPod with them. Their cord length is just about perfect, maybe a touch too short, but generally, if I run them down my back, it keeps the wires from getting in my way, and I keep my front clear and can still listen to my tunes. Continued use, though, showed me that my ears just aren’t shaped real well to hold onto the buds very well, and over time, they need to be fidgeted with to get them to stay in, and even then, I’m not getting what I would consider well focused, directed sound.

So in doing a bit more research, the next best option seemed to be neckband style headphones. Having heard good things about Sennheiser, and having experienced the quality of the sound on the earbuds, I figured I’d try their product in this line, the PMX 60. The basic specs and a quick click on the ‘Technical Data’ link will show some pretty impressive figures for sound clarity and quality. But you know… ultimately, I need to listen to them. I want it loud, with very wide range songs, and I want it directed well along the ‘sound path’ in my ears. I just received them, and have since listened to them on a variety of sources, from the iPod to my computer to the output from the stereo/tv receiver.

Holy crap are these things nice. The sound clarity is excellent. Tones are rich and deep, never tinny and high are nice and crisp. Tone definition along the range is clear and distinct with no muddling up or smoothing along any part of the range. Just damn nice.

Another thing occurs to me too with these. I always assumed that the wraparound neckband style phones would have some sort of adjustment that would accomodate people of different head/neck sizes. They don’t. But you know something? They fit perfectly. Is this some strange new universal constant? Is the distance from the back of the neck to the top of the ears the same for every person on the planet? Color me befuddled, but grateful.

In short, I’m completely sold on Sennheiser products. These are just another in a very strong line of quality audio products, and I’d recommend them to anyone who tolerates me long enough to ask.

[xrr rating=9/10]

Comment spam effort

So, ever since I’ve put this up in this format, I’ve been trying to control the comment SPAM that seems to plague blogs on a periodic basis. If you’re not familiar with this concept, count yourself among the fortunate. My first effort was simply to force that all comments would require moderation. This was good, and it did help, but it ultimately doesn’t solve the problem. It just means I have to go in and ‘clean up’ the comment moderation queue every once in awhile of all the crap in there.
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Upgrade

Moved to WordPress 1.5, and with the exception of having to do a little bit of reworking of my theme, it was nice and clean. Very impressive team, good job! I’m going to start looking through the plugins again when I get a chance, and see if there’s anything new I want to implement. In the meantime, thanks again for making a great product that makes keeping my site(s) up to date.

Checking in…

For those of you who read this more than you talk to me, I did finally hear back from eBay at the end of the day Friday. Their HR rep called and left a message, indicating that he wanted me to give him a call back so we could discuss “next steps”. I’m pretty relieved now. I think this means that we’re now into the negotiation stage, and past the stage where they’re questioning whether or not I can do the job they need me to do. So yay!

So how do you rate it

I’m currently in the process of entertaining an offer from one company, and my current employer is countering with their own. At the moment, I don’t have numbers from either of them. In the meantime, I’m going to assume that both of them come in with good salary figures, and that all other parts of the compensation package (401k, medical, bonus plans, etc) are roughly equivalent.

At that point, I have some pretty deep decision making to do. I need to somehow quantify the important things in a job (non-compensation), rate them on some relatively arbitrary scale and try and see which one comes out on top. To some extent, I find this a useful exercise even if I weren’t in the job market. It help you realize the things you do think are important in your job satisfaction, and keep mental score as you go to your job everyday.
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I’m Happy and Sad for you

I wanted to try and introduce the Style Switcher into my site to give people some options on how to display things. I realized fairly quickly that, at least in the case of that particular style switcher mod, that I would have needed to have introduced that concept before I started making significant changes to the index.php file or css file to achieve the current effect.
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Music Review

eMOTIVe – A Perfect Circle

Must Have

So yeah. I was doing some reading on their site, as well as a few fansites. There was alot of speculation on some sort of contractual obligation the group may have had with their publisher to produce a third album or whatever. Before purchasing, I was completely convinced that a “covers album” coming from them would be, while perhaps musically pretty good, of somewhat low production value, and perhaps also hastily pushed out the door.

I’m pleased to say that this is simply not the case. This is a tasty piece of work. Production value is excellent, having been handled artfully by Billy Howerdel. The general theme (appropriately timed) is all about the evils of War. While all of them are good, several of the songs stand out in particular.

The remake of “Imagine” (John Lennon) is dark and somber, definitely setting a different tone from the original. It almost gives the song a whole different message, just by changing the tone. “What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye) is also done in a completely downbeat mode, slowing the song down and making it almost heart-wrenchingly sad. “People are People” (Depeche Mode) was a particular treat for me, since I was a huge fan of DM growing up. In particular note about this one is that the original song is almost completely gone. If you were to listen to just the tune of it, you would never even know what it was. As soon as the vocals begin, though, it becomes obvious, and man, what a great variation.

Finally, to finish off the list is “Fiddle and the Drum” (Joni Mitchell). Holy shit this is good. I can’t compare it to the original since I haven’t heard that. It was both re-arranged by and sung by (all voices harmonized) Maynard. I have to say, this is just a masterpiece. I’ve had several … I’ll call them ‘episodes’ of listening to just this song (all 3 minutes of it) over and over for 20 or 30 minutes. It is completely haunting and melodic. And the lyrics (thanks Joni!!) are masterful and poignant. Phew.

Anyway, I was awed. A definite must have.

[xrr rating=8.5/10]

Book Review

State of Fear – Michael Crichton

Provocative

Say whatever you want about the quality of his body of work, but one thing is indisputable, the man does his research. Furthermore, this book inspires me to do more of my own research. It made me (or has made me) genuinely interested in discovering just how much of his view is real vs. more media nonsense. The topic at hand is Global Warming, and this book dissects a view that I was not previously familiar with. In larger scope, it re-examines (not a new idea, by any stretch), just how much influence media, and politic-driven media, specifically has a rnd can have over our country, and in fact, the world’s perception of the problems we all face.
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RPG idea

Every once in awhile, I get struck with some idea when I’m in bed, half asleep, and after that, my mind won’t rest as it explores the possibilities of that idea. I just had such a moment.

One thing we’ve been talking about recently is to revitalize our pencil/paper/dice RPG experience again, and I offered to GM. So I’m lying there almost asleep (having woken up to hit the bathroom or something), and it strikes me that I could modify the ‘stock’ ad&d d20 rules to emulate some of the rich gameplay that Asheron’s Call has. I’m going to make a few notes here to whet my appetite, and then start opening some documents to get this down more formally.
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Machine Reinstall

There is nothing I hate more in the world than having to reinstall my computer. I mean, there’s a history you develop as you install applications, and leave all the crap and cruft on the drive from a year plus of usage. But this time, I didn’t have a choice. Fortunately, I segment my system drive from the rest of my data, so I don’t lose anything. But that doesn’t mean I’m spared the pain of reinstalling the 100+ applications and utilities I either actively or semi-actively use. And that isn’t even including games. BAH.
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Frightening

I was just sent an email from a good friend of mine. He tends to be pretty politically active, staying on top of issues both local and federal. He’s especially concerned about environmental things, reinforced by his wife being employed in that field as well (she works for an international symposium on global environmental concerns).

What he forwarded me was the text from this speech. Take a moment to read that so the rest of this post will have some meaning. First, I want to make sure this is taken in context. No, it isn’t true that every single religious affiliation or group believes the things mentioned in there, or that every right wing voter necessarily holds those things to be truths. It does, however, cast a more cynical eye on something that has been bothering me for some time.
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A general statement on health

The years have not been kind. No … I need to rephrase that. I have not been kind to myself over the years. Yeah, thats better. In my advanced age of 34 (har), I am now starting to feel all the deliterious effects of the abuses of my youth, and the continued effects of my overall sloth.

And you know, its the stupid little things that remind you of it, that something’s not right, or that something needs to be fixed. Vaulting up 15 steps, and being winded. Bending over to tie your shoes and feeling uncomfortable because your gut is in the way. An afternoon spent walking around in a local shopping district leaves you tired, cranky and sore. Oh, not to mention the obvious of not having clothes fitting that used to, etc.
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Holidays

So now we approach another end of year, and lots of people get all reflective and try and do life analysis, figure out where to try and improve and all that. I still assert, and pretty much always have, that every single day is cause for celebration. I realize that based on particular religious practice, or perhaps to celebrate particular a particular person or some country’s achievement. All well and good, I’m down with that.

To me, though … I wake up every day pretty damn thankful that I’m still breathing. I don’t need any more cause than that to celebrate a day. Similarly, I don’t need any other reason to be reflective and try to find ways to improve my life and health.

Happy Holidays and New Year to you and yours.

Peace.

Name chosen

Smidge. As in Smidgen, or Smidgin, or however you’d prefer to spell that.

New puppy!!!!

Yay. We did it. No name yet. She was puppy #2028 from the Lifeline Puppy Rescue in Colorado. I’ve added in two pics below!!

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