The Others

_candide_

03:03 pm - CD Ripping in Recent Distros

My favorite CD ripping program, Grip, appears to be dead.

To make it worse, Grip and HAL don't play well together. HAL takes over the CDROM drive, causing Grip to think that there's no disk.

Unforunately, the alternatives aren't nearly as full-featured.

One that has most of the features that I want is the KDE application, K3B. Turns out that it not only burns CD/DVDs, but rips them, too. But getting it to rip MP3s takes a bit of work.

First, you need to put in an audio CD and select "rip Audio CD" before you can change the MP3 settings.

1. Next, click "Start Ripping". Don't worry … it won't start ripping the CD.
2. Under the format, select "MP3", then click the spocket icon next to it.
3. In the window that opens, select "lame" and click the "Edit" button.
4. Make sure that the command reads

   lame -h --add-id3v2 -b 128 --tt %t --tn %n --ta %a --tl %m --ty %y --tc %c - %f

   The -b 128 arg sets the bitrate to 128k. If you want VBR, use "-V2" or similar (see the lame manpage).
5. Make sure that the "Swap bytes" and "Wave Header" boxes are checked.
6. Click "OK" in each of the windows.
7. Click the disk-icon (which saves the current settings as defaults.

Current Mood: accomplished

grrm

06:27 pm - Wild Card Weekend

Wild Card Weekend is almost upon us. No, I'm not talking about SUICIDE KINGS this time -- although this weekend would be a great opportunity to go out and buy it -- but about the NFL.

The Giants are out, but the Jets are still in it (it's good to have two teams), travelling to Cincinnati for a rematch with the Bengals. Needless to say, I'll be pulling hard for this game to turn out the same way as the last one. Cincy will be playing all their starters this time, so I expect the game will be closer, but I do think the Jets have an excellent chance of winning again and advancing to the next round. Let's Go Jets!

That's the game that matters most to me, of course... but it's no fun watching a football game unless you care about the outcome, so I'll be rooting for certain teams and against others in the other three wild card games as well.

I hate Evil Little Bill, so of course I will be cheering for the Ravens to upset the Patriots and eliminate them from this year's tournament. I have mixed feelings about the Ravens themselves. I don't much like Ray Lewis, but I've always been fond of Bawlmer, and of course I am an Edgar Allen Poe fan. But I'd cheer for almost anyone against the Vile BB.

I also hate the Philadelphia Eagles, but not as much as I hate the Dallas Cowboys, so I guess I have to cheer on Donovan McNabb and company. If the Cowboys get eliminated, extending their long drought of playoff victories, Jerry Jones will probably fire Wade Phillips and the Cowboys will start all over with a new coach, which always causes a certain amount of chaos.

So here's hoping the Eagles win. (Then next week I can cheer for someone else to beat them).

In the Arizona - Green Bay game, my feelings are mixed. I think Green Bay treated Brett Favre shabbily; but then, I'm more a "loyalty" guy than one of those "it's a business" guys. On the other hand, I love the Green Bay fans, the history and tradition, and the fact that the team is publically owned, rather than being the personal plaything of some asswipe billionaire like Jerry Jones. (More teams should be publically owned). On the Cardinals side, I like Kurt Warner, who was a class act when he was with the Giants, as a mentor to Eli. But I don't like the Bidwells, or the fact that the Cardinals still refuse to give up the championship they stole from the Pottsville Maroons. Tough call... but Pottsville takes it. May the curse endure. Go Packers!

Current Mood: chipper

grrm

12:37 pm - Learn to Write Good

Judging by the emails I receive, there are a lot of aspiring writers among my readership.

I wanted to make mention of a couple of summer writing programs that might be of interest to you.

First, the legendary Clarion workshop, which began with Damon Knight in Clarion College, Pennsylvania, and is now in scenic San Diego. An intensive six-week writer's boot camp that will make you, break you, maybe change your life. I will be one of the instructors at this year's Clarion, along with Delia Sherman, Dale Bailey, Samuel R. Delany, Jeff Vandermeer, and Anne Vandermeer. For more details, check out

http://clarion.ucsd.edu/

Applications for Clarion are being accepted now, and will close on March 1... so if you've ever wanted to have me read and critique your work, and learn the secret handshake and the diagonal relationship, speak now or hold your peace until the next time I do a workshop (which probably won't be for a few more years).

[[ I do NOT read unpublished manuscripts that are mailed or emailed to me, so don't even think that. I do my teaching and critiquing only with a workshop context. And sorry, no, I won't be your mentor.]]

Clarion has been helping to turn out professional SF and fantasy writers since the 60s. Maybe you're the next one. You'll never know unless you apply. But be warned, only a few are chosen. Admissions are extremely competitive, with only one of five applicants getting in.

For writers who are already published, but are looking to take the next step in their careers, there is the Taos Toolbox, founded and run by my friend Walter Jon Williams and held right here in scenic New Mexico.

http://www.taostoolbox.com

Walter Jon's pitches his Toolbox as more of a "graduate study" program, for writers with a bit more experience. Graduates of Clarion, Clarion West, and Odyssey, neopros with a few sales under their belts, even journeymen looking to improve. I am not connected with the Toolbox, but I did a guest lecture there a few years ago, and it struck me as a great program. This year Nancy Kress will be assisting WJW with the teaching, and Carrie Vaughn (of Kitty and Wild Cards fame) will be giving a guest lecture. And when you're not writing, reading, critiquing, or listening to lectures, hey, you'll be in Taos.

Clarion Workshop and the Taos Toolbox. If you want to write, check 'em out.

Current Mood: optimistic

grrm

01:56 pm - Giants D

Various sources are reporting the Pepper Johnson might be a candidate for the defensive coordinator opening on the Giants, created when Bill Sheridan was released.

That would be a risk, maybe -- Pepper doesn't have the experience of most of the other candidates -- but it's one I'd be glad to take. I have fond memories of Pepper from his days in the Giants defense of the late 80s and early 90s. He was always a fiery competition, a real leader, and the Giants defense desperately needs some fire right now. The last thing we want is another Xs and Os guy like Sheridan. Pepper has never been a coordinator... but neither had Steve Spagnuolo until Coughlin hired him, and Spags was great.

Other reported contenders include Dick Jauron, Romeo Crennel, Percy Fewell, Bob Sutton, and George Edwards. Some of them might be okay... but if it was me, I'd go for Pepper.

Current Mood: contemplative

grrm

11:42 am - Adventures in 2010

Life is magical... but full of pain.

The Jets are in the playoffs. Who woulda thunk it, a couple of weeks ago? The game against the Bengals was certainly impressive. Can they do it again, though? We'll see.

The Giants didn't play. I don't know who those guys in their unis were, but they sure were inept.

Goodbye, Bill Sheridan. A good guy, by all reports, but a horrendous defensive coordinator.

I meant to post yesterday on the weekend's games, but got busy writing instead, and finished a Tyrion chapter that I've been struggling with for six months. Nibbling away at that knot. We'll see if the finished chapter holds up to reread and polish today.

Current Mood: busy

ww0308

04:16 pm

The shopping mall was a grand failure of socialist thinking!

grrm

02:31 pm - Happy New Year

2010. Who would believe it? We're in another Arthur C. Clarke novel.

Here's hoping all of you have a great year.

Current Mood: bouncy

ww0308

03:20 pm

I just finished a book I borrowed the other day from my aunt: The Soup Peddler's Slow and Difficult Soups: Recipes and Reveries, a book by and about David Ansel, who started a South Austin business a few years ago making soup and delivering it by bicycle. It's quite clearly and heavily self-censored, as befits a diplomatic businessman's autobiography, but still does a great job telling the story of how he started his company, and for featherlight reading, it's wonderfully entertaining. The best part is most definitely the local color, and although plenty of the stories are new to me, there's no question that this is the Austin I know and love.

_candide_

07:56 pm - …aaaaand Now He's Home Again!

epinoid drove home today. I decided that, before it got overcast, I'd take a drive through the Catskills. I usually berate myself for wanting to do that, that it's a waste of money, of time, of gas. But it's also very pretty. I just wish that I'd had more time today, so that I could've gone for a stroll in the snow someplace.

Current Mood: content

ww0308

10:55 pm

How I came to steward the only urban high-density mixed-fruit orchard in Central Texas: A Cautionary Tale. Thanks to _fool for the link to this great story!

grrm

09:56 am - Life Is...

... meaningless and full of pain... but sometimes it gives you an unexpected gift.

The Giants game was a disgrace. Bill Sheridan has to go. How he could destroy the Giants defense in a single year, when he had all the players Steve Spagnuolo had and then some, is a mystery for the ages.

And the Jets... well, yeah, I'm glad they got the W, but really... call me old school, but I believe a team should play hard every week, no matter what. What Caldwell did was a disgrace. A nice late Xmas present for Gang Green, sure, but all the other teams contending for the AFC wild card must be steaming, and Peyton and the other Colts first-stringers looked none too happy on the sidelines either. I would not be the least surprised if the Happy Horseshoes make an early exit from the playoffs after this. Disgraceful.

Meanwhile, back in the Meadowlands, I can only hope that the final Jets home game in Giants Stadium has a happier result than the final Giants home game.

Current Mood: disappointed