prolific.org » bernhard

Fair play to them, I reckon

Caroline — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 00:41:24 +0000

Getting married to the love of your life, thirty years after you first met, that’s the real fairytale, innit?

Seems like a safe way to play it, I think…
Rogue – 09 April 2005 – 18:23

shrek 3
swanz (link) – 10 April 2005 – 01:17

I’m so glad you said that. I think theirs is a wonderful love story. Talk about overcoming!
Mark (link) – 10 April 2005 – 05:38

…holy jaysus…i watched the whole thing yesterday here from belfast….i was kind of thinking the same…though i cannot really warm up to both of them….but anyway…nice they made it after all.
bernhard (link) – 10 April 2005 – 16:08

I’m not only usually a complete cynic (oh, you noticed), but I’m also the type of person who thinks the Royal Family should be hoofed out of Buck House and watch as we tear it down and become a republic. So I’ve been surprising myself with my opinion of these recent events.

In summary: I agree.
Vaughan (link) – 12 April 2005 – 00:06

I got a really strong ‘royuls are peepul too, y’knaa’ vibe, watching the event.
Caroline (link) – 12 April 2005 – 01:31

Just got the strong “what is that on her head?” vibe.

Ahh, how I love being a Brit who defected to the other side.
Rogue – 12 April 2005 – 04:49

Afaik, the thing on her head was designed by an Irishman. I’m sure he called it ‘Revenge’.
Caroline (link) – 12 April 2005 – 07:54

Now that just made my day :D
Rogue – 13 April 2005 – 02:19

FYI… Phillip Treacy who designed the hat also worked with Gavin on a hat design for a War Child auction.
Caroline (link) – 13 April 2005 – 07:19

Features, dammit

Caroline — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 23:41:13 +0000

Like, wow, you can record voice on your iPod and use it for interviews. If you buy an iTalk voice recorder, that is. Big fucking deal. I can just picture Jobs’ faithful audience clapping like seals for this ‘amazing’ new feature.

Hello. Why can’t I just stick the (better) microphones I already own in the machine? Superior, feature rich players like the iRiver H-series can do just that. Apple, if you want me to buy your gear, make it do what it should be able to do. It takes a lot more than pretty design to win over this (power) user. I’m not a big fan of the white look anyway. And I really don’t need games on it. Seriously. I’ll take serious features over games, any day.

Oh well, at least those Photo iPods (359 €’s not a bad price, actually) will soon (March, software update) be able to connect directly to digital cameras. Something they should have been able to do from the start if you ask me.

Hear-fucking-hear.
I just don’t get Apple. At all.
tomcosgrave (link) – 23 February 2005 – 23:38

actually you can do just that, you can put another microphone of your choice into the iTalk thingy, you just need the right adapter for the small plug, which is not a problem at all.
to be honest, the iTalk sound quality is pretty poor, but connect a condenser microphone and it will sound cool.

the only big disadvantage about recording voice memos with an iPOD is, that you cannot change the format in which it records, only wave is possible, that compressed in iTUNES to apple loss less format saves you about 1/5 of data, which is not much. 1mb = 1 min of recording.
bernhard (link) – 24 February 2005 – 01:03

The thing should have a proper line in and mic in, preferably a way to adjust recording volume, record to mp3 or wav. Optical in/out would be a plus, the older iRiver models have that.
Caroline (link) – 24 February 2005 – 08:42

Connect your iPod to your digital cameras, great. But they don’t support the RAW format. And that sucks, I never shoot JPEG. So what’s the big deal?
George (link) – 24 February 2005 – 10:31

Hadn’t thought of that yet. Jeez, more proof these iPods are just underdeveloped.
Caroline (link) – 24 February 2005 – 10:56

Spot on Caroline – they are under developed. I think that’s the point though.

I’ve got a draft post about this… might be time to dust it down?
Gordon (link) – 24 February 2005 – 12:30

Yikes! I think I’ll go run and hide my iPod.

Apple does many stupid things in the name of keeping things simple for the average joe – like sticking to a one button mouse in 2005.
ichris (link) – 24 February 2005 – 15:30

Heh, you don’t have to hide them. I’d love to try one for a while – I want to see how the integration with iTunes works, how it feels to work with. I really want to like them, but I’m a user that needs a little more to be able to justify a purchase.
Caroline (link) – 24 February 2005 – 15:57

What they do have is a card reader for your iPod. Or rather: Belkin has it. I have one and it works great. Eats the cardreader’s batteries, though. And your iPod’s.
George (link) – 24 February 2005 – 17:21

From what I heard, you’ll need (yet) another accessory on the iPod Photo to unload photos from your camera onto it.
Lars – 24 February 2005 – 21:43

Yeah, you need a ‘connector’. I hope it’s just a little cable, not some weird contraption.
Caroline (link) – 24 February 2005 – 22:16

It seems you can make a linux ipod from your ipod, BUT my 4th gen U2 ipod (which i won last week) is not yet supported. All 1st, 2nd & 3rd gen ipod can be a hard dik recording device, with standard mics in Wav format.

With 20 gigs on board, and a good mike, in 48 kHz, this should be enough for ultimate U2 concert recording.

Security never belives an ipod can record anything.
eric (link) – 24 February 2005 – 22:38

You wouldn’t have any control over recording levels, though I believe soundprofessionals.com make gadgets to do just that.
Caroline (link) – 24 February 2005 – 23:00

All of that, PLUS it doesn’t do gapless playback, it doesn’t store the mp3’s ‘straight’ but in mangled directories, the bass response isn’t on par, EQ only works without distorting if you use subtractive modes (ie reduce bass or treble, not boost it).

Still, iPod bashing is a bit yesterday. The fact that it’s crippled beyond belief is well established since 2002 or so, and complaining on other people’s behalf ain’t what you were taught to do, now is it :-)

(yes, I am part of the Borg, I own one. Yes, I will buy something better when it comes along – my hopes are on a near-future much higher capacity version of the Rio Karma)
Giorgio – 25 February 2005 – 11:17

I’m reacting on the latest product upgrades. How is that ‘yesterday’?
Caroline (link) – 25 February 2005 – 11:43

iPod recording addons were introduced somewhere in 2003. Quality was crap then, still is (barring perhaps linux hacks – it’s, again, a software crippleware thing).
Giorgio – 25 February 2005 – 12:46

Yeah, I was aware of that. It’s Lifehacker.com that is bringing it as NEWS. I was responding to that.
Caroline (link) – 25 February 2005 – 13:53

Dutch and Dunglish spoken

Caroline — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 00:21:53 +0000

Fabulous. Someone’s started a ‘Dunglish‘ weblog.

The Dutch are known for and pride themselves on their command of the English language, but they’re a lot less good at it than they think they are. (Have you ever heard Dutch politicians speak English? Jaw droppingly bad.) Their need to show off their skills sometimes makes for hilarious examples. Check the blog for some.

English is also thought of as ‘cool’ by copy writers, so we’re treated to mostly inapropriate and often cringeworthy English-language advertising: literal translations, grammatical errors, etc.

I’ve always thought I should keep track of them, write them down, but I never do. Now I don’t have to. Awe, as they say, some.

My English is bloody good, but it is far from perfect. I started learning English at a very young age, 6 or 7, through English speaking relatives. In primary school we started age 10, it was a new initiative of the school I was at. I believe it’s standard practice now, but I’m not sure. By the age of 12 I was more fluent than my teachers and did my school friends’ homework and their written tests. We had a ‘system’. Our teacher suspected what was happening, but he couldn’t prove it and never caught us.

Sometimes I make ‘Dunglish’-type mistakes, especially when I get tired. When I’m abroad, speaking English, for more than three weeks, something happens to the language part of my brain. I’ll open my mouth and *think* I’m speaking English, but Dutch will come out and it takes a few seconds for me to realise it. A few vodka tonics fixes the problem. Do I think in English? Yes.

very interesting point. i came to think in english over the last couple of years, even if i speak german most of the time. by now i´m reading exclusively english books, plus i am writing my thesis in english, so probably that´s why…..but i´m even more far from being perfect, sometimes i think of myself using to many platitudes in my speaking and writing.
bernhard (link) – 21 March 2005 – 13:36

Intresting point, do you think in a language? I’ve often been asked that question (Which language do you think in?) But I believe I think in images rather than a form of language…
I know It’s a difficult question because you have to interprit thought, which we do…. through language. Any thougts?
Kid A – 23 March 2005 – 00:39

Thanks for mentioning my site! Have a nice day, Natasha.
Natasha (link) – 31 May 2005 – 19:51

Attack of the killer flu

Caroline — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 23:31:20 +0000

Have been quite ill since Thursday afternoon. I’ve felt exhausted since my last flu (late November) and this time the virus struck an already wrecked system. Fever rose quickly to 39.5 (103F) and hovered around that for four days. The worst (I hope) was last night as I could not find sleep and had to turn down the heating and sip ice water to cool down. The bed was uncomfortable – when I’m flat on my back or on my side, I start wheezing and eventually coughing – so I moved to the couch so I could prop up my back a little better and stay upright. I came close to phoning emergency, because I just didn’t know what to do with myself anymore. The fever broke in the morning, but the thumping headache stayed. Took a gamble and took some migraine meds. Seems to have done the trick. I can’t say I’ve been having the happiest thoughts.

three comments:

holy crap vonb, godspeedy recovery to you!
elmo (link) – 14 February 2005 – 14:29

Thanks Elmo, these flu variants seem to get worse as the years go on. Or maybe as you get older you’re less able to fight it. Flu used to be about a lot of sleep, fluids and some paracetamol, get some reading done and cruise through it. Now it’s a real battle.
Caroline (link) – 14 February 2005 – 18:29

first and foremost: get well soon!!!

one thing people surely have forgotten these days is to give themselves time to recover in a proper way.

illness is more and more considered something like personal weakness to keep your stuff together, at least that´s the way i perceive it. even worse, illness almost seems to get erased from people´s schedules.
most people don´t know that they might impose some serious damage to their body, resulting in fatal illness.

take your time as good as you can, it´s nothing to joke with. it´s true, these flues do get worse every year, i wonder what they will be like in 10-15 years from now.
bernhard (link) – 14 February 2005 – 19:44