Author: Jeffro

Jeffrohttp://jeffc.meEnjoy writing about, talking about, and helping others with WordPress
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Ohio Buckeyes Win

The Ohio State Buckeyes just won the first ever, college football National Championship. I sat at home alone, watching the game via a live stream on my Macbook Pro. Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, it felt like I was watching the game with a group of people.

Twitter favorites and Facebook likes were given out in earnest as I mentioned the Buckeyes winning. Granted, a lot of my followers are in the Ohio area as am I. However, I just wanted to note how cool it is to witness an event alone in my home but in reality, connect in real-time with those who are watching the same event at the same time.

It’s a weird feeling knowing I’m watching and participating in an event at the same time as several other people as well yet, I’m alone. Thank you social media.

Documentary on The Rise and Fall of Napster by Alex Winter

I recently watched a documentary on Napster by Alex Winter via Jeff Lee. The documentary covers the rise and fall of the company, but does so by giving a 360 degree view of the time period.

It features interviews with the company’s founders, representatives from the RIAA, the recording industry, and a few other notable organizations during that time. In the film, you’ll see RealPlayer used to play a video, Winamp, and a microphone at a press conference with the TechTV logo. I love the way Winter uses material from the late 90s and early 2000s and shows it in the same way we consumed it in that time period.

http://on.aol.com/video/downloaded—full-documentary-film-517844258

When I Discovered Napster

In 1999, I turned 16 years old, received Quake 3 as a birthday present, and discovered Napster. I had a mediocre sized hard drive, an AMD K6 350 processor, and more importantly, a 56k modem connection. I routinely browsed Napster looking for singles I heard on the radio. While browsing for songs I knew, the vast catalog of content indexed by the service lead to the discovery of so many tunes and bands I’ve never heard of.

https://jeffc.me/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/winampandoctivmax.png

Winamp Plus OctiMax

56k Sucked!

Downloading songs via a 56k modem was a painful process. Depending on the connection and how many peers I connected to, it could take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour to download a 3-5 Megabyte song. In 2000, we purchased 1.5Mb DSL from Ameritech. Not only did my Quake 3 skills increase (less lag) but download times for music were no longer an issue.

I remember when my family gathered around the Gateway PC with the familiar cow look and watched as I downloaded song after song in record time. Once speed became a non issue, I hoarded music and downloaded everything I could get my hands on. Some of it was junk, but most of it was awesome.

Napster as a Social Network

Napster wasn’t just about discovering and downloading music. Newer versions included the ability to chat with the people you downloaded files from. You could also add people as friends and join various chatrooms. In many ways, it was a social network. It sure was cool to chat with people at the same time you were downloading files from.

Napster Disappeared, But The Technology Never Will

Although Napster couldn’t survive the court system, it’s peer to peer file sharing technology lives on. Once Napster shut down, people moved in mass to similar products such as Kazaa, K-Lite, BearShare, LimeWire, and Morpheus. The courts shutting down Napster in effect created hundreds of smaller Napsters. Although similar technology is used in Torrents/BitTorrent, the concept and ease of use is clients doesn’t match that of Napster.

How I Listen and Discover Music Today

At the age of 31, 15 years after the launch of Napster, I hardly ever download an MP3. I either listen to music via YouTube playlists or listen to the MP3 catalog on my hard drive. I’ve purchased a few tracks on Amazon and maybe one or two on iTunes, but I rarely purchase music at all since it’s on demand from somewhere on the web.

As I get older, I’m making a more concerted effort to increase the audio quality of the content I listen to. MP3’s are a compressed format which ruins the subtle sounds in music. Great for shrinking the file size down, bad for audiophiles.

Wav files are a lossless medium for raw and uncompressed audio but the amount of data contained in them makes it hard to share. If Napster was the golden age of peer to peer sharing of MP3 files, will the increasing speeds of broadband connections generate a golden age of sharing raw, uncompressed audio files or will that too be relegated to the cloud somewhere as on-demand content?

Bonus Interview With Alex Winter

The guys over at the 404 Podcast did a great one hour interview with Alex Winter to discuss the making of the documentary. In it, he gives some behind the scenes info and discusses the industry today and how we’re still nowhere close to having a fusion between the record labels and digital distribution. A great interview to watch after you view the documentary.

http://on.aol.co.uk/video/the-404–napster-downloaded-517830627

Thank You Brian Layman

A lot of people have expressed gratitude and have thanked me for driving to Kim Parsell’s home to check on her. As mentioned in a previous post, I was concerned for a friend and had the opportunity to check on her. However, I didn’t make the trip alone.

As I was traveling to Kim’s house, I messaged Brian Layman who lives a little closer to her than I. I explained what was going on and that I was on my way to her home using an unconfirmed address I discovered. He stopped whatever he was doing and offered to ride down there with me. Within 15 minutes, he joined me at a Panera’s and we drove down together.

During the drive, I couldn’t help but discuss various scenarios we may run into. I told Brian to expect the worst and hope for the best. We also didn’t have a confirmed address but we needed to at least make an effort with one we had on file that matched the description of where she lived.

Although Brian shared the experience of that day with me, there is one aspect we don’t share. I didn’t see Kim at all during the whole ordeal, but Brian did. He walked into the room with the officer and saw her. That’s something Brian will never be able to forget, even if he tries. He’ll have to carry that image with him the rest of his life, alone.

So Brian, I personally thank you for dropping everything and making Kim Parsell your number one priority that day. You didn’t hesitate to join me for the ride and now I have someone who directly shared the experience with me which makes it a little easier to cope with.

The Downfall Of Us All

I did what a concerned citizen should do, check on their neighbors during a time of need. In this instance, the neighbor was over an hour an a half away (driving) and it was a week or two since anyone had heard from the individual. I pick up a colleague on the way there so I don’t have to go through the experience alone.

When we arrive, we try our best to announce our presence by knocking on every window, door, and yelling out who we were to the individual, since she would know who we were. The reason why we were at her property is because others who are far away were worried about her safety and health but had no chance of reaching her.

Phone calls lead to instant voice mails which indicate the phone is dead or turned off. Once people arrive on the scene, they discover that the doors and windows are locked and blinds are configured to block light into the home.  We knock on every window announcing our presence with no response.

Eventually, the County sheriff shows up and after speaking to the son on the phone, he’s granted permission for forced entry. However, the female inside could be armed with a shotgun. Two concerned friends agree to pay for the windows or the door to be broken into to ensure that the person inside is safe.

We discover a door that isn’t readily secure but is blocked by a couch with stuff piled onto it. It’s difficult to move the couch, but with the help of three men, the couch is able to be moved to the point of entering the household. After yelling out that we’re here to help and to just give us a sign of life go unanswered, we begin a search of the home.

After using leverage to move the door a few inches, an officer moves into the home. We unlock the the front door to allow a secondary officer and witness into the home. Unfortunately, the person we feared to be deceased is confirmed to be deceased by at least a few days.

Everything about this story is unfortunate. Whether it’s the people discovering the body or the victim involved, it’s a tragic story of death. Being independent is cool and such but in some instances, it can be a recipe for disaster. In my opinion, this was the latter.

Please Don’t Let Us Be Alone in The Galaxy

When man or woman looks up into the sky on a clear, crisp, night, what do they think when they see a horizon filled with stars?

Stars in the night sky

Stars in the night sky

Surely it’s not the fact that we’re all alone on this blue/white planet called Earth? So far, no concrete evidence has been discovered that shows we’re not only alone on this planet, but in our entire galaxy. I don’t know about you, but if we’re really all alone on this planet, I don’t have much hope. There is too much evidence in this day and age that suggests humans are more apt at destroying themselves than progressing to the next stage of civilization.

It’s a disappointing realization but one none the less. What I wouldn’t give to have a UFO land on the front lawn of the White House and showcase power and might that forces humans to realize we are nothing as a species compared to an alien life form. Yeah, perhaps it’s not the best of things to hope for, but if humans as a species don’t realize we are nothing compared to something else beyond the grips of Earth’s atmosphere, we’ll destroy ourselves. It seems like it’s a series of events bound to happen.

Until then, if it’s a clear sky at night, don’t look up and think about how alone we are amongst the stars, but wonder what lies beyond Earth’s atmosphere. There’s no way we can be the only somewhat intelligent species in the galaxy. There’s too many stars and potential life bearing planets in the goldilocks region to support such a theory.

At the very least, I sure as hell don’t want to think we’re all alone in the galaxy. What a scary notion!

I Miss Watching Hummingbirds

We’re just a few days before the official start of Winter and I already miss sitting on the patio, watching various hummingbirds hover around for a drink at the feeder. At least there’s plenty of YouTube videos to hold me over.

We’ve never seen more than one or two hummingbirds at a time at our feeder. In fact, the males appear to be territorial and chase others away before more they can get comfortable. This year, we noticed one male and one female in particular use our feeder multiple times a day. It was pretty cool to watch.

Remembering Bozo The Clown

Not sure why this popped into my head the other night, but I was thinking about a bucket game on Bozo the Clown and wondered if any kid had ever made it into all six buckets. Turns out, someone did make all six buckets.

I remember watching this show every Saturday morning on WGN which apparently had the original Bozo the Clown. It’s hilarious to watch clips of the show now. In one episode, they gave away a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi as a prize. They also used to show the name and address of where kids lived. Try getting away with that stuff no a days!

How many of you watched Bozo the Clown when you were younger?