On Tue, 2007-02-06 at 17:35 -0700, woodelf wrote: . . . For hard-to-find music, such as 30 year old Steeleye Span, and Deep Purple's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, for which I searched for twenty-five, and nearly twenty years, respectively, I have found success with CD Universe. http://www.cduniverse.com/ Peace, Warren E. Wolfe wizard at voyager.net

Hi, woodelf said: I tried very hard to be part of the Brit invasion of the US. but it never came off :-( In my experience _everything_ that has been recorded since about 1917 is available on cd if you go to the right sources. I frequent some very obscure parts of the music spectrum and have managed to buy everything I've looked for. Yesterdays purchaces at a local store: The Atomic Mr Basie "Skinny Grin" Acoustic Ladyland "Live from Austin TX" Richard Thompson John Lee Hooker 3CD box set. None of them the lastest fad... :-) -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb at dial.pipex.com The future was never like this!

William Donzelli wrote: Indeed. I have some recordings of Ignacy Paderewski playing his *own* compositions. Only available on 78. I've made FLACs out of them just in case. Peace... Sridhar

In article <e1d20d630702070659v78aef09q611c87ed76e5ca7c at mail.gmail.com>, "William Donzelli" <wdonzelli at gmail.com> writes: Did someone call my name? :-) -- "The Direct3D Graphics Pipeline" -- DirectX 9 draft available for download <http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/book/download/index.html> Legalize Adulthood! <http://blogs.xmission.com/legalize/>

Please, if you know a source of good stuff like this let us know. My wife's got a ton of LP's that haven't come out on CD... and they never will. Kind of be nice to play them instead of just collecting them. Bill On 2/7/07, Cameron Kaiser <spectre at floodgap.com> wrote:

This was a 30-second search on Amazon (one of the iTTUSB devices). -- --------------------------------- personal: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --- Cameron Kaiser * Floodgap Systems * www.floodgap.com * ckaiser at floodgap.com -- You're never too old to become younger. -- Mae West ------------------------

Antonio wrote: I assume you're talking about the one that looks like a large Laserdisc player? IIRC, when it came out it cost $30k. The big disadvantage to it is that the records must be *spotless*, as even a speck of dust will effect playback. The reviews I've read also speak of the audio quality being a little flat and lifeless. What I find very interesting is that you're supposed to be able to take the pieces of a broken record and carefully arrange them on the "platter" and play them. I'd love to see one in action and hear it for myself, but I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one. Zane

Interesting choice of a cleaning machine they offer. Either a Keith Monks, or one of the Loricraft machines would be much better (and safer). If you can afford a Laser turntable, you should be able to afford a better cleaning machine. Zane

On Wed, 2007-02-07 at 09:59 -0500, William Donzelli wrote: Quite true, unfortunately. Maybe... I'm not sure we can look at it as another jump like that jumps at once: a change in medium, and a change to digital storage versus analogue. That last is HIGHLY significant. Previously, there was no consumer "conversion" possible -- one could not, for example, load one's wax cylinder onto an LP - essentially nobody owned LP production equipment. But, we are in the digital world, now. Moving one's music collection from CD to "the next big thing" will more closely resemble the currently on-going discussion about making backups than the immense gulf that exists between LP and CD. I carry most of my music collection around on a tiny computer with earplugs and a 40 Gigabyte hard disk. I got it there with just a computer with a CD drive, a USB cable, and software. I predict all moves after CD will be of this nature. We WILL lose much of the music of our past, because it will not make the jump over the "Digital Divide" in the first place. I have digitized a few LPs, and may have the only digital copy of several albums. But, once music makes the leap to CD, it is firmly in the digital world. Mass production CDs have a MUCH longer lifespan than user-recorded ones, and they should all (maybe not all COPIES, but all ISSUES) make it to the future just fine, WHATEVER medium we use then. Digitizing old analogue recordings SHOULD be as important to music buffs as archiving programs is to us. THAT is where the "carnage" will take place. Old analogue tape vaults will be the abattoirs, and it is nearly certain that much music will, sadly, never make it back out of them. It would be wonderful if they would at least digitize everything they have, so that, should they be ABLE to work out the licensing at a later date, they have something to release. Failing that, historians of the future will have access to the music, even if it never is a commercial entity. I can't imagine that creating a digital master of the original tapes would be that expensive, and the storage would be significantly cheaper. Leave the re-mixing, and fixing, etc. for some later time, but MOVE the information onto digital media as quickly as possible. Peace, Warren E. Wolfe wizard at voyager.net

William Donzelli wrote: I highly disagree. It means that archival copies can be made where integrity is 100% known. With tape, there's no real way (other than listening with golden ears, or maybe using a scope) to determine if your archive is bad. If I'm misunderstanding you, please explain. -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

Will said: I just got a cheap DVD the old 1983 "Brainstorm" and besides being a good "wires everywhere" type of movie, it is a great way to recall old tech. There are suitcase terminals, test equipment everywhere, oh yeah, and I think I spotted both the consoles (only, sorry to say) from an IBM 1620 and maybe a 360 towards the center of the lab. Will go back over it in more detail in the not so far future. Hope that helps, John A. "Technology for Tomorrow"

:) If you don't know what this movie is and are into ClassicCmp, then you've missed quite a bit. Hollywood does the Silicon Valley experience (actually Research Triangle Park NC -- same thing <g>). John A.

Zane H. Healy wrote: You are misinformed on both counts :-) A run-of-the-mill CD can equal what's on the LP as long as there aren't complex soft dynamics (ie. stuff that falls under -96dB, the limit of 16-bit data on CDs. If you have lots of quiet classical music, I would agree with you that there would be loss... but if your LPs are mostly rock'n'roll or similar dynamics, nothing would be lost at all. Secondly, it is most definitely possible to create your own SACD and DVD-Audio discs, although the software is expensive. A much cheaper alternative, and practically free, is to create a DVD *Video* with just audio playing. The content is still 48/24 or 96/24, just like DVD-Audio, and with a 24-bit soundcard (under $100 these days) you can truly make archival dumps of your LPs to a digital format (48KHz 24-bit exceeds what LPs are capable of reproducing). -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

Zane H. Healy wrote: Yes, but only on the fade-out at the end :-) SACD is nothing more than DTS 5.1/6.1/7.1 data in the CD audio tracks, so yes on both. If your CD player has a toslink digital out, and your receiver is DTS, you may find that it will recognize the data and play it anyway. You need to redefine "cheap soundcard". You need to look into the state of sound cards *today*, not 2 years ago. There are $100 cards that can record 96KHz, 24-bit audio with a signal-to-noise ratio under -108dB... So I don't see your point about the cheap sound card :-) BTW, *excellent* choice on the Firebox, it's good hardware. If you don't want to transfer them, that's completely up to you. Just keep in mind that, if you accidentally drop one, it's gone... whereas digital media can be kept in multiple generations of backups without loss. -- Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/ Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/ Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/ A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/

On Wed, 2007-02-07 at 17:28 -0800, Zane H. Healy wrote: Okay, try THIS on for size... Every time you play a vinyl LP, you degrade it. Granted, not as MUCH as if it were a 78, but a finite amount. Every time you play a CD you made from the LP, that is one less play of the LP, and an avoidance of the inevitable degradation. It's the theory lots of German audiophiles used in the 1970s. They would have EXCELLENT tape recorders, and lots of tapes. But, since LPs cost a great deal in Germany, most audiophiles only had a few. And, the ONLY time they were played was when they were playing into a tape recorder. People LISTENED to music from the tapes, saving the precious LPs. I used that system myself, especially for the CD-4 Quadradiscs; their carrier frequencies were MUCH more susceptible to damage than a regular LP. When I got them, I'd play them once to remove any "flash" the Ball (the glass jar canning people) product that coated the grooves about two or three molecules thick, and lubricated them. My LPs still sound new, except for the few I was foolish enough to lend. Peace, Warren E. Wolfe wizard at voyager.net

I have a dual floppy system from Computer Automation that some kind of insect had made a nest in a long time ago. I'm not sure how to remove the stuff. I tried water but it has no effect. It's hard as concrete! I can chip it but it takes quite a bit of force and I don't want to rip off any components under it. Any ideas? Here's some photos: http://www.dvq.com/oldcomp/1kx768/cc_flpy2.JPG http://www.dvq.com/oldcomp/1kx768/cc_flpy3.JPG http://www.dvq.com/oldcomp/1kx768/cc_flpy4.JPG Thanks, Bob

Bob Rosenbloom wrote: Dirt/mud dauber nest... They can be removed with water and a brush but it will take a bit of work.. Chip away what you can safely, use something a little stiff like an acid brush and add a little detergent to the water. What ever they add to the dirt is somewhat water resistant but it will wash away after a bit.

Those are most definitely wasp nests, a particular variety we here at least call "Mud Daubers". The "nest" varies in appearance from a series of tubes, to a simple mass with a hole or two in it. They are made from mud, and will come apart when wet. However, they are unusually hard mud, almost cement-like! The way they are normally removed on buildings & such is whacking them with a board or hammer. In your case, it's very likely to take components off the board if you do that. My suggestion would be to moisten the mud with water, which it will soak up. Moisten again... keep repeating, till the whole thing softens. I'm just guessing if this would be the best way to remove. Of course, be very sure there are no live wasps in side it! Be aware they may also be live larvae inside the mud nest too. Jay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Rosenbloom" <bobalan at sbcglobal.net> To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at classiccmp.org> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 1:42 PM Subject: Bugs in computer hardware (real ones)

I had one drive soaking in a bucket for three days now. Still hard as rock. I'm pretty sure the bugs are long dead, probably 15 or more years ago. They are like Jay said, a mass with tubes through it, water poored out of the tubes when I removed the drive from the bucket. I'll try the steam or WD40 ideas this weekend and see what happens. Bob Jay West <jwest at classiccmp.org> wrote: Those are most definitely wasp nests, a particular variety we here at least call "Mud Daubers". The "nest" varies in appearance from a series of tubes, to a simple mass with a hole or two in it. They are made from mud, and will come apart when wet. However, they are unusually hard mud, almost cement-like! The way they are normally removed on buildings & such is whacking them with a board or hammer. In your case, it's very likely to take components off the board if you do that. My suggestion would be to moisten the mud with water, which it will soak up. Moisten again... keep repeating, till the whole thing softens. I'm just guessing if this would be the best way to remove. Of course, be very sure there are no live wasps in side it! Be aware they may also be live larvae inside the mud nest too. Jay ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Rosenbloom" To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 1:42 PM Subject: Bugs in computer hardware (real ones)

Rumor has it that Bob Rosenbloom may have mentioned these words: Possibly something stronger but still innocuous might work... say, isoprop[ano|y]l? Naphtha (lighter fluid - but get it by the quart/litre at the hardware store instead - much cheaper that way! ;-) might also work, but that might leave a film that could be tougher to clean off afterwards... HTH, Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers _??_ zmerch at 30below.com (?||?) If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead _)(_ disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.

On 8 Feb 2007 at 21:52, dwight elvey wrote: That's easy--shellac thinner is nothing more or less than pure alcohol. Some folks use ethyl alcohol (denatured); others like methyl (wood) alcohol. Rubbing (ethyl, not isopropyl) alcohol wouldn't be any good, because it contains water, which will cloud a shellac finish. Some "traditional" woodworkers make their own shellac by purchasing dry lac chips and dissolving them in alcohol. They claim the result has a brighter, clearer finish than the usual stuff in a can. You'll almost never find a luthier, for example, using canned shellac--he most often has his private concoction which he keeps very secret. Cheers, Chuck

Bob Rosenbloom wrote: I've rebuilt 2 motorcycles where the damned things had nested in the cylinder fins, and one of them had a nest in a carburetor. Just keep soaking it. Mud daubers secrete a "binder" that's very water-resistant, but it's organic and in the end it's water soluble. I've tried gasoline on them, and it doesn't work as well as water. The steam cleaner suggestion sounds reasonable, if you have access to one. What *will* help a lot, if you have a steady hand, is grinding off as much of the nest as you feel is safe with a Dremel tool. Then what I did was soak it a day or 2, go at it with a hard brush, and soak it some more. Doc

On Feb 8, 2007, at 2:42 PM, Bob Rosenbloom wrote: I live in southwest Florida...we get those blasted things on the outside of our houses down here. I have no idea what they are, but they are indeed difficult to remove. The standard solution is to use a pressure washer. I doubt that'd be appropriate for a PCB though. :-( -Dave -- Dave McGuire Port Charlotte, FL

On 9 Feb 2007 at 10:22, Bob Rosenbloom wrote: No, but IIRC, the head positioner actuator on these things is the weak link. I had 2 of the 140's and eventually, both actuators bit the dust (winding shorted out). Cheers, Chuck

Hi, William Donzelli said: OK so I exagerated a bit! One last OT comment then I promise to stick to computers :-) (I'll probably have some d*mn-fool questions when I get the Micro- 11/73 out of the rack and see about making some changes...) As for old rock'n'roll, rockabilly etc. loads of it is being released on cd at the moment, a chap called Mark Lamarr plays a lot on his BBC radio show* every week, but I do admit even he has to resort to 45s at times! Obscure soul tracks are also very popular atm with new re-releases every week...feeding the revived (British) Northern Soul scene. Most of these seem to be on UK or European labels though. Still got 2 turntables. (Neither have 78, alas, and one only does 33rpm!) Just to upset people: we used to use 78s for target practice, shellac ones shattered nicely, vinyl ones just gave you a boring hole... :-) * You can listen to it on the BBC website. BBC Radio 2, Mark Lamarr's Alternative Sixties, New show every Monday - plenty of obscure Rock'n'Roll/Rockabilly. -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb at dial.pipex.com The future was never like this!

So, . . . is there hope of eventually seeing the old classics on CD? (such as "Nash Rambler", "Purple People Eater", "Witch Doctor")

I'm told the only way for the independents to really survive now is to find a way to differentiate themselves. Of the record stores that I frequent, four are rather unusual in their lack of specialization, and the fourth is pretty much specialized on Psychedalic (this is the owners chief intrest), Jazz and Alternative. As I understand it, in a lot of cities the independents are strongly specialized. I was in my favorite one recently when someone from Seattle was in there commenting on the wide selection of music compared to the stores up there. Every independent I'm aware of in our area except one, has at least some used vinyl, most have large amounts, in addition to new and used CD's (and often DVD's). Most carry a limited amount of new vinyl, the exception being the store I mentioned that specializes, as it is probably close to half new vinyl. As I mentioned the other day, vinyl sales are increasing while CD sales are dropping. One thing that really confuses me on the whole CD/Vinyl sales thing is that while some albums will cost considerably more on Vinyl, a sizable number are significantly cheaper (for example the latest Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash albums released last year). I've also seen current vinyl releases that have extra songs that aren't on the CD. I'm not even aware of any chain stores left in the area that specialize in music, they're all gone. All that is left in that market would be stores like Best Buy, Target, and Fred Meyers. Their selection can be less than stellar. What really got me was Fry's when I was there last weekend, their selection was so slim, it makes me wonder if they're getting out of CD sales. Zane

Obviously enough people like Johnny Cash enough to warrent vinyl releases of his most recent albums:^) In fact since his death, there have been quite a few re-releases of his early albums. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember, and over the years I've been really surprised by some of the people that like him. The strange thing is that a lot (most) of these albums where the LP is cheaper than the CD release, both appear to be done by the same record label. I suspect that it is when the LP's are licensed and released by a smaller specialty label that the price of the LP goes up. Another interesting thing was that one album which I looked at recently, advertised on the cover that it included a special code which would allow you to download MP3's of the album. Now that's cool! The economics of LP's vs. CD's vs. paid downloads just doesn't make sense. I've even seen at least one brand new LP where the LP was cheaper than a download would be! Zane

der Mouse wrote: They show up on ebay from time to time. They don't go cheap. Peace... Sridhar

On 2/10/07, woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: Looks like the 16R8 has 8 inputs, 8 D/Q outputs with feedback, 1 clock input, and 1 output enable input. Looks like there are 32 columns (8x input True/False plus 8x D/Q feedback True/False) and 64 rows (8x product terms into each D/Q output) for a total of 2048 fuses. So I think that would be 256x8, not 512x8. -Glen