Denon AK-DL1 Network Cable
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Hardware, Review
I believe I’m a little behind the times when it comes to this particular product, but nevertheless I felt I had to post something about it.
The Denon AK-DL1 is a 1.5 metre network cable, designed for the “audio enthusiast”. Thus it is expected to have the “Monster Cable-esque” description:
“Made from high purity copper wire and high performance connection parts, the AK-DL1 will bring out all the nuances in digital audio reproduction from any of our Denon DVD players with the Denon Link feature. Attention to detail when building this cable was used by employing high quality insulation, tin-bearing alloy shielding and woven jacketing to reduce vibration and to add durability. Additionally, signal directional markings are provided for optimum signal transfer. Rounded plug levers help prevent breakage.”
But what really stands this particular cable out is the price, a whopping $499.00 for a 1.5 metre cable. There is something seriously wrong with the industry if they think they can get away with marketing these types of “premium” cables.
re: Downloading Music
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Friends, Media
Ian just wrote a post about his brother coming to grips with the legality of downloading music, and I felt an opinion of mine should see the light of an LCD screen. Your eyes will thank me later.
Or at least I hope so - if you’re still using a CRT please, purchase invest in an LCD screen.
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But here’s a potential problem when switching from a download mentality, to a purchase mentality.
Purchasing every song either detracts from genre experimentation, by forcing the consumer to choose tracks wisely and with more thought, or it puts a huge hole into ones pocket every month because of excessive track downloading/purchasing. When you have spent the last [however many years] with the attitude that if you like that song, you can just go grab it and listen away, it will be hard to have to stop and think about whether its good enough that its worthy of spending a dollar on. Or $10 if you’re like me and want to get the whole album to keep things organised and complete.
In an ideal situation, one could maybe learn from the movie industry and the success of Blockbuster and the like. While it may sound silly, the ability to “rent” an album for a period of a month or maybe even longer could prove to be a huge success.
Because, personally speaking, a lot of the time I find that I like a certain track or artist, but after a few weeks of repetitive listening I’ve lost their taste. After which I might not care about the album anymore, but at least I would have been able to make an informed decsion as to whether to officially own it or not.
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It’s definitely a thought.
Ieva’s Polka
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Media
Song of the week…it has a very pleasant catchy tune.
“Ieva’s Polka” is by the Finnish Quartet “Loituma“.
And if you like the song, heres a remix version that I like. Check out youtube for the other 9,999 different versions.
(Don’t mind the video, I couldn’t find another version of this particular remix)
Tags: Media
Which century are we in?
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Friends
Yes, I realize thats a rhetorical question, as any google search will immediately tell you the answer is the 21st.
But how could you convince someone of that fact when they see 2008 to mean the 20 century because 2000 must mean the 20th century.
Well I just spent the last 45 min trying to do just that to no avail. Even after trying various methods of explaining it, from drawing the similarity of the education system and “grades”, to talking about which century the years 1-100 are in.
We got to agreeing that the years 1-100 are included in the first century, but then he insists that the next hundred years (the years 101-200) are also part of the 1st century. Which if you can count, means that the 1st century is actually comprised of 200 years…which contradicts the definition of a century.
I think the whole issue stems from understanding that there is no 0th century. Which means that year 1-100 are indeed the 1st century, not the 0th. Which I agree is a bit of a challenging way of thinking at 2:30 AM, so I’ll give him some slack.
I think one of the easiest ways of relating to the concept is by talking about a particular year, where one would have been in grade XX. If we take grade 12 in our example that means that have finished only 11 years of education, as they started in grade 1 NOT grade 0. So one could say that we are in the 21st century, because we have completed 20 hundred years, and we are now in the 21st set of hundred years.
Either way, it’s not really a topic that I plan on spending too much time trying to elaborate on.
There are only a fixed number of times you can say the world is round, until you have to just wait for them to discover that fact by themselves :P
Opera 9.5
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Review, Software
Damn right, and about time!
The stable version of 9.5 is alive and kicking.
Get it here.
Partial Changelog:
- Introduced Opera Link.
- Added Quick Find, an improved full text history search tool.
- Introduced the Speed Dial.
- Introduced a new default skin.
For more information about Opera, please spend 2 min and read their overview.
It’s definitely worth the time to check Opera out, it might just change your life…
…Or at least your online one ;)
Sour Belts
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Asides
Went to Hasty Market yesterday, and couldn’t resist buying two packages of Sour Belts. I’m a total sucker for them, I eat them one after the other…my mouth starts burning…then I realize I’m really thirsty and should have had some water before eating all the sour stuff. Now I’m in a total catch 22, I can’t drink water, my mouth is burning like hell, and the only thing I can do to calm my tongue is to eat some more belts…. Arghhh.
Tags: Food
Hostmonster Sucks!
Posted by Pavan Chander | Filed under Software
Ya that’s right, I am definitely done with them. The past week or two has been a horrible experience.
I am so angry at them right now, its not funny.
Arrgh, I’ll see about writing something intelligible tomorrow.
