h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sounds cool. I haven't gotten an mp3 player yet- simply because I've calculated the time it would take to copy all of the CDs onto the hard drive, and I'll be dead before then.

That does sound like an awfully good deal!

I only hope it works.

But it means I can get my 250 or so albums of crap all on one little thing and maybe revisit some stuff I haven't heard in ages. You know how it is, you peruse the shelves and - "When did I get that? That was quite good, wasn't it? Nice cover..."

Oh wait! I remember, you catalogue it all - of course you don't.

Nope, sorry- that never happens to me. We can find anything we're looking for, at any time. Though I do sometimes have to physically *check* the stacks to verify whether or not we actually have something. K's got a slightly better memory for that sort of thing; I'm better at maintaining the databases and stuff.

Of course, neither of us has managed, as of yet, to utilize these skills in ways that are of financial benefit.

Well it's gotta save time, and time is money, right?

You could be contract sorters-out. Like Monk, but without all the murders

Well I bought the thing. When I got there he decided he wanted £50, but having gone all that way I wasn't going to argue so I gave him the £49 I had on me. It's still a good deal; chunky and about the size of an old Walkman but it works perfectly and does exactly what it says on the tin. He didn't half listen to some shit though.

It took all of last night and this morning to get half way through the mp3 CDs I've got on there, and that only accounts for about 6 gig. I'm a happy bunny.

Well, it's true that time is money... but time seems to be more money when it's on someone else's clock.

Seriously, though, congrats on the new toy. I know how much fun they are. I'm still entertaining the idea of getting an mp3 player for myself when I get my pay raise and bonus next month. Then again, we are trying to save for a down payment for a condo, so I hate to be too extravagant...

Hope you cleared out all of his old crap music by now?

PS- a package for you should be posted tomorrow morning, barring inclement weather. It shouldn't be too scary, and we have other potential errands to take care of (a couple of replacement ceramic tiles for the bathroom floor, and a new TV antenna, since I got rid of the cable TV and the antenna I have is about 15 years old ), so it's not like I can pull my usual "but I'd hate to drag myself out in this crap just for one little errand..." nonsense.

Well take care, whatever you're up to in your current condition. I look forward to recieving it and hearing what The Geezers & co are like.

Getting rid of the seller's stuff didn't take long at all, getting mine on there took the real time. But it's done - 173 albums/folders of bits, 2,027 songs, just under 10G in total. Doesn't seem that much in the end. But it's a real privilege just to stick it on shuffle, sit back and wait to be surprised.

Time to get on the spreadsheet for further anal examinations. Have a good (safe) weekend.

Oh, and congrats on the raise and bonus!

Oh, thanks. No formal announcement has been made- it's a yearly occurence and I of course assume that after all of my hard work, I'll be getting the max.

Enjoy the shuffle- that would be kind of fun!

Yo- re: video editing, Adobe Premiere has a color pass-through function (converts the video to black and white, allowing a single color to pass through), but I don't know of anything that converts to black and white. If I hear of anything, I'll let you know.

Premiere's definitely out of my reach anyway. I was hoping for something freeware really. Cheers though

Sorted, with a Windoze standard

Oh- sorry. I don't usually have much luck with freeware- glad you've got that sorted.

Ah, Windows Movie Maker, I see. Yeah, it came with my new computer, too, but I haven't used it. Never thought to look there. Though I was at work yesterday, so I couldn't have checked there anyway.

NT is a barrel of laughs, isn't it. Well, at least you get Pinball

So I checked at home and my version of WMM has no such ability. But, a bit of freeware I've had for years called Virtual Dub has a whole bunch of filters I've never investigated; Rotate image, brightness/contrast, motion blur... and greyscale.

I haven't used NT- which edition is it most similar to? I've got XP, and this version of Windows Movie Maker, wouldn't you know it, has the greyscale. Which version do you have? At least your Virtual Dub has the functionality you needed.

Not that I'll ever need to use it, but it's nice to know how.

I've got XP at home too, though it might be an earlier build. I was thinking of NT at work, which has the basics (Paint and, er... Paint) but nothing you'd possibly have any fun with (unless you enjoy Excel )

What do you use at work?

We use XP at work, too. I don't muck around much with video or audio files at the office- we have around 700 or 800 employees sharing these servers, at the office and remotely, and some of the media puts quite a strain on them. As much fun as it is goofing off at work, when there's work to be done, it's frustrating as hell when the servers draaaaaaaaaag...

And it's not that I particularly *enjoy* Excel. I use it on a daily basis, of course, at work. Amazing how much easier accounting work can be when you don't have to perform all the caluclations manually. At home, I really only use it for keeping track of things. You don't know the extent to which I am capable of not remembering things. I need the external memoery, so to speak.

And while everyone teases me about it, deep down, you know that if you had an enormous cllection of anything, you wouldn't mind a database to keep track of it all. They've even got one for mp3s.

Me too. 13% Aphex Twin. That is sad.

Yo. How are you doing? Congrats to K on his bit for International Pop Overthrow. That sounds like a great laugh on name alone.

I'm hoping to go to a fezzie up the road in a couple of months, with classis psych band Ozric Tentacles, and The Blockheads playing. A great comic called Phill Jupitus, who does the 6Music breakfast show, is doing vocals for the late great Ian Dury. Or as he puts it, he's on 'Dury Duty'.

Lawnmower Deth not push your buttons then?