[Maxvla]

Now that you've quit smoking you can buy all kinds of gear! Smoking is super expensive... Someone who smokes a pack a day spends around $1500-2000 per year.

 

[lee730]

Ah warren so you quite smoking. Not sure if you read my comment to you on the monthly avatar thread? Glad you kicked the bad habit. You'll appreciate it in the long run in terms of health and savings.
 

 

[drez]

[*] Disappointed in your tablet's crap speakers?  A new company called Coverplay is launching a tablet screen cover that is also - wait for it - an electrostatic speaker!  And yeah, is sounds EXACTLY as good as you think it sounds.

That's such a brilliant idea.

 

[Maxvla]

Wait.. electrostatic speaker powered by a tablet's piddly batteries?

 

[jgray91]

Welcome back!

Thanks!  BTW, glad to see you got the MA350 okay.  I was worried that she spent a fortune shipping it to Moscow.  Can't wait to see what your final verdict is (and whether you agree with Panda).

She spent a fortune sending it to me?! Well, she's going to be happy when I said that the MA350 is kind of very good, but only a wee bit too bass-tilted for me, and at certain songs. It's bloody damn good though when used with songs w/o bass. At least now, and I haven't tried using it in the subway. Did a good job on the bus though.

And since you've quit smoking, replace it with real coffee* and despair some more :evil:.

*at the very least go to a shop that grounds the coffee for you, and brew some yourself. I myself am not that into it, but my recent trip to Turkey rekindled the love I have with coffee. Dat Turkish coffee. So delish.

 

[jgray91]

FWIW, here's the link to Coverplay's site. I thought it was more like a tablet cover with a name like that, and am wondering how will they manage to bolt them on a myriad of tablet sizes. It's only a portable speaker w/ BT connection. It's hellishly thin though.

It looks interesting though, and it kind of tickles my curiosity quite a bit. Not that I'll use it since I respect other people's need for silence way more than my want to blast some songs, but it still looks like something I need to have. (the same thing I said for the JVC FX100, and my interest in it has been waning fast lately).

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

WARREN IS BACK DDDDDDDDDDDDD

 
Oops, totally missed this earlier, sorry.  Yup, well I'm almost back.  Got a ton of work to catch up on... which is why I haven't been able to resume my avatar-making duties just yet. 

 
Quote:

Great! You know what this means? We can share a table cafe side; bistro side. And I can loan you my gear. Well.......unless honey smokes, then....

 
Unfortunately, she still smokes.  But she has aspirations of being nicotine-free soon, so here's to hoping!  In the meantime, nothing stops us from being cafe side. 

 
Quote:

Now that you've quit smoking you can buy all kinds of gear! Smoking is super expensive... Someone who smokes a pack a day spends around $1500-2000 per year.

 
I was able to hold it down to under $1K per annum, but yeah I get what you mean.  I actually hadn't even thought of the cost savings.  So... I guess there's my new TH900?
 
Quote:

Ah warren so you quite smoking. Not sure if you read my comment to you on the monthly avatar thread? Glad you kicked the bad habit. You'll appreciate it in the long run in terms of health and savings.

 
I actually haven't been back to the TMAC thread yet.  Don't know about you guys, but that thread is all-consuming for me. 

  So I just wanted to finish up a little more work before I dive back in.
 
Quote:

That's such a brilliant idea.

 
Isn't it?  I'm a little pissed at not having thought of it first.
 
Quote:

Wait.. electrostatic speaker powered by a tablet's piddly batteries?

 
Oh no, it's got it's own batteries.
 
Quote:

She spent a fortune sending it to me?! Well, she's going to be happy when I said that the MA350 is kind of very good, but only a wee bit too bass-tilted for me, and at certain songs. It's bloody damn good though when used with songs w/o bass. At least now, and I haven't tried using it in the subway. Did a good job on the bus though.

 
Well, I don't know that for sure.  But I'm guessing that sending stuff to Moscow from the US is probably a bit pricey.  Lemme put it this way... sending stuff to Canada from here isn't the cheapest thing, and that's right next door.
 
Yeah, I was incredibly surprised by how it handles acoustic recordings so vibrantly and with ease.  For a while there, I couldn't believe my ears.  I'm glad that enough people are concurring now (let's me know I'm not crazy).
 
And the bass is that rare combination of crazy/clean/controlled.  For the price, I have no problem recommending that to any consumer (and even some Bass-Head-Fiers).
 
But my absolute favorite thing about them would have to be those upper mids.  Crispy, nearly bordering on crunchy at times.
 
Quote:

And since you've quit smoking, replace it with real coffee* and despair some more

.

*at the very least go to a shop that grounds the coffee for you, and brew some yourself. I myself am not that into it, but my recent trip to Turkey rekindled the love I have with coffee. Dat Turkish coffee. So delish.

 
Oh don't even get me started.  I've got a buddy that makes the most incredible Turkish coffee at work.  In many ways, it's more of a drug than cigarettes ever were. 

 
Quote:

I thought it was more like a tablet cover with a name like that, and am wondering how will they manage to bolt them on a myriad of tablet sizes. It's only a portable speaker w/ BT connection. It's hellishly thin though.

 
Yeah, I might have jumped the gun with pointing out that [possible] future feature.  Just pretend that I didn't say anything about a tablet cover for now. 

 

[jgray91]

Well, I don't know that for sure.  But I'm guessing that sending stuff to Moscow from the US is probably a bit pricey.  Lemme put it this way... sending stuff to Canada from here isn't the cheapest thing, and that's right next door.

Yeah, I was incredibly surprised by how it handles acoustic recordings so vibrantly and with ease.  For a while there, I couldn't believe my ears.  I'm glad that enough people are concurring now (let's me know I'm not crazy).

And the bass is that rare combination of crazy/clean/controlled.  For the price, I have no problem recommending that to any consumer (and even some Bass-Head-Fiers).

But my absolute favorite thing about them would have to be those upper mids.  Crispy, nearly bordering on crunchy at times.

---------------------------------------------
Oh don't even get me started.  I've got a buddy that makes the most incredible Turkish coffee at work.  In many ways, it's more of a drug than cigarettes ever were.  :eek:

-------------------------------------
Yeah, I might have jumped the gun with pointing out that [possible] future feature.  Just pretend that I didn't say anything about a tablet cover for now. 

Hmm? I got it from the UK, and she even said it in my emails with her. Oh well, the important thing is that I have it my hands, I am liking it, and now, depending on how durable it is, will love it.

Will see about that but so far I can agree with you, especially the bass. So clean, yet so brain-massaging-y.
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That's why the Arabs made coffee; because Islam prohibits intoxicants. In a way, it's almost the same thing, but nothing health-harming (cigarettes) or mind-numbing (?) (booze).
---------------------------------
Ooh. Now I'm really looking forward to it, even though I'm that polite in the public (regarding music-blasting at least. No quarter when I'm tackling everyone in rush hour to get to class though).

 

[MuppetFace]

Whoa... the current Pope is resigning. This is really, really rare. Last one was in the 1400s?
 
Ratzinger is a very skilled scholar, so I'm hoping this at least gives him more time to write...

 

[lee730]

Just noticed that as well. Seems he's retiring due to health concerns.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

Just noticed that as well. Seems he's retiring due to health concerns.

 
That's still highly unusual! Most sick Popes stay on until they die.

 

[ardgedee]

I've heard it said when JP II died and I'm seeing comments along this line again: Given the dramatic increase in human lifespans over the past century (during which we only had, what, five popes -- four if you discount as an anomaly the very short tenure of JP I), expect to see resignations become the norm rather than the exception.

People can hang on for decades in senility and semi-vegetative states, which wasn't possible in centuries past. Popes can only lose their position by death or resignation -- nobody can fire them -- so preemptive retirement is the only way to ensure the Church continues to have leaders of sound mind.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

I've heard it said when JP II died and I'm seeing comments along this line again: Given the dramatic increase in human lifespans over the past century (during which we only had, what, five popes -- four if you discount as an anomaly the very short tenure of JP I), expect to see resignations become the norm rather than the exception.

People can hang on for decades in senility and semi-vegetative states, which wasn't possible in centuries past. Popes can only lose their position by death or resignation -- nobody can fire them -- so preemptive retirement is the only way to ensure the Church continues to have leaders of sound mind.

 
 
Ahem. They can be fired. It's called "poisoning." : P
 
Ratzinger has been vocal about his feelings on the matter, saying in the past that he feels Popes should be able to resign. Still there are other Catholics who feel they shouldn't. You have to keep in mind that within the faith, we're talking about God's main representative on earth, so that complicates things. Is that really a position one can "resign?" <----rhetorical question.
 
Obviously it's not a decision made lightly, one he's given much thought to and made in accordance to his convictions I'm sure, but I still get this really weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's still highly unusual. Popes have stayed on even in states where they're barely conscious, practically incoherent. Ratzinger is 85, which isn't exactly mummy territory by today's standards, though there have only been ---what?--- four Popes who made it to age 86. He also just finished some books which seemed perfectly coherent, up to his usual standards of scholarship. I mean, one can't help but wonder about the politics going on in the background. Did someone dig something horrible up from the past? Perhaps we'll never know.
 
Edit:
 
I imagine a lot of Catholics are feeling a little lost right now. Apparently a lot of the Pope's closest aids didn't even know and are scrambling to try and sort things out right now.

 

[MuppetFace]

In slightly less important news....
 
 

Ocharaku Donguri​

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New prototype earphones. Positioned under the Flat4 in their lineup.

 

[ardgedee]

Ahem. They can be fired. It's called "poisoning." : P

I say po-tay-to, you say po-tah-to. Especially if one of them might have an allergy to nightshades.

You have to keep in mind that within the faith, we're talking about God's main representative on earth, so that complicates things. Is that really a position one can "resign?" <----rhetorical question.

Yet a trenchant one, to me at least, since I'd bookmarked an article for future reading about a parallel matter: When Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders retire and renounce their vows. Since lamas are believed to be the living incarnations of previous holders of their positions, when they join secular life their chairs go empty until they die.

Personally, I suspect Benedict's timing is intended more so that he can lead the choice of his successor while he's still of sound mind. He spent a long time as John-Paul II's right hand man and become the de-facto leader during JP II's decline. This indicates to me that the power is more important to him than the title, and that he intends to hold onto it for as long as he can, whether he's in the throne or behind it.