2002-09-20 -

A Modest Non-Cannabalistic Proposal

Blargh. I've been having trouble sleeping all week, and from what I gather I'm not the only one. Must be sunspots or something. I've been moving through life in a bit of a fog all week.

Let's see, what have I done?

Well, the usual time with Liralyn, of course, who is slowly settling into her fall routine. I finished writing my Perl script for putting ID3 tags on MP3 files and dropping them into the filing system I have. I even tried listening to them, since the option of having my entire collection at my fingers sounded awfully nice, but there's just no way. I have $49 speakers hooked up to my computer. I spent more than that on the cables that connect my DAC to my preamp. For some stuff the little speakers do OK- the subwoofer can do a pretty good impression of ballsy bass- but anything subtle is just beyond them. Maybe once I finish rebuilding my computer I'll run a Y-cable so I can run it through my stereo when I feel the need.

I also reread Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired, which holds up extremely well through the years. The publishing industry has allowed a lot of WJW's stuff to go out of print, which makes me wish they'd get off their asses and bring out digital publishing on demand. How hard would it be to archive the typesetting files on the net somewhere, so I could place an order for the book and pick up a copy at Kinko's? I'd settle for a frickin' notebook-type binding if the price was right and it meant I never had to put up with an out-of-print book again.

That may seem like a trivial complaint, but I'm a military history junkie, and a lot of the standard reference books in the field are out of print now. Once the serious junkies and the libraries have their copies, those books pretty much stop selling, so it's understandable. But I think my suggestion (which is hardly original to me) has something to offer all parties in these situations.

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