Posts by 3410

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • Hard News: Art and the Big Guy,

    Should read: "Most artists..."

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: Art and the Big Guy,

    a big, posh artist type who has certain refined lifestyle expectations

    Tom, this is nonsense. You have exposed your ignorance about art and artists in New Zealand quite thoroughly. Most all artists in NZ make almost nothing from their work. In the similar feild of music publishing, Mike Chunn reports that more than 90% of APRA's 5000 members make less than $100 per year from music.

    One wonders where you picked up such a silly idea.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: Biting back at Bill,

    Kenny Brockelstein ----> Kent Brockman
    NZBC ----> TVNZ

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: Biting back at Bill,

    ...instead they will get Kieth Ng's digicam feed direct on public address.

    Bring it on!

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: Biting back at Bill,

    The rot set in long before Ralston. The faux-international style (over substance) took hold at TVNZ sometime in the late '80s, and the marketing hot-shots obviously still hold sway. TVNZ seems further than ever from realising that it's quality content that attracts viewers, not empty sloganeering. Something is seriously wrong with that place.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Southerly: Public Address Science…,

    P.S. Is 3410 your real name?

    It's pronounced "three-four-ten", thanks.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: No Friends of Science,

    Just want to clarify something I said about the Listener the other day. I still read 3/4 of every issue (eventually) and the quality of the columnists is very high. Diana Wichtel, for example, has got to be one of the funniest writers in the world, and I always get alot from the Music, CDs, DVDs, Film, Sport, Business, etc, contributors. In short, it's still the best mag in the country, for me. What irks is -

    a) the obviously dumbed-down editorial approach which now runs "self-improvement" stories for every cover.

    b) the editorials, which seem, frequently, to be just retreading standard chattering classes opinion, unencumbered by research or factual basis.

    c) the similarly weak contributions from one or two people who spend most of the time regailing us with pointless anecdotes about either their children or allegedly amusing confrontations with retail staff, and who seem to show a similar disdain for factual basis on the rare occasions that they tackle actual soicio-political issues; usually substituting the gleefully simplistic right-wing talking points of the self-important "common sense" brigade for any real information and insight. Such people do less good for public debate than if they just said nothing.

    That's my 2 cents.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Southerly: Public Address Science…,

    Several people have emailed asking for a version of Public Address Science that can be quickly downloaded via a dial-up connection. Unfortunately, this is simply not possible -- even with maximum audio compression.

    You could perhaps remind them that, at offpeak times, a 56k dialup should take 6mb in only about 25 minutes.

    Also, it is quite possible to make (reasonably decent) much smaller versions, by using a sample rate of say, 11k instead of 44.1k, as well as the more obvious lowering of the bit-rate. Important to note that encoders are much better than they were a few years ago. Whilst 56kbps (or even 48 or 32), for example, was once unlistenable, even for voice-only audio, it is now not so much the case.

    Another idea might be to employ VBR (variable bit-rate, which you generally set from "0" (highest quality) to "9" (lowest quality)). VBR has a better rate of sound quality vs. compression ratio than CBR (constant...) Even at settings of 8 or 9, results can be surprisingly effective.

    More than likely there'll be a page on the net somewhere detailing exactly how to optimize minimising Mp3 file size whilst minimising sound quality trade-offs.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Speaker: Part 18: Malcolm's Big Bash,

    Aint got no Sky TV, so I'm listening to the cricket on the radio and Flem goes for his 33rd interntional duck. "Probably had a shave and haircut", I thought.
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10434025

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hard News: No Friends of Science,

    Looks like she's finally worked out what "ironic" means.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

Last ←Newer Page 1 254 255 256 257 258 262 Older→ First