After many, many, years, I'm mad as hell and can't take it any more. Every time I tune into alternative sources for music, (foreign "radio" on iTunes, MHZ networks "Strictly Global", college radio, and others), I find really cool (and GOOD) music that I have never heard. Uh Huh Her, Blood Red Shoes, Vampire Weekend, are just three that I have stumbled across in the last week. There are hundreds more.
The point is, why don't these bands show up ANYWHERE, on ANY venue, in the US ?? I'm in a LARGE city, Chicago, and you would think these new & interesting groups would make an appearance somewhere, in SOME media, in a place this large. Even the vaunted "The Reader", a free North side newspaper, only has announcements of groups that are touring and happen to be playing in Chicagoland. In a city THIS large, I should not have to spend hours searching esoteric sources, just to find some new and interesting music. It should be presented in some readily accessible "venue".
Meanwhile, there are two decent pop music stations in Chicago, but the REST of them are crap. Music that has been on the radio since the 1950s. Some are "classic", but most are the same CRAP over and over and over and over . . .
So in attempt to alleviate this situation, I am searching the web for alternatives in other countries. France, Russia, Serbia, Japan, Spain, Brazil, and The Netherlands.
Just some places to start.
==
Which leads to another question. Just WHO would be HARMED if the current media "titans" in the US were to go bankrupt ???? I REALLY wonder . . .
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Clinton Era.
I am totally FED up with the all the "press" the "Clinton Era" is getting in the media. The media is BIASED, they LIE, and they are slanted so much as to be horizontal.
The (then) Democratic Congress passed, and Clinton signed, the BIGGEST tax increase in (peacetime) US history. THAT is how they balanced the budget. On OUR backs.
Clinton also gets COMPLETE credit for a HUGE surge in the economy. I will explain only some of the reasons (the technical ones) that this credit is entirely misplaced, and show some of the things that led to the huge economic growth. They are as follows:
The two main reasons that this era was a bust (BAD for the people & economy in general) are:
1) The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999. This single piece of legislation removed the last
vestiges of protection of the general population's savings from the possibility of use by
the "savings institution" in riskier investments. This act allowed for the merging of
funds from the "bank" side of a company with the funds in the "investment" side of
a company. It allowed consumer's savings to be used in anything the bank decided to
invest in.
2) the rabid adherence to the credo that de-regulation was the key to a healthy, vibrant
economy. The pinnacle of this credo was the complete crushing of Brooksley Born
in her call for regulation of the derivatives trading industry. This paved the way for
the depression that started in 2007.
The following "tech" developments led the way to the huge economic "boom" in the 1990s:
1) the general change, in the server side of computing, from 32 bit to 64 bit CPUs.
2) the commoditization of computer parts. Motherboards, Hard disks, Graphics cards,
memory, ALL became affordable for the first time in the 1990s, This allowed businesses
& individuals to use, learn about, and profit from computers on a scale never before
possible. In 1990, I purchased a USED motherboard (Mylex, then the best) for $900.00.
By 1995, new ones were $125.00. I built an entire computer in 1996 for $800.00.
3) the maturity of software development, in general, which lead to rapid application
development, more stable code, and more (interchangeable) software "components".
Again, for the first time in history. Plus, there were many more software development
METHODS available (for the first time). These also helped in creating more stable,
re-useable code.
4) the de facto data communications standardization (around TCP/UDP - IP) which
allowed global communication, AGAIN, on a scale never before possible. Yes,
there were other "standards", but none of them were in widespread use. (Bi-Sync
& SDLC use was waning as mini & micro computer use grew exponentially.)
5) he invention, by Tim Berners-Lee, of HTML and "the World Wide Web".
6) the commercialization of the Internet (stemming from all of the above).
7) the USE of ALL of the above changes in a manner (AGAIN) never before possible,
to enhance the ability to trade (stocks, bonds, currencies, derivatives, and GOODS
& SERVICES) on a global scale in volumes never before possible. For example,
computer assisted trading has taken NYSE volume from an average daily volume
of 109 million shares in 1985 to 1.6 Billion in 2005, a multiple of 14.7.
There are more items that can be added to this list, but you can see some of the important technical changes that helped lead to an explosion of commerce, economic growth, and wealth.
==
In fact, it can easily be seen that the world (and the US in particular) became
a better place IN SPITE of the Government, not through any "help" it provided.
Comments, anyone ?
The (then) Democratic Congress passed, and Clinton signed, the BIGGEST tax increase in (peacetime) US history. THAT is how they balanced the budget. On OUR backs.
Clinton also gets COMPLETE credit for a HUGE surge in the economy. I will explain only some of the reasons (the technical ones) that this credit is entirely misplaced, and show some of the things that led to the huge economic growth. They are as follows:
The two main reasons that this era was a bust (BAD for the people & economy in general) are:
1) The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999. This single piece of legislation removed the last
vestiges of protection of the general population's savings from the possibility of use by
the "savings institution" in riskier investments. This act allowed for the merging of
funds from the "bank" side of a company with the funds in the "investment" side of
a company. It allowed consumer's savings to be used in anything the bank decided to
invest in.
2) the rabid adherence to the credo that de-regulation was the key to a healthy, vibrant
economy. The pinnacle of this credo was the complete crushing of Brooksley Born
in her call for regulation of the derivatives trading industry. This paved the way for
the depression that started in 2007.
The following "tech" developments led the way to the huge economic "boom" in the 1990s:
1) the general change, in the server side of computing, from 32 bit to 64 bit CPUs.
2) the commoditization of computer parts. Motherboards, Hard disks, Graphics cards,
memory, ALL became affordable for the first time in the 1990s, This allowed businesses
& individuals to use, learn about, and profit from computers on a scale never before
possible. In 1990, I purchased a USED motherboard (Mylex, then the best) for $900.00.
By 1995, new ones were $125.00. I built an entire computer in 1996 for $800.00.
3) the maturity of software development, in general, which lead to rapid application
development, more stable code, and more (interchangeable) software "components".
Again, for the first time in history. Plus, there were many more software development
METHODS available (for the first time). These also helped in creating more stable,
re-useable code.
4) the de facto data communications standardization (around TCP/UDP - IP) which
allowed global communication, AGAIN, on a scale never before possible. Yes,
there were other "standards", but none of them were in widespread use. (Bi-Sync
& SDLC use was waning as mini & micro computer use grew exponentially.)
5) he invention, by Tim Berners-Lee, of HTML and "the World Wide Web".
6) the commercialization of the Internet (stemming from all of the above).
7) the USE of ALL of the above changes in a manner (AGAIN) never before possible,
to enhance the ability to trade (stocks, bonds, currencies, derivatives, and GOODS
& SERVICES) on a global scale in volumes never before possible. For example,
computer assisted trading has taken NYSE volume from an average daily volume
of 109 million shares in 1985 to 1.6 Billion in 2005, a multiple of 14.7.
There are more items that can be added to this list, but you can see some of the important technical changes that helped lead to an explosion of commerce, economic growth, and wealth.
==
In fact, it can easily be seen that the world (and the US in particular) became
a better place IN SPITE of the Government, not through any "help" it provided.
Comments, anyone ?
Monday, January 3, 2011
History is written by the Lusers.
YIKES, why can't I get over the fact that nobody is interested in 'facts' anymore. I'm watching this show on 1970s technology, and MAN are they making mistakes, leaving things out, and just not caring at all what they are saying.
They mention the Polaroid SX 70, but did not mention the most important thing about the film in that camera: the picture gets better & better for YEARS after the picture is taken. They show a Pontiac Trans-AM with a TA 6.6 engine, and state it is a 455 Cu-In engine. IDIOTS!
They also mentioned that the oil embargo crippled "gas guzzler" cars. They don't mention that by 1976, ALL was forgotten & Cadillacs, Buicks, Pontiacs, Chevys ALL had BIG engines in BIG car bodies. I guess THC doesn't want us to ignore the environment, even though in real life, we did, BIG time.
Now I appreciate a little "look back", and it is fun, occasionally, to reminisce, but GET IT RIGHT ! Don't try to sound cool, when you are spouting errors & bullshit.
Reminds me of this guy I knew, YEARS ago, who would rant and rave about Grand Funk Railroad. Their concerts, their albums, how cool they were and how cool HE was for being a fan.
Except he didn't know who Mark Farner was.
They mention the Polaroid SX 70, but did not mention the most important thing about the film in that camera: the picture gets better & better for YEARS after the picture is taken. They show a Pontiac Trans-AM with a TA 6.6 engine, and state it is a 455 Cu-In engine. IDIOTS!
They also mentioned that the oil embargo crippled "gas guzzler" cars. They don't mention that by 1976, ALL was forgotten & Cadillacs, Buicks, Pontiacs, Chevys ALL had BIG engines in BIG car bodies. I guess THC doesn't want us to ignore the environment, even though in real life, we did, BIG time.
Now I appreciate a little "look back", and it is fun, occasionally, to reminisce, but GET IT RIGHT ! Don't try to sound cool, when you are spouting errors & bullshit.
Reminds me of this guy I knew, YEARS ago, who would rant and rave about Grand Funk Railroad. Their concerts, their albums, how cool they were and how cool HE was for being a fan.
Except he didn't know who Mark Farner was.
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