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Basically, it watches folders on your hard drive and if files get older than n hours it deletes them. You can set it to instant-kill, move to Recycle Bin, or put in your own “Archive” folder. I’m all for the insta-delete, but your needs may be different. The trialware is my favorite kind: never expires, limits some of the features, but works completely. I could do without the nag every time it finishes, but I can deal with that. It’s not worth $60 for me to make it go away, but it very well could be for someone who wants to archive old documents automagically. ANYWAY, on its first run it found OVER 200 files that had slipped through my manual search-and-destroy operations, freeing up darn near 4GB of space. The best thing for geeks like me: you can set it up to run from the command line and thus from a batch script however often you like. Once a week is plenty for me, since I’m killing month-old podcasts. Those that are able to listen every day may want to put a shorter expiration date on their content.

The software hasn’t been updated since 2002 (as far as I can tell), so it may not work on your Vista machine. It’s running just fine on my XP box, though, and I couldn’t be happier about it!

We’re loving Geni! Our family is quickly growing, and it’s neat to see some people that I haven’t seen since family reunions. I have a suggestion, though. It would be great if 2 things could be implemented:

Better Discussions: Allow topics that anyone related to the topic originator can reply to. You could possibly even allow restricting based on how close they’re related, if they’re related via your spouse, etc. The kind of catch-all guestbook type “Discussion” feature isn’t really good enough to have a REAL discussion!

Family Updates/Newsletters: A simple way to let everyone know what you’re doing. Something like a blog, but not really. Even if it were just providing a random e-mail address to users that automatically went out to all their relatives.

Thanks for the great service, and thanks for listening!

Ryan

My controller WAS working, and then sud denly, it didn’t.  It still showed up in USBView, and everything looked right, it’s just that when I plugged it in, Windows XP (Home Edition) preferred to call it “USB Device” and do nothing with it, instead of what I wanted it to do (work).  I read the forums on the redcl0ud site, and couldn’t find anything that worked with my situation, but I did keep seeing a term that I didn’t fully understand:  Refresh your USB Stack, or Refresh your Driver Stack.  I am, like most geeks my age, completely a self-taught geek, and some things you just rarely come across in fixing all your friends and parents’ computers.  This is one of them for me.  If you’ve uninstalled and reinstalled, checked all your solders, and otherwise exhausted your options, REFRESH YOUR USB DRIVER STACK!  Here’s how to do it:

• Unplug all your USB Devices (excepting your mouse, if it’s USB, since you kind of need it for the process)
• Open your Device Manager (Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware (Tab) -> Device Manager (Button))
• Go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers
• Choose “Uninstall” on each of the devices listed, starting with the “Root Hub” devices
• Restart your PC.

I can’t make any guarantees, but this little refresh was just enough to convince my PC that it really did want that XBCDRC remote to work after all!

Well, technically speaking, it doesn’t.  Your performance won’t actually come out of your avatar, rather, it will be broadcast through the venue that you’re playing in.  Every section of land in SL has the ability to broadcast a “Shoutcast Stream” to everyone and anyone that comes around.  Usually this means an internet radio station that plays whatever genre of music the owner likes, but in the case of a live performance, you basically are the live radio broadcast.  The venue owner will give you a “Note” that has the following information:  Server IP, Port, and Password.  These will be important down the line.  Here’s the process:

Note:  This is for a Windows machine.  Someone with a Mac will hopefully create one of these to make it easier for you crazy Mac users out there.  Or hey, you could always just dual-boot on those fancy new MacBooks!

Prerequisites:

• A sound card with a quality input.  You can use a crappy soundcard, but you’ll produce crappy quality. That’s the nature of the game in audio, you should know that by now.  I have an Echo Digital Audio Layla 3G.  I’m not sure they make these anymore, but I got one for super cheap when I played a show attended by one of their employees.  It’s an incredible device, has 8 inputs and outputs and two great sounding mic preamps.  If, like most people, you don’t actually have a high-end recording soundcard, just make sure you have something with a good stereo input.
• A small mixing board.  (Unless you have a high-end input device, you can skip this part and use the software mixing console that comes with it).  It needs to have at least one input for each instrument you plan to use and one for the microphone.  You can get an inexpensive 4 channel mixer for like $50.  Just something that gives you control over the levels, because you don’t want to create a situation where either your instrument or your voice can’t be heard.  I’m sure that it’s possible to position a single microphone to pick up your guitar and voice together, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth and it just plain won’t sound as good.
• A microphone.  This should be a “duh”, but maybe it’s not.
• An instrument. Again.  Duh.
• Whatever cables you need to get your mic and instrument into the mixer, and the mixer’s main output into the sound card.  This may include a Direct Input box for your guitar or keyboard.
• Software:  Oddcast Standalone Version
• Software: LAME (unzip and put the .dll in the Oddcast program folder)

Setup:

1. Open Oddcast.
2. Click “Add Encoder”
3. Double-click the new entry in the list below that button.  It could be called pretty much anything.
4. For “Encoder Type” choose “MP3 Lame”.  If it’s not available, you haven’t put the lame.dll file into the Oddcast program folder.  Shut the program down, put the file in it’s place, and start go back to step 1.
5. For “Server Type” choose “Shoutcast”.
6. For “Server IP”, “Server Port”, and “Server Password”, use the information the venue gave you.
7. For “Bitrate” choose 96.
8. For “Samplerate” choose 44100
9. For “Channels” choose 1 (unless the server you’re playing on has a lot of bandwidth available and you’re actually micing in stereo, then choose 2.  Otherwise you’re sending two identical channels so it may as well be Mono.  You’ll get better quality at less bandwidth with a Mono channel).

   IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SAVE YOUR PERFORMANCES TO DISK, SKIP STEPS 10-15
   
   

10. Go to the “YP Settings” tab.
11. Change “This is my server description” to “Second Life Performance”
12. Uncheck “Public Server”
13. Go to “Advanced Settings” tab.
14. Click “Save Archive of Stream”
15. For “Archive Directory” choose a path on your computer that you want to save the performance mp3 to.  It’s nice to have to check your levels and performance later, just make sure there’s space enough (300+ MB).
16. Click “OK”
17. Back in the main program screen, choose your input device from the list.  Mine has a ton of offerings, a simpler soundcard will have only one or two.
18. Click within the Meter Bridge (big black box) to turn it on.
19. Test your microphone by speaking into it.  You should see action in the Meter Bridge.  If not, check all of your connections and make sure you have the right input device selected.  If there’s still problems, check all of your sound card settings to make sure that the input isn’t muted.
20. Highlight the “MP3: 96kbps/44100Hz/Mono” that you just created and click “Connect”
21. You should be live in-world.  Provided there’s someone there that knows their stuff, they should be able to troubleshoot any problems that arise, as well as help you get your levels up.
22. Play your heart out, you rock and roll stallion master.  The only problem is that they’ll never know how good looking you are in real life.

I think that defining a presence in “Virtual Worlds” is going to be every bit as important as the real one in ten years. As technology gives people the ability to communicate in new vastly creative ways and as popular culture becomes less and less technophobic, when friends are unable to sit down at a real bar and drink a beer, they’ll enter into a virtual world and do it. It sounds weird and slightly science-fictionesque, but it’s already beginning to happen. In a few hours while exploring the world of Second Life, I met people from around the globe, some that kept their real-life identity pretty well intact within the world, and others that used the anonymity of the virtual world to create representations of themselves that were significantly different than what people who meet them in real-life may find. Either way is a means of self-expression and creativity, and it will catch up with the mainstream within a decade.

That’s the end of what you can quote me on. The rest is strictly off-the-record.

Anyway, assuming that people are going to meet in virtual bars and coffeehouses to hang out and have a good time, the next logical step is that there will be virtual performers strumming their guitars and singing their songs in the background. I plan to be one of those virtual performers. And when Second Life hits the big time in ten years, yours truly will be the freaking Bob Dylan of that world. OK, so maybe nothing that extreme, but I do believe that performing within Second Life is a worthwhile step for any independent musician, so here’s how to do it:

1. Go to http://www.secondlife.com and click the “Join” link. Go through the process, choose a name for yourself (You can’t currently use your own name unless you happen to luck out. There is an ever-changing list of Last Names to choose from, then you just pick an untaken first name in that “family”).
2. Download the Second Life “Client Software”. This is completely free, and you get some “Linden Dollars” just for attaching your Paypal account to your Second Life identity. Be aware that the reason for this is that the “in-world economy” is directly tied to the real-world economy. There’s even a service to convert back and forth between American Dollars and Linden Dollars, along with an exchange rate based on trade within the game. You’ll surely be tempted to spend real money in the world. If it’s something you feel like is fun and worth spending actual money on, then go for it. If not, then just be careful not to (like me). You can absolutely have a great time within Second Life without ever spending a real dime (or, roughly, 20 Linden dollars).
3. Log on to Second Life and go through the tutorial to learn the controls, the rules, and the mechanisms for communicating with other people. Don’t skip this step. When given the choice of going straight into the game or going to a “Help Island,” absolutely choose the Island. You’ll get some cool free stuff, and most importantly, you’ll meet folks that will help you learn the ropes. I’m still having great discussions with the first friend I met on Help Island when we’re both online, and it’s due to the bond we created while I was learning how to exist as a virtual person. This brings up a side note: be careful not to call it a “game.” It’s really much more than that, and some people I guess take great offense at the idea that they’re spending such a significant amount of time “just playing a game.” There’s also the fact that some people have actually begun to make a real-world living within the metaverse, and somehow I guess calling it a “game” belittles that. I don’t really care one way or the other, just be warned.
4. Meet some people. Have the folks you meet on Help Island introduce you to some of their friends. Make sure that you’re not overly pushy, and make sure that you don’t come across as someone that doesn’t care about their community, rather that you’re just there to exploit it. No one likes feeling taken advantage of, and there are real flesh-and-blood people behind the “avatars” in Second Life. Treat them with the same respect you would a normal person you meet at a club or bar. It should naturally come up that you’re a musician looking for any and all opportunity to play live. Don’t hide it, but don’t make it your sole existence to them either.
5. Attend live music events. The best way to find out where the venues are, who the players are, etc., is to attend other musicians’ performances. This should be familiar to any real-world artists. There’s a whole community of folks that do this type of thing regularly or semi-regularly. Be tasteful in your curiosity at their performances. Imagine you were in a real world venue and another artist came in just to talk to the “movers and shakers” thus distracting them from your performance. Watch the whole show and ask if you could talk to them later that day, or schedule a meeting.
6. Meet venue owners. People actually own their plots of land in Second Life. They pay real maintenance fees to build stores, houses, concert halls, parks, and everything in between on them. I could go on for days about the ins and outs of all of this, but suffice it to say that people spend a lot of time creating environments for whatever purpose they intend to serve. This may mean you play the very coolest venue you’ve ever seen. I attended a live performance last week where the small stage was set up right beneath a waterfall, and the audience was invited to sit on blankets or dance in the grass right beneath. It was stunningly beautiful, and way cool. All this to say that the folks that put these things on really care about people seeing what they’ve created. It’s the same situation as the real world. If you can draw people’s attention to a venue, you’re in higher demand. Schedule meetings with the owners of smaller venues first, then you can work your way up to the big ones. Again, this should be familiar to anyone with a real-life music gig.
7. Suit up!  You need to find some hip clothes and a guitar or keyboard (whichever you play) on the cheap.  I mean, you could spend real money and buy one, but if you look around you ought to be able to grab one for next to nothing.  You should have your free L$250 to work with, so there’s no reason not to make it work.  You might even be able to talk a longtime performer into hooking you up with a guitar or animation, and clothes are pretty easy to come by.  Also, you’re going to want a “tip jar” so that folks can hook you up with some Linden dollars as you play.  That’s right, you actually might get paid for your hour of time in SL.  The last accessory you have to find is called an “Anti Idle Ball”  This will keep you from falling asleep in front of the audience as you’re playing your set.
8. Play the shows. After setting the date and time for the performance, tell everyone you’ve met about it. Don’t spam, be genuine. Invite people because you genuinely want them to hear you play music. In the next section, I’ll go over the logistics of how to do it all technologically.

By the way, I’m playing at Bibi’s Beach on Friday. Come check it out.

Yesterday, Anna was feeling a little livelier than usual (and she’s an energetic kid), and decided that stillness was not her style while Daddy showered. I heard a loud *thud*, looked out the shower curtain, and asked her what she was doing. “Jumping.”

“Right, but why are you jumping there? You might slip on the wet tile and hurt your head.”

“I’m trying to reach the top of the door.”

Of course. Why wouldn’t I have guessed that my 2-foot tall daughter had her mind set on reaching the 7-foot doorway? “Don’t you think it’s a little too high? Why don’t you wait until I get out of the shower and I’ll help you touch it.”

Her response: “I can do it. I’m growing.”

Rewind to the day before, when I was informed that not one, but two performances we had scheduled 2 weeks from now were being canceled Now, I have just a BIT of an artistic tendency, which means that occasionally I go through a “WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING ALL THIS FOR?” phase. The answer, of course, is that it’s my vocation. It’s not that I couldn’t do anything else (Lord knows I’ve gone through my share of supplemental side jobs), it’s that I feel like writing songs and communicating the Gospel through music is the very best use of the talents that God has blessed me with and that I try to continue to build upon. I get discouraged sometimes when I hear a song on the radio that has poor structure or cheap rhymes, and I wonder why I haven’t achieved the success of some that don’t work as hard or even as well as I do. Sometimes it takes a 2-year-old to remind me, though, that the reason I\’m not “there” yet is that I’m still growing. It’s not that our band hasn’t been successful, just not quite as successful as I know we’re destined to be. So, like the life pundit that I call my daughter, we just have to keep on jumping.

http://3mew.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/eyeglasses-stores-are-for-suckers/