Monthly Archives: June 2009

I Can't, I Can't, I Can't Stand Losing...

My big black 1 terabyte network-attached storage (NAS) server died today. It was three and a half years old. It has, spread across its four 250GB hard drives (now sitting inertly in an unresponsive case), all 14,609 songs in our music library, and all of the pictures we've ever taken with any of our digital cameras, and years of semi-weekly backups.

I think it was a power-supply failure, but I can't be sure. Netgear's tech support was less than useless; I had to repeat everything I said three times because the bored eastern-European guy couldn't understand me and was completely unfamiliar with the product. His recommendation, which cost me $75 to get, was to buy a new NAS and drop the new drives in it. So, I'm going to try that, though I'm more than a little skeptical.

Luckily, I do monthly backups to a portable HD, which I keep at work; so I should be able to recover most of the pictures even if the new NAS enclosure doesn't like the old disks (assuming the backups were doing what I wanted...). But I don't have any recent backups of the music. And the backups I do have are only of stuff I'd bought from iTunes. So if those old drives don't agree with the new NAS, there will be weeks and weeks of CD ripping - and plenty of things which I'll never get back (live stuff, things I found on the Net, etc.).

F

Pipe

Sony P7

I love the big pipe fixtures you sometimes see in stairwells of big buildings.

Sony P7

I don't know why.

Sony P7

I just do.

80 Years Ago

According to this site, these were the top songs of 1929:

1. When You're Smiling - Louis Armstrong

2. Makin' Whoopee - Eddie Cantor

3. Singin' In The Rain - Cliff Edwards (Ukelele Ike)

4. College Medley Fox Trot - Guy Lombardo
Can't find this anywhere.

5. Pagan Love Song - Copley Palza Orchestra
Can't find a version of this from the Copely Plaza Orchestra, but here it is from the Victor Salon Orchestra:

And because I couldn't find #4, here's #6:
6. Louise - Maurice Chevalier

Only know the first three.

PETA Bites

Wichita Eagle:

A national animal rights group plans to erect billboards in Wichita urging people on both sides of the abortion debate to go vegetarian.

One version of the billboard says, "Pro-Life? Go Vegetarian." The other says, "Pro-Choice? Choose Vegetarian." Both feature a photo of three baby chicks.

Lindsay Rajt, campaign manager for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the billboards were prompted by the recent shooting death of abortion doctor George Tiller, who was killed Sunday at his church.

Stay classy PETA.