The Screaming Viking

Since I’m spending 3 hours out of every day at the gym I’m listening to quite a bit more music, my lex & terry podcast doesn’t quite fill out the whole day anymore.  This has lead to me delving into the depths of this device a little more than before.  I have checked out a few different functions…some is good, some is bad.

The random function on this thing works a little different than I’ve seen in other devices.  I’m not entirely sure when it determines the “random” order, but it seems to hold that order until you turn random off play a song (was a pod cast in my case) hook it up to the computer to transfer more music (pod cast in my case) listen to said podcast and turn random on again.  What seems obvious is that when you hit shuffle, it determines and order and saves that list somewhere.  When you add/remove files on the device it reads the file list, makes a change to the db and that causes the random order to be changed.  It seems to me that with the zune I could turn random off then back on again to get a different random order.  This is kind of a pain for me because I don’t always listen to music.  I might listen to some music for a bit, then decide I want to rock out a podcast.  When that finishes I might decide I want to listen to music again.  When I go back to the music list and hit play, it starts at the beginning and plays the songs through the “random” list exactly like it had previously.  I need to skip forward through the list a bit until I come to the point I left off (or after obviously).  Even if I don’t hit play at the top of the list…I scroll down a bit, then hit play it will play the song I’m on…then run through the “random” list exactly as it did the last time.  This is kind of a pain for me, but whatever.  I can skip ahead.

The Walkman functions just like a usb drive when you hook it up to the computer.  This allows you to drag and drop music to and from the device.  That is a nice feature to have, but it also presents a problem.  The Blackberry will ask, when you connect it to a computer, if you would like it to go into storage mode.  If you chose no, it just charges off the usb cable and functions like it would without being attached.  The Walkman ceases to function and is just a usb drive.  You can’t listen to music while it is charging on the computer.  This is kind of an issue for me as I’m listening to it 8hrs a day at the office.  That is a perfect time to charge the device, but I’m not able to.

Building on that, the battery life on the sucker is perfect.  I would bet I get 40ish hours if not slightly more on a full charge.  I’ve never had it go dead on me, and I listen to it every day at the office.  I might remember to plug it in to charge over the weekend, or maybe not…it’s battery life is really nice.

Something that urks me in general about mp3’s is that I cannot find a satisfactory comprehensive software package to handle my music library.  I’ve bitched about this before, but to me this seems like a decent need that someone is not fulfilling.  I’d even pay 50 bucks or so for a good software package that does all I want it to.  I have not yet tried iTunes, and that might be my next move…but from what I’ve read that thing has it’s problems as well.

Brooks & Dunn are apparently really done…they are doing concerts in St. Paul and Minot.  I thought they were a bit bigger than those two towns.  Minot is during the State Fair, which traditionally gets pretty good country acts…but for their last time around they can’t fill the Fargo Dome?  I would think that would generate them the most money, but maybe that’s just what fits in their schedule.

In any case, the dynamic duo will be in the area for potentially the last time…until their reunion tour that is.

link

The popular country music duo Brooks & Dunn will be rolling its final tour through our region with stops in North Dakota and Minnesota.

On Friday the band announced the dates for its final tour, which include a May 14 stop in St. Paul and a July 23 date in Minot, N.D. Venues and ticket information were not included. But a report by the Pioneer Press in St. Paul included a note that the Xcel Energy Center said it is holding date for a Brooks & Dunn concert, but the spokesperson wouldn’t say which date.

The stop in Minot is presumed to be for a concert during the North Dakota State Fair, which will be held in Minot from July 23-31. Representatives for the state fair could be not be reached for comment.

Since they teamed up as a duo in the ’80s Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn have released 20 number one country songs including its signature hit “Boot Scootin’ Boogie. In August, shortly after appearing at WE Fest outside of Detroit Lakes, Minn., the duo announced it would retire after completing its farewell tour.

I mentioned before that I would be carrying my mp3 player into the field while hunting.  I did, and it worked quite well.  It was a comparatively warm year this year so wearing the head set was no problem.  It fit underneath my face mask and was fairly comfortable.  I was able to leave the device in my pocket and pause it when necessary…etc.  A buddy that was up with me has an iPod touch, he used it in the field in a similar manor.  It was then that a slight problem with the iPod became apparent.  To pause, skip etc…with the iPod you need to see it.  I suppose you could guess where the proper buttons are, but you still have to basically guess with no marks that indicate you are on the correct locations.  With my walkman I can tell by the contour of the buttons if I am pressing the correct ones, I can even press them through a shirt pocket (which I did several times).

I had an old universal remote that had a screen like this.  It was all touch screen and seemed to work very well, the problem was you had to look at it to be able to do anything.  It is much more handy to be able to work devices like this by touch alone.

I’m not saying is a make or break “con” with the iPod, just something to keep in mind.

A new AC/DC box set has been released and is available here.  The set is packed inside a working 1 watt amp and contains:

The working amplifier comes packed with three CDs, two DVDs, one LP, a 164-page hardcover book and “memorabilia from the band’s earliest days of touring,” including a button, sticker, tour flier, track sheet, temporary tattoo, guitar pick, three lithographs, a poster and a replica of one of the fake $100 bills used to shower audiences during the ‘91 Moneytalks tour.

I’m a fan of AC/DC but not to the point of spending 200 bucks on something like this.  It is a good effort to curb some piracy by packaging things that cannot be made available via digital services.  I would think some rabid fans would be pretty happy with the extras.