A Lot To Be Said About The Mix

Someone with a learned ear and good taste to boot told me my mix was off.
In short, "Not enough guitar."
What am I selling? Me or?

I had to think about it. It was not intros or laying low for the first verse, no, my mix was low. And in truth...it was.
I had always mixed my guitar to other input at 7:9.
My guitar is loud and the mic is not bad and in many cases this has worked well.

Constant Change - works here

Ms Bonnie Meadow - but not here

So I took a hard look at mix levels and moved them; reset them to something like 8.5:9
The thought also occurred that because I mix for the lowest, worst, cheapest set of speakers, i.e. in mono I am further muddying things for the listener. If a change in mix level doesn't do it, stereo may.

Music, like any art is such an organic process and yet the amount of time we must spend harnessing technology to capture our art can be an interference to say the least and a complete distraction at the worst.

One of the many quirks of my Fostex 16 is if I leave it in record mode for too long a period of time a capacitor charges that shouldn't, and prevents the unit's power button from functioning. And it remains charged so that subsequent attempts to turn the unit on will fail.
I need this?
This weighing on my mind while I am trying to put pen to paper? You see the dilemma.
(You short out the plug and discharge the capacitor)
Many are the times I have been trying out a new piece for a first run, not taping and the results are wonderful...only to fail to be repeated once I press the Record & Play buttons.

Laugh or cry...
I'm going to record for too long a period and deal with the cap when it happens.
Mix may be set. And if not, there is always stereo. Or boost? Or punch up the guitar in post? Or?

You wouldn't think it was a purple beast from that shot, would you?

How about now?
Same guitar, different lighting.

Uplink: Hack Elite

With the incredible noise generated this week over "uncovered spying on our emails, phone calls and internet use...", pardon me but welcome to 2001 and 2007 - I uncovered a great time waster for the puzzler in all of us who enjoy and use technology.

A game, "Uplink," being the original title, licensing issues ensued and so we have essentially the same game sold under two names, and "Uplink: Hacker Elite."

In this game you are a hacker.
No manual. There is a sparse tutorial that shows you how to establish a link online, crack a password and copy a file. They really don't delve into the facts that in following the tutorial you left a digital trail of breadcrumbs and will soon be found out.
In this game, if you are arrested, the game is essentially over. There are no Save Game options, the game loads from the last place and when you exit, that becomes your save point.
(Yes, you can root around, find the user profiles and copy them as backup)
But the idea is there is no do over, no reload. You lose, you lose. So be careful.
But they don't explain this.

So you either play by trial and error until you are arrested; although how you managed to ignore the several daily messages asking for payment of the fine assessed, is beyond me, or you go online - IRL and start looking for a manual, a hint, something!

The game itself is fascinating to play. You go to a bulletin board and peruse available jobs and the rating required for the jobs. Accepting one or if your rating is not up to snuff you can contact them by email, although that rarely works; you then set about to accomplish the job.

Steal a file
Copy research papers
Delete files

And as the game progresses, so do the missions. There is a plot line, but also this sandbox of work.

Later missions involve changing data, transferring funds, erasing identities. As you start to get the idea, any computer in the game is open to hacking. You can change your identity, transfer fund into your account. Ruin the reputations of your rivals. The way you approach it is up to you.

You can upgrade the Gateway itself, the various components, CPU, memory, the Modem Security measures etc. One security measure is a suicide device - when you are about to be caught you destroy all the evidence. The game is so very open to exploration that no two people will have the same experience.
You can upgrade your software, naturally.

Good Old Games
Has the game available for download for $5.99. Or you can get the original CD from the UK developers for $15.
Introversion - Uplink

I find myself frequently saying,
"Just one more, I need $2,000 more for my new CPU."

Yes, references to moves (Nakatomi is from the Bruce Willis Movie Die Hard) abound - one Easter egg is the Wargames computer is out there, somewhere.