March 31, 2007
Test, test...
Yay, it works!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:05 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 5 words, total size 1 kb.
1
Are you aware of where that animated image comes from? (It's redrawn from frame grabs.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 31, 2007 01:39 PM (+rSRq)
2
Sure am: either ep25 or 26 of
Evangelion, whichever it was that had the 'alternate world' that spawned the
NGE: Angelic Days manga.
I'm a Reihead, I admit it.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 31, 2007 01:42 PM (2nDll)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 30, 2007
So what it really means is "free as in not like beer".
The above comment, posted by
Pixy hizzown self at or around
9:54 AM on March 30, 2007, holds a special distinction...
...it's The Pond's 1000th Comment.
Nobody is more surprised than I.
Thank you to all the readers, commenters and lurkers out there... I couldn't do this thing without y'all.
Now lets go someplace sillier than this and wear goofy hats. Drinks are on me.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
06:56 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 77 words, total size 1 kb.
March 27, 2007
Tech Help Needed!
Can anybody recommend a good, free, CD-to-MP3 ripper? I've Windows XP, SP2.
Thanks!
Posted by: Wonderduck at
06:25 AM
| Comments (16)
| Add Comment
Post contains 16 words, total size 1 kb.
1
CDex. Go ahead and grab the beta; I tried it and never looked back. You may want to chase down an ASPI DLL, but you don't actually have to. Just set the ripping method to "paranoia (full)" and you enjoy the full CDparanoia library's proven quality ripping technique under Windows.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 27, 2007 07:38 AM (GRUEw)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 27, 2007 10:52 AM (kdEVa)
3
1) free is the operative word.
2) Considering the intrusive nature of Apple products, I'd rather drop an enraged wombat down the front of my pants.
3) Free is the operative word.
I d/l'd CDex... and left the file sitting in my 'takehome' folder at the Duck U. Bookstore. Feh. I'll give it a look, though!
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 27, 2007 11:00 AM (B4jiS)
4
If that isn't to your liking, try the Free CD Ripper from http://koyotstar.free. fr/indexEn.html (Address altered 'cause the spam filter don't like it)
I've had it for several years now, and I love it (when I'm not using Windows Media Player, anyway).
Posted by: JP Gibb at March 27, 2007 11:54 AM (XZKK5)
5
iTunes is free. (The software.) The other point is valid, of course.
It does work pretty well as a CD ripper, though.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 27, 2007 02:02 PM (kdEVa)
6
So does Windows Media Player, I've discovered. I feel creepy using it, however, so I'm still looking for suggestions!
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 27, 2007 02:19 PM (h/YdH)
7
The gold standard for free (as in beer) ripping programs is
Exact Audio Copy. You'll need to get
LAME as well if you want to rip to MP3.
Posted by: Andrew F. at March 28, 2007 01:20 PM (Z4Cb+)
8
Y'know, I've never understood that phrase, "free as in beer"...
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 28, 2007 04:00 PM (2KMjO)
9
Free (as in beer) versus free (as in speech).
Posted by: JP Gibb at March 29, 2007 12:23 AM (XZKK5)
10
But... but...
beer isn't FREE!
I cornfuzzled.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 29, 2007 12:24 PM (2nDll)
11
Yeah, I summed up when I should have explained.
From
Wikipedia:
In hacker slang, gratis is typically referred to as free as in beer while libre is referred to as free as in speech.[1][2]
Free as in beer refers to things which are available at no monetary cost (like free beer at a party). While one is permitted to utilize the object, one is not permitted to possess, modify, or reproduce the object. In the "free beer" scenario, this equates to being permitted to drink the beer, but neither to leave the party with the beer, nor to tamper with someone else's beer, nor to brew one's own beer; in the computer software scenario, gratis allows the user to install and operate the software, but neither to rebrand the software, nor to alter its method of operation, nor to create copies of the software for distribution.
By contrast, the expressions free as in speech, free as in freedom, and free as in rights, refer to something which is free of any and all restrictions, as in the freedom of speech. One is permitted to use the object, reproduce it, repurpose it, and generally do what one will with it; usually the only restrictions applied are that credit be given to any entity that contributed to any resulting object and that such object be free as in speech as well. An example of a license with such grants and conditions is the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license.
Posted by: JP Gibb at March 30, 2007 12:27 AM (XZKK5)
12
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... now it becomes clear.
Very cool, thank you, JP!
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 30, 2007 01:06 AM (h/YdH)
13
So what it really means is "free as in not like beer".
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 30, 2007 03:54 AM (kdEVa)
14
Origins of words and phrases has always been an interest of mine, and the interweb has made researching things
a lot easier.
Posted by: JP Gibb at March 30, 2007 11:56 AM (XZKK5)
15
Comment #1006:
Not everything on the Web is true or correct, unfortunately.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/16
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at March 31, 2007 09:40 AM (9imyF)
16
I will second a comment made above (part of the original topic): Exact Audio Copy & LAME are definitely the most high quality CD to MP3 approach I've ever heard.
Posted by: madmike at April 01, 2007 04:11 AM (XvoHV)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 26, 2007
Yep, these are my friends...
Wonderduck: Wazzup?
Brickmuppet: Nothing...I'm deliberately wasting your time
Brickmuppet: It's already to late....the Kiwis have infiltrated your headquarters and are saving the earth fom your tyrannty as we speak.....too bad we'll have to blow up MT rusmore though.
Wonderduck: Eh, I don't believe it exists anyway.
(read on, MacDuff!)
more...
Posted by: Wonderduck at
01:08 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 511 words, total size 4 kb.
1
Secret headquarters under Mt. Rushmore... wasn't that in the '80s rendition of Buck Rodgers?
Or maybe I've gone completely mad.
Posted by: GreyDuck at March 26, 2007 05:18 PM (CdXfx)
2
You'd have to ask the Muppet on that one, I'm afraid... I had no idea what he was talking about. Besides, I don't believe Mt Rushmore actually exists.
I've flown over it twice. Both times, the pilot said "If you look out the the windows on the left side of the plane, you'll see Mt Rushmore. Or, you
would if it wasn't for the fires." And, indeed, all you could see was smoke.
So I don't believe it actually exists. It's a good story, but c'mon... carving faces into a mountain?
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 26, 2007 05:26 PM (CZc15)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 23, 2007
Growf.
OotS is nice. Wildly popular, too. But even it must bow down to the master of them all:
What's New With Phil & Dixie.
THE ur-webcomic. How "ur"? There wasn't even a web when "What's New" was around. No, you could only read it monthly (or about how often Megatokyo updates), on the last page of Dragon magazine.
Yes, I had a subscription. Yes, I'm a geek.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
10:26 AM
| Comments (6)
| Add Comment
Post contains 68 words, total size 1 kb.
1
I already have the collected editions.
And, somewhere, a small Growf.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 23, 2007 11:57 AM (kdEVa)
2
I have the ORIGINALS as printed in
Dragon, back at the Olde Home Pond. I don't have a Growf, though... wish I did.
I still remember the issue where the Growfs infested the magazine... (which is mentioned in one of the comics at the link; they were all OVER the issue)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 23, 2007 12:49 PM (h/YdH)
3
I had a subscription, too. I wonder whether Foglio put the "Sex in D&D" strip up, or whether that remains exclusive to the collection. (I guess I'll find out after I've read through all the others.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 23, 2007 06:37 PM (+rSRq)
4
Not yet; it's next month.
/snicker
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 23, 2007 06:39 PM (CZc15)
5
Looks like I'll have quite a long time to wait to even find out, since he's reposting one strip per week. Ye Gods; it'll be two more years.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 23, 2007 06:40 PM (+rSRq)
6
I have a lot of the originals too, but not all of the earliest ones. (Back then, just buying Dragon once a month ate half my pocket money.)
Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 24, 2007 06:11 PM (kdEVa)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
Spring is here...
...and with Spring comes the start of the Baseball season. And with the start of the Baseball season comes the start of my fantasy baseball league.
The same league I've been in for 21 seasons; over half of us have been around for at least 15 years. As one could guess, the league is pretty good... I think the worst of us could perform pretty well in any Expert league (the type that ESPN or the like have for their 'experts') out there.
It also means that the league is pretty cutthroat. If you're not ready, you're going to be eaten alive.
I'm not ready; our auction is Saturday morning.
I'm doomed. But it'll be fun.
But I'm doomed.
It's 1138am as I write this, and I've already spent three hours doing research on starting rotations and bullpens in the National League (thank god we're not a combined league... I don't think I could deal with that).
But it's fun, right? Right?
I've won this league twice, in 2002 and 2004. As much as I'd love to predict a third championship for 2007, I can't. I don't have the time to devote to the league as I did those seasons, as I was unemployed.
So this is a long-winded way of me saying that I probably won't be posting more than this today.
Any other fantasy baseball people out there?
Posted by: Wonderduck at
04:41 AM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 233 words, total size 1 kb.
1
I play fantasy football (soccer) most years, but I tend to lose interest after a few months each year, and disappointingly seem to do better after I stop changing my team.
Posted by: flotsky at March 23, 2007 07:19 AM (5pQDI)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 22, 2007
Heh.
See?
SOME people know the inherent worth of a duck!
(...and might I just say that OotS = laugh x 1.5?)
Posted by: Wonderduck at
11:06 AM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 22 words, total size 1 kb.
1
I stopped caring after what Rich has done to Miko around strip 420 or so.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at March 22, 2007 05:09 PM (9imyF)
2
I haven't made it that far yet. I started reading OotS just a couple of days ago, after both The Librarian and The Prez of the Duck U. Anime Club (on hiatus) mentioned how much they like it... within 12 hours of each other.
Two COMPLETELY different personalities liking the strip? Okay, I give it a shot.
And, to be honest, I hope that whatever is being done to Miko is a) painful, and 2) painful.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 22, 2007 05:51 PM (86QII)
3
I've caught up to the newest comic, and what's being done to Miko hasn't been painful enough.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 23, 2007 04:42 AM (CZc15)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 20, 2007
La Grande Canard
Over at the
Fledgling Otaku's place, he's discussing his favorite painting.
Little does he know that the painting that he loves so much was actually just a rough draft. The finished painting really looks like this:
And now you know.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
12:38 PM
| Comments (9)
| Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.
Posted by: Fledgling Otaku at March 21, 2007 12:41 AM (zbXhW)
2
As the post title says, it's a canard.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 21, 2007 01:37 AM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Fledgling Otaku at March 21, 2007 01:44 AM (zbXhW)
4
*sigh*
Rampant speciesism, that's all it is.
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 21, 2007 02:18 AM (86QII)
5
are you trying to sell us a bill of goods?
Posted by: fledgling otaku at March 21, 2007 08:29 AM (Sh2eb)
6
I think he is winging it myself
Posted by: flotsky at March 22, 2007 07:21 AM (5pQDI)
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 22, 2007 08:03 AM (86QII)
8
I'm glad I'm not making the bad puns, because I'd have to duck.
Incidentally, AAAARRRRGHHH!!
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 22, 2007 06:14 PM (pGYvN)
Posted by: fledgling otaku at March 25, 2007 02:02 PM (B0uhf)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 19, 2007
A Librarian's Mind Is A Scary Place.
She's given me permission to do this:
Click Here.
I'm not to blame for any dane bramage that might result.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
02:22 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 27 words, total size 1 kb.
March 07, 2007
Dry Spell.
So I've hit another stretch where I've got nothing much that I can post about (I've one topic on the back burner until something specific happens, but until that time I can't post about it).
You'd think that with the F1 season less than two weeks away, I'd be writing about that, but there just isn't much interesting happening.
So I leave it to you, dear readers: is there anything you'd like me to write about? Leave your thoughts in the comments, and I'll do my bestest to satisfy your whims.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
06:09 AM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 93 words, total size 1 kb.
1
Did you stop doing anime-nights with the Librarian?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 07, 2007 05:02 PM (+rSRq)
2
Nope; life has just gotten in the way the past few weeks. We had an Anime Night a couple of weeks ago, but it turned out to be more of a Conversation and Music Night.
I'm not sure that
CCS will ever be finished by the two of us, to be honest. It seems that the library's AniManga club is rather excited about... you guessed it...
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, so we might sit down and watch that.
Anime Night won't ever go away... it's just on temporary pause at the moment. Heck, if nothing else, we both have birthdays coming up in the next month-and-change, and we ALWAYS get together for those!
Posted by: Wonderduck at March 07, 2007 06:57 PM (GQv1b)
3
If you're lacking projects, consider watching the only anime made to star a magical duck - Princess Tutu. Mahou Ahiru shows need more fans.
Posted by: HC at March 09, 2007 01:52 AM (V+5Zy)
Hide Comments
| Add Comment
March 03, 2007
Lunar Eclipse!
Here's what tonight's lunar eclipse looked like at The Pond:
What?
Posted by: Wonderduck at
04:05 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 13 words, total size 1 kb.
52kb generated in CPU 0.0284, elapsed 0.3353 seconds.
54 queries taking 0.3204 seconds, 339 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
