It's past time for another update to my quest for easy to purchase music that will work with Linux and iPod.
I had been buying music from the Wal-Mart MP3 store, but now Amazon.com is selling MP3s, and it's even easier than Wal-Mart.
With Amazon's one-click purchasing, and with the Amazon MP3 Downloader software for Linux installed, it is finally easier to pay for music on-line than it is to steal it! Hurray!
The Downloader automatically places the music in my music folder in the right place, and all the ID3 tags seem to be working fine so it works perfectly in my Rythmbox player in Ubuntu, as well as iTunes on my wife's windows PC, and on our iPhones and iPod.
It's nice to have something that finally "just works" the way I expect after years of hoping.
So Amazon is getting all of my business from now on.
So what have I purchased lately?
I just bought the new Casting Crowns album for my wife's birthday. I like it too, so that's a win-win. ;-)
I've purchased albums from Warren Barfield, Superchick, Kutless, and a couple singles from Mark Schultz.
All excellent music!
Monday, September 08, 2008
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Light-Geek
As the days start to get shorter here in North America, I'll be commuting to and from work in the dark on my bike. Being visible to automobile traffic is of paramount importance for safety, so I have lights on my bike so that motorists can see me and then pass me safely.
On the front, and have a CatEye HL-EL410. This is a white light with three LEDs that takes three AAA batteries. It's not really bright enough to see by, but the point is to be seen by motorists. I really like this light because it's durable, weather-proof, and lasts for years on a single set of batteries!
On the back, I have a Planet Bike Superflash. I've tried a lot of different lights over the years, and found nothing that is as durable and noticeable as the Superflash.
Here's a video that shows the difference between a standard light and the superflash.
As you can see, this is once very noticeable light.
You can certainly find cheaper LED blinky lights for your bike, but when your life depends on it, go ahead and spend a couple bucks more for the best.
Also worth noting, it's important to have passive reflectors on the bike too. There's always a chance that something will go wrong with my bliky lights (like I forget to turn them on), but the reflectors will still catch drivers' attention.
On the front, and have a CatEye HL-EL410. This is a white light with three LEDs that takes three AAA batteries. It's not really bright enough to see by, but the point is to be seen by motorists. I really like this light because it's durable, weather-proof, and lasts for years on a single set of batteries!
On the back, I have a Planet Bike Superflash. I've tried a lot of different lights over the years, and found nothing that is as durable and noticeable as the Superflash.
Here's a video that shows the difference between a standard light and the superflash.
As you can see, this is once very noticeable light.
You can certainly find cheaper LED blinky lights for your bike, but when your life depends on it, go ahead and spend a couple bucks more for the best.
Also worth noting, it's important to have passive reflectors on the bike too. There's always a chance that something will go wrong with my bliky lights (like I forget to turn them on), but the reflectors will still catch drivers' attention.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Fender-Geek
As someone who rides to work everyday, rain or shine, it's pretty important to have fenders on my bike. Riding in the rain is actually quite refreshing usually, and the rain that falls from the sky is not a big deal on a warm day, but the water that comes up from the tires off the road is nasty and I don't like having a stripe of it up my back when I get home.
The solution of course is to have fenders on the bike. When I purchased my bike from the LBS a few years ago, I had them add a pair of fenders for this very reason. The pair that they added were some no-name brand that worked OK, but were hard to adjust, so they were sometimes rubbing on the wheel, and tended to rattle on bumpy roads.
So last time we were at the REI store, I picked up a pair of Planet Bike fenders. I finally got around to mounting these to the bike, and I couldn't be happier! The bike is so quiet now!
This week, we've had a lot of rain, and I was really able to enjoy riding through it in part because of these excellent fenders.
The solution of course is to have fenders on the bike. When I purchased my bike from the LBS a few years ago, I had them add a pair of fenders for this very reason. The pair that they added were some no-name brand that worked OK, but were hard to adjust, so they were sometimes rubbing on the wheel, and tended to rattle on bumpy roads.
So last time we were at the REI store, I picked up a pair of Planet Bike fenders. I finally got around to mounting these to the bike, and I couldn't be happier! The bike is so quiet now!
This week, we've had a lot of rain, and I was really able to enjoy riding through it in part because of these excellent fenders.
Monday, September 01, 2008
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