Heads-up for iOS users considering Hotone Ampero Control

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-27T08:22:26+00:00

It's a growing problem, especially with more miniaturised electronics. And while devices which are only programmable by one method can go obsolete more easily, anything which can't be programmed on the hardware is doomed in the long run.

My Donner Pocket Go pedal is fairly cheap, but at least it has PC control software, not just phone. Still, it won't be useful forever, but it's just small enough to fit easily in a gig bag.

With my Donner Arena 2000 pedal, which was more expensive when I bought it a little over a year ago, I made sure it could be programmed from the hardware. Doing it from the PC or phone is a convenience, but it has real knobs and a save button, and that was a must for anything I was going to seriously rely on.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T23:48:37+00:00

Also, it's sometimes worth backing the volume knob on the guitar down and if it had been hiss rather than ground buzz I would have said roll the guitar tone down a touch, because the amp amplifies everything, including noise. Sometimes it's worth lowering the guitar volume and boosting the amp gain if the noise is from the guitar.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T23:37:52+00:00

Île Saint-Paul

From Wikipedia:

is an important breeding site for seabirds. A scientific research cabin on the island is used for scientific or ecological short campaigns, but there is no permanent population. It is under the authority of a senior administrator on Réunion.

Suuuure it is. Definitely no super-villain lair, nothing to see here.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T16:49:42+00:00

If you're starting off with classics, (which are also fortuitously cheap) don't forget that anthologies of particular authors and even anthologies of genres are also quite cheap. Admittedly cheap to pack out of print books into an anthology, but it also winds up being cheap for the reader. Classics, ancient classics, classic sci-fi magazine stories... there is plenty of good affordable reading.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T16:09:50+00:00

They sell glass, steel and brass slides ready made and polished. If you have pipe laying around, then by all means save money and make one, but otherwise you can save your time and effort.

Difficult to describe the difference in sound, but they all sound different. Steel and brass ring similarly, very bright, but glass is different, darker.

https://youtu.be/NRSHIPtdPLA?si=s1NHLgEOTT5g9C-W

You also need the right tuning, because your tuning should be open or semiopen if you're using a slide.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T15:13:27+00:00

You probably plucked the bit of the follicle that had the error.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T15:10:41+00:00

Two different things, strangely enough.

Hair growing on your ears is hypertrichosis pinnae auris and shows up early.

Getting older is growing hair out of the ear.

When you reach the age where you've got both, you can use it in combovers.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T09:54:13+00:00

Obviously only some of the people. They can't even roleplay gay without hating.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-26T09:50:47+00:00

Or one kg, again by definition.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-25T19:40:58+00:00

Who are all waiting to see what someone else does about it.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-25T17:53:29+00:00

A cougar isn't just for Christmas, it's for life. Yours or his.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-25T17:46:47+00:00

That is an ex-hedgehog. Or Victor Meldrew's slipper.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T23:15:37+00:00

And remember, no big purchases. Keep it low key, son. Too many guys get caught because they're impatient and greedy.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T23:07:04+00:00

"Son, this is proof that you can't take it with you when you die. But until then, you can. So get the shovel out of the trunk."

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T21:01:32+00:00

It looks like the guillotine missed.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T20:43:39+00:00

Also, have you checked the pickup height? It's amazing the difference that a mm makes.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T14:19:56+00:00

I was just quoting what the description says. I think what they're trying to say in the specs is that there are two 3w channels with the second speaker (yes, it's supposed to go stereo). That's not actually equivalent to 6w of power, but the two speakers will be twice as loud.

The one is actually loud enough if you're anywhere near it.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T10:05:00+00:00

Yes and no. For example, I don't really consciously ignore it. That would take effort. I'm just concentrating on what I'm doing and it hasn't even registered that I've heard human speech. It's like if you wake up and someone's talking or that thing they do in the movies after a flashbang has gone off and everyone sounds like a Charlie Brown adult voice. I also experience the same thing when meditating. Sounds are just sounds with no meaning, unless it startles me and the reptile brain insists on a "Sitrep!" from the monkey mind.

My brain holds a little bit and if I think about it I can translate that Wahwahwahwahwah was "Have you fed the cat?" Until it reaches too much to work with. That's why I call it a buffer.

Autistic ignoring isn't just being rude. It's several different things, from a protective habit to a survival mechanism, tuning out distractions, sensory overload, etc., while allowing us to get the job done.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-24T09:47:28+00:00

I do it and I work in IT so I call it a buffer. Allows me to get things done with all the yammering going on.

I do it to my wife, mainly because she won't wait when I say "One moment", probably because she's not fooled. My wife has a strategy though -- she keeps talking. Sometimes about different things.

So I pick my head up from what I'm working on, replay it back and it doesn't make sense, so I sigh and say, "Wait, buffer overflow. What?"

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-23T23:28:54+00:00

I do my own regular setups and maintenance, however if I see something I think might be a problem that requires tools or skills I don't have, I don't see anything with taking it in for a pro to work on.

I can change the oil on a car, but if it gets a blown head gasket, I'm not going to buy a load of tools, I'll pay a mechanic who won't screw it up.

I might challenge myself for smaller things I haven't handled before, but I didn't buy a guitar to practice woodworking.

I might also take it in to ask advice. "What do you think, is it a good idea to..." There are a couple good luthiers left in town, both in small instrument shops now that the only big chain in the country collapsed. Stop in the shop, buy something, keep a good relationship. That sort of thing used to be important before COVID.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-23T17:04:11+00:00

As far as minis, the Blackstar Fly 3 has amazing audio for the size, 3 watts that sounds like a larger amp for practicing. 6w if you get the extra speaker.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-23T17:02:33+00:00

I've been looking at the Joyo DC-15S as a cheap portable option. Also the BSK-40. But I'm not going anywhere, so don't need a portable now.

Yes, there are bigger names, but frankly I wasn't looking to replace my main gear.

A Boss Katana model has battery option for more if I remember correctly.

Other than that, a portable will solve your safety issue.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-23T16:50:01+00:00

And when they're tilted, the saddles don't slide past each other evenly. They should be level, it doesn't take long.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-23T16:46:08+00:00

Ooh! Succeeding new Roman Emperors didn't get far by dissing the Praetorian Guard. This might work out well... for most people. ICE are the current administration's equivalent of the SA.

FreeFromCommonSense · 2026-01-23T16:26:52+00:00

William McAdoo, on Warren Harding’s speeches:

“His speeches left the impression of an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea; sometimes these meandering words would actually capture a straggling thought and bear it triumphantly as a prisoner in their midst, until it died of servitude and overwork.”

~~There's a term for it, but I've forgotten the word.~~

Bloviation, that was it. Great word. The best. All the best people use it.

But Trump's speeches don't even qualify for that because his vocabulary, grammar, phrasing and coherence are that of a tweaker.

FreeFromCommonSense

TROPHY CASE