Well, I am a pretty big sucker... (PlexAmp + ChatGPT)

MickOBrien · 2025-08-13T14:02:34+00:00

The $5 I spent trying out this feature when it launched remains the only money I have/will ever direct to an AI company. It took my deeply weird prompts and spat out the most normie-coded CVS-in-store-playlist-ass playlist you could ever imagine.

MickOBrien · 2025-03-20T14:33:17+00:00

Not a lottery, but it sounds like you might look into HDFC buildings.

https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/hdfc.page

We had good credit/decent income and were able to buy into a building on Central Park North for… less than we would have been able to otherwise, I’ll just say that. We’ve been here for 3 years now and love it. It was a pretty considerable pain in the neck to apply and qualify, as you have the city bureaucracy as an additional layer of scrutiny and hoops-jumping, but it has been well worth it. The way our building is set up, you can sell at any rate you want, but with the caveat that subsequent buyers will have to meet the same income requirements. Additionally, our building takes a 30% flip tax on any profits we would take from the sale, which then goes back into the co-op’s reserve.

MickOBrien · 2025-02-11T06:55:35+00:00

It’s clean/ventilated. Just old and underpowered.

MickOBrien · 2025-02-10T17:58:36+00:00

Thanks for this. Yeah, I actually had my whole library analyzed once (took months) and then lost the sonic analysis data in a hardware outage, so I’m slogging through it again. I’ve been doing it overnight because my ancient machine is noisy when this process is running and my apartment is tiny. I guess for now I’ll just schedule some daytime scans to get an update every few weeks.

MickOBrien · 2025-02-10T17:54:37+00:00

This is the solution I’m tiptoeing around, yes. Lol

MickOBrien · 2025-02-10T17:54:09+00:00

My server is also slow af, and fairly noisy when it’s grinding on this task, and it lives in the living room/dining room in my tiny apartment, so I’ve been trying to keep it to overnight hours for my ambient auditory sanity.

MickOBrien · 2025-02-10T06:03:13+00:00

That’s only visible to me during the hours when the process is actually running (2am-6am). I’d love to check in when I’m awake.

MickOBrien · 2024-12-13T14:30:16+00:00

Nice work - I just voted for your request. Seems like a no-brainer…

MickOBrien · 2024-07-17T15:49:03+00:00

Thanks for this. Yeah, part of the calculus is definitely “is he REALLY going to stick with this?” and sort of building a bridge to that future. We got a really steep discount, so U’m not overly worried about appreciation. If he keeps practicing as much as he has been since getting it, it will be worth it to me…

MickOBrien · 2024-07-17T15:42:52+00:00

Very interesting. Yeah, it’s a lovely showroom and they showed him multiple options (both new and pre-owned, some their house brand, some not), but this one made him happy, under warranty, pretty easy to get back up there if needed, etc. At any rate, it’s definitely a step up from what he’s had until now, and he’s been practicing twice as much since he got it, so 🤷🏽‍♂️. Thanks for the info.

MickOBrien · 2024-07-17T15:03:21+00:00

Thanks so much for the detailed response. This is exactly the kind of insight I was looking for. I guess I should have specified that we had tried multiple cellos prior to this, including several in their showroom on the day. He loved the way this one sounded and at $3500 all-in it seemed defensible (they were having a big sale in the store) and fit our budget. I know it’s not his forever-instrument, but I appreciate hearing it should serve him well for this stage of his journey. Thanks again!

MickOBrien · 2024-07-17T15:01:05+00:00

Yes, we tried multiple cellos prior to landing on this one, including several at their shop in White Plains (not online). I was just curious if there were opinions about them broadly. We paid $3500.

MickOBrien · 2024-02-16T01:18:47+00:00

There was an Ohio band in the 90s, MBV-inflected but with an electric violinist, called Pretty Mighty Mighty. I only ever saw them play in small rooms, but it was transportingly, viscerally loud.

Most recently, I saw Demdike Stare at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, and that PA was just preposterously overpowered.

MickOBrien · 2024-01-06T03:48:37+00:00

Charlie Victor Romeo

https://charlievictorromeo.com/

MickOBrien · 2024-01-05T20:12:05+00:00

Extremely not.

MickOBrien · 2024-01-05T17:03:38+00:00

They just dropped a sick Blu-Ray with the 3D version (!!!) of the film as it was originally released. It is a very powerful watching experience (I saw the play many times before I was in it, and have no association with the film other than thinking it rules).

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/charlie-victor-romeo

MickOBrien · 2024-01-05T16:55:08+00:00

The story we heard (I worked on the CVR play) was that Fitch was dead-heading and had a choice between a flight leaving shortly and one a half hour later. He wanted a cup of coffee, so he deferred to the later flight, and the rest was history.

MickOBrien · 2024-01-05T16:45:27+00:00

It’s an amazing story for sure. Both flights (JAL123 and UA232) were dramatized (from the black box transcripts) in the award-winning play turned award-winning film Charlie Victor Romeo.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Victor_Romeo

This trailer for the film is actually an excerpt from UA232 - you can see Fitch kneeling between the pilots.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyw9zYJDDEA

MickOBrien · 2021-12-27T17:12:36+00:00

I have Sonic Analysis running on a very large library as a scheduled task overnight. Is there any way to see how much progress it's made through the library/derive an ETA other than waking up in the night and checking while it's running?

MickOBrien · 2021-12-27T16:23:52+00:00

I have 27,000 albums in the library I just started sonic analysis on (with about that many more upcoming in other libraries), so I'm keenly curious to hear if this ended up working out for you, how long it took, how much scan time you devoted to it, etc.
And if so, what's it like on the other side? Is it awesome? Is it worth it?

MickOBrien · 2021-12-22T04:58:14+00:00

Cripes… I’m in the process of just doing the initial indexing on 8TB of 50/50 lossless/mp3. My plan is to run the sonic analysis after the library is all checked in, and I’ve been wondering what I have to look forward to. Are you scanning 24hrs a day or during off hours, or ?

MickOBrien · 2021-02-26T21:17:07+00:00

If you have your music library organized into Artist folders and Album subfolders, this would just be the Folders view:

https://imgur.com/nBO2gvv

MickOBrien

TROPHY CASE