Misc

[zotz]

Last night I fiddled with Audioscrobbler a bit. It looks interesting, but it'll be a while before I can tell whether it'll be useful. I did bad and evil downloading things too, to see me over until proper recorded and released versions become available.

And the monochromator's back. Again. Fixed this time. Apparently. And they've packed some surge protection in the box with it this time, because surges always come and destroy equipment just as you're turning it off. I feeling of great futility has just come over me. In theory I ought to unpack the thing and set it up, but its rapid failure is so inevitable that there hardly seems to be any point. Perhaps I should just stick a small screwdriver through the PSU capacitors and claim that it broke exactly as before. I'd save myself a couple of hours' work that way.

Anne Clwyd got the party chair, which is a little annoying. And Charlie Clarke is going ahead reintroducing the ID card legislation - well, Home Secretary hasn't for a long time been any sort of job for the scrupulous. On the other hand, the plan to double EU aid spending has been agreed, which is better than a poke in the eye with a wet herring. Roll on the G8 summit, when we can watch the neo-cons try to undermine it all.

Oh, yes. Someone (and I'm sure it couldn't possibly be the slightly difficult bloke upstairs) has found an empty room and filled it with light-tight plant-growing boxes. The fact that this was the room we have builders coming to shortly makes this not at all inconvenient, of course, and neither is it annoying that the note I left asking for whoever it is they belong to to contact me was totally ignored. I'm going to put another note on today. If there's no response I should probably go around the whole building asking whose they are, but it'd be very tempting not to bother and just let the experiments be ruined by stacking the boxes outside at that point.

Comments

[steer.livejournal.com]

I feeling of great futility has just come over me.

As if a million voices were about to suddenly cry out in terror but decided they couldn't be bothered?

[zotz]

Something like that, yes. Probably.

[gnomatron.livejournal.com]

audioscrobbler is kinda cool, but i haven't found it much use in the week or two i've been using it. It keeps telling me i should be listening to more radiohead, which is not terribly helpful; after all, if i wanted to, i would do so.

[zotz]

Perhaps if you pointedly listen to one Radiohead song, it'll realise that you've already heard of them and stop?

[steer.livejournal.com]

I just had a look at Audioscrobbler and either it is somehow cheating or it is quite uncanny. Of 55 Underappreciated artists there were only 10 I didn't own something by (three of which I've seen live anyway). And it's not just going for wall-to-wall goth either. It predicted I would like Groop Dogdrill and Cornelius despite the fact they're a little bit of a way out from most of my music collection and hardly famous but are bands I really like a lot.

God knows why it thinks I would like P J Harvey, Avril Lavergne or Keane though -- I'm a bit insulted.

[zotz]

either it is somehow cheating or it is quite uncanny.

Or you'rewe're all quite predictable.

55 Underappreciated artists

Weren't they in the last festive 50? Or was that 14 Iced Bears?

Does it suggest underappreciated artists when you've given it enough to work with, or is it something I'm overlooking?

God knows why it thinks I would like P J Harvey, Avril Lavergne or Keane though -- I'm a bit insulted.

As, I'm sure, are they. Never mind, it could have recommended you Wild Bill Shatner and the crazy frog. Ooh, together at last . . .

[steer.livejournal.com]

Weren't they in the last festive 50? Or was that 14 Iced Bears?

I don't know but even now I'm expecting Jimmy Carr to announce them in reverse order for four hours.

Does it suggest underappreciated artists when you've given it enough to work with, or is it something I'm overlooking?

I'm a stranger here myself. I just clicked the Recommendations tags

http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/rgclegg/recommendations/

[zotz]

I haven't played it enough songs to have recommendations yet.

Oh well.