The thing I’d like to point out is the rather poor quality of the sound output from the device. It surprised me that the world’s most popular portable music player does not deliver better in this respect. I was utterly disappointed by how grainy the sound can get even with the equalizer turned off. Listening to electronic music such as trance or house on the iPod was not enjoyable at times. The bass from the original iPod earphones is not deep enough, and setting the equalizer to “Bass Booster” mode does nothing but accentuate the graininess. I’ve been used to Sony products for many years, namely cassette, CD and MiniDisc Walkmans. I currently have a Sony Ericsson W810i Walkman phone as portable music player. I have to say the sound from Sony branded products is of much superior quality than from the iPod.

The Apple Store does sell earphones/headphones from other manufacturers. According to the reviews, the sound from some of these (Sony & Bose ones notably) is much better than from the original ones. I tried the in-ear earphones supplied with my Walkman handset on the iPod, and I did notice an improvement in the sound quality. It was, however, not as good as the sound you get from Sony players. Another way of supposedly improving the sound quality is to have all your tracks in AAC format, which is the format used by the iTunes music store incidentally. From what I’ve read, the AAC decoder of the device is better that the MP3 one. I’ve unfortunately not been able to try this.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think highly of the iPod. Watching movies on the device is a great experience. The file management capabilities of the iPod+iTunes combination is impressive as well; transferring files, building playlists and selecting tracks to play were never easier. A couple of third-party applications did come in handy to load the music player with files from different libraries though. The best part of it is that, of course, you get to have the whole of your music collection on the move.

The quality of the output sound was, nonetheless, a real letdown for me. There are a few questions I’d like to ask iPod owners:

• Is your opinion about the device’s sound quality the same as mine?
• If you had actually been aware of this before, would you have bought a different portable music player?

Word on the street (web) is that the new iPod, which should be out later this year, will be remastered at various levels. It is being said that it will have an interface similar to that of the iPhone, described by Steve Jobs as “the best iPod ever made”. My wish is that the new line of music players from Apple Inc. also bears an improved audio output.

This technique can reproduce 360 degrees surround sound effects with only two output sources. It is simply amazing. A number of artists in the music industry have released commercial tracks recorded this way. The most notable of these is Pink Floyd’s 1982 album entitled The Final Cut. I have listened to a sample from the album, and I have to say it’s breathtaking, and a little creepy as well.

Here is a really great binaural audio clip called “A Virtual Haicut”. It demonstates what can be achieved using holophonics while detailing the experiment at the same time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The clip should be listened to using stereo headphones/earphones. The intended effects are NOT achieved with regular loudspeakers.

UPDATE: There seems to be a problem on the ODEO server. Here is a direct link to the file.

Multiple types of these widgets are available:

• A Radio player to play tracks of specified artists, genres or based on the playlist of any registered user.
• A Playlist player to stream tracks you select from your “scrobbles”.
• A “quilt” widget displaying a sort of dynamic collage of your favourite artists or albums.
• Charts listing your favourite tracks, favourite artists, or recently played tracks with some nice “onHover” effects and with the ability to preview the songs.

I have replaced the image chart I used to have in the sidebar with the new fancy one. I have also added a “quilt” widget showing the artists I listen to the most, a real piece of eye-candy! Here’s a selection of my most-played songs, they can be streamed full-length from the embedded player.

]]> http://fadil.moris.org/2007/05/25/the-new-lastfm-widgets-are-hot-and-sexy/feed/ http://fadil.moris.org/2007/05/06/the-red-devils-go-marching-on/ http://fadil.moris.org/2007/05/06/the-red-devils-go-marching-on/#comments Sun, 06 May 2007 18:29:00 +0000 Fadil Man Utd http://fadil.moris.org/2007/05/06/the-red-devils-go-marching-on/ We’ve got our trophy back! Yes, Manchester United are the 2006-2007 English Premier League Champions! It follows from the 1-1 draw at the Emirates stadium between Arsenal and Chelsea, leaving Man Utd with a 7-point advantage over runner-up Chelsea with two games remaining. United put the pressure on Jose Mourinho’s side by winning the Manchester derby 1-0 yesterday!

It was an outstanding campaign for the Red Devils. Plagued all along by injury to various key players, the team found the resources to fight back when it mattered. With already eight Premiership crowns in the bag, Sir Alex Ferguson’s desire to win is still second to none! He has showed it once again this season by leading his team to the top of the Premier League, the FA Cup final and the Champions League semi final. Praise should be given to every member of this formidable team, with special mention to Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic who have been remarkable throughout the season! Inevitably, the loudest of acclaims goes to double award winner Christiano Ronaldo for his mesmerizing skills and invaluable contribution to the team’s success.

After two years, the Premiership trophy is back where it belongs: The Theatre of Dreams! Jose Jose, what’s the score?!

Premier League trophy image courtesy of www.manutd.com

Image shared on Flickr by Fad The Red.

Doing stupid things can cost you so much, a price nobody is ever willing to pay. I vowed to myself to try the hardest I can not to be stupid anymore. I conjure everyone to do likewise.

The application allows post editing in four view modes: Normal, Web Layout, Web Preview and HTML Code.  When you first add your current weblog account in the program, it downloads the stylesheets and some content from the website.  When you edit a post in “Web Layout” mode, it actually applies your current blog styling (typeface, size, colour,etc.) to your writings.  This can give you a good feel about the layout of the post.

The “Web Preview” view mode is an HTML viewer which displays the post being written on the homepage of your blog with all the styling and content, just as it would look like when published.  This can be really handy, and I think it’s one of the top reasons to be using this piece of software.

The in place image manipulation options are equally useful. In fact, when adding an image to your post, you can easily scale, rotate or change the brightness of the image.  Better still, effects such as sepia filtering, sharpening and blurring can be applied to the image with a few clicks! 

On the whole, Windows Live Writer is packed with a list of decent features. And this list can be extended, as an SDK allows developers to write plugins (many are already available) for the application. In my opinion, a couple of features which would really improve the experience are HTML syntax highlighting in the “HTML code” view and a real-time spell checking engine (spell checking is available only on demand at present).

Do give it a try, and do share your thoughts about it!

P.S. Yeah I know, I’m blogging after nearly three months! Studies have made recent times very hectic! Oh, I got rid of the shoutbox cuz of the uncontrollable amount of spam it was attracting!

Image shared on Flickr by parosjet.

This rather unexpected change of address has been caused by some problems encountered with the .mu domain registrations. The people in charge are working to have them reactivated. I do hope the blog.mu domain will be back on its feet soon, as I personally prefer it to the new one. But hey, I can’t complain too much!

I believe I have fixed all the links to the referenced content. Let me know of any outdated ones. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about the feeds; new subscriptions need to be made. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Image shared on Flickr by Fad The Red.

Two Names You Go By:
1. Fad
2. Fado ( )

Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. An old Euro 96 tee
2.PJ trousers (yeah, it’s 1.25 PM )

Two Things You Want in a Relationship:
1. Trust
2. Trust (I do want more, but trust is important)

Two of Your Favourite Things to do:
1. Doing nothing (procrastinate)
2. Endlessly surfing the web

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment:
1. Inspiration to work on my final year project
2. Willpower to work on my final year project

Two pets you had/have:
1. Are people’s names allowed?
2. Nah never had any. I do like cats though

Two people who will fill this out:
1. Yashvin (right back at ya )
2. Vicks (He’ll just love it!)

Two things you did last night:
1. Had a long chat with someone
2. Slept

Two People that live in your house: (toughest one)
1. My mother
2. My father

Two things you ate today:
1. Bread, butter & cheese (hmmm)
2. Fish (Vindaye it’s called I think )

Two people you Last Talked To:
1. My aunty
2. Zarreen

Two Things You’re doing tomorrow:
1. Procrastinate (hehe)
2. Picking up my parents at the airport

Two longest car rides:
1. From Port Louis all the way through Le Morne, Chamarel, etc. up to Souillac
2. From Souillac through Mahebourg, etc. back to Port Louis

Two Favourite Holidays:
1. Eid ul Fitr (always has a special feeling)
2. Christmas (great atmosphere)

Two Favourite beverages: (ahem)
1. Coke
2. Vanilla Milkshake

On est arrivé sur les lieux à dix heures trente. Les rues autour de La Citadelle étaient déjà bien remplies, ce qui nous a forcé a garer la voiture un peu loin. Après une petite ( ) montée et les contrôles de sécurité habituels, on est finalement entré dans ce fort transformé en boite de nuit pour l’occasion. Les jeux de lumières et la sono étaient vraiment impressionnants. L’ambiance était déjà très bonne avec David Jay qui mixait en première partie.

Comme prévu, celui que toute La Citadelle attendait est apparu à minuit et a pris les commandes des mains de David Jay. Just a Little More Love suivi par le remix de Another Brick in The Wall étaient les premiers morceaux sur les platines. On sentait déjà qu’on était passé à un tout autre niveau. Love Don’t Let Me Go, dont on connaissait forcément les paroles, était le fil rouge du set de Guetta. Le fameux The World is Mine est arrivé au milieu, attirant toute la foule présente vers la piste de danse.

Les autres moments forts (il y’en avait plein) étaient Otherside des Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Sweet Dreams de Eurythmics (extraeurdinaire) ou encore Song2 de Blur (Woohoo ). A deux heures, le DJ a pris le micro pour saluer les 4000 personnes qui l’acclamaient comme il se doit. On en demandait tous encore et il nous a fait la très bonne surprise de terminer en apothéose avec Smells Like Teen Spirit de Nirvana. Azieeuu, inutile de vous décrire l’euphorie à ce moment là!

Voilà la vidéo de ce que le pense être le clou de cette soirée. On a bien sauté pilé là dessus! Mais, encore une fois, la qualité laisse beaucoup a désirer.

Mes Pumas et les Pumettes ( ) de Bil n’étaient plus que des chatons bien sales après le passage dans cette brousse sauvage qu’était le dancefloor. Je ne pouvais plus tenir sur mes jambes et, le comble, c’était impossible de trouver une bouteille d’eau (oui, de l’eau). C’était du bez ça je vous dis! Mais on est quand même resté jusqu’à la fin en appréciant les excellents mixes de Kevin O’Keefe et de Lebo après la prestation de David Guetta.

A cinq heures du matin, la vue de Peurt Louis du haut de La Citadelle était magnifique. Après une descente quelque peu risquée, on a trouvé la voiture pour repartir chez Bol. C’est là qu’on s’est rendu compte qu’on était a moitié sourd! Et au réveil cinq heures plus tard, c’était toujours le cas!

Cette soirée là, c’était de la bebête beunheum!

Image shared on Flickr by p2wy.

J’ai été taggé pour la première fois, par Yashvin ! Une dizaine de questions pas trop compliqués…

• Pseudo? Fad The Red et aussi Jimmy Lee Billy Bob
• Pourquoi ce pseudo? Fad = diminutif de Fadil, The Red = en référence a Manchester United, dont je suis fan! Je vous laisse chercher pour Jimmy Lee Billy Bob!
• Dernier coup de coeur littéraire? Aucun
• Anime, manga ou comic US préféré? Pas vraiment fan de Manga, par contre j’aime bien Les Simpsons!
• Gouts musicaux? Trance, Progressive, House, Downtempo, Chillout, Alternatif, Rock
• Groupes écoutés actuellement? Angels & Airwaves, Saez, Death Cab For Cutie, The Killers, Counting Crows. Les artistes Electro: TIesto, Armin van Buuren, Deep Dish, Delerium, Conjure One
• Suis tu la mode? Oui et non
• Comment te decrirais tu? Rêveur ou penseur (ça depend du point de vue) et paresseux
• Comment as tu trouvé ce questionaire? Simple, pas trop révélateur
• Qui vas tu tagger maintenant? Il me semble que la totalité de mon Blogroll a deja été taggée. J’invite donc tout le monde à commenter et à répondre aux questions en même temps!

Voilà!