Showing posts with label 2017_02_Conversion Projects. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2017_02_Conversion Projects. Show all posts
Friday, February 9, 2018
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Too Good
At first blush, I thought this "service" would be useless to me.
While I cannot dispute that $6.95 is a great deal when it is 90% of the 'normal' price, my initial reaction was skepticism because of the 1 TB of online backup blurb. I immediately accessed my y:\music_shell folder to find out if 1 TB would be enough room for my Music_Shell folder, which is my primary music collection. As shown below, it would be enough room to backup my entire y:\music_shell folder:
However, the second thing I did was to access the statistics for what I have on my y: drive, which is my main EHD. As I predicted to myself, the offer above would not be enough room to back up my entire y: drive:
Yet, even knowing that it would not be enough for the entire y: drive, given my track record with multiple EHDs crashing, which resulted in multiple CD to MP3 conversions, wouldn't $6.95 be an insignificant investment for peace of mind that I have another backup of my music? It reminds me of the people that show up on ABC's "Shark Tank" show, where they ask for $100,000 for 20% of their company, a shark counteroffers $100,000 for 30%, the person counters with $100,000 for 25%, and then walks out over 5%. From watching the show, and being at a disadvantage regarding all things financial - thank you Bachelor's degree in English - I've learned that quibbling over 5% may seem like it's "only 5%" but I also have learned that 5% can mean a lot of money, depending upon the valuation of the company. Can you tell a rerun of "Shark Tank" was the last thing on the TV last night? In my situation, there would be 2,300,873,130,167 bytes that would not be backed up or 2.300873130167 TB.
Editor's Note: Shark Tank is enough of a 'thing' in life to warrant a label. Also, there was a lot of math that led down a rabbit hole of converting TB to GB - thanks Google - that has been removed due to the uncertainty of correctness. The intent of the final paragraph in this post was to stress my storage need capacity > 1 TB, which has been accomplished.
While I cannot dispute that $6.95 is a great deal when it is 90% of the 'normal' price, my initial reaction was skepticism because of the 1 TB of online backup blurb. I immediately accessed my y:\music_shell folder to find out if 1 TB would be enough room for my Music_Shell folder, which is my primary music collection. As shown below, it would be enough room to backup my entire y:\music_shell folder:
However, the second thing I did was to access the statistics for what I have on my y: drive, which is my main EHD. As I predicted to myself, the offer above would not be enough room to back up my entire y: drive:
Yet, even knowing that it would not be enough for the entire y: drive, given my track record with multiple EHDs crashing, which resulted in multiple CD to MP3 conversions, wouldn't $6.95 be an insignificant investment for peace of mind that I have another backup of my music? It reminds me of the people that show up on ABC's "Shark Tank" show, where they ask for $100,000 for 20% of their company, a shark counteroffers $100,000 for 30%, the person counters with $100,000 for 25%, and then walks out over 5%. From watching the show, and being at a disadvantage regarding all things financial - thank you Bachelor's degree in English - I've learned that quibbling over 5% may seem like it's "only 5%" but I also have learned that 5% can mean a lot of money, depending upon the valuation of the company. Can you tell a rerun of "Shark Tank" was the last thing on the TV last night? In my situation, there would be 2,300,873,130,167 bytes that would not be backed up or 2.300873130167 TB.
Editor's Note: Shark Tank is enough of a 'thing' in life to warrant a label. Also, there was a lot of math that led down a rabbit hole of converting TB to GB - thanks Google - that has been removed due to the uncertainty of correctness. The intent of the final paragraph in this post was to stress my storage need capacity > 1 TB, which has been accomplished.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Title Doesn't Match Result
How To Save an Old Laptop By Installing This Free OS started out promising until I read this:
But you can't.
Blech.
I still may look into if it supports ripping CDs to MP3 and, if it does, I suppose running it on the same box that has Ubuntu on it would be an option. I haven't returned to that tower to figure out how to get around being asked for a password I don't remember. I have the instructions printed and sitting on my desk.
Right now the Pixel OS can’t be installed on your laptop, only run from a USB stick or DVD, though this might change in the future.Wait. The title says you can install the free OS.
But you can't.
Blech.
I still may look into if it supports ripping CDs to MP3 and, if it does, I suppose running it on the same box that has Ubuntu on it would be an option. I haven't returned to that tower to figure out how to get around being asked for a password I don't remember. I have the instructions printed and sitting on my desk.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Great Marketing Writing
I like the marketing angle for this ad:
I agree with that!
"You can never have enough space, and 8 terabytes is really a lot of data, but if you need that much this hard drive is being offered for $40 off list price."
I agree with that!
Friday, February 17, 2017
Thinking about the Future
While I recently purchased CrashPlan as my backup solution, I still think about a solution like this one:
Tim, my co-worker, has this type of a backup solution instead of a service like CrashPlan. 4 x 2 TB is a lot of storage room and would certainly be able to handle my CDs to MP3 files. I also think that the files that result from my cassette to MP3 conversion as(I think), and my videos to digital (I think). Of course, maybe I'm going against the trend: Are consumers returning to non-digital technology?
Tim, my co-worker, has this type of a backup solution instead of a service like CrashPlan. 4 x 2 TB is a lot of storage room and would certainly be able to handle my CDs to MP3 files. I also think that the files that result from my cassette to MP3 conversion as(I think), and my videos to digital (I think). Of course, maybe I'm going against the trend: Are consumers returning to non-digital technology?
Friday, February 10, 2017
Just Don't Throw Them Out
When I read an article like this one, whose headline proclaims "Digitize Your CDs and Reclaim Your Closet," I usually think one key point is missing. Often enough to notice a trend, there is a permutation of this idea
If you rip your CDs to MP3, you can sell / trash / donate your CDs and no longer own them, but you should not. Ever.
I am lucky to now have an "in" with the local police department. They purchase spindles of 100 DVDs and burn dashboard camera footage to DVDs for archiving and, every so often, I stop by and get those spindles. In fact, I now have 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles, plus a 1 x 50 capacity spindle in the den closet. Since I just recently picked up those spindles, it's likely I won't stop by the local police department until May or even June. At this point, I don't care that I don't have CDs to fill those spindles and I don't care that those additional spindles will not fit on my bookcase unless I dedicate another shelf to them. I've already dedicated the top of the bookcase. In total, I have 5 shelves of 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles. That's 5000 CDs, and if I fill the empty 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles, plus a 1 x 50 capacity spindle, I will have 6500 CDs.
That's a lot of music!
I have a closet full of compact discs (some out of print) that I’m not quite ready to part with, yet they take up way too much roomwhich leads to the conclusion that if you rip your CDs to MP3, you can sell / trash / donate your CDs and no longer own them.
DO NOT DO THAT! DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR CDs IF YOU RIP THEM TO MP3!
Why scream that in red font and all caps? Do you not read this blog on a regular basis? Do you not see the Reconversion (Music_Shell folder stats) and CDs to MP3 Documentation links on the side of the page? My experience is that once you think you are "done" with a CD to MP3 conversion, your external hard drive will understand that you feel good about your accomplishment and then decide you do not deserve happiness. And die. No problem, you will think. Buy another external hard drive and repeat the conversion. Again, your external hard drive will understand that you feel good about your accomplishment and then decide you do not deserve happiness. And die.If you rip your CDs to MP3, you can sell / trash / donate your CDs and no longer own them, but you should not. Ever.
I am lucky to now have an "in" with the local police department. They purchase spindles of 100 DVDs and burn dashboard camera footage to DVDs for archiving and, every so often, I stop by and get those spindles. In fact, I now have 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles, plus a 1 x 50 capacity spindle in the den closet. Since I just recently picked up those spindles, it's likely I won't stop by the local police department until May or even June. At this point, I don't care that I don't have CDs to fill those spindles and I don't care that those additional spindles will not fit on my bookcase unless I dedicate another shelf to them. I've already dedicated the top of the bookcase. In total, I have 5 shelves of 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles. That's 5000 CDs, and if I fill the empty 10 x 100 CD capacity spindles, plus a 1 x 50 capacity spindle, I will have 6500 CDs.
That's a lot of music!
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