xmas!

[uni will]

hey everyone, xmas is coming up and I was just wondering what you guys had on your list.
heres mine:
1.ipod
2.Grand Theft Auto:San andreas (ps2 game)
3.Family guy DVD vol. 2
4.(2)sony ps2 controllers

[andrew_carter]

Wow, that's an expensive list! I hope you've been good ;).

Andrew

[James_Potter]

I have a greatly detailed christmas list, as I do every year. It has what I want in order of how much I want them, with stars corresponding to how much I want them (***** is highest, * is lowest), the price, and the URL where you can find it.

Anyway, a few of the items on the list are

BC Wheel
iPod
661 knee/shin armour
airfoil coker rim
digital camera (I know I won't get this, though)
Jim Cielinkineeski BMX Pedals (already got 'em for my birthday, though :))
A real CD Holder (my current one is homemade, entirely out of duct tape)
A bunch of other stuffs that I can't think of now

[uni will]

ya it is.
im preety much just hoping for a ipod becuase on chirstmas eve im driving 8 hours to Pheonix Arizona to vist my grandma and grandpa so it will be good on the drive up.(me and my family have a xmas before we drive up then we have another one there)

[andrew_carter]

You people actually write out Christmas lists and give them to your families?? Where's the fun in that?
Originally posted by James_Potter
A real CD Holder (my current one is homemade, entirely out of duct tape)That's some accomplishment, can I see a photo?

Andrew

[muniracer]

i asked for a gift certificate to barnes & nobles so i can finally get my hands on a copy of THE SOUND OF THE WAVES (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679752684/qid=1103524928/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5421943-7296036?v=glance&s=books) and INVITATION TO A BEHEADING (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679725318/qid=1103524988/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/002-5421943-7296036?v=glance&s=books) , two books that my library does not carry. furthermore i can finally get a copies of old favorites, like bros karamazov and the new translation of the red and the black.

i also asked for some dvds.

and some of the new kh gloves

[jagur]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
You people actually write out Christmas lists and give them to your families?? yeah this action was a total shock to me when i first got together with carrie about 8 years ago. her family does this every year and i just dont get it, in one way it helps the gift giver but there isnt alot of genuine surprise other than who picked whatever off your list.

i always deviate from the list just because of my rebelion to that style. its still is a merry christmas and all but its not the way i grew up and its really weird to have x-mass lists for all her family members on the refridgerater...it reminds me of those cheezy Target or Wal-mart Wedding gift lists that people registar so everyone "knows what to buy for the newly weds"

[andrew_carter]

Trip,
I've been meaning to get myself another book...which of those (or others) would you recommend most? I never have any luck with books unless I've had one suggested to me by someone else.

Jagur,
In our family, and most I know of, you get the occasional special gift where it's no secret that you want it and sometimes no secret that you're getting it, but generally almost everything is a surprise. I think it's much more personal that way, shows that you actually konw the person you're giving the gift to.

Andrew

[muniracer]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
Trip,
I've been meaning to get myself another book...which of those (or others) would you recommend most? I never have any luck with books unless I've had one suggested to me by someone else.


well that depends on what you like. if you dont read too often i wouldnt want to suggest something like the brothers karamazov, which nears one thousand pages, and can be boring (not in my opinion) at parts. another long one i like is the sea of fertility by mishima, which is actually four novels totaling twelve or thirteen hundred pages. so if you want to invest the time, it is definitely worth it, but i would understand if that isnt quite what you are looking for.

some shorter ones i would suggest include:

"being there" by jerzy kosinksi
"the master and margarita" by mikhail bulgakov
"remains of the day" by kazuo ishiguro

[john_childs]

What is the fascination with the iPod? It's a popular MP3 player but it's missing a very key feature. It has all the wiz-bang features yet it doesn't do gapless playback for MP3s. I don't get it?

Gapless playback is important for albums where one song flows into another. Popular examples would be Pink Floyd's The Wall, Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper, some Queen albums, there are many many other examples. Classical music is another example where you want gapless playback. Gapless playback of MP3s is possible, yet very few players actually do it. I don't get it.

Why does the most popular MP3 player, and one of the more expensive, fail to do gapless playback? It is really really annoying to be listening to an album where one track is supposed to flow right into another and have an audible gap between the tracks. It's really annoying. Am I the only one left in the world who listens to albums rather than individual tracks?

[andrew_carter]

Originally posted by john_childs
Gapless playback is important for albums where one song flows into another. Popular examples would be Pink Floyd's The Wall, Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper, some Queen albums, there are many many other examples. Classical music is another example where you want gapless playback. Gapless playback of MP3s is possible, yet very few players actually do it. I don't get it.

Why does the most popular MP3 player, and one of the more expensive, fail to do gapless playback? It is really really annoying to be listening to an album where one track is supposed to flow right into another and have an audible gap between the tracks. It's really annoying. Am I the only one left in the world who listens to albums rather than individual tracks? My guess is the biggest market for iPods is people (kids these days :)) who are into their compilation lists and random most popular songs they've downloaded. I think there are less of their potential customers buying albums, and the albums that they buy are less likely to take advantage of gapless playback.

...I guess that's a pretty pessimistic view of popular music these days. :)

Andrew

[jagur]

Originally posted by john_childs
Am I the only one left in the world who listens to albums rather than individual tracks? no your not, thanx for telling me about that. Gaps in Live ablums are the worst!

" OK THANK YOU NOW WERE GO----------------ING TO PLAY PARINOID!!!!"

"THANK YOU GOOD NIGHT WE LO--------------------VE YOU ALL"

[s7ev0]

Gaps in live albums would

[s7ev0]

be really annoying.

[phlegm]

For xmas, I'm thinking about buying myself a portable mp3 player - one of the solid state ones, not the harddrive ones, like an ipod. I don't see any need for carrying around a months worth of music. 8-10 hours is plenty. How much music can one really listen to in a day? The solid state players require less batteries, they're lighter, they're cheaper, and their lack of moving parts makes them less prone to damage due to shaking.

[JJuggle]

Originally posted by john_childs
Am I the only one left in the world who listens to albums rather than individual tracks? No.

Thanks for the info about gapless playback. I was thinking about an mp3 player at some point and I'll consider this information.

[Homerbot]

Originally posted by James_Potter

A real CD Holder (my current one is homemade, entirely out of duct tape)
if i had one, i would trade you... then make one of my own using your design, and give you yours back

because ducttape means that much to me

edit: i don't have much of a list, people just get random things they think i will like... and most of them are right most of the time, but never all of them all of the time


the small list i do have:
one of them usb port memory card things
a cd player (my old one died after years of faithful service)
a hoodie, preferably from engrish.com


thats seriously the whole list... i want a muni, but it isn't realistic to ask for it, it would only lead to disappointment.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by JJuggle
No.

Thanks for the info about gapless playback. I was thinking about an mp3 player at some point and I'll consider this information.

Here's a page that talks about gapless playback: MP3 players: Buyer Beware (http://www.pretentiousname.com/mp3players/). It's a bit dated now since it was written about two years ago or so. It's still relevant. The new generation iPods still fail to do gapless playback.

There are portable MP3 players that do gapless playback. Check out the features and reviews for the player to find out if the player you want supports gapless playback.

When I listen to MP3s on my PC I use the Foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/) audio player. It does a very good job of playing MP3s with no gap between the tracks.

[DK]

You people are weird. I celebrate non-denominational annual secular winter holiday!

[UniTyler]

My list:

1. Giraffe Uni (Torker TX)
2. Lots of WWII games for my PC
3. Graphics pad
4. First Person Shooter digital pistol
5. Illuminated gaming keyboard
6. Illuminated gaming mouse pad
7. Carebear ;)

[James_Potter]

Originally posted by andrew_carter
You people actually write out Christmas lists and give them to your families?? Where's the fun in that?
That's some accomplishment, can I see a photo?

the fun is that I get exactly what I want! :D

Sure, next time I get the chance I'll take a picture.

[Tim]

For christmas I sugested the Nintendo DS. I'm pretty sure that's what I'm getting because I play alot of game boy and game cube games. Yeah I didnt ask for much because I dont have rich parents like some people around here. No ipod for me for christmas :(.

[AllThingsUni]

i mostly want a digital camera. I think im getting this and universe/2 as well. What more could i want?

jon

[total uni]

Due to alot of carefull snooping, i know i am getting a coker with v-breaks.

plus the complet first season of ALF.

[Catboy]

Originally posted by total uni
Due to alot of carefull snooping, i know i am getting a coker with v-breaks.

plus the complet first season of ALF.

Wow you think parents wouldn't buy you something you don't need. You just broke your leg so you can't ride the coker for months and you are too young for Alf... Plus he's a danger to cats.

I say you let me "borrow" the coker till you can ride again...

[john_childs]

Originally posted by total uni
Due to alot of carefull snooping, i know i am getting a coker with v-breaks.

What good is a Coker with a broken V? :confused:

[johnfoss]

Originally posted by john_childs
Why does the most popular MP3 player, and one of the more expensive, fail to do gapless playback? Probably because not enough people have bitched about it. I was not aware of this lacking feature. I know you can adjust it when playing things back through iTunes, but haven't played with an iPod yet.

The reason they're popular (you probably already knew this) is their great user interface, and the big selection and simplicity of iTunes. PC Magazine still rates iPod as #1, but mentions that competing products are finally starting to come close.

You do work for Microsoft, don't you?

I can only remember asking for four things for Christmas this year. Jacquie and I spent a bunch of money on stuff for ourselves recently, and agreed not to buy each other anything "big". But we probably will anyway...

1. iPod Photo (of course)
2. A thing for downloading my old cassettes and LPs to the computer (don't even know what to call this, other than the multimedia sound card I don't have. Found one for $43 at Jacquie's request: "Buy that one yourself--I'd have no idea!"
3. New bike shorts
4. New bluejeans

[total uni]

well...


the recipt was dated the day before i broke my leg. and alf is hella funny and hes the best show ever!

[spyder]

Originally posted by total uni
and alf is hella funny and hes the best show ever!

Ah, to be in the 80's again.

[Checkernuts]

I might be odd but I really dont want any gifts this year, if I do get any I hope they are hand made not because I'm going for the whole buy nothing xmas but rather I simply dont need anything and I would rather not get stuff that I'm not going to use.

[forrestunifreak]

For CHRISTmas i want...................

Universe 2
money to help buy a trials uni(maybe)
and umm...other stuff.......like.......................


and alf is hella funny and hes the best show ever!

Hey I like alf!
wich season are you talking about,alfs new hit talk show or the old ones?

Ah ah aha!

[lleberg]

10 days ago i got my diabolo, wich was a birthday/christmas-present (I was born on the 24th december, and in sweden, we celibrate christmas on the 24th) from my mother. Or.. i talked to her, and she were willing to pay the 60€ my little package costed, eventualy i'll show some photos and maby a short video.

Anyway, for my birthday/christmas, i wish for...
A new unicycle, KH20 freestyle, to be more precise.
A fire diabolo
A pair of fire Poi
A set of three jugglingtorches (that i'll know i'll get, because my grandfather promised that he'ld turn them for me)
A giraffe.
Bags for the fire stuff.
Socks and underwear
A good lighter (that could be lighted when wet and cold, ect.)
10 litres of parrafine.

There is some kind of theme of my wishlist. :rolleyes:

[forrestunifreak]

Originally posted by lleberg
A fire diabolo
A pair of fire Poi
A set of three jugglingtorches Bags for the fire stuff.
A good lighter
10 litres of parrafine.

There is some kind of theme of my wishlist. :rolleyes:

And a fire proof suit?

[lleberg]

Originally posted by forrestunifreak
And a fire proof suit?

Well, no.
That would take all the fun out of it. :D

[James_Potter]

Originally posted by Tim
For christmas I sugested the Nintendo DS. I'm pretty sure that's what I'm getting because I play alot of game boy and game cube games. Yeah I didnt ask for much because I dont have rich parents like some people around here. No ipod for me for christmas :(.

If I could, I would buy you an iPod. But I can't. So next time I see you, I'll give you something to make up for it. How about.... a cookie?


Originally posted by Checkernuts
I might be odd but I really dont want any gifts this year, if I do get any I hope they are hand made not because I'm going for the whole buy nothing xmas but rather I simply dont need anything and I would rather not get stuff that I'm not going to use.

Next time I see you, I'll give you a Merry Christmas Cookie too.

[KJ-52]

what a coincidence, this is my Christmas list.......

1. a cookie

Andrew

[john_childs]

Originally posted by johnfoss
Probably because not enough people have bitched about it. I was not aware of this lacking feature. I know you can adjust it when playing things back through iTunes, but haven't played with an iPod yet.

The reason they're popular (you probably already knew this) is their great user interface, and the big selection and simplicity of iTunes. PC Magazine still rates iPod as #1, but mentions that competing products are finally starting to come close.


My comments about the iPod were somewhat rhetorical.

Apple has gotten complaints about the lack of gapless playback all the way back since the first generation of the iPod. Apple is well aware that people want gapless playback, they've just decided to do nothing about it. I follow some audio forums like Head-Fi (http://www.head-fi.org/) and there have been complaints there about the lack of gapless playback in the iPod.

The iPod gets very good reviews for sound quality, the user interface, and other aspects of the iPod. It is obvious that Apple did their homework with the iPod. Which makes it even more strange that they would neglect gapless playback. My only explanations for that just make me cynical.

One problem is that most people aren't aware of the problem. How can people ask for a feature that they don't know is missing. The other problem is that 99.99% of the people listening to music don't care. It seems that only 0.01% of the people listen to albums any more. Everyone else is listening to tracks and DJ mixes and custom playlists and poor quality 128 kbps files from Kazaa. We're doomed.

When I was looking for the link to the MP3 players: Buyer Beware (http://www.pretentiousname.com/mp3players/) page I found a petition effort at the iPodlounge (http://www.ipodlounge.com/ipodnews_comments.php?id=4967_0_7_0_C) to get Apple to add gapless playback. The petition is here (http://www.petitiononline.com/13421509/petition.html). The comments by some of the people defending the iPod and it's lack of gapless playback just points out the problem. Most people just don't care. It is obvious that they have never and will never listen to Dark Side Of The Moon or a Beethoven symphony on their iPod. Sigh.

It's not just Apple. Microsoft is just as bad with their Media Player. It leaves horrendous gaps between tracks. The problem is that few people care about gapless playback.

I'd consider getting an iPod if it had gapless playback. As it is, it's not even an option for me.

[Unitik908]

form my grandparents
1. New unicycle Torker Dx
2. San Andreas
3. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
4. CKY volumes 1 2
5. Black Leather Chucks for Highschool next year you gotta wear a uniform and dress shoes so im gonna eb sneaky


Parents (ma and step dad)
1. New Bass OLP pearl blue 4 string 199.99
2. Napolean Dynomite
3.maaaybe like 2 cds
Dad
....



POW

[James_Potter]

Originally posted by KJ-52
what a coincidence, this is my Christmas list.......

1. a cookie

Next time I see you, I will give you a cookie also.
Then I will push you in a mud puddle.

[phlegm]

Originally posted by john_childs
One problem is that most people aren't aware of the problem. How can people ask for a feature that they don't know is missing. The other problem is that 99.99% of the people listening to music don't care. It seems that only 0.01% of the people listen to albums any more. Everyone else is listening to tracks and DJ mixes and custom playlists and poor quality 128 kbps files from Kazaa. We're doomed.

I listen to albums all the time, but I guess I've learned to ignore the gaps. Compared to the time and effort it would take to flip a cassette or a record, what's a couple second pause? ;)

[unitrialser]

KH Trials 20"

[Tim]

Originally posted by James_Potter
If I could, I would buy you an iPod. But I can't. So next time I see you, I'll give you something to make up for it. How about.... a cookie?Nice! I'm keeping you to this. If you become rich remember me or well you can remember me if you're not also. Its just easier not to remember some one if your rich. So you dont want to push me into a mud pudle? I'm not a friend?

[john_childs]

Originally posted by Unitik908
form my grandparents
[snip]
3. Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon

Sweet!

I hope you're not going to have to listen to it on an iPod. :)

I'm listening to my copy of Dark Side Of The Moon right now. It's a gold Ultradisc (http://www.mofi.com/goldcd.htm) version. And I'm listening to it on the stereo with the CD and headphones so there are no pauses between the tracks where there shouldn't be. Pure bliss.

I've also got the gold Ultradisc version of The Wall. It was only realeased as an Ultradisc for one year and is a bit of a collectors item.

[PopeSamXVI]

For xmas I want:

The stores to be open so I can do something other than stay at home bored.

Merry Jews Go To The Movies Day!

[Orange]

Ok, here's my list:

1. sixsixone-leg.... well the things that protect your legs.
2. Coker 36"
3. money
4. Serbian dictionnairy

I think that was all....

[Catboy]

I am amazed nobody has said:


POWERSKIPS!!! (http://www.powerskip.de/mainpage.html)
Alshoutgh they do have a pretty high pricetag, there seems to be nothing cooler(other than uni) than being able to jump 6+ feet in the air!

[Orange]

Originally posted by Catboy
I am amazed nobody has said:


POWERSKIPS!!! (http://www.powerskip.de/mainpage.html)
Alshoutgh they do have a pretty high pricetag, there seems to be nothing cooler(other than uni) than being able to jump 6+ feet in the air!

Hm, seems pretty amazing.

[kristine]

I make some suggestions to my parents. this year, I suggested:
New MATCHING bedding
Shampoo
deodorant
Shopaholic and sister (a book from the shopaholic series)
and this really nice black sweater I want from garage.

My mom was disappointed with this list! She thought it was too short and boring. I told her to pick out whatever she wants if mines too boring. I dont really care anymore.

I didnt give a list to anyone else, but my boyfriend wanted an idea so I told him I wanted a swiffer wet jet- cause I'm completly mop-less in my apartment, and have an old rag that I have to get on my hands and knees with to wash the floor- eek!

And, other than that, really only my sister and my roomate have gotten me gifts. And they're surprises. Oh, and the usual money from my grandparents. Which is nice!

Anywho... thats that

[darchibald]

Originally posted by Orange
Ok, here's my list:

1. sixsixone-leg.... well the things that protect your legs.
2. Coker 36"
3. money
4. Serbian dictionnairy

I think that was all....

Just curious, why do you need a Serbian Dictionary? I know some people from there and was invited to a conference there in March, but I found out about it too late and it was just too much money to raise in such a short span of time.

David