JamesSavik

I was thinking. I've written two ghost stories. They are some of my most psychologically disturbing works despite them being shorts created for prompt responses. Check them out... if you dare. Careful. They've both got sharp edges. The House Home

From an old Service Merchandise catalog: they called it a phone caddy.

I'm going to start a thread for authors desperately looking for the correct name for things. I will describe the gadget, and you tell me what it's called. This can be an exceptionally useful thread for other authors who are similarly stuck. Remember it's here, and I'll look in on it. It's the eighties. I'm in my Mom's kitchen and there is a phone mounted on the wall. Beside the phone is a thing with a whiteboard, notepad and hooks for keys. WHAT THE HECK DO YOU CALL THIS THING!?

I love a good revenge story. Murder lets them off too easy. I prefer revenge that leaves the guilty with a damned good scar to remember their transgression by. One of my favorite short stories is about a man with a certain set of skills who is diagnosed with an inoperable aneurysm. He takes his remaining time, cashes out his 401K and goes about setting right many wrongs a civilized man had to swallow in The Bucket List. God help you if you are on his list. It was from a prompt response.

Many people are asking: What is a DAC? And Do I want one? A great many people play music on their phones and computers. That's all well and good, but have you ever listened to the difference between the all digital sound you get from your computer and a dedicated analog stereo system? The difference is so real it's astonishing. There is a good nuts and bolts technical reason why analog and digital sources sound so different. It is because of the nature and the difference of analog and digital signals. Analog sound is a continuous signal that varies in amplitude. In a dedicated stereo, even when you play a CD, that digital signal is converted to an analog signal by an internal DAC which is a Digital to Analog Converter. Every CD player has one. Digital sound is very different. At its core, it is zeros and ones. Instead of a continuous recording, digital sound consists of numerous samples. Thousands of samples are stitched together and what you hear coming out of your speakers sounds continuous, but something is lost in the mix. DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) take that digital signal and convert it out into a nice, smooth analog wave form. The difference in the sound is astonishing. There are many DACs on the market that run from about one hundred to thousands of dollars. There are numerous manufacturers and many chip sets, and it all gets very technical very fast. Let's cut to the chase: Most users who are interested in DACs want that smooth analog sound from their digital sources. It's not hard to get but, you have to know your objective. I wanted a DAC that would allow me to listen to the digital audio on my phone and computer in an analog format, have a headphone amp and be able to connect it to my stereo with ordinary RCA jacks. Ideally, I wanted a one box solution. After doing some research, I found my best option was the iFi Zen 2 DAC. This DAC connects to my computer via USB, provides a headphone amp and RCA jacks that plug right into my home stereo. It can do many other tricks, but it covers what I wanted to accomplish. The difference in the sound quality before and after installing the DAC is spectacular. Especially if you have good headphones. Many companies are in the DAC market. You can spend a lot on a high end DAC, but that's unnecessary. There are three companies that do an impressive job on the lower end of the price scale and are worth looking into. Cambridge Audio's DACMagic 200 is a remarkable piece of technology, but at five hundred U$, out of my price range. It would have been my choice if I could make myself pay that much. It had a lot more capability. Schitt Audio (no it's not a joke) has an excellent line of DACs and headphone amps. They are probably the best in the market. I would have gone their way, but they were having supply chain issues and I wanted to get this done. iFi offered the best mix of features, a one box solution and price. Their Zen DAC is impressive. Is anyone else using a DAC? What do you have and are you happy with it? Oops: Another reason you might want a DAC is what it can do for streaming services like Spotify or Tidal. It adds to the sound and gives it the kind of tone you were looking for when you subscribed. I suggest you look carefully at the encoding used by the streaming service and any DAC you chose because the standards are evolving.

In my last few stories, where it's appropriate, I've added a song link from YouTube. Although my choices tend toward classic rock or metal, the song will always have something to do with the theme of the chapter it's paired with. For me, it's fun to do and might expose your reader to something they've not seen or heard. Someone thanked me for turning them on to Rush. Adding a song to a story is like squeezing a lime and drizzling your fajita. It's not entirely necessary, but it adds to the flavor.

Friday night flashback...

Anyone who has ever had to deal with spammers would like to censure them with a bat.

I used to have a boss who would say: save me from the hobgoblins of incompetence. She was right. Those hobgoblins of incompetence certainly do seem to get around and put their mitts into everything.

viva la whopper-chopper

I found this regarding the origin of Vendetta: “a prolonged and bitter feud” is a borrowing from Italian, derived from Latin vindicta “vengeance,” from vindex “defender,” which is also the source of avenger, revenge, vengeance, and vindicate.

My example of a syllepsis: Chris had his usual effect: I lost my temper and my mind.

Do you want to read or listen to music for fun? I understand perfectly. After all, what's the point otherwise? We ask too little of our art these days. We want it to give us a few laughs. We like to be entertained, maybe excited or even frightened. We don't often ask that it teach us anything and that's a shame. That's what art is for. It's supposed to challenge you, disturb you, open your eyes, expand your consciousness and understanding. There is another level to reading and listening. Stuff that burns a little. Might leave a mark or cuts you a little. Things at the edge that are heavy and scary and might be uncomfortable to look at. There are things that tickle your fancy and things that stretch your soul. If you are curious or adventurous enough, you might hear the call. What's over that next hill? Is it dangerous? Will it hurt? YES. You grow through discomfort. You understand by observation and experience. You learn by pain. Afraid? YES. Everyone is afraid. It defines our times. The challenge: Listen to the song. Read the lyrics. Understand- even if it's uncomfortable. There is stuff and there is art. Stuff doesn't teach you a damned thing. Art opens your eyes and expands your consciousness. This is an exercise in seeing the difference. The challenge is behind the spoiler. Are you up for it? BE WARNED. Here there be dragons.

Serial calumnist of the Clown News Network:

My pronouns are: he, him, cat daddy and majesty.

Recently, the FBI has taken a black eye when it turned out that their undercover agents were the true agents provocateur behind potential incidents. The Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Looks an Awful Lot Like Entrapment

Many people don't know it, but Canada has numerous volcanoes. Even if most of them haven't erupted in a very long time, they are actively monitored. Volcanoes do their thing on their own timetables - this afternoon or ten thousand years from now. Usually when one is about to erupt, they get a little feisty and provide some warning. They've always fascinated me as I can't think of anything more dramatic than a big eruption. This last year I've been glued to webcams of the eruptions in Iceland (Geldingadalur) and the Canary Islands (La Palma). They put on a spectacular show.

Like any other spice, used sparingly, adverbs can be useful. Where they are most useful is characterizing by action. It doesn’t just tell you what the character did. It tells you how they did it.

Version 1.00 of anything should be considered a prototype, not a product.

The Unibomber's downfall was the publication of his Manifesto. When it was published people who knew him could easily recognize his peculiar brand of insanity.

oops- not my best moment- delete