mrichich's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=mrichich2011-10-13T01:02:10ZNew Blood (review)http://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich/writeups/New+Bloodmrichichhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich2011-10-13T01:02:10Z2011-10-13T01:02:10Z<p><a href="/title/2011">2011</a> album by <a href="/title/Peter+Gabriel">Peter Gabriel</a>. The album grew out of the <em><a href="/title/Scratch+My+Back">Scratch My Back</a></em> sessions, and consists of orchestral reworkings of several of Peter Gabriel's older tracks.</p>
<p>This is a stunning album. Peter's voice sounds amazing. He's taken the texture that age has brought and is also still hitting almost all the notes, and you can tell he's a technically better singer than he used to be. The orchestration is well done and well played. It's interesting hearing a song like <em><a href="/title/San+Jacinto">San Jacinto</a></em>, which was groundbreaking on its original release for the use of the <a href="/title/Fairlight+CMI">Fairlight CMI</a> and electronic drums, and hearing the songs with a completely organic, natural orchestra, and how that brings out a whole different set of emotions. This is also the first album of rock songs put to an orchestral treatment that I feel properly captures and uses the orchestra to convey the energy and power that is conveyed in rock music. Too many orchestral albums (the Pink Floyd one and <em><!-- close unclosed tag --></em><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Somewhere Else (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich/writeups/Somewhere+Elsemrichichhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich2007-04-24T01:13:06Z2007-04-24T01:13:06Z<em>Somewhere Else</em> is the fourteenth album by <a href="/title/Marillion">Marillion</a>, released in the UK on <a href="/title/April+9%252C+2007">April 9, 2007</a>. Unlike the bands previous two albums, there was no preorder special edition of this album--fans were asked to order the album online from <a href="/title/Townshend+Records">Townshend Records</a> who released it with a special edition DVD with 3 live tracks.
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For <em>Somewhere Else</em> the band parted ways with producer <a href="/title/Dave+Meegan">Dave Meegan</a> and worked with <a href="/title/Michael+Hunter">Michael Hunter</a>--who worked with Meegan on <em><a href="/title/Brave">Brave</a></em> and had done other work with the band. A different producer led to a very different kind of album--the sound much less "produced" than <em><a href="/title/Marbles">Marbles</a></em> or <em><a href="/title/Anoraknophobia">Anoraknophobia</a></em>, a much more intimate and live feeling sound. Also notable is that the songs tend to be shorter--none over 8 minutes--and are a bit simpler, and more rock-oriented.
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The album's first single, <em>See It Like A Baby</em>, was a download-only single that got Marillion a #45 spot on the UK singles chart. A second, double-A side single is planned in<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…marbles (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich/writeups/marblesmrichichhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich2007-04-24T00:40:08Z2007-04-24T00:40:08Z<em>Marbles</em> is the thirteenth album by <a href="/title/Marillion">Marillion</a>, released in April, 2004.
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Like <em><a href="/title/Anoraknophobia">Anoraknophobia</a></em> before it, Marillion had a pre-order campaign, this time to raise money for promoting the album and tour. People who signed up received a special 2 disc edition of the album, in a slipcover with a 128-page booklet, containing original artwork as well as all the names of the contributors.
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Taking two years to write and record, and under the hand of <a href="/title/Dave+Meegan">Dave Meegan</a> producing, the band created what is now considered one of their most artistically successful and profound albums. The combination of long tracks and themed <em>Marbles</em> vignettes gave the album <a href="/title/progressive+rock">progressive rock</a> credentials, and songs like <em><a href="/title/You%2527re+Gone">You're Gone</a></em> and <em><a href="/title/Don%2527t+Hurt+Yourself">Don't Hurt Yourself</a></em> proved to be good singles--the former reaching #7 on the UK singles chart on the strength of fans buying multiple formats. A stunt to be sure; but a stunt that got them a lot of press attention and helped sales of the album.
<p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Slim Devices (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich/writeups/Slim+Devicesmrichichhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich2006-11-17T02:05:13Z2006-11-17T02:05:13ZSlim Devices is a <a href="/title/company">company</a> founded in early 2000 by <a href="/title/Sean+Adams">Sean Adams</a> and <a href="/title/Dean+Blacketter">Dean Blacketter</a>. Its first product was the <a href="/title/SliMP3">SliMP3</a> <a href="/title/networked+music+player">networked music player</a>, and they now manufacture the <a href="/title/Squeezebox+3">Squeezebox 3</a> and <a href="/title/Transporter">Transporter</a> networked music players. The company is headquartered in <a href="/title/Mountain+View%252C+California">Mountain View, California</a>
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Slim Devices is known for their loyal customers, highly interactive customer support forums, and using open source software to run their products.
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In October 2006 Slim Devices was acquired by <a href="/title/Logitech">Logitech</a> who is running the company independently, but plans to expand manufacturing capabilities as well as product distribution, and possibly integrate with other Logitech products like <a href="/title/Harmony+remotes">Harmony remotes</a>.
<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>Kuro Box (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich/writeups/Kuro+Boxmrichichhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich2006-01-10T15:57:28Z2006-01-10T15:57:28ZThe Kuro Box is a homebrew <a href="/title/NAS">NAS</a> kit, based upon the <a href="/title/Buffalo+LinkStation">Buffalo LinkStation</a> commercial NAS device. "Kuro" means "expert" in <a href="/title/Japanese">Japanese</a>.
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The Kuro Box comes in two models: the standard KuroBox with a 200Mhz <a href="/title/Freescale">Freescale</a> <a href="/title/PowerPC">PowerPC</a> based processor, 64MB of RAM, a USB 2.0 port, and 10/100 Ethernet. The Kuro Box HG has a 266 MHz processor, 128 MB of RAM, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The boxes as sold come without a <a href="/title/hard+drive">hard drive</a> and users are expected to add their own ATA hard drive.
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Many people have hacked the embedded <a href="/title/Linux">Linux</a> environment on their LinkStations. The advantage to a Kuro Box, besides being able to put in larger hard drives (at this time the largest Linkstation available is 400GB) is that an open Linux environment is available on the base install. Since the Kuro Box hardware is equivalent in most ways to PowerPC-based LinkStations, there is much sharing of hacking and other tips.
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Support for Kuro Boxes is somewhat limited by Buffalo--the US operation is run by one<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…pulse oximetry (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich/writeups/pulse+oximetrymrichichhttp://m.everything2.com/user/mrichich2005-01-15T23:35:35Z2005-01-15T23:35:35ZA <a href="/title/noninvasive">noninvasive</a> method to determine <a href="/title/oxygen+saturation">oxygen saturation</a> of the blood. Pulse oximetry is a little-heralded advance in medicine that is probably responsble for saving countless lives. It is in fact referred to as the "fifth vital sign" along with <a href="/title/body+temperature">temperature</a>, <a href="/title/pulse">pulse</a>, <a href="/title/respiratory+rate">respiratory rate</a>, and <a href="/title/blood+pressure">blood pressure</a>.
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Pulse oximetry works on the principle that <a href="/title/oxyhemoglobin">oxyhemoglobin</a>--oxygenated hemoglobin, what carries oxygen from the lungs to the cells--absorbs light differently than <a href="/title/deoxyhemoglobin">deoxyhemoglobin</a>--hemoglobin that has given up its oxygen. At 100% oxygen saturation, all hemoglobin is oxyhemoglobin. If saturation is less than about 98-100% (at sea level) it suggests difficulty in the <a href="/title/cardiopulmonary+system">cardiopulmonary system</a> which can be from countless causes. Oxygen saturation of less than 90% indicates serious difficulty usually requiring supplemental oxygen. Rapid desaturation can indicate acute respiratory or cardiac distress. The ability to determine saturation in real time and without drawing blood<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…