MP3 Player Escapes Destruction

My last MP3 player was an iPod style device. I shouldn’t have bought it. Most of the storage capacity went unused. The battery life sucked and I wasn’t going to shell out another wad of cash to have it replaced. Since Erin and I are planning to join the new Y when it opens up in a few weeks, I thought that it would be a good time to get one of the new flash drive MP3 players. The price has gone down for them and they are better for running with. So I got my card and headed over to Best Buy.

I got the Insignia 1GB and it has turned into a nightmare. It has taken me two days of screwing around with it to get it to play songs. First, I had to install a new program which required me getting on to the internet to download some files. Then I find out that I can’t put on my copyrighted songs on it. So then I had to connect again, and download the digital rights management thingy. I thought I was in the clear. Nope, I find out that the playlist function doesn’t work. I find myself back on the net in order to download the latest firmware update. The firmware update deletes my pre-loaded songs, some of which I actually liked. Did the update solve the playlist problem? Nope. Back to the internet to find some better online instructions for this model. None addresses the problem. So then I make an appeal to my techno-wizard cousin via email to help me. Meanwhile, I am playing with Windows Media Player and somehow I get a playlist to appear on the Insignia. How the hell did I do that? I have no idea.

The lack of a playlist option doesn’t bother me too much. However, if I wasn’t able to get my purchased tracks on to it, I probably would have taken it to the back field and connected it with my baseball bat.

The player came with pre-loaded music. Some of it was pretty good and I am sad that they got deleted. If you like music suggestions, I liked:

“Do It For Me Now” by Angels & Airwaves
“Best Days” by Matt White
“Happy Birthday” by Flipsyde
“Wanted” by Holly Brook

Remember blink 182? The band broke up and one of the members went on to form Angels & Airwaves. I may have to check out their album.

Flipsyde’s “Happy Birthday” is about an abortion but it reminded me of Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go?” Now that I’ve listened to both in succession, I wonder what I was thinking.

Try them out.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet Bob

Image
 I ordered my Ford Escape PHEV on October 13, 2022 and I finally took delivery on September 1, 2023. h/t to my salesman Meet Bob. Actually, I thought I would come up with a better name since my last car was named Patty because I got her on St. Patrick's Day. But after spending about three minutes trying to think of something clever, I threw in the towel and settled on Bob. So this is a base model PHEV. It doesn't have things like a heads up display, 360 degree camera, premium audio system, etc. Mind you, I came from a base fiesta. Patty had roll-down windows and didn't even have cruise control. This is a very big upgrade for me. A little over two weeks in, I've hit 1,000 miles. I've tried to force some non-ev time. I'm not sure what kind of engine break in is needed for this. I figured I should do some of that and get its first oil change before I head down to Florida with it in November. So far, just one and one-quarter tanks of gas used. Averaging 86 mpg. Most
Read more

Be fruitful and multiply...by ten.

Some coworkers and I were talking about that lady in Arkansas that just delivered her 17th child. The Associated Press announced the good news a couple days ago and I remembered the family from the Discovery Channel . The Duggar family had been the subject of a number of specials dealing with large families. They are especially memorable given that the number of kids as well as their, well, peculiar lifestyle. The people that I was talking to balked at the idea of having that many kids with a few of them openly calling the Duggar parents crazy. I have to admit, I think that they are little bonkers in the head too. But you know, that’s cool on the other hand too. And it’s actually impressive that they are able to afford to have such a large family. There are some parts of me that would like to have a large family. (My definition of large stops at five kids just so you know.) But their criticisms largely used the Duggars' religious faith. From what this article indicated, they are pa
Read more

Whatever happened to the Queer Golden Rule?

Image
Wow, Tyler Whitney is popping up all over the gay blogging circuit but the rest of America doesn’t care. Mr. Whitney is an 18 year old staffer for a Republican candidate for President. He was outed. This has caused a little firestorm amongst the gay bloggies with many calling this guy a bigot, an a-hole, and even worse. The way some people have responded to this, Mr. Whitney is fit to be tied to the stake and burned for not being a good little gay. I do not deny that Mr. Whitney has done some pretty offensive stuff. Carrying anti-gay placards that aren’t even fit to be called “homophobic” certainly strikes points against him. However, as I read more about him the more I genuinely feel the need to reach out and hug him. Because I know that he has got to be feeling pretty alone. He’s getting grief from two communities who are openly hostile to which he belongs -conservatives and gays. I have to ask though, is he really deserving of such scorn? Look, his “crime” is working for an
Read more