This week brings us to the second part of our Audio Freebies series. I'm talking about a CD ripper and encoder this week. I enjoy ripping a music CD, making MP3s and putting the files on my hard disk. It is a great way to have a music library that I can listen to conveniently when I'm using my computer. That's why I rip; I don't "rip-off." I encourage you to enjoy ripping your CDs and to only use your ripped files within your fair use and other non-infringing rights (US law).
Next week I'll be looking at several audio programs to finish out the series. Two of them are for creating or playing Ogg files. Another is for normalizing MP3s and I can't remember what the last one was, but I'll know by next week ;-)
I subscribe to a number of newsletters. This is one of my favorites. The most recent story, as I write, is about students launching rockets with eggs as the payload. Another of the very interesting recent stories is about this year's quirky El Niņo.
One of the best things about this newsletter is that you get a brief summary with a link to the story on a Web page. I wish more newsletters were sent this way. It saves bandwidth and does not clog up your e-mail inbox. I invite you to check it out. I think this is a real geek magnet.
On a slightly different topic, there is a link labeled "In Our Hearts" on the NASA Science News home page to the Space Shuttle Columbia Home Page. It is definitely worth a visit.
Unbelievable! Sometimes nature delivers right on schedule. It did this week. Here at the western branch of OC tips not only was a robin spotted but a whole flock of robins were running around in what passes for lawn in this part of the world. And if that weren't enough when I stepped off the deck, there in the garden was the year's first pansy bloom. Happy spring everyone!
Cya next time!
Gail
© 2003 Gail Allinson
© 2002 - 2004 by On Computers and the Videotex Services Coalition.