Andrew @andrew907@librem.one

Namely, it should go without saying, safe computer-generated public domain Beethoven. I'm not advocating paying for audio of shaky Karajan strings or going to a Berlin Phil concert. Supporting your local classical music bands is more understandable. If you do go to a Berlin Philharmonic concert, maybe make sure it's Emmanuelle Haim conducting. I don't agree with all her artistic decisions but she can make them play actual music rather than their traditional Furtwängler-style dirge.

Vincent Clement's comment on this 15-year old Techdirt post (https://www.techdirt.com/2007/08/15/riaa-ignores-court-ruling-over-bogus-file-sharing-suit-doesnt-pay-up-legal-fees/) struck me. Big Music's heavy-handed war on so-called piracy succeeded on me if the goal is to stop so-called pirating. It failed on me if that the goal is to make people give money to the big holders of so-called IP rights. It put such a vile taste in my mouth about the whole for-profit music industry that I'm resigning myself to throwing out some babies with the bathwater and going back to Beethoven.

Versilian Studios is to be commended for releasing a CC0 orchestra a few years ago. There are a few gaps to fill from freesound. Ideally there would be a Walter fortepiano and a Klavins style felted una corda, which are currently only available from proprietary vendors, but the essentials are already in place (and some extras). My recommendation: since we're a ways away from UBI, buy one of Versilian's paid products as a donation, then let's get to work using their impressive free instruments!

Admittedly, it takes a strong stomach for several months to boycott copyright. And a zero tolerance policy is not sustainable because you need to access copyrighted content to work, to get news, and to run software. But for artistic, inspirational, and entertainment content, we are ready. The public domain + cc0 world is robust, rich and slowly growing.

Paid streaming services are getting ads and fragmenting? Then we can dump them. If we need to pay unreasonable monthly amounts to an arbitrary number of streaming providers, their content must not matter that much. If you want something to be seen, you're going to put it online for free.

Tuning is like this: would you rather think of the fourth root of 2 or 1.2? I thought so. So would your ears. Let's stop settling.

You can go your whole life listening to music without realizing that equal temperament tastes stale. Just intonation tastes intensely sweet and ruins you for equal temperament. The instrument is supposed to resonate like a bell. This is one more reason why you should own your music, so you can fix the tuning. The only audio files of copyrighted music are equal-tempered vibratoy crap and it's illegal to make in-tune versions.

Time to join the rebellion. You deserve to own your music. Boycotting copyrighted music gives us the freedom to own our music again. https://www.techdirt.com/2022/08/16/eve-6-lead-singer-owning-media-is-now-an-act-of-countercultural-defiance/

The example I was thinking of is Western tuning. A440 (vs. A415) makes music sound washed-out, oversaturated. Vibrato is masking bad intonation with worse intonation. Equal temperament is detuning sweet intervals to make wolf intervals more palatable. Perhaps these things were a necessary evil before, but with computers, there is no excuse. At the Ellen Brooke baroque music project, we use just intonation. For a lay-friendly demo, see examples by University of Würzburg: https://justintonation.tp3.app/audio

Unacceptable situations are so much better when they can be fixed.

Let's vote for Peltola on Tuesday. She's the only representative candidate who will support meaningful climate action.

Netflix is suing two composers for making a musical. Obviously I have no sympathy for Netflix in this story, but it illustrates why the only viable path forward for anyone who values art is to boycott copyrighted art. Do these composers want to write a musical based on Shakespeare or Jane Austen? Have at it! We are never safe from people accusing us of copyright infringement unless we systematically eradicate any opportunities to be influenced by copyrighted work.

It's disappointing that our Yukon Quest board refused to accept the reforms for more humane treatment of dogs as the board on the Yukon side is adopting. It is good that we value tradition on this side, but traditions are only good insofar as they are good rather than because they are traditions.

The only true free culture license is cc0 or the equivalent full copyright waiver.

For all my complaining, there is much to be grateful for. Not even to scratch the surface-- I am thankful that batteries at least have the capacity they do have. At least enough to vacuum a room and check your phone on the go. I am thankful for cc0 and for the public domain; at least a lot of culture had already been produced 95 years ago! I am thankful for GNU/Linux and that whole vibrant ecosystem. I am thankful I can feel the ocean breeze today instead of roasting like millions down south.

Reason No. 524 to switch to Linux: you won't be bombarded by twenty daily notifications from every app.

It is incredible how light your phone is without the battery.

For a phone's battery in 2022 or later still not to be user-replaceable is unacceptable. But of course, Google and Apple and Samsung want you to buy a new phone every six months anyway.

There is no such thing as a battery with satisfactory length of time before discharge. There is no such thing as a solar panel that gives a satisfactory amount of energy. The amount of energy and for that matter resources in general will always be well below the bare minimum. Would your phone's battery really last long enough if you could use it all day every day for a month without plugging it in? I thought not.

Remember Wubi? I haven't thought of that in a decade. It sure made getting into GNU/Linux less intimidating for a Windows user back in the day.