I just got done reading about and listening to a wonderful audio-bite from good ol' Steve Ballmer.  Honestly, I don't understand why Microsoft keeps him employed. Anyway...  According to Mr. Ballmer, Linux is no longer free.  So, with that in mind, please do not try to download Linux from here, or here, or here, or here, or here, o...

Man... I'm tired...  I've got to see what I can make out of chapter 37 because I told myself today I would read and write about it.  So here goes. The first thing that comes to mind is that the popular verse 6 seems to come out of thin-air.  The verse before it talks about the plates of brass retaining their "brightness",...

Hmm...  What could "prosper in the land" possibly mean?  This is something I've fought with recently, while think about prosperity in general.  When someone says, "That guy has really prospered", or "she is really prosperous", what could it possibly mean? Some things in the scriptures are mentioned on...

Ya know...  Today was a good Sunday.  In church, we learned about trials, and the nature of them - why God gives them to us, and why we need them.  D&C 58 1-4 is a great reference if you're looking for some good stuff on trials.  We talked a lot about Zion's Camp, and the general tendency the early saints had toward generati...

I noticed in this chapter that even though many threatenings were made to the king of the land of Jershon (most likely an Ammonite), he didn't seem to care at all.  His concentration was on the many poor people of the Zoramites who were coming to his city. Eventually, I believe this action was the tipping point for the wars forthcoming throu...

I recently put up a video which I took from a network broadcast, HD recording.  It, of course, was using the AC3 audio code.  As I was trying to get the video chopped and converted  to view in the flash player, I encountered an interesting challenge. When I put the video into kdenlive (which failed miserably to do even the most bas...

I've been watching "So You Think You Can Dance" now for about 3 years.  For me, I think it's better than American Idol.  These young people are .... amazing. Well, a couple of weeks ago, there was a dance done which had the theme of "addiction".  It was done by Mia Michaels and the two dancers who danced were fa...

My marriage, or rather, the marriage I have entered into with my sweetheart for the last 7 years, hasn't really been that bad.  In fact, I'd say we're definitely on the upper-hand of "marital happiness" as far as the national statistics go. There are quite a few reasons for this, I'd say.  One is definitely that I feel I'm giv...

I read Alma 34 two days ago, and haven't written about it.  I hate it when I don't have time to write about the scriptures when I read them, because each time I read them, I feel something different about different portions of the scripture.  Ah, well..  I'll read it again and see what happens this time. Right out of the gate, Amul...

Hmm...  I really like when prophets, like Alma, quote other prophets to make a point.  The best way to keep the doctrine pure is to look the reference up.  Otherwise, it inevitably will be diluted down.  Ain't no doctrine like pure doctrine. Interesting that the quote from Zenos in verses 4-11 is paraphrased beautifully in Alm...

"Remnant of this people".  Talking straight to the American Indians.  heh..  I love the foresight. Guiltless...  I love that word.  He that is found guiltless.  Please note it does not say "sinless". To be found guiltless.  What would that entail?  Continual repentance would probably b...

So, in the business of audio recording, it doesn't get much more fundamental than 1. Room Acoustics, 2. Sound Source, and 3. Microphones. One of those three basics is about to get a serious upgrade here at Advanced Budget Studios. Today, Michael Joly of OktavaMod is modifying two Apex 205 ribbon microphones, and will be shipping them back ear...

All I gotta say about this chapter is man, I do not want to be on the wrong side of things when the 2nd coming of Christ is ushered in. Verses like 16 and 18 really hit home on what we're in for. I can only assume the destruction of Babylon can be typed as a metaphor for what is coming when Christ comes again....

I've been reading the scriptures a bit lately, and I came upon a verse which intrigued me. That verse quickly made me think of this one, and this one. Let's not forget this one - that's a good one, too - verse 33 being the focus. Here's another really good one warning of the dangers of the previous entries, and further proving the point that at l...

It's chapters like these that get me thinking about the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ and the "end of the world".  Reason is, is that this chapter happens just a few years before the 1st coming of Christ.  For some reason I analyze these chapters to death, and each time I do, I find more things that seem to parallel what may (or ma...

"God's people have not always been worthy of the marvelous experience we have shared today. The Apostles, after the Ascension of Christ, continued to exercise the keys He left with them. But because of disobedience and loss of faith by the members, the Apostles died without the keys being passed on to successors. We call that tragic episode &q...

Yesterday, my wife spent some time setting up her "my space page", which I absolutely refuse to do for myself, and when she got it done, she was pretty happy with herself.  I helped her with some images and that was that. Later on in the evening, she mentioned that she had received an email from Annie (my sister-in-law who I love)...

 I am SO glad that Moroni kept writing.  Can you imagine the Book of mormon without the last 4 chapters of Moroni?  The depth of explanation of faith, hope, and charity?  The blessing of Babies?  The promise and invitation to read the Book of Mormon, used by all missionaries?  Yeah...  There are some gems here in ...

Very interesting that they took the time to tell us that Ammon not only rehearsed what King Benjamin said to the Nephites, but that he then explained it to them that they might understand it.  Not sure why that struck me this time, but it did. (verse 3) According to verse 13, a man who can look into and see (and translate), is a seer.  ...

 So, on last chapter's post, someone left a wonderful comment.  Thank you, whoever you are.  That is precisely why I do this. Now... Ether 4.   This chapter starts out with an interesting verse.  I guess Mosiah would have had several channels whereby he could have known he should not let the book of Ether out of the bag u...

As some of you know, in addition to running this site, I also run a site called ldscompanion.org Today, I was rummaging through some of the artwork submitted by my users, when I found this piece. The artwork is well-done, and presents a Biblical message as well as a URL.  Well...  Not being familiar with the URL, I decided to see wh...

Well, yesterday the studio received a new addition.  We're now employing a much more powerful and dynamic 8-channel Octopre preamp!  This will allow us to record much more dynamic sources.  The initial impression I get from this new device is that it, of course, is much, much more powerful.  It also seems to record with a bit mo...

 Man...  I've been so busy recording good music lately, I haven't had any time to let you all know what has been going on. It's no secret that the studio uses Ardour as it's main digital audio workstation.  So far, the program has been superb in its stability, scalability, and features to help create great music. Recently, howeve...

So, we've been considering how to best improve the studio in recent weeks, and have decided that our complete lack of guitar amplification needs to be taken care of.  We looked at all sorts of amps and decided that one which could possibly provide the most diverse sounds would be a wise choice.  We've recorded pretty much everything here ...

Okay...  So ABS mixed a song from a band I was in called EnZign a couple of years ago, and the song hasn't been touched since.  Well, I opened it up about a week ago, and found it a bit grating on my ears.  Here, take a listen and tell me what you think of that snare drum.  Talk about piercing. Anyway...  We decided to se...

So, when I started the re-design of my studio website, I knew I would need sliders, but I didn't realize how many unconfigurable, and generally static sliders were out there.  I must have gone through 5 iterations of sliders before I found one that matches my needs (and probably will be the go-to slider for any project I work on in the future)...

I just finished reading the first talk given during the Priesthood Session of conference. Elder Cook talks of the need to give heed to the words of our prophets. I think of the things in my life I'm doing wrong, and I feel the truth in his words.  I need to heed the prophet's counsel more earnestly in many areas of my life. I think of th...

I've been working on this entry for days, and I think I'm finally ready to get it out there. But first, let me say that this is quite possibly the most rewarding programming job I've done to date. I was hired on at Nature's Way last year in June.  I was hired on with the understanding that I was to completely re-develop the public Nature...

With everything going on that has to do with running Art City Sound, and making sure everything is taken care of, it's easy to forget what is really important.  Of course, my family is, and always will be, #1 in my life, but aside from that, the most important thing in this studio is good music.  Having a good time is a definite plus, but...

 So, I was listening to, and reading, 1st Nephi chapter 4 in the Book of Mormon this morning, when a verse caught my eye, and my mind dwelt on it for a bit.  It was verse 6.  Verse 6 reads as follows: "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." Seems pretty ino...