My Chromebox is an Asus model, running on a 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron CPU with 4Gb of RAM. Not a powerhouse by current standards, of course, but capable of doing plenty of things that I've done with older, slower CPUs and far less RAM in the past.
So, I was pleased to see that Google was introducing the ability to directly install and run Linux apps to ChromeOS, starting with version 70.
For some machines, but not others, as it turns out. And mine is apparently in the "others" category. As it is with the fairly recently introduced ability to run Android apps (my newer Chromebook handles Android -- haven't looked into the Linux angle on that one yet).
I handed my first Chromebox, a 2012 Samsung model, off to my son several years ago. It has similar or better specs than the newer one (I think it has a 1.9 GHz Celeron in it, and also has 4Gb of RAM). So far as I know, the only real hardware difference is that it's in a larger case. Not only is it not on the "can run Linux apps" or "can run Android apps" lists, Google apparently cut it out of getting further OS updates at all several months back.
I can see why older models of the same machine type would fall by the wayside vis a vis new capabilities on the basis of CPU type, supported RAM size, etc. But Google seems to be cutting machines out of software update/improvement schedules just because they're older, not because they're less capable.
And that's bullshit.
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Surprise, I Have an Opinion on a Bob Dylan Related Matter
The Associated Press asks "Can a long-running debate for Bob Dylan fans be settled?" regarding Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.
Mistake? I don't know about that, but I do know that I like the tracks I've heard from the new More Blood, More Tracks release. In fact, I like most, maybe all, of them better than I like the versions on the album as it was actually released. Here are ten of the newly released takes for your consideration.
In particular, I never liked the original album version of "Tangled Up In Blue" that much. I won't say I hated it, but it just wasn't one of my favorites. The version linked above is one of my favorite Dylan listens.
"Up to Me" was recorded for Blood on the Tracks, but wasn't released until 1985's Biograph, and I like the More Blood, More Tracks version linked above a lot better than the Biograph take.
Of course, I could have a more informed opinion if I had the whole More Blood, More Tracks collection coming out tomorrow (hint, hint). But at this point I'm prepared to say that Blood on the Tracks would rate way higher up my list of favorite Dylan albums if he had gone with the New York takes instead of the Minnesota re-recordings.
Why? Well, that one's easy: The New York takes sound more like "early Dylan."
I'm not prejudiced against "electric Dylan," especially up through John Wesley Harding, mind you, and I'm increasingly warming up to his later stuff (like 2012's Tempest). But I still think his songs sound their best when it's him, his guitar, his harmonica, and little if any backing instrument noise.
God is reputed to have a choir of angels at hir beck and call, but I bet hir voice rings most true when ze sends them out for a coffee break and just performs solo, too.
[S]hortly before the album’s release, on a holiday break home in Minnesota, an apparently unsatisfied Dylan convened a mostly unknown group of musicians and re-recorded half of the album’s 10 songs. Many of his fans, particularly those who heard illicit outtakes of what he recorded in New York, have long debated whether that was a mistake.
Mistake? I don't know about that, but I do know that I like the tracks I've heard from the new More Blood, More Tracks release. In fact, I like most, maybe all, of them better than I like the versions on the album as it was actually released. Here are ten of the newly released takes for your consideration.
In particular, I never liked the original album version of "Tangled Up In Blue" that much. I won't say I hated it, but it just wasn't one of my favorites. The version linked above is one of my favorite Dylan listens.
"Up to Me" was recorded for Blood on the Tracks, but wasn't released until 1985's Biograph, and I like the More Blood, More Tracks version linked above a lot better than the Biograph take.
Of course, I could have a more informed opinion if I had the whole More Blood, More Tracks collection coming out tomorrow (hint, hint). But at this point I'm prepared to say that Blood on the Tracks would rate way higher up my list of favorite Dylan albums if he had gone with the New York takes instead of the Minnesota re-recordings.
Why? Well, that one's easy: The New York takes sound more like "early Dylan."
I'm not prejudiced against "electric Dylan," especially up through John Wesley Harding, mind you, and I'm increasingly warming up to his later stuff (like 2012's Tempest). But I still think his songs sound their best when it's him, his guitar, his harmonica, and little if any backing instrument noise.
God is reputed to have a choir of angels at hir beck and call, but I bet hir voice rings most true when ze sends them out for a coffee break and just performs solo, too.
Strictly Politics: A Much Shorter Note on "Birthright Citizenship"
I argue against Trump's proposal to amend the Constitution by decree elsewhere and in detail, but one thing I left out of that argument is the question: Why now?
Whether or not he especially wants to end "birthright citizenship" (he may), or intends to try to do so in an unconstitutional manner (he may), the answer to "why now?" is:
Because he hopes that putting the proposal into the news cycle right now will get more of his "base" voters off their asses and to the polls for the midterm election.
Yes, it's really that simple, and no, there's not really any more to it than that. There is a secondary question related to "why now?" that proves it. That question is "why not at any other time in the past nearly two years, when he could have actually taken action instead of just flapping his gums?"
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