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highly-formalized array
Wednesday, September 12 2007
After teaching today Gretchen took the train into the City so she could have a proper Rosh Hashanah with a bunch of secular Jews. Gretchen didn't have time to walk the dogs, so I walked them instead. It was the first time I'd taken the dogs into the forest since before we left for Scotland. Normally when I walk the dogs, we move as a highly-formalized array. Sally walks in front, I walk in the middle, and Eleanor brings up the rear. No one has ever instructed the dogs to walk this way; evidently they have a switch in their behavior that sets place in the pack. Sally is a born alpha, and Eleanor is a born omega. Sally has never considered any human to be her alpha, and Eleanor has never considered any human beneath her. Today, though, Sally was sidetracked early in the walk and I was left with just Eleanor. Sally was, however, delighted to see us when we got back.
Over the past several months I've been thinking about and occasionally doing experiments in pursuit of the goal of a box to replace the household stereo. This box would take advantage of the many layers of technology that have been used in stereos, using the old stuff where it makes the most sense (volume controls, frequency dials) and the new stuff where the improvements have been massive (remote controls, MP3, internet radio, etc.). Such a box would have to be built around a general-purpose computer, and my original plan was to use Linux. But the screen for such a machine would have to be tiny, and the only cheap tiny monitors are CRT-based, and they're also composite (as opposed to VGA). Linux is great for some things, but I've yet to be able to get Linux to show a GUI on a composite monitor. Windows XP, on the other hand, has no problem doing this. Though it kills me to say this, it's looking like my homebrew audio system might have to run some flavor of Windows. I'm open to advice for avoiding Windows, but I don't have a lifetime to dedicate to this project.
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