jhog3411

That sucks. I'm hoping my 7 year old Viera Plasma lasts a few more years.

How was it? I'm going to Boston this week. I saw them tour on this record with Kevin Devine in 2005. I only knew a few songs and figured I'd stay for a couple and leave. I was completely blown away by Okkervil and have been a fan ever since.

This was a good little test. I picked the WAV correct 4 out of 6 times and the 320 kbps the other 2 times. To me it sounded obvious which was the low quality mp3. I was listening through low quality mini bookshelf speakers. I imagine the difference would be huge on my home system. That said, if I'm out running or using it as background music, the quality doesn't matter that much to me.

I've seen some brick and mortar places that have an online component as a way to generate extra revenue. Like someone said earlier, I would think the focus would be on used since the new music sales business is really dying.

I've read good things about the Monitor Audio bookshelves.

I would poke around on Audiogon if you don't mind buying used. It's a reliable site and you can get some good stuff that has been taken care of very well. I have an older set of Von Schweikert VR-1s that I got off there for around that price a number of years ago. I like Paradigm's Studio bookshelves at somewhat near that price also I'm sure an NAD phono preamp would do well. I've had the NAD PP2 for years with no issues.

I've listened to this since he sent out the Kickstarter download a bit back and can't get into it at all. The last solo record was not good in my opinion either (You're All Those Things And Then You're None). The Far reunion record from around the same time did not live up to his past work either. I think I'm done with his new music after 3 misses in a row. I'm a huge Jonah fan. From the first time I saw him with New End, I've seen him over 20 times in big clubs to living rooms, acoustic, full band, and everything in between. Awesome guy and his past stuff is just superb and holds up really well.

The news said my town got 30 inches here in MA. Shoveling sucks.

It sound great to get min wage plus tips but the unintended consequence is that fewer servers are hired because they cost more. Servers would have more work for more pay but there'd be fewer of those jobs. Then you have servers getting higher wages than the skills for the job warrant. You can't have it both ways- same amount of positions/jobs and better pay.

What's the difference? The kid working the register is probably getting paid the same at either restaurant/take out place. Someone who works at a Pizza Hut should get less than someone who works at a local pizza place just based on the ownership of the establishment?

Most of the time it's a pizza or Chinese place where the takeout person is not a waiter or waitress. They're getting paid a wage just like a fast food place so I don't tip. To tip in this situation would be the same as tipping the retail salesclerk that takes your clothes off the hangers, folds them and puts them in a bag.

Last month. If I like the album I'll buy the CD to listen to at home. I can definitely tell the difference between a burned CD of MP3s compared to the real CD. That's probably the biggest reason I still buy physical copies, though I would never spend more than $10-12 for a CD.

I would look into something like the Paradigm 20s, thought they go for around 500. Also read through GoodSounds reviews. They have some more affordable bookshelves in there. http://www.goodsound.com/index.php/equipment-reviews I have heard excellent things on the Axiom Audio. http://www.axiomaudio.com/m3-bookshelf-speakers If you're going to wait on the 5.1, does that mean you'll wait on the 5.1 receiver? I don't think it makes sense to buy a new surround receiver when you're only going to use the stereo component for several years.

You should get a credit card so that you don't have to carry a ton of cash around. Also it will help you establish credit. This is important because credit let's you get a loan for a car and a house. No credit=no car/house loans at reasonable rates if at all. Using credit cards also protects you if you purchased something that was defective, fraudulent, etc. The key to having credit cards is to pay the balance off every month. If you do this, it is like a loan for 30 days or a substitute for carrying cash. Plus you can get a small percentage back (1-2%) through something like Capital One Rewards. If you carry a balance you're paying more than what you paid at the register. For example, say you averaged $1,000 balance throughout the year. On a 20% credit card, that's 200 bucks that you are just giving the credit card company. I saw a couple comments about paying your bills, etc. Utility bills, cable bill, etc. do nothing to help your credit history. The only time they show up is when you're delinquent on them and they send you to a collection agency, which will be on your credit report. Pay your credit cards and student loans on time, don't max the cards out, and you'll end up with a good credit score. If you can't afford it, don't buy it, that someone mentioned, is great advice.