I Love Xanga

W

ho said Xanga was a waste of time because it's populated by a bunch of young people? Man, it's precisely because its populated by today's youth that I find it has value. Like a couple days ago, I was confronted with the problem of converting m4a files to more the more standard mp3. I asked some old geezers at work--of course, "old" still meaning younger than me, hehehhe--but they had no idea.

So I asked my friends here on Xanga. And it's because you guys are young--well, most of you anyway--that they know the latest things going on.

Thanks to all who responded to the query. Ron2 hooked me up with 3ivx for Windows. Now I can hear all the m4a files on Windows Media Player! although I haven't figured out how to convert... From what I can tell, I still need to get QuickTime Pro, and maybe I will after Christmas when my credit card cools down.

But I figured out how to do it anyway, thanx to SweetLilV. She told me about downloads.com I downloaded two sample programs by ImToo and Xilisoft (search "m4a" and "convert") that converts most audio files. Unfortunately, because (?) they are sample programs, they sometimes don't convert the entire file to WAV--the song would end after about two minutes. Those that would convert were strangely out of synch. They seemed slower. A 4:09 song turned out to be 4:34. The difference in speed is noticable. But for some reason, these programs would convert the m4a programs to mp3 with no problem!

Of course, being the anal retentive I am, I still needed to convert to the WAV format to burn CDs that will play in my car--a '96 Maxima. And download.com also had for free the CD-DA Extractor. It won't burn (I think), but it will rip and convert the mp3 files to WAV with no problems. So while this has become a two step process for me, it was worth it. I mean, this stuff is for free, so how could I complain, right?

Anyway, thanks to you guys, you are now listening to what Kizyr recognized as the same song as yesterday, the slower, more romantic version of "We Are" by Do As Infinity.

Now, I have a few other blogs, but Xanga is my baby. I love it, and more specifically, I love you guys for your help and generosity! By the same token, I hope that you find some of the crap I write helpful... or at least good for a laugh, and that being old on Xanga is not always a bad thing either. Geez, it's like a freakin' family here.

Anyway, I'm still grading. Finished Literary Japanese last night (this morning?) and will now tackle Readings in Mod-J now. I am half-way through. I hope to pull myself away from Xanga long enough complete it by 9PM tonight so I can watch the UCLA Bruin game, guilt free! We play Wyoming and this should ge the start of something big--but more about recruiting later... For some of you who have explicitly manifested disinterest in my sports entries, do not worry, this is the Bruin's bowl game--okay, okay, it's only the world famous Las Vegas Bowl--and so their last game of the year. Of course, there is always basketball! Hahahhahahahaa.

Anyway, I hope to be around soon, but just in case I find myself falling behind in my work...

Merry Christmas

The best to you and yours