Merry Christmas!
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"
-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, December 25, 1864
Updates to my Banjo Makers list
I recently spent some time updating and modernizing my Banjo Makers list. I've requested updates from every builder in the list and will be adding them as they arrive.
However, I do not have full contact information for every builder. If you are a builder in the list, or a builder meeting the requirements who is not in the list, please get in touch with me. If you know of a builder not on the list, or know about a change to one of the listings, I'd love to hear from you, too.
I am particularly interested in obtaining a new, representative image from each builder. Previously, I used a tiny thumbnail. Now, I can create the thumbnail automatically from a larger image, which can also be displayed. For an example, check out the listing for Ballard Banjers and click the thumbnail.
Audio-Technica provides support, 20 years later!
Recently, I was using a wired lavalier microphone that I had purchased two decades ago but had not used for some time. I found that the foam windscreen had deteriorated and would soon turn to dust. That is not an unexpected condition; it's a characteristic of this type of foam and has happened on several other products, such as my excellent but old Sony headphones.
Hundreds of replacement foam windscreens are available on Amazon, but I could not find one that would fit perfectly on my Audio-Technica mic. So I got in touch with Audio-Technica and was promptly sent a replacement, at no charge. 20 years later. For an out-of-production mic.
That kind of support isn't around much these days. Kudos!
Jesse Stone Movies in Order
Do you like Robert B. Parker's books? How about the series of TV movies featuring one of his characters, Jesse Stone?
If you are interested in the movies, or if you just want to watch them again, it's hard to get the correct order from the Web. I've got the answer.
Visual Studio Code and SFTP
Using the SFTP extension for Visual Studio Code is essential for anyone wishing to maintain a Web site in a traditional manner, but despite development having moved into different hands, the tool is problematic.
Visual Studio Code - SFTP Update
The SFTP extension for Visual Studio Code is an extremely important one because VSC has no native publishing capability. SFTP has some problems and its future is uncertain.
Visual Studio Code - Extensions Update
Visual Studio Code is heavily dependent on extensions and the quality of those extensions is important. There have been some improvements, and I learn a couple of things.
Visual Studio Code - Mid-Term Report
With more projects in VSC's corral and many, many more hours behind the keyboard, a few cracks are beginning to show. Is PhpStorm in my future?
Visual Studio Code - Dealing with Expression Web's Metadata
Expression Web keeps its metadata in a way that was practical two decades ago but is cumbersome now. It's not needed with Visual Studio Code. Here's how to deal with it.
Visual Studio Code - The Transition
Working with Visual Studio Code is a challenge but also a pleasure. Understanding it better is bearing fruit, one keyboard shortcut and one extension at a time.
