Anderton

Now that I've solved global warming, stay tuned for my next installments, "How to End Poverty in 15 Minutes" and "What to Do if Aliens Invade La Jolla." As promised, here are the solutions. 1. Make sure everyone has enough money to live. 2. Go to somewhere that's not La Jolla. You're welcome!

God bless you Craig Anderton for solving global warming. You're welcome! Glad to help. I've always favored the Monty Python approach: "How to play the flute: You blow through here, and run your fingers up and down these holes." "How to drive a car: You go faster or slower with these things, and turn this wheel here to go different places." Now that I've solved global warming, stay ttuned for my next installments, "How to End Poverty in 15 Minutes" and "What to Do if Aliens Invade La Jolla."

It's the "first time in 250 years" line that sort of says "Statistical anomaly!" Now, if the average temperature of the earth starts going down a bit every year for the next 250 years, then we have some really interesting data. I think it's a mistake to look for a single cause. It's not people driving SUVs causing climate change. Climate change is often due to natural forces beyond our control, e.g., Krakatoa exploding or the sun's temperature fluctuating. However, the mechanism whereby greenhouse gases can affect climate is pretty well understood, as well as altering the albedo of the poles and other icy regions, which causes change of its own. So the only questions are 1) whether man is accelerating a natural process, 2) not accelerating a natural process, or 3) causing a man-made acceleration of the process. In the case of 1) and 3), then the McCain/Ken Lee approach is the only logical one to take. In the case of 2), then it's still the logical approach to take because greenhouse gases are not considered a good thing anyway. Case closed, next question!

Regardless of whether there's climate change that is man-made or not, running cleaner cars, having less toxic emissions, putting less crap in the air, and conserving natural resources and energy are all things that i can get behind and don't consider stupid. And credit where credit is due: That's John McCain's position, almost word-for-word (although curiously, not Sarah Palin's).

...and you should also know that the positive responses outweigh the negative ones by such a huge amount the negative ones don't seem all that relevant. For example, someone just posted this in another thread about internet forums: "The Pro Reviews are the hottest thing going IMHO. That's where the buzz factor for technical info has it going on, and I think they're truly great. As the paper mags drop pages and columns and dumb down their content, the Pro Review idea is a roaring train in the opposite direction. Kudos to Craig." But I still need to answer the negative ones...all companies have to respond to complaints, and as Editor in Chief, that responsibility falls on me for questions involving editorial content.

IS it worth it?>> Well, first of all, it's my job to respond to concerns, no matter how ill-informed. I've been in the public eye for 40 years and have a pretty thick skin. You can't get upset by comments from people who don't know what they're talking about. Second, the only "marketable" commodity I have is my credibility. By answering these people in a direct and forthright way, my credibility is enhanced, and theirs is reduced. I think most people are pretty sharp and by reading an exchange, they can make up their own minds as to the truth of the situation. What's truly ironic is that if we were as devious as the conspiracy theory people would like to believe, we could have simply done the pro reviews without bringing attention to the fact that the manufacturer has to pay for the bandwidth and expenses of doing one. But from even before day 1, we were totally upfront about that. Once the pro reviews hit, and people realized they were truly an "open source" forum, the whole thing about sponsorship became a non-issue as people saw with their own eyes that sponsorship has no influence over content. In another irony, sponsorship seems to have increased the company's credibility, because they're willing to take a "leap of faith" and sponsor something that could have negative consequences. No one knows how a pro review is going to turn out. The only posts that have ever been deleted from Pro Reviews were ones like "Hey Craig, great job!" because they detracted from the flow. No critical post about a product has ever been deleted.

> As you likely know, virtually all reviewers in the media world are paid by the media company publishing the review. The reason for paying professional reviewers is because they bring a wealth of experience to what they do; they have often had the chance to evaluate competing products, and can provide a sense of context. And, they often have outside gigs where they can road-test gear. While I agree user reviews can be extremely helpful, they are not immune to misinformation, and sometimes considerable amounts of it. Of course, the debate about whether a media company accepting advertising money influences editorial content will continue. But that's the beauty of the Pro Review format: No one can get away with saying something sucks when it doesn't, or saying something is great when it isn't, because there are thousands, or even tens of thousands of people, looking over their shoulders, ready to call them on inaccurate statements. As far as I know, Pro Reviews are the ONLY review format with this kind of checks and balances in order to insure the most accurate, honest information possible. So, you get the best of all worlds: A professional reviewer who brings a wealth of experience, real-world users contributing their expertise, and the option for manufacturers to explain design decisions and answer questions.

> You might like to know that products are generally available from multiple vendors.

I was also asked about qualifications we look for in pro reviewers by Warped666 but deleted his post accidentally (yes, I know, always double-check before hitting return. Hey, I'm tired). Here they are: * Knowledge about the product category for the product being reviewed * Journalism experience (published articles/books), particularly with respect to product reviews of musical gear * Forum moderation or administration experience * Ability to generate accompanying sound clips and images, and eventually, video examples in the appropriate formats * Knowledge of data compression protocols for the above

I pick the primary reviewer, in consultation with other freelancers as to who would be most knowledgeable about the product and have the most experience with that type of product. I also request that someone from the company be available to answer questions from the reviewer or from readers.

Yes. We have two guitar pro reviews coming up, in fact I think one is starting today. The reason for the slant is that pro reviews started in my Sound, Studio, and Stage forum, which is more "pro" oriented. However, the success of the format caused us to broaden out a bit. We now have more people capable of doing pro reviews on a variety of gear. However, also bear in mind that the pro review format lends itself to more complex or deep devices. I couldn't see a pro review of a guitar strap, for example As a result, our next stage in the review process is to continue developing a section for "expert" reviews. These are more like traditional, non-interactive print reviews done by assigned authors. There are already several in the Library, and a new expert review appears in each HC Confidential Newsletter (it's definitely worth subscribing to, you can do so from the home page by clicking on Newsletter). Overall, HC has three levels of reviews: User Reviews, Expert Reviews, and the interactive Pro Reviews.

FORUM RULES This is a strictly on-topic forum. Pro Reviews are started ONLY by people affiliated with, or appointed by, Harmony Central. Topics started by users will be deleted, as this forum consists only of Pro Reviews; users are of course invited to post their own reviews in the User Reviews section. If you have general comments or requests about Pro Reviews, feel free to post them in this thread. HARMONY CENTRAL PRO REVIEW FAQWhat are Pro Reviews?Harmony Central’s Pro Reviews are posted in an open forum format. The reviewer – an industry professional – starts the review as soon as the product package is opened or the software downloaded. As the review unfolds in a forum thread over time (like a “blog”), visitors to the site come to understand the product with a degree of depth that no print review could ever provide.Why do some people call this an “open source” review?Like "open source" code that is made freely available to the public for comment and modifications, Pro Review readers use the forum format to ask questions, contribute their own viewpoints, disagree or agree with conclusions, offer suggestions, and in general, become an important part of the review process. Furthermore, manufacturers are encouraged to participate. The Pro Review brings together reviewer, reader, and manufacturer to provide dynamic, accurate, useful coverage on all kinds of products.Who came up with the Pro Review concept, and why?Harmony Central’s Editorial Director, Craig Anderton, was frustrated by the limitation of print reviews, so he decided to re-invent the product review process from the ground up.What other differences are there compared to print reviews?There are no word count or page count limitations, so the review can be extremely thorough. Graphics, audio examples, and videos can be embedded in posts to provide an immersive, interactive experience.Sounds expensive. How are they monetized?The manufacturer underwrites the review for a nominal fee, which varies depending on the product complexity, to defray the expenses involved in maintaining a Pro Review. The reviewer is not compensated by the manufacturer, but by Harmony Central from the site's general revenue sources. But how does the manufacturer feel if the review has negative comments?It is somewhat of a leap of faith to signup for a review where no one knows what the outcome will be. But we’ve found manufacturers prefer to have any negative comments out in the open, where they can be addressed, rather than just having potshots taken at them all over the web. We’ve also found that manufacturers willing to sponsor a Pro Review have confidence in their product, and that confidence is rarely misplaced.Is the HC community concerned about manufacturer involvement influencing the editorial integrity?No, because this is the only review system with built-in “checks and balances.” It’s not possible to get away with unjustified slams or praise when there are literally thousands, or tens of thousands, of people (as well as the manufacturer) looking over your shoulder. Also, anyone affiliated with the manufacturer is required to state that affiliation.Why would a company want to sign up for a Pro Review?A Pro Review is ongoing - people keep coming back, links are made to it from other sites, and the content is dynamic and changing. It draws a huge amount of attention to a product over the life of the product, and provides valuable feedback to the manufacturer. (Note that HC does not accept all products for Pro Review, only ones that are well-suited to the format.)What kind of feedback have you been receiving?Overwhelmingly positive, from all involved. As one manufacturer said, "I really think you are on to something with the Pro Review format…It is truly a great way to reach users and potential customers with timely, in-depth product information. Also, along with all the 'how-tos' peppered through out the threads, there is much valuable insight into the user perspective regarding what features resonate and really matter to them. Thanks!" Another wrote to say "I got the impression that the participants were also very excited about the 'live' aspect of the Pro Review. I feel the Pro Review format is a great new way to get instant feedback from our customers as well as a cool learning experience." Comments from readers are within the Pro Reviews.I'm a manufacturer and I'm interested in having one of my products subjected to a Pro Review. What do I do next?Contact Dendy Jarrett, djarrett@harmonycentral.com.

> In Sound on Sound magazine, and used with permission. And to those who participated in the copyrighted materials thread, I have the data for ya: The RIAA has sued over 18,000 people who participated in P2P networks. 4,500 people have settled for an average of $4,000 per case. That's $18,000,000 so far.

I mean, what's the big deal? They don't like Bush, said so, then did a song about what happened because they didn't like Bush and said so. Is this really such an earth-shaking big deal that they belong on the cover of freakin' Time magazine? I think not. Right now they're on Larry King, and the home page on AOL trumpets Dixie Chicks album back at No. 1. Is this what passes for news these days? And I don't care about Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Katie Holmes, Denise Richards, Heather Locklear, any of them. Why do people spend any time whatsoever being interested in this kind of stuff?

This is very good news. At home, it doesn't bother me to have two computers. But to have a laptop that could boot into either OS would be tremendously helpful while on the road.

> So basically, if you use ASIO I assume it will work just fine...I guess WDM would too, come to think of it. What with USB and FireWire interfaces, I guess the days of worrying about what was going to happen with the serial ports and MIDI are over...

So Gus -- how does the audio end of things work? Does it transparently deal with Core Audio and all that? Do DirectX plugs work? Inquiring minds want to know!! Get whoever is doing the testing to sign up over here and let us know what's shakin'! If it really does work, and I could run programs like Sonar, it seems that would simplify my b-platform world a whole lot. OTOH if a genuine Windows machine gives much better performance, that's a whole other story. I wouldn't want a program to limp along under Boot Camp, I'd want it to be truly useable.

Okay, but I'm not asking about stuff that works on Macintel -- that will be the usual excruciating transition, I'm sure. What I want to know is what Windows-only music software works with Boot Camp, the utility that lets you boot into XP. My assumption is that programs like Excel and Word will work like a champ, but what about Wavelab, Acid, Vegas, DirectX plug-ins, etc.? The Gearslutz thread is pretty much just a compendium of announcements of which companies have released Macintel-compatible software.

So...do they work? How's the latency? Can you use DirectX plug-ins? Surely some of you have tried this...

> Zero offense taken, I'm lousy at being image conscious Are the gay makeover artists for rent?

Thanks for the defense, but don't worry about it. Anyone who thinks a guy playing at a NAMM show can embody "everything that is wrong with music" has some serious drama queen issues. Music can be serious, music can be fun. The kind of act that I did at NAMM isn't just about making cool sounds but also about having fun, and I certainly did :). Man, just think what he would have said if there had been enough time to include the part with the harmonica playing! I think producer Ron Frangipane summed up my musical abilities best. It was during a session in the 1970s and I had a Rickenbacker 10-string (I removed the top two strings so I could bend them) patched into a Leslie and was doing feedback melody lines. He sort of looked at me and said "Craig, either you're the worst guitarist I've ever heard or the best." I feel the same way most of the time

> You're right, I should be a 24-year-old blonde girl with mammoth breasts playing rave loops on a lap top! That would be much more in keeping with today's music scene. Anyway, I was wearing clothes. Although I admit they weren't very spiffy. On the plus side, they were clean. Well, pretty much. Also, 50+ year old people like playing music! Some even have sex and do other fun things! And, note that I also play guitar and sing on the video, not just play loops, and all those loops and stuff are being mixed in real time, and each performance is different. It's not easy, try it sometime. And, I created a lot of the loops myself. If I had about 20 arms, I could have played them all live. But I don't have 20 arms. And if I did, then I truly wouldn't be wearing clothes because I haven't seen shirts with 20 arm holes. Or at least, I wouldn't be wearing a shirt. As to Zappa, I played second act to the Mothers twice, each time for week, and hung out with the band. I don't think he would have argued for an arbitrary age or style cutoff for people. Come to think of it, it seemed what ticked him off the most was narrow-minded people. I consider myself fortunate to be able to do different kinds of music, rather than be perpetually stuck in a time warp and talking how great the Beatles or the Eagles (or Zappa) were. Granted what's on the video isn't the only kind of music I do, but it's the type that's closest to my heart these days. Fair warning: I'm putting together a DJ set based on MP3s rather than vinyl. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid...

"Free Gift!" I mean, if it's not free, it's not a gift...right?

> Yeah, it was not a purchase I undertook lightly...but I thought about how much I use a laptop and how much it's a part of my income stream, and realized that I could indeed justify the purchase. There are only a few things where I really feel the need to go first class. One is my PRS guitar, the other is food, and the third is computers. My ADK desktop and Rain laptop get along real well. I hope they mate someday and produce the Windows equivalent of a Mac mini