Thursday, September 21, 2023

And... maybe I'm back

groovylounge kindly suggested a new storage service, and I revived the Today People post via that site.  Hopefully, things will work out.

It's possible that workupload panicked and simply banned my posts willy-nilly, out of fear that someone might claim ownership.  There does not seem to have been an ounce of method to their madness, since I'm pretty sure that Hit Records, Hollywood, Parade, and Tops are no longer in business.  Tops bit the dust in 1962, in fact.

Even YouTube generates "copyright claim" messages in an irrational manner.  For instance, per law, pre-1923 78s are in the public domain.  This hasn't stopped YouTube from declaring select pre-1923 recordings as containing a "copyright claim."  I'm guessing that if, say, Archeophone Records releases recordings covering 1917-1922, some software program is identifying these tracks as content owned by Archeophone.  Far as I know, Archeophone has never made any such claim regarding its "content."  It is fully aware, for instance, that the Victor Talking Machine Co. is no longer in operation.

Does YouTube's software know this?  Actually, that's a trick question, since software can't "know" anything.

As for AI, if ever and whenever AI can answer "Do you want fries with that?" I'll believe in software which can reason.

A scary reality to ponder: Humans have a real-world sense of probability.  For instance, most people would recognize that entering data into an account PRIOR to establishing that account is, in all probability, impossible.  But Facebook's software doesn't know this.  And so it informed a FB friend that he had provided a phone number to his FB account three years before he started one.  Does past, present, and future mean anything to FB's software?  Evidently, no.  And we want to trust everything to programs which have no idea that time flows forward--something most little kids figure out before they can do fractions?

13 comments:

Ernie said...

Good luck with the new service!

I read a book on the airplane recently. They made a good argument about why time appears to be able to flow both forward and backwards in some cases. However, entropy and one of the laws of thermodynamics would appear to prevent just such a thing in the macrouniverse we live in. But on a subatomic level, there does not appear to be any reason time can't move in either direction. Sometimes it seems like they're chasing their own tails with these explanations when things get really small or really big, but I'm sure it makes sense to someone much smarter than I.

Bryan said...

Hi Lee, sorry about your troubles, but...
In case you are unaware, Microsoft is gearing up to go full AI. It first started with the Edge browser. Talking to the computer, instead of typing in your queries. Now Windows is incorporating it in the Windows 11 Preview. Windows 11 update for autumn should be quite the AI. Plus, Windows 12 is just around the corner.
Google, I guess was pi**ed off, because of Microsoft beating them on AI progress. I am now often asked to install AI from Google, but I will not.
So, Big Brother is watching, I guess it will be getting worse?

Diane said...

Hooray for your return. Boo for computers running our world. But since the internet is how we all met each other . . .
Can't wait to hear what's coming up here.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Diane,

Thanks. And I do hope that, as the menace of AI becomes progressively more of one, we are allowed the option of shutting it off. As I have done on my PC. And I have the next post ripped, but in all of this excitement (apologies to Clint Eastwood), I've forgotten what it was!

Bryan,

I hope it's not as dire as you predict. So long as we have some say in the matter, so long as we can say "Thanks, but no thanks" to these ridiculous intrusions--none of which so much as accomplish what they're designed to do--we're okay, I think. But, at the very least, it means a hassle that we don't deserve. Tech companies are either going to stop punishing people for purchasing their products, or changes will have to be made. I read a piece suggesting that public outrage is reaching a boiling point. These companies can't continue ignoring the needs of their customers. And, once their bottom line is in danger, they WILL be forced to create more responsible software. Instead of launching new tech with no testing, and with no thought to the needs of the customer. This is not a sustainable business model. And, if Big Brother is listening, it has my personal invitation to take the first elevator to Hades.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Bryan,

And, in the midst of AI takeover, all of a sudden my spell checker's IQ has dropped about 80 points. It used to do a great job, but now its misspelling detection ability is close to nil.

Timmy said...

KEEP UP THE GOOD FIGHT LEE! I've been posting things on youtube for years & it is beyond ridiculous some of the videos that are determined "blocked in all countries". One that was recently blocked was of an hour & a half radio show from 1980... It was blocked because, as the explanation explained; it contained a copyright violation of the song: "Johnny Angel" (Single Version) by Shelley Fabares. Now, let me tell ya, Lee, the segment of that song which appeared in my posting was a mere 12 seconds long. Was I pissed? I have endured even more stupid shit worse than this from youtube's idiotic system, so i was ready for it. THEN, they have in place a "dispute" system, which is even MORE asinine than the automatic blocking procedures. So, just go with the flow & try alternative Internet avenues... Don't feel so all alone.
Timmy (I AM A ROBOT)

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Timmy,

Hey, robots are people, too! Thanks for the encouraging words, and wow... My YouTube experience has yet to reach that level of craziness. Wow. So far, nearly all "copyright claim" posts have been "allowed" to go up. I put "allowed" in quotes, because I don't trust YT's conclusions in that regard. I'm nearly positive that any material which happens to be making money for some entity is presumed to be owned by that entity. And that is often not the case. And, yes, alternate internet avenues. Exactly. After I posted my rant, I realized that this is a repeat event, really. I've had to form counterstrategies before. It's amazing, really--the trouble ordinary people have to go through to simply USE the "information superhighway." The internet was touted as a "for the people" medium, but... guess what?

musicman1979 said...

I am so glad that you were able to find another streaming service that works for you, and that the next post is already in the can, so to speak. I really enjoy coming onto this blog and listening to albums that I may not have known about previously. I have found quite a few albums on here that I am already starting to look for in my own personal record hunts.

At last count, the Simitar corporation, connected in some way to the revived Pickwick label in the late-1990's, was the most recent owner of the Tops masters. When they reissued the product on CD 25-26 years ago, they primarily concentrated on the name artists who recorded for the label (Mel Torme, Kate Smith, Johnny Desmond, Jerry Gray, the Pied Pipers, etc.) as well as a handful of Musicraft Sarah Vaughan masters and the Kay Starr Standard transcriptions that was also issued on such budget outfits as the Oberstein label Allegro/Elite and Coronet, in addition to Tops and Rondo.

And I also have good reason to believe that the revived Rondo label in 1963-'64 may have been yet another Pickwick sublabel despite the Kimberley Record Corp. moniker on the back cover and the record labels. The print font on the songs and the quality of the vinyl (almost hard styrene) is almost exactly the same font as the ones on the Design Spotlight Series LP's pressed during the same era.

Gilmarvinyl has posted many of your albums on YouTube as individual song videos on his YouTube Channel (TheWorldOfBudgetVinylRecords), so most of your original rips live on over there, like the Blazers, The OriginaL Twisters, the 25 Tiara Stereo SPC masters, Both the Allgro and Ultraphonic Tops in Pops with the Jukebox cover that used Broadway/Gilmar masters, and the Tommy Tucker and Shep Fields Designed For Dancing Lion LP's and the infamous 1971 Nashville Sound #1 Pop Hits, to name just a few.

Hopefully your new streaming service will revive the Allied 16 Top Hits TM-@ rip. I wasn't able to gain access to that blog entry even before your Workupload trouble.

Lastly, today at Goodwill I found a Crown Record that was Still sealed in a plastic bag for 25 Cents! It was Arriba by Tito Guerrera and his Latin-American orchestra in its second pressing (it has the same Full Color High Fidelity banner as your Twist Contest album). Looking forward to more surprise finds in the future. God bless you.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

musicman1979,

Thanks--and I just discovered that my storage service has time limits, a la Zippy Share. After 30 times of "inactivity," a file is discarded.

Anyway, I revived the Allied 16 Top Hits post. My conclusion re Pickwick as the track source is based on a number of cross-checks, but my investigation was not exhaustive. With the junk labels, we can never be sure where a given track originated. Or who owned it at the time. Picwick, however, seems the best best for Allied, AND for Waldrof's Top Hit Tunes series, which co-released EPs and LPs with Pickwick (Hurrah, Bravo, etc.).

https://musicyouwont.blogspot.com/2023/07/this-months-16-top-hits-allied-tm-2.html

Bryan said...

Hi Lee,
For a spell checker, I use Grammarly. I also have the Windows version which they just updated. However, I did not update it on my computer. They both act a bit differently.
You can google:
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build Dev Channel. There are various Build numbers to pick from. The latest is Sept 22, 2023. These are all experimental Builds that we try out and give feedback on if we wish. Dev is the 2nd Channel. You can just open these and then read what they feature. Some new features and many fixes. They can arrive weekly - bi-weekly.
As I mentioned, I believe they started the AI with Bing. Now it is moving into Windows 11 or 12 in the yearly update. If you have Windows Office, I do not, everything is going to be coordinated throughout the Windows programs, I believe. Yes, I think you not activate things, because I have not signed up to things.
However, I was one of the first to sign up to BingChat. This is now Windows Co-Pilot. You ask the computer what you want, or they answer your typed written queries as I mentioned. This is really cool. Google should have their version now.
I only use Google on my Android.

Bryan said...

Hi Lee, I am sure you have read or heard how the Tech Companies are being Sued, Fined, and the like here in Europe. The EU has very strict rules and is getting stricter on what Tech Companies can do.
If you search for something, and the information has been requested to be deleted from whomever, you may get this: Some results have been removed. This seems to be new. Before, they had at least one or more searches telling you that the search was removed.
Starting in the next months, soon, various devices (a long list of them) must all use the same charging cable. So, one cable will be able to charge everything in this list of items. This is why Apple has ditched its special cable.
The EU is getting very environmentally and personally friendly in the items we use and consume. This occurs in many different areas. One way is the ECARF seal of approval. This is fantastic that we have it. You can google ECARF to get more information if you like.
Certain international foods are made safer to eat in the EU compared to, let's say, the USA. As with the addition of chemicals, food colorings, additives, etc.
I heard some time ago, that they are now going after manufacturers, because small items, etc., should be able to be fixed by hand or in a shop and not thrown away in our recycling centers.
So, this should have at some point a global reach. Oh, Germany has one of the stricter policies I believe, however I am not sure.
I just know my recent purchases of a new washing machine and a new dryer have a higher and more environmental rating than in some other EU countries. A win-win for us consumers.

Gilmarvinyl said...

Yes I have posted many of your older videos Lee, but I take care to wait until their download links expire or break or it has been at least a year or two (which is when your uploads tend to disappear from the web), so doing as an archival exercise. I have been more direct in citing when I use old found blog content in recent years. I figure budget material should be preserved one way or another. I have been meaning to ask permission.

Lee Hartsfeld said...

Gilmarvinyl,

No problem! Thanks for keeping my stuff out there. And thanks for telling me.