Boy's Don't Cry, The Cure & Philip K Dick WTF?

Okay this isn't going to appeal to many people but so what, this is my blog!

If you haven't heard of Phillip K Dick then you should, because he is a big name in a lot of Hollywood movies.  I was first initiated to Phillip K Dick when I first saw Blade Runner and was blown away by Vangelis' majestic sci-fi-analogue-synthesis and the accompanying euphoric-dystopian visions of Mr Scott & CO. Some of the opening scenes of flying cars, in the futuristic Mega-opolis of LA 2019, really blew me away, when I first saw it on VCR in the 90s.

Now as my interest in Sci-Fi movies has grown and I have became more interested in the story lines; I have become an avid reader of Phillip Dick's work over the years. Ubik is magnificent!

So what has this all got to do with Boy's Don't Cry by the Cure?

Well as a teenager I was a big fan of The Cure and I used to collect all their records and music articles I found in specialist music stores throughout Melbourne. As an aspiring musician I really appreciated the electronic effects used by the band in the early 80s albums starting with 17 Seconds released in 1980. The electronic side of things got me interested in synths and to artists such as Vangelis, and I enjoyed spending time in my music studio playing various synths, fx, guitars accompanied to my vocals.

Having read the biographies and history of The Cure (such as Ten Imaginary Years, Picturesofyou.us site, Wiki) has made me understand the Band quite well! So I find their history quite interesting as they started out as teen punk boy band (picked up by German label Hansa to become a Teen Pin-Up Boy Band that sung PUNK covers), to a post-punky band that became New Wave and to what we now know as goth!

Teen Punk Band Easy Cure 1977 UK (Peter O' Toole in this pic 2nd from the right had left before Hansa's signing)



Check out some awesome 1970s punky tracks by Easy Cure

See The Children (A sort of punk child molester's anthem LOL very funny) 1st demo 1977
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCIYH8bF77Q&feature=related

I Just Need Myself Easy Cure 1st Demo 1977
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YfMbGLEoYo


The Cure's big Hit A Forest in 1980 (Which is considered a signature song from the band) is quite otherworldly! The analogue phase and flanger effects it uses are breathtaking and was even reviewed as a DR WHO sounding song!! The song is also notable for securing the band its first slot on BBC's Top of the Pops.


I also love these tech inspired early 80s vids too. There is something TRON and futuristic about TV in 1980 and 1981, I also think of Blakes 7 too!





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6s7TIwcRU8

The following PIC in an article from a 1980s Australian music column that has always fascinated me and looks Science-Fictiony even though the band isn't. (Although Robert Smith did say in a Dutch article in June 1980 that  there’s one piece of music that had a big influence on Seventeen Seconds, it’s sounds rather elitist, but it’s a piece by Khatchaturian, a classical composer.   It’s on the soundtrack of 2001, you know, by Stanley Kubrick … it’s two violins and a cello, I played it continuously hundred times a week’).


http://www.picturesofyou.us/80/80-6-4-oor-muziekkrant.htm





So what has this all got to do with Phillip Dick.  Well I particularly like the way he bridged the genres of alternate history and science fiction and used parallel universes. Donnie Darko (of the parallel universe genre) is one of my fav films and I like that sort of esoteric stuff.

So an Alternate History of The Cure?

Well yes, their 1st album sounded dramatically different from their later stuff and I always liked it a lot.  I thought Dempsey's melodic bass was superb and 10:15 Saturday Nite was immediately memorable when I first heard it (drip drip drip!). Subway Song is a classic stalker thriller!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NERzLlHo-D0

Even though the band did not like the studio production of the album I always really liked it.  Chris Parry a former drummer produced the album and I thought he did an amazing job. I enjoyed the sparseness, crisp drum sound, jangly guitars, Robert's shrieking vocals and Dempsey's melodic bass (he was only in the band for the first album).Three Imaginary Boys 1979 has always impressed me. The album is particularly amazing considering it was their debut, but most fans I would say would overlook this album, as The cure are more known for their Goth sound and makeup.



Now I know that 17 seconds, Faith and Pornography are great albums and Simon Gallup's rocky-punky playing of his Fender Precision bass is so cool, but let's say (in an alternative universe) they didn't change their sound (like Greenday) and remained post-punk with Dempsey and his Guild B301 Bass !!!

Boy's Don't Cry was the catalyst for Robert's Goth Character.  Boy's Don't Cry was meant to be a success but was a commercial failure (which is a shame as it is a good song). Out went Dempsey & his eloquenty played Guild B301 Bass and The Cure's 78-79 sound!


Boys Don’t Cry’ came on like it was a simple stab at the charts worthy of The Undertones at their most gloriously naive. How did he react to its lack of success?

"It’s like commentators in cricket", he laughs, "They always say, ‘Oh, he’s doing really well’ and then he gets bowled out. We were advised not to bring it out because of the fact that it was a pop single and it would be much better if we brought out something that was less commercial but more ‘artistically viable’. ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, ’10.15’ and ‘Accuracy’ have always been my favorite songs out of all that initial lot. I’m glad it didn’t make it in a way because then the people who’d been saying we shouldn’t put it out would then have turned round and said you’ve gotta give us another one like that one."


September 8. 1979 Sounds (UK)


What If Boy's Don't Cry became a hit, and therefore Dempsey never got sacked from the band and The Cure remained clean-cut and post punky! No Fat Bob with weird hair and makeup, just a normal Bob Smith from a clean cut post-punky band! Food for thought!





mmm I love this, Fender Jazzmaster with a Roland JC120!

Check out my version of Boy's Don't Cry using the PS3 Singstar Game.  I used the optical out of the PS3 to record the track without vocals from singstar into the Mac using Adobe Audition (although you can hear Robert's Ghosting in the background).

http://theskivvys.podbean.com/2012/03/15/boys-dont-cry/

Podcast Powered By Podbean

I sung Boy's Don't Cry using an AKG Perception 220 mic(which is cheap) and a Roland UA55 Quad Capture & Adobe Audition.  I used a pair of Sennheiser HD650, even though they are Open Headphones; I hate using closed headphones for singing, so there is a little leakage, but the performance is more important than a slightly better sound quality.

I recorded in one take and did one small 5 second overdub.  I decided not to use the compressor on the Quadcapture and instead used the multi-band compressor in Adobe Audition as well as studio reverb and the vocal enhancer effect.

I deliberately sung like a BOY for the track and am surprised that I can make my voice sound like I am 16!!!!!!!!! In the original track sung by Robert Smith it can be quite deadpan, whiney, angry & angst ridden (which I like and is what really became the Cure sound).  So I decided to make the singing sound more cute and upbeat to appeal to the pop mainstream that the track was intended for! Now I am not saying my singing is better as it is not a competition, but I am envisioning the alternate universe where Boy's Don't Cry was a hit for a more pop mainstream market! The Cure a post-punky teenage pop boy band!!!!!!!!!!!!

Analysis of the Studio Equipment

I was quite impressed with the Roland Quadcapture UA 55 although I am having intermittent power cuts and will need to return it under warranty.  It would be nice to have studio reverb as an option for live performances.  I didn't find latency a problem because you can use the direct monitor with the unit. There is a bit of hiss & noise and am not sure if that is because it is a defective unit. The headphone Amp isn't the greatest but would you expect for such a great value product $300 AU.  I can use the digital out into a dedicated DAC/headphone AMP that I have where I can enjoy the beauty of Class A amplification and something that can drive my massive HD 650 Sennheiser headphones!

I like the AKG 220 mic but obviously it is low end and does not really compare to a really PRO MIC (from what I can hear in studio recordings) . I don't know if it is me or the MIC but at times there is this vibrato type sound that I can't stand in my vocals!

I didn't like the reverb sound much in Adobe Audition and it seems to miss some depth.  I certainly enjoyed the DSP I had on the Yamaha Promix01 and I guess nothing compares to a dedicated DSP chip.

thoughts on adversity and bullying in the workplace

Just a blog about some thoughts on luck & adversity...

I have been reading about adversity lately, & upon my readings I have discovered this:

http://bethagnew.blogspot.com.au/

Hard Times come about for three reasons:

1. The result of choices we make;
2. The result of choices others make; and
3. The result of day-to-day circumstances.



Sometimes things just don't work as it is out of your control. My life has included many disappointments that have always been outside my control.

Just like catching a bad illness, every-time I have a good job that seems to be going somewhere, there has been a jealous manager to get me quickly kicked out.

There is nothing you can do with jealous managers, if you are a good at your job and a threat, they will get  you out quick, and this happens to a lot of people. I am not alone here. It is common to put blame on yourself, but this last time it is really hard to say that was the case.

I have read many forums and websites and this is all too common a practise. It makes sense that there is endemic bullying in the workplace, as a lot of it is about people exploiting others and profiting from their misfortune. An insecure manager has already realised he doesn't deserve to be in the company and is a liability.  He will use the staff below him to earn his living.  A parasite.

The other option I can endure would be to have a "just good enough" work ethic, but that is not part of me.

The key here is how to cope with this adversity.

I have taken up running to see how good I really am.  Maybe I have over-estimated myself and am in fact mediocre.  With running I have full control (except for illness not brought on by a bad diet and drinking.) I can train, watch my diet and read up on how to be better.  So at the moment I can run 4kms in 16 minutes.  Yeah it is good, but isn't going to win myself races. I do have a sinus condition that affects my performance but it is not stopping me.  I am trying to find solutions by giving up dairy, trying honey and other supplements.

So what has running got to do with bullying in the workplace?

For me it is about control.  My experience in the workplace is that everything is out of your control. Whenever you do a good job that customers rave on about it is ignored by management.  If you take initiative & make your own decisions and the customers rave on about about exceptional service, management step in and start to make threats (as only they want to be seen as giving exceptional service through delegating to their sub-ordinates). With running I can control the outcome, whereas in the workplace everything is out of my control, especially with the abundance of incompetent and insecure management that use their sub-ordinates as scapegoats, a common theme we have in today's world.

The invisible hand of the NWO on Australia Day 2012

Hi,

This is a belated post because I have been nervous about blogging my political beliefs since I have become politically aware.

On Australia Day 2012 we witnessed the invisible hand of the New World Order against the Aboriginal People of Australia. The NWO created a "Hate Day" against the indigenous population on Australia Day. Since my political awakening, when I gained first-hand of knowledge of a false flag government event, I have been able to see the invisible hand of the New World Order.  Although the masonic buillding the Shrine of Rememberance in Melbourne had always aroused my curiosity with its ancient "ziggurat and babylonian architecture", I was blinded by the truth, until I opened my eyes and saw the suffering of most peoples around me. I was sucked in by the propaganda of  "accidental reality" when our lives have been manipulated and coerced by Social Engineers thru propaganda in media, schools, universities and the workplace.  Remember the most dangerous enemy is invisible or outside our ignorant peripheral vision.



The Masonic Temple "Shrine of Remembrance" that celebrates the Great Global Wars.
Is child sacrifice from the Aztecs practised here?



I was a sheeple like everyone else, being fleeced from the False Good Shepherd (Government).

Why would the Government consipire against the Aboriginal People on Australia Day when it represents a day for all  people around the world to celebrate their immigration to Australia.

In fact "Australia Day" is double speak for "immigrant day". If you read any of the propaganda media on "Australia Day" you will notice that even though Australia is typically a day for Christian Anglo Saxons with the Union Jack Flag proudly waving and for drinking European beer and eating pork and red meats; the news contrasts this with non-stop propaganda talk about immigrants and how wonderful they are and how it is wonderful that we live in a "gloablised" society.

 A nation of immigrants the propaganda media promotes is an oxymoron.

A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history.


They are of course changing this definition to suit their political beliefs.

The indigenous people of Australia are a tiny minority so why do they represent a threat to the political structure of Australia?

It is because of their nationalism.  Nationalism opposes Globalism, and the New World Order needs to stomp on people who believe in Nationalism.

Once you understand the

Hegelian dialectic

you will know that the NWO controls the Australian Labour Party & Australian Liberal Party.  They pretend to give 2 different opionions so the masses think they have a choice and have freedom.  People generally think of good and bad so they think they are actually choosing what they want.  What they don't realise is that the Australian Labor and Liberal Party, both promote Mass 3rd world immigration into 1st world countries and the exodus of jobs overseas so that all nations will be poor and a communist/capitalist Chinese style World Govt. (UN) can take over. The 2 main parties of Australia are almost identical twins.

Once you realise Tony Abbot and Julia Gillard work for the same team because of the Hegelian Dialect (the NWO aren't stupid, don't under-estimate the cunning sly deviousness of the global elite), you can then understand their collusion on Australia Day 2012.  They (Gillard Tony Abbot)  might pretend to be enemies in the media but it is obviously fake.  

So what is this all about then.

Well it is about the government conspiring and political propagandizing an indigenous minority whilst promoting 3rd world majorities on Australia Day 2012 so they can bring the Global-Chinese model of slavery to the world to serve the Global Elite. Hate Day against the indigenous by our Political Elite on Australia Day.

The next time you buy plastic Chinese junk from the supermarket that might poison your kids with Lead Poison, think---

iPod Nano Bluetooth Watch Review

As I have mentioned in the last post, I purchased an ipod nano after Steve Jobs death, a sort of commemoration of sorts.  I am using the nano for running, as the ipod touch or iphone was too big (even with the arm band) and I also needed a radio. I don't need a GPS when i run, cos i always run the same route. I have already measured the distance with GPS on my iphone; so I can simply input the distance onto my nano.

I have found that if I am walking with the nano, the best way to use the touch screen is to use it as a watch.  Using corded headphones with the nano as a watch is very uncomfortable, hence my splurge on the Sennheiser btd300i bluetooth module & iwatch z watch band.

Sennheiser btd300i

The module is bigger than other ipod bluetooth modules you can get, but I was after the bluetooth streaming protocol APT X rather than A2DP (being the audiophile I am).

THE GEAR

I have 2 pairs of headphones I can use with the nano & btd300i.  The first is the "closed" Sennheiser 210BT that uses the APT X protocol.  (There are only 2 models available with APTX; the PX210BT & PX310BT headphones. The PX310BT are larger over the ear headphones, but I wanted something a little lighter for mobility).

I also have the mm100 open neck headphones (I use these with the iphone so I can answer calls, plus they are good when I ride the bike, but not so good when I am lying down! These dont use APT X)

The Sennheiser MM100 (Don't let the cheap look fool you!)

IMPRESSIONS

The sound is fantastic, you have to use EQ as the PX210BT is midrangey. I find electronic or rock preset is the best.  I am surprised how good it sounds, it is indistinguishable from using a cord.  The other thing I like about the PX210BT is that you can also use a cord & easily attach and detach the cord, so if you break it, you can easily replace it (something I would do a lot with the PX100). The mm100 also sounds very good and it is surprising how it sounds better than using bluetooth from an iphone or the mac!

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Unfortunately there are a few things I am disappointed with.  First off, the PX210 BT aren't loud enough, I suppose it is good for your hearing, but I would like to turn it up to really rock out.

Second thing is on a windy day there are drop outs, it really should be smooth all the time.

Thirdly, the btd300i chews battery, I only get an hour using the nano, as compared with 8 hours using buds!

Lastly, I wish the ipod nano could listen to the radio without having to plug in corded headphones.

WRAP UP

It really is enjoyable to walk around with a nano watch and listen to my favorite podcast by Tiesto and see the song pic change on the screen of a watch! It really is the future, an iphone this small would be great with mm400 headphones! Do we really need to have an iphone when we walk around or ride a bike. I can understand you need an iphone in the car or when you go out, but on most occasions I dont need to surf a website when away from my PC.  Perhaps with Siri we won't even need to that so often and a watch phone could be enough.  I can also imagine a bluetooth camera/video clip that could communicate with your watch phone!

The whole computing experience is certainly changing.  Next blog I will talk about the irig mic and the vocalive software you use it with on an ipod/iphone/ipad.  A recording studio in a phone!

Summer TECH Update


It has a been a while since my latest blog as I have been busy studying Cisco Certs and MS MCITP Certs (lookout Windows Server 8) for the new year and have been busy with my profession in IT. Recently I have been testing an ipad 2 and have enjoyed the experience but have not seen it as worthwhile investing in personally.  I found the ipad2 a little bulky and also not too easy to watch movies in bed, something that I can do more comfortably and easily with my netbook using VLC.  I would also like a higher resolution screen and I miss having usb ports to add devices such as a Roland Quad Capture'or TV Tuner etc. ***Instead I purchased an ipod nano for my running! ***

IPOD NANO WATCH (With BT?)

I have found the ipod nano watch to be annoying with cabled headphones so I have purchased a Sennheiser bluetooth adapter. More on this next blog because the sound is amazingly audiophile from this thing! The only problem is I can't get the radio with bluetooth headphones.

EBOOK READERS

I do a lot of reading in PDF's and want to read outside so I wanna use e-ink tech rather than the TFT tech in an ipad.This leads me to ereaders and I have researched them thoroughly but just don't see it being right for me at the moment. Amazon's can't do pdf reflow and the Sony TRS seems to have a slow processor. Kobo might be a possibility but am not sure of the PDF reflow capabilites. I will put this on hold.



MAC OS X LION (The Vista of Mac OS X?)

Now I am a full time Mac user again and am quite enjoying Lion; 8GB certainly helps with any sluggishness. I would like to use 16GB of ram but the cost is $600 as compared to $80 for 8GB so this is also on hold.  I am currently using Oracle's Virtual Box to run Windows and I love seamless mode, I can have windows and Mac running in the same screen!  I am having some crashes and problems here and there which is unusual for Mac OS X (More on this later).  As I use Adobe CS 5.5 there have been some extra issues with Mac OS X Lion.  I have had to unhide the user preferences which is annoyingly hidden within Lion and have needed to adjust this with frequent problems with Adobe Audition.

These links will help you if you are having any problems with Adobe Audition or any other Adobe Apps and Mac OS X lion.

http://www.jasonchen.org/log/2011/07/unhide-library-foldermac-osx-lion/


http://forums.adobe.com/thread/883608#3828648

AUDIO RECORDING


I have also been back into recording and recently got an irig mic for the ipod touch and vocalive. I have also got myself a Roland quad capture.  More from me soon about these amazing devices.

Latest Tech Thoughts Spring 2011

Tech Thoughts Spring 2011 (Australia)


It has been a whilst since my last blog and I have been patiently waiting for IOS 5 and the new ipods/iphone. I have also been thinking about getting a Garmin GPS watch and an Apple Time Capsule. I have always been interested in digital devices rather than having computers. This is what I believe is part of Apple’s recent success, keeping an OS (IOS) more streamlined and simple, so that it works like a fast responsive machine that turns on instantly; rather than sluggish error prone computers, we have all become used to.

GARMIN WATCH GPS FOR RUNNING



This is a hard decision as Garmin GPS watches are awesome but quite expensive, depending on the model. I am currently using an ipod touch when running but this is such a bulky solution. For music I can use my ipod shuffle when running with a Garmin watch (but I will miss out on the Nike coach when I reach personal targets!!!!). The other bonus is I can use it whilst riding as well; unlike the pedometer with the nano.

The questions are, is it worth getting a heart monitor and would it be better to wait for an ipod nano with this feature with GPS?. Will this ever happen on a Nano and if so how many years will it take?

APPLE TIME CAPSULE



The Time Capsule is tempting but I wish i could put my itunes library on there and play it directly to my ipod. That way I don’t have to have my laptop on to stream music to my airport express. The other issue is getting 5 ghz performance. This still isn’t available on portable devices such as ipods and netbooks. If I would get an 5ghz adapter for my netbook it would be expensive and bulky.

HD AUDIO



HD Audio is finally getting decent albums available on the web (rather than a whole lot of unheard jazz & classical artists!!!). I have finally bought my first album that is @ 24 bit 96k (Foreigner 4 from 1981). Disappointingly my 3 year old Dell laptop does not support this format over hdmi but my little Acer netbook with the AMD Fusion APU (that has a Radeon 6250) can support HD Audio over HDMI. I need this so I can use the hdmi output to a converter; spdif for my headphone amp or Roland M15a speakers.

***BTW Foreigner 4 sounds fantastic in HD Audio***

My Apple Airport or ipod/iphone does not support the format as they are only 16 bit 44k and these are all the problems you can encounter when upgrading to HD Audio.

The format certainly has more depth, spatiality & dynamics but can sound a little thin at times. I think thinness is just part of the digital format. With HD Audio I can no longer hear a telephone ringing in the background which is what seems to happen a lot with the red-book 16 bit 44k standard (although a decent DAC can help with this). HD audio also sounds live and full of musicality as compared with plain old 16 bit 44k.

BLURAY ON A NETBOOK



I am quite impressed that my little netbook Acer Aspire 522 can play blurays at 1080p. I wish the bluray standard could be standard in windows 7 as the Cyberlink power dvd app (which is the only app that works) is quite expensive.

NETBOOKS aren't Trendy Anymore

So I have decided to get a netbook.  Even though tablets are all the rage at the moment (such as the ipad), there are features in netbooks that aren't available with these devices  such as VLC, hard drives & peripherals (such as a tv tuner). Also if I am lying in bed I don't want to be holding an ipad up. I have an ipod touch for quick stuff, such as checking email in bed or footy scores.

My netbook is a secondary laptop so I haven't got the mindset that I will be transcoding video and loading heaps of apps on it.  I can use the dvd player from my other laptop, so a lot of these shortcomings aren't important. The DVD adds bulk and I want something light that I can take with me in ease.  I will not even install Word on my netbook because Wordpad is fine. I will install the bare minimum as I want convenience. If I need to spell check, I can open the word web app or Word on my 15" laptop at home.I dont need to do editing on the road, I will leave that for a more powerful laptop or PC at home.

I also want something to quickly whip from under the bed and watch movies.  A bulky 15" laptop doesn't do this, and I use my 15" laptop as a more permanent setup at home connected to an external monitor, 1.5TB hard drive etc.

I wanted the Atom Fusion APU for the impressive WEI 5 Graphics performance so the choice was between the Toshiba NB550d and the Acer Aspire 522.  The Acer has a better screen res but no bluetooth.  Toshiba has nice harmon kardon speakers, but to be honest I use headphones on the road and connect via my airport express at home, so laptop speakers aren't that important for me.  What concerned me about the Toshiba was the screen res as it couldnt play 720p and also the inability to change hard drives as it was custom.

So even though the Toshiba NB550 looked nicer and had Wake On Lan and Bluetooth, the screen resoloution to me was more important.  Also the battery life is better with the Acer and it comes with a nice case. I am disappointed the Acer didn't come with bluetooth & WOL but I can live without it. I did have visions of putting a 750g, 7400rpm hard drive into my netbook, and using my ipod touch to send magic packets to turn it on in the middle of the night.  But you couldnt do that with the Toshy anyway as the hard drive is to small for all my music & custom sized that makes it difficult to change.

If I do listen to music with my MM100 Bluetooth Sennheiser headphones it will come from my iphone (it wont work with the Acer), at home I can use my more serious Sennheiser HD650 with the Airport Express.

So it is the Acer.  I was very impressed with the performance even with only 1 gig of ram.  The next day I put 4 gigs of ram in and Windows 7 Pro.  Putting in ram wasn't as easy as it used to be, having to remove the keyboard and a whole heap of screws.

2 or 4 gigs certainly makes a difference. With 1 gig there were plenty of blue circles and pausing etc. Whilst watching Inception as a stream, there were moments of freezing etc. But once I had 4 gigs of ram  streamed movies played seamlessly. I have been watching dvd's in bed, using VLC and accessing a wifi n network from my laptop in the room next door.  I installed Airfoil and I can now stream the audio from my netbook to my airport express that is connected digitally to a DAC that is then connected to my yamaha 2.1 speakers.

You have to synchronise VLC so the audio matches the video.  It is usually around 2 seconds, varies and can drift.  But it is oh so worth it as there are no cables connected to the netbook when you watch a movie, and you get the full surround sound experience.It is killer. The screen is fantastic for watching movies.  Even though it is only 10", the lightness of the netbook makes up for it, because a 15" laptop can be heavy whilst lying in bed . I hired Surrogates with Bruce Willis for $3 at the oovie vending machine at Safeway.  I couldnt find it on bluray so had to settle with DVD.  I chucked it into my other 15" laptop and ensured I shared the dvd drive.  I simply opened the dvd from vlc over the wifi network. I then opened airfoil so I could stream the audio and used A/V sync in VLC with the airport express.

There are occasional stutters whilst watching the movie which I will outline below.
For some reason I can only get a 65MBS connection on my wifi n network with the Acer whereas with my Dell 15" I am getting 72MBS.  The reason why it is half speed is that I run the n network on 2.4g so I can use the ipod touch with the Aiport Express. It comes in handy with the ipod touch as I can use airplay from it (particularly late at night).  With 5 ghz I have a feeling I will get better performance.  The network is only running at 20% but latency is the most important issue here.  There is more interference with 2.4ghz and this might be affecting the streaming.  I could copy over the DVD from the network to my Acer and then delete it after watching but that would be a pain.  The other option I am considering is getting a SSD.  This will help with performance boosting the HD WEI from 5.9 to 7.7.  It would also help with the portability aspect.  I dont know if I need 250 gigs, but I am thinking of using the Acer to record tv so am still unsure about getting a SSD  It is a considerable expense that increases the price of the netbook.

I just checked the battery, I have used the laptop from 100% when I started writing this article.  It is at 9 hours 22 minutes. The battery life is amazing.  This is another reason why I prefer the Acer to the Toshiba.
The keyboard is a little cramped and I occasionally hit the up arrow on the track pad which can be annoying, but overall considering the size it does the job.