Ever had something that seemed like a simple task end up being a complicated process to the point of anger? You know, some small little thing that consumes you so much that you will stop at nothing until you complete that task? Well, I had an experience like that. I thought that as something nice I could add to my blog was audio messages. It seemed like a good idea at the time. So I decided to use odeo.com as the host and my MP3 player as the recorder - clear and simple so far, right? Wrong. First, I had trouble connecting the damn Chinese piece a crap to my computer. Somethings wrong with it's USB output, so I spent about ten minutes trying different ports and turning it off and on all the while the patronising baloon mockingly screeching at me, "USB device not recognized." Anyway, so finally after I transfer on the PC, I head to odeo.com and hit the "upload audio" option after registering. I find the file, and wait. And wait. And wait. Until finally, it informs me that I cannot upload the file. Frustrated, I try different browsers and methods, until it dawns on me that the site only accepts MP3 files. Fine. I can deal with that. So I trawl the 'net for a free converter, and download it, and convert. So, after all that, I have the file uploaded and ready to play. You would not believe the yelp of sheer terror that I excreted (perhaps not the best word) when it started playing. Something had happened to the speed of the audio; it was in super fast forward and I sounded like a chipmunk (even more so that usual.) By this point, I was ready to throw in the towel; this last episode just pushed me a step too far. I e-mailed a question, posted on the forum, and within the day had my answer; something to do with the encoding khZ (or something to that effect; I'm no audio guru). So, I try a program and change the sampling rate (that's what I think it is, but I'm still not sure) and guess what? Instead of chip munk, I'm deeper and slower than Barry White. And now I can't even record files on my MP3 player because my brother screwed it up (and deleted all my songs in the process). That's it. I've had enough. And to add insult to injury, I bought a pair of MP3 speakers today (supposed to plug into your player) and they didn't work. Cost me 30 hard earned dollars, and they don't work.I don't trust technology any more.
