[TriLUG] Music Files (and a small rant)

[Mark Freeze]

> But any failure would not result in irrecoverable loss, but rather in a
> cost-to-replace loss.

I would consider trying to re-download over 4500 unique songs at a
price of .99 each almost irrecoverable.  I don't' have the $4500 to
recover them, nor the time to download them one by one. For the
un-Napsterish files - ripping all or part of over 1200 CD's takes an
unimaginable amount of time.

> If you're concerned about the legality or availability of replacements
> through the Internet, perhaps you need to rethink having all these
> files in the first place.

Hey, I didn't know my mother was a member of TRILUG!  I started
downloading files from Napster when the service first came available. 
 When all of the hubbub started over the service started, I stopped
downloading. I received more than half of these files from other
co-workers.  To date I have never been a part of any litigation from
the RIAA nor have I gotten a letter from Metallica saying "Hey man,
delete our files you downloaded! P.S. Rock on and buy our new album."

I think everyone (most everyone) can understand the time and cost it
takes to maintain a really good music collection. Having it on your
computer just adds complexity. These files are now scattered across 3
or 4 machines, between work and home, and I just want them all in one
place because I think it would be cool to have them all in one place.
I lost over 500 cd's that I had ripped onto my hard drive because of a
Music Match Jukebox 'internal error.'  I'm trying not to have that
happen again.

What I am looking at right now is following Joel's RAID5 advice.  I
have looked on EBay and I can get Hitachi 250GB IDE drives for about
$119.00.  They come with a 3 Year warranty from Hitachi. I can also
get the separate IDE card for about $19.95.  I plan on using a spare
Dell 1.8Ghz machine with 512MB RAM to run the drives, making my total
cost around $520. (Plus tax and/or shipping.)

I'd still be interested in hearing any other ideas that would lower my
cost, but RAID 5 seems to be the way to go.

David wrote:
>gotta ask yourself... is it worth backing them up 
>or worth losing them... then worry about the cost

When you don't have a lot of money, cost has to be considered first.
Or at least prioritized. There are a lot of things that I want that I
can't afford.

Joel wrote:
>Of course I think most of this idea is absurd.  I just had to say it.

I also have every National Geographic from December of 1888 to the
present issue. (I still have to find quality copies of the first two
issues to have them all.)  My wife thinks that having those is absurd,
but I like them.  Now some may say that if they were worth keeping
then I should take every precaution to keep them from damage.  But,
just because I don't have the money to have an automatic, fire
protected, moisture controlled, monitored room for them doesn't mean
that I don't care if they are damaged. Just like the mp3's, I like
having them around because they are mine, and I collected them. 
Whether they suck or not is irrelevant. Just like Hunter S. Thompson
said, "Once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the
tendency is to push it as far as you can..."  I'm talking about mp3's
and not drugs, but I really understand what he means.

Regards,
Mark.