Author: Joey deVilla

That’s right, there are still a number of items available at the “Save Joey’s Christmas” sale.

For the musician setting up a home studio, I’ve got some killer deals. Check these out!

A way to save US$200 on Logic Audio Platinum 5.5

There’s a way to get Logic Audio Platinum 5.5 — the latest version of the de facto standard for recording studios — for US$200 less than you normally could. It’s a simple three-step process:

• Step 1: Buy Logic Audio 4.5 (the CD has both the Mac and Windows versions) from me for a mere US$350.
• Step 2: Buy the Logic Audio 4.x-to-5.0 upgrade for US$150.
• Step 3: Download the Logic 5.0-to-5.5 upgrade for free!

Your total cost: $500. That’s $200 off the retail price of $700.

You can see a photo of the Logic 4.5 Platinum package and a detailed list of what it contains on the “Save Joey’s Christmas” page.

A way to save US$150 on Reaktor 3.0

There’s a way to get Reaktor 3.0 for US$150 less than you normally could. It’s a simple two-step process:

• Step 1: Buy Reaktor 2.3 from me for a mere US$200.
• Step 2: Buy the Reaktor 2.x-to-3.0 upgrade for US$135.

Your total cost: $335. That’s over $150 off the retail price of $500.

A way to save $400 on both Logic Audio and Reaktor

If you buy the two together, I’ll slice $50 off the total to make it an even US$500.

You can see a photo of the Reaktor 2.3 package and a detailed list of what it contains on the “Save Joey’s Christmas” page.

Hey, George, did you realize that we’ve known each other for fifteen years and a handful of silly business ventures?

My birthday tradition (not a long-standing one — it’s only been going since 1999) is for me to take George out to dinner at some expensive restaurant in New York. We went to Nobu in 1999, when Masaharu Morimoto — better known as Iron Chef Japanese — was still head chef and Harvey Keitel turned around to see who was playing Happy Birthday on accordion. Last year, we had the tasting menu at Babbo, one of the finest meals I’ve ever had. Luckily for my ailing bank account, the tradition dictates that I do it only every other year, and this is my year off.

Happy birthday, George! See, this easing-into-your-thirties thing isn’t so bad, is it?

In no particular order:

• A little bit more about the Shift “State of the Net” party, TechSpace and other places that make it seem like it’s still 1999
• Cory’s favourite barbershop, the Bamboo Club, Canada Trust’s office tower, Queen Street West and why Jane Jacobs might eventually be saying “I told you so”
• Drinks with Diane Duane (which, alas, is about a month deep into my blogging backlog now)
• Some accordion facts, including why my accordion doesn’t make any sounds when you press the keys while I’m wearing it on my back, a fact that escapes many people, even Lockheed engineers.

I’m going to try and get to these this week.

This afternoon, I caught the subject line of one piece of spam before my Spam filtering software, SpamNet, filtered it out. Its subject line read: “MIDGETS! MIDGETS! MIDGETS!”

Ewwwwwwww.

As I enter this, I’m having a little post-workout homemade egg drop soup, listening to the Redman’s Jazz Internet radio station, installing some software on my iBook and chilling out before hitting Velvet Underground and doing a little dancing — and perhaps some busking — tonight.

Not a bad way to spend the evening.

Microsoft Canada had an open position for “.NET Architect Evangelist”, for which I applied. “It’s as if they made the position just for you!” a number of my friends said.

I got a call back today, saying that while my technical skills, presentation savvy and evangelism experience were a good fit, I didn’t have enough experience with — yup, that again — programming “enterprise systems” (in other words, large systems for medium-to-large businesses).

I guess developing this, this and this don’t count, despite the fact I’m sure these are precisely the sorts of things that at least half of all the potential .NET developers will be building.

So sue me for wanting to develop software for the little guy.

Go check it out — I’ve been rummaging through storage and found more of the ex-housemate’s stuff that’s been authorized for sale:

• Roland UA-30 USB Audio Interface
• MIDIMan USB MIDI interface
• Targus Stowaway folding keyboard for the Handspring Visor