@Astro said:

The ancients Greeks also believed the world was flat, look how that turned out.

Mike

If you were the intellectual you self-declared yourself to be, you would know that Greeks were aware of the world being round from even before classical antiquity (see myth of Zeus and the two doves), down to historical times (see Plato's Timeaus), and subsequently the Hellenistic period (see Eratosthenes). And the same goes for Heliocentricity. They just didn't feel the necessity to challenge and frighten the rest of the world, who anyway found out for themselves a couple of thousand years later by having access to the classical texts through the Medici and the Renaissance (Galileo and Copernicus never bothered to reveal their sources; they weren't the only ones - see Descartes and the famous "I think therefore I am", hint-hint: Parmenides...)

Yes, Errikos the Demon Tongue, Defiler of the Crypt of the Eumenides' Avenged,  wasn't the first conception of the world as spherical conjectured by one of the philosophers as an explanation of the slow disappearance of the mast of a ship?  It was a Greek philosopher unless I am half-remembering wrongly.  It is astounding how many concepts that later became scientifically proven were first conceived by the Greeks.  The artistic, dramatic and architectural creativity as well are amazing.  But the great tragedy of ancient Greek culture is that there is no record of the music.  Was it as great as Aeschylus, Euripides or Sophocles in drama, Homer in poetry, the creator of the Parthenon in architecture, the Spartans in war...

the Athenians in toga-partying? 

We will never know. 

Yes, I consider it the greatest tragedy ever, that we know nothing of what classical greek music sounded like... (The loss of Mozart at 36 and W.W.I+II are far behind in my worldview).

We know many of the theoretical writings and their academic sophistication, beginning with the Pythagoreans and continuing with countless others, we know of the legendary effects of that music from what we know of Orpheus, as well as Pythagoras again who actually used music to cure ailments (not just headaches, but even liver problems, something that science is only now beginning to investigate), but we know nothing of the music itself - by the way, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were composers as well, and their theatrical works were actually music-dramas (Aeschylus' ones were completely sung through, and the rendition of one of Euripides' songs was enough to countermand the official military directive of the victorious Spartans to destroy Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War).

I consider the attempts by some to "re-create" that music in recent times as hilarious and as pitiful as people attempting to recreate Hans or Johnny. The real music would have been at least as epochal, as grand, as beautiful, as definitive, and as timeless as the architecture, the sculpture, and the poetry of the times, as we know that during their time, the classical Greeks considered music to have been the most evolved of the arts!!...

P.S.: Pity we don't know much about the parties either.... 

P.S.2: Sorry this has got nothing to do with Dedicated Audio PCs. Can you begin to imagine how much more Aeschylus and Beethoven could have done with a rig like that?... Spewccati-loops at the very least!... Oh, and Aeschylus would have used an Apple (aesthetics you see...)

@Errikos said:

as timeless as the architecture, the sculpture, and the poetry of the times, as we know that during their time, the classical Greeks considered music to have been the most evolved of the arts!!...

Yes, that is frightening to think of.  By the way, I was noticing recently how HEARING The Iliad, even though it is translated, is a compeltely different experience than reading it.  Of course Homer originally sang these great stories in verse.  But it is interesting how down through the centuries, even translated into a different language, the power of that story still echoes.  Though I was listening to a great British actor intoning a brilliant translation -  an actor capable of bringing the story to life. But that is part of the poetry - performance.  it was normal to hear that in the ancient days.  It was only in recent times that poetry was separated from singing.

@William said:

Of course Homer originally sang these great stories in verse.

That is why there was no pressing need to put this huge epic "down on paper", as people were able to memorize it because of the musical setting (and through frequent repetitions obviously).

I really wonder how this conversation could be considered even remotely related to the topic...

@Astro said:

The ancients Greeks also believed the world was flat, look how that turned out.

Mike

If you were the intellectual you self-declared yourself to be, you would know that Greeks were aware of the world being round from even before classical antiquity

Wait a minute here!  Hooooold everything!  Are you guys telling me that the world is round?  Not flat?  Ha! Ha! Ha!  [:P]  Oh you Jokesters kill me!

"The world is round."  Yeah right!  That's why I love coming to the VSL Forum Comedy Calvacade.  It's just non-stop shenanigans and hilarity.  "Intellectuals?" more like comedians.  LOL.

I would like to write a blog on this thread about my tech man and my efforts to contact him right through to getting everything set up and updated on my Audio "computer".  It's going to be fascinating because I'm a Devonian and my tech man is from Leicester and neither of us really understands what the other is saying.

You can take part if you wish - but you must be over 35 years old.

@Martin: You're right of course, I acknowledged as much in the P.S.

@Jasen: Sorry, I guess I was a little early for April fool's. Don't panic! (There are religious sects around today that still believe the planet is flat and that anything else is a conspiracy).

@PaulR: Thanks for the laughs, the Brits of course remain the masters of humour.

OK - this post has degenerated into absurdity, nastiness, intellectual smugness, and all the other things that internet chat can become because people don't really know each other and feel comfortable being uncivil.

I got the answers I wanted within the first three posts, after that it turned into a pissing contest between PC and MAC users, and just got ugly.

I'm embarrassed by having taken part in it and I wish I had never started it.  I will think long and hard before ever posting a question to this forum again.

If there is a way the entire thing could be deleted, please let me know and I'll do it.

Sincerely,

Mike Coyle

Blog 1.

I phoned my tech man today at approximately 12.30 pm GMT.

He was not there. [:@]

I left a message.

Astro, as stated earlier in the thread, ADK really is a good company.  You will not regret going with them.

Please do post future questions, one actually can get some very good advice here in most instances.

Blog 2

I have not been able to get through to tech man.

Things are becoming desperate.

I may have to leave the house for the first time in 12 years. [:'(]

   I think seriousness or formal predication is the center point mediant, in arbitrary conscience, in which at one, the intellect uses creativly to communicate with and be aware for survival sake, as a civilized human being. Thus harboring both sides and elements of the human species as infinite, as freedom is. Education, if lost will be the demise of any civilization...  please pass the gray poupon, popou. poupooopon..pass it onnn...pouponnn po poua.. po pouuu, foooo foo.. paulR.. po  poopoooun, popoury po popaunn.  pury paupoo....