I went to download.com to get CuteFTP,
a nice bit of shareware for Windows PCs that asks for a one-time $40
registration fee if you're still using it after 30 days. Then I headed
back to the Kravitz links on oth.net. Embedded in each long string was the
site user name and password (sandwiched between ftp:// and @ and separated
by a colon) and the site address (usually a series of numbers and dots
after the @). I typed the information into the right fields inside the
"Connect" window of my ftp software and gained entry! But I couldn't
download. It appeared that the sites wanted me to give them a song before
I could take one -- a quid pro quo that I came to realize is typical of
so-called ratio, or barter sites.
So now I had to create my own MP3. I grabbed Aren't You Delicious --
a CD of original songs my brother's band Dowdy Smack recorded in 1997.
With Pat's permission, I copied my favorite track and compressed it to
one-tenth its original size using the MusicM atch "ripper" program. I put
the CD into the CD-ROM drive, selected The Bomb and hit "Record." Presto!
I had a new MP3 on my playlist.
But I couldn't give the song away. Many attempts at many different
ftp sites failed. I'd connect via CuteFTP, right-click on the file and
select "Upload," wait a minute -- and get a red X in response. Several
more attempts to download songs failed too. I tried for hours.
It could be that I didn't have the right password, or that I was
trying to upload the song to the wrong directory. The songs I wanted to
download may not have been there anymore, even though they were still
listed.
