Use lame to decode the files:

lame --decode song.mp3

On the rare occasions that lame doesn't work, I use FreeAmp's WaveOut plugin to convert the MP3.

Once all of the MP3's have been converted to WAV, normalize all of the WAV files in that directory:

normalize -m *.wav

The files are then ready to be burned to CD.

We are seeing the answer to this question this week. We are into Day 4 of the supposed Slashdot blackout, where a lot of people who want to feel self-important are choosing not to access Slashdot. They apparently have decided that they are the reason why people read Slashdot. And they want to "punish" Slashdot because Slashdot is "punishing" them.

These people believe that, by not posting on Slashdot, they are not providing the content that people come to Slashdot to read, so no one will be reading Slashdot this week. The reality, of course, disproves this.

As I said, we are currently to Day Four of the supposed blackout. And the supposed dropoff of quality content has not materialized. As expected, other posters have simply filled the supposed void left by those who are participating in the blackout. The quality of content posted has not changed in any discernible way. The only difference are the people who are posting.

I personally believe the Blackout was nothing but a way for these people to feel self-important. For some reason, these people needed to feel that they are important to Slashdot, apparently so they could feel important about themselves.

I wonder how these people will feel once the blackout is over? Will their self-image be crushed when they return on the 28th and find out that Slashdot didn't even really notice that they were missing? Or will they try to create some fiction to account for the lack of impact that their abscense created?

I guess that time will tell. Hopefully, these people's self-image can withstand this blow. And hopefully, these people will realize that there needs to be a limit to what they do to feel self-important.