There are some excellent articles on the
TricksTutorials website about:Apologies for a long period of zero activity on my websites. It may all appear quiet here, but I've been superbusy with teaching and also major computer upgrades. And I hope my lack of email contact while it was borken isn't making me too unpopular with loved ones. I've written lots of stuff for this Journal in the previous few months, but little is finished yet. Soon I'll slot in the articles to fill in the gaps. There's also the issue of photographs. Since getting a digital camera for Christmas, I suddenly have lots of new pictures and now videos too. I'm still stunned by the concept that I can now make my own films, but I'm not sure yet where all this is going to go, or how many more elves I need to hire to do all the processing work, but we are working on it, not to mention the massive backlog of analogue photos still to be scanned out of my collection of 8000+. Life is too short: I need a good robot assistant.
Tags:
Computers
Check out this TED video demo of The Sixth Sense. With the advent of new more intelligent search engines and computational knowledge engines that can answer questions, having a simple portable system like this could be great. It's still reasonably cheap to implement and would hopefully be free and open to use like the internet.
But after the initial WOW factor wears off, the more I think about this, I wonder... Clever UI maybe, but really, how useful is it? Do we really want to have to rely on an external opinion/wisdom? How much longer would our shopping take if we obsess about checking up on every purchase decision? Maybe we would be more generally aware if we were not continually misled by advertising. And many countries in the world aren't spoiled by our overabundance of different consumer products to choose between anyway.
More importantly, what freedoms would we lose once this system became popular/the expected norm? Freedom to walk around or use public tranceport without one? Or just social acceptability?
"The future of computing is about CONTROL OF DATA." - maillemaker
The Future draws ever closer every day. The massive all-knowing eyes are for your own benefit, Winston. At least our children will be safe. Until the people revolt. Till then, be sure to show your fascist government how innocent all your email is.
Much of this smacks of technology for technology's sake. Just because we can do something, does not imply that we should do it. Industry forcefeeds us the latest toys of commerce and we gladly slave our lives away chasing them.
I'm nowadays more interested in things that can save me time, not slow me down and lock me into systems whose ethics or existence I don't agree with.
More and more I'm starting to think that our
fragile
reliance on tech is constraining us as human beings. Great advances are
promised, yet they just entrap us further in the commercial world and its
machinery. Our race has evolved for thousands of years without needing to be
wired up to a
primitive
machine, and somehow this seems like a step backwards
into a blind alley. Sometimes it's good to just unshackle yourself from
civil-lies-say-shun and
flip out while you still can.
Another interesting TED talk came from cellist Tod Machover, although the star of the show (at the end) was undoubtedly Dan Ellsey. Not a dry eye in the house.
This stunning building, the Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban, is the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh. It's certainly on my list of venues for my World Tour, along with Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. A modern castle of elegant curves and lines, it reminds me a bit of my designs for the Abbey I would one day like to build.
Tags:
Misc
This TED talk is essential enlightening viewing for all humans.
Tags:
Misc
It starts innocently enough. You learn forward rolls and handstands at school. Maybe even progress to cartwheels. (Although I doubt these days that Health & Safety would permit it.) As an adult, this kind of thing is just not generally done, possibly due to the large amount of space it requires when you're as tall as me.
Then someone passes you a link, you see some videos and before you know it, you're saying to yourself: "Hmmm, I'm gonna get out there and mow my lawn, clear the thistles, and fling myself about a bit...!"
I was initially inspired by some fine acrobatics in African drumming performances by Les Ballets Africains, and always loved watching gymnastics and popping. I'm not particularly into the kicks and big attitude, but am impressed by the moves from a standing start, especially the Axe2Aerial seen here at 1'46" that starts on one leg! I'd love to be able to do aerials and somersaults one day, but I realise that it's not just the kind of thing you rush into, and I need to get in shape first. I will keep it in mind though. It would be HARDCORE to go to a public place like a city street dressed in a full business suit, and suddenly just flip over and then carry on as if nothing had occurred :-)
[UPDATE: OK, cartwheels will take some time to get right; I'm straining my leg muscles painfully, so I'm going back to basics with handstands. I forgot how much fun they are! Once I can walk confidently on my hands for an extended time, I'll progress to other moves.]
There are some excellent articles on the
TricksTutorials website about:
Get away from the computer or the television half an hour before bed: Because you are basically staring into a light bulb, your body chemistry is tricked into thinking it is day time.
[...]
We do not need the same amount of sleep every night.
Get the saturates from stuff like coconut oils and animal fats, easy. Good sources of polyunsaturates include flaxseed oil and milled flax, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pine nuts. Sources higher in monounsaturates include macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, olives and cold pressed extra virgin olive oils, pistachios, and cashews.
[...]
Excessive intake of caffeine or other stimulatory drugs results in tolerance. You need higher and higher doses to get a dismal result.
AXiS-64 Pro and Opal
MIDI
keyboardTags:
Studio
I've always been fascinated by harmonic relationships and years ago made plans for a composition called "Triads" - nothing to do with Chinese gangsters, but a piece exploring the magical patterns within musical scales. An English instrument designer, Peter Davies, has been developing his ideas for many years. And lo, now there's an instrument that uses this Harmonic Table: the Opal MIDI keyboard. Watch Jordan Rudess demo the C-Thru AXiS-64 Pro MIDI Controller to see how you can easily play widely spaced chords and 'impossible' progressions with ease. It's also reviewed at DeviantSynth. Here's a nice photo of one controlling an MOTM modular system. The cost in the UK is not mentioned, but including shipping from UK to USA costs $2000, so I doubt I'll be buying one just yet.
Here's another very nice, but even less affordable new MIDI controller keyboard, with very cool design and polyphonic aftertouch: The Infinite Response VAX-77.
© copyright Malcolm Smith 2009-05-02 - last updated 2009-08-23