Hello everyone,
After doing a lot of thinking and reading over vacation, I've decided to shut this blog down. By no means am I done with blogging, but this site really was my first attempt at the beast, and I need to make some fundamental changes. Thank you all for reading (and occasionally commenting). You can follow me to:
3stylelife
Thanks-
Barry
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Technology Hiatus
Hello all,
I'm going on vacation for 9 days. No computer implies no posting. I'll be back the fourth of August after enjoying the beaches in Ocean City, MD.
-III
I'm going on vacation for 9 days. No computer implies no posting. I'll be back the fourth of August after enjoying the beaches in Ocean City, MD.
-III
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Dorkily Tooting My Own Horn
I got a platinum medal on Hitting the Green on Wii Sports.
This is a more impressive achievement than it sounds like. You have to take ten shots, and your total distance from the hole is tabulated. To get a platinum medal, you have to get less than 60ft, an average of 6 feet per hole.
Last night, after hundreds of failed attempts, including one particularly aggravating 69.7 ft try, I scored 55.9 feet. Proof:
According to Wii Records, I have the 10th best score in the world. I'll try registering and uploading the photo there sometime. Pretty sweet!
This is a more impressive achievement than it sounds like. You have to take ten shots, and your total distance from the hole is tabulated. To get a platinum medal, you have to get less than 60ft, an average of 6 feet per hole.
Last night, after hundreds of failed attempts, including one particularly aggravating 69.7 ft try, I scored 55.9 feet. Proof:
According to Wii Records, I have the 10th best score in the world. I'll try registering and uploading the photo there sometime. Pretty sweet!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
5 Steps to Glorious Productivity with Firefox
I've been on quite the personal development/lifehacking/lifestyle design/whatever you want to call it kick lately. One of the big ideas put forth in a lot of blogs on the topic is that work time should be just for work. By increasing productivity, you can decrease the actual amount of time you need to spend working, leaving you free for whatever you want to do!
Since I do a lot of my work online, I felt it would be worth spending time building an effective browsing environment. Firefox is the natural choice for the job, given its impressive customization and add-on capabilities. While I found a number of good ideas out there:
Work-Only Firefox Profile
Firefox Extensions to Improve Productivity
Firefox is the #1 Productivity Improvement
Firefox Extensions to Make Your More Productive
I found that most places only had one or two thoughts on the matter, or a hodgepodge list of extensions with questionable effects on productivity (certain things, like automatically copying text is in the millisecond range of help, and the time saved [over a lifetime] is probably less than or equal to the time it takes to install).
Thus, I present a 7 step program to tricking out Firefox (work-style):
1. Work Time: Work Firefox (Profile Manager)
We're creating a browsing experience specifically for work purposes. Obviously, this is not going to be the same as non-work browsing. Unless you manage leagues or something, you don't need a Firefox add-on updating you on your favorite sports teams. It's time to separate work from play, even in Firefox. How?
Firefox has a (relatively) hidden feature called the Profile Manager. Profile Manager allows you to create multiple Firefox "profiles" (think accounts), with separately customized settings, plugins, and add-ons. This lets you eliminate unproductive features from your work browsing experience, but not your fun browsing time.
A comprehensive resource on the Profile Manager can be found here:
Firefox Profile Manager
This site tells you all the details behind Profile Manager, and gives detailed instructions for installation and setup, though it's really not very hard.
For Windows users:
Now that we've staked our browsing ground, we can move towards making our work environment as productive as possible.
2. RSS: Read Sites Speedily (Sage)
Yes, that's not really what the acronym RSS (Really Simple Syndication) means. But on the reader end, that's exactly what it's good for. A quality feedreader can save you a lot of time in reading (important, work-related, right?) websites. Instead of guessing and checking and checking and checking sites for updates, feedreaders notify you when updates occur, and provide the content without bells and whistles (such as ads).
For my feedreading needs, I prefer the Sage Firefox add-on. With a nonintrusive sidebar setup and bookmark-style folders, Sage doesn't get in the way, or produce disruptive alerts. You can set the program to check your feeds at regular intervals, or my preference; whenever you load Firefox (this prevents you from breaking up tasks every time a new feed pops up, keeping you focused).
The best feature is the automatic feed finder. When you visit a webpage, pressing the magnifying glass button in the Sage sidebar crawls the site for feeds, making it very user-friendly to beginners.
Of course, for maximum productivity, you should only include work-related feeds (for me this is a number of mathematics, fashion, and productivity blogs). Other feeds should exist in your nonwork Firefox profile.
3. Removing Timesucks (Leechblock)
The next step is to actively prevent yourself from engaging in time wasting activities online. I like to refer to websites such as Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, Wikipedia, and Stumbleupon as timesucks. They literally suck productive hours out of your work day, and they're designed specifically to do so. The number of links to related or "interesting" content on these websites is astronomical, and the entertainment they provide can be downright addicting.
Strike them out of your browsing life!
Of course, easier said than done, right? Not anymore, thanks to another Firefox add-on, Leechblock. Leechblock offers a serious toolbox for procrastination prevention.
You can designate up to six "block sets" of content, each with its own set of rules, including time limits, day restrictions, even complete lockdowns! What if you run into a new timesuck? Right-clicking on the page reveals a Leechblock option in the drop-down menu for quick addition to a block set. You can even issue an immediate lockdown from the menu! For those tempted to go and change the settings during lockdowns, Leechblock even provides options which lock the settings, or even about:config files! That's protection!
4. E-mail Emancipation (more Leechblock, autoresponders)
A number of productivity bloggers have dealt with chronic e-mail checking and responding:
How to Stop Checking E-mail on the Evenings and Weekends
E-Mail Zero: Imagining Life Without E-mail
I have to agree, checking my e-mail can often be my biggest procrastination item, especailly when I'm expecting a response from someone. While you don't have to go as far as outsourcing your email, or quitting it entirely, it's something that should be reigned in.
Thus, we turn to the more advanced features of Leechblock. I set up a block set for all of my mail accounts:
I've blocked both of my e-mail accounts all day, every day, except for the hours:
11am-12pm, 4pm-5pm, and 8pm-10pm
This prevents e-mail checking early in the morning (which causes pseudowork to take over the day), during the majority of the workday, and late at night (which causes excessive worry and planning before trying to sleep). Also, if I forget to check email during one of the designated periods, I have to wait until the next. This helps make email more of a habit than a haphazard timesuck.
You may be concerned about how others will deal with your new email habits. If you don't have a large volume of e-mail, you probably don't need to do anything. However, if you're in a corporate environment in which a number of people expect immediate response (because they're also chronic e-mailers), consider setting up an autoresponder. E-mail autoresponders, such as these simply let others know your email habits are important, as is your time. Don't be fooled into purchasing a program for this, all the major e-mail clients have the ability built in. Perhaps some commenters can find links to specific how-to's?
5. Becoming Self-Aware (Time Tracker and MeeTimer)
Finally, despite our best efforts, we often see beyond our procrastination (that basketball site will be useful if I run into a client who's a big fan!). Becoming aware of how (not if) you're wasting time is vital to reclaiming that productivity! I've found two add-ons that are particularly useful for this:
For broad trends, and a constant reminder, try Time Tracker. This simple add-on keeps a log of how long you're actively browsing in Firefox. The ever-ticking orange clock in the bottom right corner is a simple way to keep cognizant of your browsing habits.
For the more detail oriented fixes, check out MeeTimer. This wonderful add-on keeps track of how long you browse each site. You can also group sites into categories (work, procrastination, extreme procrastination) and track your browsing habits that way. This is a great way to find out your true timesucks, those websites which are really taking your time away. You can even set up active deterrents, with messages like "you've spend 23% of your working week on Procrastination: are you sure you wish to continue." Talk about tough love!
Identifying these problem areas can give you feedback to utilize in fine-tuning your other work profile settings. After just a few weeks, you should be able to identify and eliminate a lot of time-wasting behavior with these techniques.
Now, set up your own work browsing environment, enjoy the newfound productivity, and...
...get back to work.
This article was featured in The Nineteenth Edition of the Carnival of Improving Life, Rich Life Carnival #7, and The Carnival of Self-Mastery.
Since I do a lot of my work online, I felt it would be worth spending time building an effective browsing environment. Firefox is the natural choice for the job, given its impressive customization and add-on capabilities. While I found a number of good ideas out there:
Work-Only Firefox Profile
Firefox Extensions to Improve Productivity
Firefox is the #1 Productivity Improvement
Firefox Extensions to Make Your More Productive
I found that most places only had one or two thoughts on the matter, or a hodgepodge list of extensions with questionable effects on productivity (certain things, like automatically copying text is in the millisecond range of help, and the time saved [over a lifetime] is probably less than or equal to the time it takes to install).
Thus, I present a 7 step program to tricking out Firefox (work-style):
1. Work Time: Work Firefox (Profile Manager)
We're creating a browsing experience specifically for work purposes. Obviously, this is not going to be the same as non-work browsing. Unless you manage leagues or something, you don't need a Firefox add-on updating you on your favorite sports teams. It's time to separate work from play, even in Firefox. How?
Firefox has a (relatively) hidden feature called the Profile Manager. Profile Manager allows you to create multiple Firefox "profiles" (think accounts), with separately customized settings, plugins, and add-ons. This lets you eliminate unproductive features from your work browsing experience, but not your fun browsing time.
A comprehensive resource on the Profile Manager can be found here:
Firefox Profile Manager
This site tells you all the details behind Profile Manager, and gives detailed instructions for installation and setup, though it's really not very hard.
For Windows users:
- Close Firefox
- Go to the command line (run)
- Type: firefox -P
- Customize using the Profile Manager
Now that we've staked our browsing ground, we can move towards making our work environment as productive as possible.
2. RSS: Read Sites Speedily (Sage)
Yes, that's not really what the acronym RSS (Really Simple Syndication) means. But on the reader end, that's exactly what it's good for. A quality feedreader can save you a lot of time in reading (important, work-related, right?) websites. Instead of guessing and checking and checking and checking sites for updates, feedreaders notify you when updates occur, and provide the content without bells and whistles (such as ads).
For my feedreading needs, I prefer the Sage Firefox add-on. With a nonintrusive sidebar setup and bookmark-style folders, Sage doesn't get in the way, or produce disruptive alerts. You can set the program to check your feeds at regular intervals, or my preference; whenever you load Firefox (this prevents you from breaking up tasks every time a new feed pops up, keeping you focused).
The best feature is the automatic feed finder. When you visit a webpage, pressing the magnifying glass button in the Sage sidebar crawls the site for feeds, making it very user-friendly to beginners.
Of course, for maximum productivity, you should only include work-related feeds (for me this is a number of mathematics, fashion, and productivity blogs). Other feeds should exist in your nonwork Firefox profile.
3. Removing Timesucks (Leechblock)
The next step is to actively prevent yourself from engaging in time wasting activities online. I like to refer to websites such as Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, Wikipedia, and Stumbleupon as timesucks. They literally suck productive hours out of your work day, and they're designed specifically to do so. The number of links to related or "interesting" content on these websites is astronomical, and the entertainment they provide can be downright addicting.
Strike them out of your browsing life!
Of course, easier said than done, right? Not anymore, thanks to another Firefox add-on, Leechblock. Leechblock offers a serious toolbox for procrastination prevention.
You can designate up to six "block sets" of content, each with its own set of rules, including time limits, day restrictions, even complete lockdowns! What if you run into a new timesuck? Right-clicking on the page reveals a Leechblock option in the drop-down menu for quick addition to a block set. You can even issue an immediate lockdown from the menu! For those tempted to go and change the settings during lockdowns, Leechblock even provides options which lock the settings, or even about:config files! That's protection!
4. E-mail Emancipation (more Leechblock, autoresponders)
A number of productivity bloggers have dealt with chronic e-mail checking and responding:
How to Stop Checking E-mail on the Evenings and Weekends
E-Mail Zero: Imagining Life Without E-mail
I have to agree, checking my e-mail can often be my biggest procrastination item, especailly when I'm expecting a response from someone. While you don't have to go as far as outsourcing your email, or quitting it entirely, it's something that should be reigned in.
Thus, we turn to the more advanced features of Leechblock. I set up a block set for all of my mail accounts:
I've blocked both of my e-mail accounts all day, every day, except for the hours:
11am-12pm, 4pm-5pm, and 8pm-10pm
This prevents e-mail checking early in the morning (which causes pseudowork to take over the day), during the majority of the workday, and late at night (which causes excessive worry and planning before trying to sleep). Also, if I forget to check email during one of the designated periods, I have to wait until the next. This helps make email more of a habit than a haphazard timesuck.
You may be concerned about how others will deal with your new email habits. If you don't have a large volume of e-mail, you probably don't need to do anything. However, if you're in a corporate environment in which a number of people expect immediate response (because they're also chronic e-mailers), consider setting up an autoresponder. E-mail autoresponders, such as these simply let others know your email habits are important, as is your time. Don't be fooled into purchasing a program for this, all the major e-mail clients have the ability built in. Perhaps some commenters can find links to specific how-to's?
5. Becoming Self-Aware (Time Tracker and MeeTimer)
Finally, despite our best efforts, we often see beyond our procrastination (that basketball site will be useful if I run into a client who's a big fan!). Becoming aware of how (not if) you're wasting time is vital to reclaiming that productivity! I've found two add-ons that are particularly useful for this:
For broad trends, and a constant reminder, try Time Tracker. This simple add-on keeps a log of how long you're actively browsing in Firefox. The ever-ticking orange clock in the bottom right corner is a simple way to keep cognizant of your browsing habits.
For the more detail oriented fixes, check out MeeTimer. This wonderful add-on keeps track of how long you browse each site. You can also group sites into categories (work, procrastination, extreme procrastination) and track your browsing habits that way. This is a great way to find out your true timesucks, those websites which are really taking your time away. You can even set up active deterrents, with messages like "you've spend 23% of your working week on Procrastination: are you sure you wish to continue." Talk about tough love!
Identifying these problem areas can give you feedback to utilize in fine-tuning your other work profile settings. After just a few weeks, you should be able to identify and eliminate a lot of time-wasting behavior with these techniques.
Now, set up your own work browsing environment, enjoy the newfound productivity, and...
...get back to work.
This article was featured in The Nineteenth Edition of the Carnival of Improving Life, Rich Life Carnival #7, and The Carnival of Self-Mastery.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Enamored with the Smallest Bit of Urbanity
I love the city. I wish I lived in a city. Someday, I will live in a big city. Not in the suburbs, downtown in the city. This was confirmed for me once again today when I experienced just a tiny bit of what makes me love urban life.
My family went to the pool this morning, and since I'd gone the day before, and my sister was bringing a friend, I decided to sit this one out. This, of course, left me home to work on some projects.
Before getting down to work, I decided I needed some breakfast. I decided to walk to the nearby Red Pump Cafe, a local eatery with about fifteen seats, a bad website, but some delicious food. Let me go back to an easily overlooked detail there.
I walked to the cafe for breakfast. 1 point.
I've always found walking either alone or with others to be a great experience, a slower way to travel, sure, but you really get to see where you're going, and get some time for uninterrupted thought or discussion. I look forward to being able to walk or bike most places in the city.
The breakfast was good, as expected, but again, the real treat is the experience. I think that I'm particularly fond of (for whatever reason) being in the presence of social interaction while I myself am in isolation. I really enjoy the energy of a full cafe, or a bustling Starbucks when I work. I used to think I worked better when I was around other people working. This meant a lot of trips to the library. I've since realized that this was only half the story; I also need other people to be doing things; talking, working, making noise, moving around. I'll be spending a lot more time in coffee-shops (though I hate coffee), cafes and other public places at school next year (here I come Ninth Street).
I think much of my love for the urban environment comes from this simultaneous isolation and socialization. I also like the architecture. (My future home will have far more metal, glass, and concrete than wood or brick). Either way, it is always a pleasure to experience bits and pieces of it here and there as I did today.
My family went to the pool this morning, and since I'd gone the day before, and my sister was bringing a friend, I decided to sit this one out. This, of course, left me home to work on some projects.
Before getting down to work, I decided I needed some breakfast. I decided to walk to the nearby Red Pump Cafe, a local eatery with about fifteen seats, a bad website, but some delicious food. Let me go back to an easily overlooked detail there.
I walked to the cafe for breakfast. 1 point.
I've always found walking either alone or with others to be a great experience, a slower way to travel, sure, but you really get to see where you're going, and get some time for uninterrupted thought or discussion. I look forward to being able to walk or bike most places in the city.
The breakfast was good, as expected, but again, the real treat is the experience. I think that I'm particularly fond of (for whatever reason) being in the presence of social interaction while I myself am in isolation. I really enjoy the energy of a full cafe, or a bustling Starbucks when I work. I used to think I worked better when I was around other people working. This meant a lot of trips to the library. I've since realized that this was only half the story; I also need other people to be doing things; talking, working, making noise, moving around. I'll be spending a lot more time in coffee-shops (though I hate coffee), cafes and other public places at school next year (here I come Ninth Street).
I think much of my love for the urban environment comes from this simultaneous isolation and socialization. I also like the architecture. (My future home will have far more metal, glass, and concrete than wood or brick). Either way, it is always a pleasure to experience bits and pieces of it here and there as I did today.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Biking an Album
Today I found that my brother's bicycle was not, as I believed, beyond repair. After pumping air into the tires, and fiddling with the broken seat, my dad was able to get it working. This was great news for me, since I don't really enjoy running, and my inline skates have 5 of 8 wheels remaining. (Note that it is indeed possible to use inline skates with 6 of 8 wheels, and probably 5 of 8, if you've got the right 5).
Thus, I was able to enjoy the free-roaming, neighborhood dominating exercise that my rigorous gym routine lacks. Also, since bicycling (recreationally) doesn't require the mental focus of weightlifting or timed running, I can listen to my iPod whilst doing it. I decided I would ride for the length of one album. This would let me listen to some new music and get exercise. Multitasking is a plus.
Of course, I managed to pick an unusually long album, Absolution by Muse, clocking in at 52 minutes. I successfully biked the whole time, with a few brief stops atop hills. When I returned, my legs were quite jelly-esque, a nice feeling (to know I really worked the muscles).
The album was definitely well above average. I had previously listened to Butterflies and Hurricanes religiously (it's currently my most listened track since my harddrive crash in January), but hadn't gotten a chance to listen to the album straight-through. There's a lot of coherence here, with riffs and chord progressions foreshadowing entire songs (the beginning of Time is Running Out and the bassline of Butterflies and Hurricanes, for example). Of course, Butterflies and Hurricanes stands out, but so do Hysteria (for a sweet guitar riff), and Apocalypse Please. The subject matter gets a bit repetitive, but it's forgiven for the great balance of tones and styles, and some really genius melodic and rhythmic structures. Recommended.
All in all, a nice (if tiring) experience. I'll try to increase my biking frequency (possibly to include all my non-lifting days), both for exercise and music-listening purposes.
Thus, I was able to enjoy the free-roaming, neighborhood dominating exercise that my rigorous gym routine lacks. Also, since bicycling (recreationally) doesn't require the mental focus of weightlifting or timed running, I can listen to my iPod whilst doing it. I decided I would ride for the length of one album. This would let me listen to some new music and get exercise. Multitasking is a plus.
Of course, I managed to pick an unusually long album, Absolution by Muse, clocking in at 52 minutes. I successfully biked the whole time, with a few brief stops atop hills. When I returned, my legs were quite jelly-esque, a nice feeling (to know I really worked the muscles).
The album was definitely well above average. I had previously listened to Butterflies and Hurricanes religiously (it's currently my most listened track since my harddrive crash in January), but hadn't gotten a chance to listen to the album straight-through. There's a lot of coherence here, with riffs and chord progressions foreshadowing entire songs (the beginning of Time is Running Out and the bassline of Butterflies and Hurricanes, for example). Of course, Butterflies and Hurricanes stands out, but so do Hysteria (for a sweet guitar riff), and Apocalypse Please. The subject matter gets a bit repetitive, but it's forgiven for the great balance of tones and styles, and some really genius melodic and rhythmic structures. Recommended.
All in all, a nice (if tiring) experience. I'll try to increase my biking frequency (possibly to include all my non-lifting days), both for exercise and music-listening purposes.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Starbucks Adventure
I’m not quite sure what to attribute my recent dearth of blog posts to. I worked a few days with my father doing construction at his company, which tired me out significantly. The other days I simply lacked the motivation to blog. This, of course, causes a cycle of feeling bad about not posting, and then not feeling like posting because of this. I eventually decided it was time for a change of plans, because I really like blogging, and I want this blog to thrive. Thusly, I’ve made the following changes in approach:
- I’m going to be blogging primarily outside the home. Working at home provided a lot of distractions, and a too-relaxing environment, not conducive to thinking and writing for longer periods of time.
- I’m going to be blogging shorter posts across tighter themes. I want to build up some more experienced based information to support the theory I work upon.
- I’m going to blog around the same time, and in the same place each day I blog. This will make blogging a habit, rather than a spur-of-the-moment activity, helping to solidify its place in my day.
To realize these goals, I’ve decided to drive to Starbucks a few times a week for about three hours, early in the morning. Starbucks is a fairly lively, crowded place (which I enjoy when working), yet still private, because the customers are (generally) people I don’t know well, if at all. The one downside (which I was rather surprised about), is that the wireless internet found at (at least my) Starbucks isn’t free! (Unless you fit a number of criteria, such as actually buying stuff from Starbucks) Thus, if I can find a similarly populated environment which does offer free wireless (and they really should, business-wise), I’ll move there. Thus, you can look forward to more regular blogging from me, though it will often be in unusual bursts early-afternoon when I return to my home internet connection to post what I’ve written. I’ll also be trying to add some links to my blogroll, as I’ve been reading some good blogs (mostly about music, fashion, and mathematics) lately.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A Few Really Quick Thoughts
Just some important things I need to get out there into the world:
- When making protein shakes/smoothies, peanut butter takes over. Any more than a spoonful and it's all you can taste.
- The new Girl Talk and Fratellis albums are outstanding.
- The new Cheesy Double Beef Burrito from Taco Bell is extraordinary. Great value, and one of the only Taco Bell foods edible as leftovers.
First Steps with Electronic Music
Next semester, I'm enrolled in the electronic music class at Duke (Music 153S, for those who care). I heard from a friend that much of the course is based out of using the open source electronic music programming language SuperCollider. Last night, I decided to download the Windows version (the main build is for Mac), and started to fiddle around.
Two things right off the bat:
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(440,0,0.5),0.0)}.play
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(523.25,0,0.1),0.0)}.play
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(659.25,0,0.1),0.0)}.play
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(880,0,0.1),0.0)}.play
That is an arpeggio in A minor (with the bass note louder) How ridiculous is that?!
I'm sure after a few months, that will look silly, childish, and wildly inefficient, but for now its really cool. Using the mouse features immediately show how powerful programming music can be:
JMouseBase.makeGUI
{SinOsc.ar(JMouseX.kr(440,880),0,0.1)}.play
{Pulse.ar(JMouseY.kr(880,440),0.2,0.1)}.play
This code brings up a grid. When I move my mouse left to right, the sine wave pitch raises from concert A (440) to an octave above (880). Moving my mouse down to up does the same with a pulse sound. Here's a screenshot of that in action (I won't put up any sound of it yet, believe me, you'd rather not hear it):
Despite the steep learning curve, there's a lot of material out there to help. I'm working through a course by Nick Collins. So far it's been quite helpful, though a little Mac-biased. I'll be able to give a more complete assessment after I work through a few more of the tutorials.
It seems like this is the place to go for all things SuperCollider, and there seems to be a pretty large community surrounding it. Pretty cool stuff, and I look forward to making some actual music with it!
Two things right off the bat:
- The program has as steep a learning curve as advertised.
- The program is positively badass.
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(440,0,0.5),0.0)}.play
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(523.25,0,0.1),0.0)}.play
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(659.25,0,0.1),0.0)}.play
{Pan2.ar(SinOsc.ar(880,0,0.1),0.0)}.play
That is an arpeggio in A minor (with the bass note louder) How ridiculous is that?!
I'm sure after a few months, that will look silly, childish, and wildly inefficient, but for now its really cool. Using the mouse features immediately show how powerful programming music can be:
JMouseBase.makeGUI
{SinOsc.ar(JMouseX.kr(440,880),0,0.1)}.play
{Pulse.ar(JMouseY.kr(880,440),0.2,0.1)}.play
This code brings up a grid. When I move my mouse left to right, the sine wave pitch raises from concert A (440) to an octave above (880). Moving my mouse down to up does the same with a pulse sound. Here's a screenshot of that in action (I won't put up any sound of it yet, believe me, you'd rather not hear it):
Despite the steep learning curve, there's a lot of material out there to help. I'm working through a course by Nick Collins. So far it's been quite helpful, though a little Mac-biased. I'll be able to give a more complete assessment after I work through a few more of the tutorials.
It seems like this is the place to go for all things SuperCollider, and there seems to be a pretty large community surrounding it. Pretty cool stuff, and I look forward to making some actual music with it!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Candid Thoughts
Most of the stuff I blog about here is fairly preprepared. I typically type something up over a few hours/days in Word/LaTeX, and then post it here with maybe an extra introduction or edit. It's not standard blogging, but I don't care. It's how I get my ideas out. However, I felt the urge (from reading a friends personal blog) to just "blog" for a while, so I shall.
Sometimes I really don't like being interested in so many things. I feel like I'm passionate about (at least); teaching, mathematics, fashion, music, bowling, working out, technology, reading, basketball, and food. On the other hand, I'm not so passionate about any of these things that I dedicate a huge portion of my life to them. This makes a few things difficult:
I certainly want to improve myself, but at what point does it cease to be worth it? I don't know if I could push myself to work on math 80 hours a week (let's say I could). Would (only potential) success be worth giving up my other interests, my sleep, time with my family? These are really hard questions to deal with, and there aren't any easy ways to get answers. In a world where current success is often important to future opportunity, it's very easy to get caught in a one-track world (I did), which saps away your enjoyment for something. I maintain that most of us need to have some balance in our lives to be happy, and to do good work. But it never ceases to eat at me.
Let me end this with my high school senior quote, which I think is pretty applicable here:
I cannot be content. For that gift I thank God.
Sometimes I really don't like being interested in so many things. I feel like I'm passionate about (at least); teaching, mathematics, fashion, music, bowling, working out, technology, reading, basketball, and food. On the other hand, I'm not so passionate about any of these things that I dedicate a huge portion of my life to them. This makes a few things difficult:
- Trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.
- Excelling at any one of those things (even though I want to)
- Successfully keeping up with all of them (I've bowled less than 10 times in the last year, when in high school I'd bowl 20 games per week.)
I certainly want to improve myself, but at what point does it cease to be worth it? I don't know if I could push myself to work on math 80 hours a week (let's say I could). Would (only potential) success be worth giving up my other interests, my sleep, time with my family? These are really hard questions to deal with, and there aren't any easy ways to get answers. In a world where current success is often important to future opportunity, it's very easy to get caught in a one-track world (I did), which saps away your enjoyment for something. I maintain that most of us need to have some balance in our lives to be happy, and to do good work. But it never ceases to eat at me.
Let me end this with my high school senior quote, which I think is pretty applicable here:
I cannot be content. For that gift I thank God.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Music Sharing: Hypermodern Library?
Recently, I began reading Seth Godin’s blog (largely focused on marketing and business), and I happened to find it very interesting. I noticed that he had become a prodigious author, having printed over ten books, with a number of e-books as well. Apparently, Seth had not yet earned enough of my attention or trust, because I wasn’t willing to purchase any of his books yet. I was content reading his blog.
However, when I went to my public library last Tuesday, I chanced upon two of Seth’s books while browsing. Naturally, Seth had done enough to persuade me to loan out his books from the library. While Seth hadn’t yet made much money off of me yet (whatever advertisement earnings he gained from me visiting his website), he had successfully gotten me to read two of his books. I had progressed from spending seconds at a time reading blog posts, to spending a few hours of my attention reading books.
Since in both cases I was impressed with the ideas (the real product here) in the books, I’m much more compelled to now purchase books from Seth. I plan to grab a copy of Purple Cow and Meatball Sundae after my next paycheck. How did this happen?! How did make the quantum transition from “oh yeah, I’ve heard of Seth Godin” to “I’m going to buy something from Seth Godin?”
Business owners everywhere know that it’s hard for people to make that jump. It requires a lot of “trust energy” to overcome suspicion, and concern over wasting resources (what if I buy this book and it’s terrible!?). There are pizza places I drive by multiple times per week that I’ll probably never, ever go to because I’m unwilling to take that risk, to make that jump.
So how did it happen? I never had to make that jump of course. I made a number of significantly smaller, safer jumps until not only was I unafraid of making the final leap, I couldn’t wait for it to happen (I’m anxious for that check…). Look at the process that occurred:
However, when I went to my public library last Tuesday, I chanced upon two of Seth’s books while browsing. Naturally, Seth had done enough to persuade me to loan out his books from the library. While Seth hadn’t yet made much money off of me yet (whatever advertisement earnings he gained from me visiting his website), he had successfully gotten me to read two of his books. I had progressed from spending seconds at a time reading blog posts, to spending a few hours of my attention reading books.
Since in both cases I was impressed with the ideas (the real product here) in the books, I’m much more compelled to now purchase books from Seth. I plan to grab a copy of Purple Cow and Meatball Sundae after my next paycheck. How did this happen?! How did make the quantum transition from “oh yeah, I’ve heard of Seth Godin” to “I’m going to buy something from Seth Godin?”
Business owners everywhere know that it’s hard for people to make that jump. It requires a lot of “trust energy” to overcome suspicion, and concern over wasting resources (what if I buy this book and it’s terrible!?). There are pizza places I drive by multiple times per week that I’ll probably never, ever go to because I’m unwilling to take that risk, to make that jump.
So how did it happen? I never had to make that jump of course. I made a number of significantly smaller, safer jumps until not only was I unafraid of making the final leap, I couldn’t wait for it to happen (I’m anxious for that check…). Look at the process that occurred:
- I heard of Seth Godin somewhere online, I can’t remember where. (No investment here).
- I heard of Seth enough times that I decided to look at his blog. (Investment: about 2 minutes reading the most recent blog post.)
- Enjoying that blog post, I read the next few as they were published. (Investment: about 2 minutes a day. Note that I could quit at any time with no future costs, and very little invested.)
- Got hooked on blog and spent a few hours reading archived posts. (Investment: a few hours, and they went fast because I was enjoying the content).
- I saw the books at the library, and loaned them out. (Investment: no money, a few hours to read).
- NOW, I'm ready to buy books. (Investment: money and more time)
I’d say that the library was a significant step, in that I was unwilling to purchase from Seth until I saw first hand exactly what I’d get by purchasing from Seth. By minimizing my investment in “testing the waters” (by removing the monetary aspect, I’d imagine the time aspect can not be removed), trust was built in the product, and I now will purchase more products.
This paradigm is very similar to my experience in walking through a record CD MP3 store. Very rarely do I purchase a “new” (from a group I don’t already own product from) album based on the jewel casing, genre, and song titles (full disclosure: I did do it once, on a dare with a friend. Both of the albums we got were awful). Slightly less rarely, I’ll buy a CD after listening to a few snippets on headsets in the store (or 30-second previews on iTunes). Unfortunately, I listen to these albums just about as rarely, and doubt I’ll be back for more.
Far more often, I’ll buy an album from a group only after hearing a majority or entirety of the album itself, or another album by the same artist. My methodology for accomplishing this has ranged significantly (in terms of legal…ness). Let’s look at how I started listening to some of my favorite bands (from most to least legitimate):
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Got a nearly free (about 30 cents) CD from a sale from my school’s radio station. Subsequently bought older CD’s.
- Radiohead: Heard my friend play his Radiohead music all the time at college. By the time I got my own albums, I’d probably heard most of the discography.
- Paramore: Watched videos of a majority of their tracks on Youtube. Loved them, went out and purchased both albums and some merchandise (a rare move).
- Sonic Youth: Downloaded the entire discography because I heard they were good (university internet significantly decreased the investment here).
In all cases, I was impressed by the product enough that I’ve become an actual fan, one who’ll purchase the next effort of each group outright, without preview. The difference is what it took to get there.
The problem, as evidenced by my experience with Sonic Youth, is that downloadable music provides the opportunity to never stop “previewing.” When one can obtain all of an artist’s product with an investment so much smaller than purchasing albums, it’s hard not to say yes. There is nearly no drawback (except a possible RIAA suit) to downloading. The “biggest” I can come up with is that you don’t get the jewel case and physical CD. In today’s world, that might actually be a negative!
I’d say the public library is beneficial to author’s who produce multiple pieces of work. In my particular experience, I was able to read two of Seth Godin’s books, and am now compelled to purchase others (of course, the product must be good to reap the rewards). On the other hand, I was very impressed with the first twenty or so Sonic Youth albums, but don’t feel especially compelled to purchase the next.
Why? Libraries aren’t completely free! Sure, you get to read the books for free, but look at all the hidden negatives:
- Limited availability: I was only able to get two of Seth’s many books. Now, for the next three weeks, nobody will be able to get the two I checked out either. I would guess that the library doesn’t stock more than three total.
- Limited utility: I only get to keep the books for three weeks. I get no shelf value, and if I don’t have time to finish, tough cookies (barring my one renewal). Want to look up something inside later? No dice.
- Limited priority: Libraries don’t get books immediately, especially non-bestsellers. If I wanted to read Meatball Sundae, Seth’s newest book, I might have to wait years (or forever) for my library to stock it. This is a non-trivial investment of time.
Now, consider the music industry and how our ability to download affects those same principles:
- Availability: Once a CD goes on sale, for all but very obscure artists, it’s rarely difficult to find a downloadable free copy.
- Utility: In most cases, high-quality MP3 copies are available for download, which serve equally well as the album itself (minus jewel case).
- Priority: Downloads are often available hours after release, if not leaked before official release.
There’s no downside! This leaves musicians and the music industry a few options, not required by most authors fighting the treacherous library monster:
- (The good one) Focus on cultivating ardent fans who will purchase product despite downloading.
- Provide additional value only available to those who purchase physical albums, such as providing additional utility (through online content, posters, etc.). It would be difficult to add availability or priority.
- Regulate downloading to provide a downside, either making only portions of songs or albums available (good luck), decreasing utility (Youtube does this by making it difficult to listen away from the computer), or enforcing priority (allowing downloads, only a certain period of time after release, again, good luck).
- (The other good one) Use downloading to one’s advantage, remembering the decreased investment it requires. For example, in addition to recording an album, a band could record a few alternate versions, acoustic versions, or B-sides (even A-sides…) and release them for free via download before the album comes out to create “library-type” fan support.
Downloading isn’t quite the modern incarnation of the library, but with some effort and creativity, it doesn’t have to be the end of the musician (it won’t be).
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Oh Yahoo...
Yahoo is funny. I shouldn't make fun, since I'm not the best marketer, or the best web designer (far from it), but it seems that a huge company like Yahoo should be able to get a few things right.
I recently signed up for Yahoo Answers (because of my love of spreading knowledge, or something).
Yahoo mistake #1: Annoying opt-out process for annoying spam emails. There were about 15 different "offers" which I had to uncheck to avoid. Oh, and only at the bottom of the list was there a check/uncheck all button. After I had unchecked them all manually.
Yahoo mistake #2: This one wasn't annoying, just funny: I'm pretty sure this isn't what they wanted their code to do (my cursor was over the avatar):
Just amusing little tidbits. Come on Yahoo.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Matrix Reloaded Continues to Amaze Me
I am not shy about my appreciation for the Wachowski brothers' Matrix Trilogy, and although it often brings arguments from my friends, consequently having them call my taste into question, I'm equally open about my opinion that the second film,The Matrix Reloaded, is the best of the three.
Whilst reading The Brothers Karamazov today, I picked up another beautiful piece of detailed allusion slipped in by Larry and Andy. In BK, Dostoevsky uses the words (from the character Ivan, talking to brother Alyosha), "you go right, I'll go left." The translators note the reference to Genesis 13:9, in which the left is associated with the devil, while the right is associated with the moral good and the path of righteousness. This reminded me of the scene with Neo (a Jesus figure in the trilogy), and the Architecht (a created, or invented god figure).
In the dialogue, Neo and the Architecht both agree that the system upon which the Matrix functions is "fundamentally flawed," since it relies on human choice. Although the Architecht has managed to reduce the problem to a single choice (unlike in Christianity, where each person is left to make their own choice), the uncertainty, the lack of total control remains.
The choice which must be made is left to The One, and he/she must choose between two doors;
"the door to your right leads to the source and the salvation of Zion." (emphasis mine)
We see that the door on the right involves self-sacrifice (as entering the source is a euphemism for deletion, or death), but apparently saves the species. On the other hand...
"the door to your left leads back to the Matrix, to her and to the end of your species."
The left, or heretical door, eschews the world set up by this god (the Architecht), and thus incurs his wrath, with the death of Zion. The reasons to enter this door are all selfish (attempting to save oneself, and Neo's love) to the Architecht. However, Neo also enters the door because he doesn't accept that the Architecht is in as much control as he lets on (we see in the third film that this is indeed true). We even get the nice Hell imagery as flames follow Neo out of the door, before the building itself explodes.
It's impressive that more and more layers reveal themselves as I watch these films over and over, a testament to the exceptional attention to detail placed into what is clearly a life's work of the Wachowski brothers.
Whilst reading The Brothers Karamazov today, I picked up another beautiful piece of detailed allusion slipped in by Larry and Andy. In BK, Dostoevsky uses the words (from the character Ivan, talking to brother Alyosha), "you go right, I'll go left." The translators note the reference to Genesis 13:9, in which the left is associated with the devil, while the right is associated with the moral good and the path of righteousness. This reminded me of the scene with Neo (a Jesus figure in the trilogy), and the Architecht (a created, or invented god figure).
In the dialogue, Neo and the Architecht both agree that the system upon which the Matrix functions is "fundamentally flawed," since it relies on human choice. Although the Architecht has managed to reduce the problem to a single choice (unlike in Christianity, where each person is left to make their own choice), the uncertainty, the lack of total control remains.
The choice which must be made is left to The One, and he/she must choose between two doors;
"the door to your right leads to the source and the salvation of Zion." (emphasis mine)
We see that the door on the right involves self-sacrifice (as entering the source is a euphemism for deletion, or death), but apparently saves the species. On the other hand...
"the door to your left leads back to the Matrix, to her and to the end of your species."
The left, or heretical door, eschews the world set up by this god (the Architecht), and thus incurs his wrath, with the death of Zion. The reasons to enter this door are all selfish (attempting to save oneself, and Neo's love) to the Architecht. However, Neo also enters the door because he doesn't accept that the Architecht is in as much control as he lets on (we see in the third film that this is indeed true). We even get the nice Hell imagery as flames follow Neo out of the door, before the building itself explodes.
It's impressive that more and more layers reveal themselves as I watch these films over and over, a testament to the exceptional attention to detail placed into what is clearly a life's work of the Wachowski brothers.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Album Review: Above the Cosmos by John Garrison (2007)
Introduction:
Former front man for the UK-based band Budapest, John Garrison (who is currently playing bass on tour with James Blunt) released his first solo album, Above the Cosmos, independently last year. The album has made rounds to some independent and college radio stations, but unfortunately hasn’t gotten the playtime it deserves. Garrison’s unique style brings an impressive musical and emotional depth to what could have been a very standard singer-songwriter debut. That said, neither the singing, nor the songwriting fail to impress in this deep, often dark, yet hopeful work.
Tracks:
1. When the Lights Go Out
The song begins with a beautiful line, quickly accompanied by a driving drum line which gives the song a lot of momentum (suspended cymbals are run at 16ths through a large portion of the piece, along with some nice crash cymbal use). Garrison’s voice comes through as dreamlike and hypnotic, with a surprising power and clarity. The run “so hear me out, hear me out, it evens out in the end all of the time” is particularly beautiful, yet haunting. Great lyrics, and an exciting, interesting instrumental backing make this track a wonderful opener. The finish, with heavy bass and drawn out lyric is a clincher.
2. Above the Cosmos
We get a reprise of the piano theme from the first track with some overlaying melodies, and a nice use of ambient music. Feels like it could have been part of the opener, and doesn’t have quite enough structure to really stand on its own. Not meant to be listened to alone, this instrumental piece is nice, but only in context. I wish it flowed out to the next track as well as the previous one flowed into this one.
3. Testimony
A significant change here, we have a much slower piano chord progression, with very simple drum sounds (straight quarters with some fills). The powerful lyrics and voicing may have had more impact with quieter instrumentation during the chorus. Bass work is consistently solid, and the use of additional sounds for again a haunting effect is good. A decent, though not quite original track.
4. Walking on Broadway
Begins with a neat guitar picking melody and heavy strings with a significant bass melody. Another brooding piece, the lyrics are simultaneously what you would and would not expect from the title. Themes of togetherness and support in numbers are coupled with a recognition of the individual loneliness found in each character “carrying on.” Garrison’s voice again navigates an impressive range and run control throughout, with a great ability to convey the emotions here.
5. Carousel
Garrison’s history with bass must be apparent to the listener now, as prominent bass lines and progressions continue to present themselves, in different guises; bass guitar, piano, strings. Interesting use of pauses in rhythm and another nice piano melody keep things consistently exciting instrumentally. The lyrics get a bit repetitive, but are still engaging. The modulation about two and a half minutes in is nice, with the return of the female intercom voice. Garrison’s alyrical wailing here brings a great climax to the piece, which may have lacked energy with its initially pedestrian structure.
6. Convincing Myself
More ambient noise and “everyday sound” recordings become a motif in the album, as Garrison continues to speak of internal conflicts and very relatable psychological/social struggles many of us face daily. A heavier guitar element is a nice change of pace, especially with the grittier sounds, not to mention a pretty nice hook. We also get a return of the more frenetic (if still mostly straight) drums of the opening track, lending a nice intensity to the piece. I wish more of the songs would end with a bang, as the last four have kind of trailed off (this one, particularly, didn’t need to have it’s momentum killed).
7. Bugs to the Light
A return to a slower, more expansive, soulsearching expression. It’s not really appropriate to call these songs ballads, given their more introspective, philosophizing bent. This one is particularly dark yet hopeful, painting the individual as extremely insignificant, while still reflecting a desire to act present in Garrison’s mind. An expansive sound at once represents our smallness and the great possibilities that remain.
8. Shadow
More of a ballad here, the song begins with an allusion to the green light from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a beautiful, musically simple song detailing an experience of love. The lyrics come in consistently impressive verse, befitting the simple structure to the piano line. A real treat again with Garrison’s lamenting, emotional voice.
9. Below the Radar
Back to the power here in earnest after two slower tracks. The most unusual set of lyrics, relating to a “water wheel world.” Continuous use of water related metaphors, really using all of the imagined architecture of a water-based city. Certainly requires a few listens to get your head around, but we end up with a really nice tour through Garrison’s mind here, though I’d be lying if I knew the correct interpretation, if there is one. The percussion and strings interlude around two and a half minutes is very well done, leading to a final reprise of the main melody and Garrison’s wailing over the final chorus.
10. Abdicate
A rare acoustic sound pairs well with a very high, almost reserved tone in the verse vocals here, then transitions into the standard piano and electric/electronic based chorus, with once again powerful Garrison lyrics and voicing. A reflection at some rivals ability to overtake him, and his seeming acceptance of this fact, until he becomes overcome with some emotional toil, possibly jealously, leading Garrison to reveal his more sinister (inner) thoughts. The most effective “soft end” on the album, quite haunting.
11. Never far From Me
Subtle clock sounds in the back are a nice touch as the only percussion in this piano and vocal cut. Garrison could have laid a tasteful drum track beginning in the second verse, but shows nice restraint, adding to the cleansing nature of this track. One of the most hopeful (yet very possibly sad depending on the context of the song) songs on the album.
12. Happy Hour
The final cut is a nice summation to the album, tying a number of lyrical themes together. Garrison emphasizes the need to act while the time remains (for time passes by us all), the need to act in the moment, and to appreciate the moment itself. Further, while the individual is often insignificant, there is great significance in pairs, in relationships and friendships (the speaking in the background, friendly conversation, is a great addition). An extended chorus fits well with Garrison’s voice, stretching long phrases with ease and impressive power. The first few minutes of standard songwriting segue into a soothing brass part intertwining with Garrison singing sans words again, yet still able to project emotion so well. The album then concludes with more happy, in the moment, talking, some musicians playing (in the fooling around on their instruments sense), people talking in a café, and a wonderful final reprisal of the opening piano theme, a real treat for those who’ve been listening the whole way through.
Conclusion:
Excluding a few nitpicking issues mention above, I found it to be an extraordinary album, certainly one of the best of 2007. I hope to have the opportunity to see Garrison live in the near future. The album is full of intricate, interesting melodies on a variety of instruments, a notable nod to the bass parts (a biased appreciation from this bass player), beautiful vocals, and engaging, emotional lyrics. I would have appreciated a more coherent musical flow, though as an idea the album is put together very well (in terms of song content). Overall, a strong recommendation.
Score:
Above the Cosmos - John Garrison
95/100
Former front man for the UK-based band Budapest, John Garrison (who is currently playing bass on tour with James Blunt) released his first solo album, Above the Cosmos, independently last year. The album has made rounds to some independent and college radio stations, but unfortunately hasn’t gotten the playtime it deserves. Garrison’s unique style brings an impressive musical and emotional depth to what could have been a very standard singer-songwriter debut. That said, neither the singing, nor the songwriting fail to impress in this deep, often dark, yet hopeful work.
Tracks:
1. When the Lights Go Out
The song begins with a beautiful line, quickly accompanied by a driving drum line which gives the song a lot of momentum (suspended cymbals are run at 16ths through a large portion of the piece, along with some nice crash cymbal use). Garrison’s voice comes through as dreamlike and hypnotic, with a surprising power and clarity. The run “so hear me out, hear me out, it evens out in the end all of the time” is particularly beautiful, yet haunting. Great lyrics, and an exciting, interesting instrumental backing make this track a wonderful opener. The finish, with heavy bass and drawn out lyric is a clincher.
2. Above the Cosmos
We get a reprise of the piano theme from the first track with some overlaying melodies, and a nice use of ambient music. Feels like it could have been part of the opener, and doesn’t have quite enough structure to really stand on its own. Not meant to be listened to alone, this instrumental piece is nice, but only in context. I wish it flowed out to the next track as well as the previous one flowed into this one.
3. Testimony
A significant change here, we have a much slower piano chord progression, with very simple drum sounds (straight quarters with some fills). The powerful lyrics and voicing may have had more impact with quieter instrumentation during the chorus. Bass work is consistently solid, and the use of additional sounds for again a haunting effect is good. A decent, though not quite original track.
4. Walking on Broadway
Begins with a neat guitar picking melody and heavy strings with a significant bass melody. Another brooding piece, the lyrics are simultaneously what you would and would not expect from the title. Themes of togetherness and support in numbers are coupled with a recognition of the individual loneliness found in each character “carrying on.” Garrison’s voice again navigates an impressive range and run control throughout, with a great ability to convey the emotions here.
5. Carousel
Garrison’s history with bass must be apparent to the listener now, as prominent bass lines and progressions continue to present themselves, in different guises; bass guitar, piano, strings. Interesting use of pauses in rhythm and another nice piano melody keep things consistently exciting instrumentally. The lyrics get a bit repetitive, but are still engaging. The modulation about two and a half minutes in is nice, with the return of the female intercom voice. Garrison’s alyrical wailing here brings a great climax to the piece, which may have lacked energy with its initially pedestrian structure.
6. Convincing Myself
More ambient noise and “everyday sound” recordings become a motif in the album, as Garrison continues to speak of internal conflicts and very relatable psychological/social struggles many of us face daily. A heavier guitar element is a nice change of pace, especially with the grittier sounds, not to mention a pretty nice hook. We also get a return of the more frenetic (if still mostly straight) drums of the opening track, lending a nice intensity to the piece. I wish more of the songs would end with a bang, as the last four have kind of trailed off (this one, particularly, didn’t need to have it’s momentum killed).
7. Bugs to the Light
A return to a slower, more expansive, soulsearching expression. It’s not really appropriate to call these songs ballads, given their more introspective, philosophizing bent. This one is particularly dark yet hopeful, painting the individual as extremely insignificant, while still reflecting a desire to act present in Garrison’s mind. An expansive sound at once represents our smallness and the great possibilities that remain.
8. Shadow
More of a ballad here, the song begins with an allusion to the green light from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a beautiful, musically simple song detailing an experience of love. The lyrics come in consistently impressive verse, befitting the simple structure to the piano line. A real treat again with Garrison’s lamenting, emotional voice.
9. Below the Radar
Back to the power here in earnest after two slower tracks. The most unusual set of lyrics, relating to a “water wheel world.” Continuous use of water related metaphors, really using all of the imagined architecture of a water-based city. Certainly requires a few listens to get your head around, but we end up with a really nice tour through Garrison’s mind here, though I’d be lying if I knew the correct interpretation, if there is one. The percussion and strings interlude around two and a half minutes is very well done, leading to a final reprise of the main melody and Garrison’s wailing over the final chorus.
10. Abdicate
A rare acoustic sound pairs well with a very high, almost reserved tone in the verse vocals here, then transitions into the standard piano and electric/electronic based chorus, with once again powerful Garrison lyrics and voicing. A reflection at some rivals ability to overtake him, and his seeming acceptance of this fact, until he becomes overcome with some emotional toil, possibly jealously, leading Garrison to reveal his more sinister (inner) thoughts. The most effective “soft end” on the album, quite haunting.
11. Never far From Me
Subtle clock sounds in the back are a nice touch as the only percussion in this piano and vocal cut. Garrison could have laid a tasteful drum track beginning in the second verse, but shows nice restraint, adding to the cleansing nature of this track. One of the most hopeful (yet very possibly sad depending on the context of the song) songs on the album.
12. Happy Hour
The final cut is a nice summation to the album, tying a number of lyrical themes together. Garrison emphasizes the need to act while the time remains (for time passes by us all), the need to act in the moment, and to appreciate the moment itself. Further, while the individual is often insignificant, there is great significance in pairs, in relationships and friendships (the speaking in the background, friendly conversation, is a great addition). An extended chorus fits well with Garrison’s voice, stretching long phrases with ease and impressive power. The first few minutes of standard songwriting segue into a soothing brass part intertwining with Garrison singing sans words again, yet still able to project emotion so well. The album then concludes with more happy, in the moment, talking, some musicians playing (in the fooling around on their instruments sense), people talking in a café, and a wonderful final reprisal of the opening piano theme, a real treat for those who’ve been listening the whole way through.
Conclusion:
Excluding a few nitpicking issues mention above, I found it to be an extraordinary album, certainly one of the best of 2007. I hope to have the opportunity to see Garrison live in the near future. The album is full of intricate, interesting melodies on a variety of instruments, a notable nod to the bass parts (a biased appreciation from this bass player), beautiful vocals, and engaging, emotional lyrics. I would have appreciated a more coherent musical flow, though as an idea the album is put together very well (in terms of song content). Overall, a strong recommendation.
Score:
Above the Cosmos - John Garrison
95/100
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Book Review: Book I of The Brothers Karamazov
Today, I finished the first book in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (I’m reading the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation), and have found it to be wonderful thus far.
The first book, which seems much like an extended background and setup for the more morally meaty events to come, is quite a fun, light read, but not without passages for contemplation. It is impressive how Dostoevsky can intertwine genuine humor and genuine religion or philosophy, often on the same page. A nice example of this is Chapter 2.4: A Lady of Little Faith. An affected girl, Lise, is teasing the novice Alyosha, as the elder Zozima is discussing real, almost grave, religious questions with the girls mother, mere feet (and mere lines) away.
A shining example of Dostoevsky’s work is the series of chapters concerning “The Confession of an Ardent Heart” (Chapters 3.3-3.5). Here we see a performance from brother Dmitri which passes through hysteria, humor, drama, playacting, and despair. Simultaneously jocular and disconcerting, Dmitri’s explanation of his intent to commit parricide (and possibly suicide) is both interesting as plot and as literary device. It seems apparent, at this point, that the impending murder of father Fyodor will be the center of the novel, but the veiled and almost dissembling fashion in which the topic is broached is quite interesting. The reader is left rather unsure as to whether this terrible event is going to happen.
Dostoevsky’s (as well as the translators’) verbiage is not slighted in the least. I recommend that you read along with a dictionary at hand. The reader will not go unrewarded, however, as the wordsmithing here is superb. Equally complex is the growing web of character relationships, but this is Russian literature, so what do you expect!?
My chief criticism thus far (and I expect it to continue), is one I’ve had with much literature (especially that written before 1950). While the characters themselves are quite interesting, and mostly believable, the feelings and emotional despair shown by numerous characters comes off as fantastic. The striking occasion in my mind is the scene between Katerina Ivanovna and Gruschenka in Chapter 3.10. The meticulous detail with which these people must analyze every thought, word, and gesture is boggling. It seems quite unrealistic how sensitive some characters seem, and the grandiose emotions which they purport to experience. For instance, Katerina is nearly brought to tears (p.147) because Dmitri is (paraphrasing) “unable to make her endure his sins as he makes God endure them.” This extraordinarily precise, defensive emotional state, which reeks of a dangerous lack of self-esteem, is present in a number of characters, and seems altogether impossible. This, of course, does not detract much from the interactions and development, and certainly not from the moral and philosophical discussion, but it does make the novel feel less genuine and relatable.
Thus far, I’ve been quite pleased with the book, and look forward to reading the three remaining books.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Morality and Lucidity
Listening to the song Rebellion (Lies), by the Arcade Fire today, I heard the lyric, "Come on baby in our dreams, we can live our misbehaviors." This got me thinking about a dream-related question that I've considered many times.
Can we be held morally responsible for what occurs while we dream?
As usual, the question digs deeper than I expect on first glance. Many moral systems hold that, as individuals, we are responsible for our actions in waking life. Such moral systems, by consistency, should also hold that we have free will, as it seems ridiculous to hold a person responsible for something which they have no control.
Within these same moral systems, the above question is really equivalent to the epistemological question; do we have free will whilst dreaming? If the answer is yes, then we must also transfer responsibility for actions to the dream world. If the answer is no, then we should not make such an extension. In the case of lucidity, it seems clear that if we have free will in waking life, we should have free will (perhaps even greater will, to seemingly bend the laws of nature) while dreaming lucidly. The case of non-lucid dreams is much more difficult to unravel.
This is not the end of discussion, however, as establishing moral responsibility does not imply the moral laws for the waking life and the dream life are the same. This is a question which must be answered by the supporters of individual moral systems, but I think it boils down to a few key points, some moral, some epistemological.
1. Is moral reprehensibility dependent upon the action, the result, or both? The U.S. courts distinguish between these cases often, such as with murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, etc.
2. Is thought of an action as reprehensible as performing an action? I'm reminded of a passage in the Bible which states (paraphrasing), if you think of lusting with your eyes, gouge out those eyes so that you may sin no more. This, of course, leads to an epistemological question:
3. Is thought of an action the same as dreaming of performing an action, or dreaming of thinking about the action? It would seem that answers here would depend upon lucidity and free will.
4. As suggested in the Arcade Fire song, can we use the dream world as a place to live out our misbehaviors, to prevent our waking selves from indulging in these sins? Would that be morally good, in that we are preventing ourselves from committing evil?
5. Are the consequences of actions occurring in the waking life as important as consequences of actions occurring in dreams? This is related to my thoughts last time, about how real/not real the dream world is.
Obviously, I don't know of any concrete answers to these questions, and there may not be any, but the certainly must be answered, at least personally, before we can answer my initial inquiry.
Can we be held morally responsible for what occurs while we dream?
As usual, the question digs deeper than I expect on first glance. Many moral systems hold that, as individuals, we are responsible for our actions in waking life. Such moral systems, by consistency, should also hold that we have free will, as it seems ridiculous to hold a person responsible for something which they have no control.
Within these same moral systems, the above question is really equivalent to the epistemological question; do we have free will whilst dreaming? If the answer is yes, then we must also transfer responsibility for actions to the dream world. If the answer is no, then we should not make such an extension. In the case of lucidity, it seems clear that if we have free will in waking life, we should have free will (perhaps even greater will, to seemingly bend the laws of nature) while dreaming lucidly. The case of non-lucid dreams is much more difficult to unravel.
This is not the end of discussion, however, as establishing moral responsibility does not imply the moral laws for the waking life and the dream life are the same. This is a question which must be answered by the supporters of individual moral systems, but I think it boils down to a few key points, some moral, some epistemological.
1. Is moral reprehensibility dependent upon the action, the result, or both? The U.S. courts distinguish between these cases often, such as with murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, etc.
2. Is thought of an action as reprehensible as performing an action? I'm reminded of a passage in the Bible which states (paraphrasing), if you think of lusting with your eyes, gouge out those eyes so that you may sin no more. This, of course, leads to an epistemological question:
3. Is thought of an action the same as dreaming of performing an action, or dreaming of thinking about the action? It would seem that answers here would depend upon lucidity and free will.
4. As suggested in the Arcade Fire song, can we use the dream world as a place to live out our misbehaviors, to prevent our waking selves from indulging in these sins? Would that be morally good, in that we are preventing ourselves from committing evil?
5. Are the consequences of actions occurring in the waking life as important as consequences of actions occurring in dreams? This is related to my thoughts last time, about how real/not real the dream world is.
Obviously, I don't know of any concrete answers to these questions, and there may not be any, but the certainly must be answered, at least personally, before we can answer my initial inquiry.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Dream Realities
I’ve always been very interested in dreams and dream phenomena, especially lucid dreaming. I think about dreaming and the dream concept a lot, but I’ve never had very good dream recall. Nor have I ever actually had a lucid dream. Thus, when I have a particularly vivid dream experience, it’s a big deal for me.
A few nights ago, I had a dream which registered a few interesting phenomena. To begin with, the dream included a person whom I distinctly recognized, but was not a person I actually knew. Instead, the person was a mixture, physically, of three separate people whom I did know. Further, while I recognized the person physically, the persona taken, the identity, was completely novel. The personality traits of any of the physical components were not present, nor were traits of anyone else I knew. I truly had never met the person before. It was fascinating to see the clear separation between body and mind (in my mind at least).
After I woke from the dream, which stuck unusually vividly in my mind, I got a drink of water, and then returned to bed (it was still quite early in the morning), and to my great surprise, the dream continued! I’m not sure if I was near to realizing that I was back in the dream, though I’ve heard that this method (restarting a dream) is a good way to induce lucid dreaming. The dream continued for a while longer before I woke again, again with surprising recall.
I’m not sure what exactly to call the person I met in my dream; is she a person, is she a character in a story, is she a figment of my imagination? Should I be referring to her with the present tense “is” or the past tense “was?” I became more attached to her than I had (presumably) with others I have dreamed about. I’m fairly confident it was the fact that I thought about the dream significantly in the day following which caused me to keep an actual memory of this person.
Over the next few nights, I attempted to dream of the girl again, but have (so far) been unable to do so (at least to my recollection, though I’m fairly confident I would remember it). My reasons for this are very different from each other. The first reason is selfish; if I see this person, I can be fairly certain that I’m dreaming, which may allow me to go lucid (having the persona act as a dreamsign of sorts). The second reason is for the girl’s sake. If I don’t continue to dream of her, will she cease to exist? This is what prompted my question about whether to refer to her with is or was.
To what extent is a dreamed person real? The question is not as easy as I thought it might be (my first instinct was to “not at all”). This may be reasonable for a stranger in a crowd of a dream, with no discernable features, but what about a family member. When I dream of my brother, I certainly regard him as real (this may account for my inability to determine I am dreaming). Just because a person is removed from our perception for a time does not mean they cease to exist, but nor does it imply that they continue to exist! When I talk to a friend, and they then go home, the human, the learner in me assumes that my friend has not just disappeared from the universe, but that I will see them again sometime, because that is what has happened thousands of times previously. Even if someone I knew were to die, presumably I could observer their remains at a later date and confirm that they were still extant. However, epistemologically, we can’t really say that. I can not reliably know that the person hasn’t disappeared completely. Now, if I can’t know that, I certainly can’t know that a person I’ve dreamed up has disappeared completely. Until I see them again, I simply don’t know. There is an interesting quantum nature to it all.
I’ll attempt to dream about this person again tonight. Of course, if I do run into her, I suppose I won’t know it’s the same person, will I? Nah, that’s overphilosophizing things…
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Album Review: Cross by Justice (2007)
Introduction:
An album I've had on (modified) loop recently is the debut Cross, by French electronica act Justice. Though newcomers to the genre might find their sound hard to distinguish from more "mainstream" groups like Daft Punk (also great), they've carved out a few unique sounds for themselves.
At times more structured and well-oiled than the average dance tracks, Justice can sound almost orchestral in precision and voicing (heavy use of brass and occasional string sounds). On the other hand, tracks like D.A.N.C.E and DVNO are as gaudy, organic and vocally-driven as popular 90's club hits.
Tracks:
1. Genesis: The opener begins with an ominous melody, setting a strong tone for the album. What follows is 3 minutes of the best organized electronic music I've ever heard. Very orchestral in structure, loops weave in an out of each other with machine-like precision. Heavy bass lines and strong, sometimes harsh rhythms bring a lot of energy despite relatively simple melodic lines. It really is a non-stop assault through, until a clean segue into the next track (the entire album flows like this, with no gaps between track, a feature I always appreciate). My favorite track of the album.
2. Let There Be Light: Similar in style, the second cut is certainly less harsh, though not necessarily less energetic. More focus on melodic changes, and intonation changes throughout the lines, though still a pretty ominous tone. Overall, a bouncier, more dance appropriate track. Some great rhythmic hooks throughout.
3. D.A.N.C.E.: A completely different style here! A bubbly, bouncy, extremely catchy dance track. Vocals sound straight out of the early Jackson 5 materials, fitting nicely with the much more upbeat chord sounds and melody. This was the first single released off the album, and it's easy to see why, the track was made for the dance hall.
4. Newjack: Returns to the instrumentation of the first two tracks, with an addition vocal loop or two. Remains more towards the "happy" side of your average tone spectrum. A little more subdued than the first two tracks (which attacked), the track gets points for a few radical melody/rhythm changes to keep things interesting.
5,6. Phantom Pt. I/Pt. II: Two more really solid vocal-free tracks. A nice laid-back organic, almost fuzzy style to these sounds. A little more repetitive (individually) then some of the other cuts, sticking with subtle changes in progression rather than more drastic changes. It makes for a great progression of an idea, as new layers are added and moved around. Pt. II is a little darker and more powerful, with a really sick melodic line.
7. Valentine: Beginning with a nice little "heartbeat" motif, this is definitely a more emotional, melody-centric piece. Two or three nice melodic and bass lines weave through out without a lot of complicated percussion. At times soothing, at times a little depressing, at times hopeful and inspiring. A really nice piece that I bet a lot of people skip over, because it's not much of a dance track, a departure from the previous songs.
8. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy: One of the most vocal songs on the track, mostly sing-talk style, not quite rapping, but certainly not traditional song. An interesting melodic riff sits amongst generally lo-fi instrumentation for much of the song. Unfortunately, the lyrics nearly ruin this song, narrating the night of a snobby, rich girl going out to party with some friends. It's hard to enjoy the music beneath the visions of the annoying girl, making this my least favorite track.
9. DVNO: The other heavily vocal song, DVNO was much better, in my opinion. Often almost nonsensical, but catchy lyrics about a club (DVNO) make this song funny, and hearken back to bad music videos and 70's and 80's dance clubs (see the music video). Very catchy, poppy, bouncy beat makes this a great track, somehow using artificial clapping sounds in a way I enjoy. Really a much simpler song than it seems on a first listen.
10. Stress: My (close) second favorite cut on the album, Stress is a real experiment. The music reflects the title well, in this high-energy, fast tempo, very cycle based instrumental track. Really interesting combinations of short loops of sound, quickly repeating simple beats, and dissonant chord structures. The intro section seems to go on forever, building up a huge amount of tension, which makes for the best resolution on the album, about a minute and a half into the track. The machine gets back to work right away, building up pressure again. A real treat.
11. Waters of Nazareth: A very solid track, released previously as a single/EP, and well known in the dance circuit since 2006. Probably the most "standard" of their tracks (for the genre), but quite well executed. I didn't find it too inspiring, likely because I've heard similar things in other groups.
12. One Minute to Midnight: The closer is a very stripped down pieces, fitting with it's place in the album. You can hear bits of the album tied up in here, some chords from Phantom, bits of sound/instrumentation from Stress, and melodic lines similar to Newjack, and Tthhee Ppaarrttyy. Again, subdued and simple, but the payoff is in the connection to the rest of the album.
Conclusions:
Overall, the album is put together extremely well (as an album), and a number of tracks stand out in the genre (Genesis and Stress) for me. I loop this, dropping out Tthhee Ppaarrttyy, for hours at a time, and it grows on me more and more. Great for listening to when working or driving, or at a party (if your friends like this kind of music). Even for friends who mostly listen outside the genre, a track here and there will be well received (D.A.N.C.E. and Waters of Nazareth, the singles, are good here).
Score:
Cross - Justice
93/100
An album I've had on (modified) loop recently is the debut Cross, by French electronica act Justice. Though newcomers to the genre might find their sound hard to distinguish from more "mainstream" groups like Daft Punk (also great), they've carved out a few unique sounds for themselves.
At times more structured and well-oiled than the average dance tracks, Justice can sound almost orchestral in precision and voicing (heavy use of brass and occasional string sounds). On the other hand, tracks like D.A.N.C.E and DVNO are as gaudy, organic and vocally-driven as popular 90's club hits.
Tracks:
1. Genesis: The opener begins with an ominous melody, setting a strong tone for the album. What follows is 3 minutes of the best organized electronic music I've ever heard. Very orchestral in structure, loops weave in an out of each other with machine-like precision. Heavy bass lines and strong, sometimes harsh rhythms bring a lot of energy despite relatively simple melodic lines. It really is a non-stop assault through, until a clean segue into the next track (the entire album flows like this, with no gaps between track, a feature I always appreciate). My favorite track of the album.
2. Let There Be Light: Similar in style, the second cut is certainly less harsh, though not necessarily less energetic. More focus on melodic changes, and intonation changes throughout the lines, though still a pretty ominous tone. Overall, a bouncier, more dance appropriate track. Some great rhythmic hooks throughout.
3. D.A.N.C.E.: A completely different style here! A bubbly, bouncy, extremely catchy dance track. Vocals sound straight out of the early Jackson 5 materials, fitting nicely with the much more upbeat chord sounds and melody. This was the first single released off the album, and it's easy to see why, the track was made for the dance hall.
4. Newjack: Returns to the instrumentation of the first two tracks, with an addition vocal loop or two. Remains more towards the "happy" side of your average tone spectrum. A little more subdued than the first two tracks (which attacked), the track gets points for a few radical melody/rhythm changes to keep things interesting.
5,6. Phantom Pt. I/Pt. II: Two more really solid vocal-free tracks. A nice laid-back organic, almost fuzzy style to these sounds. A little more repetitive (individually) then some of the other cuts, sticking with subtle changes in progression rather than more drastic changes. It makes for a great progression of an idea, as new layers are added and moved around. Pt. II is a little darker and more powerful, with a really sick melodic line.
7. Valentine: Beginning with a nice little "heartbeat" motif, this is definitely a more emotional, melody-centric piece. Two or three nice melodic and bass lines weave through out without a lot of complicated percussion. At times soothing, at times a little depressing, at times hopeful and inspiring. A really nice piece that I bet a lot of people skip over, because it's not much of a dance track, a departure from the previous songs.
8. Tthhee Ppaarrttyy: One of the most vocal songs on the track, mostly sing-talk style, not quite rapping, but certainly not traditional song. An interesting melodic riff sits amongst generally lo-fi instrumentation for much of the song. Unfortunately, the lyrics nearly ruin this song, narrating the night of a snobby, rich girl going out to party with some friends. It's hard to enjoy the music beneath the visions of the annoying girl, making this my least favorite track.
9. DVNO: The other heavily vocal song, DVNO was much better, in my opinion. Often almost nonsensical, but catchy lyrics about a club (DVNO) make this song funny, and hearken back to bad music videos and 70's and 80's dance clubs (see the music video). Very catchy, poppy, bouncy beat makes this a great track, somehow using artificial clapping sounds in a way I enjoy. Really a much simpler song than it seems on a first listen.
10. Stress: My (close) second favorite cut on the album, Stress is a real experiment. The music reflects the title well, in this high-energy, fast tempo, very cycle based instrumental track. Really interesting combinations of short loops of sound, quickly repeating simple beats, and dissonant chord structures. The intro section seems to go on forever, building up a huge amount of tension, which makes for the best resolution on the album, about a minute and a half into the track. The machine gets back to work right away, building up pressure again. A real treat.
11. Waters of Nazareth: A very solid track, released previously as a single/EP, and well known in the dance circuit since 2006. Probably the most "standard" of their tracks (for the genre), but quite well executed. I didn't find it too inspiring, likely because I've heard similar things in other groups.
12. One Minute to Midnight: The closer is a very stripped down pieces, fitting with it's place in the album. You can hear bits of the album tied up in here, some chords from Phantom, bits of sound/instrumentation from Stress, and melodic lines similar to Newjack, and Tthhee Ppaarrttyy. Again, subdued and simple, but the payoff is in the connection to the rest of the album.
Conclusions:
Overall, the album is put together extremely well (as an album), and a number of tracks stand out in the genre (Genesis and Stress) for me. I loop this, dropping out Tthhee Ppaarrttyy, for hours at a time, and it grows on me more and more. Great for listening to when working or driving, or at a party (if your friends like this kind of music). Even for friends who mostly listen outside the genre, a track here and there will be well received (D.A.N.C.E. and Waters of Nazareth, the singles, are good here).
Score:
Cross - Justice
93/100
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A Brief Statement
Deal or No Deal is quite possibly the dumbest show in the history of television. I may have more to say on the matter in the math section later, as this is what makes the show downright awful.
Sigh. One more year and one more day until I can apply to be on Survivor...
Sigh. One more year and one more day until I can apply to be on Survivor...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
A Different Summer for Me
So this summer I had the opportunity to continue my research in general relativity and differential geometry, which I began last summer. I decided, however, to turn down the position and instead just return home with no job prospects. Most of my friends were pretty surprised to hear this.
In the past, I had been a very focused, planning type of person. I had a lot of momentum going towards getting into graduate school for mathematics at Stanford, but decided not to take a position that would give me a second strong recommendation from a Stanford alum. I think I realized, sometime after getting pneumonia this year, that I wasn't as sure I wanted to do general relativity as I thought. I then came to find that in my efforts to get into a top grad school, I'd really been very tunnel-visioned my first few years of college.
This motivated me to use my last summer and year of college to try and explore some other interests. The only constant thing through this time has been my love for teaching. I'm essentially certain that my future will involve teaching, in some form to a large degree. That passion was a large part of why I embarked on this journey, to set up an website about two other things I'm very interested in, mathematics and fashion.
Thus, this is going to be quite a different summer than any I've had yet. The past two years I've held 40-50/hr per week jobs, in some sort of research vein. Now, I'm currently self-employed with this website, though looking for a restaurant job, something I've always wanted to try. Now seems like as good a time as any. I'm also glad to be home with all of my friends this summer, for the entire summer. It'll be an interesting balance of fun and enlightening work!
In the past, I had been a very focused, planning type of person. I had a lot of momentum going towards getting into graduate school for mathematics at Stanford, but decided not to take a position that would give me a second strong recommendation from a Stanford alum. I think I realized, sometime after getting pneumonia this year, that I wasn't as sure I wanted to do general relativity as I thought. I then came to find that in my efforts to get into a top grad school, I'd really been very tunnel-visioned my first few years of college.
This motivated me to use my last summer and year of college to try and explore some other interests. The only constant thing through this time has been my love for teaching. I'm essentially certain that my future will involve teaching, in some form to a large degree. That passion was a large part of why I embarked on this journey, to set up an website about two other things I'm very interested in, mathematics and fashion.
Thus, this is going to be quite a different summer than any I've had yet. The past two years I've held 40-50/hr per week jobs, in some sort of research vein. Now, I'm currently self-employed with this website, though looking for a restaurant job, something I've always wanted to try. Now seems like as good a time as any. I'm also glad to be home with all of my friends this summer, for the entire summer. It'll be an interesting balance of fun and enlightening work!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov
Well, I just started reading Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov last night, on recommendation from a high school friend. When I say that I started reading it, I really mean that I read the translator's note at the beginning, but rest assured, I will read some portion of the actual novel today. Apparently the translation is a big deal. The translators (Pevear and Volohonsky) also did the copy of Anna Karenina I read in high school, and both won awards (according to the inside jacket covers of each), so they must be pretty good.
I also received two of my three neuroscience books in the mail yesterday, and have begun to peruse them. They are, An Introduction to Neural Networks (a steal for 6 bucks), and Theoretical Neuroscience. I picked them up since I've become more interested in psychology recently, and disillusioned with my previous mathematics research (in general relativity), so I thought this might be a good hybrid of the interest. I've always been interested in the brain/mind anyway. Stay tuned for reviews/updates as I progress through these works.
I also received two of my three neuroscience books in the mail yesterday, and have begun to peruse them. They are, An Introduction to Neural Networks (a steal for 6 bucks), and Theoretical Neuroscience. I picked them up since I've become more interested in psychology recently, and disillusioned with my previous mathematics research (in general relativity), so I thought this might be a good hybrid of the interest. I've always been interested in the brain/mind anyway. Stay tuned for reviews/updates as I progress through these works.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Front Matter, Vitals
This section of my blog will naturally be much less focused than my fashion and mathematics towers. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share a diverse set of experiences and information here, in the tone of an “after-dinner cocktail party.” Some posts here will consist of legitimately thought out ideas, others will be just passing thoughts, and some will be simple reports on what I’m up to. Yesterday I set purchased my domain name and set up the three-level blog. Most of this went smoothly, the exception being setting up the FTP software. From browsing the forums at a few FTP sites [1],[2], it seems that this is not an isolated problem. I wonder why.
Anyway, before I get back to working on setting up everything, customizing, advertising, et cetera, I figured I should give you some basic background information about who you’re dealing, my vitals, if you will:
Biological
-Male
-Age 19
-6’3”
-185 lbs.
-Roughly 75% German, 25% English descent
-Double-jointed left thumb, right shoulder
Governmental
-
-Resident of
-Enrolled in Social Security and Selective Service
-Did not, and was not required to, file a tax return in 2008.
Educational
-Rising senior at
-Mathematics major, physics and psychology minors
-High School Diploma
-Grades sufficient to get a discount on MAIF costs
Musical
-Play clarinet, bass guitar, trumpet, keyboard, percussion
-Top 3 bands: Radiohead, Paramore, Muse
-Concert/Marching Band enthusiast
-Favorite genre: Electronic
Personal Favorites
-Color: Black
-Food: Soft Shell Crab
-Fast Food: Taco
-Television Show: Arrested Development
-Psychological Phenomenon: Lucid Dreaming
-Textbook Writer: Ramamurti Shankar
-4-Legged Animal: Cow
-Tie: Silver solid color
-Experience: Front row at a Duke-UNC game in Cameron.
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