Putting teeth into anti-consumerism

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BBC News has an article about the Stern Review which predicts the following issues if action is not taken now:


  • Melting glaciers will increase flood risk
  • Crop yields will decline, particularly in Africa
  • Rising sea levels could leave 200 million people permanently displaced
  • Up to 40% of species could face extinction
  • There will be more examples of extreme weather patterns


What we can do


  • Reduce consumer demand for heavily polluting goods and services
  • Make global energy supply more efficient
  • Act on non-energy emissions - preventing further deforestation would go a long way towards alleviating this source of carbon emissions
  • Promote cleaner energy and transport technology, with non-fossil fuels accounting for 60% of energy output by 2050


Wise consumption is not only good for your soul, but it's practical, too. The problem does indeed begin with consumers not being aware of the impact of their consumption on the world. This is because of how divorced they are from the source of the elements in what they are buying. Where does the plastic come from? The paper? The metal? Where do they come from? What is the by product created by the factory?

One excellent move would be to encourage more factory production and raw-material harvesting here. This would save shipping costs. It would provide low-skilled jobs to those that need them. It would also force us to tackle the ugliness of consumption because production would be occuring right in our backyard. Let's face it, wealthy people love to export the dirty work; it happens on a personal level (dry-cleaners, car-wash, body shop) and it also happens on a global level.

The juggernaught of capitalism will not turn on a dime. It will be hard for distributors and retailers to find alternatives to China, India, and Brazil for their wares. But I truly do not understand why an American can't go into a Target, pick out any item on the shelves, and go start a factory that produces a better version for less right here.

The answer is too often dismissed as "wages are so much less over there". But there is also the issue of complexity: there are many rules and regulations that must be complied with. Enforcing those rules and regulations takes time. Just building a structure can take months waiting for plans to be approved by a county or city. Then there are byzantine laws that govern salaries, etc. All of this complexity takes intelligent specialists to handle, each of which costs a great deal of money to hire.

I propose a reality-TV experiment to do just that: grab an American entrepenuer or two and tell them to go into a Wall-Mart or Target and pick an item. Give them some money and let them attempt to compete with the Chinese supplier. See if it can be done.

The bright side to 6 billion

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The way I figure it, is with 6 billion people on the planet that means that I can upset several billion people before I run out of people with whom I can hope to have a reasonable relationship.

Practically speaking, I'm more likely to forge relationships with people in my own area, who speak my own language etc. So the recent news that the US population will pass 300 million is quite welcome.

America at 300 Million

How to play the Dreidel game

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An important FYI.

Hanukkah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The dreidel is the centerpiece of a game which is often played after the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah, to keep the children interested during the short time the candles are burning. Each player starts out with 10 or 15 coins, nuts or other markers, and places one marker into the 'pot'. The first player spins the dreidel, which lands with one of its symbols facing up, indicating the appropriate action to be taken, corresponding to one of the following Yiddish words:

* Nun - nisht - 'not' - the next player spins
* Gimel - gants - 'all' - the player takes the entire pot
* Hey - halb - 'half' - the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
* Shin - shtel ayn - 'put in' - the player puts one or two markers in the pot

Another version differs in that nun is nem - 'take', while gimel is gib - 'give'. The game may last until one person has won everything."

"A song so awful it hurts the mind."

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A song so awful it hurts the mind. - By Hua Hsu - Slate Magazine: "Consider the Los Angeles hip-hop quartet the Black Eyed Peas. Their current single, 'My Humps,' is one of the most popular hit singles in history. It is also proof that a song can be so bad as to veer toward evil."

+1

(I think it goes a bit deeper. There's certainly a positive aspect of not taking yourself seriously - this song can be seen as a parody of R&B's values. Certainly the lampooning videos on the web highlight this aspect, like this example:



But still, the song is quite terrible. It's even more terrible that there is no video of a female Quasimodo doing this song. That is something I might have to rectify.)

FireFox 2.0 - modifying the close buttons

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Mozilla Releases Firefox 2.0 - Security Fix: "Abe -

You can modify the close buttons. Type about:config in the address bar, then filter the list for 'browser.tabs.closebuttons'. You can modify the tabs in two ways: by changing the value to '0', the close button will be placed only on the active tab. Changing it to '3' will move it to the far right like in previous versions.

Hope this helps, Dovi"

Thanks Dovi, because I for one a) didn't know about the middle click thing (although I do use CTRL-W alot) and b) was about to pass on Firefox 2.0 simply because of this feature, but since you tell us how to turn it off I will try it.

Thanks again.

An example of justice

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The OC register has an article today about Shyima, a 17-year-old girl who was used as a domestic slave between the ages of 10 and 12. A neighbor noticed her taking out the trash one day and called the police. Shamiya's living conditions are a horror to read.

The parents were heavily fined, imprisoned, and will be deported back to Egypt when they've served their sentence.

Good.

Article - News - Domestic prisoner prevails

Check out Nic Harcourt

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The New York times had an interesting article on Nic last year. He's the DJ of my favorite music show on the radio, Morning Becomes Eclectic.

(Some of the tapes I am dubbing are recordings of KROQ circa 1992 - when KCRW played innovative and thoughtful new music. I stopped listening to that station when they started with the hardcore and rap; it wasn't until 2004 that I discovered KCRW thanks to the advice of a kind graphic designer at Citysearch.)

My Audio Dubbing setup

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My Audio Dubbing setup
Originally uploaded by digital josh.
So I've got my $5 cassette deck playing into the Tascam US-122

external audio interface going into the Thinkpad X41 running Cubase LE

in "Mastering Mode". In the forground is a notepad where I'm keeping

track of interesting stuff. Honestly, there is very little really good

stuff on these tapes so far. But when it's good, its really really

good so I'm not complaining.



Eventually when I consolidate all the computer data I have (which

includes some of the old MIDI files I put together) I might be able to

re-record some of the good stuff.

State Dept. Official Apologizes for Criticism of Iraq Policy - New York Times

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The only good thing to happen in Iraq for a long time, and the guy was pressured to apologize for it: State Dept. Official Apologizes for Criticism of Iraq Policy - New York Times

An admission of error would not only be (obviously) valid, but would also go a long way in securing the support of moderate Iraqis. Admitting of arrogance is a good first step toward being more humble, something that would be genuinely appreciated by the Arab world IMHO.

The Death of American Innovation.

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AT&T Labs vs. Google Labs: not your grandfather's R&D: "There's no doubt that the information economy continues to create a lot of wealth, but I think it's fair to ask if it's also creating enough science to replenish the stock of scientific capital that it's still burning through."

It's not clear that this op-ed piece is anything more than a vain attempt to articulate one guy's vague misgivings about rapid change.

But the point that hit home the most was, "...new start-ups are being actively locked out of the market by means of patent and trade secrets litigation so that a combination of old and new interests can fight over what's left of the shrinking pie."

This article hints at a possible pattern, a yin-yang of monolithic scientific progress: the beast you fund will create ideas, but the beast will cause problems in it's death throws. Unfortunately we live in the era of those death throws, making it harder, but not impossible, to innovate independantly. The way I figure it, at a minimum, you need a people-savvy MBA, and a crack lawyer, enough money to keep the lights on and the promise of great riches. With that, you can innovate even now.

Business Week has a related article essentially decrying the state of big telco R&D.

A criticism of critics

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Entertainment has a lot of critics: books, movies, television, broadway, dance, etc. Critics can be useful in consensus (as shown by rottentomatoes.com).

Sometimes critics come off as bitter wannabes: obviously intelligent and interested in the field, they couldn't make it in the business so they make a living criticising their more successful peers, etc. Catty prose, inordinate focus on the negative, and unjustified confidence in one's own opinion. Reviews tend to be excessive exercises in hyperbole and melodrama. One often gets the feeling the reviewer makes specific assertions merely because it makes the review read better or offers an oppurtunity for witticism.

But those are the bad critics (or good critics having a bad day). Good criticism is thoughtful, conclusions are solidly supported. Good critics have no axe to grind - they are merely sharing their opinion. One walks away from a good critic thinking, "Perhaps I don't agree, but I respect where they are coming from."

I find myself doing criticism every day: of myself, of others, of art, of ideas. While it's good to be in contact with my own opinion, I think it's important not to get too caught up in that opinion. But if the urge to opine arises, to at least make sure that the review, even if only mentally drawn, is solidly supported.

Why I didn't choose the GPL'd ClamWin for my antivirus needs

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Clamwin got a good review but it doesn't do real time, on access scanning. I like this feature a lot, and it's a deal breaker.

A free alternative to Norton Antivirus: AVG

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AVG Free is the personal edition of their commercial product. Norton Antivirus was installed on my T43 laptop when I purchased it, and lately the program has been quite forward about reminding me my subscription is about to expire.

If the subscription renewal process was clean, direct, and devoid of scare-inducing sophistry, I would simply pay the $30. But the renewal process is riddled with questionable upselling tactics.

The icing on the cake is that the utility gives the user two choices: renew now, or renew later. I will be taking the third choice, not listed: uninstall Symantec Antivirus, install AVG.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Beast in sediment is photo winner

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BBC News has a wonderful little story about some great BBC wildlife photography.

First place went to a photograph of a 3rd stage guild navigator, er, I mean walrus feeding on clams:



For comparison, consider the 3rd stage guild navigator from the Dune movie:

My Mysterious Tablet

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ThinkPad X41 Tablet 1866-3RU

Pentium M 758(1.5GHz)LV, 1.5GB RAM, 60GB 4200rpm HDD, 12.1in 1024x768 LCD, Intel 900, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, Secure Chip, 8 cell Li-Ion batt, WinXP Tablet 2005

Web Style Guide: EDITORIAL STYLE

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I have to give credit where credit is due, this quote comes from Web Style Guide:

"First we thought the PC was a calculator. Then we found out how to turn numbers into letters with ASCII — and we thought it was a typewriter. Then we discovered graphics, and we thought it was a television. With the World Wide Web, we've realized it's a brochure."
— Douglas Adams

Sometimes I really miss that guy.

Idea for simplifying craigslist ad posting from Flickr

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craigslist ads should really be easier to write. I would like a chunk of HTML generated for me at some point in the process that puts a bunch of (suibtably linked) images in a nice layout. I'm thinking that this could most easily be done as a Greasemonkey script on either a Flickr or Craigslist page. It should probably be on the Flickr "set" page - "generate cl ad" and the product is a new browser window with a) the HTML, b) a search window (for product info to be inserted in the HTML) and c) a cl "post page". (The process can't be completely automated because of the word verification feature.)

A Better Oppurtunity for Linux than ESR thinks

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Eric S. Raymond has joined Linux distribution company Freespire because (to paraphrase) "the upcoming shift to 64-bit CPUs offers Linux a golden oppurtunity to gain market (and mind)share".

I would say that the upcomming transition to Windows Vista and McAfees concerns about security, users concerns about vendor lock-in, and other bad press presents an even better oppurtunity for Linux penetration on the desktop. Especially when combined with the rise of the wonderful distribution and highly popular Ubuntu.

(I would add that my recent experience running Ubuntu 6.06 on my T43 went quite well, however I was missing some of my favorite applications - Picasa, Photoshop - and there are many little convenience utils which are generally not available. Also, multi-head support is lacking by default - although supported by Xinerama - and that's a feature I've come to rely on highly.)

P.S. At this point I'm quite aware that I am blograstinating. Back to work!

OCJUG Logo Ideas

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I shot some photos for a new OCJUG logo. Here they are (click to see a larger version with notes):

OCJUG LOGO idea #1OCJUG Logo Idea #2- Tiger slide!

Or I will super-impose the JUG badge onto an orange:

A beautiful autumn day!

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Sunny, bright, with the wind creating a lushly vibrant ruslting sound in the trees, this day reminds me strongly of the past; of school, and hot playground asphault, and dusty trips to the desert to visit family. It is beautiful and dry, with a crackling energy that, ironically, inspires somnolence more than activity. A strong sense of *something* about to happen is in the air. Something big. With any luck, something good.

Bad News: Photoshop cannot sense pressure changes from a Thinkpad X41 tablet

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One of the reasons I got a tablet is so that I could use art programs more efficiently. From my perspective, a Tablet PC is a smarter alternative to the Wacom Cintiq.

I just recieved an email response from Adobe stating that "Windows Tablet PC Edition" is not one of the system requirements, so I'm basically on my own when it comes to supporting this feature.

It's not just that I can't modify brush attributes by pressure or pen tilt, but also there is appreciable mouse-lag. This affects photoshop and hand-writing recognition.

It's time to sell the tablet I'm afraid.

Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Are you Worthy™ | home page

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These images might make you think twice about meat - in a humurous way.

Tina Blaine's Overview of 21st Century Hyperinstruments

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There is a lot going on in the field of music, technology, gaming and audiovisualization.

Fred Miranda's Rolling Stone

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Apart from hosting one of the most active and well respected photography forums on the internet, Fred Miranda is a pretty good photographer in his own right. For example


I'd love to simulate this photo. Looks like a very wide angle (17mm?) high f-stop (because of the tremendous DOF). Camera is just off the ground, probably hand-held. I don't know what the location is. Could be a desert almost anywhere.

Azzam the American now "Most Wanted" - it's a crying shame

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Adam Gadahn is a fool and probably much worse, but to put him on the most wanted list for video tapes he made is a dangerous encroachment on free speech. What happens when the FBI deides that criticizing George W. Bush is "giving material aid and comfort" to the enemy?

The Student Operated Press

Testing embedded Picasa Web Albums

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Bogarts Music Night 10-7-06
Oct 7, 2006 - 16 Photos

Is Saddam's trial a farce?

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News organizations periodically report on the trial of Saddam Hussein. I find that my patience wears thin such that I no longer wish to read these stories. It is nothing if not predictable that Saddam will use whatever means necessary to beat a rap which is, by all accounts, going to be pretty bad. It is not clear to me why he is allowed to be present at his trial given his grandstanding. Or, if present, why he is not gagged.

But this begs the question: is it even possible to hold a trial like this in a country where violence is so prevalent? When the defendent and his lawyers do not recognize the legitamacy of the court? When judges and prosecutors are slain and forced to resign? Can the (relatively) reasoned discourse of a legal trial make sense amidst wider chaos?

Legal trials must occur amidst relative peace and calm. The ability to have a trial, rather than resort to violence, is a hallmark of civilization.

Is Saddam's trial a farce?

No comments:
News organizations periodically report on the trial of Saddam Hussein. I find that my patience wears thin such that I no longer wish to read these stories. It is nothing if not predictable that Saddam will use whatever means necessary to beat a rap which is, by all accounts, going to be pretty bad. It is not clear to me why he is allowed to be present at his trial given his grandstanding. Or, if present, why he is not gagged.

But this begs the question: is it even possible to hold a trial like this in a country where violence is so prevalent? When the defendent and his lawyers do not recognize the legitamacy of the court? When judges and prosecutors are slain and forced to resign? Can the (relatively) reasoned discourse of a legal trial make sense amidst wider chaos?

Legal trials must occur amidst relative peace and calm. The ability to have a trial, rather than resort to violence, is a hallmark of civilization.

Basic Life Maintenance Made Easy

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I had some motorcycle gear collecting dust in the closet. I photographed it, posted an ad on craigslist, and sold it all within 24 hours. Is technology the answer to clutter?

Thanks craigslist!

Confronting Laziness

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The antidote for laziness is a combination of definite intention and will.

It is through meditation that one discovers how to discern between a definite intention and that which is hazy or blurry: it is learned by association (ah, my perception is quite distinct, this must be "definite") and more-or-less impossible to accurately describe. Let's just say that it is a feeling of immersion in the subject, a lack of distraction, and an unspoken certainty that there is, in fact, no distraction.

If one learns to recognize the difference between hazy and distinct intention, one can then monitor oneself for distinctness. If one's actions become hazy and indistinct, it is important to shore up one's efforts and refocus. There are many ways to do this, but all methods are founded on the principle that it is always possible to focus on something at some level. One simply picks an object that is more amenable to focus. This is usually a smaller, more clearly delinated object than the one which is giving you trouble. For example, one is having trouble focusing on a complex project, so one takes a moment to focus on breathing.

I like photography, so I will use a photography analogy. If you are having trouble focusing on a moving target, say in sports photography, it often helps to stop and focus on a stationary target. Once focus is dialed in you can reframe your moving subject in that location and be assured of a well focused shot.

There is no reason why every action in your day should not be indiviudally distinct. Everything from washing dishes to creating a blog post can be sharp, distinct, and purposeful. I am sharing an observation with the world with my blog. I am washing dishes. It's not terribly important for the purpose of definiteness to believe that what one is doing is the *right* thing to do, but it helps if at some level you believe this is the best possible action you could be taking in this moment.


An important impediment to focus is not knowing what to focus on. This is troublesome because of the wide array of options we have in any instant. Many people solve the problem by merely reacting to their environment in an instinctive way. This strategy works as long as your luck holds out, but environements have a way of changing into something that doesn't match instinct! At that point one needs a more thoughtful, adaptable way to select a subject.

This "subject" correction is much more difficult than a "focus" correction because it requires a much more general awareness than merely that of "my state of focus". Indeed, my own understanding of this sort of correction is still undergoing change (and may never settle into some fixed set of rules). However, for the moment, there is a combination of "stepping back" and looking at the world and my place in it objectively, and "stepping in" and observing my own mind: this cooresponds to examination of long-held beliefs and momentary mood, respectively. I am essentially asking the questions "where am I itching?", "how can I scratch?", and "should I scratch". That first question ("where are the itches") cooresponds to simple open-minded awareness of one's own mental state. The second ("how can I scratch") implies a learned, practical understanding of what it will take in terms of time resoures to scratch. The third question ("should I scratch?") is both a practical and moral question: some scratches are easier to itch than others, and common sense must drive prioritization. Morally, some itches should not be scratched (a burning desire for crack cocaine, for example). (This raises the interesting, but ancillary, question of how we choose our moral code. I believe that a rational person decides between systems of belief based on how well that system minimizes the absolute number of itches on experiences.)

In this way, living one's life can be seen as a kind of programming loop whereby one 1. focuses on goals, 2.corrects that focus when it waivers, 3.examines all possible goals for worthiness, 4. picks a new one if necessary, and 5.goto step 1.

This is a healthy process. The unhealthy process is one in which the person remains ignorant of the importance to focus, and never considers the choices one has in terms of picking their goals. Meditation is a simple, mechanical activity that will yield awareness of one's own current state of definiteness. One uses this definiteness to probe deeper into the situations that make one happy or unhappy and gains knowledge about why one state or the other arises. One sees the fruit of remaining sharp, and being sharp becomes a primary "meta-goal" in life, and the positive, self-correcting process outlined above is started.

The Inner Loop approach to personal task management

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So often we are interrupted, sometimes with "nested" tasks. It is important to complete the inner task before resuming the outer one.

Ancient Indian atheists - the Carvakas

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Carvaka is probably not a school of thought you'll hear a lot about in yoga class: "Carvakas cultivated a philosophy wherein theology and what they called 'speculative metaphysics' were to be avoided. The Carvakas accepted direct perception as the surest method to prove the truth of anything."

They didn't believe in an afterlife, reincarnation or even "aether". They had a rather cynical belief that the brahmans created elborate funereal rituals merely to stay employed, and that the Hindu caste system itself was corrupt and 'unreal'. They also appear to support women's rights. To enjoy this life to the fullest is the right aim.

Unfortunately there are not many remaining records of this school of thought, as the wikipedia article suggests.

To me, the Carvakas are only stating what everyone already knows. But, at some point one realizes that "to live life to the fullest" requires the cessation of the creation of harm to those around you and to yourself. This requires a certain amount of vital self-control, combined with an overriding sense of love. These attributes of a well-lived life are conventionally called "spirituality".

I would almost call the Carvakas doctrine, as I understand it, a sort of subset of Buddhism that is a "holding pattern for the householder" who is, for the moment, flush with relative success.

that remarkable language, HTML

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HTML is a remarkable language. With only a few lines of text, one can create beautiful graphic designs. With a few images, properly applied, even more can be achieved (and less). One does not require a network to learn HTML - merely a computer that can interpret it.

The immediacy of HTML is a unique feature. With nothing more than a web browser and a basic text editr I can learn and practice what I've learned.

There are many other technologies which are almost as accessible - scripting environments in particular (Python, Ruby, Perl). The issue is that the output is not pretty. The behavior of these languages is more traditionally "comp sci" and the effect of learning is not as immediate.

Make no mistake - HTML is a computer language. It tells the browser how to lay out a page. Whether I say:

Document.addParagraph("Hello World!")

or type:

Hello World



the effect is the same. Indeed, with the advent of CSS (in particular CSS selectors), the data structure of HTML is laid even more bare.

(CSS is 10 years old in December.)

A text editor and a browser is certainly enough to get going with HTML. Two other items are quite handy. A *really good* text editor (in particular and editor with syntax highlighting) can save time and trouble by showing your mistakes before testing in the browser (missing bracket, misspelled keyword, etc). Another item is a browser tool that gives insight into what the browser is doing, and what graphical objects it has created in response to your pithy text. Both of these items are freely available in the form of various editors (jEdit being perhaps the most accessible) and Firefox plugins.

I encourage everyone to learn HTML! It is quite a clever language, and its accessibility is unique so take advantage!

Another horse in the Home Recording Studio Race

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I friendly chap by the name of TK Wyley popped into Bogart's Coffee today, and we got to talking about recording. TK happens to be intimately involved with SAWStudio which appears to be a highly optimized SAW (software audio workstation) for Windows. The full version is quite expensive ($2500) but it's quite impressive.

TK regalled me with tales of "remote mixing" - apparently the makers of SAW Studio will allow an engineer in the audience of a live gig to remotely control a PC mixer sitting on stage. They are using a custom protocol rather than VNC to make the system more responsive. In a similiar vein, ADR (alternative dialogue recording) engineers are using sawstudio to do remote recording, remotely controlling parameters of the mix. This saves a plane trip. The audio is streamed over the internet - latency is present but is rarely a problem. Of course, bandwidth (186k/s) is not generally a problem even on residential broadband.

He was also quite helpful in recommending some hardware to reduce the latency I've been experiencing and increase the number of simultaneously recorded tracks. The M-Audio Firewire 410 offers 4 inputs, 10 outs, and 1 MIDI port. (Unfortunately my X41 doesn't have a firewire port but adding one via Cardbus is a definite option). Perhaps I will sell my Tascam US-122 and get this thing.

Certainly it was nice to see a viable alternative to Cubase, Cakewalk, and ProTools! I admire small software companies for their tenacity and innovation. If TK is correct, then SAW Studio can "run circles" around a much more expensive Pro Tools rig. That's a very serious claim, and one I look forward to testing.

A Designer Universe?

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Physicist Steven Weinberg says it best:
A Designer Universe?: "I have been asked to comment on whether the universe shows signs of having been designed.1 I don't see how it's possible to talk about this without having at least some vague idea of what a designer would be like. Any possible universe could be explained as the work of some sort of designer. Even a universe that is completely chaotic, without any laws or regularities at all, could be supposed to have been designed by an idiot. "

The Perfect Day

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Stop for a moment to consider your day. Has it been a perfect one? If so, what made it so? If not, why not?

If it has not been a perfect day, then why not work toward it's perfection *right now*. Calm your mind, and act forcefully on the insights provided to you by the best part of yourself. Choose actions to which you are particularly suited. Choose a pace which can be maintained. Work diligently for your own perfection.

A possible reason for the rampages

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The Amish shooting incident and others seem to beg for an explaination. There is probably no single reason. One possibility is a percieved decline in the reliability of institutions. That decline is harkened by myriad new stories: House representative Foley's sexual perversions, doping in Major League Baseball, accounting irregularities at HP (and the stock option scandal, and Enron, and...), Bob Woodwards book about the incompetency of George Bush, stories about vote fixing (in the US), Catholic bishops stealing millions of dollars from their churches (and raping young boys), police misuse of force in Louisiana and elsewhere.

I'm sure I've forgotten a few (indeed, I've left out a slew of ethical allegation stories, like those involving Wal-Mart's labor practices, the oil companies polluting our environment and profiteering on political events, the car-makers and their SUVs, etc). The sheer bulk of these stories has raised the level of cynicism in me to uncomfortable hieghts. I feel like I can't trust any institution.

This is in stark contrast to my youth. I think it was because of my mothers incessant (and annoying, embarrasing) complaints at my school. The administrators and teachers were no doubt unhappy about this, but underneath all of that was the faith that my mother had that she could work in the system to change it. And more often than not, she did. If those administrators had stopped to consider the alternative, they too would have been overjoyed to deal with my mother.

These child shooters in school were undoubtadly overcome with rage. But why did the rage get so bad? Could it be that they simply didn't have faith that the system could help them? Could it be that working with the system is a way to let that anger out in a nonviolent way?

When you can't trust the police, or your employer, or the government, or your church, or even your church where do you turn for succor? Friends and family. And when you're a teen struggling with friends and family? You turn to no-one, let the anger build to fever pitch, and then do the unthinkable.