Thursday, April 29, 2004
Art
Not much to tell...but check this out if you like cool interactive art, and I think you'll be glad you did.
www.yugop.com
Enjoy!
umdesch4
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Sunday, April 25, 2004
Movie Watch
Given that they've dropped the prices at SilverCity (from $13.95 down to $10.95 at Metrotown, for example), I might go see more movies in the near future. With that in mind, here's a quick list of some of the upcoming blockbusters I've got my eye on:
Godsend April 30th
Shrek 2 May 21st
The Day After Tomorrow May 28th
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban June 4th
Spider-man 2 June 30th
I, Robot July 16th
Hero August 20th(?)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow September 17th
Go check out the trailers if you haven't seen 'em.
Also, in semi-related news, don't forget that Return of the King will hit DVD on May 25th, along with a 'trilogy box' of all three theatrical releases. Of course, we're all waiting for the Extended Edition ROTK DVD, but I'm not sure what the release date for that is (contact me if you know).
umdesch4
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Subtitles
Spent a huge chunk of this afternoon/evening figuring out how to include subtitles in a DVD to AVI conversion. Tricky business, for sure.
Those of you who know where my personal web server is, go there and check out the 5.6.7.8's bonus clip from the Kill Bill Volume 1 DVD, to see the results (and also to check out how cool the 5.6.7.8's are).
I can't say for sure why it is that I get so much satisfaction from learning how to do this kind of thing, but I definitely do. Contact me if you ever need any video conversion work done.
Enjoy!
umdesch4.
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Saturday, April 24, 2004
Local Indie Stuff
When I was going to Columbia Academy, Futcher was one of my instructors. He has a band called 'Hellenkeller', and they released a CD while I was going there, which I bought (of course). I absolutely loved it, and I pulled it off the shelf to listen to again today. Still love it!
Check these guys out at www.hellenkeller.com
Enjoy!
umdesch4
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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Is It Art?
A former co-worker of mine sent this to a few people in email, but I really think it deserves to be experienced by everyone who's ever been annoyed by a Windows system sound. It was the best laugh I got all day...
http://home.comcast.net/~tianyu/winnoise.swf
Enjoy!
umdesch4
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Kill Bill Volume 2
Finally, recovered enough to go see Kill Bill Volume 2 this evening.
Well, what can I say? A finely crafted piece of work, a film-lover's film, a work that shows how film should tell a story, and shows a story that could only be told on film.
Better or worse than volume 1? You can't really do that. It's the other part of the story. Is it a satisfying conclusion? Yes, definitely.
It has a lot of stuff that will be familiar to fans of Quentin Tarantino, but if you think that non-linear storytelling is a gimmick, think again. I totally see why this story is out-of-order. Without getting into specifics, I'll just say that the story 'unfolded' the way it should have, and shows mature use of a technique...whereas Pulp Fiction, by comparison, seemed more like experimentation.
I definitely need to see this one again soon. There's so much to absorb. I could go on about the camera work, the spotting, the music, and all that, but you should come to expect incredible attention to detail in those areas by now. If you're one of those people who likes to notice details in a movie, I suspect that you'll enjoy watching it several times, as I'm predicting I will.
Enjoy folks!
umdesch4
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Monday, April 19, 2004
Strange World (revisited)
I took a closer look at that website from a few posts back, figuring it just *had* to be an ad for a movie or something. Sure enough, I found a link kinda buried in there. It looks like a cool movie too. Check out the site at www.godsendthemovie.com, and if you prefer to watch the trailer in Quicktime instead of the crappy formats there, go here.
See you at the movies!
umdesch4
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Sunday, April 18, 2004
Adjusting the Scales
Microtonal music is something I've wanted to get into for a long time, and I think I might get started soon, because I'm looking for some really different ideas. The concept is fairly simple, but not one that most people (even musicians) think about. If you're curious, check out this page:
John Starrett's Microtonal Music Page
A lot of the links are dead, but a couple of the mp3 examples that still work (that I like too) are here and here.
Enjoy!
umdesch4
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Saturday, April 17, 2004
Strange World
Not much news from me lately, as I've spent the last couple of days in bed with a nasty flu. In the bit of web-surfing I've done lately, I stumbled upon this: http://www.godsendinstitute.org
Now is it just me? I'm not sure whether this is a scam, a joke, or legit. Hence, I'm not sure whether to be annoyed, amused, or disturbed. Judge for yourself.
umdesch4
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Thursday, April 15, 2004
Track 6
Alright people, I was going to emulate a crappy blog today by telling you all about what they were serving in the cafeteria today at work, what I had for lunch, what gossip Marilyn was saying about Brian, and do it all with no punctuation and bad spelling...but I'll spare you.
Instead, I'll mention an interesting observation I made a few years ago. Take a CD you're currently listening to (assuming you listen to CDs), and check out track 6. I bet it's one of the better tracks on the CD...like the second big single released off the album, or whatever. Seems to be some kind of pattern.
Anyway, I'm sicker than a dog, so that's all for now. I'm going to bed...
umdesch4
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Sapphire
Not much news from me today, but a really nifty story on Slashdot about this chemical called Sapphire that's just like water, except it doesn't get things wet. Weird, but cool for putting out fires without water damaging everything in the process, I suppose. Check it out here:
Sapphire
Click where it says "Slideshow: Liquid in action on Good Morning America" to see some funky demonstration pix.
Enjoy!
umdesch4
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Windows PC Security
The 4 components of properly securing a Windows PC are:
1. Firewall (Free Sygate Personal Firewall here: http://smb.sygate.com/download/download.php?pid=spf ) It might be a pain to see all those confirmation messages for the first few days, but after that it's transparent. When in doubt, do a Google search on the program name before allowing it access to the Internet, and see if it really *should* be doing what it's doing.
2. Virus Checker (Free AVG checker here: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ) Updates are required. No matter what virus checker you use, it's only as good as the most recent virus definitions file. AVG updates automatically, but it doesn't hurt to go into it every once in a while and make sure those updates are working properly.
3. Spyware/Adware/Malware Checker (Free Ad-Aware here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ ) Same rule applies as for #2...keep it updated. This is not as critical as with virus checkers, but new spyware is released fairly often as well.
4. Windows Update (download and install all critical patches from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ ) Most of the crap out there exploits security holes in Windows that have already had patches available for months. If you do this update check *at least* once a month, most of the truly nasty stuff will sail right past you.
Take the time to set up those things, and acquire a very basic understanding of how they work, and you will never have to doubt your PC security...unless someone breaks into your house and steals it.
umdesch4
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Cadbury Mini Eggs (the sequel)
I was in the grocery store this evening, and decided to find some Cadbury Mini Eggs on sale, so I could see if they still put TiO2 in them. Well, apparently they don't, but now it says 'colorant (tartrazine)' in the ingredients. Google for tartrazine, and the first link you'll see is Tartrazine
So in short...industrial waste produced from coal tar, used in tons of things, must be clearly labeled in US, banned in Australia and Norway, linked to asthma, migranes, tyroid cancer, lupus...yummy!
Well, that's just great. I guess ignorance is truly bliss, so I won't be looking up any more chemicals online, or I might end up starving to death.
umdesch4
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TiO2
Get any Cadbury Mini Eggs for Easter? I assume they still make those...
Anyway, if you did, take a look at the ingredients. I remember finding it odd that there was a listing in there for Titanium Dioxide. Not really anything to be alarmed about, I guess, since it's in stuff like white paint, sunblock, and toothpaste. But just to show how easy it can be to freak yourself out on the internet, look at this:
Titanium Dioxide
...then send me the Mini Eggs you don't feel like eating anymore. ;)
umdesch4
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Sunday, April 11, 2004
Another 1 minute tune.
Here's the latest. The 'orchestral theme' for the movie theatre section of the upcoming Northern Dragons Pilgrimage Invitation. Still a work in progress, but you can get an idea of how it's going.
PILINV3.mp3
Enjoy!
umdesch4
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Blogger Rocks!
Ok, I'm impressed. I get this blog hosting done through www.blogger.com, and it's all free, with the sole condition that there's a banner ad at the top of the page. I was ok with the banner ad at first, but now I'm actually thinking it's way cooler than I could have predicted.
I'm looking at it now, and it's got links for White noise machines, and some kind of tone generator. It must have picked that idea up from my post about White noise (below). Cool or what? Every time I refresh, I either get something related to audio, or cooking (from the 'steak' post, I guess). Ain't technology great?
umdesch4
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
Marketing Idea
Feel free to use this one, but please let me know if you do, because I want to 'experience' the results for myself...
I've been in the hospital a couple of times this week, visiting Cara (who seems to be recovering well, if a little shaky today), and I found something really interesting.
They have this stuff in all the washrooms that I'll refer to as ANTIBACTERIAL FOAM HAND SOAP (because I'm pretty sure that's what it is actually called). You push the tab thing on the dispenser, and a quantity of foam not unlike shaving cream, if a little lighter, plops into your hand.
It's great stuff, and has some heavy-duty anti-bacterial chemicals in it like Triclosan, Chloroxylenol, or Benzalkonium Chloride. You can smell it right away under that soap-ish fragrance they mix in, and it feels cold in your hand. So I was thinking...
What if they made something like that, but instead of soap, they put flavouring in it (like strawberry, or maybe chocolate), and instead of some unpronouncable chemical, the put good old-fashioned alcohol in it?
Man, would that ever be awesome! You could spray some on top of drinks like whipped cream, except it would be lighter, like latte foam, highly alcoholic, and interestingly flavoured.
I'd buy it!!!
umdesch4
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Better Steak?
I was reading a magazine article last night about the science of cooking. There was some pretty hardcore stuff in there...including the results of a series of computer simulations to model cooking steak. Apparently, they determined that, contrary to common practice, it was better to cook steaks by flipping them every 15 to 30 seconds, than to cook them by only flipping them once.
They tested this theory at some kind of conference with a bunch of world-class chefs, and they were unanimous that the results were significantly better.
Something to try when you're at the barbeque this summer. If you do, let me know how it turns out!
umdesch4
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Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Cara's Surgery
Not much news from me, but Cara's going for hip replacement surgery in a few hours, so send some positive energy in her direction if you happen to read this.
Oh yeah, and for those of you who were involved in the discussion the other day about being afraid of Americans, here's that link I was talking about: Maher Arar
umdesch4
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Sunday, April 04, 2004
Here Come the Lawyers!
Look out fellow Canadians!
Read this: Facing the Music
Then go comment here: Helene Scherrer
...and perhaps follow the discussion here: Slashdot discussion
My comments to Helene said:
Please be very careful when making changes to Canadian Copyright legislation. As an employee of [you know where], I obviously have an interest in protecting our ability to sell CDs, but if we see changes that allow the CRIA to mimic the strong-arm tactics of the RIAA in the US, we're heading in the wrong direction. Please don't let it happen here!
umdesch4
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Friday, April 02, 2004
Noise Colours
Time for some content...
If you've ever done any kind of audio work at all, you've probably heard about 'white noise'. White noise is simply the result of a 'truly' random signal, and because of this it has equal sound energy at every frequency. It's the sound you hear when you tune between radio stations, or a tv channel with no signal. Neat, and easy to generate, but not too exciting.
Similar to light, noise can actually be described in a system of colours. Obviously, because white noise is an equal mix of all frequencies, it's considered to be like white light...a blend of all frequencies of light radiation.
Of course, this leads to the possibility of having other colours of noise. Possibly the most useful one is 'pink noise'. Instead of a completely equal distribution across all frequencies, it has an equal distribution across all musical octaves.
A quick aside to explain this a little. Take, for example, concert 'A', which is 440 Hz (or cycles per second, usually cycles of shifting air columns that hit our ear drums and we end up calling sound). The musical 'A' below concert A is 220 Hz, and the A above it is 880 Hz. A quick bit of math shows you that the range of frequencies in the lower octave is 220, and the range for the next octave is 440. Above that would be 880, and so on... What this means is that each octave has double the number of frequencies as the octave below it.
So, in order to have a constant amount of power in each octave, you actually need to have half the amount of power *at each frequency* as you go up from one octave to the next. As you would expect, this ends up rolling off the high end, so pink noise sounds a little 'duller' than pure white noise.
As an audio engineer, trying to tune a room, you might pump pink noise through the sound system, and monitor the results using an RTA (Real-Time Analyser). Then you would tweak your EQ settings at each octave until they're all balanced. Very useful!
There is a whole rainbow of other noise types out there, and 'brown' which is apparently useful, and is supposed to simulate Brownian motion...go figure.
I suspect that I'd probably really love 'green noise', but I can't honestly say I've heard it yet.
umdesch4
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Some Rights Reserved
Ok, so I added a Creative Commons license to this blog. Please click through and take a quick look. If you're interested in this sort of thing (and you should be if you create anything online or even in the 'real world'), check out this comic strip: Creative Commons Licenses Explained
You can even do a 'view source' on this page and check out the 'rdf' section near the bottom to see what the machine-readable version of the license looks like.
Man, what a cool idea!
umdesch4
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Thursday, April 01, 2004
Green
Ok, so it's green now. That's about it for today. ;)
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