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Bump
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Oct. 15th, 2009 @ 03:00 pm
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Still alive & kicking!
S**********s Productions is almost a reality. Paperwork is coming together. Website, sort of.
Formal operations set to begin on January 1, but we are still recording our guinea pig band. They're so patient with us (and we with them).
Exciting times. Hangin' with young guys, listening to live music in my house, staying up late, drinking gallons of coffee.
I need to make some money on this! |
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What have I been up to?
This:
Sxxxxxxxxxxs Recording
(The name is not final.)
This will likely be the name of my recording studio. I'm the high roller. Joe's the artistic director, and our friend, Tony is the producer. (Titles are meaningless & subject to change.)
A large swath of our house has been turned into a recording studio, complete with vocal booth, live room, control room, equipment racks, amps, keyboards, computers, booms, guitars-a-plenty, mics by the dozen & cables by the score.
Bastrop, Texas, it seems, has quite a music scene. Overflow from Austin, perhaps? What it doesn't have too many of yet is studios.
That's where we come in.
What else?
Converting the boring incandescent rope light in my living room's ceiling into computer-controlled (and iPhone controlled) RGB LED light show.
Working on a secret project with the Robot Group of Austin.
And lots of other, boring stuff.Current Mood: accomplished |
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For some months, I've been wanting someone to compose an opera based on the events surrounding the tragic death of Major League Baseball pitcher Nick Adenhart.
Why does this drunk driving death rise to the level of an operatic tragedy?
Triumph, Hubris, Foolishness, Tragedy, Death
- Nick was a rising star, killed just after a brilliant performance in his first big-league baseball game.
- He and his friends were killed (allegedly) by an everyman.
- Every man in America NEEDS a car. NEEDS to drive. Public transportation in this country is mostly crap. This Everyman's life, if he is convicted, will be crap.
- Public transportation in this country is mostly crap because of the hubris of corporations, such as General Motors, and the men who hide behind them.
- General Motors has collapsed, in no small part because of its epic hubris.
- The United States of America and its economy is collapsing, in no small part because of General Motors.
The one opera composer I know IRL isn't interested. I guess he thinks the idea isn't worthy of Verdi? Still, it is a tragedy of our times, involving The Big Show, warriors, presidents, greed, vanity, sloth, gluttony, outrageous fortune, random dumb luck and Everyman.
Coming soon to an opera house near you! (I hope.) I'll be happy to consult with anyone who would care to try.
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I've built a remote bird detector, attached it to my backyard bird feeder. I'm now snapping hundreds of pics of the same birds over and over.
To do this, I've built Arduino-based microcontroller circuits with XBee wireless.
Instructions, circuits & code available. Plz ask.
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I've been subscribed to a BACN newsletter, Net-Temps Crossroads. It's about how to become a good little employee.
Today's message (linked above) is called "Interview Questions: Are You Manageable?"Knowing the technical aspects of your job isn’t enough to convince an interviewer you are the best person for the job. Interviewers evaluate your candidacy in a broader sense. They assess who you are as a person and whether you are manageable—that is, whether you have the traits that make you an easygoing and effective team member.
To make this determination, interviewers ask questions geared to your manageability. Below are a few questions that may be asked of you during an interview, along with a sample response for each.
Q. Give me a recent example of when you needed the assistance of your manager. The interviewer wants to know if you handle issues that arise on your own and....
I read it. Something inside of me snapped.
There's no way to respond directly, so I found the "Feedback" link. I responded thusly:RE: Interview Questions: Are You Manageable?
I don't blame the author for the content, simply stating facts, I suppose.
BUT, this sort of garbage is why I have removed myself from the technical workforce. Oh, occasionally, I do some consulting, but I can't make a living at it.
Companies, it seems, want a manageable workforce, capable of absorbing what passes for ethics & good ideas in the corporate world
Thinking like this is why the Governments of the US & China now own General Motors. Thinking like this is why much of the rest of the corporate world is following suit.
I've been a plant manager. I sought out the unmanageable, but highly intelligent applicants. They were responsible for great productivity gains. But, in the end, neither I nor the profits generated could protect their (and my) unmanageably from Corporate HQ, and my whole plant was sold for scrap.
I hope the poor, young souls who take this author's advice find something in life to give them a sense of purpose. It sure as heck won't be their jobs.
--David R. Treadwell, Ph.D.
I can hear you cringe. "Just get through the interview, dude!" "Chill! Get the job, then do what they say."
"No." says I. We need new ways to earn livings in this country. Our old system has been broken for a long time. We're just beginning to believe it now. Why? Money is now arbitrary. It is a poor metric for wealth and value. I wish I knew what to replace it with. The Marxists don't have any better idea than the Capitalists. And the Fascists? They just don't understand the meaning of life. Heck, none of us do.
This ingrained belief in the system (whomever you are) has led us to believe that we can survive as a super-specialized piece in a global society. We can't feed, clothe or house ourselves. Even if we got help from everyone we know, we couldn't do it. Maybe the Amish could, on second thought.
On third thought, maybe founding an Amish-style community wouldn't be such a bad idea. Except I want to use buttons. And someone else can slaughter the hogs to make the bacon.Current Mood:  discontent |
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I am building a MakerBot, which is a variant of the RepRap 3-D printer.
The build process is not without its snags, but a good time is being had by all.
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I don't know why I stay away from LJ. Really, I haven't fallen out of love with the long-form post.
It's just that I love my iPhone MORE, and therefore I twitter & facebook more.
What am I doing these days? Learning to build computerized stuff with Arduino. Building a formal garden in my back yard, getting the yard landscaped. Ignoring important commitments.
You know, the usual. |
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In case you're wondering where I've been, I've been on Facebook. Quick little tweets. Long blog posts are soooo 5 minutes ago. Updates:
Got a new Vizio 47" 1080p 120Hz TV & an AppleTV, hacked with Boxee.
Finally set up my lathe. Now, if I could find the oil can and several attachments, I could use it. My A2 house almost was shown. Too much snow forces a cancellation. :( Joe & I had out 2-year anniversary. My baby sister turned 40. :( That's about it for now. Come visit!!!
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Quick update: after 4 months, I'm making progress in the house.
• The lathe is being set up in the garage.
• By the end of the year, I might actually be able to park my car in the garage, too.
• I actually talked to helpful customer service reps from AT&T. I will soon have DSL here and not in Michigan. Sorry I have been absent from LJ; I'm more often on Facebook. Rest Ye Merry in the New Year!
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It's that special night of the year, when the Great Beethoven rises in the concert hall he judges to be the most sincere. May all the good boys & girls out there get all of the music & concert tickets they want. Me? I just want peace on earth. Oh, and a decent recording of The Great Beethoven's symphony cycle. Are there any good ones out there, or did Herbert von Karajan ruin then for all time? Anyway, Bonn Beethovenmas to all, and to all good music. 
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That's how I feel. I'm sick yet again. This time, it's a common cold, most likely caught last week while I was giving a series of guest lectures. I have neither then energy nor the enthusiasm to post full stories about the following:
- Attending the funeral of my dear high-school friend, Ann.
- Giving a series of guest lectures at a local middle school on the Periodic Table. I brought samples of each element in my collection. A good time was had by all.
- Preparing a Thanksgiving feast for Joe, my sisters, nephews, brother-in-law & father. It's a shame we didn't all get together to eat, but that's yet another story.
I'd like to think that I'll get around to writing these entries, but it probably won't happen. Feel free to ask.Current Mood:  sick |
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My new house is new; built in 2006. It seems to be rather energy-efficient, but I've had to replace almost every light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb. Not every fixture can accept the larger size of some CFL bulbs.
Down to Home Depot I trudged to buy replacement outdoor triple flood light fixtures. Simple, right? Well, no.
Each socket assembly comes with a self-tapping grounding screw. Except that it doesn't self-tap. I needed a real tap. 12 sockets * 2 minutes per socket = 24 minutes; + 30 minutes to buy a new tap after I broke off one in a socket. Cutting & affixing a ground wire to each socket. 12 sockets * 0.5 minutes per socket = 6 minutes. Wimpy threading on angle adjustment stripped on four of the sockets. Simple fix with a new, larger bolt, plus tapping. 4 sockets * 4 minutes per socket = 16 minutes. One socket came with wires that had been crimped & the insulation cut at the angle adjustment point; these had to be insulated with heat-shrink tubing. Time: 5 minutes. Cross-threaded or poorly threaded mounting threads on two sockets. 2 sockets * 5 minutes per socket = 10 minutes.
Total time for repair of shoddy or incomplete workmanship: 91 minutes
Time to assemble socket assemblies after this work was done: 4 socket assemblies * 5 minutes per assembly = 20 minutes. Time to install assemblies: 4 assemblies * 5 minutes per assembly = 20 minutes; + 5 minutes set-up + 5 minutes clean-up = 50 minutes.
Total job time: 141 minutes, 182% longer than it should have been.
The sockets were manufactured by an American company, but assembled in Mexico. I'm not blaming the workers, but far too many manufacturers use Free Trade as an excuse to build shoddy merchandise. There's no reason for the ground screw hole to not be tapped, no reason for the adjustment screw threads to strip. No reason for poorly-formed threads. No excuse for the cut wires.
How many customers will take the time to assemble these correctly?Current Mood: puzzled Current Music: Puccini: Turandot; Sutherland, Pavarotti, Mehta |
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Desk
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Nov. 8th, 2008 @ 09:14 pm
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I still haven't bought my next round of Ikea furniture. I've been a bit under-the-weather lately.
As such, my desk is busy & cluttered. The state of it amused Joe so much he snapped this pic:
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Ok, so he won. Good. <insert fanfare here>
- Will he dismantle the Military-Industrial Complex?
- Will he dismantle the War On Drugs?
- Will he give back the power the Presidency took from the Congress in the name of the War On Terror?
- Will he give us back our Civil Liberties?
If not, nothing has changed.Current Mood:  amused |
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Back from Texas. Ann Arbor house still not done. This week? I hope so. It had best be on the market soon; by then end of next week, it'll be six-feet deep in snow drifts. Such are the winters in Ann Arbor. Well, almost.
Greeting me in today's news, courtesy of Computer World was a report from the U.S. Army's 304th Military Intelligence Battalion, posted on the Federation of American Scientists website. The Inteli-types see Twitter, and similar microblogging services, as severe security threats. Terrorists, you know. They're everywhere.
The most prominent example provided was that of a non-violent protest of the Republican National Convention earlier this fall, "Activist Use of Twitter for Law Enforcement Counter
Surveillance and Movement Coordination at the most recent Republican National Convention (RNc)". Terrorists, you know. They're everywhere.
As of today, a PDF of the public bits of the report ("FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY") can be found here. Have a read. It's a hoot.
Anybody want to bet that there's already dynamite placed at the entrance to Twitter Tunnel and Blogging Bridge? When the Balloon Goes Up, don't count on public communications services. My advice: for a time, walkie-talkie-like devices should still work. Buy some, and buy a solar battery charger, too.Current Mood:  aggravated |
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Homeland Security to Change Airline Boarding Process
Fliers Will Have to Give More Info. to Airlines
A long-delayed U.S. government program designed to more accurately prescreen the names of airline passengers against terror watch lists is expected to start early next year.
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 22, 2008; 5:32 PM
The Department of Homeland Security will take responsibility from airlines for checking passenger names against watch lists beginning in January and will require all commercial passengers for the first time to provide their full name, date of birth and gender as a condition of boarding a flight, U.S. officials said today.
The changes will be phased in next year for the 2 million passengers each day aboard domestic and international flights to, from or over the United States. It marks the Bush administration's long-delayed fulfillment of a top aviation security priority identified after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, an effort that has long spurred privacy concerns.
Speaking at Reagan National Airport, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Transportation Security Administration chief Kip Hawley said that by gathering more personal information from passengers, the government will dramatically cut down on instances of mistaken identity that have wrongly delayed travelers or kept them off flights.
Over the years, countless travelers have faced difficulties because their names are similar to those on the agency's no-fly list or a second list of "selectees" identified for added questioning. They include infants and toddlers, Sen. Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy (D-Mass.), and the wife of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Catherine, whose name is similar to Cat Stevens, the former name of the watch-listed pop singer who converted to Islam.Current Mood: worried |
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The Maker Faire is this weekend! It is the cultural highlight of the year for geeks!
Come with me! I want company!!!
Look HERECurrent Mood: excited |
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A UPS carrier delivered my copy of The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.
Twenty pages into the book, I am already disgusted by the actions of the Bush Administration (and the Congress of the United States of America) which I see laid out in the book.
I am ready for action, so here it is: I will buy a copy of this book (or audio book, should you wish) for the first 10 individuals who ask (who, at my discretion, I believe will likely read it, and can be reached by Amazon.com). Offer expires on Inauguration Day. It may be too late by then.
 Current Mood: worried |
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The Army Times reports that U.S. Army troops are being deployed on United States soil. Part of their stated mission is
They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
This doesn't sound like the activities of an army in the traditional sense. It sounds to me like the activities of a personal strike force for supporting a coup d'etat. Read on...
Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart and includes specialty tasks such as knowing how to use the “jaws of life” to extract a person from a mangled vehicle; extra medical training for a CBRNE incident; and working with U.S. Forestry Service experts on how to go in with chainsaws and cut and clear trees to clear a road or area.
The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
I don't know about you, but I've been unruly a few times in my life. I guess I'm on their list.
What can we do? Watch this short video.
Peace.Current Music: REM: It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) |
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Businesses that routinely punish and mistreat customers are generally driven out of business. Why are airlines exempt from this?Current Mood: aggravated |
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Zeitgeist: The Movie has been updated.
Please, I beg you all to watch. It is becoming more and more difficult to disregard the message this movie has for every human.
--David
Current Mood:  contemplative |
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Contrary to popular opinion, the sky has not, in fact, fallen. At least not as of last night.
It seems that the stars at night are still big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas. For instance, this shot of the Andromeda Galaxy, taken without the aid of a telescope. Just my telephoto lens pointed at about where I thought it should be in the sky.
The short smudges moving from left to right in the picture are stars. The apparent motion of the celestial sphere during the 20 second exposure accounts for the smudging.
The Andromeda Galaxy is the larger smudge near the center of the picture, spread out roughly orthogonally to the star smudges.
As soon as I sell my house in Michigan, I want to buy a telescope. My neighborhood has a sports field which will make an ideal place to set up shop.
Details: Canon EOS 40D with Canon Zoom Lens EF 70-300mm IS USM, roughly 21° FOV long axis, 10° after crop. 20 sec exposure (tripod with remote release cable) f 4.0. Post processing: Light Room 2.0, Grayscale, Red, Orange & Yellow only, 25% sharpening 1.0 px, Noise reduction: 80 Luminance 56 Color, Contrast curve: Lights +90 Darks +39 Shadows -45.Current Mood: impressed |
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Becky warned me: Get organized right from the start, otherwise you never will.
She's right, of course. We've been in this house for a month. My office is still a mess. Partially, that's because there's no basement in this house. That means that the bookcases need to look nice. And that means yet another trip to Ikea. Here's a peek in the office tonight:
And here is the plan of what I want:
I'll need to buy the desks in the center and two more "Billy" units and the "Effectiv" unit... and height extensions... and doors. Total cost: a 50 minute drive to Round Rock, Texas, $2116 + Tax and an hour trip home with stuff tied to the roof. This might even take two trips.
Still, I can see light at the end of the exercise. If done carefully, I might not have to commandeer one of the spare bedrooms as my science room. The glass & stainless table tops, plus one table that tilts, should give me a versatile workspace.
The house has 9-½ to 10-foot ceilings throughout. That's wasted space. What the plan doesn't show are the four wall-mounted "Billy" units above the doors & windows. I've always wanted a library with so many books that I needed a ladder. I'm getting my wish, and I couldn't be happier.
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