Rumblings

Cue Theremin and synthesizer dirge...

2005-08-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

Robert Moog has passed away after battling a brain tumor for several months. He is generally considered the inventor of the analog synthesizer, heard in the late sixties on everything from Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach to the Beatles' Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

Though the analog synthesizer (complex, hard to tune and keep that way, limited sound palette) has mostly given way to the digital synthesizer (simpler, computer-controlled through MIDI, easy to change the sound by changing samples), there is still a demand for that "old school" analog sound as found on albums like Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd--though the synthesizer used there was the British-made Putney VCS-3, which has a sound all its own. Check out the Moog Cookbook CDs (an acquired taste, but great stuff) for some entertaining aural landscapes.

It should also be mentioned that the synthesizer did not spring full-blown from Mr. Moog's mind like Athena from the head of Zeus, but has its antecedents going back as far as the electronic musical instrument known as the Theremin (as used on the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations--check out this excellent documentary)--in fact, Moog's current company still makes them.

Another major influence on the Moog synthesizer was the electronic work of his one-time mentor, Harry Warnow--still practically unknown as the composer Raymond Scott--whose music was used by Carl Stalling in countless Warner Bros cartoons under license; for example: his most famous composition, Powerhouse (MP3 sample clip) appears in more than 35 Warner Brothers cartoons itself. Mr. Warnow built synthesizers and sequencers that were primarily used for sound effects in commercials (MP3 sample clip), though he did design other instruments.

Another interesting bit of Raymond Scott trivia: Johnny Williams, his Quintette drummer--the drummer on the Powerhouse sample linked above--was the father of John Williams, the Star Wars composer. You can definitely hear the influence, especially on tunes like the Cantina Band sequence from the first Star Wars film.

Classic illustration

2005-07-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this image over a friend's fireplace about 35 years ago, I was fascinated. In spite of its rather florid graphic style and overt sentimentality (maybe that's part of its appeal?), the play of light, the androgeny of the figures, and the overall composition intrigued me. It took quite a bit of research to find out more about the artist, Maxfield Parrish.

Nowadays, we have the Internet--and research like this is much easier. For example, it was not until researching for this post did I discover that the print I saw and linked to at the beginning actually is supposed to look more like this.

Parrish's teacher was Howard Pyle, whose work was clearly influenced by the work of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood--though he may well have protested otherwise, I'm sure--and whose work inspired a number of other illustrators and painters.

What does this have to do with technology? It was musing on the process of rotogravure--which allowed newspapers to print their Sunday supplements in color starting in the period around World War I and brought color illustrations to the masses on a weekly basis, often in an advertising context. Magazine and advertising illustrations brought the work of Parrish and N.C. Wyeth to a mass audience in new ways.

Besides, I like this stuff...

A Rumbling Manifesto

2005-07-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

While I may be of a technical bent (yes, I'm bent--but not twisted, I swear!) this is not primarily a tech blog (that would be this one). Yes, I'm an electronic technician, computer teacher, and technical writer--but I'm usually much more interested in how technology impacts people. It's also fun to speculate about the future--for example, what will the long-term effects of buckyballs and nanotubes be on human culture?

I dropped out of engineering school in the late '60s because I felt the prevailing attitude was too much people for the machines and not machines for the people; if there was a poor fit you bent the people to fit the machine, not the other way around. Part of my initial interest in computers was that I viewed them as a near-infinitely-malleable machine--potentially programmable to the Nth degree.

The present problem is that we have what has mostly become a computer monoculture of IBM PC-compatible machines running Microsoft Windows, to the point that most people wind up viewing the failings and flaws of Windows as problems with computers and the Internet in general--when this is (usually) not the case. Viruses, spyware, adware, and (to a lesser extent) worms are almost entirely a consequence of using the Windows operating system and not an inevitable part of the computer experience. People are being bent (and twisted) to the Windows Way of doing things and do not have as much control over their PCs as they should. Digital rights management (DRM) is a looming problem, as well. Once again, control is slipping out of the hands of the average user. How can we take it back?

Admittedly, a learning curve with computers is not entirely avoidable. Using a computer will never be like driving a car--it's more akin to learning a language. Think about the massive complexities of the English language, yet we still communicate effectively every day, for the most part. :-) Still, you don't normally have to refer to a dictionary or encyclopedia every thirty seconds to speak!

It shouldn't have to be this hard. To get around some of these problems, I mostly use Linux. I don't necessarily think that everyone else should use Linux, too--yet--as it's not quite ready-for-prime-time, though it's very close. To my mind, the Apple Macintosh is not the ultimate solution either--though based on an open source BSD version, it's too proprietary. At present, as in the past, Microsoft is readying a new version of Windows, currently code-named Longhorn (now Vista)--and, as in the past, promised features are being jettisoned to keep it afloat, like a blimp sinking with a slow leak. There's no way of telling at this point what previously-promised features will actually make it to the finished product--or, at this point, what the actual release date will be.

Frankly, I don't know what the ultimate solution to these problems will be--but I promise that I will share any useful gleanings that I find along the way. Not all problems are solvable, but there may be ways of avoiding them or making them easier to live with.

The Secret History of Personal Computers

2005-07-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

In some ways, I have been pretty fortunate to be in the right places at the right times when it came to the development of personal computing.

It all started around March of 1974. At the time, I had been working as an electronic technician (TV/audio repair, sound systems) for about ten years. My friend Roger Gregory (scroll down to chapter six) showed me a book: Computer Lib/Dream Machines by Ted Nelson. Knowing Roger as the genius he is--combined with my knowledge that Intel had recently introduced the first primitive microprocessors--I realized that the first personal computers were probably less than 2 years away.

My knowledge of computers of any kind was pretty minimal at the time, but it was exciting--though I didn't really have any way to learn about computers then, as I was pretty minimally employed (a recurring problem I have never fully resolved) and didn't have much of a research budget. I did read whatever I could lay my hands on, however; when the Altair 8800 computer kit was announced in the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics magazine (but not shipped in any quantity until after the second article the following December), I knew, to paraphrase the immortal words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, that "the game was afoot."

I will be writing more on this later as a series of articles--including virtually-unknown information on the development of such well-known computers as the IBM PC and the Macintosh, as well as lesser-known computers such as the Amiga and Atari ST (some of the information in this article is not totally accurate)--which I will link to from here. Some of it will be moderately technical, but I will do my best to not leave useful nuggets in a dry heap. I intend to give the information a meaningful context so you can have some idea of "how we got here" in personal computing.

I will leave you with one teaser, though: the original Macintosh was never intended to be a computer--and leave it at that, for now.

Thought for Today

2005-07-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so dis-oriented, I can't even eat Chinese food!

Tweaks for Geeks

2005-07-03T03:45:00.000-07:00

Tradeoffs abound when making electronics for the mass market. These days, most of the effort goes to cost reduction. As soon as an electronic product is "good enough" most of the remaining effort goes into squeezing out the last nickel (or less). This trend homogenizes the products in the marketplace, especially since many of the products come out of the same Chinese contract-manufacturer factories (as well as the parts that go into them). An early example of electronic cost-reduction is the story of Earl "Madman" Muntz and his television sets (the article includes a discussion of the "science" of cost reduction).

Combined with the trends toward increased manufacturing capacity, integrated microprocessors, and containerized shipping and handling, this has led to some spectacular increases in the value-for-dollar of electronic equipment over time. This trend is covered in a more general sense in the article Time Well Spent--but I'm aiming for the relatively specific here.

To give you a handle on this trend: in 1952, a TV set cost between about $200 and $300, which got you a 20" diagonal black-and-white screen (what we would now call 19"). When adjusted for inflation, this is $2,200 in today's money--which would buy you a 40" HDTV receiver in color and full stereo sound today. Furthermore, the 1952 model used vacuum tubes--which were inefficient, wore out, and often had to be replaced, an expensive proposition.

Perhaps an even greater example of this trend is the VCR. In 1978, a big, bulky (so it could be assembled on a primitive robotic assembly line) Panasonic VHS VCR cost about $1000--about $2,800 in today's dollars. I just bought a decent Funai VCR for $42, about 1.5% of the earlier price--but it's also built much more cheaply. Now you see why I'm not a TV repairman anymore...

The point of this post (you were hoping there was one, right?) is that it is now possible to put value back into some cheap electronics after the fact. For those of you who know how to wield a soldering iron, swapping out the cheap parts used in some equipment for better-quality components can bring big benefits. The article Tweaks for Geeks gives an excellent example: taking a $150 DVD player, adding $100 in parts, and getting the equivalent performance of a $1500+ player. There may be a use for my electronic skills yet!

Thought for Today

2005-07-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

"Many people think I'm crazy--and some of them are right!"

Insect photography -- a bug's-eye view

2005-07-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

My friend Rick Lieder just sent me a link to a website of his I had not seen before, Bug Dreams. I have always enjoyed his art, including his book covers and magazine illustrations. His photography and paintings are perhaps a bit off-beat--but certainly deep, evocative, and often highly-charged with emotion; the bug photography is surprisingly colorful, involving, and suffused with a sense of light and heightened awareness. A bug may not have much of a brain, but it's certainly "plugged into" its environment in ways our more-highly-evolved human consciousness has left behind on its way to the top of the evolutionary ladder--and you can feel it here.

Thought for Today

2005-06-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

The biggest problem with making up your mind is figuring out where to apply the rouge.

Social bookmarking

2005-06-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Personalizing the Internet: Blogs was the title of a recent presentation I gave to the Oak Park Computer Club--it was one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place. I will link to the finished article when it's ready. Technorati is a very useful blog-oriented real-time search tool.

One of the trends that's personalizing the Internet in a big way is social networking. There are several aspects to this worthy of mention, including networking sites such as Orkut (a Google affiliate), MySpace, and Friendster; there are also photo-sharing sites such as Flickr (now owned by Yahoo!). RSS figures in there too.

The main thrust of this post, however, is the recent rise of social bookmarking (article). One of the abiding problems of the Internet as we know it is the aspect known as the deep Web--that is, the hidden parts of the Internet unseen by search engines such as Google or Yahoo! Search. While some of these problems are addressed by the Teoma search engine and moderated sites like About.com, social bookmarks take a more-direct and broader-based approch to the problem, allowing users to post hyperlinks where they can be shared, if desired; once something is found, it can be added to the "memory pool" and searched as needed. One of the first and best-known of these sites is del.icio.us, but there are others--including Furl and del.irio.us--that offer similar services.

In the future, whenever possible, I will post appropriate groups of links to del.icio.us and link there. Many of my favorite links are already available on the Web--see the OPCC Links listed on the right sidebar. I will also start cross-posting these to del.icio.us shortly.

Since I mentioned Flickr in passing, here's a good example of its usefulness.

Thought for Today

2005-06-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

"I may be Master of the Obvious, but it's good to be master of something!"

Virtual Fireworks

2005-06-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

If you feel like you didn't get enough fireworks this year, don't fret--you can make your own! This Java-based animation allows users to point-and-click their own fireworks over a New York skyline. Very cool!

My favorite Web comic

2005-06-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

As it has been for some time, Pibgorn is my favorite Web comic.

It's a web-only comic strip built around a love triangle unlike any other. Pibgorn, a renegade fairy, has fallen in love with Geoff, a mortal man--but Drusilla, Geoff's ex-girlfriend who also loves him, turns out to be a succubus in disguise (she's not really evil--just sort of, ahhh... single-minded, shall we say). After an initial struggle, there's a truce between Pib and Dru (Dru still loves Geoff, and she can't hurt Pib without hurting him), their powers complement each other, so they mostly cooperate. Much magical mayhem ensues--Drusilla has a past that catches up to them, Pib is captured by fairy-hating Men in Black, etc.

It's funny, thoughtful, and amusingly bizarre. The stylized art is appropriate to the subject, as well. Start as far back as you can, it's just a few panels into the new story as I write this.

Mathematics, science, and art

2005-06-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

The intersection of math, science, and art has some interesting landmarks--among them art based on fractals (fractional dimensions), including those mathematically derived from the Mandelbrot and Julia sets and Sierpinski gaskets. These mathematical constructs often mimic features of the natural world such as coastlines, clouds, and weather patterns.

Science can also provide a surprising and unexpected aesthetic beauty. An example of this are these microphotographs of beer.

Tesselations are math-based art created by a human hand. From the inlaid tile mosaics of the Alhambra to the work of M. C. Escher and Roger Penrose, it's clear that the mind's eye is always decorating surfaces in creative ways.

Arcs 'n' sparks

2005-06-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Some high-voltage hijinks, both man-made and natural. As a long-time electronic technician, I've gotten my share of jolts--what we used to jokingly refer to as "shaking hands with Reddy Kilowatt"--but never anything quite as energetic as the stuff shown here.

The Teslamania site is also a good source of information on Nikola Tesla (and here), one of the all-time unsung heroes of modern science--without whom the modern world would be a much different place. Why unsung? There are a number of reasons, including his eccentricities and the undying enmity of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. A fascinating story...

Robot car ads

2005-06-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

A while back, I sent out a link to a car commercial featuring a Transformer-like dancing Citroen. For those of you who may not have seen that mail, here is that link again (Yahoo.uk).

An excellent parody video has been released (scroll down for the link to the video). Although the parody was a short-term evening-and-weekend project--as opposed to the original's slick, professional animation and production values--the parody is effective, funny, and surprisingly well-made. Even Citroen was amused...

I highly recommend right-clicking on the links and saving them as files for smoothest playback, especially if you are on dial-up. WinAmp (free) works better than Windows Media Player (WMP) for playback, as some versions of WMP have a bug that horizontally "squishes" the first video somewhat. VLC also works well for this under both Windows and Linux.

The parody stands alone, but it's funnier if you have seen the original. Enjoy!

"Superman is a dick"

2005-06-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

Funny, funny, funny--inspired by the meme "Superman is a dick"--a collection of truly (and wonderfully) bizarre and/or stupid comic book covers, mostly Superman-related. As the comment I saw stated, "Time, prepare to be wasted."

The image galleries are where the action is...

Introduction

2005-05-22T23:51:00.000-07:00

I started this blog because I wanted to see how it would come out and see who would actually visit. I think I have something to share--your comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

You will soon see that my interests are wide-ranging and varied. I hope my perspectives are unusual enough (at least, at times) that readers might look at things just a bit differently having read them. Art, comics, music, pop culture, science, science fiction, computers, and people are all grist for the mill, but I hope not to just grind on to the point of boredom, either mine--or yours...