Placebo Effect Found in Spinal Nerves

Another example of the power of suggestion.

Excerpt from a slashdot article: "The researchers who made the discovery scanned the spinal cords of volunteers while applying painful heat to one arm. Then they rubbed a cream onto the arm and told the volunteers that it contained a painkiller, but in fact it had no active ingredient. Even so, the cream made spinal-cord neural activity linked to pain vanish. 'This type of mechanism has been envisioned for over 40 years for placebo analgesia,' says Donald Price, a neuroscientist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, who was not involved in the new study. 'This study provides the most direct test of this mechanism to date.'"

If the body can change that significantly on suggestion alone, then to me this just reinforces the powers of other forms of suggestion that people claim work. Things like prayer, homeopathic medicine and feeling the spirit.

2012 Date Completely Debunked

The other day I noticed a slashdot article about how the 2012 date is off by 208 years, meaning that the Mayan calendar recycles in 2220. So then I started reading the comments to see if there was anymore info about it. Within the comments, I found a link to an even older article that is a conversation with a Mayan expert who is reporting the same thing.

To put a knife in the subject, not only is the 2012 date wrong, but Mayans don't think the world will end at all. There is no evidence that Mayans think there ever will be a doomsday. Mayans have a fucked up time system just like ours. Like clockwork, the calendar starts over because that's how it was designed. It's the same principle as the big hand on our clock striking 12 twice a day but calculated very differently.

With all the spiritual people worshiping the 2012 year and the big budget film hitting soon, it's funny to reminisce on all the wasted time and effort on an urban legend that was twice wrong.

Environmental Impact of Pets

From the article Save the planet: eat a dog?

The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found.

Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living.

The couple have assessed the carbon emissions created bypopular pets, taking into account the ingredients of pet food and the land needed to create them.

"If you have a German shepherd or similar-sized dog, for example, its impact every year is exactly the same as driving a large car around," Brenda Vale said.

"A lot of people worry about having SUVs but they don't worry about having Alsatians and what we are saying is, well, maybe you should be because the environmental impact ... is comparable."

read the full article here »

Self Referring Statements

"I really hate people that people that complain"

...more statements to be added here as I find them.

Pro Tools 8 [tips & tricks]

Professional video tutorial (1 hour):
An extensive Pro Tools 8 video tutorial that is only $10 from www.Multi-Platinum.com is a really great resource to learn more.


Additional online video tutorials:
Overview - http://www.vimeo.com/1872172
Midi Editor - http://www.vimeo.com/1932414
Score Editor - http://www.vimeo.com/2121604
Zooming 1 - http://www.vimeo.com/1587043
Zooming 2 - http://www.vimeo.com/1587189


Tips & Tricks:
At the bottom of this post is a list of the most common and useful key commands and tips (for me) for making Pro Tools 8 efficient to use.


The twisting knife of Digidesign:
It took hitting some walls to realize these things:
1. There is no built-in metronome. In order to make one, you have to create a new track for it, and add a plugin that generates the clicks. As I understand it, this is a legacy practice from the old mixing console days. One benefit to it is that you now have the power to change the volume or have multiple types of metronomes for various parts of a track. This is great when your recording quite and loud parts together, since mic's pick up the click track in headphones in a quite recording.
2. If you use an external drive, it must be a firewire hard drive that is formated with Mac Extended Journaled.
3. You must use Digidesign or M-Audio hardware when ever you use Pro Tools. Unlike every other DAW like Logic, you can't just hang out and edit your mix without being plugged into an external sound card of some kind. If you do need to move around, M-Audio is a better choice for the price.
4. Mbox is not the same as M-Audio.
5. M-Powered Pro Tools only works with M-Audio devices and Pro Tools LE only works with Digidesign/MBox devices.
6. What am I missing? Got any others you can share with the group??


There is still good in the world:
Even with the draconian tactics that Digidesign employs, the good things outweigh the bad (what it feels like to be mad and relieved at the same time).

After watching these tutorials and practicing the key commands for half a day, I was more fluid within Pro Tools in one day than I ever was in the year I used Logic. Not only was I faster at the basics, but the track comping features & midi editor themselves are the best ones I have ever used.

===============================================================
===============================================================

All Key Commands
http://www.keyxl.com/aaac31a/263/DigiDesign-ProTools-7-keyboard-shortcuts.htm


Main Edit Window
Cmnd+E Separate Region at Selection
Cmnd+H Heal Separation
Cmnd+Shift+Selection Insert Silence
Option+A Zoom to fit all horizontally
Cmnd+Option+Ctrl+Down Zoom to fit all vertically
Cmnd+] or t Zoom in
Cmnd+[ or r Zoom out
F6+F7 or F7+F8 Smart selection tool
Cmnd (while dragging) Temporarily disables grid mode
Cmnd+Shift+E+selection Insert silence (make sure SHUFFLE & GRID mode are on)
Cmnd+Shift+L Toggle loop playback selection (temporary)
Ctrl+Cmnd+P Toggle loop playback selection (fixed). The right facing arrow that appears at the top of the timeline at the loop start point can be moved to pre-roll before the loop starts.
Cmnd+= Show / Hide Mixer Window
Shift+M Mute selected track(s)
Shift+S Solo selected track(s)
Shift+R Record enable selected track(s)
Ctrl+Option+minus Toggle track view volume
Ctrl+Option+Cmnd+Right / Left Cycle to next / previous track view
Ctrl+Up/Down+Track selected Change height of selected track
Ctrl Toggles audio scrub tool on
P Move selection to previous track
P+Shift Grow selection to previous track
Semi-Colon (;) Move selection to next track
Semi-Colon (;)+Shift Grow selection to next track
Tab Jump to next start / end point on selected track. This is really great for cleanup when having to edit many crossfades or start and end fades.
Option+Tab Jump to previous start / end point on selected track
Tab+Shift+Left / Right Grow selection to next start / end point
Option+Tab+Shift+Left / Right Grow selection to next start / end point
Cmnd+G+Select multiple tracks Create Mix/Edit group for multiple tracks
Cmnd+Drag transport controls Re-arrange controls in header
Click on bottom part of track region overlaps to use crossfade tool
Click on upper right / left of track region to use the quick fade tool. Adjust quick fade types in Preferences / Editing.


Playlist Editing (Track Comping)
Main Edit Window commands from above apply
Ctrl+Cmnd+Click Track Header Show / Hide playlist(s) on selected track(s)
Ctrl+Option+V+Selection Promote audio
Cmnd+G+Select multiple tracks Create Mix/Edit group for comping multiple tracks at once (eg: drum tracks that have separate tracks for each mic)


Midi Editor
F6+F7 or F7+F8 Smart selection tool
Cmnd (while dragging) Temporarily disables grid mode
Double Click on note Add / Subtract midi note with predefined length
Double Click and drag Add an array of predefined midi notes
Cmnd+Click+Drag on note Change note velocity
Option+Click+Drag on note Duplicates note
Ctrl+Shift+Click on note Slice / Heal note


Mix Window
Option Click on section title Hides sections: Inserts A-E or Sends A-E
Right Click on I/O output Rename Bus or I/O

What is Superstition?

An entry via Slashdot

"The tendency to falsely link cause to effect — a superstition — is occasionally beneficial, says Kevin Foster, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University. For example, a prehistoric human might associate rustling grass with the approach of a predator and hide. Most of the time, the wind will have caused the sound, but "if a group of lions is coming there's a huge benefit to not being around." Foster worked with mathematical language and a simple definition for superstition to determine exactly when such potentially false connections pay off and found as long as the cost of believing a superstition is less than the cost of missing a real association, superstitious beliefs will be favored. In modern times, superstitions turn up as a belief in alternative and homeopathic remedies. "The chances are that most of them don't do anything, but some of them do," Foster says. Wolfgang Forstmeier argues that by linking cause and effect — often falsely — science is simply a dogmatic form of superstition. "You have to find the trade off between being superstitious and being ignorant," Forstmeier says. By ignoring building evidence that contradicts their long-held ideas, "quite a lot of scientists tend to be ignorant quite often."

Read more »

Nemisis Required [Best of Craigslist]

Here is a really funny craigslist posting.

=============================================

Nemesis required. 6-month project with possibilty to extend

Date: 2008-05-07, 2:49PM PDT

I've been trying to think of ways to spice up my life. I'm 35 years old, happily married with two kids and I have a good job in insurance. But somethings missing. I feel like I'm old before my time. I need to inject some excitement into my daily routine through my arm before its too late. I need a challenge, something to get the adrenaline pumping again. An addiction would be nice, but, in short, I need a nemesis. I'm willing to pay $350 up front for you services as an arch enemy over the next six months. Nothing crazy. Steal my parking space, knock my coffee over, trip me when Im running to catch the BART and occasionaly whisper in my ear, "Ahha, we meet again". That kind of thing. Just keep me on my toes. Complacency will be the death of me. You need to have an evil streak and be blessed with innate guile and cunning. You should also be adept at inconsicuous pursuit. Evil laugh preferred. Send me a photo and a brief explanation why you would be a good nemesis.

British accent preferred.

Actual craigslist posting »

Improve your memory

I have been looking into ways to improve my memory. I have to face the fact that it's just not as good as I want it to be. Here are a few tips I have gathered from articles and videos. To save you from having to listen to all the waist I give you the list:

• Don't Multi-task, focus on one thing at a time
• Meditate five minutes or more a day
• Eat less sugar, you get enough from regular meals
• Drink lots of water
• Try new things
• Drink one glass of wine occasionally
• Get a decent amount of sleep
• Don't smoke
• Reduce stress
• Reduce depression
• Talk & Gossip
• Eat lots of fish, the amino acids help the brain
• Avoid eating lots of fish, because of mercury
• Avoid cooking in aluminum pans, because it's known to cause alzheimer's
• Try to remember some things that you normally let other things remember for you.
• Try to engage a crossword puzzle, solitaire type game, or book, etc. for 15 minutes a day.

Code: The difference between multidimensional vectors

I often forget the formula for finding the difference between two multidimensional vectors. So here it is for you and me in Flash ActionScript :)

//=====================================================
// vector a
ax = 6;
ay = 2;
az = 3;

// vector b
bx = 7;
by = 2;
bz = 4;

// number of axis in each vectors
axis = 3;

// calculate difference between vector a and b
diff = Math.abs(( (ax - bx) + (ay - by) + (az - bz) ) / axis);

// output result
trace( diff );

// trace output: 0.666666666666667

Patriot Act Steels Human Rights

If you make your self a note on a stickie, the government will not read it unless they have damn good reason to break into your house and grab it. It's much different story if you write on a blog, email, or other service.

The only way to keep those darn pests from spying on you is to not use services that they can access virtually.

Google along with many other companies have recently launched several tools that allow users to write papers, create spreadsheets etc. And tech companies refuse to use the services for fear of being snooped.

That's just the tip of the iceberg when you see things like cameras being installed in TV's or computers controlled by your brain. All these new technologies have great potential uses, but if the Patriot Act & out service providers keep caving to the government, theres nothing stopping them from keeping an eye on you.

Things like RFID tags, cameras, brain controlled devices, etc have all been accepted for serious things like keeping your kids safe, protecting against predators, or boosting advertisings accuracy etc. The day we use these devices like kids show their public life on myspace, we're screwed unless these issues get squashed.

I'm not going to adopt this sort of stuff until I know I'm safe from those bastards in the sky that think it's ok to peer into our homes without right. Give me back my privacy.

Airless Bicycle Tires

I'm sick of getting flats so I decide to try out some airless tires. I purchased the Air Free brand, because I don't wanna mess with glue. We'll see how it goes.

Air Free - As simple as putting on a regular tire
See Products »
Installation »

No Tubes - Requires Glue (lame!)
See Products »
Installation »

Synthetic sound predictions in 1662

Read the expert from Francis Bacon's "New Atlantis" »
[via Gizmodo]

Electronic performances lack visual feedback

Most laptop or electronic performances these days lack visual connection with the audience. There's usually no way to tell if everything you hear is coming from an mp3 player or being amazingly improvised in front of you. Example: If you hear a bonk sound, you have no idea where it came from or how it was made. Gimmie a fucking break! At that point, I'm only staring at the stage, because I don't want to look at the person next to me and the sound system is siting that way.

Weather it's analyzing dance moves or creating new instruments, the audience could benefit from some visual aids. But the only visuals you can expect from electronic performances are psychedelic DVDs playing on the back wall or VJ performers with custom software. Either way, the visual content is either:
1. Really really cool, timed to the beat and super repetitive.
2. Really low-fi, disconnected from the music and diverse.

I realize how difficult connecting the two is and am by no means ragging on people for trying. I'm merely unsatisfied with the tangible results.

Here are a few articles from CTheory.net that barely touch the subject, but never the less talk a bit about it. It's not a simple problem, so consider this is a good start.

The Microsound Scene - An Interview with Kim Cascone »
Loving the Ghost in the Machine

Study: Logos distored reality

Researchers at Duke University subjected participants to subliminal images of the iconic Apple and IBM logos (during what subjects thought was a visual acuity test), and those who were shown the Apple logo generated more creative ideas after the test than did those who were shown the IBM logo. In a second test, subjects exposed to the Disney logo acted more honestly than those who saw an E! Channel logo.
Read the Study PDF »

[via Slashdot]

Sick roman emperor, El Gabal

A friend sent me an email saying that he has been studying history and came across this nutty emperor. I have to share his thoughts..

"This sick fuck worshiped a black rock and would cart it around town to show it off, he would hold it and walk backwards, also he cut off his junk and had a psycho ritual where he danced around to cymbals and drums playing in front of some of the senators after he did it... in fact, he would prostitute himself, wear loads of makeup and kick out all the other prostitutes so he could get all the business."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus

Geometry of Music

I'm a big fan and practitioner of music and visualizing information. Melding of the two camps often creates arbitrary visualizations that remain inherently separate from the music. These arbitrary visual gestures usually focus on the music effecting a minor aspect of the visuals.

Dmitri Tymoczko's implementations are more forms of musical notation than entertaining visualizations. He has combined methods used in quantum physics to map music in different space. Circles, Mobius Strips and Four Dimensions.

These experiments are by no means attempting to visually represent the emotion of music, but the underlying structure and perception of it. The fact that he has three separate systems and an extensive look into what makes music sound good, shows that he's not messing around. He has taken a good whack at the problem and I hope this inspires others to keep looking into it and using these ideas to make sonic visualizations less arbitrary.

I am in search of a similar visualization of music that represents how I personally perceive the interactions of notes through time. To give you a hint: "If a chord is a static melody, then a melody is temporal chord."

Dimitri Tymoczko's Site »
Times article about his musical visualizations »
Slashdot post about it »

Gallery of Unusual Graphic Notation »

Why records DO all sound the same

No, it’s not you – records do all sound the same these days. Desperate to get their music on the radio at all costs, record labels are employing a new and powerful software to artificially sweeten it, polish it, make it “louder”… and squeeze out the last drops of its individuality. Tom Whitwell reports on what’s wrong with the sound of music... read full article »

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/why-records-do-all-sound-same

Recover lost memories in your brain

Scientists have stumbled upon a method that can repair memory loss. Read more »

What is a tool to our brain?

An article that explains how tools are perceived by humans and primates as an extension of our own body.
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/128/2

SmartPen Wars

Currently there are five smart pens on the market. They all use a similar methods to capture handwriting and audio input, but they all have varying features prices and add-ons.

What do they do?
All the pens feature the ability to convert handwritten notes into text and view drawings. Some pens also record and play audio. The ability to search and edit handwritten notes is the obvious reason to get one of these. All pens come with software to get access to the media you write and record. The Wowpen is the first I have found that acts as an interface for a computer. Meaning you can use it like a mouse or a drawing tool. And the Iogear pen is the first to not require special paper.

How do they work?
The pen has a memory card, small processor and laser scanner built into a regular ink pen. When you write on special paper covered in tiny dots (Iogear pen does not requre special paper), the laser within the pen scans your movement and translates that into an image that is stored on the memory card. When your done, you can use the included software to view your drawings or search and edit words that you wrote. Pen makers also provide ink replacements.

Where do you get the special paper?
Each pen maker provides various sizes of notebooks that include the tiny dots and some allow you to print your own paper at home.

Which pen is the best?
Choosing between these pens is difficult without directly using and comparing the actual product. It's easy to compare specifications, but the actual thing is often very different. For instance how well does each pen correctly analyze your handwriting? Or how easy is it to record and retrieve what you write?

Based on the fact that I only have the available specs to go by, if you own a PC, the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer seems to have the most features for the price. As an Apple user, I myself am on the waiting list for the Livescribe Pen. This pen seems to be better than the others, but time will tell.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Iogear Digital Pen
Cost: $130
OS: XP & Vista
Memory: 50 pages
Unlike all other digital pens, this one allows you to write on any surface. No special paper is required.
Built-in features:
• No special notepad, digital pad, or ink is required
• Included handwriting recognition software (OCR software) turns your handwriting into digital text
• Full editing capabilities allow you to easily modify your notes
• Write on any paper up to Letter or A4 size
• 12 Language OCR Support (English, Spanish, Traditional/Simplified Chinese, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese, and Russian)

Livescribe Pen
Cost: $150-200
OS: Apple OS X, Microsoft XP & Vista (OSX software will be released the 2nd half of 2008)
Memory: 1GB (over 100 hours recording time or
16,000 pages of digital notes) or 2GB (over 200 hours recording time or
32,000 pages of digital notes)
Allows you to print your own paper at home so you don't have to buy there notebooks just to write. They also provide SDKs for developers that want to create there own applications for the pen. Livescribe uses Anoto Group AB technology.
Built-in features:
• Solves written math problems.
• Spoken dictionary description of written words.
• Post text and audio to a blog directly from the pen.
• Can record audio with written notes for better note taking.
• Tap on previous notes from your notebook to hear audio recorded at that time.

FLY Fusion Pentop Computer
Cost: $80
OS: Windows XP & Vista
Memory: 6mb (Optional 64mb upgrade)
Integration: Microsoft Office.
Features that require additional software:
• Translation: Write in English and hear the word in Spanish or French.
• Audio: Record, Download & Listen to MP3s on the pen.
• Calculator: Write the equation and let the pen tell you the answer.
• Many other sofware add-ons are available here »

Logitech IO2 Digital Pen
Cost: $150
OS: Microsoft XP & Vista
Memory: 1mb
Storage: 40 pages of notes, up to 200 separate documents. 25 pages before it needs charging.
Integration: Microsoft Office, Lotus, Eudora, AOL.
Audio: None

Nokia Digital Pen SU-27W
Cost: $175
OS: Microsoft XP & Vista
MMS/SMS: Send SMS and MMS messages via bluetooth connection to a Nokia Series 60 and Series 80 mobile phone.
Memory: 1.3mb
Storage: 3 hours of note taking, 20 hours standby, Can hold 100 pages of notes.
Audio: None.

Wowpen
Cost: $150
OS: Microsoft XP & Vista
Memory: None, just acts as an interface for a computer.
Audio: None.
Includes two assignable buttons for a left and right click. Also includes the ability to use pen or mouse mode (similar to a wacom tablet).