Category: other lesser codologies

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19Hz

d300_2009-01-18_dsc_4167-edit

In my meanderings around the web I came across various articles about infrasound, the world of sound below ~19 Hz (cycles per second) and how it can affect the animal world. Experimental pieces of music, laced with infrasound, have been presented to audiences who have related experiences of nausea, anxiety, fear and dislocation. It has also been suggested that animals can predict catastrophic events from ultrasound vibrations they can sense. For example, animals were seen to flee before the Tsunami hit in 2004, perhaps sensing the infrasound travelling through the earth heralding the catastrophe. Whether this is myth or fact, I don’t know, but interesting nevertheless. The resonant frequency of the human eye is around 18 Hz, and reports of visions and ghosts have been accounted for by the presence of low frequency sound interacting with the eye giving rise to visions.

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3 Things, Dec 08

As this year draws to a close it’s time to be thankful for 3 Things in no particular order (I should have made it to 10 but I ran out of time:

1. Ten days in Ethiopia

Through a blind mix of serendipity, hard work and persistence, I had my first ever trip to Africa, ten days in Ethiopia on a film making exercise in the company of a group of students and teachers; more specifically with Tara McGrath about whom we were making a documentary. I was substantially outside my comfort zone in that I was location sound recordist, something I’d never done before and I’m indebted to Cathal O’Mealoid for his crash course. Those ten days have affected me in multiple ways, they have opened my eyes both inwardly and outwardly. I’ve made new friends, I’ve helped people in a small way and I think I’m bigger for it.

I’ve traveled through southern Ethiopia in the back of a Landcruiser, across unpaved roads, though desert and scrub, being greeted by some of the warmest, friendliest people on the planet. The work we did was tough, hot and very rewarding. Especially out in rural Ethiopia, beyond Sodo where we were the first white visitors to one village. A major day.

2. My Family

This is my youngest child, one of three children who, along with my wife and our extended families, make up a pretty solid basis from which I lead my life. I’m not particularly religious so family stability and support is a great crutch. The kids keep me reasonably honest, reasonably young and definitely on my toes. We continue to enjoy life.

3. Square pictures

I picked up an old medium format camera at the start of this year and discovered the joys of square photography. The picture above is from Glendalough in Wicklow, using Velvia film. I’ve been getting a lot of enjoyment out of photography for the last few years and thankfully it is being enjoyed by a few other people as well. I also spread my wings body-wise and upgraded my digital camera to something which really stretches me – a good thing – a Nikon D300. I can use it to make square pictures too.

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The Lazarus Taxon

 

The Lazarus Taxon
courtesy of Mr. E. on flickr

I can’t remember when I first read about the Coelacanth, but I was smallish, maybe 9 or ten. I remember being fascinated and horrified by the thoughts of this monstrous, Cretaceous fish being dragged up from the deep, confounding both fishermen and scientists with its antiquity. It’s ugly, it’s big and it’s blue. Mr. E’s image of the coelacanth above has brought me back to when I was a kid and reminded me of that fascination once again.

 

I suppose this has got me thinking about what a Lazarus Taxon is. Officially it’s a species which was presumed extinct, only to show up again sometime more recently. These fish reappeared in 1938 after being missing for, uh, about 65 million years. That’s quite a gap. There are pretty rational arguments why this gap exists, mostly to do with the fish dying out in shallow waters and being happiest in deeper waters where fossil records are like hens’ teeth. Maybe that’s not the best analogy (simile?)

Is there a modern equivalent in the shorter term? I wonder if Lord Lucan is a Lazarus all of his own, after all he’d only be 73 if still alive. Maybe some of those people who have skedaddled off into the sunset never to be seen again will one day do their own Taxon Thing and regale us all with tales of murky waters deep.

I may have to expand this to the Elvis and Zombie Taxons.

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tech: MobileMeh

The launch of this service hasn’t been Apple’s finest hour and I would caution anyone who is thinking of either trialling or signing up to it to make a reliable backup of everything before taking the plunge. Try reading David Pogue’s article in the New York Times and then reconsider if you want to take the risk.

My experience (laptop, iMac, no iPhone) is that it mostly works except for a few oddities with calendars in the web interface. However, there is a problem on my MacBook in that every time it syncs with the server, it hangs for about 15 seconds – as in everything locks out or stops (Mail, Safari, iTunes). So I’ve switched off that option and only sync manually. Not good. I do not have the same problem with the iMac at home.

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Leopard & Lightroom: dodgy jpegs cause Finder to crash

I’m not sure where the fault lies, but Adobe’s Lightroom is capable of making corrupt jpegs which can crash the Finder in Leopard. Not only this, but if one of these corrupt jpegs finds its way into your Downloads folder, it can break the Dock, Spaces, minimise (amber button) and command-tab. These are the ones I’ve discovered, there may be others.

To fix the problem, remove the corrupt jpeg from your downloads folder and trash it.

This is a nasty problem which both Apple and Adobe should be working on – Apple form the point of view that a single corrupt file can break so many essential parts of the operating system, and Adobe because their product is capable of generating corrupt jpegs.

Digging a little deeper in Adobe-related forums, they’re suggesting that it’s the Apple OS at fault, misinterpreting data embedded in jpegs. Whatever – I hope it gets fixed soon.

The problem is under discussion in the Apple Support Discussions.

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misc: Starple or Appbucks?

starple.jpgApple announced a new suite of iPods the other day, lovely machines with some great new features – typical of Apple. One of those in the range is the iPod touch, which has WiFi capability and a web browser built in as well as music, video and gaming facilities. Sort of like the iPhone without the phone.

They’ve also announced a collaboration with Starbucks, whereby Starbucks provide free WiFi hotspots and you provide your iTunes account details, at the touch of a button you can automatically purchase & download whatever they happen to be playing in the shop at that time. Not only that but everything on the iTunes Sore as well. This appears to be rolling out across the US in the months to come. It remains to be seen whether it’ll be popular with the iPod-toting, skinny-cappuccino-swilling lobby – I’m sure it will. As my boss says, it’ll probably wirelesly update their virtual loyalty cards too!

This is a great opportunity for excercising the online anagram server at wordsmith.org to see if the union of brand names comes up with anything interesting. I really like the first one – who knows? Maybe they’ll go into selling books together.

Don’t know where I stand on this yet, the liaison between Apple and Starbucks. Don’t suppose I’ll have to worry about it yet for a year or so (or maye never) until the service becomes available here in Ireland.

Too much lifestyle to swallow in one sitting?

My worry is that artists and labels with more clout will be able to influence the playlists in Starbucks and we’ll ultimately have a narrower choice. Those of us who enjoy the less commercial apsects of music aren’t going to have the opportunity to press the Starple button on our new iPod touches to download the particularly quiet and beautiful 4?33? by John Cage.

Of course I can’t back up any of this with fact, all I can do is relate my own experience of musical content in my local Mespil Rd S’Bucks which plays a dismal selection (to my taste anyway). And it’s probaby going to take a while for the service to be activated over here considering how long it took to have the Irish itms opened.

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Friend 2.0

Friendship has changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. I’m blaming the amount of interaction many of us are having through the medium of the internet. I’m taking the opportunity to christen this new breed of friend Friend 2.0, in accordance with current iZeitgeist.

The difference between Friend 2.0 and 1.0 is that in all likelihood I’ll never actually physically meet 2.0. There’s an emotional distance from Friend 2.0 which I find engaging, after all friend 1.0 can be messy, uncooperative and downright smelly sometimes, whereas 2.0, meh, you can take or leave without guilt and they’re odour-free.

A friend I interact with on the internet through flickr, alias Okaypro, is the classic embodiment of 2.0-ness. I’ve never met her, in all likelihood probably won’t ever meet her and I’m mostly comfortable with that. However I do admire her images, her accompanying descriptions, humour and her critique so on that level we have a meaningful relationship. Purely aesthetic and utterly detached. And separated by 5255 kilometers. In the world of amateur photography (particularly on flickr), there are thousands of Okaypros out there with opinions to share.

Ah, but you can’t cry on the shoulder of a 2.0. You can’t share a good meal, go the the movies or have a pint with a 2.0. Families are pretty much out of the question. Friend 1.0, despite all his/her shortcomings is a far superior entity altogether and a better kisser to boot. 1.0 has pretty much a proven track record over, well, um, over all recorded history and probably before.

Friend 1.0 rocks.

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Soul shake

I get the willies when I recall some of the greeting faux pas I made when I was in the States. This was the LA of the nineties, uber-California and uber-cool; lots of white folk round with soul patches, paisley bandanas and a reticent disposition. Compensated largely by the far-from-simple, elaborate hand-clasp, the Soul Shake. And meeting them for a first time (me being an uncouth and awkward Irishman) was often an overture of missed hand-clasps and feinted puckerings, mid air. These missed clasps caused embarrassment of high calibre and stumbling starts to budding relationships.

Ironically, greeting African Americans was so much easier, coz they just took a look at this blue eyed fair-skinned Irishmen and thought, naw, never happen and they’d opt for the more traditional clasp.

I still can’t grasp how to do it, but I’ve been researching the Soul Shake on the web, haven’t quite ventured to YouTube yet for instructions in slowmo.

It’s been a salutary lesson in dexterity.