8pack

The RIAA Mulls Their Own Demise.

Their official statement of concern is "We remain concerned about any devices or software that permit listeners to transform a broadcast into a music library." Now, I don't know about everybody else, but when I was about ten years old I didn't exactly have an allowance that would permit me to buy every band's album that I was into, so I would rely on the radio for most of my music, when there was a song I might want to listen to more often than the radio DJ's were willing to play it, I would pop in a blank cassette and record it off the radio...Apparently, "It's very hard for policy and copyright law to keep up with the pace of technological change."

The RIAA is looking for a way to dig their teeth into a software developer that wrote some software that pretty much does the same thing as hitting the 'Record' button while listening to the radio, on that Cassette Boombox you see in the picture.

Never hear the same song twice

From the "Let your music player make music" department Compact Impact is selling a CD of 99 tracks with 99 scales that is meant to be played using the Random function of your CD player to create new melodies every time you listen...

The Water in L.A., it's A Love-Hate Relationship.

You bet, everybody I know loves to hate the water in L.A. I don't know of many people that are even willing to cook with L.A. water anymore, much less drink it. Yes, it is drinkable, it won't kill you or make you lose an organ, but when a cola sounds more refreshing than tap water after a long run, something is wrong. I think most of us pass it off as part of urban living. This is not to say that L.A. County isn't trying it's hardest to keep up with the needs of it's citizens and supply fresh, clean water throuhgout the city, but there are plenty of problems involved in getting enough water to support an area as large as L.A. One of the first things most people seem to notice about L.A. water is not actually the taste, but the smell when you take a shower or bath, most describe it as the same smell as the community pool, an abundance of chlorine. The high chlorine content of the water is severely damaging to your skin and hair, but what can you do? Well, for about $30-$50 you can get a nifty shower filter that just attaches between the shower head and the water supply. It claims to neutralize the chlorine and make your soap more effective by making it lather better. The only drawback is replacing the filter every 4 months, but the savings in lotions and conditioners might make it worth it.

Guthrie Doesn't Even Get A Say.

About a week ago I got an email expressing a comedic appreciation for the new Jib-Jab short "This Land" that is, in brief, a comedic expression of the more personal views one might expect from Kerry and Bush. Well, the people that "own" the rights to the Guthrie song are threatening to sue. I was listening to NPR earlier tonight and learned something new about the song...

]]> Apparently Woodie Guthrie was not the original author of the melody behind "This Land is Your Land", he borrowed it from the Country/Bluegrass band The Carter Family of the time who were the first to record it but had borrowed it from an old gospel song that goes by the name of "When the World's on Fire". Jib-jab is by no means backing down to the threats and claims "We consider it a case of political satire and parody and therefore entitled to the fair use exemption of the copyright act." Now this is all well and good, but even without all of that leagal speak there is an "official" copyright on the music, written by Guthrie himself(a MUST read!): Seal of Copyright # 154085. How far can it go?

Get Off Your Kiester.

World Carfree Day(probably should be hyphenated "Car-Free") is making it's international debut this year on Sept. 22. I used to spend most of my days car-free, but now that I work 24 miles from my home it's not quite as simple as it used to be, but perhaps for one day of the year I could actually make the effor to bike it to work, and see how long it actually takes.

]]> I have heard rumors that Los Angeles used to have a pretty good public transportation system in place, Going everywhere from Downtown L.A. to Orange County and into the valley, but it is rumored to have been ripped out to make way for the highways and wide streets we are so accustomed to now. There is a World carfree Network website that explains even more and offers other good resources for ideas on how to be more car-free.

Keeping Up With The Technology.

I first heard of Maya several years ago from my friend Olga. She was fascinated by it's animation capabilities and at one point wished she could spend the rest of her career working on animations of this caliber. I started using Maya a few years later for Architecture at UF, studying mostly under a professor doing a few experiments with particle physics and motion as a generator of form. That was about a year and a half ago, when Maya was at version 4.5, now maya is version 6, and I just got my desktop back in working order. Time to pull out some of those tutorials and give myself a refresher course. In my search I found a tutorial on animating a yoyo on a string that was actually done in Maya 1.5, but I am sure you will be impressed.

Sex IS A Sport!

There are Betting Lines on Britney Spears' sex life, when will she be married, get pregnant and the sex of the child.

*blank stare*

Multiple Uses For Found Objects Make for A Great Read.

When I was in school at UF for Architecture we -- my fellow students and I -- were encouraged many times by professors to use found objects as inspirational pieces in architectural projects ranging from a cube to a police precinct. It became a pretty familiar idea for me, a found object as a catalyst for an art piece, design or writing project. After all, stoking the furnace of imagination is always best left to ambiguity...right?

I recently came across a magazine dedicated to the idea of found objects, it is ominously called "FOUND Magazine." The magazine seems to have a more voyeuristic approach to it's intent, and most of the objects are focused on collecting a piece of someone else's life. Many of objects are actual photographs or notes and letters by anonymous persons. After reading through many of the online samples I started noticing that I wasn't nearly as intrigued by the actual notes and photos as much as I was by the "finder." I found myself wondering about the person that found each object, what they are like, what made them think that this item was interesting enough to pick it up and mail it in to a magazine. Were they just that curious, that they felt they needed to keep someone else's moment, or did it inspire in them a great story, something myths are made of, and hope that someone else might appreciate the object in the same way? They say "A picture is worth a thousand words." but if it isn't your picture, is it worth more?

When Bikes Meet Technology.

OYBike is a new service in London that allows you to borrow a bike using your cell phone as authentication. You pay a small yearly fee ~$17 and you can borrow any bike by reading a code to the service center which will then text you a pin to unlock the bike. The locks are built onto the bikes and automatically change after you have used the bike. Okay, I am ready to move to London.

I Will Sleep Easier Tonight Knowing These things.

The Thermochemical Joy of Cooking

Myth: Storing coffee in the freezer keeps it fresh.

Truth: The daily removal of java beans from the freezer causes their temperature to change. This encourages condensation which, like prolonged exposure to air, degrades the flavor of the beans.

Myth: Putting oil in pasta water prevents the noodles from sticking together.

Truth: Starch released by the noodles as they cook causes them to stick together. Using ample water will help dilute the starch. Oil floats to the surface of the denser water and has little effect on the noodles.

Myth: Washing mushrooms causes them to soak up excess water.

Truth: Even when soaked for 5 minutes, standard button mushrooms retain less than 3 percent of their weight in water. Washing affects them even less.

Myth: Leaving the avocado pit in the bowl will prevent guacamole from turning brown.

Truth: Enzymes in an avocado's flesh become discolored when exposed to oxygen. Leaving the pit in your guacamole keeps only the portion under it green.

2,468 miles of Pure Bliss.

Ever since I was about 16 years old I have wanted to take a 6 month hiatus from life, and do a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, I used to hike a lot more and have recently replaced hiking with biking. I still dream about doing the Appalachian Trail someday, but maybe just not as soon as I had hoped. I never really thought of an alternative, but I came across an article about taking a mtn. bike trip along the Great Divide. Advantages? Well, it is about 300 miles longer, but it is done on a montain bike, so it only takes about 3 months instead of 6 and it goes through Canada and the U.S. to the border of Mexico, whereas the Appalachian only covers the east-coast of the U.S. Hmmm...this sounds promising.

I Found that Next Level...

Okay I have found the next level above want, it is lust, I Lust for these knives. Yes it is sick...gimme.

What Percentage of Our Lives Are "Want" and what Percentage are "Need."

I really don't need any German Goggles but for some reason I want some German Goggles. Damn those are cool. It's not like I would wear them around the street or anything, maybe I would talk myself into actually dressing up for Halloween this year if I had those German Goggles, and they are on sale for only $9.99. But really, how much of my life is filled with 'Want' rather than 'Need', once all of your needs have been met, does everything after that become a "wanted" item? I luckily can't remember ever feeling like I have gone beyond need and want to whatever comes next, something that is surely not a need, and really passed up a want a few times over and has just become some form of abundance or gluttony. Are these goggles in that same rung?

I Want to Build a Teardrop Trailer.

I was reading an article about an entirely unrelated subject and visited a site that lead to a fascination. Now I have only been fascinated by these things for about five minutes, but I am enamored. I love to travel, and have always been fascinated by my mom's stories of traveling around the country with her father and siblings when she was a kid, camping everywhere they went, driving on all of the old highways, what fun! Well now I can build my own ultra cool, aerodynamic Teardrop Trailer.

The New Dangers of Flight.

Pretty soon you will be unable to bring a deck of cards on an airplane for fear of killing a watermelon, well...Cards as Weapons is an out-of-print book by a magician that was fascinated by crimes based on wit rather then brute force.