Apr 11, 02:50 PM (evening) - by dedi
i got a max patch underway, and it’s getting there. i can select a sample and set the in point from which it plays out to the end. i’d really like to get it to play just a little bit of the sample at that point and move on the next input. or if that doesn’t work interpolate the changing position for the position on the playhead so that played fast enough it can sound fluid. really these two ideas are the same, it’s just a difference in math (calculus vs brute force).
once i get max summed up, i’ll adjust my pic code and i’ll have a virtual instrument setup. as for the physical one…the part i ordered was a dead end. i’m going to pick up some legos or hack up the wheels i already have. if i can get this mechanism going, then i can rule you all. muhahaha. it’s okay that i write this now, since no one reads this. ;)
filed under nime
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Apr 4, 05:47 AM (morning) - by dedi
i’ve been doing more research on pure data (pd) so i can get my patch going. i’ve been working with many of the built-in examples and collecting online resources. gideon even sent me a paper from hans steiner to help support my efforts. hopefully, i’ll have something to show people soon. at the moment all i can make really are odd noises and broken patches. so goes my first adventures with visual programming languages.
i ordered a new part, a coilable spring that should handle the spring action i need. this might work instead of or better than the hacked tape measure idea. i’m not sure. i still need to pick up some new wheels, gears or spools. my little conveyor belt idea would make for an interesting visual if i lit up the inside of the casing.
i’m afraid i’ll never get this together, it seems like whenever i get started something breaks, doesn’t fit or requires something i have to order. it’s a constant sit-and-wait. i’m also having trouble managing this and my thesis time. thesis time has a higher priority, but it may be a little too high…and maybe that’s the way it should be, i’m unsure.
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Mar 28, 07:20 PM (midnite) - by dedi
well, not entirely…i have begun getting around in the osx version of Pd. i think it will work. i order some parts and now i need to reorder some more, or make my own (the gears i bought don’t fit on the multiturn pots i bought). i should probably throw in a rotary encoder, just in case the multiturn pot is too limiting.
i’ve got a pic circuit setup to read in the ADC values from the pot though. right now it’s just spitting everything out with a slight delay, so i can test the waters.
i’m beginning to wonder if my rough sketch will really come together or not. i need to keep plugging away at it. maybe it will all come together quickly and i can make another one.
filed under nime
Mar 16, 02:30 PM (evening) - by dedi
so, i’ve been building up a little localhosting setup for osx. this way i can get things to a working stage before fiddling with my nice, stable production environment.
i had a bit of help from these links, which you may find useful.
setting up a local development environment on osx
installing lighttpd on osx
first, install the latest mysql. there’s an os x installer which even comes with a handy preference pane for starting/stopping the server. you’ll want to add this to your path:
/usr/local/mysql/bin/
since i’ve been exploring ruby on rails lately, i also grabbed the latest ruby. at this point you’ll have two versions of ruby so you might want to rename your older version like this:
sudo mv /usr/bin/ruby /usr/bin/ruby16
after that install rubygems (a simple unpack and install).
tar zxvf rubygems-0.8.4.tgz
cd rubygems-0.8.4
ruby setup.rb
from here it’s easy to install all kinds of ruby apps like rails. to install the latest stable rails just type:
sudo gem install rails
and say “Y” to its dependencies.
at this point, i could have stopped and just used apache (it is the server that’s used for my homepage kweerious.com, but i was curious about lighttpd. i grabbed lighttpd-1.3.13, and compiled it with these options
./configure --with-mysql=/usr/local/mysql/bin --with-openssl
it compiled, but i haven’t got mysql virtual hosting working yet. it’s fast though and so well…light. the config file i made is tiny and it works for simple vhosts out of my Sites/rails directory. so, now i have that running instead of Apache (you can shut it off with
/System/Library/Startup Items/Apache/Apache stop
then add a few “virtual” sites to
/etc/hosts. for example, to get dev.bickr.com working for me i added:
127.0.0.1 dev.bickr.com
just at the end. this way i can get firefox to point at my localhost instead of contacting the real bickr.com.
now to get to codin’!
filed under personal
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Mar 9, 02:00 AM (breakfast time) - by dedi
I’ve been good you know. I keep my computer in order. I help out my friends and family with their technical problems. But that’s not enough. Believe it or not, I used to be spam-free and quite happy. Well, those days are gone and it’s your fault. It’s you, it’s my newbie friend and it’s my mother. The simple actions of a few naive users and the disease of spam spreads. After all, it’s not my infected addressbook in the hands of spammers, nor my email address used to propagate the latest virii and penis enlargement ads. Many people will confront me and insist that I cannot blame the user in this and that my anger should rest with the evil spam kings and lazy sysadmins. It’s nice of them, but they’re wrong.
There are some things that just work. With a little adjustment and a few rounds of burnt bread, a toaster will make toast quickly and easily. For the most part, appliances are designed well enough to be functional, easy to learn and run without glitches (besides a lost sock now and again). Well, isn’t that special. A computer is not an appliance. It’s not an appliance; it will never be as simple as a door handle and it’s not your toaster. In fact, computers are more like power tools and other beefy toys that help with powerful tasks and come with many caveats and warning labels. Pushing this metaphor to its extreme, adding your computer to a network like at the office or the internet is like dropping off Leatherface and his chainsaw at a fraternity party on Halloween. In other words, computers can be used for much good and a lot of evil and connecting them to an ever-growing collection of other computers can be risky business.
The thing about toasters that makes them so easy to use is that there are very few decisions to make. Perhaps one day computers will be as foolproof as toasters, until then we can avoid Microsoft and Windows. Seriously, people are better off avoiding Windows not simply because it’s a large (and easy) target for security issues, but parts of its design philosophy exacerbate the danger of naive users. Windows developers try their best to balance many choices and customizability as well as ease of use. This sounds appealing since they can cater to both naive computer users and highly technical people who want more control. The problem is there’s a lot changes that can be made and should be made depending on how and where you use your computer. Computer geeks are already for that challenge, but naive users are often left with defaults that don’t suit their needs and can’t protect them from themselves. On the other side, there’s Apple with OSX which is about as toaster-like as computers get at the moment. Apple has carefully chosen many sane defaults and rightfully protects the naive user from them. It’s hard to make the wrong choice if you can’t find it. Let’s not forget Linux, where you’re asked to make all the decisions, thereby raising the bar and excluding the naive user (or forcing them to become a savvy user). It’s my opinion that everyone who uses computers, especially online, should be a savvy user in the same way that anyone who is allowed to drive a car should have at least taken lessons.
It’s really about building common sense for smart computer use. Anyone lacking a certain sense about how to move through life online is going to become a victim somewhere along the line. That’s why you’ve got to take responsibility and be prepared. I’d like to share a network with naive users as much as I’d enjoy driving on a two-lane highway with drunk teenager drivers. The problem is that any schmoo can get online these days. So for all of our sakes, please get savvy. Use anti-virus software. Don’t click on strange email attachments. If you really have to open it, scan it for viruses first. Find a good password and use it (and your dog’s name is not a good password). If you can’t remember your passwords, write them on a post-it and keep it in your wallet, not on your desk. Encryption is good for you, learn how to use it. Don’t trust strangers; if it looks funny, then it’s probably a scam. Always manually type in your important websites like online banking. Oh, and never give anyone your Social Security number based on a random important looking email or webpage.
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Mar 7, 07:15 AM (noon) - by dedi
so, with the help of christina, i learned how tape measures work…perfectly for my needs. it appears that tape measures are all wound up in the opposite direction of their natural curvature. without all the parts holding them back they would unwind themselves only to rewind themselves the other way (clockwise vs. counter-clockwise).
if i rip off one of the halves of the tape measure i’m thinking i can mount it onto my prototype. all that i need is some way to measure the velocity (or the change and direction) of the tape as it gets pulled in and out. perhaps using some gears with a rotary encoder or 360 degree potentiameter will work. i’d like to get that working this week and start on building a sample selector.
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Mar 7, 07:06 AM (noon) - by dedi
it’s funny how much time can fly when you’re getting stuff done. we’ve named, designed and started on the next “sketchie” as we’re calling them now.
gossamer will be a tissue box that scans emails captured on the network for viruses. when it finds an infected file, it will sneeze and print out a bug ticket or a little notice on how to eliminate the virus. the bug ticket will come in the form of a fine much like a broken headlight ticket does and the offending user will be notified that they have “x” number of days to fix the problem.
so far gossamer is all software and drawings, but as soon as the mini printer arrives we’ll figure out how to make it look convincing. i’m already almost done with our new case mod. we decided to pull the computer parts out of ptooie and set them up in a stabler case. this will allow up to “re-pot” ptooie into something less huge. we might even be able to use real dirt this time. i’m hoping we can fit ‘em both into a radio flyer red wagon for our final presentations.
once gossamer is finished, i think any additional work will be online. some ideas include running a fake phishing scam that redirects to a teaching page on phishing. there’s a new law being proposed that may include jail time for such activities, so we best step on it!
Feb 28, 12:25 PM (evening) - by dedi
i need to catch up with goodness for more, but i think the key element of this instrument will be all about spring action and measuring it. what i’m looking for in the “playing” of the instrument is the ability to pull on the toy’s corded with some measure of resistance. the further the string is pulled the further along in the sample to play. when the string gets pulled back in the sample could play backwards or just silently reset the postion (i’m leaning towards the latter but it might be nice to have a switch for this).
once i figure out what the mechanics of this motion/movement are i can work on figuring out how to measure the distance and velocity to feed back into my system/computer.
there’s an article about how a real see n’ say works on howstuffworks.com that’s useful. it might not help me ultimately because i want to be able to change the samples and having to swap out phonograph-like discs isn’t practical.
next week i’d like to start hammering out a pull string prototype so i can figure out if it works with the “big idea”. although i’m afraid that i’ll get this lovely mechanical system up and running only to flunk on the software/music side.
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Feb 28, 06:15 AM (morning) - by dedi
i apologize to anyone watching this blog through the rss feeds. i’ve upgraded my textpattern install and it updated the feeds.
in other news, i’ve just bought lifetime hosting at textdrive! so, this site may have a new home soon; one with sparkle and shiny new toys.
filed under personal
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Feb 13, 01:08 PM (evening) - by dedi
i’ve got instiki running at http://thesis.kweerious.com now. and it’s working smoothly. this is just a quick note to myself to watch out for hieraki. it’s like insitiki, but with a hierachial focus that might be a better fit for us. just a thought.
i’m also falling hard for ruby on rails. i need to stop and start up on thesis stuff again, but whoa…nice. i definitely need a break, so we’re going out tonight.
filed under quickie
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