alternative models

so, my plan is to release my thesis project, now named location33 (short for location 33 1/3, like the record rpm), under my small music label Sao Bento Music as the first location-based album. I want to have a release event in Culver City towards the end of April or early in May. To accomplish a "release," I have sort of a multi-faceted distribution system, that correlates nicely to technology platform. This hierarhy is as follows:

tier 1: PDA + GPS. Users are provided with a device that allows them to walk around and listen to music in real time. This is the main technology platform I've been developing. It is also the most limited.

tier 2: iPod hack. Users can download the album from the web and put the album on their iPod as a Playlist. Each song name is a code, for example, 0104.mp3. As they walk through the environment, people can find physical stickers that exist within the location with codes on them, then switch their playlists to play the corresponding audio file. Downside: very opt-in. Upside: best sound quality and a hip tie-in with iPod that could reach a lot of users. Wouldn't be the best experience, but would at least be accessible.

tier 3: mobile phone. Users call up a number and enter a "waiting room" which is lounge music. When they see the first sticker code embedded in the physical space, then can enter it on their phone. The system then dynamically switches to the next appropriate audio file, trying to fake some sort of fade in / fade out using vxml. This could be pretty cool. Downside: long phone calls, lowest sound quality. Upside: very large user base, lowest-common-denominator platform.

tier 4: worldwide release. Choose either platform for tier 2 or 3 and provide world wide maps with the appropriate codes listed on them for different cities. A user can track themselves on the map, and when they come across a code on the map, they enter it into either the phone system, or they switch their playlist on the iPod.

I'm still focusing primarily on tier 1, because it is the best possible experience, I think. However, I do want other people to be able to use this system if it really is going to be similar to an album release, so I have to account for them, as well.

time to write new milestones, heh. luckily, I've already got a lot of the backend in place for the mobile phone business. and the iPod is more a matter of writing instructions than anything else (although I'm hoping that apple will support applescripts that control the iPod version of iTunes...)

Katamari Damacy 2

looks like a sequel is in the works, tbr in fiscal year 2005 in japan.

link via waxy

double life

another playstation ad (sorry... ad obsessed lately)

For years I've lived a double life. In the day I do my job I ride the bus Roll up my sleeves with the hoi-polloi But at night I live a life of exhilaration Of missed heartbeats and adrenalin And if the truth be known a life of dubious virtue I won't deny it I've been engage in violence Even indulge in it I've maimed and killed adversaries And not merely in self defense I've exhibited disregard for life Limb And property And savored every moment You may not think it to look at me But I have commanded armies And conquered worlds And though in achieving these things I've set morality aside I have no regrets For though I've led a double life At least I can say I've lived.

all about virtual lives. Something rings true to me with this ad, and I think that the playstation is the wrong platform to make the double life thing real -- even second life or everquest don't count. I want my other life to live on my phone.

link via joeytomatoes

eye toy ad

here's a link to an ad for the EyeToy over in the European theater.

The ad follows a bus driving through a city at night, the camera catching gimpses through the windows of people doing strange things in their dwellings, like playing air guitar, dancing, etc. It goes through a sequence of these, then reveals that these people have all been playing various games with the EyeToy.

So, the ad is pretty clever, but for me it brings to light one of the most compelling aspects of the idea of this virtual space, be it persistent, mobile, location-based, console-based, etc., where your physical movement or action determines an outcome in the virtual space. I just love the idea of people doing strange things in the real world, things that they would never do if they weren't doing this auxillary thing in the virtual space.

damn you perry for making me get Ween's 'the mollusk...' So infectious.

SpongeBob + Ween = explicit

So, I was curious to hear the spongebob soundtrack, since some of my favorite bands (wilco, flaming lips, shins, etc.) have contributed songs to it.

was very surprised, and delighted, to find that Ween also is on the disc, along with Motorhead!

So was browsing at iTunes music store, and found that the ween track was labeled explicit!

So I illegally downloaded purchased the album, and found that (somewhat to my disappointment) the ween song, "ocean man" while being the 2nd best track (after the wilco cut), is not explicit at all -- just typically strange. So, basically, it seems as though iTunes just flags all Ween songs as explicit. I guess when it comes down to it, all ween songs are probably explicit in some form or another (even if only in intention...).

my colorstrology

ok, my masculinity is in serious jeopardy after learning that the pantone color that corresponds to my astrological sign (aquarius...) is Lilac. I suppose that if I were in Reservoir Dogs I'd be Mr. Lilac. And then my actual pantone color corresponding to my birthday is wisteria... Sigh. Anyway, this site is hilarious... and quite a decent design.

Link to Colorstrology.com, via coolhunting

more organizational fun

simple flow...click on image for a larger view...

xml schema

so, also worked out the basic xml schema for the data... it is as follows... excitement is in the air in my apartment tonight!

back-end

above is a snap from a simple web interface tool I built as a helper app for keeping tabs on project-x (a.k.a. heather, location33, etHEAReal, pgnome, thesis, etc.). Basically, it's a simple p5 app that pulls nodes from a db, and displays them overlayed on a map of culver city's downtown area. That's the simple visualization part, but the real purpose of this is app is for mining the persistent space, so for example, when you click within the established radius of a given node, a script is run that checks the current day of the week and the time, remembers the node you clicked, then pulls the file path of the appropriate audio file (as it was laid out in the db). So yeah, this is boring, but it helps me figure out how much more content I need to fill up. Currently, I've got 1 of the 7 songs more or less worked out and the main parts recorded, and will try and get that all on some server in the next week, scattered about the 7 nodes that make up song one: the theme.

But for now, that db isn't all that populated, but when it is, you will be able to see what the current state of the audio layer is at any time of day, or for any given day.

Sorry for those of you I have confused... if you are interested, the applet is here for now.

blog --> graphic novel

very slick -- this guy has done some pretty crazy work pulling images and text from blog posts and doing text analysis to string them together in a graphic-novel-esque format:

follow the LINK

great game

wow, what a simple and great game!

http://www.tonypa.pri.ee/12many.html

another kind of map

clue

culver city -- update

Spent 2 hours in Culver City downtown today. Only driven through Iowa, but if Iowa is in fact like Culver City's downtown, I think I'd quite like it there.

So I'm pretty pleased with the tests I ran. While pinging interactive, I walked the loop of the culver city hotspot area, and learned that it is much bigger than I originally thought, in terms of walking time. This is wonderful news. It took me about 20-25 minutes to walk the loop, give or take the route + traffic signals. And this was the straight loop, on one side of culver to washington, then down Hughes, and back down culver. 20 minutes, minimum, I would guess, and that's not including any journeys down side streets, or that little area where there is a pacific movieplex. As I learned in a previous test, getting on the network was really easy, and it was very reliable. It didn't crap out on me once, even when I was pushing the boundaries, and only lost the connection after I was quite a ways down Ince Blvd. past the Trader Joe's. So all in all, good test. And a good strawberry shortcake scone from *bucks.

culver city

So, I'm gung-ho about using culver city as my site for project-x. After the midterm-thesis-review I've sort of accepted the fact that a) USC's wireless net is going continue to suck and b) culver city's downtown area is a much more intriguing space to author on top of, and potentially one that will allow my project to establish more of a rapport between itself and it's host environment.

music

so, here's a little 2 minute prototype of what an ideal sort of transition between locations would sound like.

what you are hearing (if you click the link...) :

a) the type of acoustic --> electronic transitions I want to emphasize in the location mix. e.g. you are opening and closing doors between 2 distinct audio worlds, instrumentation-wise, and between 2 worlds, narrative/theme wise.

b) a rough version with some placeholder lyrics / instrumentatation

c) the basic main theme, musically

d) a very rough mixdown

so, I realize that I've not posted much about the state of project-x recently, mainly because I've been super busy scribbling notes, drawing lines on maps, making spreadsheets with like, 1000 cells needed to be filled (gasp!), and recording lots of music with my little synthesizers and my little guitars. And to be honest, that's ok -- because there are lots of new video games to play, and I'm such a small part of your lives. I accept that -- I love you anyway. Me and master chief.

project-x theme [.MP3]

rock and / or roll

so, sorry for missing seminar tonight. I've been spending a perhaps unhealthy amount of time in the valley (deep in the heart, like Van Nuys, Canoga Park...) at Stagg Street studios, sitting in on some recording sessions being run by mark's illustrious brother Niko (produced records by some of my all time favorites, including neil young, warren zevon, spinal tap... the list goes on). Anyway, the experience reminds me of why I love recording studios -- probably the most creative spaces that I've ever been in. Not quite sure why it works out that way, maybe has something to do with the fact that there are engineers working hard every moment, just in case you think of something great and it needs to be laid down that instant. Anyway, it was great fun, and I was able to grab about 30 minutes or so of drums to sample for project-x. So a public thanks to Niko, Erich (snd. engineer), and especially the guys in the band, who let me take time out of their sessions to get me some nice rock drums. Actually, the band was pretty damn good, and the guitarist and I were able to share our experiences with drunk people and rioting at University of Colorado (he got his master's degree in psychology from there because he "was in a rock band with his professor, and he didn't want to quit").

Anyway, thanks guys. I think the band is playing Dec. 2nd at the Viper Room, deep the heart of the Strip.

too cool for school

Mark, I only did this because you showed me the image... but I think that you should probably have this image projected on all of the screens for your presentation.

robot songs

3/4

I (D) dispatched myself into the future
to (C) see what the world had in (D) store
in (D) 50 years would I be remembered
or (C) slowly fade after the 5th world (D) war

But I (D) guess in the future I'm a robot
And I sing to my(G)self every(D)day
about (am)all of the (C) messes I've (em) gotten me (am) into
and about (C) everything I'd (G) forgotten to (D) say

purple

Perry's working on a gradient color map of the electoral college. I found this one here:

http://www.princeton.edu/~rvdb/JAVA/election2004/

and I've seen another one floating about: do post any others if you see them floating around.

So here's another political post for you, Steffen. Sorry.

hammond organ synthesis

so, everything amit pitaru does seems to be pretty wicked. I know aaron knows what I'm saying, but other should as well.

This is a recent piece he did using flash + audio synthesis to recreate the additive drawbar effect of the hammond B3 Organ. The B3, and organs in general, are great because you can just really play with the quality of the sound without having to worry about the notes. This is great for people like me who are sound geeks but can't really play piano that well. So like Amit, I like to hold down one note and just mess with the drawbars. This nice little interactive piece lets you do just that, using the petals of the flower to control individual drawbars.

It's really quite a nice effect, although the 3D goings-on in the middle are a little distracting...