- I’ve been getting really into a remix project lately, and will likely come very close to finishing on my days off work this week. Seems like lately I keep having the same crisis: during instrumental breaks do I go batshit crazy with a guitar or with a turntable. Obviously this depends on the song, but it’s still hard to be clairvoyant and know which one will work better. So typically I will just record both and compare and contrast. First World Producer Problems.
- I think I’ve posted Ulises Farinas’ art here before, but it’s well worth a second mention:
The past three decades of wanton patent-granting have created a disastrous environment for innovation. Today it’s practically impossible to build anything without violating a patent of some kind—and risking a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for your troubles. Once intended to protect lone inventors, patents now form a kind of shadow tech industry, in which billions of dollars are spent on amassing huge portfolios. (A recent New York Times article noted that Apple and Google, companies that define themselves by innovation, now invest more in patent acquisition and defense than in research and development.)
Why are companies spending so much money on patents? First, as protection. “Patents are like bullets,” law professor Chien says. “They’re cheap to acquire but can cause a lot of damage.” But if you have your own bullets, would-be assassins are less likely to target you. That’s the thinking behind RPX (Rational Patent Exchange), whose clients include Google, Microsoft, and IBM. RPX amasses patents, it says, to keep them out of the hands of lawsuit-happy competitors, and it vows not to sue anyone over them.
- I’m a massive proponent for not going to war with Iran. The problem with my viewpoint is we kinda already are at war with Iran. It’s just a sophisticated war, a secret war.
The dramatic spike in suspected Iranian cyber attacks this year also has some in the U.S. distinctly worried. While direct denial of service attacks on U.S. banks – widely seen as retaliation for US sanctions and attempts to freeze Iran from the international financial system – were seen relatively simplistic, attacks on US allies in the Gulf were more complex.
The most worrying, experts say, were those on Saudi oil firm Aramco and Qatari gas export facilities. Last month, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described the Saudi attack as the most sophisticated yet launched on a private company, effectively destroying tens of thousands of computers – although he stopped short of blaming Tehran directly.
“This week I finished making a radio documentary about the 50-year reign of Welles’s masterpiece – and heard how it might all soon be over, thanks to a change in constituency boundaries. The last time the survey was conducted, 145 mainly anglophone critics were polled. This time an 1,800-strong body of writers, curators and directors have been asked, a group representing the film cultures of most countries in the world. An electorate as broad as that might not feel the critical anxiety of influence that has kept Kane on its pedestal. Tellingly, the longlist, at 2,000 titles, is already much longer than its predecessors.”
I thought it was absolutely awesome to hear that two of Michael Haneke’s films were close to making the list: Cache and The White Ribbon. I have not seen Cache, but have wanted to for some time. It’s hard to find, and I don’t much enjoy watching movies on my computer screen. If you’ve never seen any of his movies, Haneke makes some truly disturbing images and themes come to life. Not that he does horror (Cache is the closest thing to horror; or maybe Funny Games in that it goes out of its way to essentially torture the audience), he just knows how to pick out the little details. The terrible, terrible little details. The guy is a true artist.
- Akai posted this on their Facebook today with the caption, “Save this. Trust us. You’re going to need it someday.”:
I know they’re probably starting to get outdated — especially the 2000XL series — but I’ve gotten a ton of mileage out of my Akai MPC thus far. And I’ve only had it for a couple years. It’s a great piece of hardware. I’ve got the blue one they released around 2001, I think:
According to one of our sources, “the word ‘contempt’ was bandied about by Apple’s lawyer.” So Quinn’s personal frustration may be at least somewhat understandable.
It seems like the main thrust of the declaration is that everything from the release was “previously in the public record.” He explains that everything was “specifically addressed in open court with the media in attendance.”
Quinn also directly addressed accusations that Samsung’s legal team was trying to intentionally mislead jurors. He made the (fairly obvious, in my humble opinion) observation that jurors had already been instructed not to read any form of media relating to the case.
- I’m giving the new Aesop Rock my first listen. Will probably give it a full post tomorrow. So far AM DIGGING.
- Videogame Industry expert Michael Pachter is claiming that the biggest threat to the industry is multiplayer gaming. Anyone who spends time figuring out how to get more money out of people I’m not really a fan of (“Pachter also blasted free-to-play business models and Nintendo, and praised “ripping gamers off”), but the guy is completely spot on. People get addicted to those games, they spend about 10 times more hours on Call Of Duty than they do on Arkham City. That’s not my statistic. Which is great if you’re Activision… but not if you’re a different publisher pouring more money and time and work into your product, and trying to sell that to someone addicted to an Activision game that never ends.
- Last night Charlie Rose had Brian Greene and Michael Tuts — both from Columbia — on his program to discuss the discovery of Higgs Boson and to talk about the the future of physics research. It was super, super interesting. Even if a lot of it goes over your head, I suggest giving it a try. Here’s THE LINK.
House of Earth is Guthrie’s only “fully realised” novel, they said, influenced by his experiences in America’s Dust Bowl, as well as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Tracing the story of Tike and Ella May Hamlin, “hardscrabble farmers” in Texas, it is a “searing portrait of the Panhandle and its marginalised Great Depression residents”. Despite a slightly esoteric focus on the importance of adobe housing, House of Earth also includes graphic sex, including “a scorching lovemaking scene on a hay bale”.
- Samsung Can Continue Selling Galaxy Tabs In Germany.Apple has lost another lawsuit, this time in a German Appeals Court in Duesseldorf. The ruling marks the third attempt and loss by Apple taking legal action against competitors citing infringement of patent rights.
“Furthermore, “following the design changes undertaken by Samsung, the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N does not contravene competition law. Apple’s iPad computers and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1N are rival products of equal value,” the court said in a statement. Earlier this month, two other courts in Germany — in Munich and Mannheim — also quashed Apple’s request to impose a preliminary ban on sales of its Galaxy Tab 10.1N and Nexus smartphone.
The two technology giants are engaged in a legal battle involving dozens of cases worldwide as they struggle for leadership in the hugely lucrative smartphone and tablet computer market.
Apple launched legal action in April last year, accusing Samsung of “slavishly” copying its iPhone and iPad designs. Samsung has focused its own lawsuits on technology patents rather than design. The South Korean giant received two legal boosts in December. A court in San Jose, California, denied Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have banned the sale of three Samsung smartphones and a tablet computer. Australia’s High Court cleared the way for Samsung to sell its Galaxy 10.1 tablet in the country in time for Christmas, dismissing Apple’s bid to have a ban extended.”
The iPad 3 will come out in March I guess. It will purportedly have faster processing power and a better graphics engine.
- Why did everyone hate on Iron Man 2so much? Yes, there is little action but if you want 2 hours of almost non-stop robot on robot brawling I’d recommend any of the Transformers movies. The fights are quick; much quicker than the end of the first movie, which went on way too long. The story of Tony Stark’s self-made artificial heart slowly poisoning his bloodstream (and subsequently synthesizing a new, man-made element) is a good one, and would be a fascinating run in the pages Invincible Iron Man; but I always need to remind myself, “how many people who like the Iron Man movies have read an Iron Man comic?”
It’s too bad that Favreau isn’t doing the third movie, because he’s been slowly building towards the man behind the curtain, pulling the strings, since the beginning: The Mandarin. Who, as the first movie insinuates, has been funding extremists. “The Cave of the Ten Rings”. And I’m pretty sure Shane Black is on record as saying he isn’t going to use him because he sees the character as a racist stereotype.
Well, I’m back. Actually that wasn’t as long of a break as I’d originally imagined. The album is done… for the most part. There’s always those moments where you go back and listen and think, “Jesus, how could I think the reverb on that snare sounds good at all??”. Second guessing will always happen though (I’d assume with any art); the trick is learning how to deal with it, when to listen and when to tell it to F-off.
I’m now typing on a Samsung RV520, a sleek and simple looking machine with your typical 2011 processing power and hard-drive space for any consumer level laptop. Curiously, this PC Mag review’s only gripe is the design, which I find appealing. Sure, an aluminum chasis/frame would be nice, but that also adds weight. And really… how much abuse could I possibly be giving this thing?
My new wallpaper is this:
The newest season of Breaking Badhas been entertaining, if a little slow. Not that I mind. Two of my favorite films are regarded as two of the slower films in each of their respective genres. But I know it bothers some people. I have this deep seeded feeling that Jesse will bite the bullet at the end of this season (AMC’s announcement that the show will enter it’s final season next year was an ominous one. I’m assuming things will kick into high gear towards the end here.). Jesse is, on a lot of levels, much more likeable than Walt.
I’m hoping theWalking Dead TV series will stick a little closer to the comics this time around. Not that I want to know what happens, I don’t, but the quality of the storytelling in the comics is perfect at times. And very, very well suited for a one hour weekly television program. As far as the comics series, I’m getting a little blood-lust. I need to see some human-created carnage happen soon, Kirkman’s starting to make me believe that most people could be trusted in such a setting.
