This American Life: Guns episode

Sunday, February 7, 2010 |  Audio

Last week, This American Life re-played its episode entitled Guns, which originally aired in 2007. In typical fashion, Ira Glass et al attempt to comprehend the contentious “American’s and their guns” topic from the inside out evoking sympathy for both sides. The show is hilarious at times, bittersweet at others, heart-wrenching in places and thoroughly enjoyable all the way through. My favorite bit is Sarah Vowell’s discovery that, while she still might not like her dad’s gun collection, she is a big fan of his scratch-built canon with which she promises him to blast his remains after his death. A must listen is the story of a Texas gun owner who chose to obey Texas law and not take her firearm into a restaurant, only to have her father and mother killed by a gunman while she watched and could do nothing. But there is much more, so listen!

What Stephen Fry thinks of the iPad

Friday, January 29, 2010 |  Computers, Apple, Jots

I agree with Stephen Fry who, in a recent post, had this to say about the iPad: “I know there will be many who have already taken one look and pronounced it to be nothing but a large iPhone and something of a disappointment. I have heard these voices before. In June 2007 when the iPhone was launched I collected a long list of ‘not impressed’, ‘meh’, ‘big deal’, ‘style over substance’, ‘it’s all hype’, ‘my HTC TyTN can do more’, ‘what a disappointment’, ‘majorly underwhelmed’ and similar reactions. They can hug to themselves the excuse that the first release of iPhone was 2G, closed to developers and without GPS, cut and paste and many other features that have since been incorporated. Neither they, nor I, nor anyone, predicted the ‘game-changing’ effect the phone would so rapidly have as it evolved into a 3G, third-party app rich, compass and GPS enabled market leader. Even if it had proved a commercial and business disaster instead of an astounding success, iPhone would remain the most significant release of its generation because of its effect on the smartphone habitat. Does anybody seriously believe that Android, Nokia, Samsung, Palm, BlackBerry and a dozen others would since have produced the product line they have without the 100,000 volt taser shot up the jacksie that the iPhone delivered to the entire market?”

Sita Sing’s the Blues proves it—copyright should go

Sunday, January 24, 2010 |  Culture, Economics, Video

When Nina Paley, finished her animated musical, “Sita Sing’s the Blues”—created at home on a series of Macs—she got a crash course in copyright lunacy.

After her marriage ended, Paley made the unlikely connection between the songs of 1920s jazz vocalist, Annette Henshaw and the ancient story of Sita and Rama from the Hindu epic, Ramayana. “Her voice is so sweet and vulnerable and without bitterness, even as she sings of heartbreak and man-done-her-wrong.” Paley told an interviewer. “Also it comes from a completely different era, separate from both today and ancient India. Those old songs really show how the story of heartbreak in the Ramayana transcends time and culture.”

Paley used public domain recordings of Hanshaw to help her bring the ancient Hindu story to life. She didn’t know that the songs themselves were still controlled by corporations which had secured extensions to the rights and were asking on average, $20,000 per composition. After much negotiating the total cost was reduced from 220,000 to 50,000 dollars—an amount Paley managed to borrow.

Copying Is Not Theft

Sunday, January 24, 2010 |  Culture, Economics, Video

Nina Paley has become famous as an artist/activist for “free culture.” She created this little short to illustrate that copyright laws are unnecessary because copying reduces scarcity—a problem copyright is supposed to alleviate. Paley has invited collaboration by publishing a version without musical score and requesting people add music, which someone has done here.

Flickr Upload: Winter 2010

Thursday, January 7, 2010 |  Indian Creek, Photos, Prairies

I took a few good pictures while at home for Christmas during the blizzard. Some were captured a good distance form the house up on a hill where I had managed to trudge on foot through the snow, with my camera. When you feel that icy wind blasting across the tops of the hills, carrying the heat from you body, you know you would not last long out there without finding cover. Other good shots in this collection come from here on Indian Creek under the full moon which provided a lot of good light for some great night shots.

Erin and Shadow had to stand perfectly still despite the shivering cold while I took this long exposure. The water is lit from above by the moon, and artificial light from behind. The water’s movement is captured over time and it begins to appear mirror-and the light reflecting from it becomes less diffused.

Her face is lit by her iPhone, which she is holding at chest level.