This page contains all entries posted to Manufactured Environments in September 2006.

Cassette Couture

We like this site that allows you to customize your very own cassette tape. It’s all-digital with three cassette styles to choose from and the labeling is up to you. While we haven’t listened to an analog cassette tape in years and years, we still vaguely remember them. I was always one for the vinyl LP & 12” — in fact, there still is a turntable in my living room and a variety of vinyl to spin from.

I’m also reminded of the cover of the Thurston Moore edited book entitled Mix Tape: The Art of Cassette Culture, which Herr Faust was kind enough to send me for my birthday last year. You may recall Thurston Moore as the force, with Kim Gordon, behind Sonic Youth.

In other modes of recording and broadcasting, we’ve been playing around with some audio editing tools for our podcast. We’ve loaded an initial poetry reading test with bookends. And we’ll keep messing around with it. Check out our podcast over at Manufactured Podcasts.

Tags: analog · cassette · cassette tapes · digital · thurston moore

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Freeform Faust’s playlist for September 23, 2006

Actually, he really would mind if you sit this one out.
(Original source unknown; Picture taken during the US leg of the Thick As A Brick tour in 1972, probably during the concert at the LA Forum, June 23 or 24; Digitally remastered by Steve Gugerty)

Filled in for Jason Stonerook’s classic rock show Saturday from 4:00pm–5:30pm (CST) on KWLC.

Notes

For those who asked, the name of the Beatles song used in CCC’s ‘Close to No One’ is ‘For No One’ from Revolver. For those who didn’t ask, the other song is ‘Close To Me’ by The Cure from The Head On The Door. What kind of classic rockers know the Cure catalog better than they know the Beatles catalog?

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Get the desktop of the future now with Xgl and Compiz

Ever since I installed SUSE Linux 10.1, I’ve heard rumblings from here and there about something cool called Xgl. I wondered what all the buzz was about. It had something to do with translucency, effects, spinning cubes. Well, I installed Xgl today, and WOW! I mean WOW! It’s great. The static computer desktop is a thing of the past. Think Apple-style visual effects with a ton of pizazz!

Okay, so Xgl is an X Window server that harnesses the power of OpenGL. You’ll need a semi-decent video card to really get the full effect, and you’ll also need to install the free but proprietary video drivers from either Nvidia or ATI, depending on what kind of card you have. But once you do, you’re in for a treat. Windows have variable transparency. You can switch between desktops with this very cool rotating cube (I think Apple is introducing something similar in their next version of Mac OS X). Windows are “wobbly”—meaning that when you move them around they warp and bend in fun and exciting ways. Lots of visual umph!

And best of all, because it’s on SUSE Linux, it’s all free. Okay, so you’re probably wanting more information. Check out the details and streaming videos and screenshots over at Novell. openSUSE.org also has a page on Xgl with links to other sites. You might also like to refer to the Wikipedia Xgl page.

Some installation notes: The openSUSE.org instructions didn’t work for me, but the instructions in Chris Brown’s new SUSE Linux book did. You can find the relevant excerpt on Linux Journal’s Web site here. Brown describes how to install the Nvidia drivers, but if you have an ATI card, you can follow the instructions given by E@zyVG. The Xgl installation is simply a matter of installing the Xgl and Compiz packages in YaST, and then throwing the switch essentially. Xgl is still relatively young, and it keeps getting better. With the development force of Novell behind it though it’s bound to take the Linux world by storm.

Here are a couple of still shots from the Novell site:

Transparency

The Rotating Cube o’ Desktops

Tags: apple · ati · chris brown · compiz · linux · nvidia · opengl · opensuse · suse · suse linux · transparency · xgl

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bed jumping

I drove Abigail to the airport today. She’s off to NYC for a bit, and I should have sent a camera with her because this bed jumping site is cracking me up. It’s called the Hotel Bed Jumping HQ, and it’s over at bedjump.com. The concept is simple: people send in photos of themselves jumping on a hotel bed. The results are entertaining to be sure. There are lots of photo meme sites, but this one is by far the most fun I’ve seen in a while. Scroll down to explore the various categories like Vegas Baby and Bed Jump Favorites. [via bb]

Tags: bed jumping · beds · frolic · fun · hotels · jumping · mayhem

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The biggest mistake you can make if you’re new to Linux

I’ll be the first to admit that Linux appeals to the technically inclined. It also appeals to people who believe in the freedom of ideas. People are cruising along on their Mac OS X laptop or their Windows box, and they hear something about Linux. Maybe you’re one of the people who have heard about Linux. Now, I’ll also be the first to admit that Linux is really fucking cool.

But there is a mistake that people tend to make when they first hear about Linux. It has something to do with the operating system they’re currently on. People start using Mac OS X or Windows and most of them don’t have to read a book. They use it for a few years, and eventually they just pick it up.

So picture the Linux newbie who wants to get a fresh start with this great thing he or she has heard about. It’s a free operating system. All the apps are free. You can download the whole kit & kaboodle from the Internet. Our little newbie maybe even gets as far as burning the CD. They boot into the CD and things are going smoothly.

I started using Linux in 1994, and things have improved dramatically since then. Even now though, you’ll be confronted with strange things you most likely haven’t seen before such as partitioning. Today’s installers are smart enough to suggest a partitioning setup for your hard drive. And that may be okay, or maybe it’s not. But if you don’t understand the process, it can be very frustrating.

Okay, our Linux newbie gets the operating system and the applications installed. Whew! They’re done! Now to start using it. Umm….where to begin? Or even, hey, something isn’t working, how do I fix it?

The biggest mistake you can make when you’re new to Linux is not reading documentation or a book. Linux is much easier to install and get it up and running than it used to be, but you’ll have a much smoother experience if you do some reading up front.

I installed my first Linux box the summer before my final year of college. I printed out and read hundreds of pages of documentation from the Linux Documentation Project before I put in disc #1. When I started up in Linux, I knew exactly what to expect, and I knew what to do. As I started helping other people with Linux I would see the same questions over and over from newbies who hadn’t bothered to read anything about Linux.

You don’t need to do what I did to get familiar with Linux. So it’s a good idea to install a distribution that sounds good to you (I’d recommend SUSE Linux or Ubuntu), and start playing around. But my biggest advice to you, the beginning Linux user, is do some reading!

I’d recommend starting with the installation guide for your distribution. Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass to read that stuff, but it’ll really help you out in the end. If you’re installing a major distribution, you can order a book from Amazon, or if you’re cheap like me you can go digging for documentation on Linux. Linux has been around long enough now that somebody, somewhere has tried doing what you’re trying to do.

The place to start of course is the Web site for the distribution you’ve installed. Often they have free reference documentation. Or you could go onto a forums and see what people suggest reading for becoming a Linux power user.

In 1994, there weren’t any books available about Linux, and now there are hundreds and hundreds of books that have been written. I hate to see when someone installs Linux thinking it’s going to be just like the operating system they’ve been using for years. Don’t give up after the first, second, or even third try. Read, and learn. I don’t know anyone who has learned Linux in a day. Give it a month. Hell, give it six months. Dig in, and get going.

Linux after all is fun. And it’s free. That’s a good combination. Put knowledge on your side, and you are ready to start with this new adventure!

Tags: linux · linux documentation project · mac os x · poweruser · suse · suse linux · switch · ubuntu · windows

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Going past the news story to structured information

Adrian Holovaty, of washingtonpost.com, writes about a fundamental way newspaper sites need to change. His main thesis is that newspapers are used to dealing with news in the shape of news stories, but they need to learn new tricks to deal with structured information. Journalists go out and do their reporting and then craft a story around the information of the story. Holovaty thinks that newspapers need to find other ways to use the data that they gather then just putting it into a narrative.

While Holovaty seems to shy away from this term, what we are talking about here are database-driven Web sites. And yes, he’s right, newspapers do need to think about new ways to package information. It may be true that newspapers are moving slowly, but I think they definitely are moving. Some newspaper chains are aware of what needs to happen and already have a plan in place.

I agree with Holovaty, but newspapers have already made the realization he has made. At least in my experience, they have. But whether they have the technical people in place to implement that shift is another matter. And maybe part of the problem are the tools that have been put in place to manage online content. If all you’re doing is dumping stories into your CMS (content management system), it’s only going to churn out news stories. So either it means going outside the CMS to handle the data structuring tasks or possibly it means using a CMS that isn’t focused solely in getting content onto pages in a relatively static way.

It all means that people who can code dynamic database-driven Web sites will be in demand for newspaper sites. But being able to code and knowing something about journalism are two different skill sets. I have those skills, but how many other people do? There used to be J-School classes for CAR (computer-assisted reporting), which is what they used to call it in the ’80s. The question is whether J-Schools are making people competent enough to handle the nuts and bolts of journalism in the Internet age. There are some of us out there who bridge the divide between technology and journalism, but my sense is that there are not enough. [via a.whole]

Tags: adrian holovaty · database-driven · j-school · journalism · new media · newspapers

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Eliot Spitzer: Spoiling for a fight

Great review over on nth position of Brooke A. Masters’ new book entitled Spoiling for a fight: The rise of Eliot Spitzer. Eliot Spitzer, as attorney general for New York, has made a name for himself fighting the power. The book itself looks like a fascinating look into the career of Spitzer thus far. It’s at Amazon here. [via 3QD]

From the review:

Spitzer, transforming what attorney generals do, attacked midwestern power plants for polluting New York, ripped into the Food Emporium and A&P, Gristedes and other major supermarkets and drugstore chains, for mindboggling working conditions of immigrant deliverymen, and convicted the first felonious sweatshop operator in a decade. His unsuccessful attempt to bring gun manufacturers under control proved him a man of initiative, practical, yet moral, quick to learn early the golden lesson of watching one’s back even when dealing with one’s apparent ally, a lesson he may have occasion to recall when governor. As for righteous anger, when the Red Cross attempted to divert 9/11 funds to its other causes, Spitzer seized it, as it were, by the neck, compelling it to use every cent for 9/11 victims.

Tags: attorney general · brooke masters · eliot spitzer · spoiling for a fight

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Banksy pranks Paris Hilton

British artist Banksy was up to hijinks once again, this time involving the release of Paris Hilton’s album Paris in the U.K. He replaced 500 copies of the disc with a CD of his own remixes, with titles like Why am I famous? and What have I done? The cover art was changed to a picture of Paris topless and with a dog’s head. Banksy, though, kept the barcode so the CDs would ring up correctly. Full BBC story here. [via WG]

Update: Jose posts a couple of choice links in the comments. One is a making of video on YouTube.

Tags: art · banksy · cd · music · paris · paris hilton · pranks

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Guest Blogger on Manufactured Environments

I hope you’ve noticed the previous two posts by “Abby Darlington.” We’d like to welcome our new guest blogger to the Manufactured Environments stable. We’re happy to have her joining forces with us. I can see already that I’m going to need to add a “pets” category. She will most likely provide a relief from my heavily technology and Linux oriented fare. I hope you enjoy reading her!

Tags: abby darlington · guest blogger · pets

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Sea Monkeys vs. Triops

I discovered sea monkeys when I was about 9 years old. Sea monkeys, as you may know, are a species of brine shrimp which “instantaneously” come to life when you drop them into water. Sea monkey kits basically contain dried sea monkey larvae that hatch in water. Sea monkeys are very tiny, and it is difficult to make out their features. I would estimate their length as adults to be between 2 and 3 centimeters.

Sea monkeys are relatively easy to care for. The only problem I encountered with them was cleaning their tank after several weeks of accumulating nastiness had built up in there. It was hard to drain just the dirty bathwater without throwing out some babies. Few survived the ordeal.

At one time, I saw an ad in a magazine for crystals that the sea monkeys would throw around and play with. I bought the crystals, but much to my chagrin, they turned out to be several times larger and heavier than the sea monkeys. Maybe the sea monkeys in the magazine had taken steroids. One never knows these days.

Anyway, I hadn’t thought about sea monkeys in many years. Then, the other day a friend of mine gave me Triops. Triops are similar to sea monkeys insofar as they are an ancient form of dried up larval life that instantaneously hatch when dropped into water. At first I was excited at the prospect of taking care of a new pet. We all know by now that I don’t have a hamster anymore after the last one met an unfortunate demise at the hands of its grandmother. So, needless to say, I was anxious to get the hatching underway.

I soon realized, however, that Triops are no sea monkeys. To begin with, Triops are about an inch in length, and unfortunately, you actually can make out some of their bodily features. Yuck! But, more importantly, they are very difficult to take care of. Apparently, if you feed them too much, they explode (like fish). But, if you don’t feed them enough, they eat each other. What is a girl to do?

So, I feel like I am just postponing the inevitable. They will die sooner or later — either by explosion or at the hands of their nasty-ass-looking brothers and sisters. I long for my sea monkeys. They were so docile, so uncomplicated, so beautiful. Well, again, I never did see their appearance, so maybe beautiful is the wrong word.

But anyway, I think that after the Triops die, I will go out and get some sea monkeys — for old times sake if nothing else.

Tags: brine shrimp · hamster · sea monkeys · triops

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