The Live More Lightly Workshop has been presented in an elementary school and a demo video has been produced. Unfortunately, due to completely justifiable concerns about putting images of children on the internet, I cannot post the demo. However, I do have a supportive testimonial from the teachers here.

The book project has been refined into three versions:

1. The Live More Lightly Songbook and Workshop Guide
2. The Live More Lightly Book of Choral Arrangements
3. Study Guide for the Live More Lightly Workshop

The Study Guide is a requirement for ArtStarts in Schools Touring Artists and I have used the video (with permission) in my application to  become part of their booking program. I will have to produce Book #3 (Study Guide) first because there is a need for it to accompany workshops that I am involved in presenting. Book #1 is intended for use by groups who want to do a workshop without me and Book #2 (the choral guide) contains arrangements for organized choral groups who have some musical training and a conductor.

The book has been taking a substantial amount of work, but even more work has gone into the image capture and documentary part of the project. I have ordered the additional parts I need for the Blu-ray video camera and they should be delivered soon. My two Canon still cameras are functioning, but I really feel I need an upgrade so I can take better quality photos.  Shooting in RAW is a requirement and I have found a Ubuntu Linux program that claims to handle RAW formats. I have been studying photography by asking a lot of questions and experimenting with different techniques. Now I am about to begin with video again, not just editing, but shooting. As soon as I get the parts for the video camera I will start recording video from my propane powered van and start to coordinate the streaming concept.

It all keeps me very busy. My next post will contain photos of my Yamaha FJ in storage with the new Renntec crash bars and carry rack installed. Simon worked on my bike before it was parked and it rides like a new machine. Still working on the luggage problem, but now the carry rack should help with the planning.  A future post on the MPEG4 always-on low resolution camera system will be next because several new products have been recently introduced. I will not make a decision until spring as I expect that the latest technology will be the best choice.

A summer tour seems so far away on this solstice afternoon, but I know that there is a massive amount of work to do so that I can be ready for the journey. Sometimes it is hard for me to be strongly motivated to continue to work, but evaluating the progress thus far helps me re-group and continue onwards.

All the best of the holiday season to everyone. Drive carefully and Live More Lightly.

See my previous research on environmental initiatives by electronics companies.

I have not received any funding and I have been spending so much time on this and other music projects that I have not been making as much money as I should. So I tried to be frugal and bought this camcorder “open box” at Future Shop. It was missing some parts, the proprietary USB cable and the charging and A/C cables and transformer. This has made it difficult to use because I can’t download any video from the 30 gigabyte HD without the cable. The customer support at Hitachi, particularly Tina and Lorne have been very helpful in giving me part numbers and assisting with my problems. I have now ordered the parts and when they arrive there will be a lot more video on this site.

The camera captures video in High definition Blu-ray that can be burnt on to special disks (over $20 each) or downloaded to a computer. It also acts as a still camera saving on to a compact SD card flash memory. High definition and Blu-ray are new territory for me and I am sure I will have some difficulty as I don’t have a player or DVD in my computer that is compatible. It seems I always have to get more stuff, no matter how much I already have!

It will be fun to work with the video and to be able to document my progress on this and other projects. Now I need a wide angle lens, lights, tripod and protective case — at least I can start with the camera and get some video on the site.

Where the Hell is Matt?”

When my daughter told me about Matt, I didn’t get it. She invited me to come down to the beach and dance with this young man who was traveling all over the world dancing with people. No, he is not a great dancer. I didn’t get it — I didn’t go. That’s my daughter in the red skirt, front left, on the beach in Vancouver.

Where the Hell is Matt 2008

Matt brought the world together with his little dance. There is such joy in the act of Matt doing his dance from the heart that it refreshes my belief in humanity. I believe that behind the power struggles and the greed — we are all one people. When I saw the video — I got the message.

Playing for Change

Here is another group that is doing video of pop songs, like “Stand By Me” (Ben E. King) and “One Love” (Bob Marley) performed by musicians all over the world playing together through the wonders of technology. They all appear in their own country playing their instrument on the same song playing with the musicians that have already been recorded.

They have a great site and the passion to show that music can cross borders that have been created by the power structure to connect us.

Live More Lightly

The completed Live More Lightly song 6 minute video will show me singing, joined by one person, then by another, then by all the workshop participants that want to be in the video. As each workshop will be different, it probably won’t be as smooth in transition as the Playing for Change videos, but if I get some funding I can make better video. The first one will be a do-it -yourself demo, but I hope to have it ready for the start of the tour in 2009.

The documentary movie will be about the journey across the continent in 2009 to bring the diverse age groups, cultures, ethnic backgrounds and others (basically everybody I can get) together to Live More Lightly on the land one small action at a time. I want to show lots of great environmental footage of natural scenes so everyone will know why we should save the planet. I anticipate that 90 minutes of singing, workshop events, beautiful scenery and on-bike motorcycle riding should be about right.

The motorcycle tour is a small portion of this project, but it has been taking a lot to coordinate. I could just go in my van to do the workshops, but the motorcycle is much more environmentally friendly.

I also hope to be able to be the first person to stream live video from a moving motorcycle to a satellite without a truck. The Grand Prix racers have on-bike cameras that stream to a nearby truck that carries a satellite dish, like the one pictured below. This huge dish with signal amplification allows them to send a broadcast quality signal to the satellite. From the satellite the signal can be received at the television station for editing or routed into the broadcast signal as live coverage. A higher quality signal (broadcast television) takes more power, so a larger amplifier and more microwaves, than a low quality signal (webcam).

Due to microwave radiation from this type of dish, it is against Canadian law to mount it lower than 4ft off the ground. This dish, when fully extended is well above the heads of any concert goers and is considered safe. I don’t even like to carry my cell phone in my pocket, but for the sale of art, I plan to innundate myself with microwaves from a portable modem. Basic outline of streaming requirements here.

Many motorcyclists have mounted cameras on their bike and there are a lot of videos on the internet of intense riding. Depending on your area of interest there are many to choose from. One other Vancouver rider, Jeff has captured a lot of scenic footage from his Harley on VRide TV. I love the smoothness of his ride as it makes for great video as I already described here. I am on a more limited budget with my old Yamaha FJ1200, but I hope to be able to get some great nature footage for the documetary. Still working on the streaming aspect. I will keep you posted.

I am trying to wait until the last possible minute to buy a video camera to mount on the bike. Technology is advancing so that anything I buy now will be outdated by spring. I will have to take the plunge at some point, just so I can practice with the machine before actually mounting it on the Yamaha FJ1200. I am sure there will also be mounting and vibration problems, but I hope to get everything worked out before next summer.

Cell phone companies are now interested in assisting me with streaming video off the bike, for a fee of course. The streaming would be limited to areas with cell phone coverage, so the mountains and more remote areas would be off the grid. I would still like to stream to a satellite, but the concept will take more development.

With the dark days and fewer distractions, I am sure the book will advance exponentially and I will keep you all posted on the progress of the project.

Funded by the Knight Foundation, the contest seeks to assist the development of internet news that serves a constituency of readers.

There are only four rules. Winning entries must:

   1. Use or create digital, open-source technology;
   2. Use news and information to serve the public interest;
   3. Benefit at least one specific geographic community;
   4. Be innovative.

The Live More Lightly Project entered an application last year, but was unsuccessful. This year, I will try to make the case that I [Victoria] am an internet griot or troubador who is delivering the message of personal responsibility for the environment. Changing the world, one personal action at a time.

The project has evolved since last year, but because I have received no funding, my progress has been slower than I hoped. I will post my application here for comment.

Live More Lightly Knight News Challenge Application — You still have time to vote for me.

I only asked for $5,000. because that would be enough to do the tour and really investigate the on-line streaming video concept. Unfortunately, I have been turned down again. I will keep on trying to get the needed funding to complete my project.

The amazing thing is that I didn’t get really wet. I am wearing my summer mesh jacket over a fleecy, but if I lean on my tank bag the windshield and my full-face helmet keep a lot of the rain off my upper body. The rain brought warmer temperatures too. I thought I would get really cold in the clear night after I missed the earlier late-afternoon ferry while sitting in rush-hour traffic. When did the traffic get this bad going to the North Shore?  I never want to have a job where I have to drive in rush hour everyday, but with an air-cooled bike it was not going to work.

I used every back road trick I know and still ended up in a line-up that really worried me, especially when the bike started to smoke a bit. Yipes! I was really glad to get over the 2nd Narrows Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and cool off my distressed engine.

I caught the last possible ferry out of Horseshoe Bay to Langdale and when I got off that ferry, it was dark and misting heavily. I knew my bike would be cool at least, so I rode that twisty highway at an unhurried pace.  I arrived at the north end of the coast and met a friendly ferry worker who rides a collector-plated Bonneville. He let me go in the office and gave me tea. Bless his heart, he told me stories of riding before I was even born.

Now I am in Powell River, surprised at how warm and dry I remained. I hope my computer didn’t get too wet. It will be wrapped in plastic in future until I get my hard bags. So far, this is The Live More Lightly Tour ‘08!

Here is a brief excerpt of the teacher’s opinion of the Live More Lightly Workshop. I am delivering the DVD of the two sessions I did to try to arrange more workshops, so wish me luck.

lml_teachers

Most of the work I have done recently on my blog and the project is administrative tasks that are not too exciting. However, I am excited about the possibility of facilitating a workshop in Powell River soon and having my friend Judy capture the action on a video. Now I have updated Wordpress, I can add video and podcasts. It is always a concern of parents when considering allowing their children to be in a video posted to the internet, but I hope that I will be able to form a community of environmental supporters. Everyone seems to be less concerned when there are hundreds of videos — I’ve seen countless children on Youtube.

I will be networking with more environmental education sites and I hope that many people will know “The Live More Lightly Song” by the end of the year.

Remember the Wordpress motto when reading this: “Code is poetry.”

The last steps I took on activating the music recording capabilities of my ASUS notebook included installing the ffado drivers and (with help from Robin B. in Seattle) making sure the “raw1394″ kernel module is loaded on boot. This can be checked in terminal (sudo modprobe raw1394) and I did find that the Ubuntu Studio control that I installed was not a reliable indicator that the raw kernel module was in fact loaded. Even after checking the box in the GUI loaded from System>Administration>Ubuntu Studio, I still was asked for my password to activate the raw kernel in terminal.

There is a post on the ffado site that describes how to check if jackd is reading the ffado driver from terminal here. Unfortunately, I get the reading:

victoria@u-live:~$ jackd -R -d firewire -v4
jackd: unknown driver ‘firewire’

I think my problem might be with jackd rather than with the ffado driver itself. I was following the install instructions on the ffado trac site — Pieter writes encouragingly at the top “It’s very easy”, but forgets to add “…if you are a Linux programmer”. I have the latest RT (realtime) kernel installed and all of the dependencies except the python-qt.

victoria@u-live:~$ sudo apt-get install scons libiec61883-0 libiec61883-dev libavc1394-0 libavc1394-dev libxml++2.6c2a libxml++2.6-dev liblo0 liblo0-dev docbook-utils libexpat-dev libdbus-1-dev pyqt-tools python-dbus python-qt
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
scons is already the newest version.
libiec61883-0 is already the newest version.
libiec61883-dev is already the newest version.
libavc1394-0 is already the newest version.
libavc1394-dev is already the newest version.
libxml++2.6c2a is already the newest version.
libxml++2.6-dev is already the newest version.
liblo0 is already the newest version.
liblo0-dev is already the newest version.
docbook-utils is already the newest version.
Note, selecting libexpat1-dev instead of libexpat-dev
libexpat1-dev is already the newest version.
libdbus-1-dev is already the newest version.
pyqt-tools is already the newest version.
python-dbus is already the newest version.
E: Couldn’t find package python-qt

Robin fixed this later and I have no idea what he did. I had already checked that I had python-qt3 installed and somehow he made Ubuntu see it. Next I downloaded the ffado sources and placed them in the directory and tried to compile using Scons. I had never tried to compile anything before so I did not realize that scons had to be run from inside the folder of the program that you wish to compile.

victoria@u-live:~$ scons DEBUG=yes

scons: *** No SConstruct file found.
File “/usr/lib/scons/SCons/Script/Main.py”, line 825, in _main
victoria@u-live:~$ scons install

Scons cannot find the SConstruct file unless it is run in the directory folder that the text file lives in. I figured this out and I was pleased to see a string of code scroll down the terminal screen.  I was less happy when the install terminated with the error message:

xdg-icon-resource install –size 64 –context apps support/xdg/hi64-apps-ffado.png
scons: *** DirNodeInfo instance has no attribute ‘csig’
scons: building terminated because of errors.

I tried to continue and received some help from the guide posted here. I decided not to try to hack the code in the SConstruct file as they suggest and looked for another method. There is now some new information posted by Pieter here, but at that time, after a bit of searching, I gave up and decided to continue with the install instructions. Later Robin came to my rescue and said something that contained the words “usr home folder”. I did not understand what he said and he types quickly into the terminal, but the result was positive and the driver is installed.

victoria@u-live:/usr/share/applications$ cd /usr/local
victoria@u-live:/usr/local$ ls
bin  etc  games  include  lib  man  sbin  share  src
victoria@u-live:/usr/local$ cd bin
victoria@u-live:/usr/local/bin$ ls
ffado-bridgeco-downloader  ffado-fireworks-downloader
ffado-dbus-server          ffadomixer
victoria@u-live:/usr/local/bin$ ffado
ffado-bridgeco-downloader   ffado-fireworks-downloader
ffado-dbus-server           ffadomixer
victoria@u-live:/usr/local/bin$ ffadomixer

——————————————————-

Another frustrating bit of business with the command:

$ sudo apt-get install subversion libtool automake

I could not get it to run, but I installed jack from the trunk in a separate folder and I think that is the source of my present problems. Jack installed very well, but now I think I am running two versions of Jacd and that is confusing to my OS. I do not have Robin B. to help me now, so I just tried running the above cmnd again. Surprised and pleased, I watched the install proceed:

victoria@u-live:~$ sudo apt-get install subversion libtool automake
[sudo] password for victoria:
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
subversion is already the newest version.
libtool is already the newest version.
The following NEW packages will be installed:
automake
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 519kB of archives.
After this operation, 1712kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://ca.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main automake 1:1.10.1-2 [519kB]
Fetched 519kB in 2s (182kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package automake.
(Reading database … 245531 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking automake (from …/automake_1%3a1.10.1-2_all.deb) …
Setting up automake (1:1.10.1-2) …

Now I have the automake application installed jackd may work better or I might have to remove it from the system and reinstall. I plan to use this post to ask for help with my lack of success, but I feel I am making some progress because my terminal reads:

victoria@u-live:~$ cd libffado
victoria@u-live:~/libffado$ tests/test-ffado Discover
verbose level = 0
Using ffado library version: libffado 2.0.900-1319

06565751473: Debug (devicemanager.cpp)[ 555] discover: Discovery finished…
06565751641: Debug (devicemanager.cpp)[1045] showDeviceInfo: ===== Device Manager =====
06565751717: Debug (Element.cpp)[ 109] show: Element DeviceManager
06565751769: Debug (devicemanager.cpp)[1053] showDeviceInfo: — IEEE1394 Service  0 —
Iso handler info:
Dumping IsoHandlerManager Stream handler information…
State: 2
no message buffer overruns

————————————————————-

Thanks Robin B. for your hospitality and your help! Here are some flowers for you.

]]> http://livemorelightly.com/2008/09/21/ubuntu-hardy-free-firewire-drivers-jackd/feed/ http://livemorelightly.com/2008/09/16/wordpress-upgrade-to-261/ http://livemorelightly.com/2008/09/16/wordpress-upgrade-to-261/#comments Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:40:41 +0000 vixmusic01 http://livemorelightly.com/?p=238 Using Fantastico in Bluehost I was able to smoothly upgrade my Wordpress install this morning. Although Wordpress urges me to upgrade to 2.6.2, Fantastico sees 2.6.1 as the latest version, so I cannot upgrade further at present. I also activated the podpress plug-in and some other multi-media tools. I look forward to exploring streaming content on my blog, both audio and video.

When I first installed Wordpress, I had never administrated content management software before. The default is to install to the root folder, so that is where I put the program. Now, I am thinking about expanding the Live More Lightly Site to include a regular web site in addition to the blog, I find the root install is a problem. I have since installed and administer Wordpress on other websites and it is just as easy to install to a new folder and link to the blog from the site menu. I would advise anyone installing Wordpress to build a home page and put a link to the blog on that page. This will allow for easy site expansion as more links can be added to the home page and the blog will remain in the second-level folder where it was installed.

To avoid having to reinstall and reconfigure my site, I am constructing a Site Map page that will help to direct readers to the content they want to view and to the static pages that give information about the project. Many people find the three column layout confusing as there is so much information and different filtering options. The Site Map should help to demystify blog navigation and I welcome feedback when I get it published.

News Flash: The Live More Lightly Guestbook Page is now functional using the DMS Guestbook plug-in. Try it out, then I will know it works for sure.

On one occasion, when Krishna was still a child, he revealed his true god-self to his mother by asking her to look in his mouth. When she complied, she was astonished to see the entire universe inside the mouth of her child. When I looked into that camera, I saw a glimpse of the infinite — I was astonished. The photographer who owned the magic box enthusiastically started informing me of the technical details in a language full of numbers that I did not understand. This machine may be described by numbers, as the universe can be modeled mathematically, but the impact of the revelation I had experienced created a bookmark in my mind that I return to in wonder.

My next reaction was more practical, as the Virgo reasserted her presence. If everyone had a camera like that, my opportunities for employment as a graphic artist would be seriously reduced. There was no noise in the image, it was balanced and in sharp focus. If the capture mechanism was as pristine as the view, the images would reflect a hyper-realism that would need few adjustments. My daughter later comforted me by pointing out that many of these cameras are owned by individuals who can cause them to malfunction and that composition skills are still required. Even the best images can benefit from layout, design and story, so my production skills will still be needed.

The term “multi-media artist” has often been applied to my skill sets in production. I know that if I am not being paid, I do music, music technology and saving the world. Some practical part of me knows that my time will not allow any more addictions. I am already being drawn away from my “Live More Lightly Project” too much by other musical entanglements. I have to complete a book prototype this month. Move on.

Then, I went to Seattle and I used Kyle Cassidy’s camera to take photos of Kyle, Trillian and my daughter, Jhayne, together. This time, when I looked into the camera, the universe resolved and I saw my friend the computer lived there too. I immediately knew what to do and asked Kyle to set the controls to automatic. I can trust my computer abilities completely and I recognized that this was a computer that knew how to use the camera mechanisms. I could trust my intelligent friend and concentrate on steadiness and composition. I hope to see the results of this experiment [edit:one photo posted on Trillan's blog link here].

Now, I feel myself wanting to experience that clarity again, but another thought intrudes. Am I ready to take the responsibility of being able to capture the hyper-real visual universe? In music recording, I live in hyper-reality because I capture sounds that are usually very fleeting and preserve them so they can be examined, manipulated and controlled. I capture in very high resolution and my mixing and mastering work is essential to reconstruct or engineer the three-dimensional space of the recording. Another dimension of music technology is to edit lower resolution captures and enhance them to contemporary standards. I take the responsibility of revealing moments of time and translating a transient waveform into a repeatable experience. There is always some level of interpretation required and other ears can be consulted on an important project.

Image capture is decided quickly by the one person who has control of the mechanism. I had decided to pursue video because it is a relatively low resolution media and the editor shares the responsibility because there is so much material. Video is very similar to audio recording in that sense. Audio/video footage is a linear record, but photography is a much more selective process. A hyper-real photo will capture the essence of the moment and freeze the light-wave, the way I preserve audio samples. There is some truth to the idea that a photo will capture a piece of the soul of the subject as it is the reality of physical and spiritual presence that reflects the light.

The photos I take start out as relatively low-resolution and I compress them to make them load quickly. Despite my poor equipment, sometimes I capture the spirit of light and I do not post those images to the internet. If I had a camera with a brain, these occurrences would increase.The posts I write with images are more attractive to readers, so I take snapshots, but I am selective about posting ones that qualify as images.

I want to be a musician first and I need to improve my financial picture before I could make such an investment in camera technology. I think the experience of computer-guided image excellence will help me to push what I have and even the poorest new video cameras have superior image resolution to my Canon A80.

The higher resolution specification given for still image capture on a video camera can be misleading. The cameras take interpolated images to raise the resolution specifications, but I hope to find a dual-purpose that will allow me to disable that feature and use the native resolution of the CCD. Camera manufacturers believe that consumers will buy more mega-pixels regardless of how they obtain them. It is true that most individuals do not research a purchase the way I have, but I will live with this device for a long time if I pick the correct unit and my integration with the machine will improve the function.

If I ever have a camera like Kyle’s in my hands again, I will remember that I have my own memory SD card in my pocket. I usually have a memory stick/USB with removable media on my person at all times. Then I would feel free to move into the hyper-real universe because it is my memory media and I will control the results of my journey.