Tech Help

This is your invitation to the 121212 Festival of Cyber-performance!

The retrospective section of the program “Walking Backwards into the Future” is already underway.

Schedule for these events here.

The portion that I am involved in is the new experimental works, Testing 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 .

I am working with “Play the Moment – Shakti”, a group of four women located in different cities.

We will be performing a piece called ‘excavating desire/fouilles pour le désire”

Our stage is located on a website in Australia called Waterwheel and will be viewed through either this link or a link through the festival site Scroll down to find our show.

About the Show

Excavating Desire – Fouilles pour le Désire

Play The Moment Shakti (Canada, USA)

11 December 10.30pm EST / 12 December 4.30pm New Zealand (find your local time)
12 December 1pm EST / 13 December 7.30am New Zealand (find your local time)

Excavating Desire is a free improvised audio and visual work in four movements:

1. On the Surface – exploring constraints imposed on female desire by society and ourselves
2. Digging Deep – recognizing our wants and needs
3. Gathering Courage – risking societal censure, economic loss or emotional pain requires resolve and strength
4. Flowering of Passion – acceptance and expression of our own inner identity

Four women going through the same risk and hardship of “Excavating Desire”.

Desires are often hidden underneath layers so we do not even recognize them ourselves. It is a risk to reveal our true self, particularly in personal and intimate situations, but also when revealing oneself as an artist. “Excavating Desire” provides a structure to peel away the layers of constraint and grant ourselves permission to express what we choose to see and hear as art.

Schedule and time zones

A handy time zone converter to find your viewing time can be found here.

These converter links can be found already programmed with the correct DST time under the title of the show in the spreadsheet.

For example the second  performance of our show is at 7:30am on Thursday, December 13th DST in New Zealand — the location of the 121212 festival, but it is Wednesday, December 12th at 10:30am PST, in Vancouver, Canada, where I live.

More information about the show can be found by clicking the title of the show.

Facebook Event Page Here

This is a shout out to all of my friends with writing, wordpress or other CMS, administration, programming or technical skills.

Please click on the link below so that I can get affiliate credit for inviting you to join oDesk.

Join the On Demand Global Workforce – oDesk

I am now working on oDesk and it has a lot of advantages. oDesk does take a percentage of each payment, but they do a lot of administration and attract a lot of employers to the site. Unlike all those scams, this really does allow you to work from home and earn USD that you can get paid through PayPal or other web based financial services.

I am only working on hourly contracts because payment is guaranteed. The downside is you have to give up a bit of privacy when you are working. oDesk contractors install an app the takes a screenshot of your screen periodically to verify you were actually working on the project. The screenshot is posted on the site so the employer and the contractor can see and verify the hours worked. There are jobs where a flat rate is offered, but oDesk will not chase the employer for payment if the deal goes bad. With the hourly rate, oDesk shows that employers have a verified payment method and some have spent a lot of money hiring people already.

It is kind of like an eBay for contractors and employers because there is a record of the hours you worked, feedback scores and tests you can take to prove your skills. Employees and contractors give feedback, so you can see the reaction other people have before you accept or give a job. Employers may click on the image to hire me for jobs. Here and at the top are the same link.

Another issue for me is that I am competing in a world market, so graphic designers in India and the Philipines can underbid me every time. However, that is already happening in Vancouver. A lot of web and print design is outsourced and that is part of my problem as a freelancer. Vancouver is a very expensive city and I cannot afford to work for $3. per hour, but a designer in Manila or New Delhi can.

Many of the jobs are for very low rates of pay, even as low as $2. USD per hour because this is a global work force and people in other countries will work for that amount.  The jobs I am getting pay more than Canadian minimum wage because they are for writing in English as a native speaker.

I passed several of the tests and because I know wordpress well and SEO marketing, I have already been hired by two employers.

I am also working on eLance, another freelance service. They seem to keep the rates at a more reasonable level and have attracted higher skilled workers as a result. Both of these companies are legitimate ways to work from home.

Vintage McBrine suitcase for sale.

Asking $400. for this suitcase in fine shape.

Label inside says “McBrine Baggage”

I bought this as vintage over 12 years ago.

More photos in gallery below.

Contact me to purchase.

I don’t have any answers to how old it is etc . .

vixmedia (at) gmail (dot) com

[Show as slideshow]

The last of the true sport+touring bikes located in Vancouver, Canada.

The seat is narrow and the bike has been lowered for a smaller rider, but the shocks can be adjusted to suit any rider quickly.

I love my FJ1200,it is like a flying couch, so smooth and comfortable for rider and passenger.

It will be more practical for me to have a bike that I can pick up if it falls over.

If you know about this fine motorcycle, then you are aware that it is one of the last of the air-cooled giants. That makes it a little lighter compared with the water-cooled 4 cylinder bikes. This machine is a daily ride in excellent mechanical shape.

I have added engine guards and a rear rack imported from the UK.

The amazing thing on the bike is the custom luggage — two pelican cases hold a lot of stuff. Waterproof – lifetime warrantee.

One key opens both cases and an extra lock that I keep to lock my helmet to the bike.

Heated grips are an installed custom item with a choice of two heat ranges – switch located near left hand grip.

I am asking $3300. but will consider negotiating a trade – I need a smaller, newer bike with luggage.

Contact me vixmedia (at) gmail (dot) com

SAVE ON FUEL COSTS — Less pollution with propane the original alternative fuel

My beloved propane-powered 1985 Ford Econoline Travel Van is sold.

Note: the price of propane is approximately half of the cost of gasoline and I have been driving this van since 1992 for the same cost as a small compact car.

All receipts for work, including motor rebuild of economical, reliable 302 V-8 with special propane motor parts. Parts are easily available for this van.

FAQ

How many Km on the van?

Odometer reads 263548. Motor rebuild 99/01/16 odometer reading 195988 — receipt available.

The rebuilt motor has only 67560 Km

Where is auto propane available?

CANADA

http://www.cdnauto.org/archive/propane/propane.asp

Map on Google with names and addresses of stations — not all are 24hr, so call ahead

This map does not show Superstore, Co-op, Super Save or other stations that I know about in Vancouver and area.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=205898274833613305051.0004a3fa4bd451087989f&ll=50.903033,-83.100586&spn=17.403966,46.362305&source=embed

USA

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/propane_availability.html

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/locator/stations/

Example: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/progs/ind_state.php/WA/LPG

What is the difference in cost between gasoline and propane?

In Vancouver, gasoline is $1.34 per liter and propane is $0.64

The van travels the same distance on propane as gasoline and it has a 99 liter tank.

What are other advantages of propane?

• Propane causes less pollution. Note that forklift trucks, ice rink surface machines and other indoor motorized vehicles run on propane because the propane engines emit far less toxic fumes.
• A propane engine runs cooler than a comparable gas fueled engine, so there is less stress and wear on parts. Oil changes are required less frequently because of the clean nature of the fuel.
• More information: http://www.autogaspropane.com/why_propane_auto.htm
• From Australia: http://www.lpgautogas.com.au/index.cfm?Action=MyFleet#3

Today I took the bus with my Pelican case full of tools and motorcycle apparel to where I left my motorcycle after it took me on a very wild ride.

I had some difficulty early Wednesday morning after I finished editing a draft CD for a client at Waterlou Studio, it was 3 am. I went out to ride my Yamaha motorcycle home, but I found the choke was stuck closed and the bike would not start. Not wanting to annoy the neighbours with repeated attempts I got off the bike and pulled on the choke knob as hard as I could, until I finally felt it slide out.

This was not the first time I had this problem, so I felt confident enough that once I started the bike, I could slide the choke in and out a few times and the choke would return to normal operation. This time the ride did not go so well. The choke was stuck on and no amount of sliding in and out was going to change that fact. The revs kept climbing until the gas was wide open no matter what I did with the throttle. An FJ 1200 with the choke stuck wide open gains speed rapidly. A few moments of excessive speed followed — as the throttle had no effect on the full on feed of gasoline into the carburetors. I killed the engine.

I managed to get the bike into neutral after a few very quick minutes. I could coast down the hill with the revs climbing out of control and me frantically pumping the choke lever and snapping the throttle. When it got so bad that I feared for my engine, I used the kill switch and cut the power to the motor. I tried all of the controls I had and started the bike again. The revs climbed to a dangerous level so I killed the engine again. After a few of these sessions, I decided that the bike must be parked, so I found an out-of-the-way spot with no signage and carefully backed and pushed the bike to a stop.

I was lucky to get a ride home as it was raining and cold and my friend, who had kindly given me a ride, took my waterproof  cover back and carefully covered the bike to keep off the pounding rain . . .

Read more…

One of the first actions I do in my fresh  WordPress install is to travel to Google and set up my new RSS feed with Feedburner.  Feedburner used to be a separate company, but now it has merged with Google and uses the same log-in account as the rest of my Google tools. RSS Feed links are usually identified with the logo at left. Clicking on the logo will subscribe to the feed from the site the logo on the page itself will also subscribe as it is linked to my feedburner account. Most blog pages and many web pages will feature this logo.

Feedburner handles all of the RSS feeds [Really Simple Syndication] from my websites. The wiki article explains RSS historically and technically, but the point for me is that the RSS feed delivers content from my site directly to subscribers.  This is a really simple RSS explanation from Feedburner. This process can be compared to a magazine subscription, once someone is subscribed they receive every issue of the magazine. Feedburner will even allow e-mail subscriptions that deliver directly to the subscriber’s e-mail box.

Most people just pick up the feed and read it in an RSS reader software that shows them a copy of each of the feeds they are subscribed to in one place. There are many very good RSS readers and most browsers will read the feed, although some may need an add-on or plug-in. Many of the most popular readers are displayed on the Feedburner subscription options page [click on the RSS button to see the page] and I would recommend that you start with one of those. It is a matter of personal taste because they all work well, but feature different options. Read more…

A new year and I have been thinking about one of the great topics of my life — time.

These ideas may be totally obvious to everyone else, but I like to analyze and explain my perceptions. This is off topic for this blog, but indulge me this once, please.

Perception of Time Passage

It seems to me that time is going faster the older I get and I have spoken to other people my age who feel the same kind of speeding up effect. My theory about this is that a given amount of time is experienced in comparison with the amount of time you have previously been aware of. For example; to a child aged 2, one additional year is one third of their life span but to an adult aged 29, one year is only a thirtieth of their life span and an older adult of 59 perceives a year as one sixtieth. For me to experience another year is approximately one fiftieth of my lifespan, so the effect of time is compressed compared to the perception of the length of childhood days.  Please comment on this theory.

Photography and Time

Recently, I have started to raise the quality of my photography. In order to accomplish this goal, I studied photographs and also compared the result that I achieved with the result I expected. I have come to some conclusions that may be surprising.

As a competent audio engineer I am used to capturing audio from source and achieving excellent results, because I am familiar with the behaviour of sound waves. Sound waves are quite slow moving and long, especially at lower frequencies (perceived as pitch). Both audio and visual capture are actually the process of recording the past because of the latency between the event and the capture device. The event of striking a string or hitting a key initiates a vibration that travels into the air and is picked up by some type of microphone and because sound waves are so slow, the audio engineer can initiate the recording process when the musician starts to move and still capture the entire sound wave.

It is well known that many people have traveled faster than sound in airplanes, but light is another story. Light moves so quickly that the photographer must actually move to take the photo before the moment that is captured occurs. No one can move faster than light and most photos are not taken from a great distance so the light reaches the camera almost instantaneously. A great photographer must plan to take a picture of the immediate future when the capture is initiated because if the moment has been seen, then it has already passed and can no longer be captured.

This has led me to take note of the amount of planning and forethought required to create interesting photos. My new idea is to recognize that a moment is about to occur (or plan a moment) and be ready to initiate the capture process to freeze the next moment in time. I have been trying to take a photo of what I am seeing, but that is impossible — I can only take a photo of what is about to happen.

In audio sampling, I have had to develop an accurate idea of very short time frames. I own the very first EMU SP-12 in Canada, the first drum computer to have built-in sampling. Due to the 5 second memory limitation, I had to learn to truncate (cut parts off) samples to make them take as little memory as possible. So I learned what .008 seconds sounds like.  Now I will try to translate that awareness into visual technology. I must develop the rhythm of shooting photos so that I will know how long it will take to initiate the process. This idea is interesting and I hope my photos will improve.

I attended a workshop on grant writing yesterday and I realized I have to be able to convey the idea behind my whole project more clearly. So I am going to post some other projects that I have been paying attention to that have had some impact on the world.

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.

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.