RAW

What a great file formant! I couldn't ask for anything more. Well, except for the fact that I can do just as much with a jpeg and Photoshop (or The Gimp [or PaintShop Pro {or Paint.Net}] if you prefer). As an amateur "photographer" (meaning I expensive toys called SLRs) I am pressed with the question of jpeg or raw. All the article written on the topic are inconclusive and vague if they clame to have a conclusion.

Raw is the file format where the camera, instead of converting the sensor data to a image format, stores the exact data from the image sensor. So raw, while an image file, is much more than that, it is like a negative that you could do blackroom work with and not a finished product. Because of the nature of the format, it should be superior to jpeg or whatever format the camera in question saves their images in.

JPEG is the format where the image data is compressed. The image in question is usually not as high quality as if it were saved in a raw or lossless format. This is because when data is compressed, especially audio or image data, information is loss. For music there is less dynamic changes; for images artifacts form and the images looks very bad. Fot the internet this isn't too bad because it increases load time, at the cost of some pixels (unless the site is an art portfolio, but that's another story) but for artwork, like digital photography I would much rather work with a more accurate image. Usually with High quality digital cameras (and even medium quality) however, the jpeg quality is almost identical to the raw image after it has been converted to a editable format (like .psd, .png, or .tiff).

With RAW one must convert it to the editable format. This isn't too much of a problem especially if you know what you are doing (if you don't you shouldn't shoot RAW) or if you use the "auto" settings. This takes a little bit of time, but gives you the ability to do some minor exposure adjustment as well as white balance, contrast, and tint. I guess this doesn't really have any point or conclusion other than that you should use RAW only if you know what you're doing... and I still struggle to know what to use. So my best advice is to try and keep trying to learn what best suits you....

Young Adolf Hitler (Campbell)

Recently, while perusing Digg, I stumbled upon a small news article (what a shock). The article opens saying:

"A New Jersey family who named their child after Adolf Hitler is having problems getting a birthday cake made for their 3-year-old. "

My first reaction was to check the validity and legitimacy of the website, not shock that people would name their children after a mass murderer. When I finally determined that the site was, in fact, a real news site I was disgusted. Why would anyone wish to name their child that? I understand that all names have meanings and Adolf has it's own meaning completely separate of what it means today. It once meant "noble wolf" and had no negative connotations. But when Hitler decided to be angry for sucking at art he had to go and ruin that name. So while reading I was thinking maybe if his name were just Adolf ... Campbell that there might be some legitimate reasoning behind the name. So I read on...

The cause of all the fuss, was not the individuals naming their child Adolf Hitler Campbell, but that a supermarket would not make a cake for the little boy. As the supermarket is a privately owned business they do not have to make custom cakes for anyone that requests. They have the right to decide if they do a cake for and individual, or group, even if it doesn't have questionable moral background. So, once again, the Campbells are out of line, not only by naming their child "Adolf Hitler" but for whineing about how a private company won't bake them a cake.

By this time I'm annoyed by the Campbells, not angry or upset, but annoyed. I figured that they thought they were funny and clever naming the child Adolf Hitler then complaining about the trouble it causes them. I still assumed (hoped) that the people weren't racist, and that they were just idiots. Untill I got to the end of the article:

"The couple's other two children are named JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell."

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

A while ago I purchased my first NIN record. And a record it was, I decided that I would buy the vinyl edition so I would have a wider collection for my record player. This record is entirely instrumental and completely abstract. This record was also available for free download of the official NIN web site. This partially influenced me to buy this album, as to support artists that wish to share the music rather than just take money. The album actually came on four records, each titled Ghosts I-IV.

When I first played this album I was expecting stereotypical NIN “music,” however, this was not the case. It starts off with a slow-ish and calm song. Oh, did I mention, non of the songs have normal titles? Anyway, in this song the tension builds and anyone familiar with any type of hard music would expect the loud, distorted guitars or some other form of noise to enter. This NEVER happens, the song fades away and a percussion based song begins. The hard stuff doesn’t not begin until either Ghosts II or the second side of I. Which also surprised me.

This album is a great compilation of different sounds and musical ideas, however, most of these ideas are left hanging. Rarely is an idea completed but when it is it makes for an interesting abstract piece. Some have said that the tracks on this album should not be considered music and others have said that this is one of NIN’s better albums and that it is a work of art. I agree with both assessments to an extent. On one hand the opposers to this album’s music have valid points, the songs are abstract, and seemingly incomplete at times. In support of the other side; NIN’s Ghosts I-IV is like abstract art, some feel it is not art at all but just noise whereas some regard it with respect. I also feel that NIN wasn’t trying to get public approval (I mean they are NIN aren’t they?). This is shown by the fact that they allowed Ghosts I to be downloaded for free from their web site and various bittorrent sites.

This album’s wide instrumentation, which uses a ton of folk instruments like banjos and dulcimers, and abstract musical forms make for a great, albeit weird, album. This album would be great for dancing and seems almost trance-like at times. I would not suggest this album for the faint hearted, especially when it come to music, it is weird and freakish, but if you were wishing to listen to other forms of music or expand your musical experience I would recommend it.

Prop 8

Why do people feel the need to decide the fate of other's futures? What gives people the right to stop individuals who love each other from getting married? There has always been the argument that Blacks can now marry marry whites when it had been illegal in the past and that people will see enlightenment. Now, While I agree that this may predict the future for gay marriage I feel that the issue is not in who is being restricted but what is being restricted.

All humans have the right to freedom and when the government takes these rights away they are oppressing the individuals. When it is a group that is being oppressed it is like a hate crime performed by the government. Therefore, it is unconstitutional to restrict marriage. Marriage is moral issue and while some may disagree with the same-sex marriages they the government has no right to restrict the action. For instance, people hate such a wide variety of things like smoking or drinking but the law does not restrict these behaviors of individuals even when it is more than just a moral issue.

Marriage is based upon love (or at least it 'should' be). Why does the government have the right to restrict who an individual wishes to spend their life with? As a human being one should not care about who someone marries or who they choose not to marry. It is not their choice to make. They have the right to be upset and even vocalize it to an extent (as if we restricted their right to speak openly about their opinions it would be a violation of the second amendment). Therefore the government, as the marriage between any two individual harms no one but possibly the people being wed, has no right to even dictate who can and cannot be wed. The government should not have to right to involve itself into matrimony.

But this leads to many problems forcing the government, for its own sake as well as ours, to wedge itself into the lives of two people who lover each other. The government must keep track of who gets married to whom for the purposes of taxes and other financial reasons. And so that liars and cheats may not fake a marriage to get something that they think may benefit them the government must define what a marriage is. Here is where the problem begins. As homosexuality has been socially unacceptable until only recently (and it is still) the government has restricted marriage between to male and female. With the human rights movements in the 20th century homosexuality became more accepted and it became legal to have same-sex relationships.

I guess I got kind of off-track. So rather than about Proposition eight the is about the issue of gay marriage. And by all of this I mean to make the point that the government should not restrict who can and who cannot get married.

Vinyl

What a great medium of storing music!
I couldn't ask for anything better. Music stored of vinyl, to me, seems a very tangible thing and i love to have that in my hand, I love to feel the music in my hands I feel like i own the music and that some form of "DRM" cannot stop me from listening to my music that i payed for. My collection is expanding and i hope it continues so i can show my kids that their father collects music from before he was born and that they are even older than cds.

I also hope that vinyl will continue to become more popular so that i may have more music in a raw form. Vinyl has better sound quality than cds and digital downloads which are always compressed to where the pianissimo and the fortes are indistinguishable from one another and the music ia one volume throughout, how boring! Who would want their music to be one volume, where is the interst in that?

More and more independent artists are releasing on vinyl as are rap artist (for scratching) which pleases me greatly and the always have much cooler album art. And you get funny looks when you buy the vinyl from a store that doesn't sell many records. :D

Some people love their cars, some people love their sports, some people love each other, I love my vinyl!

IMAGE FROM HERE

old music

What ever happened to quality mainstream music? Or was it never there? I'd like to tell myself that the music i listen to from the past was the mainstream because i have a false idea that old music that everyone loves today was what was loved yesterday. But I am going to assume that the music that is "classic" was the top of the charts of the day they were released.

I have always wondered if in the past there were the kids that considered them selves better because they listened to the music of their parents or if it is only today. I believe that it is only today's kids because they do not have music that has positive qualities of actual meanings rather than the lowest art form know as rap. They cannot stand to listen to rap and today has not provided real music, so they(we) look to what was good in the past. Swing, while not as popular as it was in the 40s, is seeing a little more success, and the classic rock of the 60s 70s and 80s are big hits with kid who desire to be different while begin accepted.

Why does today's music generally suck? Maybe because no one wants to have the effort to make real music. Maybe because record labels know that they can make more money by making "music" that sounds all the same. Maybe because it wouldn't be cool if bands today started writing music like Styx, Journey, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, etc. I believe that that is what it is, it would not be cool to make music that sounds like music of the past. This could be because of a number of reason, two of which being the most prominent. One being that the people would feel that they were copycats or something. Or, the second, the music is actually disliked by the vast majority and a select few actually like the music, but to look like the y have culture they listen to it in public to gain acceptance from their peers who do not actually like it but pretend to. and I guess s third possibility is that the media know that it the style would fail because not a well known name is attached to it and the people would reject it anyways.

I wish new music would be good but it won't happen at all. so i can listen to the obscure music that not many people listen to and when i get a new Cd i will review it and put the review

2008 Election

Wow..

I thought it would have been closer. I'm not quite sure why I thought it but I did. Maybe I thought there would be "closet" voters who only said they would vote for Obama to seem hip or modern but really voted for McCain. I guess I was wrong...

Now as a conservative Libertarian I found it hard to choose the lesser of two evils, A Neo-Con or a Liberal. I was a supporter of Ron Paul since I had read about him and he gave me hope for the future of the country even though I knew he had no chance at the Nomination or even election. But I had hope Americans to chose what is right, if not now, at least in the future, for me or even my children. McCain troubled me; he is a neo-con by almost all definition. And to further this assessment he chose Palin as his running mate (which i could whine about, but I wont, and its to late to anyways). So, while I am relatively conservative, McCain's intentions and words I did not trust.

Obama on the other hand, I trusted more as a legitimate human being and a politician, but as a Conservative I do do agree with his policies. I knew he may bring so-called "change" but at what cost. And this change, would it be for the better for everyone or just the lower income families. Obama, a man I feel I could trust his word, but I don't agree with his policies...

Bush, for the lack of a better word, fucked up a lot of stuff in the once great nation of The United States. in his defense, however he had an attack on our nation, and hurricanes to deal with, but he could have done much better. I have no idea what he was thinking with no child left behind or the nation building he was once adamantly against.

My heart breaks with the possibility of corrupt politicians. I yearn for trust worthiness and honor in our leaders (Obama my provide this). I wish the people of America were more educated and could make decisions that would better us as a Nation and a World. I wish it was the nature of humans he be honest and caring I wish that the government would not have to regulate all that it does. Maybe I want too much, maybe I am too much of an idealist... I know that this will never happen and people are corrupt from the beginning and will become greedy...

(i hope to continue this later, maybe tomorrow0

The New Yorker

This article is amazing. it is a great analysis and explanation of teen pregnancies in different social, religious, or economic classes.

What fascinates me is that evangelical teens have the highest rate of teen births (according to this article). This is just plain humorous to me. The evangelical movement most commonly identifies its self with fundementalist christianity. 

Ice Skating

Such an interesting thing ice skating is. Who would have ever thought to strap blades to one's feet and run around on ice with them. And once this happened I can imagine a sport being invented but the crazy idea to strap blades to your feet and dance. That person must've been insane.

But none-the-less ice skating is an amazing feeling and watching people who cant skate makes it all the better. The first step on to the ice is the first glimpse of how familiar with skating someone is. Maybe they hold on to the wall preparing themselves for the first step. Or maybe the just step onto the ice, this can show one of two things. They they have skated before and have a greater ability to skate or they have no idea what they are in for. If it is the later they usually fall flat on their faces and cling to the wall the rest of the time falling multiple times. When it is a new skater it is not as funny as someone who is about average and can skate well.

Today is the first time i was able to witness an individual do as perviously discussed. Only when he fell he bounced, not a little bounce but a full blown bounce, with wildly flailing arms and a spinning torso. The image was quite possibly the most humorous i have possibly seen.

Jazz band

Jazz band a a lot different this yeah, and I don't think its for the better. I feel that the ability of Jazz 2 has declined from the past year. and that because of this it will not be as much fun and may become a chore to go to rather than and excuse to play more music. There is a number of reasons why i think this is happening.

The first reason being that drummers cannot and do not do what they need to do as a jazz drummer. When they play fills they don't play with the style and more often than not just play some outrageous rock or metal fill. There is a number of problems with that, one, being that there a some rules for drummer when playing jazz. The drummer shouldn't be heard unless they have a solo, rock fills are loud and obnoxious, this obviously violates the rule. Another problem with the crazy fills is how they, as younger drummers, lose the tempo which causes the whole band to collapse. And because they cannot keep the time Mr. Bird must devote at least 15 minutes each practice to correcting or yelling at them for playing out of place.

The second reason has to deal with new students who, while good, are freshmen and not familiar with how jazz band and band in high school is run. The band (Jazz 2) is almost entirely freshmen which i am certain decreases the playing ability of the band as a whole.

The third reason is that the time keeper of the band, the bass, is also a freshmen (god, i hate sounding like i hate freshmen). He is not as good as the bassist from last year, who is a a senior this year who is an all-state bassist. He could keep time and had good intonation when he used his upright bass.

I guess I hate to complain about how something sucks, but i believe that the band has room for improvement and the ability to play really well by the end of the year. But I am bothered but the current state of the band and our ability.

The New MacBook/Pro

Steve Jobs announced the new MacBook line two days ago. The new laptop ditch the plastic of the old line and the MacBook now looks like a smaller version of The MacBook Pro.
I'm not too sure if the new design is for the better. The black keyboard awkwardly contrasts the silver case as well as the black border of the screen. Everything is more rounded and make the computer look nothing like the previous professional lines. Even the plain, vanilla MacBook looks like a small Macbook Pro. There is no difference in appearance other than size and the Pro only has better video and processor, Something Apple already offers to do (upgrade processor and gpu) for more money.

There is a new manufacturing method Apple now uses to make their notebook products. In this process they use a solid slab of aluminum to from a seamless case and reduce waste. Any scrap metal is reused to make more notebooks. Apple also uses LED Back lights in their screens. This makes the screen thinner, use less battery power/energy, and has nothing like Mercury in it. Apple claims its the "Greenest" of all notebook PCs released.

The seamless manufacturing process makes the new notebooks look less professional and that frustrates me a bit (its not like I will be buying one soon). While it does look a little more unprofessional, it updates the dry look of the old MacBook Pro /PowerBook. Which I suppose will grow on me just like the new (I guess they're a little old now) iMacs.

IMAGE FROM: ENGADGET.COM

Stories

I've always wondered if it was right to put story ideas on a blog. I guess I put some here so i don't forget.

1.
Setting: post WWII Germany; Alternative universe
so I guess this is a generic alt. uni. idea but i'd kinda like to at least write some back story for the setting if i have any real alternative universe ideas. But I'd like to maybe have the story be about the lives of the middle class after Hitler succeeded in his plan. He would have become completely insane and just an image for a group of leaders. This idea is kind of empty but i think it has potential.

2.
This idea I have a few pages written out of back story and setting.This story is an exercise of alternative religion. This idea is once again, set in an alternative universe. This universe, however is much more similar to ours and in fact the earth is identical in every way. What separates it is the fact the The god of Christianity exists andthe creation of the world was result of and augment between "god" and "lucifer" (i'm not gonna use quotes any more, jsut assume they are there). I this universe lucifer challenges god for power and god accepts and they both create two worlds. God creates the world as fundamentalists believe today. But Lucifer creates a world that is based upon reason and rationality, more similar to scientists today. However each world has its problems. Our world does not accept rationality as quickly (until more recently) and runs rampant with ignorance. The world of Lucifer relives only upon reason and rationality and this causes few wars and argument, but creates a world government (which is similar to communism, if it were not corrupt). This huge system is corrupt causing class separation. In this world the people are looking to faith as an alternative to reason.

I guess that's the background of that universe. But the story is based upon the end of days and the destruction of the "gods." AND it all begins with a car wreck in which a Young Male Earth human is some how transported to this alternative world and must find what is going on and help the rebellion against the corrupt government.
I REALLY like this idea ! :D

3.
this one is less original again, but it is more of an idea for setting of a game or D&D. but this is set in the far future where humans have colonized other planets. on one particular planet the humans lost all technology and were assumed dead by other humans in the universe. because of the loss of knowledge technology exists but is viewed as magic and only a few "alchemists" can do the magic (even if they don't know exactly what they are doing).In this world a group of humans find a "magical" artifact and go on a journey to find the origin. I guess i was just thinking that it would be the first "episode" and there would be "sequels" in what ever form.