Live Music: Technology and the Wandering Musician
Posted by David Roman in Smart Phone Glee on April 30, 2012
Music is all around us now more than ever. Through the absolute miracle of recording sound and the development of that technology over the past few generations, we now enjoy what many people would walk hours to hear, save up for months to attend, or be left out of completely. Live music was the only way to get your sound fix and doing so was a real adventure. Now millions of songs stream through the air to our cell phones or computers, giving us instant access to timeless classics and the newest auto-tuned ear candy. ..
But wait, live music is something special that by its very nature can never be recorded. Live music can only be what it is, no amount of technology can make music any more “live”. Now be assured musicians are very much equipped with the latest versions of the old technologies through musician apps on their cellphones. But live music has that something special, that real presence of people that can only be supplemented, but never replaced, buy the recordings in our pocket.
Take some time locally just to see some real live music, any kind, even a person playing a guitar on a street corner. That is what it was like long before our technology. Though there is a lot of music today that is more commercial in its value than expressing emotion or communicating a personal message, this venue is not lost. Live music, real music, still exists and is thriving now more than ever. Nothing will beat the experience of a live musical performance: here you get the feeling that recordings try their best duplicate.
United States and the Virtual Revolution
Posted by David Roman in TechWizdom Wisdom on December 19, 2011
After reading this excellent post on Forbes about the Zynga IPO and why its lack luster introduction is really the foundation of a long term technology industry growth here in America. When you sit back from the rhetoric of revolution and see the true nature of our new economy it is apparent that our growth as a society is going to become virtual and digital and not raw goods and manufacturing industry. Not that these won’t exist but instead will serve as the infrastructure of our digital world.
The way to look at countries and different world societies is to simplify them in terms of people (though obviously people are complex in their own right, we have some understanding of ourselves inherently) Countries develop and evolve, or mature just like people. This is not on a cultural level but on an industry level. The culture of a particular people is unique and has parts not bound by industry but by tradition itself. The United States really took the idea of heavy industry and manufacturing, with a great portion developed in Europe, and revolutionized the way of life. Now that this technology, a mature idea of industry is refined and strong it is now being passed on to what we consider developing countries.
The next phase is now digital. We are creating a virtual society, we are spending virtual monies, hanging out in virtual spaces, and communicating over internet. We still have our neighborhoods, people thinking that will die do not know human nature. We will always have the need to interact our energies with other people directly. It is just now we can create more of our ideal world through the digital waves of our technology, consuming less actual resources and feeling more satisfied. There is a necessary transition phasing from fossil fuel consumption to using our new technology for solar energy and earth energy like wind and water. We now know preserving bio diversity is as important for our survival, like understanding disease, as it is important for the Earth itself.
As long as we continue to long for creating the United States and the Western World will take the lead, or actually continue to lead the world in a change of universal industry based on the synergy of art and science, or really our imaginations and technology. The world will always allow opportunity for those who seek it.
We are all Nerds
Posted by David Roman in Welcome on December 15, 2011
I have recently started working on a webpage dedicated to clothes for nerds out of my desire to highlight the best of the geeky world…(a work in progress as my research continues) But my thoughts started to drift toward what it is to actually be a nerd. During times in grade school and high schools many of us were constantly confronted with this title: that guy is such a “nerd.” For the most part, up until about 18-20 years old, there is definitely a negative connotation to being called a nerd or a dork. You are “uncool” the things you were are “uncool” and you wear glasses. That probably sums it up. Oh and you probably like nerdy things like computers or math.
Well as you get older you yourself realize, if you were called a “nerd” in something, that it in fact really means simply that you have a deep passion AND understanding of a particular topic. This is something that is the greatest gift of all. This gets you a job, let’s you pursue an area you are best at, and brings in line with like-minded people. This does not stop at the science nerds, as we are so accustomed…
The real fact is that now people describe themselves as nerds in a million different areas. Oh that guy is a sports nerds or a video game nerd, or a technology nerd… etc etc. That is no longer the insult it held as a small child, for that simply means you are recognized as people a force to deal with on your particular topic. And most likely, you are loving it at every step. So embrace your inner nerd and strive for whatever you are good at enjoy, not what others tell you is “cool” or the “right track.”
Technology for our Brains and Bodies
Posted by David Roman in Smart Phone Glee, Technology and our Brain, TechWizdom Wisdom on December 11, 2011
As the power of technology stays on the rising course, cell phones and the operating systems like Android and iOS continue to improve and become ever more versatile there will be very few parts of our lives that we cannot use this technology to benefit from. We already use these devices to communicate with each other in many different ways: chat services, text messages, phone calls, video chat not to mention the social networking sites like Facebook that allow for the sharing of all our details in life.
Once we get over the “wow factor” we can take a step back and begin to see how technology can improve our lives but also how it can improve our brains and bodies in any environment and with an ease never before seen. I have written a page dedicated to the best android apps for the brain. The idea is for each of us to take the time and see where technology can actually improve or simplify our lives. This particular aspect of technology is much more personal in nature as each of our needs can be different.
If you are an architect are you staying up to date with the latest graphic software and even mobile tools to help you jot ideas down on the fly? I am not a trained visual artist, in fact I am a bit ashamed of my visual artistic ability at times compared to my musical or literary talents, but I have downloaded and used some very c0ol sketch programs that are way too powerful for me to make full use of, but may not be in the hands of the right person. The moral of this story is: keep looking at and reading about technology, but also take some time to see how you can integrate it into your life to ease some anxiety or stress, or to finally get those ideas out of your head and shared with the world.
Like this:
Tech Tip: FriendCaster for Facebook
Posted by David Roman in Welcome on August 24, 2011
If you use an android phone as I do, you should try FriendCaster as your Facebook interface instead of the Company provided app. You may find you like the functions and settings better, as I have. I use it to access my other facebook pages besides my personal profile.
Staying Smart: Online Ivy League & Continuing Ed.
Posted by David Roman in Welcome on August 23, 2011
Some of us realize that education does not get inferred with a degree, but it does help earning one for other to recognize some of who you are. That being said, after a certain point your personal education and desires start to outweigh prestige. We want the education of a higher education institution but not the cost or the time burden associated…
With the internet you do not have to compromise your education because of acceptance rates or working hours. Ivy league educations are good, they have very driven people in multiple fields heavily supported by funding and encouragement. By default many of the barriers everyday people face are not found in this setting. I think by virtue and by necessity these halls of education are now open to anyone with an internet connection and some time. You can take courses from Stanford or Harvard or MIT, and the list goes on as Courses are not limited to Ivy Institutions but State Universities and County Schools are opening up their curriculum and offering online access to courses. These cost nothing and are quite thorough.
Here are a list, to get you started, of a few different website I have found that have access to courses. I have also provided a few links to information outlets giving you access to different Lectures rather than full Courses. There are times I do not want all the details and just want the meat of the subject, I will often look for a Ted Talk or search Fora tv for a quick lecture. You can also search iTunes U and find courses/lectures as well.
http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
http://www.ted.com/ (Offering Expert Mini Lectures on Cutting Edge Topics)
Of course with these courses you are not granted access to peer support, or professors office hours. But with a few other tools and the internet as your guide, many questions can be solved without needing to reach out to a professor anyways. I do want to make it clear that these personal elements, provided by living and studying on a campus, are very important and not something to be taken lightly. But you can get them on campus and off campus as well, your interactions will just be different. The educational material the same.
If you take some time to find a few good courses, it will save you time in the long run. I received good advice when approaching some of my work, a good friend simply said “Don’t reinvent the wheel.” People spend their lives researching a topic so it can be better understood, do not go through all the research yourself when it is presented in a more accessible and efficient format. People are always willing to share their knowledge.
Tech Tip: Water Reminder
Posted by David Roman in Welcome on August 22, 2011
I always forget to drink water, I know, it is silly, but it is true. I will get caught up in water I am doing. I have now downloaded free apps for my phone that unobtrusively reminds me it is time to drink some water and by pressing virtual representations of different sized containers it keeps track of how much I have drank. It works. If you own a smartphone search “water reminder” and something will come up.
Tech Tip: Using Twitter
Posted by David Roman in Welcome on August 21, 2011
Some people are all over Twitter, others refuse to venture in. I find it difficult to always follow everything I would like to but you can search Twitter like you would a news site, finding people’s thoughts on your particular topic of interest and not be tied just to those you follow and not obligated to follow those that do not interest you.
Automate life activity
Posted by David Roman in Tip of the Day on August 17, 2011
One of the best ways to gain free time is to plan your activities so they are easy to automate. This is as simple as tagging unimportant emails with auto tags in gmail so your newsletters go straight to a folder instead of your inbox or the daily or secondly facebook notifications going straight to the archives. More suggestions and software at Www.techwizdom.com
Tech Tipping: (take one for the cows)
Posted by David Roman in Tip of the Day on August 13, 2011
If you still have some summer left and going on vacation grab one of several apps for your smart phone that will help you tag photos, plan routes, record hikes, average speeds… Just go to your market place and browse “trip tracker” and ” geo photo” to start your search, then browse related apps for the ones you find interesting. www.techwizdom.com
