One of my favorite walks of the year is the morning after the first snowstorm. Most of the pathways are plowed but haven’t been sanded yet, creating a great, bright walk across campus. I took some pictures this morning as I walked north and used my Simple Image Gallery script (to be released later) to make a short slide show – a narrated tour, if you will – of my walk. Enjoy!
UMaine Snow Slide Show (click on each image in the slide show to advance to the next one)
Each year the things you hear after the first snowfall multiply tenfold after the first big snowfall. We probably got about a foot over the last day and a half, and it’s still coming down. I took a walk in the snow and snapped some pictures (what a surprise); it’s really great when some of them come out. Seeing everything blanketed in white makes me so happy; I’ve been waiting for this time for months.
Add to that the fact that I’ve finished three out of my four final projects due this week over the weekend; just the fact that I’ve been productive really impresses me, and it certainly helps that I’ll have a lot less work to do than I expected during this week. Hopefully the most stressful time of the semester is finally over – but I wouldn’t bet any money on it (things have a way of coming up at the last minute during these kinds of times).
And yes, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. I can finally say that.
Let’s face it; I’ve been really busy this week. In fact, I’ve even got a counter going on my home page that tells how long there is before classes are over… finals are a different story.
Anyway, the week boils down to the fact that I have four projects due this week: a report, a Photoshop image/essay, a collection of computer programs, and a presentation. Late nights can be fun, but I’d rather reserve them for emergencies; I’m doing a lot of my work this weekend.
Here’s what I just finished; it’s a piece for my psychology class. We were supposed to come up with a project that investigated something we learned in class, so I tried to combine a little bit of PHP with a lotta bit of photography. The main point is trying to see how much of a picture someone needs to see before they realize the subject of the photo (think Classic Concentration and Nick Arcade). I took twenty pictures, all varied in distance and content, and I think it’ll be interesting to see what people think.
If you want, let me know how you did. Or, if you’re brave, head into the source. The ZIP file includes the PHP script, templates, and the 20 images I used. I think I’m going to be doing more of this open source thing; I like it.
Professor Lindenfeld brought in Jon Fishman as a special guest to our mass communication class this morning. He’s not much of a lecturer, but it worked out well; it meant there was lots of time for questions.
But… but… why did we have the drummer to one of the best bands out there in our mass communication class? It’s an easy answer; Phish is a band that goes against many of the conventional methods of publicity and publication.
Of note: Phish owns their songs. They don’t belong to a record company, or some powerful (rich) single person. The band owns the songs, and they do what they want with them. Not to mention every time they make a trip about three hours north of here, tens of thousands of people crowd the former Loring Air Force Base to hear them play.
My biggest interest in the band, though, is their means of distribution for music; namely, they offer every show they do – usually within 48 hours of playing – usually for $9.95 at livephish.com. No, it’s not the Live Music Archive, and no, you can’t get songs for free. It’s such a great complete service, though, that I think the innovation makes up for the price you have to pay. Besides, the proceeds go to charity.
Jon talked for the whole class period on his views on the music industry; one of his best points was that “music industry” is an oxymoron. He argued that music is meant to be innovative and pure while an industry is devoted to perpetuating what works and is a solid bet for generating revenue. He said that Phish wasn’t a “14-year-old girl” band, one that catches on with preteen girls and then spreads because they tell their parents and boyfriends to like the music. He brought up the fact that there should always be art for art’s sake and music for music’s sake, something that I’ve learned as I’ve moved from computer science to new media. His view is that he wouldn’t mind playing for five devoted fans instead of ten thousand normal fans. That’s the kind of devotion I like to see out of a band that concentrates on live music.
On a related note, he brought up how he personally thinks file sharing is a good method of distribution but overall it can greatly hurt smaller artists. He described file sharing as an equalizer; people will only go see the bands with talent live, and that’s where money will be made in the future. Recorded music, in one form or another, will be free and will be used as a tool to encourage people to go to concerts. I love it when artists agree with how I think.
After class he went with Professor Lindenfeld to the Memorial Union to talk for a while with whoever had the time to chat. I went along with about 15 other people in our class (including some VERY devoted fans who were completely surprised to see him talk in class). People walking by gave us some weird looks, and every once in a while there was a gasp and then someone sitting down beside us.
Surprises are good.
I downloaded IT tonight; it’s about time I owned some Phish tunes. They’re awesome, after all.
I just happened to be at the Wallace Pool today (just visiting, not swmming), and it made me realize how much I missed swimming. I’ve wanted to find something that’s both exercise and relaxing, and I think swimming’s one of the few things that counts for both (just like hiking and biking for me). I should go sometime; I’ve always loved it.
On a completely unrelated note, The Pool was released to the public today on the Eyebeam/StillWater Distributed Creativity forum. You can’t join quite yet (to prevent any monumental problems that could occur with scalabilty or behavior), but we’re looking to add that in the near future.
2010, Justin Russell. All content (unless otherwise specified) licensed under CC BY-NC.