Today's the day my manifesto, "To Criticize Is To Publicize: Make The Best Of Bad Words!", is published on ChangeThis. It's all about dealing with criticism — something you can almost certainly relate to. Within, I'll take you for a journey through social media, the naming of the Nintendo Wii, and my own adversities. Here's a teaser:

…if you’re the target of vicious attacks, you’re going to feel it. Contrary to a popular, mistaken approach, I’m not going to tritely admonish you by saying 'don’t take it personally.'

Instead, here’s a fresh path I’d like to take you on, and by the end of our journey, you’ll have a revitalized outlook on how to make the best of bad words."

ChangeThis is a magnificent library of fresh ideas which are often both startling and applicable in today's world. For instance, one of my faves, "I Am The Walrus: Lessons In Personal Branding from The Beatles". These manifestos, calls to action, buck the old guard, spark inspiration, and have lots of fun doing so. And that's something I can totally agree with.

MORE »

It's fascinating how little actions can be chained and add up to so much: it isn't just a HCI issue, it's a broader to use or not to use issue. After all, if a few clicks are too much trouble for someone, their un-use of the product is ultimately what matters. We don't want to feel like rats trapped in a maze, even if there's tasty cheese.

by Mike_fj40

To extend the analogy, we certainly don't want to repetitively feel like lab rats ("tested on then trashed") as we use a product or service over and over again. The rewards feel thinner as the pain grows — and most of us would rather take our chances somewhere else, maybe next door where it's not so much a labyrinth as a curved pipe. I know I would. Damage by attrition wears on your patience until you give up. And by then, you've been hurled from a slippery slope into a deep chasm, and trust has probably been broken. Your mindset has likely been bashed in, biased towards not wanting to expend any more time and effort on this thing.

MORE »

• World's biggest Pikachu fan: http://community.livejournal.com/pkmncollectors/1296167.html She definitely caught them all. #
• If Will Smith was in Second Life, he'd be the Fresh Prims of Bel-Air. #
• Hey http://MacSurfer.com , thanks for including my latest post! More Mac Pro impressions to come… #
• If you have a BFG AGP graphics card, this exchange program to a faster PCI-E one looks pretty sweet! http://www.bfgtech.com/freeupgrade.aspx #
• whee: Torley posted a photo: http://tinyurl.com/6sx5wx #
• Watching VMware Fusion 2.0 video tutorials. I'm keenfully aware that me watching vidtuts is not unlike a chef eating out. #
• Beware of sewage in think tanks! #
• Welcome to our HUG STORE. Give one and HUG SOME MORE! #
• Yes, I think it's strange how "Hannibal" conveniently happens to rhyme with "cannibal". #
• Laughing at what I found when I googled for "rick roll sushi". #
• Doing the Windows Vista thing on my Mac Pro via Boot Camp. Thank goodness if it goes sour, my entire computer won't come crashing down! #
• Using Parallels trial. Watching Windows XP install in a little window on my Mac. It's like a computer inside a computer. This is surreal! #
• Temporary Post Used For Theme Detection (bbd9ba68-e15e-4dd6-aadc-4c32eb8de4b0 - 3bfe001a-32de-4114-a6b4-40.. http://tinyurl.com/6xaawd #
• My first post from Blogo on my new Mac Pro: Friendly greetings from the Mac side of computerdom! It's.. http://tinyurl.com/6z7hj4 #
• Am very fond of Windows Live Writer but it isn't Mac-native. Hoping to find an elegant solution. Looking into Blogo. #
• Ooh! Flickr search tool Compfight has a beautiful new layout! http://www.compfight.com/ #
• Featured: Torley posted a photo:

  Fringe Theme on piano - click here to hear me play! http://tinyurl.com/5vlpj2 #

• Looking for hot tech bargain deals @ http://tinyurl.com/6oopyn #
• Setting up my new Mac Pro. Life is happier already. #
• No single right path: Making choices can be paralyzing, especially when you're pressured to make the .. http://tinyurl.com/5pybk9 #
• Worst. Singularity. Ever. aka how NOT to predict the future: I usually go out of my way to praise things, .. http://tinyurl.com/594yvl #
• The riff in the new Prodigy single, "Invaders Must Die", reminds me of New Order's "Blue Monday". Has a little Peter Hookey vibe too. #
• Why aren't there more packaged foods based on Internet memes? LEEKspin? CHOCOLATE rain? Come on now, MARKETING POSSIBILITIES r endless! #
• I'd rather have a Black Friday than a Blue Monday. How does it feel… to save money like you should… #
• What if Neuromancer was written by frat boys? #
• @hvxsilverstar Helpiness never goes out of style! ^.^ in reply to hvxsilverstar #
• @KayBake You're so welcome re: Fringe. I'm addicted to that show now. *sees Walter Bishop* I want hair like that sometimes. Maybe. in reply to KayBake #
• @yuliakatkova OHHH THANKS I'm going to watch this video soon! So glad my video tutorials could help you be creative!!! in reply to yuliakatkova #
• @PatchouliW How lucky. I lost my sanity long ago, only to find it again and decide it wasn't worth the trouble. in reply to PatchouliW #
• @BoinkBunny I'm the green one. Pink Kool-Aid Man is my wife, Ravenelle! We're a SMASHING COUPLE. Har hur hor. in reply to BoinkBunny #
• @allala No built-in shortcut, but a viewer hack or macro program could likely change between modes. I've used QuicKeys to override commands! in reply to allala #
• @KayBake Friendly greetings to YOU! in reply to KayBake #
• @ComputerWeekly I just uttered this spontaneous because my mind compelled me to do so. in reply to ComputerWeekly #
• @morrisvig I don't know what to enter but I appreciate you asking. =) in reply to morrisvig #
• @LiontamerVGF Thanx, I submitted http://tinyurl.com/5tc5mu years ago but never heard back! in reply to LiontamerVGF #
• @GaneshaXi I'm learning how to eBay snipe now. ^_^ in reply to GaneshaXi #
• @PatchouliW Thx for the Fat Man tips. I may just have to holler (politely) at him while singing (praises), LOL at your wordage. in reply to PatchouliW #
• @SamanthaSL You can use P2600 with Flycam. Doesn't support all axes, but it's what I used to use before SpaceNavigator. in reply to SamanthaSL #
• @thaumata It's times like that I don't thoroughly test a feature before teaching how to use it. Thus, you get my first reactions! in reply to thaumata #
• Fringe Theme on piano: My obsessions tend to get the better of me. I hardly watch TV, but Fringe stands ou.. http://tinyurl.com/6r3wu5 #
• I'm thankful to be here now. Not just today, everyday. What are you thankful for? #
• its own wildlife sanctuary: Torley posted a photo:

  Posted by Second Life Resident Torley Olmstead. Vis.. http://tinyurl.com/6y3287 #

• we've come to deliver the kool-aid: Torley posted a photo:

  Posted by Second Life Resident Torley Olmst.. http://tinyurl.com/667hf8 #

• Do Yello, Kool-Aid Man, and Randy Savage all have something in common? OHHHH YEAHHHH! #
• marmite fiends #
• Studio Wikitecture 26: Torley posted a photo: http://tinyurl.com/6ggjr7 #
• The 100 newest places I've been in Second Life, updated daily: http://www.flickr.com/photos/torley/sets/72157605740036376/ #
• Torley's weekly Twitter for 2008-11-23:
  VisualCV • Examples - Torley's between Barack Obama & Gu.. http://tinyurl.com/5skguo #
• Pro Street Cars - Sculpted Vehicles: Torley posted a photo:

  The absolute best quality sculpted prim cars.. http://tinyurl.com/56syzy #

Thanksgiving rocked. My wife always cooks yummy food, which is a bigtime upgrade from me doing it myself (just over a year ago). She made turkey + stuffing + candied yam and OHHHH it was just so 'licious. We had leftovers the next day, drumsticks. Big ones. I give thanx everyday that she is in my life. We hug a lot. That's a fine sign.

I called my Mom + bro to reminisce. To Merritt, my little sibling (by 2 years), I was like,

"Remember when we were kids and we'd get SOOO excited after we got a new computer, and load all the games in it and play late into the night?"

Can you relate? I watched some demo loaders for old time's sake.

The weekend passed too fast. Then again, it always does. I'm thrilled I got my Mac Pro. I should be more productive… rightaboutnow.

Remind me not to take naps whenever possible. I know for various inventors and other smart folk, they're energizing and inspirational. They just ruin my day's flow and make me cranky. Taking naps is counterproductive. Instead, I want a good night's sleep.

I mainly use an M-Audio Keystation 88ES to play my "piano music". It's just a controller, so no sounds in itself, but I use various computer synth engines which can be quite realistic. The Keystation is very light for its 88 keys, but they're SEMI-weighted. So, downer if you insist on a hammer-action piano feel, but I'm totally cool with them — and I grew up hardcore on a bona fide Yamaha baby grand. The Keystation 88ES fills a nice niche in the market, but what would make it even better: some knobs and sliders! But, there's still a gap between "people who want 88 keys" and "people who want to tweak sounds". As a result, 88-key controller synth workstations are still VERY EXPENSIVE… and not my bag. I'm evolving towards more software synthesis.

I think a lot about my past. Maybe too much sometimes. Not regretfully, but "frozen capsules" of time where I can see a younger me, and wonder what I would've done differently. Likely not much at all, because the foolish, younger Torley learned to become who I am now.

I can't help but feel nostalgic come holiday season.

Don't ever buy a cheap Sabrent 7-port USB hub. You WILL regret it, as I did. Infact, I wrote my first 1-star review @ Amazon, titled "An awful, time-wasting mess. Don't buy this one!" But I am getting a PCI card to add 5 more USB ports to my Mac Pro. It just doesn't have enough to begin with.

I sometimes wonder if I become too pedantic and overly concerned with including every detail. I've become better over the years at "broad brushstrokes" and selectively recounting the most important points. And adept at mentally countering doubts, and "going beyond" on possibilities.

Self-awareness is such an amazing tool to achieve your dreams.

I'm thinking of making a shortlist of the web companies I really, REALLY like. Not just "companies" in the "HUR HURR PROFIT!!" sense, but "Cool people with a clever business model who have great customer service". Like, Wufoo, Lijit, and Picnik. (But wait, there's more!) I'm sure I'll keep sharing as time goes on.

I just felt a compelling need to share this.

It's funny, sometimes I'll forget something I said, then I'll remember I blogged it, and look it up. Especially true when I make tutorials.

Got Windows Live Writer setup on Boot Camp and testing Parallels and VMWare Fusion — I have a slight preference towards the latter due to speed and UI. Couldn't get drag-and-dropping to work. But we'll see. Blogo is OK, I miss title levels in-post. Thanx to Kisa for recommending MarsEdit, but I can't get along without WYSIWYG-ish formatting. Immediate style + content are just too intertwined for me. Maybe looking into Ecto later.

This feels like a whole bunch of Tweets gathered into gestalt form, like Devastator (of Transformers fame, he's one of my faves. But so dumb).

Tested out 100s of Mac shareware today. OK, exaggeration. Still, ran comparisons on multiple programs in a single category, like: image viewer, info-organizer/notetaker, and… oh, I already mentioned blogging. Curious to see what's out there in the field. Batches of experience yield pattern observation, such as: the many times I opened a .dmg, then dragged an application into a shortcut to my Applications folder. And such icon and layout art! How about all those countdown timers on trial versions, usually spanning 2 weeks-30 days?

NakaMats is a crazy genius. But have you ever seen a non-crazy genius? Didn't think so!

I'm occasionally wincing when some of my fave Windows apps aren't on Mac, but then feel a rush of joy when I discover a Mac program works so much better for the same purpose. Am disappointed Google Desktop Sidebar has no Mac presence and some of the gadgets (To Do, Scratch Pad) aren't on Mac. But hey, there's Things.

Whenever I have a problem I write it down, hoping to find a solution.

3/4 of the way through Alexander Brandon's game audio advice book. Smiled very much upon reading the brief story w/Todor Fay, now of NewBlue, Inc. whose video plugins I HEART. I'm going to share more about my experiences with them in the future; if you're looking to spice up your cinematics, they are quality in quantity with simple, no-fuss interfaces. A superb collection.

I get concerned on occasion that I write the same thing the same way too many times, so then I write it a different way. But then, I wonder if that's really my style. And I know if I keep doing it, it WILL be…

Truely excellent and truely awful people can only be human part of the time.

(Is San Pellegrino like luxury 7-Up/Sprite?)

Various conversations I've had recently reaffirm my belief that the end of a story or created thing get disproportional recognition compared to what went into it — the middle guts of the work, so to speak. And yet, without that inbetween, you wouldn't have an ending. (The beginning's important too, of course.)

I may check popurls and various productivity and deals sites many times a day. But I can't stop, they're gladdictive. And I learn a lot I put to dandy use.

NEW TOYS!

Thanx for riding with me in my river of consciousness.

Signing off… for now.

Friendly greetings from the Mac side of computerdom! It's been quite an adventure lately. As much as I've enjoyed the company of my Q6600-based system, Windows was being a real jerk to me! I kept running into glitches that added up to massive frustration and time wasted, and it sort of climaxed before Thanksgiving. For example, I tried to upgrade from XP SP3 to Vista — not just once, but several times. Using the built-in upgrade tool, I found out the hard way when it failed and I was left hanging in a void, my white cursor the only presence on a deep black screen. ARGHHHHHH. I idled for about an hour, hoping it'd change and resolve. But no, it didn't. Thankfully, Acronis True Image came to my rescue (again) and I was able to restore my previous hard drive state. I tried several other means of "upgrading", but they all resulted in EPIC FAIL with no lawlz.

My tolerance of problems like this has decreased over time. When I was a young pup, I liked to tinker a lot more. I still enjoy tweaking, but a lot of times, it shouldn't be necessary. Default preferences should make a lot of sense out-of-the-box. Too many PCs come loaded with slop (crapware) which diminishes users' hopes of achieving optimum performance. It's incredibly counterproductive and stupid. Even the default Windows installs are bloated and inelegant. Compare that with a Mac, which has a clean, tight, welcome. I wouldn't say I was driven to a desperate point, but after diving into my options, I came to the conclusion what I really needed was a new Mac Pro.

Sure, I looked at Psystar and various Hackintosh configurations, but as cheap as they and I can be (and I doth love a good bargain), they still don't deliver the full, blessed Mac experience. It's not just marketing glow, and there's a lot of truth to this reality distortion field.

Y'see, back in 1993, I got my first Mac. It was a Centris (later renamed Quadra) 660AV, and aside from the CD-caddy-gets-jammed-in-the-door issue (if you had on, you likely experienced this too), it was a treat. The System 7 of then is very different from the Mac OS X of today, but Apple's always had a high priority on ease-of-use. I eventually decided I wanted to play more games and have more options, so that's when I got my first Windows PC. Then another (AMD-based). Then another (my Q6600). In the midst of all this, I certainly learned a lot, but there wasn't a compelling reason for me to "switch" — or more accurately, have BOTH platforms-in-a-box — until the maturation of Mac's move to Intel chips.

This advance opened up a lot of possibilities for running Windows on Mac, be it Boot Camp or virtualization like Parallels, and unlike the sluggish emulation of Virtual PC in years past (which was an interesting toy for me but never used seriously), performance and integration have come a long way. I was wowed at some of the Parallels Coherence video tours, and while I haven't dug into it deeply yet — it looks exciting.

What do I need to run on Windows? Specifically, Sony apps like Vegas and Sound Forge. At least for the time being unless I find a better Mac option — as many raves as I've heard about Final Cut Pro, I'm not sure it's "for me" yet. I also want to run Windows Live Writer, my fave blogging app.

Right now, however, I'm on Blogo, which has a pretty nifty, streamlined interface. It's missing some of my beloved WLW features like autolinks and the ability to drag-and-drop Flickr pictures to get them embedded, but I like the cleanliness to focus on prose. It's got a Darkroom-style fullscreen mode to minimize distractions. But I wish Blogo had an inline, WYSIWYG-mode editor that worked realtime, instead of having to click the preview button. Still, to its credit, the preview does work more accurately on my blog than WLW's, which breaks on some blog themes like mine, and necessitates using a generic template.

But before I get carried away, let's hop back to yesterday, the 1st day I owned this Mac Pro. Thanx to Amazon Prime's shipping, I was able to get this in 1 business day after Thanksgiving for an extra charge of US$3.99. I <3 how they guarantee delivery date — so many places won't, but they could. (And that's a massive missed opportunity!) While I could've saved more money by biding my time, as a conscious dealhunter, I'm also very much aware that you can keep making money, but time — you can't get it back. I wanted to take advantage of the holiday weekend to set this all up. I suppose I could've planned better if I had more foresight, but my pain just got to the point where Windows was breaking down on me when I was doing my work, and I didn't want it to cripple my productivity any longer.

The Mac unboxing experience, as in years past, continues to be a beautiful one. The box was badly scratched because of its UPS shipment to my place, but inside, wow… I like the little touches, like how the documentation is divided into "Everything Mac" and "Everything Else" booklets. And whoever's their technical artist(s) is amazing.

One of the most droolworthy things about the Mac Pro is how easy it is to install hard drives and RAM. I haven't done the latter yet, but the case's side door pops open satisfyingly after you release a latch. I know to a seasoned pro, it isn't "that much of a problem" to install new components in your tower, but it still pales compared to this, and makes me hope — like so many other things — that more Windows-centric manufacturers will copy or improve on Apple's no-cable-clutter design.

Within a few minutes, I freed a spare Western Digital 500GB HD from an external exclosure, aligned it with the drive-holder, fastened the cushioned screws (very nice!), and slid it back in. It didn't slide totally smoothly and needed some moderate force, but once it clicked in, the drive showed up after booting back up and logging in. SWEET. I look forward to adding RAM, as I have 8GB coming for a total of 10GB. (Unlike Windows 32-bit, I'm not limited to sub-4GB amounts. And there isn't an easy migration path to 64-bit. Sigh, architecture baggage.)

My wife was with me to help and take pictures. She was so excited too! Inside my mind, I felt like a little child again. Every time I've ever had a new computer, I've felt buyer's remorse after — and that goes for the systems my parents got me as a kid! Especially when it's holiday season, emotions run high. I wish my Dad wasn't dead, so I could tell him about this new Mac Pro, and hear his reaction. Way back, my cousin Randy gave my Dad a lot of advice on what kind of computer to buy his then 9-year-old son Torley, and ever since I learned from him, I used marketing points to try to convince my Dad to buy better machines, e.g., "The Amiga 500 has 4,096 colors!" Dad always got a lot of joy out of seeing how delighted I was with these new gadgets.

I've come a long way from looking at Commodore 64s in a catalogue.

PLUG AND PLAY WORKS AWESOME ON MACS. It's the small things like this which really add up, y'know? I should mention another fault with my Q6600 (on Asus P5K motherboard, by no means uncommon) was that it'd freeze up horribly if I tried to plug/unplug multiple USB devices in quick succession. I have over a dozen regular USB peripherals including multiple ext. hard drives, a digital camera, and audio gear, and this added up to frustrating pain. But on the Mac, I just connected my hubs (a 4-port Belkin and a cheapo 7-port one from Hong Kong), plugged in devices, and good to go! Ironic was that my Mac Pro detects a PC-designed Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 and Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard faster than my Windows rig.

But now, I have both of them setup. I also snagged a Hanns-G 28-inch monitor after reading rave reviews on Amazon. Never heard of the brand before, but thought this felt rather spacious for a 1920×1200. I later learned NewEgg was carrying a similar one for over US$100 less on Black Friday, but oh sigh, like I said, time is the essence here. While I someday hope for a massive 2560×1600 to go sub-US$500, this Hanns-G is very sharp and the whites make my old Samsung 204B look yellow and ugly.

Moments after booting up my Mac Pro, I started installing apps and running software updates. I was up and sprinting in minutes! Computer setup is this strange ritual that happens every few years for me, and I'm always drawn back to previous times I did it. To be audaciously geeky, it's like Buffy being linked to previous Slayers.

I should also add the room smells like new computer. My wife and I love sniffing that in the air.

One concern: because Amazon didn't have the GeForce 8800GT-equipped Mac Pro in stock; I opted not to wait and went for the base config with the ATI Radeon HD 2600XT instead, which is markedly inferior for game performance. This means Second Life won't perform as well with bells 'n' whistles on, so for the time being, I think I'll continue to primarily run SL on my Q6600 (which has a 8800GTS), be on the lookout for even more capable graphics cards for my Mac Pro (shame more aren't supported), and try tests in Boot Camp to see if things substantially improve. It boggles my mind why Apple insists on top-notch components like a master chief is picky about what ingredients go into his soup, but they continue lagging on graphics cards. I already did a quick test and antialiasing brutally drops framerate on the native Mac version of Second Life — expected, but since it doesn't have as much of a comparative hit on my Q6600 w/8800GTS, I was still expecting better.

Those are my first impressions. I'm so excited and I'm also looking forward to getting into all the Mac-exclusive apps to help organize my work + play better. I'm no Mac fanboi, just someone who simply uses what works best.

Making choices can be paralyzing, especially when you're pressured to make the right decision. The way that's worded, it sounds like there's only one. But really, how true is that? How many times have you made what seemed like a bad decision shortly after-the-fact, then later realized it became a lesson you had to learn anyway, or grew into something you later credited as working out for the best? Deep philosophy and moral relativism aside, we usually can't provide absolutes. Some things are more obvious than others — choosing happiness over depression by enacting smaller changes in your life that shape your overall worldview — but for the most part, I don't think there's a single right path.

This is especially true when you're being creative, making art. When I compose or even improvise, I look at all the possible paths. But playing every key on the piano results in unlistenable clutter. (Edge case: someone who's masochistic for experimental clanging.) So, out of all those, I shape a sonic sculpture, pick certain chords, and let the silence between the notes speak for themselves. What I didn't get to do this time around, I'll include in the next song. And so on.

Not doing something — inaction — is often worse than getting involved. Sure, there are times when you want to save your energy and not get into wasteful/artificial/useless conflicts, but I'm referring to moving forward in your life.

Don't hold off on making something creative just because you assume someone else can do it better (so why bother?). Well, how do you think they got there? So often, I see it isn't "raw talent", but iterative persistence which enables someone to become a better receptacle for success. It's a funny way of thinking, but it's the difference between banging your head repeatedly on the same door vs. crafting tools and looking for other ways to get into… wherever that door leads.

I know it's tough to use words when perspective changes how we value things. Can a mistake really be counted as one if you learn and improve? I believe there are such things as glaring errors, but that being accountable and adapting is understated. The vast majority of decisions won't make a big impact when considered alone, but combined into a tapestry of how you've molded yourself, it becomes clear who you are.

I usually go out of my way to praise things, not mock them. Sometimes I wonder if something is executed so poorly because it's a joke, or 'cuz it takes itself so seriously. I recently came across this FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT: THE CONVERGENCE OF FILM AND GAMING on Digg and was aghast for, oh, about 2 seconds before breaking out into giggles about how ridiculous it looks. If it's not a parody, I hope no one paid actual money (that would be wasteful).

Like Web 2.0, a lot of talk about "Convergence" and "The Singularity" is electronic snake oil, the high-tech equivalent of the scammers and charlatans in the self-help industry:

"gimme bux and i tell u futur!!!!!1 ROFL"

In a startling case of dummy text overload, my wife even noticed:

"It looks complex and professional until you look at the actual stuff on it."

And like the by-proxy damage a pseudoscientific quack does to actual scientists, this report is gonna confuse rational futurists with rancid jerksauce. But! Let me not taint your mind. Pollute yourself:

(That picture in the bottom-left should be a dude smashing his head into the screen, fed-up with vapid buzzword overload.)

As my earlier comment went: this, the Idiocracy interpretation of the Singularity, is bloated with awkward Engrish and cobbled from the entrails of a lot of Hollywood clichés we've seen over the years. (I wouldn't be so amused if some of it didn't closely resemble Cinco's philosophy from the Tim and Eric Awesome Show.)

MORE »

• VisualCV • Examples - Torley's between Barack Obama & Guy Kawasaki: Torley posted a photo:

  In awesome co.. http://tinyurl.com/57o6hw #

• Contender for least likely album of the year award: The Best Dubstep Christmas Carols in the World… Ever! #
• "Canard and the Quacktones? That's the last time I let you name my band, pet duck!" #
• I wonder if anyone's made a game out of bidding for eBay items for US$1 and under — sorta like an eBay Dollar Auction. #
• Listening to slot machine music by George "Fat Man" Sanger & Team Fat. #
• Oh thrill! I'm between Barack Obama and Guy Kawasaki @ VisualCV! That's awesome company. http://www.visualcv.com/www/examples/ #
• Noteworthy computer & video game music links: Rare insights I've found 'round the Net which I ho.. http://tinyurl.com/6qvaqo #
• Where can I purchase a copy of "The Fat Man on Game Audio" at a reasonable price? I've seen it for US$142, yipes! #
• Haha, great 404 error, SoundCloud: http://tinyurl.com/5pw2ha #
• This design site is so fun to navigate: http://www.akqa.com/ #
• Upgrading to Flash Player 10… it doth amaze me what I've seen created using Flash! #
• Why Personality Matters In Marketing - cool "making of" presentation @ http://tinyurl.com/63zd9a #
• The amount of VST audio plugins is staggering: http://www.kvraudio.com/allpluginsononepage.php #
• It is better to have too much time on your hands than your feet. #
• I'm fond of when Bill Cosby's eyes are BULGING like he really wants some Jello Pudding Pops, you see. #
• Idea for a mashup: Electric Light Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. #
• Two wrongs don't make a right, but three might make jazz music. =) #
• Wufoo.com's "Since You've Been Gone." updates are BRILLIANT. They tempt me to keep logging in. #
• Guess who owns vidtuts.com ?: Domain names can be like vanity license plates. Then again, they can be esse.. http://tinyurl.com/6omupg #
• Spelling "flak" as "flack" to mean the same thing is useless. Why add a letter? Unless you're intentionally going for Roberta. #
• "That one" sounds worse than "This one". #
• How SoundCloud Excels at Web Music Usability: http://mashable.com/2008/11/19/soundcloud/ #
• University of Richmond's well-illustrated guide to Getting Started in SL (thx Tenchi!): http://tinyurl.com/6jkzue #
• Amazing how many sound libraries are out there: Synthtopia showcases oodles. http://www.synthtopia.com/ #
• What do you get when you cross an alien surrealist with a half-lion? H.R. Liger! #
• @chilkotardis I don't use any Twitter HUDs in SL. I could be compelled to change. in reply to chilkotardis #
• @pyrii I have no DS but I think DS-10 is way kewl from what I've seen. in reply to pyrii #
• @JacobBandler I've liked Mediamaster for some time, and thank them for continuing to host my piano stream that plays on Here island! in reply to JacobBandler #
• @PrincessIvory I backup to both whenever possible. But I do send WAYYYY more postcards, it's simply convenient (I like text descriptions). in reply to PrincessIvory #
• @nsharoff Send a postcard to multiple email addresses including your Gmail. http://tinyurl.com/65jqro in reply to nsharoff #
• MOAR on that Gmail beautification… wowza! No more accusations of da Gmail bein' bland. XD http://tinyurl.com/6gvgfn #
• OMG Gmail can haz new Colors and Themes! :O #
• I just ate a Jelly Belly that tasted like meat. X| #
• Four Elements III (KRT's Watermelon Remix): Dayum, I love being remixed! It's always such a surprise .. http://tinyurl.com/6kamf2 #
• SoundCloud - Upload: Torley posted a photo: http://tinyurl.com/5929zw #
• Fashion Your Firefox looks like a great way to target specific add-ons from the many out there. http://tinyurl.com/5zpqr6 #
• EXAMPLE postcard sent from Second Life: Torley posted a photo:

  This is what it looks like, ya see!

  Post.. http://tinyurl.com/6jom5v #

• Pardon, "nanoKONTROL". Dang InterCaps. :p #
• Ooh! My Korg NanoKontrol arrived! Slim package, price was right at about US$60. http://tinyurl.com/6o29ek #
• "Entertainment is the essence of presentation." -Russell Preston Brown #
• I backup a lot of my SL postcards on a Gmail account. Right now, 3,462 postcards take 2037 MB (28%) of my space. #
• What webapps & services do you think have the best user interfaces? I'd have to count Vimeo, Wufoo, and SoundCloud in there. #
• As I say: if I'm good, it's because I've made you better. #
• @PrincessIvory You can choose by using the tools and seeing what's actually useful a few weeks, months from now. Time pans it out! in reply to PrincessIvory #
• @rikomatic Some Matmos has breathing/windsucking sounds, or Bjork's Medulla. Enigma has had lots of sensual breathing samples. in reply to rikomatic #
• Oh crap my message box was messed up for a few days, due to MY fault. I'm sorry and will be replying as-needed soon! #
• Torley's weekly Twitter for 2008-11-16:
  Chupacabra dressed as Barack Obama, or mange we can believe in? #.. http://tinyurl.com/6fusdf #
• Deus Ex - Hell's Kitchen map on OSGrid: Torley posted a photo:

  I'm a big fan of the DX games — I eagerly.. http://tinyurl.com/5sghub #

• Whoa, the Xfire system config tool to auto-input gaming rig specs was easy! See mine @ http://www.xfire.com/profile/ #
• PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME! in Second Life LMAO @ http://www.xfire.com/video/39cc1/ #
• Why is "interesting" such a boring word? #
• Ooh, Warin Cascabel made a Deus Ex "Hell's Kitchen" map in OSGrid: http://tinyurl.com/6eczk5 #
• New Revolution 2 open source WordPress themes from people whose work I admire: http://www.revolutiontwo.com/ #
• MIT Media Lab's mixed-reality experiment involving Second Life: http://tinyurl.com/5hp7c9 #

Rare insights I've found 'round the Net which I hope you'll enjoy.

• Beyond the Barline's "A Time for Transition" - I can relate to the author's story. I was very sad when Opcode, maker of my fave sequencer, Studio Vision, was acquired by Gibson. Development halted, and to this day, not even Cubase or Logic can match the intuitiveness and workflow of some of Vision's features. For example, while Vision's staff view wasn't meant for serious notation, its "direct note access" was wonderful: I could click on a note to hear it, change its duration (via a pop-up of note types), and drag it around. I've been getting up to speed with more modern DAWs and it'll take time to get used to them, but each one has a partial implementation of what I actually hope for, and I'm not feeling elated. (It's not just nostalgia!)
• Alexander Brandon's tracker music - Yes, the same guy who composed the Deus Ex soundtrack. He looks like a really friendly guy, and this is a compilation of his older works, many of which sound like they could've been in DX. He has a unique mastery of rock-style drums with portamento-imbued synth leads flying overhead, and a real gift for melody. I was also really touched by a recording of him and collaborator Jason Emery from 1991 — my little bro and I have similar gaming memories. I admire people who bring a sound memory of history to shaping the future, and Brandon's definitely up there.
• koanotic's "comparing midi tracks in sequencers" - A brief, but good analysis of piano rolls' flawed design. Piano rolls are among the most common ways to visualize note data in sequencers, but I haven't warmed to them for some of the reasons within.
• The Rise and Fall of Game Audio - Put on some SID tunes and get ready for a deep read. Matt Barton and collaborators have pieced together this analysis of the main problems in game audio: too many orchestral imitators and not taking enough risks are among the main thrusts here. I always enjoy a standout Fat Man quote, and I definitely agree there's too many symphonic emulations or licensed pop music in games — both of which I enjoy on their own terms. But aside from splinter/underground/alternative movements like the demoscene which continues to this day, there's not enough innovation and experimenting with turning fresh sonic ideas into fantastic gaming experiences. This is especially relevant since games, unlike movies and most music, are interactive.
• Adaptive Audio Report - By Alexander Brandon himself! Admittedly, I haven't perused this yet, but will soon. If it's by AB, it must be good. It's a historical overview of the generations of game music, and touches on some of what's missing as described in the above article.
• Digital Audio Sequencers: The Ideal Tool for Musical Creativity - Old-skool look at how computers have changed the way we make music. I don't know when it was written (the FTP directory suggests 2000), but the screenshots look like they were scanned from a photocopy or hardcopy book.
• I hate piano rolls - After the earlier kerfuffle, I had to find something like this, and find I did! The OP is well-articulated and I agree with many points. Later discussion leads to HighC, a tool to "draw your music". That looks (and sounds) like the sort of accessible innovation I hold in high regard.