Buckminster Fuller - Everything I Know (1975)

networkawesome.com has compiled 42 hours of video taken during the last two weeks of January 1975 when Buckminster Fuller gave an extraordinary series of lectures concerning his entire life's work. These thinking out loud lectures span 42 hours and examine in depth all of Fuller's major inventions and discoveries from the 1927 Dymaxion house, car and bathroom, through the Wichita House, geodesic domes, and tensegrity structures, as well as the contents of Synergetics. Autobiographical in parts, Fuller recounts his own personal history in the context of the history of science and industrialization. The stories behind his Dymaxion car, geodesic domes, World Game and integration of science and humanism are lucidly communicated with continuous reference to his synergetic geometry. Permeating the entire series is his unique comprehensive design approach to solving the problems of the world. Some of the topics Fuller covered in this wide ranging discourse include: architecture, design, philosophy, education, mathematics, geometry, cartography, economics, history, structure, industry, housing and engineering.

Reference: networkawesome.com

Max Vernon Mathews - Computer Music Pioneer

PHOTO: Max Mathews playing and sampling the violin connected to an IBM 7040 computer

Max Vernon Mathews (* November 13, 1926, in Columbus, Nebraska) is a pioneer in the world of computer music. He studied electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving a Sc.D. in 1954. Working at Bell Labs, Mathews wrote MUSIC, the first widely-used program for sound generation, in 1957. For the rest of the century, he continued as a leader in digital audio research, synthesis, and human-computer interaction as it pertains to music performance.

Although he was not the first to generate sound with a computer (an Australian CSIRAC computer played tunes as early as 1951), Mathews fathered generations of digital music tools. He describes his work in parental terms in this excerpt from "Horizons in Computer Music," March 8-9, 1997, Indiana University:

"Computer performance of music was born in 1957 when an IBM 704 in NYC played a 17 second composition on the Music I program which I wrote. The timbres and notes were not inspiring, but the technical breakthrough is still reverberating. Music I led me to Music II through V. A host of others wrote Music 10, Music 360, Music 15, Csound and Cmix. Many exciting pieces are now performed digitally. The IBM 704 and its siblings were strictly studio machines--they were far too slow to synthesize music in real-time. Chowning's FM algorithms and the advent of fast, inexpensive, digital chips made real-time possible, and equally important, made it affordable."

"Starting with the Groove program in 1970, my interests have focused on live performance and what a computer can do to aid a performer. I made a controller, the radio-baton, plus a program, the conductor program, to provide new ways for interpreting and performing traditional scores. In addition to contemporary composers, these proved attractive to soloists as a way of playing orchestral accompaniments. Singers often prefer to play their own accompaniments. Recently I have added improvisational options which make it easy to write compositional algorithms. These can involve precomposed sequences, random functions, and live performance gestures. The algorithms are written in the C language. We have taught a course in this area to Stanford undergraduates for two years. To our happy surprise, the students liked learning and using C. Primarily I believe it gives them a feeling of complete power to command the computer to do anything it is capable of doing."

In 1961, Mathews arranged the accompaniment of the song Daisy Bell for an uncanny performance by computer-synthesized human voice, using technology developed by John Kelly of Bell Laboratories and others. Author Arthur C. Clarke was coincidentally visiting friend and colleague John Pierce at the Bell Labs Murray Hill facility at the time of this remarkable speech synthesis demonstration and was so impressed that he later told Stanley Kubrick to use it in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in the climactic scene where the HAL 9000 computer sings while his cognitive functions are disabled.

Mathews directed the Acoustical and Behavioral Research Center at Bell Laboratories from 1962 to 1985, which carried out research in speech communication, visual communication, human memory and learning, programmed instruction, analysis of subjective opinions, physical acoustics, and industrial robotics. From 1974 to 1980 he was the Scientific Advisor to the Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), Paris, France, and since 1987 has been Professor of Music (Research) at Stanford University. He served as the Master of Ceremonies for the concert program of NIME-01, the inaugural conference on New interfaces for musical expression.

Mathews is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Acoustical Society of America, the IEEE, and the Audio Engineering Society. He holds a Silver Medal in Musical Acoustics from the Acoustical Society of America, and the Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et Lettres, Republique Francaise.

The Max portion of the software package Max/MSP is named after him (the MSP portion is named for Miller Puckette, currently teaching at UC- San Diego).

Reference: http://www.answers.com/topic/max-mathews

"Daisy Bell" (1961) by John Kelly, Carol Lockbaum, and Max Mathews for IBM

"Daisy Bell" was composed by Harry Dacre in 1892. In 1961, the IBM 7094 became the first computer to sing, singing the song Daisy Bell. Vocals were programmed by John Kelly and Carol Lockbaum and the accompaniment was programmed by Max Mathews. This performance was the inspiration for a similar scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Below the pictures there is a video clip you can play with the audio recording. Enjoy.
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do
I'm half crazy all for the love of you
It won't be a stylish marriage
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle built for two.

PHOTO #1: IBM 7094 Emergency Power Off Switch
PHOTO #2: IBM 7094 with operator, John Szallasi
PHOTO #3: IBM 7094 tape room
PHOTO #4: IBM 7094 console
PHOTO #5: Bob Sparks with IBM 7094
PHOTOS #6-10: Various Pictures of the IBM 7094

Robotic Mouth

TEMPT ONE (A.K.A.- Tony Quan) - Graffiti Artist Creates Pieces With His Eyes

In 2003, Southern California-based graffiti artist, Tony Quan (A.K.A.- TEMPT ONE) was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) , leaving him unable to speak and virtually every muscle in his body paralyzed except for his eyes. Due to the severity of his condition, Quan now needs a respirator to breathe. His mind, still as sharp as ever, is now trapped by a body that has succumb to the disease.

That's when Zach Lieberman of the Graffiti Research Lab and developers from Free Art and Technology, OpenFrameworks and the Ebeling Group were inspired to create low-cost, open-source hardware and software for eye-tracking named, the EyeWriter. It's a gadget that costs about as much as an iPod shuffle and lets the paralyzed graffiti artist continue making art using only his eyes.

Eye-tracking technology, in which computers and small cameras harness eye movements for writing, highlighting Web site text and other tasks, has led to digital tools for users with disabilities. However, as Lieberman mentioned in an NPR interview, those devices usually have hefty price tags.

"Commercial eye-trackers, to get a device is $10,000-$15,000," he says. The EyeWriter is estimated to cost about $50. He and his hacker colleagues have a do-it-yourself kit for building an EyeWriter that starts with a pair of sunglasses. For Lieberman’s prototype, he bought a pair from a vendor at Venice Beach.

"Then we assembled a kind of wire frame that holds a Web cam, a small camera that we've mounted close to the eye," he explains. "We've written software that tracks the eye, and then we calibrate with [Quan's] eye movements and the computer screen."

Quan can draw lines and color within them, though graffiti-writing with the EyeWriter is nowhere near as fast as shaking up a can of spray paint and drawing by hand.

"But he can plot points. And from plotting points, create letters. And from creating letters, create words. And then color the words, shade the words, extrude them in 3-D, add different features," Lieberman says.

You can check out TEMPT's art here:

http://temptone.com/index2.html

References:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124980282&sc=fb&cc=fp

http://www.giographix.com/blog/als-stricken-graffiti-artist-tags-again-with-eyewriter/

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

TEMPT + EYEWRITER August 12, 2009 from james powderly on Vimeo.

The Legend of Jason Becker - Documentaries, Performances, and Television News Clips

Inspirational documentary about guitar prodigy Jason Becker. Near the end there is a segment at Kennedy High School where Jason performs Yngwie Malmsteen's Black Star with his band at a talent show. The performance is nothing short of spectacular.

Also included is a collection of performances and TV news clips.

Jason Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American neo-classical metal guitarist and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Mike Varney-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman. They released Speed Metal Symphony in 1987 and Go Off! in 1988. Cacophony broke up in 1989 and Becker began doing solo work, having released his first album Perpetual Burn in 1988. He later joined David Lee Roth's band and recorded one album with him. However, Becker's success was hampered by his then-diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and was given three to five years to live. In 1996, Becker eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Despite his disability, he continues composing by using a computer.

At the age of 20, he joined David Lee Roth's band, replacing Steve Vai, who went on to join Whitesnake. While recording the A Little Ain't Enough album in 1989, and preparing for the subsequent tour, Becker began to feel what he called a "lazy limp" on his left leg. He was soon diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and given three to five years to live. He could barely finish the recording, using low-gauge (thin) guitar strings and other techniques, which would make it easier to play with his weakening hands. Although he managed to finish the album, which was released in 1991, he did not join the supporting tour due to his inability to perform on stage; former Lizzy Borden guitarist Joe Holmes took Becker's place on tour.

Due to his illness, he eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Although his ALS gradually robbed him of his ability to play guitar, to walk, and eventually even to speak, he still remains mentally sharp and, with the aid of a computer, continues composing. In the back of the Perspective CD case, Becker states "I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind." His medical condition has remained stable since 1997. In 2003, Jason posted on his website that he was feeling better and had gained some weight, while the folder for his 2008 album Collection also mentions an upcoming book.

In 1996 Becker released an album entitled Perspective, an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception of Bob Dylan's song "Meet Me in the Morning"). The writing of the music had been started before ALS completely crippled his abilities. By using guitar and later, when he was unable to use both hands, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. However, when Becker could no longer physically play even a keyboard, his friend and music producer Mike Bemesderfer helped him with a music-composing computer program which could read the movements of his head and eyes enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of his entire body.

Several years later Becker released Raspberry Jams (1999) and Blackberry Jams (2003), the first contained various unreleased demo-tracks and the latter contained demo-tracks and alternate versions of songs that were later reworked and published into other albums.

Two tribute albums to Jason Becker have been issued. Respectively entitled Warmth in the Wilderness I and Warmth in the Wilderness II, they feature guitarists such as Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Marty Friedman, Joe Becker, Rusty Cooley, and Mattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help him with his medical finances.

On November 4, 2008, Shrapnel Records released a new Jason Becker album entitled Collection. The album includes three new songs in addition to some older recordings (some never before released) and features Marty Friedman, Greg Howe, Joe Satriani, Michael Lee Firkins, Steve Vai, and Steve Hunter.
In 2008 Paradise Guitars worked with Jason to design a Jason Becker signature guitar. The design is based on the Peavey with colored number fret inlays. Features include a genuine aldermaple neck with steel 2-way truss rod, maple 16" radius fingerboard, 24 jumbo thin frets with colored number fret marker inlays, black Floyd Rose Pro Style floating Tremolo with Floyd Rose Tremolo stop, Sperzel red satin tuners, 14 degree tilt-back headstock with black Paradise logo and matching tremolo and electronics plates. The pickups are DiMarzio pickups; a P.A.F. body, Pro-Custom in the neck colored yellow and red, a DP116 HS-2 in the neck colored green, and a Tone Zone-Custom in the bridge colored pink and blue. These colored pickups compliment the colored inlays and seem to give the guitar a rainbow effect. There is also a red 5-way switch and purple 1-11 volume knob.

Information on Jason's latest projects and about ordering his CD's can be found on his website.
References: http://jasonbeckerguitar.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Becker

Interview with the Philip K. Dick Android

An android-portrait of Philip K Dick—In an unparalleled technical collaboration, a team of artists, writers, engineers, literary scholars, and freethinkers are creating a lifelike, android portrait of one of America's well-known science-fiction writers.

Video of Philip K. Dick robot at AAAI-05 conference: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

A Strange Loss of Face—The robot made several public appearances last year, including at the Comic Con in San Diego, where he (it?) was on a panel for the film, "A Scanner Darkly," which is based on a Dick novel.

The android, which looked just like the author and was able to conduct rudimentary conversations about Mr. Dick's work and ideas, was at the cutting edge of robotic technology, able to make eye contact and believable facial expressions...using the latest artificial intelligence...and a skin-like substance called "frubber."

Below videos of interviews conducted with the Philip K. Dick android at the NextFest in Chicago, 2005. The android's head has subsequently gone missing and is believed to have been stolen.

Article on the PKD android's creator: 
 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/books/review/how-to-build-an-android-by-david-f-dufty.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

Refrences: deoxy.org/media/
PKD