From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V2 #215 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Sunday, October 12 1997 Volume 02 : Number 215 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Joke time! [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander)] Alloy: Who Am I? Um . . . Uh . . . [dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexa] Alloy: Warning: Dolby Content! ["Stephen M. Tilson" ] Alloy: Memes ["Stephen M. Tilson" ] Alloy: Thank you ["Stephen M. Tilson" ] Re: Alloy: Memes [Jeff Wasilko ] Re: Alloy: Thank you [Elaine Linstruth ] Alloy: Coincidence? [Monya De ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 22:36:01 -0600 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Alloy: Joke time! Hey Sam, What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? Homeless! JAMac ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 10 Oct 1997 22:51:29 -0600 From: dalexander@juno.com (Dennis S. Alexander) Subject: Alloy: Who Am I? Um . . . Uh . . . Sean Cier wrote: ... > This brings up another point that may have already been touched on in > one of the impromptu surveys, but the group has expanded so that maybe > now is a good time to bring it up. Obviously there's a good deal of > diversity of fields here... what _is_ everybody doing with their lives, > and what do you hope to be doing eventually? > I'm learning to be professionally unemployed! I've been doing it since July 2nd. You see, I got laid off by my boss because I made him give me back my vacation (the one he stole from me!) He threatened that if I made him give it back, then I wouldn't last very long. A month and a half later, I got the boot. A month and a half after that, I was replaced by someone with a different title. On top of that, he laid me off on my anniversary date (so I got a full years worth of vacation pay) and another months pay if I prommised not to sue him (basically). (I should have sued him!) I WAS a Network Technician (computers). Did everything. Hardware, software, network, design, administration, LAN/WAN/internet. I'm also a musician. Keyboards mostly; classically trained (but I started out very young as a play-by-ear musician). I want to put out an album someday. I finally got my computer set up so I can do multitrack in digital. Now I just need time. Whoa! Now I can say I'm an unemployed musician! Wow! I always thought that was a cool title! Anyway, I started selling nutritional products part time, but I wasn't quite making enough to live on when I was laid off. You could say that I went from a Network Technician to a Network Marketer! (dumb joke, I know!) And I'm a Dolby admirer (not a fan(natic)), of course! JAMac ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 17:23:28 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Warning: Dolby Content! Gentle listie, The following message is exclusively about things Dolby, expressed = through my personal reflections of the TMDR lecture and reception in = SF, CA last Thursday night, October 9 (John Lennon's birthday!). = Please, if you do not find such subject matter to be of any interest, = or in good taste, delete this message now. I would not blame you. ********************************************************************** Stephen M. Tilson here with a report of TMDR's lecture on the = artist's place in a technological society, and how TMDR is = attempting, through a grass-roots revolution in the way musicians = bring their wares to the music consumer, to facilitate artistic = expression and remuneration in a marketplace heretofore dominated by = monolithic corporations. To put it mildly, dear Mr. Dolby apparently feels somewhat slighted = by his experiences in the music industry. He rebels and chafes at = the machinery which returns, at best, only 10% to 15% of the proceeds = of the sale of an artist's work to the artist, while simultaneously = consuming the lion's share in its own greedy maw, and further, = severely limits the consumer's access to the wealth of available = product by offering only that music which the corporations deem a = safe investment, or `likely to be highly profitable', while allowing = fresh, creative, and imaginative talents to languish and remain = unheard. So, he proposes to level the playing field somewhat by offering = musicians an alternative to standard publishing and marketing = methods. This alternative revolves around a new multi-platform music = technology referred to as Rich Music Format (RMF), or alternatively, = Hypermusic: named after, and similar in concept to "Hypertext." = Trademarked as "Beatnik", RMF is essentially a new media format, like = the Compact Cassette, the LP, or the Compact Disc. Currently, = utilizing this new media format requires, at the minimum, a WebTV = device. Upwards of that, other available platforms include computers = with PC, MacIntosh, or UNIX operating systems. The RMF idea is to send a description of the music in a very small = file to the client computer on which resides a bank of sound samples = and MIDI instruments. The RMF file calls these samples in the = appropriate sequence and modifies them as per instructions contained = in the file. For example, a sample of a single piano note can be = modified by pitch, velocity, decay, and attack, and played = simultaneously with other similarly modified notes to give the effect = of a complete performance. Thus, the information received by the = client can be very small, and therefore, received quickly. The user = does not have to wait for long downloads to hear a piece of music, as = is commonly the case with WAV files which can be quite large. Another feature of the RMF system is standardization of the end = product. In other words, a RMF file will sound pretty much the same = on all platforms, relying as it does on a library of samples and = sounds. So now your Soundblaster, or Turtle Beach, or MediaVision = sound card will perform and sound alike. There are some limitations. For example: the human voice singing a = lyric. The current workaround is to include the entire vocal track = in the RMF file. In a future report I will, from my musician's = perspective, give further details of the RMF as I explore its = possibilities. I found Mr. Dolby to be a clever, concise, and dry-witted speaker, = and would eagerly attend other presentations he might give. I = applaud his efforts at rocking the music industry aircraft carrier, = and give him my full support. I heartily recommend we all begin = using and familiarizing ourselves with Beatnik as time allows, if for = nothing else, the comment made by TMDR that he is seriously = considering publishing his next record in that format! I'll leave the reporting of other details of our evening with Mr. = Dolby to any of the remaining 4 Alloy attendees we've yet to hear = from. Mary, Phil, Monya, Steven: the floor is yours. Yours in music and all things Dolby, /\/\iles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 19:19:21 -0400 (EDT) From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Alloy:Europa comic book I saw today At the comic shop today, I saw a comic entitled "Europa and the Pirate Twins", part two of a four-part series published in February 1997. The publisher is Powder Monkey Productions. The "creator, writer and artist" is Harvey Mercadoocasio (no misspell) who claims copyright on all contents. These contents have absolutely nothing to do with creativity, story, or art, much less Dolby's song of that title. I am now wondering: is the title public domain somehow? I thought perhaps Thomas or the record company might have it licensed, but no such credit is given in the publication. Who is this Harvey Mercadoocasio, who signs his name "Harvo"? Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 19:47:57 -0400 (EDT) From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Alloy: Dolby Content! If Thomas has been avoiding Alloy all this time, he must now have a million boring posts built up in his mailbox, thanks to Alloy's abrupt disintegration into the various arguments of the past few days. Sorry Thomas :( But it sounds like the lecture was REALLY good. I'm so happy Thomas got the tape all hand-delivered and everything. I'm glad Stephen let us know! Hopefully some photos of Stephen & everyone with Thomas afterward will be posted on someone's page soon! Will the transcript be made available? I want to hear more about what was said. Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 19:30:37 -0400 (EDT) From: RThurF@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Let's have a party! In a message dated 10/10/97 2:32:08 PM, Keith wrote: <> Hi Keith! This is a great idea & I'd love to go, but only if I can still talk about bad knees anyway. :) Robin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 16:34:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Elaine Linstruth Subject: Re: Alloy: Warning: Dolby Content! *applause* *applause* yay! very nice post!! - -- Elaine Linstruth Palmdale, CA (USA) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 21:43:02 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Memes Hi Sean, Regarding memes . . . > Anybody ever read Neal Stephenson's _Snow_Crash_? Now _there's_ = > a novel that took the idea quite a ways in a rather literal = > direction... Oh! Definitely. Are you a cyberpunk enthusiast, then? If you are = interested in nanotech, perhaps you've read another great Stephenson = tome, _The Diamond Age_? Here's another one which he published under = the pseudonym Stephen Bury, _Interface_. Highly recommended well = written fictional history - current affairs . . . Cheers, /\/\iles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 21:43:04 -0400 From: "Stephen M. Tilson" Subject: Alloy: Thank you Hi Sam, You wrote in response to Elaine: > If I don't read, I delete, but I certainly don't feel the need to = > tell the list that I'm deleting the posts or that I don't think = > the current topic is interesting. I am certain that Elaine was intending a gentle commentary on the rude an= d = somewhat destructively critical atmosphere that has recently become preva= lent = here, as opposed to the warm cozy living-room we all shared graciously un= til = recently. For me it was a point well taken. Thank you, Elaine! Cheers, /\/\iles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 22:37:16 -0400 From: Jeff Wasilko Subject: Re: Alloy: Memes On Sat, Oct 11, 1997 at 09:43:02PM -0400, Stephen M. Tilson wrote: > Hi Sean, > > Regarding memes . . . > > > Anybody ever read Neal Stephenson's _Snow_Crash_? Now _there's_ > > a novel that took the idea quite a ways in a rather literal > > direction... > > Oh! Definitely. Are you a cyberpunk enthusiast, then? If you are > interested in nanotech, perhaps you've read another great Stephenson > tome, _The Diamond Age_? Here's another one which he published under > the pseudonym Stephen Bury, _Interface_. Highly recommended well > written fictional history - current affairs . . . _The Diamond Age_ is amazing...it took me a while to 'get into' it, but once it hooked me, I didn't want it to end. While _Snow_Crash_ whas brilliant in it's technology, _The Diamond Age_ excels in it's humanity.... _jeff ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 19:58:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Elaine Linstruth Subject: Re: Alloy: Thank you Hi /\/\iles, You're welcome, I think.. and thank YOU. :) You are correct as to the intended effect of my comment. I had completely missed Sam's comments (guess I just hit D without reading, what a concept), and am only now apprised of his unhappiness with my post. "Gee, sorry." - -- Elaine Linstruth Palmdale, CA (USA) > I am certain that Elaine was intending a gentle commentary on the rude > and somewhat destructively critical atmosphere that has recently become > prevalent here, as opposed to the warm cozy living-room we all shared > graciously until recently. For me it was a point well taken. Thank > you, Elaine! > > Cheers, > /\/\iles > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 21:49:10 -0700 (PDT) From: Monya De Subject: Alloy: Coincidence? The day after the lecture, in the Stanford Daily: Big headline: "Europa has it all". (It was about jupiter's moon being fit for living organisms. :)) Monya ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V2 #215 ***************************