Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 1385

Aches & pains: Right shoulder (last week)

Current reading: The Swift Programming Language

Recent listening: WTF with Marc Maron, Accidental Tech Podcast, This American Life, Radiolab

Recent viewing: Westworld, NBA Finals, Billions, My Next Guest…, The Break with Michelle Wolf, Evil Genius

Recent playing: Picture Cross

Recent events: Thomas moved home

Recently accomplished: 36 miles/week riding, planted grass, new rear wheel, paid bills, installed AC, doctor’s appointment, vacuuming

Imperative To Do: 100 miles/week riding, plant grass in bare spots, clean roof, manual insurance claims, lawn border, buy tickets for August wedding, bariatric surgery

Vital Statistics

Aches & pains: none

Current reading: The Big Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons

Recent listening: Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Jane Siberry, Sam Cooke, Donovan, Nanci Griffith, John Frusciante, Deadmau5, Florence & the Machine, Earth, Wind & Fire

Recent viewing: Dexter, Twin Peaks, Anvil: The Story of Anvil, Winnebago Man, NFL Playoffs

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Temple Run

Recently accomplished: Mowed lawn to remove most leaves, taxi service, Christmas tree recyling

Imperative To Do: Finish Neil Young “liner notes”, finish 2011 FY for Troop 820, clean office, pay bills, call DirecTV, Troop 820 can recycling

Vital Statistics

Aches & pains: ankles, back muscles, possible tongue thrush

Current reading: Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Recent listening: Infected Mushroom, Foreigner, Primus, Greg Kihn, Massive Attack, Thievery Corp., Weird Al (new album!), Radiohead, Motown, Portishead, Canned Heat, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Recent viewing: Leverage (season 3 & 4), Frontline, The Planets, Pulp Fiction, Stan Lee’s Superhumans, The Story of the Blues, Super 8

Recent playing: DropZap, Words with Friends, Mondo Solitaire

Recently accomplished: Both children advanced to next grade level, camping/biking in Idaho, acquired fireworks of questionable legality, paid bills, Roundup for weedy areas, weed and feed for lawn, mowing

Imperative To Do: Light fireworks, back to work, clean garage, clean gutters, new shelves for stereo, bark dust, doctor appointments

Vital Statistics

Aches & pains: n/a
Current reading: Beginning iPhone 3.0 Development by David Mark and Jeff LaMarche, Little Heathens by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Recent listening: Neil Young, Edith Piaf, The Modern Lovers, The Black Keys, Tones on Tail, Thomas Dolby
Recent viewing: Countdown, Rachel Maddow, Friday Night Lights, Kill Bill, Hollywoodland, The Fly, LoudQUIETloud, Crazy, The Heart Is A Drum Machine, Psych
Recent playing: Words with Friends, Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, QRANK
Recently accomplished: Hauled old computer equipment to Splash office, ongoing yard revival, filled propane tank, returned Nehalem to Foster City, CDs for Laine
Imperative To Do: Buy deck boards, birthday party invites, haircut, chainsaw some stuff, iPhone app

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2567
Aches & pains: mosquito bites
Current reading: Beginning iPhone 3.0 Development by David Mark and Jeff LaMarche, Food Rules by Michael Pollan
Recent listening: Billie Holiday, Gershwin, Bright Eyes
Recent viewing: Jazz (Ken Burns), Futurama, Wipeout, Psych, Jack, Toy Story 3, Freaks and Geeks, The Blues Brothers, Crazy Heart, The Rachel Maddow Show
Recent playing: Words with Friends, Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds
Recently accomplished: Blackberry removal, fixed deck railing, doctor’s appointment, client visit in Milwaukee, finished Iowa travel arrangements
Imperative To Do: Mail box of books to Camden County Jail, pick up new meds, wrap-up must-do work items before vacation, vacation, iPhone app

DJ Demos Twin iPad Setup

I’m very excited about Apple’s new product. You may have heard of it, it’s called the “iPad.”

In all seriousness, though, from the day Apple publicly announced it, my feeling has been that this device could be groundbreaking with the right software. The video below demonstrates just how powerful and remarkable iPad software can be. In the video, Robert Scoble interviews DJ Rana Sobhany, who demonstrates the software she uses with two iPads to create music.

In order to get the full context, you have to watch the whole video. However, I’ve attempted to summarize below just how amazing software on the iPad can look and feel:

  • 3:00: Demonstration begins for the Korg software
  • 5:20: Explanation of what the Looptastic app does
  • 6:10: Demonstration begins for how she puts it all together
  • 6:50: Notice as she adds more music on the left iPad, she uses two fingers to drag two different things into the mix.
  • 8:00: Again multiple simultaneous finger interactions with the controls.
  • 15:44: Demonstration of using audio effects like the high pass filter

What I find amazing about this demo is that how obviously simple it is to use this software. When she drags things in from the musical palette, the motions she uses look completely natural and it’s obvious she doesn’t have to think about how to get where she wants.

At the beginning and end she makes the point that iPad applications are going to get better now that developers actually have iPads. The initial influx of apps were created using Apple’s software simulator that runs on a Macintosh computer. While it gives you a good idea about sizing of controls and such, there are many lessons you learn once you pick up the iPad and try to use an app. In the case of the Korg app (the first she demonstrates), it is obvious that the developers were seeking to mimic a “real” (i.e. hardware) component by having things like dial controls. Although they look cool, such controls will likely morph into other controls that are easier to control on the iPad (for example, sliders).

You can follow Rana Sobhany on Twitter or visit her website, destroythesilence.com.

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2557
Aches & pains: numbness in left thigh
Current reading: Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut
Recent listening: Son Volt, Seals & Crofts, Firefall, Bread, Brave Combo
Recent viewing: Fringe, Glee, Mad Men, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Doodle Jump, geoDefense
Recently accomplished: Fruit pickup and delivery, expense reports, winterization, yard work
Imperative To Do: Clean gutters, put antenna in the attic, clean office, finish Best of 2008, rebates, replace rusted grill parts, clean roof

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2529
Van odometer: 155709
Aches & pains: mosquito bites (healing)
Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
Recent listening: Seconds of Pleasure by Rockpile, Rust Never Sleeps by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Revolver by The Beatles, Faith and Courage by Sinéad O’Connor
Recent viewing: The Lady in the Water, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (series), Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sphere, Dear God, Roadside Prophets, The Last Days of Frankie the Fly, The Golden Compass, Truth or Consequences NM, Helvetica, A Scanner Darkly, I’m Not There, The King of Kong, The Killing of John Lennon
Recent playing: Peggle (for iPhone)
Recently accomplished: Bachelor week, Caravan DEQ and registration, cat boxes
Imperative To Do: Read Sam’s script, return cans, put antenna in the attic, clean office, finish Best of 2008

Vital Statistics

Bike odometer: 2523
Van odometer: 154364
Weight lost (in pounds): 0
Aches & pains: sciatica
Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Cross-platform GUI Programming with wxWidgets
Recent listening: Christmas music, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits
Recent viewing: Bounce, It’s a Wonderful Life, Spurs at Suns, King Corn, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Kingpin, Outback Bowl, The Shining, The Covenant, United 93, The Weird Al Show
Recent playing: Chain Factor, Galcon, Rock Band
Recently accomplished: Purchased new TV, Christmas shopping, snow removal, recycling
Imperative To Do: Get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, clean garage, get rid of MacRenewal Macs, trim bushes, pull blackberries