The Sonikcycle Syndicate

I’m diggin’ my first session with Quicksilver… It has that universal “click” of a good app that needs no getting used to, nor discipline to use… it just fills a gap I didn’t even know I had! Like Steve said, “Quicksilver is one of those apps that everybody seems to love, but which nobody can explain.” Steve has a lot more to say about Quicksilver and how to get up and running with it, so I’ll turn it over to him and his Quicksilver tutorial.

Technorati Tags: quicksilver, steve whitaker, technotes, mac os x

Tuesday, June 25th, National Media Education Conference, St. Louis, MO

Listen to (download) the keynote address with the Flash player, below…

wikipedia
Middleberry college
participatory culture
networked culture
kids good at games, but don’t think critically
ethics issues – kids going places parents can’t follow
informed skepticism about web content
transparency in (research) process
“when can I trust wikipedia?”
wikipedia as opportunity
collective intelligence paradigm
be critical of expert paradigm

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century (white paper)

Technorati Tags: henry jenkins, media literacy, nmec 2007, keynote

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Light is particle, light is wave—it all depends on how and when you look at it. So, too, is SU…

• Steve sends link to PandoraJam
• Michael gives it a “thumbs up” and is sent to the SU “discovery” page to give it a review
• Michael starts chatting with Steve (”discovery” window still open, review unsent)
• Steve & Michael go blah, blah, blah
• Michael finally finishes review and sends, only to find that the site had already been discovered by Steve (who had submitted a review while Michael’s discovery window was open but unsent)!
• BUT WAIT, Steve’s view shows Michael as the Discovery Boy???

Check it out…

Technorati Tags: stumbleupon, su, pandorajam, quantum, steve whitaker

The other day, Steve asked me what it was that drew me to Indonesia lo those many years ago. I replied, as I usually do, by saying that it all began when I discovered traditional music from around the world as I listened religiously to the World Music program hosted (25 years ago) by Henry Kaiser on KPFA, in Berkeley. It was on that show that I first heard the heavy metal of a Javanese gamelan – Gending Bonang Babar Layar became my anthem, and Pak Tjokro my teacher. From there, I became the armchair ethnomusicologist that I am today, and the rest is history ;->

The inspiration for this post is a wonderful website I ran across after seeing a trailer on YouTube promoting a soon-to-be-released film on Sumatran Folk Cinema. My kind of stuff, and it led me to Sublime Frequencies, purveyors of “New and Unique Music and Videos.” Indeed, these cats are cool… they have an eclectic collection of raw, wicked cool field recordings of folk, pop, natural, traditional, ambient, and radio sounds, all delivered in hip contemporary vintage packaging (e.g. images above). From the selections and descriptions, I can tell we are kindred spirits. I’m inspired… Time to get out of my armchair…

Technorati Tags: sublime frequencies, ethnomusicology, folk music, world music, sumatra, pop, kpfa, henry kaiser, gamelan, babar layar

I just had a curiously strong experience of discovery…

Earlier this evening, Kathy sent me video clips of a cool “wind catcher” and a “water scooper” from Sedona, AZ, which reminded me of a previous conversation in which I was relating my penchant for sonic art. In that conversation, I referred to an aeolian bamboo organ I had seen on the coast of The Netherlands. Seeing the clip of the Sedona wind catcher prompted me to see if I couldn’t find a picture of the bamboo piece to show to Kathy. I didn’t find a picture of the one in The Netherlands, but I did find one of an installation in Germany, including a sample sound file. Now, here comes the “secret” and my moment of discovery…

After listening to the embedded audio file, I decided to go back to the previous page. As it happens, I am using a fancy-pants wireless Microsoft mouse that has a few bells and whistles, including a button that ostensibly functions as browser “back” button, OR, with a track selected in iTunes, it moves “back” up the play list, and if a song is playing, it switches directly in “play” mode. BUT WAIT! That’s not what this is all about…. So, the German bamboo wind thing is playing along, I decide to leave the page by clicking the fancy-pants back button on the mouse…. but the page doesn’t change… instead… the audio file begins to play BACKWARDS! How cool is that??? As it turns out, this happens in the standalone QuickTime player, as well! Now, if you’re like me, you’re next question might be, “Does it play video backwards, too?” And yes, indeed, it does!

Below is an example of an audio clip that starts out forward then halfway through, after I click the “back” button, it plays the same bit backwards… and if you click the “back” button during the backwards playback, yes, it plays “forward”… I love it ;->

PrimaryAccess is a web-based tool that offers teachers and students frictionless access to digital images and materials that enable them to construct compelling personal narratives. Here’s an example…

Technorati Tags: digital storytelling, digital images, web2.0, education, storytelling, primaryaccess

There are 2 new blogs on the block: Mable Kinzie invites us to “experience design” at GreenAiro, and Kathy invites us to ponder games & multimedia in education. Welcome, ladies!

Mable’s latest post on the Luv Bug triggered some old mems from my Berkeley daze… No, that Luv Bug never never did putter about the Bay Area (as far as I know), but there were plenty of other intriguing rides. For example, the “Cloud Car” driven by the beloved “Cloud Man” who airbrushed clouds and flying hearts on everything from his vehicles, homes, and t-shirts sold on the street (I wore mine until it was threadbare ;->).

Ahhh yes, the connections we make…..

Technorati Tags: greenairo, design, games, multimedia, blogs

Nearly 2 years ago, I registered with Facebook where I sat in friendless oblivion, that is, until last week. Well, I wasn’t completely friendless — 2 different guys named Michael Kelley requested to be my “friend,” I accepted. When I first surfed around Facebook I felt old and lost among all of the 20-somethings. But last week, when I ran across someone I know, everything changed. As it turns out, all of the students I know in the Muslim Student Association here at UVa are Facebookers! Naturally, I sent invitations to all and BINGO, I found the party!

In contrast to blogging, where it seems one must work hard at connecting and communicating, there’s something rather “organic” and natural about the socializing that’s going on in Facebook– people are actually using it, effortlessly. Anyway, Meg McEvoy’s article “Facebook Nation” has new meaning for me.

Ahh, the joys of the tech-connect! Fellow Sonikcycle syndic, CrazyMagicBoots (a.k.a. Tim Buck, or TimmBukk), just got himself a MacBook – and he diggin’ it! We just had a Skype video chat and I’m still a-glow with the warm fuzzys of reunion. CMB lives and works in Korea, and he was on a break getting ready for a b’day party for some hogwan youngsters…

His girlfriend is already complaining about his incessant use of The (Mac) Force. I suspect we’ll be hearing alot more from ol’ Tim Buck, too ;->

This morning, as I sat here drinking coffee, reading my mail, and checking to make sure the sky hadn’t fallen, a Skype call came in but the caller was not one of the usual suspects! As it happened, the caller, one Mohamed Sherif, had seen my Jyve profile (Jyve is a network of Skype users) which indicates my interest in learning Arabic, and he made a “cold call”! I couldn’t believe it! Just as advertised, Jyve was connecting people who are interested in learning languages and who are seeking others with whom to practice. Since I have yet to actually begin any formal study of the Arabic language, our conversation was in English. But that suited Mohamed just fine because as an Egyptian living in Saudi Arabia and working in a multinational company, his need to improve his English is more pressing than is my need to learn Arabic Furthermore, as a teacher of English as a foreign language, I was only happy to have the opportunity to spread “the word” ;->

I was also thrilled because I was able to solicit content from Mohamed for my new project, CallQuest. With CallQuest, I am hoping to collect digital recordings of the calls to prayer from mosques around the world, as well as images and any other interesting facts about each mosque. More on this, soon!

Technorati Tags: jyve, skype, voip