There *is* such a thing, it's just that nobody really knows for sure, and why we should always gather as much as evidence as possible to converge to it.
The alternative is to consider steering the vehicle, but with a magnetic-like repelling motion that uses a 3D sonar to repel against other objects at the reverse speed inversely proportional to the direction of aforementioned object.
This way we could all fly about, *control* what we fly, and still be in complete safety.
A super long term solution, but if everyone switched to using base 16 as the default number system, not only would this issue be solved completely, but we'd have a nicer number system in general (well apart from base 12 arguably...)
In case they have little or no access to the internet, pehaps it's a good idea to offer a local condensed copy of Wikipedia, perhaps with an emphasis on science, math, agriculture and technology?
Can't library incorporation be used so that only the relavant functions/classes be added to the code, to minimize bloatware? Or are compilers just too stupid to do this?
Irfanview - The best free image editor/viewer full stop EditPlus - A really fast, versatile, and small text editor ArtGem - Virtually unheard of, but extremely fast. Rivals and even surpasses GIMP. Opera - Not perfect, but faster and less bloated than Firefox and IE Deepburner - least bloated CD burning program I found which actually works. Syncback - Just found this recently. By far the best backup prog especially for its price. Mediaplayer, and MirandaIM as already said
There is arguably no one alive today in the west that is culturally conditioned to prefer just intonation.
Playing or listening to music in JI (and there is quite a lot of the stuff out there if you look carefully) could be enough to be 'conditioned', and of course, there are many JI advocates who prefer the sound of JI for whatever reasons.
I'm a barbershop singer, and we have to deal with oddities such as having to sing an ascending third sharper than we think it should be when the melody is moving up by that interval, yet when singing the third as part of a harmony, it will have to be flatter to be in tune.
Interestingly, in one study on Barbershop singing, they found a preference towards the equal tempered major third, but the minor seventh, they preferred the pure version. (ref).
I would say: Both versions (ET & JI) sound good in different ways, but the JI version sounds good in the sense that it's almost not quite there, and therefore affects the 'overall timbre', rather than the sense of harmony. I myself do appreciate the sound that can result of simple intervals like this.
However, it's worth stressing again that (I believe) this is a different kind of consonance to the consonance type usually associated with the twelve chromatic intervals of the scale. I'm sure you'd agree that they sound good in different ways, and that even as part of the a static chord, the ET version has a slight advantage (in one way, if not in the other) over the JI version?
This is true, but as far as perception of musical consonance/dissonance goes, logarithms don't mean much. It's the harmonic series that serves as the foundation of music.
I think it would be more correct to say that the harmonic series serves as the foundation of timbre, rather than music or harmony per se. The twelve notes may use very similar, but not quite the same pitches as those found in the harmonic series.
Evidence of this is how the seventh harmonic feels nice in it's own way (in a timbral/camouflaging sense), but in another way, it feels very flat compared to the 12-et equivalent. More importantly, the minor third isn't adequately represented by the harmonic series.
But yes, individual preference for one tuning over another is surely a result of cultural conditioning.
Despite what I said about this, it could still be the case that one of the models (ET or Just) represents the intervals of the scale best. I only meant that Just intonation had no particularly special reason to be chosen over ET as the basis of the scale.
but one cannot say one of these scales is better, or truer, than the other; merely that one has a subjective preference.
Yes one may be able to say that:P Despite rare excpetions such as the Slendro scale (where the intervals are mainly used for textural/timbre purposes than for real harmony), it would be premature to slip into hardcore relativism, and say that all 'scales are just as good'.
"...at least a subset of the [12-ET] scale at least partially generalizes to at least Indian, Chinese and Arab-Persian music as well [55][56][57][58] (also see [59][193][195][61][62]))."
See all the references from 55 onwards - a real goldmine of info:)
I'll take issue with the fact that equal tempered is necessarily a compromise, and how vocalists and violinists etc. will naturally strive for the 'pure' ratios.
In fact various studies have shown the reverse (equal temperament being the preferred intervals), and many more studies have shown ambiguous results.
The numbers of equal temperament might look arbitrary (1.25992 instead of 1.25 for the major third, and 1.3348 instead of 1.3333 for the major fourth), but on a logarithmic scale, they are perfectly neat (2^(4/12) or 2^(5/12)).
I myself prefer the equal tempered intervals. To me, it's the Just ones which sound off. Yes, I might be culturally conditioned, but then who's to say that the people who prefer just intoned intervals aren't culturally conditioned?
After tons of research into the phenomenon, I haven't even begun to touch upon some of the more intricate issues, but the earlier link, and particularly this one (my site) is a good place start to learn how crazily complex the whole thing is.
Is there anyone, anywhere on the web who ever tracks these technologies that are supposed to 'make it to the market soon'? I mean how about it. A site that finds out whether these new techs die, simmer down, or flourish.
There are a billion and one news sites out there, each reporting thousands of 'just in' stories each day. To have just one that actually tracks the progress of each technology would be amazing. Give each tech their own special page, and then add to them as further news comes in about the SAME tech. Perhaps add a progress bar in the form of a percentage of expected market release too. Pretty please? I'm just getting sick and tired of hearing about these amazing new futuristic gadgets, and then never hearing about them again.
There are just certain 'cracks' as you call them that may never be explainable in the scientific sense. Lightning, earthquakes and the stars in the sky are one thing. However qualia, the birth of the universe, and most of all, the mind-body problem are issues which are not just going to go away, no matter how much people wish them to.
These are the real 'cracks' in the universe which MAY never be able to be resolved on a scientific level, and they are factors that make me at least sympathize with agnosticism.
You have pointed out one of my raw nerves about Windows in general (I used to own the Amiga where it never happened). To say that it's gotten worse with Vista will give me nightmares for weeks.
I mean what the/heck/ could it be doing all that time. They must employ some really inefficient programmers. It wouldn't surprise me if that thrashing is slowing down general UI operation too.
Heh, funny you should say that because back in the old Amiga days (AGA = 16 million colours), I also noticed the banding that was visible in the darker greens. Like you say, if we want brighter colours, we'll need some extra bits heh.
For someone who's only moderately interested in Linux (especially Ubuntu), can anyone tell me if it's as fast and feature-rich (efficient scheduling/multi-tasking) as BeOS or QNX. If yes, then I'll try it out properly. If no, then I'll wait for it to improve to obtain the best features of all OSs before I consider switching from Windows.
Because sometimes the time spent saving that little could otherwise have been spent saving a fraction off real energy killers such as heat loss from homes, unnecessarily inefficient processors (Pentium M etc. is good), and incandescent light bulbs (CFL's are better), which in the end, saves a lot more energy.
Well those energy efficient bulbs last 10 years, and hard drives are more reliable than before (Seagate offer 5 year warranty on some).
Judging from past comments on slashdot, I'm pretty sure there would be massive pressure from many sectors for long-life products despite the profit motive you speak of.
Perhaps you're right when it comes to razor blades though.
You're absolutely right that warm light is overrated. After all, typical 60-100 watt bulbs use light in these proportions:
50% red
33% green
17% blue
That's almost 3 times as much red light as blue! See here or here for details.
Basically, we're not getting the full range of colours we would otherwise because of the heavy bias towards orange. It's a pain, and I hate it. I also wish they'd make these flourescent bulbs in 40 watt (200 watt equivalent), so we get more light. You'd think that'd be the first thing they'd do now that the power consumption has gone down.
Quite timely this, as I've just finished my own energy page, testing loads of appliances. If there's one thing I've found above all else though, it's this one thing:
Anything which involves heat (washing machine, heater, cooker, microwave, kettle etc.) will eat an order of magnitude more power than anything involving light (monitor/TV, light bulb, lamp), which itself will eat up (by an order of magnitude) anything involving sound, which you practically get for free.
That's okay though, because if you spend $3,500,000 on space-age aerogel insulation for your home, then practically no heat will be lost, and your energy bills will plummet.
The other thing I learnt is that standby power consumption vastly varies from device to device (and even from manufacturer), which is why ideas such as the "One Watt Plan" are a Good Thing.
From a philosophical perspective, is it all possible to control those negative emotions, even just as a "one off" to see if it could be done? I'm just curious if enough willpower can overcome anything, even if a staggering amount of effort is required.
Slashdot Mirror
There's no such thing as absolute truth
There *is* such a thing, it's just that nobody really knows for sure, and why we should always gather as much as evidence as possible to converge to it.
The alternative is to consider steering the vehicle, but with a magnetic-like repelling motion that uses a 3D sonar to repel against other objects at the reverse speed inversely proportional to the direction of aforementioned object. This way we could all fly about, *control* what we fly, and still be in complete safety.
A super long term solution, but if everyone switched to using base 16 as the default number system, not only would this issue be solved completely, but we'd have a nicer number system in general (well apart from base 12 arguably...)
In case they have little or no access to the internet, pehaps it's a good idea to offer a local condensed copy of Wikipedia, perhaps with an emphasis on science, math, agriculture and technology?
Yeah but you're supposed to use addition not multiplication :)
Can't library incorporation be used so that only the relavant functions/classes be added to the code, to minimize bloatware? Or are compilers just too stupid to do this?
For Windows:
Irfanview - The best free image editor/viewer full stop
EditPlus - A really fast, versatile, and small text editor
ArtGem - Virtually unheard of, but extremely fast. Rivals and even surpasses GIMP.
Opera - Not perfect, but faster and less bloated than Firefox and IE
Deepburner - least bloated CD burning program I found which actually works.
Syncback - Just found this recently. By far the best backup prog especially for its price.
Mediaplayer, and MirandaIM as already said
Write an entry in Wikipedia if this is so much better than the other database systems (or even if it's as good). You might as well :P
There is arguably no one alive today in the west that is culturally conditioned to prefer just intonation.
Playing or listening to music in JI (and there is quite a lot of the stuff out there if you look carefully) could be enough to be 'conditioned', and of course, there are many JI advocates who prefer the sound of JI for whatever reasons.
I'm a barbershop singer, and we have to deal with oddities such as having to sing an ascending third sharper than we think it should be when the melody is moving up by that interval, yet when singing the third as part of a harmony, it will have to be flatter to be in tune.
Interestingly, in one study on Barbershop singing, they found a preference towards the equal tempered major third, but the minor seventh, they preferred the pure version. (ref).
I would say: Both versions (ET & JI) sound good in different ways, but the JI version sounds good in the sense that it's almost not quite there, and therefore affects the 'overall timbre', rather than the sense of harmony. I myself do appreciate the sound that can result of simple intervals like this.
However, it's worth stressing again that (I believe) this is a different kind of consonance to the consonance type usually associated with the twelve chromatic intervals of the scale. I'm sure you'd agree that they sound good in different ways, and that even as part of the a static chord, the ET version has a slight advantage (in one way, if not in the other) over the JI version?
This is true, but as far as perception of musical consonance/dissonance goes, logarithms don't mean much. It's the harmonic series that serves as the foundation of music.
:P Despite rare excpetions such as the Slendro scale (where the intervals are mainly used for textural/timbre purposes than for real harmony), it would be premature to slip into hardcore relativism, and say that all 'scales are just as good'.
:)
I think it would be more correct to say that the harmonic series serves as the foundation of timbre, rather than music or harmony per se. The twelve notes may use very similar, but not quite the same pitches as those found in the harmonic series.
Evidence of this is how the seventh harmonic feels nice in it's own way (in a timbral/camouflaging sense), but in another way, it feels very flat compared to the 12-et equivalent. More importantly, the minor third isn't adequately represented by the harmonic series.
But yes, individual preference for one tuning over another is surely a result of cultural conditioning.
Despite what I said about this, it could still be the case that one of the models (ET or Just) represents the intervals of the scale best. I only meant that Just intonation had no particularly special reason to be chosen over ET as the basis of the scale.
but one cannot say one of these scales is better, or truer, than the other; merely that one has a subjective preference.
Yes one may be able to say that
Quoting from that article:
"...at least a subset of the [12-ET] scale at least partially generalizes to at least Indian, Chinese and Arab-Persian music as well [55][56][57][58] (also see [59][193][195][61][62]))."
See all the references from 55 onwards - a real goldmine of info
I'll take issue with the fact that equal tempered is necessarily a compromise, and how vocalists and violinists etc. will naturally strive for the 'pure' ratios.
In fact various studies have shown the reverse (equal temperament being the preferred intervals), and many more studies have shown ambiguous results.
The numbers of equal temperament might look arbitrary (1.25992 instead of 1.25 for the major third, and 1.3348 instead of 1.3333 for the major fourth), but on a logarithmic scale, they are perfectly neat (2^(4/12) or 2^(5/12)).
I myself prefer the equal tempered intervals. To me, it's the Just ones which sound off. Yes, I might be culturally conditioned, but then who's to say that the people who prefer just intoned intervals aren't culturally conditioned?
After tons of research into the phenomenon, I haven't even begun to touch upon some of the more intricate issues, but the earlier link, and particularly this one (my site) is a good place start to learn how crazily complex the whole thing is.
Is there anyone, anywhere on the web who ever tracks these technologies that are supposed to 'make it to the market soon'? I mean how about it. A site that finds out whether these new techs die, simmer down, or flourish.
There are a billion and one news sites out there, each reporting thousands of 'just in' stories each day. To have just one that actually tracks the progress of each technology would be amazing. Give each tech their own special page, and then add to them as further news comes in about the SAME tech. Perhaps add a progress bar in the form of a percentage of expected market release too. Pretty please? I'm just getting sick and tired of hearing about these amazing new futuristic gadgets, and then never hearing about them again.
There are just certain 'cracks' as you call them that may never be explainable in the scientific sense. Lightning, earthquakes and the stars in the sky are one thing. However qualia, the birth of the universe, and most of all, the mind-body problem are issues which are not just going to go away, no matter how much people wish them to.
These are the real 'cracks' in the universe which MAY never be able to be resolved on a scientific level, and they are factors that make me at least sympathize with agnosticism.
Is it possible to communicate faster than light, and detect these wave edges then if we send incredibly super low frequencies of light?
Also, it depends on whether the price is determined by the number of sales for all time, or the quantity sold per unit of time.
Interesting to see the results of both the pricing models!
You have pointed out one of my raw nerves about Windows in general (I used to own the Amiga where it never happened). To say that it's gotten worse with Vista will give me nightmares for weeks. I mean what the /heck/ could it be doing all that time. They must employ some really inefficient programmers. It wouldn't surprise me if that thrashing is slowing down general UI operation too.
Heh, funny you should say that because back in the old Amiga days (AGA = 16 million colours), I also noticed the banding that was visible in the darker greens. Like you say, if we want brighter colours, we'll need some extra bits heh.
For someone who's only moderately interested in Linux (especially Ubuntu), can anyone tell me if it's as fast and feature-rich (efficient scheduling/multi-tasking) as BeOS or QNX. If yes, then I'll try it out properly. If no, then I'll wait for it to improve to obtain the best features of all OSs before I consider switching from Windows.
Thanks for that. I've always thought that saying silly, and often untrue in so many situations when people say it.
Because sometimes the time spent saving that little could otherwise have been spent saving a fraction off real energy killers such as heat loss from homes, unnecessarily inefficient processors (Pentium M etc. is good), and incandescent light bulbs (CFL's are better), which in the end, saves a lot more energy.
Well those energy efficient bulbs last 10 years, and hard drives are more reliable than before (Seagate offer 5 year warranty on some).
Judging from past comments on slashdot, I'm pretty sure there would be massive pressure from many sectors for long-life products despite the profit motive you speak of.
Perhaps you're right when it comes to razor blades though.
Nice find! I found this one rate at 200 watt!!
http://www.luxlite.com/products/grandbulb.htm
I wonder if bulbs from the US will work in the UK.
You're absolutely right that warm light is overrated. After all, typical 60-100 watt bulbs use light in these proportions:
50% red
33% green
17% blue
That's almost 3 times as much red light as blue! See here or here for details.
Basically, we're not getting the full range of colours we would otherwise because of the heavy bias towards orange. It's a pain, and I hate it. I also wish they'd make these flourescent bulbs in 40 watt (200 watt equivalent), so we get more light. You'd think that'd be the first thing they'd do now that the power consumption has gone down.
Quite timely this, as I've just finished my own energy page, testing loads of appliances. If there's one thing I've found above all else though, it's this one thing:
Heat swamps Light swamps Sound
(here's the article I did on it)
Anything which involves heat (washing machine, heater, cooker, microwave, kettle etc.) will eat an order of magnitude more power than anything involving light (monitor/TV, light bulb, lamp), which itself will eat up (by an order of magnitude) anything involving sound, which you practically get for free.
That's okay though, because if you spend $3,500,000 on space-age aerogel insulation for your home, then practically no heat will be lost, and your energy bills will plummet.
The other thing I learnt is that standby power consumption vastly varies from device to device (and even from manufacturer), which is why ideas such as the "One Watt Plan" are a Good Thing.
From a philosophical perspective, is it all possible to control those negative emotions, even just as a "one off" to see if it could be done? I'm just curious if enough willpower can overcome anything, even if a staggering amount of effort is required.