02Apr02010

OAK STAG — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:17:30 +0000

UPDATE: the new address for the music diary is http://ambntrvltn.wordpress.com – click the logo and go there now:

Briefly: I haven’t updated in a long time because I haven’t found anything better to say that my previous entry. It’s an ideal that has really had a life changing impact on me. I hope it does the same for you. … Also, I have started a music diary – to sort of… blog my experiences as I try and guide my way through this dead spot I’m in creatively. It’s an understandable dead spot, but I don’t want it any more. …

02010Jan28

OAK STAG — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:56:08 +0000

As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and the sky. In our tenure on this planet we’ve accumulated dangerous evolutionary baggage — propensities for aggression and ritual, submission to leaders, hostility to outsiders — all of which puts our survival in some doubt. But we’ve also acquired compassion for others, love for our children, desire to learn from history and experience, and a great soaring passionate intelligence — the clear tools for our continued survival and prosperity.

Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain, particularly when our visions and prospects are bound to one small part of the small planet Earth. But up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perspective awaits us. There are not yet any obvious signs of extraterrestrial intelligence and this makes us wonder whether civilizations like ours always rush implacably, headlong, toward self-destruction. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars.

-Carl Sagan

(Maybe the most powerful message I’ve ever heard. In a summary, Sagan was saying that … yes, as a civilization we’ve grown, evolved into todays man (which isn’t just limiting evolution to the physical and biological, but expanding it to our ideals), and brought with us all the troubles of trial and error, some of which can be a death blow to human kind. But we’ve also been able to acquire these other better features that allow us to grow and are also the key to our continued evolution. We are all equal, not just to each other, but to every atom of every dust, every gas, plasma, and matter in the universe – we are all made of the same stuff. When we die we are no different than a star. When a star dies and explodes, it distributes every bit of itself into the rest of the universe creating new stars or contributing to new galaxies, new life forms. One day, the same atoms that made up our body will make up a new star somewhere. So why shouldn’t we be infinitely positive about our life on this planet and where we are going, conscious or not?)

02010Jan20

OAK STAG — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:49:24 +0000

Well into the new year, and just at a month since my previous entry, I thought it may be a good time to throw something at you. It may not be too terribly interesting though. … I’m about to choose from a summary I wrote for one of my classes… hm…. Tycho Brahe it is (I just wrote this one today):

Tycho Brahe (Tyge Ottesen Brahe) was a famous 16th Century astronomer and alchemist from Denmark (in what is today Sweden). During his attendance at the University of Copenhagen, he became increasingly frustrated with the existing astral charts in that none of them matched. Thus he realized that the only way to go about correcting this problem was by systematically creating accurate charts himself. This he became notable for as being the first of his kind, at least in the Western world. Apparently he became very possessive of these charts, even keeping them from his sometime associate Johannes Kepler, the only worthwhile astronomer other than himself in the area at this time.

Tycho is also famous for his “golden” nose, which he received in a fight while at school in Germany. It seems likely that Brahe had several different noses which he used and wore (a bit like Captain Hook’s hook) for different occasions. Primarily it is thought that he wore a copper composite piece as it was softer and more comfortable on the face than a heavier metal like gold. … In 1572 Tycho made his most famous discovery in the constellation Cassiopeia, which he titled de nova stella (the “new” star). This is the origin of the term “Supernova”. A supernova is, in fact, the death of a star. It is my understanding that there are two ways a star can die; the death or “overheating” of the core of a star itself. Tycho’s Supernova is a Type Ia, meaning that it came from a white dwarf star in a binary system. Briefly, a Type Ia is when one of two stars in a system expands it’s outer layers (as it begins to die) which merges with the relatively newly formed white dwarf, thus increasing the core temperature of said white dwarf, causing the star to “overheat” and explode. In the end, the explosion effectively acts like a multivitamin to the galaxy and ultimately, the universe.

Tycho was given the island of Hven by the king Fredrick II of Denmark to build an observatory on. From here he could continue his experiments, develop new tools, etc…Eventually, after the death of Fredrick, he had a falling out with the new King and left the island. In 1599 he came to Prague and became employed by the Emperor, Rudolph II. In 1601 he died of Uremia (a kidney disease). His work was continued by Johannes Kepler, who, with no ease, acquired Brahe’s works from his family. Though Brahe struggled his whole life to define the Laws of Planetary Motion (continually being hung up on the movement of Mars), Kepler (benefitting effectively from Brahe’s work) in fact was able to understand them through the discovery of the ellipse.

Now you’re smart.

You’re welcome.

02009Dec20

OAK STAG — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 08:08:11 +0000

Here is a quick update. If you’ve read my essay on Liberal Elitism, than this is a definition of an applicable term or state of the Liberal Elitist.

“Asshol-iness” (or, “Asshol-ier-than-though”): When one suffers from acute Liberal Elitism, causing sharp criticism at one or a body of people about their habits and virtually becoming an extremist at preaching the way of the Liberal Elitist causing karma-esque balance to the Liberal Elitist world, thus keeping the “Liberal” (and humbling) part a primary function of their ways.

02009Dec04

OAK STAG — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:51:15 +0000

Just wanted to drop off a post of an essay I recently wrote for my psychology class. It is actually… just a mini-essay, if even that. But it has a familiar theme in it, if you know anything about me.

WHAT DOES CARL SAGAN MEAN TO PSYCHOLOGY?

During my studying of our book “Exploring Psychology”, I noticed two references to Carl Sagan. One was a direct quote and one was regarding a study on apes which cited a book by Sagan and his wife in regards the behavior of apes and the relationship to man. I thought it was incredibly interesting that the highly renowned astronomer would be cited in the book not once but twice! So I researched to find what I didn’t know about Carl Sagan and his relationship to psychology.

I’d like to give a little background on myself before I continue so that one can better understand my particular interest and view and, admittedly, bias.

I am a Humanist/Rationalist (in a similar vain to Isaac Asimov) and a member of the Long Now Foundation. The Long Now hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s “faster/cheaper” mind set and promote “slower/better” thinking – creatively fostering responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years. Put more succinctly, we hope to get people out of their narrow and “short here” mind set and looking toward the distant future of humankind. Certainly Carl Sagan’s ideas of the universe fit into a much bigger here and a much longer now for mankind.

I was semi-surprised to find that Sagan had as little to do with the science of behavior and mental processes as he did, considering that he’d been mentioned at all. This being said, it makes complete sense that he would delve into the mind and the human condition. As Sagan might have said, in our quest for the discovery of the cosmos, our search to know our place in the universe, it is important to first understand ourselves; why we are, what we are, and who we are.

In Dr. Sagan’s essay The Fine Art of Baloney Detection, we find a set of questions with a logical underpinning that encourage us to be skeptical and detect fact over “baloney” in science and truth, a concept relative to the Scientific Method. “What skeptical thinking boils down to is the means to construct, and to understand, a reasoned argument and – especially important – to recognize a fallacious or fraudulent argument”, Sagan says. The human mind wants things to be simple. It wants realities to be non-complicated. So it searches for patterns and the easy way out, which often leads to false science and supernatural beliefs.

But this condition is satisfactory to the majority of man. They thus become people who directly experience only themselves here and now and often fail to consider, evaluate, and plan situations that are removed in time or space that pertain to others’ experiences, and that are hypothetical rather than real to them. Carl Sagan stressed the concept throughout his work that it is important to transcend the present and mentally traverse temporal distance, spatial distance, social distance, and hypotheticality to imagine the possibilities of what our universe is capable of. Does this mean we can’t come up with some half-brained theory about magic or UFO conspiracies or anything like that? No. But will it pass the Baloney Detector? Will one give up to the truth once revealed? Or will they hang on with a confirmation bias?

The argument exists that this ability to transcend the “short here”, the ego driven mindset of many today, is made possible by the human capacity for abstract processing of information. Research shows that there is considerable similarity in the way people mentally traverse different distances, that the process of abstraction underlies traversing different distances, and that this process guides the way people predict, evaluate, and plan near and distant situations. Sagan points out in his documentary film series “Cosmos” that the brain is a clear product of mammalian evolution. That it is its own cosmos, in a way. … And why should we be bound by our lower instincts when we are capable of so much more. Indeed, “we are a way for the cosmos to know itself.”

Joseph Snodgrass 02009DEC04
Internet references include: www.youtube.com (for Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” series), http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/W/Jonathan.D.Wren-1/The%20Fine%20Art%20of%20Baloney%20Detection.htm (“The Fine Art of Baloney Detection” by Carl Sagan), www.longnow.org (The Long Now Foundation)

02009Nov21

OAK STAG — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:04:11 +0000

I noticed that on the 14th of October of this year (see entry by finding your way through my archives on the right –>) I was one day away from this blogs one year anniversary. It’s strange that I celebrated in a way that I didn’t think would have happened if I was presented with the idea. I released my first Extended Play. Strange.

I’ve finished the 331/3 “Another Green World” Brian Eno book. It was… a little interesting. Nothing too surprising though. I’m still reading (very slowly) “Neuromancer” by Bill Gibson. I have also started (which I really anticipate to move through) the “Pendragon Chronicles”. It’s listed, I think, as a young adult book…. but not really. It’s got quite a bit going on with it. I first read almost all of it when I was about 15. It was probably the fastest I’ve read a book to date. It’s not a small book either. Just well put together. It’s a collection of short stories about King Arthur and the C Street Band featuring some of the best authors in the genre. Joy Chant and Andre Norton are the only ones I can think of now. But I remember that most of the names are mentionable.

I would also like to share this music video/song with you. It is mind blowing and incredibly good. Carl Sagan, who would have been … really old on the 9th of this month, was a rare master of combining science with reaching the human spirit and tying them together. I haven’t seen all of the PBS miniseries he did “Cosmos”, but I plan to soon. The several hours of video footage I’ve seen of him (and biographies read) is just… incredible. How I’ve never really known about him until recently is beyond me. I would put his ability right there with Alan Lightman, my favorite author (who also can combine human with science in a heart touching/mind blowing way). Enjoy.

Speaking of birthdays, yesterday was my brother’s birthday. He’s officially half way to 50. Happy birthday and enjoy Triple Balls, courtesy of your eldest sibling.

02009Nov14

OAK STAG — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:29:21 +0000

I’ve updated the About section again. … I did a month ago too… Why I do this so often, I’m not entirely sure. I think it has something to do with my being dissatisfied with what I input as biographical features. A brief update on what’s happening… The Lights Galaxia ep “Global” has surpassed the 500 download mark. … or as I like to call it, “Multi Platinum”. Daniel Davis, of Carl Sagan’s Ghost fame, has officially joined the project. I guess you could call it a “band” now?? I’m currently looking for artists (though I’ve found most of them) for a compilation to really kick off the new year for Luxus-Arctica records International (luxusarctica.wordpress.com). At this point in time I plan on doing a remixed version and an “advanced crossfading” version. I’ll likely only do the latter at the time of release and the remix much later in the year. I’ve planned a trip to Seattle that will involve “band” work. Though we won’t be performing live, I’m still going to refer to this as the “Global” tour. Next stop: Tulsa.

02009Nov02

OAK STAG — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:32:32 +0000

A brief update of literature reviews and that I’ve confirmed this as the 5th edition of Possible Stimulus and SNDTRKS. In the about section I’d stated that it was the 4th with a ? after it. I’d also like to say “hello” to all that have come from interest via the Luxus-Arctica records website &/or have interest in The Lights Galaxia. Please leave a comment on your thoughts about the music. Visit the website luxusarctica.wordpress.com for more information on the release! Also available now is the official website for Lights, www.virb.com/lightsgalaxia.

02009Oct21

OAK STAG — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:22:25 +0000

On the horizon?

I’m thinking about this seriously. … I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a very long time. This was my original idea when I started a radio station. … I’m not sure they had “podcasts” then – but I know I had the idea for … well, essentially what a podcast is. A prerecorded show that people could listen to as they fancy.

I’ve made a playlist of incredible 80′s synth-pop music (mostly). Artists I’ve been listening to a lot in that respect are La Roux, Ladyhawke, Royksopp (Junior), Erlend Oye… admittedly, some of it is not so strictly synth, but more pop. I highly recommend checking the mentioned artists. I may post the full list of tracks, etc. if I have time (which I won’t).

02009Oct14

OAK STAG — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:18:53 +0000

The Global EP is out. You can find it via the following link: http://luxusarctica.wordpress.com . In the mean time, I want to repost something from … May of this year, I think it was. My big prediction. I’m posting it in light of the fact that Acer has officially become the #2 computer manufacturer in the U.S. … currently I’m unsure where they are world wide. Though I think they’re at least in the top 3. Here it is:

I recently made a prediction to a friend of mine. Now, the only time I’d ever make a prediction is if it was some sort of aggressive reaction to combat ideas that I didn’t like. Naturally this makes the matter rather foolhardy. However, I think that even though this prediction is quite brash, it has some substance to it. The prediction is this: Acer (the lower cost computer brand) will (by 02020-25*) become the main supplier of computer hardware. How? …So glad you asked.

By approximately 02015, HP will own 35-40% of Microsoft, creating MS/HP. Microsoft will, by this time, have purchased the necessary companies or will have started their own to advance their effective “ownership” of the internet. This means they will own a majority of name companies like Yahoo (which will have bought MySpace (as it was dying) in a bad move of hoping to help it’s own name), Facebook, and Verizon. Thus, three major technology companies will exist. They are MS/HP, Google (whose name will be synonimous with X-Prize and Virgin, though they will be seperate from), and Apple/Sprint**.

Anyway, during this time, Acer will be growing into a completely formiddable technology company, largely due to it’s ever lower prices whilst still maintaining the status quo of the time in technology. This will be the company that will base everything on a universal parts system. (This will come about due to it’s affordability and growing preference with “tech heads”, who will begin to modify it and shape it to the open source world, much like people are doing with iPhone apps now). So Acer will grow and will quickly make an impact on the “Big 3″ technology companies. Feeling the most heat, MS/HP will be the prime meat for Acer to latch on to. MS/HP being the weakest of the Big 3, will do everything they can to get Acer before the other two do. They finally settle on 35% of the company to Acer, with a remaining 5% being awarded, so to speak, over the next 10 years. In the end, the Acer merger causes stocks to skyrocket and Acer will forced to become the name brand for all technologies within (though MS/HP will remain the parent company).

Slowly over the next 15 years, Apple will become obsolete***. Google, however, will continue to thrive, mostly due to their other projects. The main reason they will still be a contender (though forever second best) is because they quickly latched on to the universality that Acer was offering through MS/HP. Apple will change as well, but too late. Eventually their marketing will shed like shag carpet and their sleek designs will not matter in the face of real and affordable technology. Acer will be in the houses of people world wide. The best part, Acer’s eventual worldwide availability will be due to the ultimate humanitarian, William Gates.

My idea was originally to back up Microsoft in the MS v. Apple battle. In truth, I don’t think either of them are going to be the existing answer by the 02020’s for technology. I do see the real market ending for computers and being replaced with an essential monopoly by one major brand. However, the future of this brand is blurry to me as I see all technology markets and companies becoming, maybe specialists, companies that will all work around one universal system. I see USB as the precursor to a similar form of universal plugins (including an eventual spread to all use of wall plugs). I also see the iPhone as being the precursor to the universal “companion”. Which it already is in some ways. I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but essentially this “companion” will be the key to our cars and houses, our money source and id form, our control portal for everything we own. Oh yeah, and a phone too. Everything. Much like Microsoft advertises in their “Future Vision” series, only not really cornered by any one company. Rather, usable with anything of any brand.****

Hopefully it will be like uniforms in schools (which I’m also pro) – people can stop focusing on what looks cool and actually start focusing on real stuff of benefit.

*Some dates have been adjusted slightly and are not totally accurate to what I consider a possibility.

**Likely some entertainment corporations will be owned in part by these companies; for example I see EMI belonging to Apple and Sony becoming exclusive to them as well. In a competitive grasp, MS would try and grab some other music big league (though not the near dead Warner or Universal). In the end I think this will not happen for MS. Instead they will start their own Entertainment Company, of which I have no further insight on.

***I wish no harm, but I predict that the illness now being kept from the public will sooner than later take it’s toll on Steve Jobs and this will, in effect, be a slow death to Apple.

****In addition, I would like to state that I think Phillips will be bought by a company like Shell and will be part of it’s conglomorate which will extend to global healing technologies. Also with these corporations will be Dyson. They will totally obliterate the competitors. LOL!

NOTE: I would like to state that I really have no idea how markets and … well, I have no real backing for any of this. Some of these mergers an such will likely be impossible on some level.