More Fun With Mashups

I had some time to play around with Big Huge Labs's site a little bit more, and saw that they had inspirational poster creators.

Don't you just hate those things?

What's that? It's hard to hear you through the blog......I think you said "yes." If you said "no," please hit the BACK button on your browser.

So I created one for my own enjoyment:

Text from Demotivators. Try their site sometime for fun.

Discovery Exercise #7

Although I must admit that the headline "Drink Beer to Avoid Cancer..." was very tempting, I was drawn to an article about a melody-generating robot. Dubbed Jambot by its Aussie creator, the device is an "artificial musical accompanist" which is able to "listen to music and improvise musical rhythms and melodies to it."

According to researcher/developer Toby Gifford, "Jambot is a musical robot, but it's not made of metal and it doesn't blow smoke," but if it did, it would feel right at home jamming with these South Park hippies:
The jamming music -- or "crunchy groove" -- that is heard in the background seems like it would be the perfect use of a device such as Jambot.

"It is common for a band or solo musician to have a computer-based backing track or use looping pedals, but these kinds of technology are not very flexible or responsive to what's happening on stage," Mr Gifford said.

Other uses could be filling out a smaller band's sound with a robot member, or even having a digital partner playing along with a lone singer, pianist, etc.

One other note: I'm all for this type of development, because when the robots finally take over the world someday, I'm hoping that it is a massive jam band army rather than a dumptruck that turns into some kind of mean robot with weapons and stuff.

Discovery Exercise #6

Exploring and learning about the different mashups is fun. When I have more time, maybe I can look around at all of the ones listed more in-depth.



For now, I just used Big Huge Lab's Trading Card mashup. Since I never really played organized sports as a kid (sandlot only), it's kind of cool to have my own trading card:
Besides eating, I like to play golf every once in a while too. However, golf costs even more than eating, plus, I'm a better eater than golfer. But who cares. Anyway, this picture is from the day I got to play the famed Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. I've been going there for almost 25 years now to watch The Players Championship, so it was really cool to get to play where all the pros have played. It's still hard to believe they let a bunch of hackers like us onto the property.

Discovery Exercise #5

Well, today I'm "discovering" Flickr. Actually, I've been using Flickr for quite some time now, and even have the upgraded account for faster uploading, etc. However, consistent with the Google-ization of my life that's been happening recently, I've slowly been switching over to Google Photos. It seems to be much easier to use and the photos upload very quickly, even faster than my Flickr "Pro" account. However, storage space is limited, so I'll probably have to upgrade anyway.

Oh yeah, I'm actually blogging about Flickr and not Google Photos. Anyway, I thought I'd search for one of my favorite subjects -- food! More specifically, fried shrimp. And if you want really good fried shrimp, you go to O'steen's in St. Augustine.

Besides many people sitting outside a non-descript building waiting to be seated (not shown), another signal that you are at a good place to eat is when people are taking pictures beneath the restaurant sign (like in the picture that I found -- photo by adactio).

I suggest first that you order a nice sweet tea (yes, I'm from the South) and get started with a Minorcan clam chowder. Similar to Manhattan clam chowder, this variety is unique to the St. Augustine area, owing its name to the indentured servants who came to the old city from the sugar plantations of New Smyrna (by way of the islands Mallorca and Minorca). The chowder is spiced with the datil peppers that are found in St. Johns county. (photo by The Travelin Man)

Then of course you'll want to skip anything else listed on the menu and order fried shrimp (a double order if you can stand it). Hushpuppies and two sides are included. The collard greens and squash casserole are great, though they probably have another 10-15 items to choose from.

Gotta go -- I'm hungry.

Let's Try That Again

OK, I'm finally in the blogosphere, and the air isn't nearly as thick as I thought it would be here.

I tried this in July, and much like my first job that I quit after three hours (Captain D's -- don't ask), I didn't last too long. But this time I'm committed to seeing it through.

I couldn't remember all of the 7 1/2 habits for lifelong learning, and the link didn't seem to be working from either of the Discovery Exercises or 23 Things blogs, so I'll just wing it.

Obviously, from my opening statement, I think being disciplined is difficult, and sticking with things -- even when the going gets rough -- surely must be a habit for lifelong learning. If not, go ahead and add it -- we can call it 8 1/2 habits for lifelong learning.

If I remember correctly, playing and having fun & embracing technology tools (or something to that effect) were other habits on the list, and I think those will be the easiest. Who doesn't like to have fun? And even though I quit the first 2.0 program, I still messed around with various Google features (iGoogle, Reader, Photos, etc.) and learned some things on my own, so I'm ready to embrace new technology and skills.

Now I'm just going to learn and have fun.

And get a free mp3 player of course!