Some Lovely Computer-Generated Music

misc

I continue to be amazed by how much fun it is to play around with PHILOMENA, a little part-writing program I wrote a couple months back. It’s still incredibly exciting to just throw a string of numbers into the program and watch it spit out decent-sounding piece of music.

The whole issue of software-generated art brings up some interesting authorship issues (can I take credit for these arrangements?) and even licensing (am I allowed to place a more restrictive license on the outputs of a software I have already released under the GPL?), but what I still find most fascinating about the whole process is the notion that I have produced a program that can perform what seems like such a uniquely human job in a fraction of the time it takes me to do the same.

So, for your listening pleasure, a few examples of the talented PHILOMENA’s skill:

Variation on a theme by Pachabel:
[audio:http://data.jacobandreas.net/music.pachabel.mp3]

(more…)

[2 comments]

Ilu Finu Techno Remix

misc

Just found this lying around on my hard drive – a little something I put together when I was trying out LMMS.

[audio:http://data.jacobandreas.net/ilu.2.mp3]

This is dedicated to all of the beautiful people I won’t get to see on the last Kesher.

[3 comments]

Photon Wordpress Theme

code, misc

For low bandwidth and high style.

I figured I’ve been playing around with this theme long enough that it’s time to release it to the general public. Photon was designed to be lightweight and legible. This means no images without semantic content, no tiny fonts, no dark backgrounds. (more…)

[1 comment]

Fuck you, Mr. Schwarzenegger

misc, personal

Last night I attended an event in Sacramento to honor “the extraordinary achievements of standout public high school seniors from across the state.” We were a group of seniors chosen seemingly arbitrarily from California’s public schools, invited to attend an event to receive a recognition nobody really understood. The event itself was poorly planned (no schedule for the evening was ever published, and we were forced to find our seats by searching the four tables assigned to our county for a name card), disorganized (we were kept waiting at the bottom of an escalator for half an hour while the security team swept for bombs) and excruciatingly awkward for most of the students involved. In the end, though, it was a well-intentioned event earnestly trying to spotlight the success of students across the state.

What was slightly less appreciated was the press release that was published this morning. This release contained the names of the 25 of us chosen for the “All-State Academic Team,” another recognition whose significance is still unclear. Rather problematically, the same press release also contained each student’s: (more…)

[4 comments]

College Mailer Awards

misc

Most Intimidating

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

The picture speaks for itself. (more…)

[No comments]

The Annotated Birkat haMazon

misc, personal

It occurs to me that much of the interdenominational conflict that happens on Kesher comes about as a result of ignorance on the part of all parties involved (that’s all parties, TBAniks). Toward the end of mutual understanding, an effort will now be made to give people a central, official reference for that one prayer that presently causes so much strife and unpleasantness after an already unpleasant eating experience. (more…)

[7 comments]

Palmer Pleads Not Guilty

misc, personal

With county matches starting this evening I figured it was time for the yearly mock trial case summary (see last year’s). This case, which already has all the makings of a good Hollywood drama, doesn’t need quite as much fleshing out, but I’ve done my best. (more…)

[2 comments]

AP Music Grading System Explained

misc

Fortunately, he shaved this morning. (more…)

[4 comments]

Finals

misc

[1 comment]

AIPAC Dinner

misc

Tonight I crossed my first picket line.

It was a rather anticlimactic experience, actually. I had envisioned an angry mob of protesters waving their picket signs and struggling against the barrier; instead, there were a few sad-looking women holding Jimmy Carter quotes in the air and someone off in a corner with a Jordanian flag that nobody else seemed to want to associate with.

The actual gathering was enough to give heart to those lamenting the shrinking American Jewish community; I saw more yarmulkes this evening than I did in much of Israel. As a youth table, we and the JCHS delegation were put as far in back as possible to make sure we didn’t interfere with the proceedings and weren’t accidentally served wine. Even there we had a decent view of the stage.

(more…)

[8 comments]