Cuteness: we haz it.
Awwww…
1
Monthly Archives: August 2010
CV Processor Module Thingy
I seem to always have three or four hardware projects going at once; every now and then I actually finish one. I just put up pictures and a description of the module here.
It’s a utility module that can add, subtract and scale signals. It also generates the minimum and maximum values of a pair of signals. While describing it to Chris I called it a “CV processor module thingy” which he thought was a perfect name, but that didn’t quite fit on the 1U panel.
Summer Flowers
I’ve just uploaded a bunch of photos of flowers to my flickr site here. I added them to a set I posted earlier so some of them you may have seen before. I’ll probably put up at least one more set of photos of the dahlias since they’ll probably keep blooming for several more weeks.
Incidentally, to give credit where credit’s due, Tracie took some of these photos.
Tali and Garrus Update
Our kittens now have the run of the house. Generally speaking things are going quite smoothly, although they have displayed a fondness for chewing through small wires. This meant that I had to spend some time jacketing all of the wires on all of the wall warts in the office/studio with plastic tubing so that their teething activities wouldn’t sever the power cords of the wi-fi router, the Ethernet switches, etc.
All of the adult cats have accepted their presence gracefully. Zed and Alfred have been more or less indifferent about them since they spotted them; now Zed plays with them occasionally and Alfred grooms them when they’re within reach. (Alfred grooms anyone when they’re within reach.) Edwin felt compelled to hiss and slap them around a bit for a couple of days, but it didn’t take him long to realize that they were more entertaining than threatening. Shortly after that I think he realized that they have more energy than he does. Madeline seems to think that they still need the occasional whack on the head but maybe she’s just trying to take on the role of the responsible adult.
Discord 3 Review Online
There’s a nice review of Discord 3 here. It’s one of the few I’ve read that takes the time to put the product in historical context. If you’ve ever wondered why we build pitch shifters that aren’t attempted Auto-Tune clones, the review contains the answer.
Is this a trick question?
The kittens are starting to explore the house. It has become evident that they’re fond of chewing on smallish things, including wires, so I’ve spent a chunk of yesterday and today attempting to cover wires that they might find tempting or remove them altogether. Partway through this process I rebooted my main PC and was presented with this somewhat perplexing message:
Now, if the keyboard has failed, how is pressing… Never mind.
Axon Tutorial Video
Chris has completed the first of several planned tutorial videos about Axon:
Announcing Axon
It’s new! It’s different! It’s somewhat strange! It’s Axon, Audio Damage’s latest product. Axon is a VST and AU plug-in that combines a set of FM-based percussion synthesizers with a novel sequencer design we call the Neuron Sequencer. Essentially it’s a set of counters that trigger each other, creating complex and sometimes unpredictable (but not random) patterns and rhythms. Here’s a lovely intro video that Chris did:
Introducing Garrus and Tali
Since our previous attempt to acquire more feline house mates didn’t work out, we decided that we needed to start smaller–that is, with cats smaller than Edwin. The theory is that if Edwin can establish with newcomers that he’s Macho Kitteh without contradiction, he’ll accept them and everyone will get along. This is how it worked when we adopted him and Madeline: he was young and small, and hence learned quickly that Zed was Macho Kitteh and was not to be trifled with.
So, without further ado, allow me to introduce Garrus and Tali:
Metropolis Restored, Again
One of the best vision-of-the-future movies ever made, Metropolis, has been newly restored. 25 minutes of missing footage has been recovered from a copy found in Argentina. I think I’ve seen three different versions of it over the years, including the somewhat notorious Giorgio Moroder version (which was weird, yes, although the music that Moroder himself wrote worked pretty well), and I will certainly see this one.
The official site is here and RetroThing has a good write-up here about the film and its various restorations.