Music Doctoring

NYTimes.com: Circuits Newsletter: "Like many recording engineers these days, Jan works primarily in Pro Tools, a program that records audio directly to the hard drive. On the screen, you see bands of horizontal sound waves that represent the chunks of audio, which you can slice, dice, copy or paste. In this way, you can record, say, five takes of the same vocal line; later, when the musicians have gone home, you can choose the best chunks -- even the best syllables or even consonants -- from each take, and merge them into a single ''best of'' take.

None of this was new to me; back when Pro Tools and I were both young, I spent a lot of time in programs like this.

What blew me away, though, was the plug-ins.

On this special wedding CD, our soloists' interpretation, performance and vocal quality were amazing, but here and there we found notes that were sung just a hair sharp or flat. I'd suggest a retake, but Steve and Jan would say, ''We'll fix it.''

Turns out you can now buy add-on modules for Pro Tools that take sonic tweaking to an astounding new level. One of them, a $400 bit of magic called Anteres Auto-Tune, lets you fix off-pitch notes. As you can see by the lower illustration here (www.antarestech.com/products/auto-tune4.html), each sung or played note is represented by a horizontal line. You can literally drag these bars higher or lower, correcting their pitches without otherwise changing a single aspect of the original performance. The processing is undetectable; it simply sounds like your singer or player hit the correct notes in perfect tune."

Will our kids appreciate Lata, Kishore or Rafi ever ? They probably would have music lessons which woiuld have the same text books we use for DSP speech processing. Basic human talents would slowly be more and more undervalued. What if a computer could paint better than Picasso ? Would there ever be motivation to become an artist. No one would even think about art as we do today. Painting/Sculpting would mean understanding the science behind how the brain perceives colors and shapes and then generating thr best image based on your neural map. Can you adapt to that change within your lifetime.

Lingua English

$person =  " I rounded off when I was talking to him".
What he means by this is that he wasnt completely sure of the details of
implementation but he made a logical assumption and had a discussion on the impacts the block might have.
We do this so regularly and this is a cause of a lot of bugs. The brain cant handle the level fo details we need.
We need technology to somehow supplement us with this dont we ?
Hmmm maybe I should patent something on these lines :))

-Rajan

New ThinkPad Is All Work, and Some Play - New York Times

New ThinkPad Is All Work, and Some Play - New York Times: "THE Z is also the first laptop to offer, as an option, built-in EV-DO. That unfortunate term refers to a genuinely important new feature: a high-speed wireless connection that, because it relies on the cellular network, doesn't require finding a wireless hot spot in a coffee shop. When you have EV-DO, the entire city is your hot spot. You surf the Internet with the speed of a slowish cable modem - and when you're stuck in a taxi, miles from a Starbucks, that's a liberating feeling. (EV-DO stands for Evolution-Data Only, whatever that means.)

The EV-DO feature relies on the Verizon Wireless network, and it works in 54 cities. The price for this service recently dropped to $60 a month, from $80. (This feature, which Verizon calls Broadband Access, is available to other kinds of laptops, too, but only if you buy a PC card that costs $100 and protrudes awkwardly from the side of the laptop.)"

Top Officials Told to Testify in Muslims' Suit - New York Times

Top Officials Told to Testify in Muslims' Suit - New York Times: "A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that former Attorney General John Ashcroft, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other top government officials will have to answer questions under oath in a lawsuit that accuses them of personally conspiring to violate the rights of Muslim immigrants held in a federal detention center in Brooklyn after 9/11.

The officials had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed without testimony, arguing in part that they had governmental immunity from its claims, that the court lacked jurisdiction because they live outside New York State, and that the Sept. 11 attacks created 'special factors' outweighing the plaintiffs' right to sue for damages for constitutional violations.

But the judge, John Gleeson, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, rejected those arguments, allowing the case to proceed - and opening the door to depositions of Mr. Ashcroft and the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, by lawyers for the two plaintiffs: Ehab Elmaghraby, an Egyptian immigrant who ran a restaurant in Times Square, and Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani immigrant whose Long Island customers knew him as 'the cable guy.'"

Synaptic Alarm

I dont know what induces sleep. Maybe its the circadian clock cells which control the sleep inducing chemicals in our body. Today I was feeling super sleepy and then I worked on something which I couldnt wrap my mind around for the longest time. When i started I thought I shouldnt bother with this complex stuff when i am soo drowsy but as I kept at it , I just saw the cheer that understanding stuff brought me and the cheer drove away bits of sleep until I was awake and excited by the time I solved the problem and discussed it with a colleague.

Now I have had lunch and I am back to being Mr.Drowsy :)

Shekhar Kapur's Paani

TIME Asia Magazine: The Numbers Man -- Mar. 21, 2005: "For the first time he can remember, India's richest film-maker is having trouble with his math. Specifically, how 600,000 goes into 175. The first figure is the population of Dharavi, Asia's most populous slum, which he's currently exploring. The second is the number of hectares Dharavi covers in Bombay, an area half the size of New York City's Central Park. In a different life, Shekhar Kapur spent seven years crunching numbers as a corporate planner for a multinational oil company. He surveys the tiny one-room lean-tos where teeming families live shoulder to shoulder in spaces that double as hole-in-the-wall shops, goat sheds or miniature factories producing dyes, glues and shiny tin boxes. It just doesn't seem possible. 'Look at this place,' he says. 'Look how they adapt.'

What really stumps Kapur is the giant water pipe on which he's balancing. The duct cuts through the maze of rubbish-strewn roofs and filthy alleys to carry water to the seafront Art Deco apartments of Colaba, the flashiest neighborhood in India's most swanky town. But here in Dharavi, a lost city under the overpasses linking the airport with the steel-and-glass blocks downtown, the only running water is what seeps out of cracks in the pipe. Which brings Kapur to other difficult digits. Like 150, the number of working toilets in Dharavi. Or 20, the number of years Kapur gives Bombay before it divides forever into rich and poor, high-rise city and low-rise slum, where 25 floors up there's water for Jacuzzis but down below there's barely enough for life.

The calculation leads Kapur to two conclusions. One: 'Water will soon be the world's most valuable commodity, and places like Dharavi will have none.' Two: he's going to make a film about it. This project, Water (Paani in Hindi), has become such an obsession that despite commitments to direct Morgan Freeman in a film about Nelson Mandela and Cate Blanchett and"

Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi

Very Very Very nice movie. Set in the 1960s and 70s in India. The generation in which students participated in the Naxal-bari (naxalite) movement and then moves on to the emergency and how Mrs. Gandhi screwed us over. The characterization is really beautiful. I cant put it in words the beauty of this movie.  Other famous film-makers have used much better words (http://www.hkathefeature.com/).
The strength of the leading lady Geeta Rao (played by Chitrangada Singh) is very inspiring. Each characters psychology is beuatifully explored by Suhir Mishra. I didnt know he was the one to make Chameli, another movie I really liked. I havent seen 'Dharavi' made by him. I hope they have it on netflix. But I cant stop singing praises for Mr. Mishra right now. This movie will pop into my head everytime I crib about Indian movie-makers not being able to characterize well and have a good screenplay. Dil Maange More SudhirBhai !!

Indian girl's one-rupee suicide

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Indian girl's one-rupee suicide: "Her mother scolded her and when she returned from work found her daughter hanged from the ceiling with a sari.

'She wanted just one rupee... but her mother could not give her the money due to poverty,' government official Nakul Chandran Mahato told the Reuters agency."

FDA OKs Generic Versions of AIDS Drug - Yahoo! News

FDA OKs Generic Versions of AIDS Drug - Yahoo! News: "AZT, an anti-retroviral drug that is also known as Zidovudine, helps prevent the AIDS virus from reproducing in the body. It is often used in combination with other medications to treat an
HIV infection.

Generic versions of the drug have previously been unavailable in the United States because patent or market exclusivity restrictions prevented them from being marketed. Now that those patents have expired, versions of drug manufactured by Roxane Laboratories of Columbus, Ohio; Ranbaxy Laboratories of Guragon, India, and Aurobindo Pharma of Hyderabad, India, can go on the market."

Career Person

I dont know how we should be defining the term career person. But I think someone who is career oriented in life i.e. someone who takes their profession very seriously should be called a career person. Now if someone who goes to work because that keeps you mentally active and it adds to the household purse, can he/she be called a career person.
When i started this note I was thinking that a lot of women are not career people. As I stop to think, I realize a lot of men are similar too. I would appreciate/respect someone at work is they were dedicated to the work they do and feel proud about it. They can find humour and amazement in the work they do.

Respect = vulnerable + !(insult)

If you make someone vulnerable but not insult him/her at that moment they will build respect for you. Have seen it happen on many occasions.

Aside :
Realize that many of us do not drive a conversation. When I heard Judge Roberts ( nominee for the US Supreme court chief justice) defend himself I really felt like a dunce when it comes to the art of conversation. Socrates was on the other extreme with his conversations being exagerrated more to make a point than to be emulated as a manner of conversation.
On the other hand if we talk like Judge Roberts we will create an impression of being a cunning person. Which has very few positive connotations if any.

Female bats keep it in the family

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Female bats keep it in the family: "Female greater horseshoe bats share male mates with their mothers and grandmothers, Nature magazine reports.

This serves to bind families together, but avoids the dangers of inbreeding.

The females live together in groups segregated from the opposite sex, but gang together to prowl for males once the mating season arrives.

Scientists from the University of Bristol and Queen Mary in London made the discovery using genetic techniques to construct family trees for the bats."

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush takes storm responsibility

BBC NEWS | Americas | Bush takes storm responsibility: "US President George W Bush has said he takes responsibility for government failures in dealing with the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Mr Bush said the storm had raised questions about the administration's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks.
The president has faced heavy criticism for the administration's apparently slow reaction to the devastation.
The overall confirmed death toll in the hurricane-affected states is above 600."

I hope he doesnt take this opporutnity to up his spending on stalling terror attacks in anticipation.

US Open Finals

Wow... did you hear the commentary on CBS. They could have might as well pulled Federer's pants dopwn and started su%^#ng on him. Idiots, How can you be so damn partisan ? I watched the last 2 sets on mute. This is total injustice to the game.

hitachihip_500x375

hitachihip_500x375,
originally uploaded by jujubi.

Hitachi is trying to sex up the marketing for its new one-inch Microdrive, which is expected to give smart phones, MP3 players and PDAs up to 60GB of storage.

Texas company demos carbon nanotube TV | CNET News.com

Texas company demos carbon nanotube TV | CNET News.com: "In a few years, TVs based on these concepts will begin to challenge rear-projection TVs and plasmas in the market for large TVs (50 inches plus), according to Applied Nanotech CEO Zvi Yaniv.

In conventional CRT TVs, an electron gun fires electrons at a phosphor-coated glass divided into pinpoints to create images. The electrons, however, need to disperse in a large vacuum, which is why TV tubes are so large and bulky.

In so-called field emission display (FED) TVs, electrons get filtered into an array of thousands of tips only a few nanometers wide, which then deliver electrons to illuminate the screen. As a result, these TVs can be thin, like LCDs or plasmas.

Another advantage comes in cost. The tips, whether nanotubes or diamonds or some other material, in a FED are printed onto the display glass. By contrast, LCD panels and plasma screens require more ornate manufacturing processes. Decades of LCD know-how combined with the economics of electronics manufacturing mean that FED TVs won't likely challenge LCDs in the mass market. Yaniv, however, says FEDs' advantages will shine in large screens.

The printing techniques utilized were compatible with 60-inch diagonal Advanced TV and 80-inch diagonal High Definition TV formats, Applied Nanotech said."

Agassi Rocks

Beautiful athleticism by both guys. Really awe inspiring isnt it watch peopl at the peak of their performance abilities. It dawns on you as to how your body should be. Had we been in an 'uncivilized' society, people like these atheletes who would have been rocking our world in more perceptible ways.  Can we ever make machines with such efficiencies. I am very inspired :)

Someone asked me what would motivate me to go to the gym regularly (and his motivation was women) .... I think its people like Andre who would want me to be atleast reasonably fit.

Rollercoaster gets woman pregnant | The Register

Rollercoaster gets woman pregnant | The Register: "However, following a bit of beast-with-two-backs action at home in Hassloch, Germany, the couple nipped out to their local theme park where Nayade took another ride on the 'Expedition GeForce' rollercoaster - said to be one of the world's speediest.

A week later, Nayade was confirmed pregnant. Gynaecologist Dr Thomas Gent said: 'We believe that she conceived due to the G force of the rollercoaster ride.'

The end result of this happy tale is Leandro Elias, now the proud owner of a free lifelong ticket for all the theme park's rollercoasters. �"

Good Will Hunting

Now theres a movie I call good Cinema.
Robin Williams Rocks and Matt Daemon is very cool too .... Good screenplay and beautiful dialogues.

Do I burn the same amount of calories walking as I do running?

Do I burn the same amount of calories walking as I do running?: "That depends -- are you exercising for a set distance or a set time? If you want to cover three miles running or walking and burn as many calories as possible, walking is the way to go. However, if you have an hour set aside to either walk or run, running will burn more calories.

We'd like to tell you we tested this out, but we're born cube jockeys, so we found a page from WebMD instead. The esteemed Dr. Dean Ornish explains that when you run, you burn mostly sugar and carbohydrates. However, when you walk for a long enough distance (walking to the refrigerator doesn't count), 'it gives your metabolism time to switch from burning carbohydrates to burning fat.' The page goes on to explain that, like a lot of bodily chores, walking is most effective when it's done consistently (kind of like wearing deodorant).

So that settles that, but how do cycling and swimming measure up? According to this graph, cycling burns two to five times fewer calories per mile than either running or walking because it's not a weight-bearing exercise. The benefits of swimming depend a lot on your proficiency and what type of stroke you use. This calorie calculator does a nice job of showing the differences.

And keep in mind, if none of these activities sound good, you can always start chewing celery."

The Graduate

I saw this classic American movie and didnt find it so attractive. Its like one of our old Shekhar Suman movies. I dont know why there's so much hype around it. Good music I must say.
Today evening I also so Red Eye. Nice thriller, very uplifting and that girl is awesome. Good screenplay too.

Charlie Rose Sucks

This guy cant really talk can he ?  He is not half of what Vir Sanghvi is.
He seems so unprepared. I dont know what he is trying to say about Katrina.
The last time he had Rumsfeld on , all he did was suck up to him ... boss you are a journalist, you are supposed to ask those tough questions. package them well if you want to. make a point. Dont F@##ing do an Oprah.

BBC NEWS | Business | Inequality 'key to poverty fight'

BBC NEWS | Business | Inequality 'key to poverty fight': Fighting poverty is important for our survival. If we have poor neighbours we will have terror, epidemics, and less contribution of ideas from that section of humans.
From article : "When rich country leaders talk of fighting poverty, the emphasis is often on improving economic growth in their poorer neighbours.
But according to a new report from the United Nations, that alone will fail to produce meaningful poverty reduction.
Instead, it says, countries need to focus on reducing inequality - between rich and poor, between men and women and between regions.
Rich states also need to give more aid and improve its quality, the UN says."
"Anybody questioning whether income distribution matters might reflect on the fact that the poorest 10% of Brazilians are poorer than their counterparts in Vietnam, a country with a far lower average income," he says.

"Brazil is ranked 63 on the Human Development Index, while Vietnam is number 103.
The report also points to success in Bangladesh at reducing infant mortality - well ahead of similar efforts in high-growth countries such as China and India.
And females are often getting a worse deal than males, it says, limiting the positive effects of economic development.
In India, for example, half again as many girls die between the ages of one and five as do boys. "

Hmmm ...

"Celebrate what you've accomplished but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed"

- Mia Hamm, Olympic Gold Medalist

Zonked

whew !! what a tiring day and I havent worked out which makes me even more sleepy.
Someone needs to study and publish productivity numbers of an average employee at these tech companies. I want an easy way to measure and improve mine.

Real Women have Curves

Beautiful Movie.
http://www.realwomenhavecurves.com/story.html


-Rajan
PS : Its not a documentary

Progress Is Seen on Flooding and Crime in New Orleans - New York Times

Progress Is Seen on Flooding and Crime in New Orleans - New York Times: "Louisiana officials, commenting on the environmental aspects ofthe hurricane's aftermath, said that 140,000 to 160,000 homes had been submerged or destroyed; 60 to 90 million tons of solid waste must be cleaned up; and 530 sewage treatment plants were inoperable. They warned that it would take years to fully restore clean drinking water.

Two developments were encouraging: a pair of major oil spills were declared under control, with one of them drifting out into the Gulf of Mexico and away from the state's ravaged coastline, and 170 sources of radiation, ranging from hospitals to pipe-welding plants, have been secured, the officials said."

Wow all the comfort enabling technologies we have are so precariously poised. It can be so quicly turned against us. All the doomsday movies arent very far from truth are they ?

Evolve ??

I went to the Wild Animal Park yesterday. Its not hard to imagine but I heard one of the trainers talk about the Cheetah and how a minor injury to their tails or legs can cause them to die. Ofcourse the Cheetah is highly unsuited to survival, with speed being the only tool at hand. Even if the other cats have better survival instincts they definitely need to be on top of their game. Very few die of old age. They need to be at an olympic atheletes level or they dont make it through life.
It seems that this is how organisms feel the pressure of natural selection. Very cozily ensconced in our human skins can we ever feel those pressures. Having understood that there is something called natural selection we can avoid something like it. We wouldnt let our old people die because they are fragile. We would try and save  Terri Schaivo if possible. We would not let a race of people suffer because they cant make it on their own. On the other hand we experiment with Cloning and gene therapy and generate chimeras in the process. So are we entering the realm of 'intelligent design'. Never has any species been so dominant in the history of the world.
Or would we evolve to have larger and larger brains since thats most critical for survival and mate selection ? Or are we going to modify ourselves intelligently ?

Did you know

I just observed our(human) gait (I am a late bloomer :(  )
I was walking towards my gate at the Austin Bergstorm Aiport. A older gentleman passed me, dragging his luggage on wheels. This part of the airport was save of the bazaar like noise. So I could here his wheels roll with a pattern, whose amplitude varied like a half wave rectified sine wave. I remembered that this is way my luggage sounds too when I lug it around. I concluded that how we move is that, we move the left side while the right is stationary and then we we change sides.

lug²    ( P  )  Pronunciation Key  (l g)
v. lugged, lug·ging, lugs
v. tr.

1. To drag or haul (an object) laboriously.
2. To pull or drag with short jerks.
3. To cause (an engine, for example) to run poorly or hesitate: If you drive too slowly in third gear, you'll lug the engine.

Aside ever wondered why Emperor Penguins walk the way they do. They save energy this way, because they move in a pendulum like motion and the swivel to one side gives them energy to swivel to the other side and move ahead. [Animal Planet , could be my motivation to spend for cable :)) ]

Signals and me

How we take signals is as much a function of our understanding us as it is of the person giving out those signals ?
The comprehension of the signals is a look up in my data-base. So to reduce error I can
 a) Increase my database (but the req might be infinity ... aaahhh this is what God is  ;) )
 b) Stop valuing my comprehension unless I am required to act immediately (which is a rare case). Will this leave me unprepared for the worst case.