A thread has begun and there are 6 of us ‘brainstorming’. The timeline is set for an execution of 2012/13.

My first, and current, focus is to spread the word a bit; probe interest:
‘You’ -the lasercave community- came to my mind first; for obvious reasons.

So, say the word.

GREG

1. Google

2. There is a squirrel in my attic.

Now, there are many and various challenges of living in a hip and thriving city (overpriced coffee beans, stroller dads, white guilt), but I had not previously known about squirrels as a potential obstacle which I would have to overcome in my interesting and emotionally wrought life.

For the last couple of days, my roommates and I have been hearing a weird sound in the walls. Like a scratchy or move-y sound, kind of like a homeless dude was digging through our walls for cans, which we knew was silly because we keep our cans in a cardboard box inside the house, not inside the walls. I was pretty sure that it was a ghost (friendly, obv) or some kind of rat. It turns out that it was a squirrel, and also that squirrels are not “some kind of rat,” but in fact their own unique breed of species. Huh.

So the big question is: What’s up with squirrels? Are they cute? Should we befriend it and bring it little nuts and things? Or are squirrels a menace, to be exterminated?

I did a little google-imaging, and here are my findings about squirrels:

This seems like a pretty cool squirrel, kind of a chiller. If our squirrel is like this, I think it would be nice to have it in the attic, strumming the ukulele or whatever. Maybe this squirrel could even be taught to play other instruments, and could join one of the many bands\experimental projects around town. It would be socially valuable for my roommates and I to be associated with this squirrel.

This squirrel has a boozoka. While I totally support the coming Apocalypse, and movies\graphic novel inspired by this future moment in history, I don’t think it’s appropriate to have guns in the home. I’ve been pretty affected by these public service announcements, so I’m going to have to say that, at least for the moment, that I am not OK with a squirrel like this in our attic.

Wow, squirrels are really sharp dressers. I am learning so many facts about squirrels today. I really, really really hope that our squirrel is wearing a similar outfit to this one. If so, I am definitely pro-squirrel.

I am nervous about sexual harassment at the hands\paws of this squirrel.

OK guys, have you had any experiences with being roommates with squirrels? Was it ever tense when they left little nutshells around?

Please note that this blog has an automatic non-discriminatory sensor in the comments section; please do not write anything inflammatory (i.e. a “flame war”) about squirrels that you do not actually know.

x-posted to Horse Facts.

This is interesting. The moment that I could finally “see” green or red would be the most incredible experience.

The QB gets the ball, and now it’s really Go Time. He has to “set up the play.” Like James Van der Beek in the 1999 MTV film, Varsity Blues. Van der Beek is the QB. It means Quarter Back. It means that women love you and wear whipped cream bikinis for you. It means that later your career will really go down the toilet post-Rules of Attraction but my brother will continue to emulate your middle-parted hairstyle (aka “The Butt Cut”) well into his college years. It means A HERO. Okay. (Me: “What if he drops it?” My Brother: “He sucks.”)

What happens next happens in literally about 2-10 seconds. If you wear glasses usually but are not wearing them now, forget it. If you’re prone to sort of zoning out at pivotal moments when important facts are repeated for the only time during movies that have actual plots, forget it. Basically, the kind of burst of hormone-crazed adrenaline that certain moms are maybe-apocryphally have said to have reacted with in response to infants trapped beneath cars, etc., is happening in all of the dudes on the field, Team Red AND Team Purple, and it looks like this:

1) Everybody

2) gets on top

3) of the dude holding the ball

and the whistle blows again.

in max, the volume will control volume, the pitch will control the pitched generation of new notes along a scale, with some tap-in rhythmic delay, so the sound fades out slightly.

One option for playback is load a single feedback movie that develops over time, adjust loop points as this fades into the feedback, so the simpler stuff is at the beginning, headier stuff at the end, as loops strung together, and then adjust the loop point presets so that it is drawing from whatever zone is called for based on the feedback signal. This would function like levels in a video game, so they wouldn’t be directly correlated with the alpha reward signal, but an average of the alpha reward performance over time, so if a minute of solid alpha performance was achieved without too much inhibit, then the system would morph to a new pattr set, with a more “alive” fb image, and more shimmering music. To achieve this perhaps, the midi signal is multiplexed as reward –> pitch, inhibit –> volume, and convert them to actual midi attributes in max.

Three states:
1. baseline
2. some alpha, some other
3. mostly alpha, stage one
4. mostly alpha stage two
5. realization

In the future, levels could include reward for alpha, theta synchronization.

Still working on the infinite zoom idea. I thought perhaps creating a video delay, adding a jit.rota object, and then xfading with the original would provide the effect of forever zooming in to the center of the image, but it did not. Instead, it created a delayed, zoomed in image, crossfaded with the original. suprise surprise. To actually produce this effect, perhaps I could take a quicktime movie, split it, create two rfilters for the loop points that were close to one another, and alternately cross fade each in with a zoom stage. Oh well, a project for another time.

After last nights successess in achieving alpha rewarded neurofeedback for extended periods, I am tempted to simplify the setup, allow the novelty of percieving brainwaves to be primary, and not dress it up in compelling but ultimately superficial psychedelia.

In the simplified version of the patch, we focus on getting the fb mechanism actually working, connecting this to sound, and subtlely to image.

1. get connections set
2. get a baseline, low noise reading
3. send either straight reward, or some sort of composite reward/inhibit combo to midi channel
4. recieve midi channel in max through loopbe1, use it for interpolation control of the patch between 3 locations in phase space.
a. baseline image sound (beta bb + grey fb morph)
b. some alpha activity, other activity too (alpha bb + pretty midi + fbfade)
c. high alpha, low other (alpha bb + high midi + full fb)

One option is to link the straight freq. to a strobing pattern of the image, bb. this allows straight fb: try to slow the wave, as you do this, the image becomes more ‘alive’

Another option is to link alpha reward number midi signal to the strobing pattern and the binaural beats. this would create entrainment. as alpha emerges, one could “lock in”, close eyes, go for a ride.

1 computer, buy bioera, use normal sound card, use two computer speakers, positioned alternately near head.

things to implement in max
1. strobe function
2. binaural beats integrated
3. autopattr / interpolation space
4. run from quicktime movie, or fb matrix
qt movie allows greater precision with states, more organic images,correspondance
fb matrix allows smoother, easier interpolation, more psychedelic

For those interested in mountains, you may find this link of interest. It has some pretty wild pictures, especially the volcanic lighting…volcanic lighting! think about that for a second. Way deep in the light cone.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04/alaskas_mount_redoubt.html

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