sound info

analog- before 1976 everything was. 3 mics- dynamic, ribbon, condensor. a mic is a tranducer- device that changes one form of energy into another.  dyamic mic- moving coil. ribbon mic
condensor- wide, smooth freqency response detaild sound, extended highs.omin type has excellent low freq response, transiet attacks sound sharp and clear. preferred for acoustic, cymbals, studio vocals.can be miniaturized
dyname- rough response, rugged, handles heat cold humidity, handles high volume  w o distortion, prerred for amps/ drums. can take edge off woodwinds and brass. ribbons- warm, smoothe. delicate. complements digital recording. preferred for horns and guitar amps.
omnidirection mic- sensitive to sounds from all directions
unidirectional - coming from one direction in front of mic- soften sounds from sides or rear
bidirectional- sensitive to sounds from 2 directions but rejects entering from side.
cardioid, supercardioid, hypercardioid
omni- all around pickup not much isolation unless you mike close, low sensititivity to pops
low handling noise, no up close bass boost
most instruments 80hz to 15 khz
bass 40 hz to 9 khz
brass and voice 80 hz to 12 khz
piano 40 hz to 12 khz
cymbals and some perc 300 hz to 15 or 20 khz
orch symph 40 hz to 15 khz
low impedance- long cables wo pickup hum
spl sound pressure level
polarity
large diaphagm condensor mics
akg c12vr, perception 100
higher bit depth and sample rate=higher sound quality

I haven't read tons of Tolstoy. Some of the stuff I read of his were the non fiction, autobiographical essays. They weren't  easy reading but I don't regret the time spent studying them and it definitely wasn't a waste of time. I wish I HAD read War and Peace.  I've read more Dostoyevsky, another iconic Russian author of a similar era. I was kind of shocked when Clay Shirky posted that "No one reads War and Peace, It's too long, and not so interesting."  Mr. Shirky is a digital media scholar and professor at New York University so I guess I shouldn't have been shocked. I will say that if I looked into a crystal ball and found that within a year I successfully completed and comprehended the full of War and Peace, I would be more proud of myself than if I suddenly found myself a Twitter Star with millions of followers. To read a period piece from another era takes a lot of concentration, motivation, and stamina. It's much like training for a marathon except it benefits our imagination instead of our heart rate. To suggest that long books from another time don't have a place in education is a great way to become popular with students who don't want to read that kind of stuff. But if future literature classes entail staring at books with large illustrations or breaking down the meaning of various profound tweets, I think we may be in trouble at least on an educational level.

When our  brains develop and  digest literature that is just out of our intellectual reach, this benefits us. Whenever our brains are stretched it's a boon, whether if we're learning to code a difficult language, or reading about circumstances that are completely foreign to us. I can get that perhaps there are titles within the literature community that are a bit dry (he mentioned Proust which I'd agree with.)  But something my dad used to say that echoes in the chamber of my brain is "Do you always need to be entertained?" If everything needs to be hyperstimulated for us to pay attention, our mind will lose motivation to seek out challenges and we will just want to study the low hanging fruit, whatever comes easiest. If we aren't encouraged and egged on to seek to understand the works of Shakespeare, or plays by writers like Ibsen and O'neill, it won't necessarily make us poorer financially but it won't make us richer culturally to miss out on classical works.

I also find Shirky's analysis in his blog on Carr offputting. He writes that he doesn't understand how somebody as seemingly knowledgeable on the medium he's writing about (technology) could end up being such a luddite. So does that mean that if someone was in war they should automatically like guns? If anything Carr has the authority to speak on the damaging qualities that he knows so well. Luckily, Shirky apologizes to him in a later blog post about other things, but not that. 

Conversely, I noticed that when I was reading about Shirky deciding to not allow his students to use technology during class, I found him to be quite a tolerant man. At first he put up with loads of interruptions until he realized it was no longer beneficial to let his pupils have their iphones on. He didn't want to deprive them initially, and wanted to give them the choice, and to have the discipline to police themselves but it didn't work! One other thing this makes me think of- I remember concerts in the 90's- you didn't see a sea of phone cameras across the Arena. I remember seeing a certain band and one of the few people that actually took a picture was escorted out of the premises. The rest were professionals.
Why do you need to watch live music on your phone while it's right in front of your face? I know why - because you're filming it so that you can say you were there.I'm not gonna say I haven't done it myself! But isn't being there enough? Isn't life great enough? Maybe we don't need to spend so much time documenting it and instead try to just enjoy it. Is that too much of a stretch?

I'm sorry if I'm not sticking to subject exactly, but Shriky's blogpost reminded me of something. Remember when you used to go see a rock and roll band how amazing it was? They still are. But the difference now is that there are thousands upon thousands of cellphones that people are looking through and recording while the band performs on stage. I remember seeing the U2 Zoo Station gig in 1992 at the Oakland Coliseum. One guy took a picture while Bono was seeing "Running to Stand Still on a side stage where I was nearby. That guy not only got his film removed from the camera, the bulky security guards escorted him off of the premises!
Think about in class how much easier it was for your teachers and I can sympathize with Shirky. He talks about his initial unwillingness to create a law out of it. He desperately WANTED to leave it up to the students, but finally figured out that it just wasn't serving them.

The Wanderer of Leixlip.

"...And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yeat a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, FATHER, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the Father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe, and put it on him: and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it: let us eat, and be merry. for this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."
LUKE 15:20-24
     The silence in the ourr household was prevalent as usual around the time of 630 pm- except the kling klang of forks hitting the China plates like a faint churchbell ringing in the distance. Alfred the elder finished slicing a bit of pork. He than paused and looked across the table at me, Alex, his only son.
    "I don't want you to go," He said, his northern brogue rising up and down charismatically. My face felt red hot as I squeezed my eyes shut tight. I opened them slightly and stared down at my mashed potatoes.I did not want to look up at   dad.
   "But all of my friends will be there."
   "Ya can't go." This time he was more firm, as if I hadn't gotten the proper message the first time. "
    "I'm 16 years old- shouldn't I be allowed to go out with my friends on a friday night?"
    "Only friend you need is Christ, son. You don't need to lose your salvation through being around lewd talking, drinks and smokes."
   I could've mouthed that sentence by now. My thoughts turned to MA. She would have let me go. I imagined her smiling, those warm brown eyes, with hands reaching out to touch my shoulder.
    "I remember how kids were at your age- don't forget. I was one."
    Well, at least he was emphasizing with me. I couldn't imagine him ever having fun, or getting into mischief. I tried to change my thoughts because I felt like Dad could hear them.
    "I'm only doing it for your own good, son. When you grow up and move out on your own you will have free will to do what you like. But you're still under my roof and my rules."
    I put down my fork and stared again at the potatoes. I hated it when he said he was doing it for my own good.
    "You aren't going to finish your potatoes than?"
    "Lost my appetite."

Petition

To Whom it may concern,
    I have been denied financial aid for school because of actions of mine 20+ years ago. I withdrew from a lot of classes back than- sometimes not knowing that I hadn't dropped them. Sometimes it was because of work (I didn't know about financial aid back in that time so I worked.) In many cases I was just taking any classes I could get and didn't have a plan. Now that I have more experience, and went back to school in Los Angeles maintaining a 3.1 average, and I know that I want my bachelor's degree, I hope I will be given another chance. Back in the early 90's I left high school because I was feeling unwell and harassed.I took classes at JC, and in 1999 even tried to complete classes after I started a job in LA for United Airlines in April. I should have dropped the classes. I managed to pass English 1 A but failed Critical Thinking, which I am retaking.
    There are a lot subjects I'm interested in majoring in,   film or creative writing, Marketing, etc. but right now I'm focused on completing general ed courses. My financial situation is dire however and it would help a lot if I could get Pell Grants and possibly loans. Thank you, I appreciate your understanding,

Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address –

Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address – 

      In Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, he mentions that the Economy is stronger than ever

with 14 million Jobs being created. This is what I would ask him. How does the rate that these

employees are being paid compare with the standard of living? If I'm being paid $15 an hour, it may

sound great until you figure out that the average is rent for a studio apartment in this area is about

$1000 a month. So it takes about 60 hours just to pay the rent! I had to pretty much quit being an Uber

driver because I couldn't afford the bills. I was inspired to complete my schooling, which goes into what

he said about student loans. I love the idea of not having student loans, and school being free. I signed

up for school and wasn't able to get the Pell Grants because of withdrawing from classes 20 years ago.

    I think Barack Obama seems like a very nice guy, if not a little out of touch. To recommend free

college seems like a great idea, but is it something that can actually happen yet at the same time he says

that we need to pay teachers more. Where is all this money coming from? I would be all for taking

money out of our military budget and putting it towards education.  I believe for America to be great we

need to be less interested in expanding our powers and focus on problems we have at home.

     The fact that he says that people are full of hot air that say the economy is not in good shape

is hot air itself. I feel that he’s out of touch with the Blue Collared Americans who can barely pay bills.

     Some of the things Obama said I agreed with. When he said it’s easy to believe that politics don’t

matter, I feel a tinge of guilt for sometimes feeling in the past that it wouldn’t matter whom I voted for,

that my daily life would remain unaffected regardless who is elected. I also like the fact that he believes

everyone should learn coding. However, I also feel coding isn’t for everyone. Some people are drawn to

it more than others. But I do understand his sentiment that maybe a lot of people who don’t have

access to computer programming could benefit from it. On the other hand, with websites like Udemy

and Youtube, virtually all you need to teach yourself coding is online anyways.

   A lot of other stuff he said seemed like obvious issues- criminal justice reform, equal pay, minimum

wage, recruiting great teachers for our kids, etc. He  didn’t mention that overall crime is

 down, because it’s more socially acceptable to look at the negative aspects of Criminal Justice than to

admit there have actually been some improvements. 

     Closing Statement- Debate on Religious Freedom 

In the first amendment of the constitution, it says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Even if it seems outdated to allow people their religious freedom, it is still important to honor what it says here. Hobby Lobby has outstretched it’s hand above and beyond, providing 16 different measures of contraception, copay free.  

    They include Male condoms, Female condoms, Diaphragms with spermicide sponges with spermicide cervical caps, Birth Control pills with estrogen and progestin, Contraceptive patches and rings, Progestin injections, implantable rods, Vasectomies, Female sterilization surgeries and Female sterilization implants. Where they draw the line is at Abortions.

    Picture yourself having grown up your entire life abhorring and renouncing the idea of Abortions. Everything in the fiber of your being is against the concept. Whether you agree or disagree with these people, it is wrong to not let them have their religious freedom. A sin of Omission, in other words a wrong that is not directly done by somebody, is as frowned upon as a direct sin in the Christian Religion. So by forcing somebody to provide something that they see as a mortal sin is something they shouldn’t be asked to do. The constitution is there to protect the rights of everyone, including those who merely don’t want to be part of an act that they don’t believe in.

    In addition, the Freedom Restoration act “Prohibits any agency, department, or official of the United States or any State (the government) from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except that the government may burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person: (1) furthers a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.

    I’ll end on this: If you can only stick up and agree with people who are in your own Political party and live the way that you want to, what is the use of a Constitution? What is the point in living in a Nation where some people deserve rights and some people don’t? I ask you to consider how difficult it would be for somebody to go against their beliefs and have empathy for their cause. Thank you.

    In Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, he mentions that the Economy is stronger than ever with 14 million Jobs being created. This is what I would ask him. How does the rate that these employees are being paid compare with the standard of living? If I'm being paid $15 an hour, it may sound great until you figure out that the average is rent for a studio apartment in this area is about $1000 a month. So it takes about 60 hours just to pay the rent! I had to pretty much quit being an Uber driver because I couldn't afford the bills. I was inspired to complete my schooling, which goes into what he said about student loans. I love the idea of not having student loans, and school being free. I signed up for school and wasn't able to get the Pell Grants because of withdrawing from classes 20 years ago.