Florida Sunshine

So after graduation, I was given the chance to fly out to Miami, Florida to see a few friends of mine. My parents are so awesome, that they gave me a ticket to go out there and hang out. My first order of business was to hang out with Jillian, which was easy, because she was picking me up from the airport. Then it was a 4 hour drive down to Key West. We stayed at an awesome place called The Truman Hotel.

We went out and tore up the town. Jillian tried to keep up with me, but she forgot I was celebrating being out of school (a goal of mine for my whole life). So, she was hung over when she woke up, but that was nothing a little pool time couldn't fix.



After we left Key West, we drove up to Marathon, which is about 2 hours away from the southern most point. We met up with my old buddy Sean, who is a dolphin trainer at a resort called Hawks Cay. There we got to meet all his co-workers and all his awesome dolphins. They did all sorts of great tricks, like dancing above water, making motorcycle sounds, and a ton of other actions by command. Next was to go out with him and tear up his town. Jillian asked me to remind her that she was not drinking, and I forgot. Needless to say, I bought her drinks and she tried to keep up again. There was a band there that was playing surf music, but they also played some stuff that we could country (2 step) dance to. We tore that dance floor up and really impressed everyone there. Well, we think we did...we were under the influence of my favorite East Coast beer...Yuengling.
Once we got back from the bar, we went back to Sean's place and cooked some food that we picked up from the local fish market earlier in the day. It was awesome, and the friend we met, Mona, was also awesome.

We woke up the next morning and trekked back to Miami. Once in Miami, we went all over. We checked out the beach, the food, the awesome architecture. Awesome trip, I had a great time.

Portfolio and Graduation

Well the time has finally come. I am a week away from my P.A.C. review, then a week after that is portfolio show. I am really happy with what I have to show, and I am working on last minute tweaks on my shell and print pieces.

My portfolio is going to consist of:
1. Interactive Shell (A kiosk style menu of my work)
2. Looping Reel
3. Print Pieces
4. Display Board

My display should really catch everyone's eye when they walk in the room. I am really looking forward to any feed back I receive at P.A.C. so I can be as unique as possible at the actual portfolio show. At the beginning, my goal was to have best portfolio, but now I am just trying to make it as entertaining and unique as possible so possible employers go back and talk about how cool it was.

My next post will most likely be after my portfolio show. I will upload pictures when I get them!

Open.ac.uk

In my eLearning class, I was given the assignment to take a short course from any subject I wanted, and to make not of the things I liked and did not like, and to experience a popular online learning website. I must say, it was more familar then I thought it would be.

I worked at FedEx-Kinkos, now known as Fedex Office. While there, I had to take specific courses to become skilled enough (gauged by the online learning site and my superior) to take on certain tasks. These tasks, and the courses I took, would help me get to the next pay scale. The FedEx learning intranet was way ahead of it's time, now that I look back on it, and very much resembled this online learning program. Audio, video, graphics, test, and LOTS of reading, it felt like I was back making copies.

Unlike the FedEx learning program, this one has social interaction and focus groups to be a part of. I did not partake in ths process. What I did see that was similar, was the inabilty to skip too far forward but still see what progress I made and what was left to do. I think this gives the learning hope that it will enevitably be over. I think this could be an overlooked feature, but is very important to the learner.

What is eLearning?
eLearning is a collective intelligence online that can help students (or anyone for that matter) learn a subject using the knowledge of a group. This knowlage can be in the form of a website, blog, video blog, or wiki (collective journal with post editing ability).

Examples of eLearning?
- Website with an interactive time line about the wealthiest Americans in history.
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/20070715_GILDED_GRAPHIC.html

-Data collected about the AIDS epidemic put into a map graph and sideshow.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/webspecials06/aids-25/index.shtml

-Clear explanations make this animated graph about economic cycles easy to understand.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/02/business/economy/20090705-cycles-graphic.html

-Technology Wiki for a Tech School
http://wiki.monroe.edu/index.php/Main_Page

Below is the link to my Delicious account where I have listed some eLarning sites dedicated to music, music technologies, and music business.

http://delicious.com/mikeplaystheguitar

Meeting Gail Kantor - Interface Ideas

I met Gail Kantor for the first time over an iChat 3-way with Alan Glueckman a couple days ago. The meeting was really interesting for me, because I got to really express for the first time my thoughts on how I think eJamming and JamCast should look/work. Gail seemed really interested in the things I had to say, much like Alan has always been. She asked me a question that I have been asked many times before, but felt like I really needed to explain a certain way. Her question was "If you could choose any one thing that you see yourself on the path of achieving, what is it." To me, that question is like, if you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be? I would never want to listen to one song for the rest of my life, as I would never want to be involved in just one major task for the course of my career.

The answer to the question was, no matter what is ahead of me, I want to be successful in making that project successful. I want to know I built something and made it better. If it's my band Blue Condition, or if it eJamming, or my current job at Yellow7, I want to make sure I do the best I can at making it more lucrative. I enjoy networking, working in groups, brain storming, problem solving, and taking action. I didn't want her to think I was answer her question in the way I would answer a job interview question. I just said what I have always said and know what to be true.

Another part of the conversation was talking about a possible new interface for both the eJamming.com website and the interface for the application. A collaboration of ideas were thrown out and some of them I think could make a huge difference in the way eJamming is used and the ability to get around quicker. Right now, the problem is finding information about a user quickly, then being able to categorize them in a fashion that makes sense to the user. Some of my ideas were to enlarge the chat area and users list, then incorporate symbols next to the user names that have where they are from (country flag) and main instrument of choice. Also should have some symbols showing whether or not the user has both open ports, a combination, or none.

Some other points that I brought up was the fact that creative types want to organize they're workspace so that it makes sense to them. What if the interface had a movable interface? What if the users were floating around like orbs next to you (the nucleus), and you could grab and group them the way you see fit? How about a drag and drop method for everything within the program?

I am going to formulate some comp ideas and show in a graphical sense some of the ideas and post them next.

East Meets West

This was the name of the session Michael and I were a part of on Tuesday night. The experience was something I will remember for ever. As the technology and word grows about this process, and every one is doing it, I will be able to look back at my first online jam/recording experience with someone from another country.

I have been keeping in close contact with Alan and his technical support contact Mark. Michael and I worked out the latency bugs on our side by changing our buffer settings and making sure our internet connection was as strong as could be.

The experience was a lot of fun, as we found our selves goofing around with others in the lobby while waiting to jam with Yoshi. It resembled the same feeling Michael and I felt jamming together with each other for the first time. Learning each other styles and strengths. This opportunity means allot to me and helps me realize that I am becoming part of a movement in the internet and music as a whole.

I urge all who have any interest in eJamming to go to the website www.ejamming.com and sign up for the trial. Get your hands dirty with and see if you get the bug like we have.

Rehearsal

Yoshi, Michael, and myself will speak for the first time tonight over eJamming.com. We are rehearsing for the demo on the 4th. I must say I am a little nervous. After jamming a little with Michael and some random musicians I met on eJamming over the past few days, I have learned there is a slight learning curve, as there is with all new applications, and hope am well versed enough in the mix settings to play well.

Michael and I also had problems with our pro-tools settings one day, then the other, without making any changes we can remember, everything worked! I am hoping this will not change and that we don't have technical difficulties or hiccups before the demonstration.

My next blog entry will probably be post performance, so I will explain in great detail the experience.