Wednesday 8 August 2007

The Unofficial Guide to Audio Engineering

Some interesting ideas which have been floating around, without much hope for a patent though..
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- Embedded Mp3 player with randomized playlist function

Yeah, thats placed right in between the auditory cortex and long term memory and pattern recognition regions of the brain. And no-its not any artificial device waiting to be implanted by some top neuro-surgeon.

Its already there in most of us : The ability to ignore all the the noises of the world, sit down in remote corner or walk along any path or corridor AND switch on the music player in the mind. It can belt out all the favorite songs in your personal play-list. It even works in karaoke mode when needed, and can rewind, forward, and skip tracks as you please without even flicking a switch.

But some known bugs include -
Stuck-in-the-head song effect : Invariably an advertisement jingle, or not so famous song goes on an infinite loop, it just sticks on to you like an axe wedged into your cranium and you are afraid to remove or dislodge it from its position.

Forward works, but rewind button doesnt : Especially if you trying to remember the lyrics of the song, you are required to run thru most part of the song that comes before the words you want to remember

Lunatic dancer effect : Some of those peppy numbers want to make you shake a limb or two especially in solitary places, thinking that no-one is looking at you - only to discover that people have been discreetly giggling at your inexplicably spasmodic jerks in front of any reflective surface.

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- Wireless Music File-transfer Protocol by Induction Technique

A simple procedure which works with people who share more or less the same tastes in music and language. The sender of the music file has to hum or sing a line or two of the song in relatively quiet environs , within the audible range of the receiver. And stop singing the song in a abrupt way.

The system works like a siphon does- once you initiate the flow of the fluid between the end points, there is no need for the siphoner to continue sucking the tube. Successful transmission of the song file is confirmed when the receiver or listener starts humming the tune or even singing it after a latency of 5 seconds or so.

The proper acknowledgement is got when the receiver exclaims in an irritated tone "Why did you put THAT song in my head ?? I dont like that one"
Or after completing singing that song, with a puzzled look " Eh?? How did I remember this song ? hey ..was it you humming that song a while ago ?"

Known bugs :
Collision Detect Error : When two people are simultaneously trying to send different files to one receiver , the Rx flags a violation as its detects garbled data reception and screams "Will one of you shut up? you are driving me nuts !"

Gender Mismatch anamolies: If a song transfer is attempted between people from different planets (2nd and 4th of Solar system), and if the contents of the song happen to be of the romantic kind, the data signals are sometimes misunderstood to be control signals,. The Receiver protests loudly and sometimes there is violent exchanges in the physical layer. But alternatively if the interpretation is correct and agreeable to both sides, then both sender and receiver continue to playback the same music file, which is commonly referred to in layman terms as 'duet' !

Monday 6 August 2007

Pythagoras' Philosopher

Found a brilliant definition for 'Philosopher'
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When Pythagoras was once asked who philosophers were, he replied that life seemed to him to resemble the games in the Olympic festival: some men sought glory, others to buy and sell at the games, and some men had come neither for gain nor applause, but for the sake of the spectacle and to understand what was done and how it was done.

In the same way, in life, some are slaves of ambition or money, but others are interested in understanding life itself. These give themselves the name of philosophers (lovers of wisdom), and they value the contemplation and discovery of nature beyond all other pursuits.

Football Invite.

Hello Boys (and a few rare gentlemen !)

Its been a while since we broke a few bones and tore some ligaments, so
by now most of them would be enjoying perfect health. Now I invite you
all to resume playing the beautiful game from next week.

Its at AMK ITE starting next wednesday . There is no floodlight for the
football field, but the ambient lighting from the nearby basketball
court was found to be sufficient for our style of play :-)

So wake up your soccer boots, those stinkin socks, your favourite
jerseys and that natural instinct to kick some balls !!
(meanwhile the girlfriends, wives, televisions and laptops can wait... )

Please do reply if you can come next week, (OR submit a 20 page report
on the excuses for why you cannot make it !)
Lets have a 'ball' !!

Yours kickingly,