BARCAMPBOSTON 3
Posted by andyleclair | Filed under Code, Music
This weekend I’m at BarCampBoston 3, an UnConference for Boston area geeks to get together, give presentations on cool stuff, see cool stuff being presented, and of course, get some free shit swag!
So far, I’ve seen John Resig, the creator of the unbearably popular jQuery library, give a talk about jQuery (the video of this will be up on youtube shortly) and Processing/Processing.js (the video of this is in parts and my or may not be b0rked, so we’ll see about the youtubing of it). I also saw a talk from one of the M$ guys about XNA, although he really rushed through and basically said “this is awesome and if I had more time I’d show it to you” about every part of XNA. The talk he gave was also really basic and didn’t go much into the technical of actually DOING anything with XNA, besides going to the website and doing tutorials and looking at samples. I wish I knew the name of the guy who gave the presentation, because I’d tall him that a brief look at some autogenerated code and telling the audience that “you don’t have to worry about anything, XNA is managing all of this” does not a presentation make. Am I surprised? No. I just wish that the presentation he gave was close to the one that the M$ guys gave when they came to Northeastern to demo XNA and Vista. Those guys knew their shit.
I’m having a great time here meeting a bunch of cool MA hackers. Later on today I’m going to be giving a presentation with MIT’s Kurt Keville about Wi-Fi netowrks and building Wi-Fi Concatenators (think a satellite dish, but for wi-fi). I’ll have pics and video up later.
Soundtrack for this post: Turboweekend - My Name Is Legion (Moulinex Remix)
Tags: barcamp, boston, moulinex, programming, turboweekend
TWOFER TUESDAY
Posted by andyleclair | Filed under Uncategorized
Last night I saw the absolutely fantastic Cut/Copy live at the Paradise Rock Club here in Boston. Needless to say, I was completely blown away. They played all of the tracks I wanted to hear: Lights & Music, Hearts on Fire, Out There On The Ice, and an encore of Far Away.
The openers were Black Kids and Mobius Band, although I missed out on seeing Mobius Band due to some… business I had to take care of with the girlfriend. Black Kids were a lot of fun and had really good energy and I really enjoyed their set, but the show didn’t get going until Cut/Copy took the stage.
As soon as they came on, they had the whole crowd wrapped around their fingers, getting even the most self-obsessed hipster trash to jump and move. I honestly haven’t danced that hard since I saw Justice at the same venue.
In honor of the fabulous show Cut/Copy put on, I’d like to take this time to post a twofer of a fresh Cut/Copy remix by the amazing Midnight Juggernauts, and a tasty remix from The Twelves of Black Kids first single that’s been making the blog rounds recently.
Cut/Copy - Hearts on Fire (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)
Black Kids - I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend to Dance (The Twelves Remix)
Tags: Black Kids, Cut/Copy, Music, Paradise
THE MOST ELEGANT LANGUAGE EVER
Posted by andyleclair | Filed under Code
I saw this today on programming.reddit and I was compelled to repost it. Enjoy.
Tags: Boner Array, Butt Loop, Elegant, Hilarious, Language, programming.reddit, Webcomic
TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Posted by andyleclair | Filed under Uncategorized
So, for now, mp3 streaming is down until I can get the files upped to a better host. For now, you can just download the mp3’s.
SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE PEOPLE :3
FUNK FRIDAY!!!!
Posted by andyleclair | Filed under Music
It’s here everybody! The FIRST installment of FUNK FRIDAY here at Code & Music, and I’ve got some damn fine tracks for your aural enjoyment. The first thing that I want to say about FUNK FRIDAY is that if there’s one thing that I’ve always been, it’s white. As a white dude, it’s hard for people to take you seriously when you say that you’re into the funk, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed funk ever since I first heard Parliament. That said, let’s get to some music.
First up is a personal favorite track of mine. Cymande was a great deep funk band from the early seventies that unfortunately only released a couple of albums. They’ve been sampled by all kinds of great producers, such as De La Soul, Kool Herc, MF DOOM, and Grandmaster Flash. My friend Dennis, who totally kicks ass, was the one who introduced me to Cymande, and this track is for him.
Second is a track by a group known as D-Train, who are actually a duo of the man, D-Train and Hubert Eaves III, called the D-Train Theme. I think that one of the most badass things that anyone can have is their own theme music. Think about it: there’s one song that encompasses you and people think of it whenever you appear. The only way it could be more badass is if you had a speaker that would actually play your theme when you enter a room, you know, kind of like a WWE wrestler. You know what, on second thought, that’s a terrible idea. A neat fact that I just learned from wikipedia: D-Train does the Pokérap from Pokémon! Fantastic.
Third, we have a track from Brooklyn-based Daptone records, who are responsible for such acts as Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Daktaris, and the mighty Budos Band. The Budos Band, and I quote “With its twenty-two legs, three horns, and hallucinogenic venom” is more funk than I could ever hope to cultivate in my sneakers, dirty clothes bin, and gym bag. I leave this track to speak for itself.
The fourth final funk favorite that I’ve got for you today is from the one and only King Khan. No, I’m not talking about Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, I’m talking about the Montreal Monster. King Khan and The Shrines have been around since 199/2000, touring Europe, breaking hearts, and leaving crowds so satisfied that every woman in the house leaves pregnant. It’s a shame they never make it over to the US, but I suppose that’s just a good excuse for me to go see Europe. The track I’ve picked is a gem from Mr. Supernatural, King Khan & The Shrines’ first LP called Train No. 8. If you can keep your ass in your seat when you hear this, then YOU. HAVE. NO. SOUL.
King Khan & The Shrines - Train No. 8
Tags: budos band, cymande, d-train, funk, king khan
4PM AND I FEEL GREAT
Posted by andyleclair | Filed under Music
I notice a distinct drop in productivity when I’m at work, usually culminating in a period of extreme uselessness at about 4 p.m. every day. I refer to this time in my workday as the MACC, or Mid-Afternoon Caffeine Crash. Although the cause of the MACC is variable, I believe that the culprit lies in two factors: low blood sugar (lunchtime in the office is usually 11:30), and a crash from my post-lunch coffee.
What do I do about it? Simple: I go into the kitchen and make myself an iced coffee with a shot of espresso. It’s refreshing, tasty, and adds just the zip I need to finish a long day strong. A tall iced coffee is one of my favorite beverages, wether in time of warmth or time of cold.
I think that recognizing the causes of reduced productivity is an important step in maximizing useful working time. I know that when my body doesn’t want to do something (read: get up in the morning), it’s going to be tough to force myself to get into it. It’s something I’ve identified and am trying to work on. I’ve been reading a series of posts on The Art of Manliness about Ben Franklin’s 13 virtues, and I think that I should re-read the post on Resolution one more time.
Normally I post a soundtrack to a certain post, which is usually what I’m listening to when I write a post, but I’ve been jamming to a fantastic mixtape put together by Chicago’s DJ darlings, FLOSSTRADAMUS that I found on the equally fabulous blog, Missingtoof. Check out a short Q&A with Flosstradamus over at Missingtoof and give their mix a listen.
Quality Time with Flosstradamus at Missingtoof.com
Tags: flosstradamus, missingtoof
