Synchronicity Arkive - Arkiver's Reflections

Old Skool & A New Contest!!

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:45:14 -0400

In effectively “reposting” my old “What is Synchronicity” intro, it kinda got me thinking a bit about how much in this little hobby has changed. Back then, DVDs were just starting be talked about as an upcoming technology, everything “consumer level” was still very much VHS (with a little sprinkling of laserdisc for the “enthusiasts”). VHS was convenient, in the sense of being widely available. And since most people didn’t really have their stereos as home theatres per se, it was relatively easy to manually set up a synch. Just pop in your movie, pause it… pop in your CD, pause it… and unpause both.

The manual method pretty much ruled. When it came to creating a digital synch, a lot more was involved. You had to find some way to get the VHS movie into your PC, and then remove its sound. The audio piece was comparatively easy, but even there, it wasn’t quite as easy as it is now. There were still nowhere near the range and breadth of tools for audio conversion that there are now.

Nowadays, the tools for creating digital synchs are readily available. Because of the weak copy protection on DVD, you can easily find both free and paid programs to rip movies from DVDs. Same for CDs, which don’t have any copy protection. And even combining the two, there are many free and paid programs that will let you do just that. And with YouTube and other video sharing sites, you can even easily share clips with friends and strangers.

Not at all like it was. It definitely illustrates how “out of touch” now that reposting is. It really needs updating. In fact, it has started to seem to me like a lot of the Arkive needs updating. It’s a familiar refrain, that I’m a bit behind… so I thought I’d try something different to both involve the community and maybe re-energize myself a bit.

So… a challenge to the community. To help rewrite the definition of Synchronicity, for all those new visitors out there. This will be the Arkive’s new contest.

Details:

You can use what I reposted as a “seed” if you’d like, or you can come up with your own version.

Submissions can be in any format, any length, and must be made by April 20th, to arkiver@xnet.com.

Looking for this to be informative and complete for people new to the hobby, well-written (although I can do some clean-up on a submission that’s got a good core).

I’ll do 2 runners up and a winner, with prizes (TBD).

Are you up to the challenge?

peace,

Music music music...

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:43:40 -0500

Short post, but I felt this was worth it actually...

This editorial puts into words (written words) a lot of how I myself feel about music and the industry and what's been going on... just felt it was worth a posting in Arkiver's Reflections. I think everyone here can probably find something to go "hell yeah" to.

peace,
--mj
arkiver

Ruminations on the future of synching...

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:27:50 -0400

One of the big topics that's been brought up, in the Arkiving Synchronicity podcasts, is the future of synchronicity. Which kind of got me thinking a bit, and then reminded me of something that was part of the plot in William Gibon's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition. The plot element I'm thinking of is called simply "the footage" in the novel. Apologies if you haven't read it, but the basics of "the footage" are that it consists of short segments of video posted "anonymously" to the web. Those short segments are entirely created from other images, and seem to, at least by a certain definition, fit the idea of manipulated and derivative art. When I read the book, back in 2004 or so, at the time I recall being reminded a bit of synching, and even the synching community. In the book, there's a community of enthusiasts that have sprung up around "the footage", that post theories and ideas about the origins, intent, etc.

It did, at times, seem to me that that was almost a "warped mirror" version of a kind of synching future. I guess I could see synching take that path, as well as others. Maybe we'll end up splintering out across the net, each carrying that "jewel" of an idea that started it all. Maybe the original idea will be lost too, much like no one really knows who started the Dark Side of the Rainbow. But what was interesting to me was the idea of "the footage" being created from a feed of images. After all, to a certain extent film itself really is animation. At least in the sense of being static images that create the illusion of motion and life. I could envision the internet's "remix" culture taking advantage of that at some point, maybe even from within the synching community, to create something new from the detritus of image and sound material now available. And that is, at core, the idea behind "the footage".

Read more after the break...

Music Music Music

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:45:43 -0400

I’ve been noticing a lot lately about the idea of brain plasticity. That is to say, the idea that the brain is able to form new connections/pathways fairly easily, at least compared to what had been thought. And about ways to keep your brain more flexible. In general, as we get older, habits of thought seem to get engrained, and it becomes harder to think in new ways. When I was little, my dad used to tell me often about how my grandpa was a bit technophobic. One of my favorite bits was about how he related to cars. He used to buy one, and the proceed to pretty much run it into the ground. When it finally broke down, he’d have it hauled away and buy a new one. He never did much maintenance on his car either. My dad, who was interested in cars, never quite got that. It almost seems “horse-like” to me now, which does strike me as pretty wild, when you stop and think about it.

Every so often now, I notice my parents struggling with certain aspects of all this great technology that permeates our lives these days. It’s especially noticeable with computers, but carries over sometimes into other things, like cell phones, or the TV, etc. I suppose that it’s all what you’re used to, and technology certainly moves faster nowadays, but I started to take a look at myself, and how I relate to technology. I wasn’t really thinking of myself as old, but certainly, I was starting to see aspects of technology, things like text messaging, that were huge among the ages younger than me, that I regarded as either ridiculous or trivial or just not worth considering. And it hit me, that I was relating to those new technologies in the same way as my parents deal with their computer, and my grandpa dealt with his cars.

So, I determined to start tackling new things… here are a couple of them, that have helped me, that I thought I’d share…

Read more after the break...

CopyRant Part 2

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 13:03:04 -0400

For Part One, click here.

So, picking up the thread on copyright, from my last CopyRant, I thought it would be again helpful to look at how copyright first started. In a lot of ways, how the system began has defined a lot of the issues and problems, and continues to do so today. Copyright as a legal concept has existed since approximately 1557 but what about before that, and how did it come about?

Towards Copyright
Prior to the creation of copyright, the promotion and dissemination of “the arts,” was generally provided by a system of patronage. In that system, the arts relied on the sufferance of the governing political regime, or at least the continued support of the various patrons. Outside of that, the arts also survived on a grass-roots, folk level. But in general, there was not a robust economy around the spread of creativity.

The first copyright was enacted via a royal charter of incorporation to the Stationer’s Guild of London, in 1557. What I found most interesting about this is that the very first incarnation of copyright really paid no attention whatsoever to the originator of a work, but granted sole rights to the publisher. This is an issue that seems to crop up again and again in the world of intellectual property.

Read more after the break...

CopyRant Part 1

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:13:01 -0400

Okay, I promised a copyright rant, so here’s at least a 1st pass at starting that conversation. This will probably end up as a multi-part series, digging into some general philosophy and specific history on the issue of copyright, and how it relates to synching. I’ll just state right up front that I’m not a lawyer, I’m just interested in the philosophy and politics of copyright and creativity; so please don’t take this as definitive legal advice. I have read quite a bit on the topic, some of which was written by lawyers… or at least legal professors. However, I do think one can gain a lot from considering the issues around this. A lot of times, all too often I think, we take assumptions as facts and that can lead to trouble.

So, where to begin? I think it would help to look, first off, at what we’re talking about when we talk about creativity, copyright, and that rather nebulous term, intellectual property. Intellectual Property (IP) is the current, fashionable buzzword to describe the “marketplace of ideas,” which carries with it a lot of assumptions about how creativity works.

Read more after the break...

Elton Hates Internet!!

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:14:37 -0400

It's been quite some time since I did an Arkiver's Reflections, I got kind of in the mood for one...

So, Elton John hates the Internet!! I'm shocked. Seriously, has any new medium ever not been complained about, hated, decried, defamed, or just generally beat upon by the generation that grew up on the medium before? For those who don't remember, history is doomed to repeat itself, but you'd think with each new wave of new technology coming faster and faster, that some people would finally start remembering this. It must've been different when thousands of years of written language were suddenly replaced with the printing press. Or when a couple hundred years saw the printing press at least partially supplanted by radio... and then a few dozen, TV... etc.

At the risk of over-generalizing, it seems a pretty well established pattern that as each generation ages, they turn on the generation after them, and the things that generation is into. I hope not to be one of those folks myself. I can remember every single interest I had, every hobby, being described as "bad for you," by concerned parents in the media. So, my apologies to those who refrained from participating in this, but I mean, c'mon. The generation of parents now exclaiming against instant messaging, YouTube, MySpace, etc., this is the generation that screamed for the Beatles and Elvis. And let's not forget what the concerned parents of the day back then said. Immorality. Delinquency.

Give me a friggin' break already...

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Short bits...

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 12:49:58 -0400

A couple of short items...

PopMatters has an interesting piece on the continuing relevance of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It's an interesting look at the album and its meaning...

Slate has a similar piece on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

And finally... what would a quick Arkiver bit be without some copyright? Public Knowledge, a Washington based group who advocates for consumer rights in digital technology, has this piece up about the battle over next generation cable technologies and their restrictions. A very informative little piece...

IntraWeb Synchronicity?

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:12:53 -0400

For today's Arkiver's Reflections, I thought I'd just do a quick snapshot of some interesting tidbits around the intrawebs. Most of these are from Boingboing.net, but all should have at least a peripheral appeal for synchers, I think.

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Copyright Explained, via Disney Remix

Mon, 21 May 2007 14:31:45 -0400

Found via BoingBoing, but this is hysterical. Explains the principles behind copyright via remixed Disney footage. Not sure if this will stay online, but it is AWESOME.

Synchronicity Arkive Chillout Mix

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 17:26:50 -0400

So I decided to try something new today. I dipped my toe into the waters that are Apple's iTunes and came up with my very first iMix. An iMix is basically a shared playlist. So, this is mine. Today I picked out a bunch of songs that had a certain "synchy" vibe, to me at least. It also presented an opportunity to try out my new membership in iTunes' affiliate program as well.

Without further ado...

The Synchronicity Arkive Chillout Mix
Playlist Description: The Synchronicity Arkive (www.syncharkive.com) presents a trip into chill, a walk into synchronous mindspaces.

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

How Old Are You?

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:21:32 -0400

OK, here’s a synchronistic moment that kinda helped me shed some light on my own philosophical mindset quite a bit. Today, Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) ran an article on his blog about your permanent age. The concept is that “everyone has a permanent age that appears to be set at birth”, and that no matter their actual age, this is how they approach the world.

Which got me thinking, about my own permanent age.

If I had to pick one, I’d say probably 20/21, right on the edge of my junior/senior years of college. It was during this period of my life that a lot of my philosophical outlook and ways of looking at the world really solidified. Also, not so coincidentally, it was probably when I was most into audio-visual synching.

I went to a fairly small liberal arts college (Albion College in Albion, MI). The town tended to about double in population when college was in session (and if that is an exaggeration, it ain’t by much). Since a lot of students were from MI, and nearby, it also tended to empty out a lot for weekends. At least comparatively. But I did a lot of hanging out with a very creative crowd. Artists, writers, musicians, and poets. It was quite a scene, in the sense of having a lot of energy directed at something. I don’t know that I could tell you now what that something was, but it sure felt important at the time. New ideas, philosophical rapping back and forth, and lots of caffeine-fueled late night impromptu jam sessions.

It was in this scene that I discovered Pink Floyd. That’s not to say I’d never heard of Pink Floyd. I can still kind of recall when The Wall came out, although at the time I was too young to really be into music too much (I was 6, I think). And in high school, I’d even bought my own copy of the Wall. But I don’t think I had much appreciation of Pink Floyd, certainly not on the level that college gave me. It was here that my good friend Luke introduced me to the wonder that is Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, which opened my eyes like one newborn to the wonders of both PF and 2001. And I was hungry for more.

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

A Swim in the Internet

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:34:10 -0400

It strikes me sometimes that the Internet can be thought of like an ocean. That there is a comparatively small amount of surface activity, that sits above an enormous amount of activity at the depths. Now, on the net, that surface activity is no small thing really. There’s certainly a lot activity there. But more and more, I think that pales in comparison to the activities under the surface.

What do I mean by “under the surface”? Well, I’ve read several places that statistically a very small percentage of a given’s website’s visitors can be defined as “active contributors,” that is to say forum posters, uploaders, etc. The vast majority seem to be the passing visitor, who just checks in. An early term for this was “lurk mode”. I’d have to admit to doing a lot of activity online that could be defined as lurking. I read a lot of different sites, but have posted comments or feedback to very few of them. Some I read every day. Mentally, I interact with the content on those sites quite a bit, but all of that activity is within “my own headspace.”

As someone who runs a website, this makes me think a lot about those who might be lurking on my own site. I find the idea that there people out there “interacting in their own headspaces” with my site fascinating. What do they think about the ramblings I post, the discussions our community has? How far do these ideas penetrate their headspaces? It’s also equally fascinating to me when someone new pops into the synching community as a more obviously active participant. What prompts that jump?

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

A Synchronicity of Moments

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 21:41:53 -0400

So today I picked up a book that’s been on my shelf for a while now. Coercion by Douglas Rushkoff, and started reading it. Rushkoff is another person I think “gets it”, but I didn’t mean to write so much about that today actually (maybe some other time). The thrust of Coercion is about the science of influence, and how bombarded we are with advertising and other scientific methods applied to make us into consumers. When combined with the stuff I’ve read lately from Henry Jenkins on fan cultures and participatory media, it kind of crystallized into thinking more and more about the idea of self-programming.

Rushkoff makes the point in the beginning of Coercion that a lot of the techniques being applied to you as a consumer when you enter a store or mall are the same techniques that psychologists and therapists use to help you achieve a greater awareness of self. But in advertising, product placement, etc., these techniques are meant to reduce your self-awareness. I think you can apply that type of thinking pretty well to mainstream, programmed media, like TV and movies. What really jazzes me up over the idea of fan culture and participatory media, like the stuff Jenkins writes about, is the potential to disrupt that “dumbing down” and turn it around. Stand it on its head.

So the two very different authors and styles kind of dove-tailed for me. I’m finding more and more lately that I aspire to that ideal of self-programming, really deciding what matters, what creates meaning for me, rather than being acted upon by the meaning that’s supplied. Since by working in technology, I also end up exposed to a lot of its potential, and the recent introduction of Apple’s AppleTV unit, along with a couple other nifty tech toys that do similar things, has me really starting to think that the idea of self-programming is poised to take off in the next year or so.

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP

Henry Jenkins

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:15:34 -0400

I feel like I’ve left the thread of this blog, or whatever you want to call it, sitting for far too long now. Like everything else in life, one sets out with intentions to do it, to really put the effort into it… but then something comes up, and that becomes, “well, maybe tomorrow.” Pretty soon, a week has gone by. Then two. And so on…

Well, here I am now, again, to pick up the pieces of my little reflections on synching, culture, music, and video (and anything else that seems somehow to catch my admittedly fleeting attention).

Lately, I’ve been doing some heavy thinking on the idea of being a fan. Probably because I recently discovered another person I think “gets it,” namely Henry Jenkins, who has written extensively about fans, fandom, and the culture of fan interactions with entertainment and culture. I don’t recall now how I stumbled across his excellent blog Confessions of an Aca/Fan, but it is always fascinating to read the little bits, some of which are not bits at all but quite extensive, on his thinking about those ideas.

According to Wikipedia, Jenkins is:

an American Scholar, currently Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities and Co-Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies program with William Uricchio.

Professor of literature and author of Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture and What Made Pistachio Nuts?: Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic, he was one of the first scholars to seriously study the effects of audience participation in media culture. He is recognized as an expert in the influence of digital popular culture on behavior, especially political behavior in a participatory media age.

READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP