Grandpa Johnson - This one is for you...

Apparently my grandfather ran across this blog the other day and was impressed. I'd actually forgotten that I even had this blog. So, here's to you! l8r, Chris

Can you believe it?

So, I was able to set up my Nokia 6103 cell phone, which has Bluetooth built in, to connect to the internet through my MacBook, which also has Bluetooth. I pay 5.99 for the T-Mobile MobileWeb service and I found a site ( http://www.webmasterlogs.com/gsm-phone-as-modem ) that helped me set up my phone as a wireless access point that I can use with my laptop. The two devices are paired and there are some settings that need to be configured but to my surprise, it works. So, now I can connect to the internet at any time in any location. And although the speeds are about the speed of 56k dial up, it’s a solid connection and that’s what’s important to me, not to mention the wirelessness of it. l8r, Chris

Writing...

For Christmas, my Dad gave me a Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen Tablet. Since then, I’ve started to become more comfortable writing with the pen. I have found that there are several applications that I can use, besides Photoshop, Illustrator and Fireworks, such as MacJournal, VooDoo Pad and FontLab. In fact I created a new font that uses glyphs that were hand drawn with the pen tablet. I’ll be working on creating other fonts including a cypher that a friend of mine inspired me to develop, based on a simple replacement alphabet that he showed me. l8r, Chris

Waiting for Art...

Well, I’m on my break between English and Art. I have been sort of out of it today and I don’t know quite why. I talked on Y! Messenger for a bit and have checked my email. I listened to some music on iTunes as well. anyway.... l8r, Chris

So Far So Good...

Well, I just had my lunch during my break after my first two classes here on my first day at Penn Valley. I’m in the library right now and I’m loving this. I’m really excited now. My speech class went well and so did my English class. I like both of my teachers and think I’ll do alright. I was a little worried about the amount of work that I’ll have to do but I think that it will be do-able. I’ve got my art fundamentals class next followed by my computers in design class. They are in the same building so that’s nice. At any rate, I’ll write another post when I’m done for the day. l8r, Chris

My New MacBook

So, I got a new MacBook almost a week ago and I’m really loving it. I previously had an iBook G4 with Tiger (OS X 10.4) but this is an Intel Core Duo 2.2GHz with a 13” display, 2GB of RAM, 120GB Hard Drive that is equipped with a SuperDrive (DVD-R/RW). I have yet to finish transferring much of my data from my external hard drive but will do so as I get more into using my MacBook.

Friendly Neighborhood Who?

So, here is a new post from your one and only friendly neighborhood, Chris Johnson. I finally got a new laptop... I got a MacBook and I’m loving it. I’m starting school tomorrow and I’m very excited but a little nervous about whether I’ll be able to keep up. I have to keep reminding myself to just take things one step at a time. anyway, I’m about to call my dad on ichat and talk with him for a few... l8r, Chris

A Quick Comment Regarding Microsoft...

It seems to me, and this is only my own speculative opinion and
nothing more but, when Bill Gates left Microsoft in April of 2006, I
laughed. I thought and told others, "...when the lead software
developer (who happened to found the company as well) decides to bail
out of the company, that's a bad sign for the future of the business..."

I still sort of feel the same way, despite the information that I've
come across since then but anyway...

l8r,
Chris Johnson
New Media Artisan
SPEKTRUM Creations

No Delay!!!

Well, I've had a busy night. I've still had latency issues when using Garageband and even Protools but I came to the realization that the reason I was getting delay when recording real audio tracks was that I was running off battery power instead of using AC power. The power management for the battery is set to maximize the battery life, while the AC power settings use the processor to it's maximum capability. So as long as I've been plugged in when recording, I've had no latency or delay, which makes me very happy. I'm loving my Apple iBook. I just bought Quicktime Pro and also received iLife '05 in the mail yesterday, which includes Garageband 2. I've had a chance to play with it a little bit and I'm very pleased with the enhancements that were made to it. I'd like to get some more software instruments and loops but I'm just going to play with what I've got for the time being. I've recorded several tracks in the past couple weeks and am very, very happy with the results and most of all, the sound quality that I'm getting. I think that the companion CD, also entitled "<CodeBase />" will be a collection of songs that represent my best work to date. It's amazing how much difference it makes to be using this Mac. I don't know if it's just little things like not getting hum from the CRT, since the iBook uses an LCD monitor, or if it's just that the Core Audio is really that good. I think the Core Audio is really just that 'kick ass'. :) Anyway, I'll catch up with you all later. Take care. L8r Chris

Happy New Years

Well, I've been working on several things while getting used to my new Apple iBook. One of the things that I've been trying to get a handle on is the new music set up that I have. I got a USB Midi Controller by Evolution that can be used in Garageband to control software instruments. The neatest thing for me is how much the instruments sound like what they're supposed to be. The Grand Piano is one instrument that just blew me away. I mean I guess it shouldn't because it's just a piano but the realism and clarity that comes from the instrument sounds as if I'm playing a Stienway or something. Another soft synth that I found was one of the rock organs. It sounds like a multi-thousand dollar rock organ that Led Zeppelin might have used. Here's a link to that song... click here I got Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac which I'll be using to write my next book. I'm not altogether sure what I'm gonna call it or even what it's gonna be about but I'll have the right tools to write it, that's for sure. Alright, I think that's all for now... L8r Chris

Setting Up My Apple iBook G4

Alright, now I'm not so tired. I've been working on setting up my iBook and I'm very pleased so far. I got a gigabyte of RAM, so now I've got 1.25gb of RAM installed to match it's 1.25Ghz processor. I am still getting used to the keyboard though. I've done a very little bit of recording using Garageband, using my new microphone and guitar. It's a really nice microphone that my dad bought me for Christmas. I've even got some new monitor headphones that he got me too. I'm using an MBox which is an audio interface that connect through USB and I was having latency issues (delay when recording) with it before but now I think I've got the audio driver all sorted out so that shouldn't be an issue anymore. I'm still waiting for the external hard drive to be sent to the music store where I'm probably buying an amp too. The hard drive is a Glyph 160 GB drive that spins at 7200 RPM, which is faster than the 30 GB hard drive in the iBook. Basically the 7200 RPM Glyph is a recording drive for music (or video if I so wished). Anyway, I've not got much else going on other than that so... L8r, Chris

Happy happy, joy joy! I just found a new blogging tool called MacJournal! Oh, and since it's only for Mac, I should tell you I got an Apple iBook also. I plan on using it to write with and also to record music with. Anyway, I haven't got a whole lot to say right now, mainly because I'm tired so... L8r, Chris

Well, things have been going pretty well for me lately. At least it seems that way. I've been selling some books and I've been working on getting out my new CD. It's going to be a mixed mode CD that will include the Dylan VAIos 2005 program that I built. I'm still working out the track list for the CD and am torn on whether or not to include cover songs on the CD. I may release a CD of cover songs later on instead. I've been in touch with Dr. Richard Wallace of the A.I. Foundation at www.alicebot.org and we've been talking about possibly providing either copies of my book or copies of my CD (which includes an ebook version of my book, <CodeBase />). Anyway, I'll post more in a few days, I promise... (not that anyone is probably reading this blog but still, I will continue to write. L8r Chris

Well, as I read through my previous post, and came to the end of it, I realize I've neglected my self-imposed duties of blogging. A lot has happened in the last couple months for me. The biggest event for me has been the publication of my book, as a final draft. I'll admit that I had previously published it, also with cafepress.com, but I didn't promote it past distributing a couple pdf copies of the 'first edition'. I doubt that anyone will ever be able to find a copy of this original version. Perhaps in the future, with the 'third edition' of the book, I will include a couple of the elements that I'd decided against publishing in the first 'real' final draft of the book. A big event that occured with the publication of so far has been the promotion by AIML creator and winner of the 2004 Loebner Prize and ChatterBot Challenge, Dr. Richard S. Wallace on his website, www.alicebot.org. I had talked to him through email several times before and after his third win in the competition. At any rate, here's a what he posted on the November 2004 main page of www.alicebot.org : * AIML Novel Published AIML fan Chris Johnson has written a science fiction novel that uses real-world ALICE and AIML as a starting point. The novel, CodeBase, takes us into a future in which a sentient A. I. has evolved from our own humble origins, thanks to the efforts of an introverted programmer obsessed with a pop star. Though I slightly disagree with the fact that the main character, Philip, is 'obsessed' with the pop star, Sally Stone, (at least at the beginning) I definitely would agree that there is some obsessive behaviour going on in various parts of the story. It has been great to feel a sense of acceptance from this plug from Dr. Rich, who to me embodies the soul of the A.I. movement among open source and hobbiest programmers. I'll be joining the site soon and perhaps... well, we'll see what happens in the future. Anyway, I have yet to actually purchase a copy of my book, but my father bought one of the first 'hard copy' 2nd edition paperbacks of my book and so I've been able to hold it and leaf through it. I really am impressed with the quality of the printing and think it's worth the $20 price tag (and that includes shipping and handling). I'll be offering the book for sale from my website in pdf format soon as well. I have to figure out the whole PayPal shopping cart and password protected pdf file. Dr. Rich suggested that and I think he may be right that a lot of people who use the internet regularly would be more apt to buy a $6.00 copy of the pdf file than buy a $20.00 hard copy paperback. One of the other things I'll be doing in the not to distant future is sending out copies of my book to publishers. My thinking is that if I can show them a finished product that perhaps they will get excited and want to release my book at a more reasonable price and perhaps even in a hard back version. Well, perhaps I'll have some more news soon. That's all for now.

Alright... Well, last night I set about working on the program that I've been building. I added several new things, removing other things and setting up the program so it would be able to be run as bonus content on a mixed-mode CD, basically a music CD with a CD-ROM portion that contains the program, Dylan VAIos 2004. It's still very much a beta program and has earned the right to be called that as there a still many bugs to be worked out. Hopefully I'll finish the program soon but it's starting to look like the entire thing may be pushed back to early 2005, when I feel more comfortable with releasing it as a program that can run from the CD without the need for updates. Speaking of updates, I spent a couple hours last night helping my father get his computer up to date. It was in desperate need of the updates too. I don't think he'd ever done a windows update but even still, it took way less time to do the updates than expected, though we still have to add a couple more programs like an anti-virus program and Ad-Aware. I'm also going to have him install the .NET Framework 1.1 so that he can run the program I'm building on his computer. Hopefully he will see all the work I've been doing on it. It just occured to me I have to vote today. One of the propositions up for a vote today is one that is proposing the construction of a new arena in Kansas City. I'd already decided, despite my fathers forceful words that I vote in favor of it, that I was planning on voting for it anyway. It would be nice if the acoustics of the building were taken into consideration this time, unlike was done with the construction of Kemper Arena. I could care less about any basketball or hockey teams why might potentially get from the arena, but am very interested in the musical acts that would possibly play there in the future. Anyway, I'm making sure my vote counts. Too bad no one reads this blog... At least no one that I know of. Anyway, I'll try to write some more in a few days. L8r, Chris

.NET Undocumented: Whidbey May Miss the Next Coding Revolution: "Text editors are going to go away (for source code, that is)! Don't get me wrong, source code will still be in text files. However, future code editors will parse the code directly from the text file and will be display in a concise, graphical and nicely presented view with each element in the view representing a parse tree node. (NOTE: I now the word graphical is misleading, so I explain it more in this newer post.)" - from http://wesnerm.blogs.com/net_undocumented/2004/06/whidbey_may_mis.html I found this while surfing today. It's officially July 4th, 2004. I have been using Whidbey Express, Visual C# 2005 Beta for the past few days and am thrilled with the direction that it's going. Only about a month ago did my curiousity in C# peak to the point that I was inspired to go out and get Chris Sell's "Windows Forms Programming in C#" (TODO: Add link). Most of the coding I did on my first app was done through trial and error. Coming from a web only background, I'd never really gotten into programming real programs for Windows, or any platform for that matter. I'd played with other languages and IDEs but couldn't get the hang of it. I'd been starting to focus on Javascript more when I picked up SharpDevelop, a free C# IDE that does some nice things with .NET 1.1 as the compiling language. Some of the cool features are the fact that it can convert to and from C# and VB.NET. I used the feature once and everything compiled fine. Now the issue that I first found when I started looking at .NET versus other languages was that you had to had a CLR (Common Language Runtime) on your machine in order to use the programs built with it. However, the promise of CLR and frameworks like .NET, DotGNU and Mono is that you can install one of these frameworks on any major platform. That said, I predict a slew of custom Operating systems based on the CLR. There may not be a slew but I'd suspect we can expect several more companies to enter the operating system market. Sun is one example of a company that will probably introduce a consumer level OS around the same time that longhorn comes out. Don't count Linux distros out either. IBM and their commercials hyping support of Linux and such factors as free software like Apache, MySQL and PHP, has really garnered a large user base for linux. Apple can be included as a platform that can use a CLR, though I'm not sure which one it uses. The point is that it doesn't matter what platform it is, the apps that I'm building, will work on machines that have the one of these frameworks. Right now, I'm developing with .NET 1.1 as well as .NET 2.0 Beta. The latter may change in it's capabilities over the next couple years but my app isn't currently so complicated that I won't be able to update it when I need to. I have plenty of time to develop this app as well considering Longhorn, which will use .NET 2.0, won't be out for another two to three years. I suspect that .NET 2.0 will be available for the windows platforms that the beta can be run on. What I'm still eager to see is sparkle. I've heard it uses Avalon and I suspect it will use vector graphics and tweening to perform animation in programs that are built to use it. I can see the option of using HTML as well as XAML, C#, VB.NET, C++.NET and ASP.NET to build windows forms. The paradigm I see is a blurring of what an application is. The fact that HTML, or I should say DHTML (though I hate that term in describing Dynamic HTML...), is so capable of achieving programmatic fuctions, using server-side as well as client-side scripting, makes it very powerful. Throw in some interoperability between the webpages and the program and you have a Rich Client that can be updated in areas as needed, such as a current "Update Program" link, XML feeds, Up to date help files, etc... Right now, I'm still playing around to see what I can program and evaluating what I need to program to build the application I want to build. I've got a beta of my first application with a few songs and a copy of the first edition of my book, in pdf format, at my site. Chris.

I've taken some time away from these journals, mainly due to the fact that my former webpage at nbci.com pulled the plug on their hosting services. I finished up the joanpatterns.com website in August and then started figuring out where I was going to go from there. I wrote a little more of "Morning Star" and then the Sept. 11th tragedy occured. I found it so ironic with what I had written so far in my story. It's still on the back-burner but I hope to release it on Sept. 11, 2002. I've just registered the domain, spektrumcreations.com and am working on comiling the pages into a tight interface that is easy to navigate and that will be entertaining as well as informative. I'm also working on putting together a new set that I'll play live. I'm putting together the CD-ROM portion of my next release as well and plan to approach some record companies about it, when the time comes. That's basically it for now. cj

Time for a break... I've just completed adding some new artists to my mp3.com radio station, Bartime. I'm going to create a new one within the month and I'm looking for new artists on mp3.com to add to that playlist. I talked to Eric today. I was told that he'd be visiting Kansas City in August so, maybe we'll get a chance to sit down and play a little before he goes back to San Diego. I've talked to him about adding messages to this journal eventually and he liked the idea. He's sending me a tape of some songs that I'm hoping to add to mp3.com so he'll get the attention he deserves. I'm going to call that my post for the early morning of Independence Day, 2001. cj

I had a rather productive day working out the primary pages of the new website for my grandma's site. I'm really starting to like where it's going. As I suspected, I've started seeing that my grandpa has a lot of the knowledge that I wish I could have asked my grandma. It's funny how that works. Well, it's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. Later... cj

Today I found a new channel on our digital cable subscription. It's called TechTV. It's totally dedicated to all things computer related. It's my new favorite channel. Yeah me! So, I'm in the beginning stages of creating a new website, joanpatterns.com. Joan Patterns was something that my grandma did with the help of my grandpa. They made a decent living off of this and other projects, as I understand. When my grandpa and I started talking about the possibilities for the site, he said to me, "Who would have thought ten years ago that Joan's grandson would be doing a website for her." I was moved by it. I started writing a new story from a dream that I had about a week ago. It was so dramatic and complete that I just started writing it without much thought of how to start it. I'm going to need to work out a few details because of the science-fiction elements involved. Some of the research that I'll need to look into is quantum astro-physics. It's not all that important that I follow the rules set forth in this area of study but, in order to tell the story, I'll need to have characters that are experts in the subject. At present, I'm only planning on it being a short story, maybe a hundred pages or so. If it is really good, then perhaps I'll write a screenplay of it to sell, or even publish it as a book. I'm tentatively titling it 'The Morning Star' or 'Bang II". I've written a few new songs in the last week and I'm expecting a tape of some new songs from Eric so with his permission, I might add them to a new D.A.M. CD on mp3.com. I sent him a copy of the songs from "For The Road" & "Good D.A.M. CD". I should hear from him in the next couple days and maybe I'll get a review from him. Alright, I think that's all I've got for now. Take care and love always... Chris Johnson