Music | Nerdlets

Is Memorization Useful?

Dec 022008

I found this post interesting. It argues that in an age of Wikipedia and Google memorization is unimportant.

According to Tapscott, the existence of Google, Wikipedia, and other online libraries means that rote memorization is no longer a necessary part of education. “Teachers are no longer the fountain of knowledge; the internet is,” Tapscott told the Times. “Kids should learn about history to understand the world and why things are the way they are. But they don’t need to know all the dates. It is enough that they know about the Battle of Hastings, without having to memorize that it was in 1066. They can look that up and position it in history with a click on Google,” he said.

Even if we make an exception for language learning (vocabulary in particular), I think this perspective needs to be nuanced.

Also from the article:

Today’s students are growing up in a world where multi-tasking has
them completely immersed in digital experiences. They text and surf the
net while listening to music and updating their Facebook page. This “continuous partial attention” and its impacts on our brains is a much-discussed topic these days in educational circles. Are we driving distracted or have our brains adapted to the incoming stimuli?

A new book on the subject, “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,” states that our exposure to the net is impacting the way our brains form neural pathways. Wiring up our brains like this makes us adept at filtering information, making snap decisions, and fielding the incoming digital debris, but sustained concentration, reading body language, and making offline friends are skills that are fading away.

Your thoughts?

Sync Thunderbird Address Books using Funambol

Software, Webapps and Websites 1 Response »

Nov 112008

There is now an easy way to sync your Thunderbird addresses and calendars with, well, anything!

Our family uses Mozilla’s Thunderbird to get things done–it syncs up perfectly with Gmail (use IMAP for best results) and Google Calendar (with this plugin). The only persistent problem I have had is getting all our address books to sync across computers (not to mention cell phones, music players, etc). Until last night.

A wonderful sync web-based service called Funambol uses data standards to keep all your address books (and calendars) in sync. It even works across different software, and will sync with your iPhone or Blackberry or other smartphone. It’s free and open source.

First download the Thunderbird plugin. It’s experimental (so you will need to sign into Mozilla and tell them you’re cool), but I have had not problems. You also need a Funambol account (get one here). You may also be interested in a number of other plugins a plugins for Outlook and other applications. Give it a whirl!

Free Media Players and Media Tools

Software 1 Response »

Nov 102008

Some time ago I posted this introduction to free software, promising a series of articles about good free products available for all your computing needs. The promised posts have been slow in coming, but the next in the series is ready for release! You can find other posts in this series here.

This post will lost a couple of free alternatives to popular media players, such as Windows Media Player and iTunes.

Free vs. Free

Of course, WMP and iTunes are both free, aren’t they. Yes they are in the sense you don’t have to pay for them. But both are tightly controlled by companies that want to sell you there products, and there is therefore a cost attached. WMP, for example, requires you to buy a license for DVD playback. You probably didn’t know this since the cost of the license is embedded in your Windows installation, but it’s true. If you’ve ever had to re-install Windows, only to find that DVDs no longer play, you propbably had occasion to learn this. iTunes also has its problems (what software doesn’t), but prime among them is DRM. When you buy Music off of iTunes it is protected in such a way that it only plays on products you own. This is fine, most of the time, but what if the store in question stops supporting your music? Or what if you want to play your music on another product? Bottom line: it’s still their music!

Really Free Media Players

So here are a couple of selections if you want alternatives to iTunes or WMP.

VLC Media Player. This little guy plays every media type imaginable: DVDs (out-of-the-box), mpegs, windows media, mp3s, etc. Let’s put it this way: I never encountered a format that it can’t play. This should be on your computer, if only to be able to play anything you want to. But in addition, VLC offers powerful conversion tools and other handy features, making it an all-in-one media management solution. Want to play a file that a friend sent you that’s in same weird format? Try VLC. Want to convert a DVD so it will run on your iPod? VLC can do that too! Want to setup a server to stream music to your friends on your own personal internet radio station? Well, you get the idea. One disadvantage: VLC lacks a good media library, so it won’t be your default music player.
Songbird (get the 1.0 release here). Songbird can be your all around iTunes replacement. Simple, pretty, with lots of plugins to help you get it running just the way you want. I’ve been using it for awhile, and since it is now out of Beta it is ready for the masses. It’s based off of Firefox, with all the advantages of a built-in web browser, infinite plugins, and open-source code. Great for the iTunes user, and it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Interested? Check out this review.
Foobar2000. An excellent Music player and media manager, especially for the advanced user who knows what words like FLAC, ogg, and bit-perfect mean. It has plugins for almost everything, including your ipod. It’s not the prettiest (though recent versions are much improved), but it does everything, including rip your CDs with double-check for accuracy and automatic replay-gain scanning! It is a Windows app, but runs on Linux perfectly using WINE.
Others: There are a couple of other media players that those comfortable with experimenting can take a look at. First, Amarok, which runs on Linux and apparently on Windows (though I have not gotten the latter to work). Winamp is also popular, though I haven’t used it in years.

Other Free Media Tools

The software above is great for playing videos or music, but you might also need tools to manage your files. Here are some that I use.

Handbrake. All-in-one video converter. Allows you to convert one video format to another, with a special emphasis on easily turning DVDs into iPod videos. You can find other media converters, including some that circumvent copy protection, here.
Orb. Share your music with your friends.
CDBurnerXP. An all-in-one CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray burner. A simple tool for what should be an easy job.
Other video tools: check out this post for more converters.

Don’t Pay for Software

Software, Webapps and Websites 3 Responses »

Oct 062008

I am still a little surprised that people are willing to shell out hundreds of dollars on computer software when there are often dozens of free alternatives available. Most of us use computers for pretty basic tasks: emailing friends, browsing the internet, editing photos, listening to music, writing letters, and maintaining blogs. All of these tasks—and many others—can be performed using excellent free software that is easily installable and maintainable.

Why you should not be afraid of “Free”

Consumer Reports recently ran an article instructing its readers to be suspicious of free software. There reasons were sound, but only apply to a certain kind of “free.” There is certainly a lot of “free” stuff on the internet that can cost you in the end, but there are also a lot of excellent resources as well; the trick is being able to tell the difference.

I think the other reason people are afraid of free software is that they assume it’s “second class.” Since it’s free, it can’t be very good. Again, this applies to some software, but not the kind I’m talking about. Think about it this way: who would you rather buy a car from? Do you pick the used car dealer, primarily interested in his bottom line? Or do you pick the enthusiastic hobbyist, the guy (or girl) who refurbishes old cars because he loves it? All things being equal, the second individual is probably the more trustworthy.

So what do you mean be “free”?

There are three kinds of free. The first type of free software is “free” software—notice the quotation marks. This includes malware (software that pretends to be useful, but actually damages your computer), shareware (software that pretends to be free at first, but then cuts you off after a certain amount of time, or holds back on you until you pay its premium), and crapware (software that really is free, but sucks). Of these, shareware is the only one worth talking about, and even here you should be careful. While I don’t particularly care for the shareware model, there are some useful programs in this group.

The second kind of free software is free in the sense of “free beer.” Many programmers and organizations develop software for their own personal use, and while they want to maintain absolute control over their creation, they nevertheless offer it to others out of kindness (or self-promotion, or for some other non-monetary motivation). So this includes all software that is “closed” (the programmer does not release the source code) but does not require payment.

The third kind of free software is free in the sense of “free speech.” Free-speech software is (almost) always also free-beer software. The difference here is that in addition to being free to use, those who produce the software also publish the “source,” the internal nuts-and-bolts that determines how the software functions. This is useful for other programmers—anyone can improve or add functionality to the software, without having to ask permission or pay a fee. Firefox is a good example here; it is free to use and also free to modify, which means there are plugins that can do almost anything right in the comfort of your browser. This is the best kind of free because, in addition to keeping money in your wallet, you are not ultimately dependent on any one individual or organization, and so your software is less likely to go out of date or be unusable.

The Recommendations: Free Software you Should Download or Bookmark

Over the course of the next few weeks I will be posting about free software to get you started, organized by function. All the software will be at the very least “free beer” software (unless otherwise noted). Most of it will also be “free speech” (open-source) software. I will also include a number of web-apps, which are generally “free beer” services.

The following is a list of the types of software I will discuss in the forthcoming posts. You can check back here, as I will edit this page when new posts are available, or you can always subscribe to the blog and get updated automatically!

Planning/Productivity
Office
Music, Movies, and Media
Internet
Social
Utilities
Photos
Security.
Backup

An Open-Source Alternative to Apple’s iPhone

Tech/Gadgets No Responses »

Sep 232008

No one can dispute it: the iPhone is cool. But Apple maintains absolute control over the software you can install and the services you can use, so the iPhone is still tethered to your home computer. The problem with the iPhone is that it is not open-source.

Google has been working on an alternative platform for some time now, dubbed Android (for a summary and overview, go here, for more technical details, start here). Its not a phone; its a platform, that is, a collection of tools and software that runs a phone. Think of it as an operating system for your cell, and in this case that operating system is free and open-source (for the most part).

The Android platform has been in development for over a year, and today marks the official announcement of the first phone to utilize that platform: the T-Mobile G1, otherwise known as the HTC Dream, and includes a full slide out keyboard and a touch screen interface. Like the iPhone, it will play music (purchases are through Amazon’s DRM-free music store), support podcasts, and include an application store for community-produced software.

Ars Technica reports:

In addition to being chock full of Google’s open source goodness, the
companies have worked to ensure that the Android-enabled Dream is chock
full of familiar features and apps. Users will have one-click access to
all of Google’s mobile apps, such as Gmail, Google Maps (including
street view, a feature that is infuriatingly missing from the iPhone),
Google talk, Google Calendar, and more.

Check out the full story here.

Update: Read The New York Times’s take, complete with pretty pictures.

Sing your way to Greek Proficiency

Biblical Greek No Responses »

Sep 172008

Check out this interview with Kenneth Berding, “author” of Sing and Learn New Testament Greek. The interview deals with this recently released audio CD, which puts the fundamentals of Greek Grammar to music. (I tell my students that, as a general rule, the more active you are in the memorization process, the better, so this sounds like a good idea to me).

A more general interview with Ken Berding, in two parts, can be found here and here. These deal more with the methodology by which we learn languages, and they also get into Berding’s take on why learning Greek is important for pastors.

Another Plug for the Internet Archive

Webapps and Websites No Responses »

Sep 032008

For those of you who have not yet discovered the internet archive, now is a good time. In addition to public domain books, the archive includes a lot of free and legal live concert (bands that want to be included send a statement to the archive, which is on file for legal purposes). As a Béla Fleck fan, this is good news for me, as the ‘tones have a liberal sharing policy.

The Live Music Archive now also includes streaming.

So why not have a taste? Here’s the Flecktones at Planting Fields Arboretum in 2002:

And, while not the best recording, here’s a local show at the Mann Center last month:

New Frontiers in Campaigning

Culture No Responses »

Aug 122008

The Bush era may have created a polarized political environment, but the differences between Obama and McCain are more than political. Increasingly voters are asked to consider the socio-cultural differences between the candidates, whether it be age, race, ideology, or some other factor.

Two recent stories illustrate this trend.

First, and close to my nerdy heart, here is an analysis of Obama’s recent announcement that SMS and Email would be the information medium of choice for his upcoming VP announcement. It’s a move that simultaneously galvanizes young voters, for whom SMS in particular is a primary method of communication, and functions as a kind of pot-shot at McCain’s less than sophisticated utilization of technology.

Second, NPR takes penetrating news analysis to a new level with this story about the candidates top music choices. This kind of thing also appeals to a younger crowd, for whom musical preferences are a way of creating personal identity. In this regard, I wonder how McCain’s choice of ABBA–twice–will resonate.

Web Tools for Writers

Webapps and Websites No Responses »

Aug 092008

Check out this list of handy websites for writers. Here are a couple that I have found particularly useful:

SparkNotes Ultimate Style. The web’s ultimate guide to grammar provides a searchable database of topics and an easy-to-search A-Z list of common questions.

MIT OpenCourseWare. MIT offers dozens of free writing courses through their OpenCourseWare program. Course topics include short story writing, fiction writing, expository writing, technical writing, essay writing and poetry.

Also be sure to check out the Internet Archive, which contains a ton of resources in the public domain. It is a great place to look for old books, lectures, etc. And while your browsing, you can download live music (or go here, particularly if you like bluegrass or the Grateful Dead)!

You will need a good Bittorrent Client to download large items from the Internet Archive.

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Nerdlets

Is Memorization Useful?

Sync Thunderbird Address Books using Funambol

Free Media Players and Media Tools

An Open-Source Alternative to Apple’s iPhone

Sing your way to Greek Proficiency

Another Plug for the Internet Archive

New Frontiers in Campaigning

Web Tools for Writers

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