Copying, stealing, derative works. Some thoughts

When you where in kindergarten, or first grade. Little anyway. Let’s say you’ve made a drawing. You’re mighty proud of this masterpiece. Let’s think about the following scenarios:

1, Someone takes your painting and draws something on it.
Obviously you’re heartbroken since you’re drawing is now destroyed.

2, Someone draws you painting again, copying it with crayons.
This is probably not as upsetting, it probably depends on if it was one of the cool kids or not.

3, Someone takes you’re picture, walks over to the copy-machine and makes a copy of it and keeps it in his or her drawer, never showing it to anyone.
Do you even care? you’re a toddler.

4, Number 3 makes a copy and gives to his or her best friend.
you’re getting popular right?

5, The same copy machine is used again and the kid from example NR 1 is not destroying you’re drawing but extending it on his/her own copy.
Does this upset you? I don’t think so, you have you’re own painting still and the other kid has a new one.

So what does this all mean? I’m thinking that when we grow up, we loose a bit of common sense kids have but we keep (and expand) some of the feelings and reactions that we thought we have grown up from.

Better geocaching coordinates (or QR-caching)

As you all know I like to do some geocaching once in a while, but I’m often a bit surprised as how wrong the coordinates can be. This is sometimes frustrating, and could easily be fixed, all you need is enough data. Another peeve is that you need to write on paper, to validate your find. I geocache with my phone, I don’t feel the need to write my name on moist paper, nor do I really need to exchange small treasures. It’s the search and the “getting out into nature” that does it for me.

Let me describe the solution to the described problems.

 

1 Every cache has a QR-code.
2 To validate your find all you have to do is scan the QR-Code
3 profit

A few things happens in the background though, when scanning the code, you
* Check the co-ordinates of the device that scans the qr-code
* check the device that does the scanning.
* Looks up the the cache in the database (so the app could present you with a dialog like: “You found “kära jesse” would you like to log it?”)
* Saves the registered coordinates and the device that found it (some devices have better GPS) so that the more ppl log the cache the better it’s co-ordinate gets.
* You log the find.

I think this could be something, I really really do. The more finds, the better coordinates.
Perhaps I should do a little test with the new geocaching.com API’s, guess we’ll have to hide a whole bunch of QR codes then.

Neural Network AudioEffect Imitator idea

I just want to hang this idea out here, one idea reason is for me to collect my thoughts so that it’s not in shambles, so I can go back to check out what I want. Another reason would be for someone other then me to take the idea and run with it.

OK, so this is what I want:
* An AU/VST plugin that can load a settings file (ie neural network) that emulates an effect (be it an old vintage distortion or something other out there)

This is how I think it could be done:
* Make a neural network trainer where you input the original audio file, what kind of parameters to run on it, and the expected result. Then then train the neural network with new output and change the parameters to that that would output the new sound-file.

A good thing about being a kickstarter junkie is that open sometimes buy’s really really useful stuff like this: http://www.shiffman.net/teaching/nature/nn/ but in .pdf format, and with even more info. So maybe, maybe I will be able to make this happen even though I previously thought I lacked the math skills needed.

 

Now if you’lll excuse me I’m gonna do a whole lot of reading.

Sunday afternoon fun.

Installing Lion on the old macbook.
Re-installing Lion to remove all old-stuff so I can give the computer to the missis.
Re-installing windows on Tova’s computer, some odd dll was missing, reinstalling seems like the least problem for me.

Fixing my bike, some moron tried to steal it Friday (during the day) but failed, since it was locked. What the idiot managed to do though was to break one of the gears of off the bike, since the lock got stuck there. I could not find the pannier, or bicycle-basket that I would have guessed it was called in English. Oh, well. I managed to get the gear back on and the metallic o-ring that keeps it in place also. I hope it will last for a while, it seems safe.

Shame I fixed it without using Staffans weld.