Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Beyonder Domela's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Thursday, May 27th, 2010
9:09 pm	Laptop hunting: Please opine! As I tweeted, the screen on my current laptop finally gave out. It constitutes the final insult on a long list of hardware issues that I had been letting slide. It is time to put it out to pasture and get a new laptop for my VJ work and video editing. I'm interested in your opinions. I am also writing this to keep track of my thoughts so far, but help would be appreciated. Also I'm not LJ-cutting this long post because it feels silly to cut the one post I'm likely to leave for the next 3 months or so. STATE OF THE HUNT Real-time video performance tends to be best crafted in computers marketed to the Gaming Community, So 'Gaming' rigs are mainly where I'm looking. Looked into Alienware but they were bought by Dell and their prices are absolutely astounding. On my last purchase I paid too much for a Dell XPS M1710 which has been given great me performance but was built with moderately crappy parts. I don't want to buy from them again anyway. I like what ASUS puts forward as a company. I'm strongly considering their line, Particularly the G73's Like so: ASUS G73JH-A1 Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) Display: 17.3-inch Full HD LED-backlit Widescreen (1920 x 1080) CPU: Intel Core i7 processor 720QM (1.60GHz-2.8GHz Quad-Core) Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 VRAM Memory: 8GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM, 4 x SODIMM (up to 8GB) Storage: 1TB 7200RPM hard drive (500GB x 2) dual HDD Dimensions: 12.56 x 16.38 x 2.25 ~ 0.08 –inches Weight: 7.48 lbs. (with 8 cell battery and single HDD) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220704 Another model I'm looking at similar to lower powered/priced ASUS systems is a Toshiba model. Something in this class might be a better bet overall. Toshiba Qosmio x505 Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit CPU Type Intel Core i7 720QM(1.6GHz) Screen 18.4" Memory Size 4GB DDR3 Hard Disk 500GB Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M Video Memory 1GB GDDR5 Dimensions 17.40" x 11.60" x 1.63" Weight 9.70 lbs. ASUS G51j Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit CPU Type Intel Core i7 720QM(1.6GHz) Screen 15.6" Memory Size 6GB DDR3 Hard Disk 500GB Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M Video Memory 1GB GDDR5 VRAM Communication Gigabit LAN and WLAN Dimensions 14.60" x 10.30" x 1.30" - 1.60" Weight 7.26 lbs. Please! If you have other recommendations, comment and link me to them! *** misc questions I am happy to have avoided Vista, runing XP all these years. But moving all my software up two generations to Windows 7 is a scary proposition. I'm also reading a wide variety or reports on what consequences I'm likely to run into trying to install my shit on a 64 bit OS. Some reports say it should be a non issue except for old win 98 software. Others cry doomsday and say that nothing works on them? What should I believe on that score? Lots of these same reports say the benefits to running 64 bit OS and 8 gb of RAM is limited by the fact that most software cannot utilize the extra capacity? Is that a load of bull? Am I mistaking this for a Dual-core processor thing? (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 19th, 2010
12:11 am	I'm older. I rudely ditched out on more than one person's birthday party this weekend in order to enjoy a private mini-vacation of my own. If yours was one of them, I really apologize. Life goes well all around. The present is solid and the future has multiple paths that could lead upwards. I've let go of LJ almost entirely as a medium to communicate by... not only because I have little to say in this format but also because there are fewer and fewer people watching. Facebook is just Myspace with web-design and privacy issues. I still refuse it and suggest that you, (yes - you personally) go right now and cancel your account there. The world is on twitter now... If you feel like all of your internet friends have disappeared lately, you probably haven't looked there. If you're a person who justifies not having one by saying they don't "get" twitter then at least find a new reason. That's the phrase that old people use when they're too lazy and feeble to adapt to the most basic of advances in technology. Trust me, I work with them for a living and thats all they'll say: "I don't GET email." "I don't GET this remote control for my DVR" "Can't it just work simpler like what I'm used to?" ---- Don't become what you hate. I also now work with twitter for a living and I can tell you this is a fundamental shift in the internet and the way we interact. If you haven't recently, look again. End transmission. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
1:18 pm	VJ GIG - THU JAN 14: Chiptune 3 Live at the Middle East! I'll be tag-teaming visuals for the event with Cube2the3rd Really solid lineup of chiptune artists too: - minusbaby (from NYC) - Disasterpeace - Oxygenstar - Br1ght Pr1mate - Active Knowledge DJ Radio Scotvoid Check it out. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
1:57 am	I love my car. I'm beginning to think that my hatred for winter was, at least in part, driven by driving old shitty cars for much of my life. So far this year the Valkyrie (My Subaru wagon) has managed to entirely shrug off the effects of winter. It's literally as if I'm not even driving on or through snowy surfaces so far. Not that this winter has been all that heavy or cruel yet, but I'm still impressed. So far I've only gotten her to fishtail once after making a rather large driver error. Otherwise my excessive worry about driving in the snow has been completely unfounded now that I'm driving a car made within the last five years. Having the right tools for life really does change your outlook in large ways. If nothing else it gives me the confidence to go out in the world when I might not have dared otherwise. And that really can't be such a bad thing. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
12:11 pm	Dream fragments and emails Just woke from vivid dreams of the kind I don't get often. I recalled a surprising level of detail so I'll leave it ( behind a cut ) (Comment on this)
Friday, December 18th, 2009
2:51 pm	listening to "Fennesz - Perfume For Winter" on Blip Ambient drone with enigmatic musical structures - a really unique listen (Comment on this)
1:08 pm	listening to "Abney Park - Stigmata Martyr" on Blip Dark, Deliberate and exotic. Excessively gothic vocals notwithstanding. (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
8:26 pm	listening to "Karsh Kale - Milan" on Blip Mind-blowing Tablas and crisp production that rivals the work of Talvin Singh. (Comment on this)
1:25 pm	listening to "Kinobe - Slip Into Something More Comfortable" on Blip Island breezes and tropical drinks. - A long time classic of my chillout set. (Comment on this)
11:49 am	listening to "Perfume Tree - Home" on Blip Dream-state electronic with honey sweet vocals. (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 13th, 2009
8:54 pm	another great video from the S.C.E.N.E party last weekend. Br1ght Pr1mate rocked out that night. I'm certainly a fan. you can also see the rest of the videos posted here (Comment on this)
3:03 pm	Blip.fm I've been remis about sharing music on this journal lately... something I used to do with some frequency. I've discovered that Blip.fm (twitter's music service) is infinitely more useful for that type of media sharing. Both in saving me time to post, and in creating a coherent format to present the music. I invite anyone who has enjoyed the songs shared here in the past to pick up my feed there: http://blip.fm/beyonder (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
1:44 am	S.C.E.N.E So Friday night I did video at the Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem, MA. at The Salem Chiptune, Electronica and Noise Extravaganza (S.C.E.N.E) - It was probably the best show I've played this year. High energy and a great vibe all around The show was a collection of local Chiptune and circuit-bending artists: Computer at Sea (crazy circuit bending) Br1ght Pr1mate (Gameboy and Vocal duo) Bubblegum Octopus (psychotic hardcore glitch) Active Knowledge (Classic chiptune goodness) The only video available so far is from Active Knowledge's set: I made a lot of decent connections and had more fun VJing that I have in quite a while. The performers were definitely musicians and got into their work...but they weren't bands who had no clue what I was doing and how to appreciate it. It rated nicely between the impartial but satisfying experience of doing video at a club and the tiring but thankless job of working with a live band. Good times and here's hoping that I connect with more Boston 8-Bit and RSVP events in the future. Current Mood: content (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
5:24 pm	So yeah, twitter is the crack that everyone said it would be. But not in the ways I has envisioned. Honestly it just serves the social function that I once ( not actually more than a year or two ago) used a combination of LJ and I'M to accomplish. It works more efficiently and has more visibility - but there's less control over the flow of information. That last part hasn't yet been problematic yet. But takes some getting used to. You can't fight change. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
7:27 pm	Twattering So there is a twitter account now, mainly because much of what I think to share in a given day. Is not worthy of recording . Also because so many people have forsaken both LJ and IM in favor of this one service. http://twitter.com/beyonder_domela I do resolve to continue updating here when I have anything of substance to say. This does still hapen ocasionally and, when it does, 140 characters just ain't gonna cut it. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
10:02 pm	stealth visiting So my tiger-style kung fu was no match for iamyourgoldfish's ninja coast-hopping. Aparently I have visitors for the evening. Who could have known there would be californians drinking my beer on a Monday night? Badass. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 20th, 2009
6:20 pm	My money sometimes turns into video games when I' not paying attention. New super mario is enticing and will likely take up most of this evening. If la_flechette and I can figure out how to keep out of each other's way in the co-op play it could be a real hit. Japanese food first though. For less cranky. Current Mood: lazy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
9:07 pm	I think I may have seriously alienated a co-worker tonight. He told me his gilfriend was fanatic for the twilight books. He looked so _sad_ by the time I was done ranting. I guess not everyone can pick a keeper. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
3:07 pm	UA fodder I've been thinking over and over again: The Voynich Manuscript smacks of the occult underground. It's been open on my desktop for a week. I want to use it as an artifact to base a campaign around. But that sort of creativity has abandoned me in recent years. Steal the idea if you like it. - You can download the full thing as a PDF - here (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
3:18 pm	Also... Zoe from firefly is married to Morpheus from the matrix? Since 2002? How do I miss this stuff? That's awesome on so many levels. (1 Comment |Comment on this)