jonathandonald.com

I’m saving up for a new classical guitar, and that means….Gear For Sale!

I’ve got a sweet Carvin Holdsworth H2 for sale – you can check out the specs at:

Ebay:
1997 Carvin Allan Holdsworth Signature Series H2 electric guitar

Bid early, bid often.

There’s something very sobering about an astronomical event that will not be seen again until every living human being is dead. Well, maybe that’s slightly overstated – how about until after every human being who is alive today has died.

In any case, a neat thing to plan on watching.

June 5 and 6, 2012: Transit of Venus.

Source: SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Thanksgiving? Well, yes, Holidays, family, cold weather, and all that stuff(ing).

No, I’m thinking of something else, namely, Gear Divestment Time.

If you’re looking for a great tube guitar preamp, you’ve come to the right place.

Buy my Voodoo Lab guitar preamp on eBay (auction expires Sunday, Nov 27).

This is a really neat story about feathers recently found in amber.

For the past two days, I’ve been doggedly uploading/cataloging digital photos that I’ve taken in the past two years. The Gallery now contains over 400 600 images. Check it out!

The world may be known
Without leaving the house;
The Way may be seen
Apart from the windows.
The further you go,
The less you will know.

Accordingly, the Wise Man
Knows without going,
Sees without seeing,
Does without doing.

- Lao Tzu

So, news flash, I’ve jumped on the Google Plus bandwagon. I’ve been looking for a way to get out of Facebook, but that site is like an informational black hole – the more data-mass you add to it, the more relentless its gravitational pull. Similarly, the whole reason I got into Facebook was because Everyone Else Is Doing It. Same reason I got on MySpace. Same with Orkut, Twitter, Naymz etc. The greater the critical mass of people (with whom you presumably want to connect with – or show off to), the more you want to use the site.

Unfortunately, the privacy issues with Facebook – and any SNS, for that matter – are significant. The unending series of sneaky manouvers on the part of Facebook, including automatic opt-ins are a constant irritant. Add to this the kludgey implementation, slowness, and lack of useful controls, and my love/hate thing is teetering perilously onto the hate side. It does seem as though Google Plus will be a better Facebook, but it’s brand new and lacks many of the features. (Though if they add “Farmville,” I might just swear off of social networking sites altogether).

In spite of this, the whole idea of centralized social networking web sites annoys the heck out of me. I suppose I’m just an old-fashioned internet hippie (for anyone who needs further proof, I’m actually paying for Usenet access). Yes, I recognize the need for a “commons,” but why is it that we get roped into these monolithic social sites, when all the sharing and collaboration tools are built into the web itself? Once upon a time, we had web sites and web rings. Add a decent search engine, the ability to bookmark (or tag del.icio.u-sly or whatever) and you’re done. And yet – I suppose out of laziness – I continue to visit FB daily, feeding the “monster.” Conflicted, you say? You bet I am.

In a way, Google+ is more threatening than FB because Google has its hands in so many other pies. That Google holds my email, my calendar, my contacts, and now a significant portion of my online social life means I need to be even more aware of privacy risk. Perhaps this post would be more appropriately named “Out of the Frying Pan.”

It seems to me that, like the software industry, the WWW is caught in an endless spiral of reinventing what we already have, as opposed to creating new paradigms and solving new problems. Sorry to get all Andy Rooney here, but I’m tired of how companies like Facebook sucker us in with their shiny toys and are lauded for it. I only wonder how Google will eventually screw us over….and what the next SNS will be to come along and replace it.

It’s so interesting how we anthropomorphize and form emotional bonds for non-human things. For centuries, we’ve imagined the thoughts of animals as being very human-like. It’s no longer considered controversial – it’s almost normal – for pet owners to ascribe emotions and attitudes to their charges, and to treat them as members of their [human] family.

Likewise, it’s somewhat commonplace for people to regard their car with fondness and imbue it with a personality of its own. I even find myself doing this with musical instruments. Yes, it’s a little bit eccentric, but not unheard of. And we’re all familiar with the stories of war veterans’ strong emotions about the military vehicles that they used. Take, for example, all the World War II aircraft that were given names and spoken about with fondness.

Now, as machines become more and more sophisticated, we’re feeling proportionally stronger emotional attachments to them. Something about the perceived intelligence makes technology seem alive, I suppose. Take, for example, this story about the Mars rover Spirit. This article struck me as a benchmark for the new anthropomorphism, or at least the acceptance of it: when have you ever heard a scientist openly stating that they felt a piece of machinery was “cute,” “beautiful” and “accomplished?”

Follow
Follow

When you’re feeling low
Got no place to go
When the love light doesn’t glow
And your friends don’t want to know
Follow
Look past your mind, deep within you must find

Follow

When the frost begins to chill
When you’re dragged right through the mill
You hear a voice that whispers slow
A string drawn taut across the bow
Follow
Look to your heart, and then make a new start

Follow
Follow

And you will fast endure
The sickness without cure
Follow free, follow sure
in this run-through, in this race
in this time and in this space
Rise to break this petty pace
Choose to find a state of grace
Follow

When the wind begins to blow
And the darkness starts to show
You must take comfort, let it go
For as above, so below
Follow
Look to your soul, like a child let it roll
Don’t let the hatred take its toll
Follow

Follow

When the feeling flows
From your head down to your toes
And the light within you shows
There’s a way beyond this woe
Follow

- Gary Lucas

So back in April, I entered Godlyke’s raffle to benefit Japan earthquake relief effort, and I actually won!!

Here’s what I won: a handmade Hao “Dark Side” Omega Overdrive 16 pedal.

Unreal gain, interesting defeatable tone control, and yes, that’s a lavender LED.