Music Tech Class

Celebration! My Meta Data Works!

2006-04-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

My website comes up when I google search my name! Yay!

Culmination of Tech Class

2006-04-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

After consulting with the "road map" and presentation requirements I would just like to organize what I have done this semester.

1. Blog - this is my course blog. I have tried to be inspirational and reflective. In addition to blogging about assignments, I have extended it to include articles about technology in the NY Times or Yahoo. I enjoy reading news headlines and articles with my morning coffee, so I just took it a step further by blogging a synopsis and attaching a link in case anyone else was interesed.

Additionally, I created a commercial blog, an mp3 blog, and a newsfeed blog. The commercial blog hasn't really gone anywhere because I haven't put the time into really developing it yet, but it did give me the chance to sign up for google adsense and figure out where to paste it in the blogger template. My mp3 blog was for the purpose of adding my own mp3s to my classical music digest blog. The mp3 blog is special because I edited the html to embed the sound clips. The feed digest blog I will discuss later.

2. Flash Creations - I created two animations, start/stop buttons, and a movie. Additionally, I experimented with the action script examples that Chianan sent us, but did not save or publish them.

3. RSS Feed Digest - I wanted to create an mp3 digest out of syndicated podcasts and mp3 blogs, so I first created my own mp3 blog. Then I created a feed digest blog, created a feed digest, added the urls of podcasts/mp3 blogs, and edited the keywords so that items more specific to classical music and flute would appear.

4. Dreamweaver - this has been my main program for web design. It is relatively simple to use, yet I had trouble with the very beginning steps (like the opening menu....which is really confusing!) so I bought a book which helped me get over my minor "new computer program that I don't know anything about" fear. I can't say that the book taught me all that much (since the program is so straightforeward) but it did help me with the important steps of creating folders and always saving files to those specific folders. In addition, I have used Photoshop a great deal with creating and importing images, and taken advantage of the "import flash" method, since I used flash animations on my website.

5. I have not really experimented with wikis (although, I have definitely looked up things on wikipedia before!). I did create a swicki and place it on my commerical blog. Again, quite simple to do, the only moderately challenging part was placing it in the right place of the blogger template. However, I'm getting pretty good at editing the template and putting things where I want them to go on the first attempt these days. I have not created anything on Moodle, however, last semester my flute teacher Keith Underwood had a student who created a flute website for Keith's students using Moodle. The idea of it was really good because flute pictures, mp3, movies, or whatever could be shared. However, groups like these need active participation to be successful, and the members became somewhat disinterested after a month or two.

6. Domain and server - I am using Startlogic because, when I did a google search on web hosts, Startlogic was in the top 10 on more than one ranking chart. Another motivating factor was that Startlogic advertised 1 year and a free domain for a flat rate of $50. That was the cheapest one I saw, particularly since I plan to use my ElaineOlschesky.com website after this class. And the nice thing is - I don't have to worry about paying for it again until January. I don't remember the particulars about the web server perks, just that it gives me more memory than I would ever need and it promises a fast upload time.

7. Web design, etc. - That is all discussed in the post below.

This sums up everything I have learned this semester. I feel like I have accomplished a lot by developing a website with my own domain name. We touched on a lot of ideas in class, and even though I didn't use all of them for my website, perhaps I will in the future. Speaking about the future, I definitely plan to expand my knowledge further when I have the time. I would love to become more fluent in Flash language and once day rebuild my website completely using Flash. For now though, my website is pretty cool and definitely effective for advertising purposes. Thank you Dr. Gilbert and Chianan for teaching this class and giving me the opportunity to enhance my technological abilities!

New and Improved Website

2006-04-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I spent about 3 days revamping my website. It needed it - the first idea I had wasn't going anywhere and it was kinda lame. It, however, did give me a chance to learn how to use Dreamweaver. I'm also really glad we at least touched on a couple different website formats in class because it helped me to become more aware of options available in Dreamweaver.

I chose to use a table in both versions of my website because I really like the format of websites in which all the pages are the same template through the use of tables or CSS. Like I explained in class, the table doesn't start on the top of the page because I wanted the fun music background to show up, and my table is 600 pixels wide because it's a good size on the screen.

I seriously think the best part of my website is the picture of my flute. I cannot believe how well that turned out! I think that it was a combination of a lot of things. First, i put my flute on a white background, and that led to the sparkly, clear picture. I also put it on a black background.... but for whatever reason the pictures keep ending up really blurry. I'm not sure if the backgound or the amount of light in the room was to blame. I took the pic with no flash, and I think that my apartment was on the dark side when I took the pic with the white background. Too much light on an already shiny flute surely would cause blurriness, so maybe that's why the black background didn't work.

I had originally planned to have a flash movie somewhere on my page, but I thought that a scrolling gif animation would be perfect. I'm not anti-flash, I just haven't had a chance to fully immerse myself in it yet and feel more comfortable making a text animation than a text movie.

The buttons I love as well. I made them (and their mouse overs) all in Photoshop. It was really time consuming, but I like them a lot.

The only other real challenge was creating the template for the pages, but the nice thing was that once I created one I could just delete the info, write something different for a different site and "save as". The content is no different than in the first version of my website, so I didn't really have to think about what I was writing this time.

So, all in all, I'm really proud of my website. I think it's a great reflexion of my personality and what I want to present to the world.

Issues with MySpace

2006-04-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that I don't know much about MySpace - Online friend networking things aren't really an interest for me. Technically I am a member on facebook and friendster, but that's only because on both occasions I wanted to look at pictures on someone's specific site. I know that's it's addictive for some people though. My little sister (who is a college freshman) is absolutely obsessed with Facebook.

Although these sites are not an interest for me (I'd rather call someone up, send them an individual email, or work on improving my own website) I can see the benefits for advertising purposes. I actually went to a concert a couple weeks ago with a friend who learned about the particular band's performance date on their MySpace site. Many musicians use it as their personal website instead of developing one with their domain name, and it kind of makes sense. MySpace is considered "cool" and it allows you to upload sound clips - it's perfect!

However, in their naiveness, many people don't realize that everything they (and their guests) write in their MySpace account comes up in google searches. Actually, so does everything that we write on blogger. Clearly, this is not an issue for us, because, as an educational blog, we WANT our journal entries to extend as far as possible. However, we just need to know that nothing on the internet is completely private. Therefore, personal blogs, which, among young people, ends up being mostly gossip about classes, teachers, and other people, are actually open for the world to read. Therefore, people may want to exercise caution when writing blogs to make sure that all material is appropriate for presentation to the world.

Swicki mania!

2006-04-12T09:40:00.001-07:00

I created a swicki and placed it on my commercial blog, Music Accessories that Rock!

The entire concept Swickis is still quite new to me, but a specially designed search engine is a great idea. It can lead you to the exact sources that you want to look at sooner than a google search can. Actually, it would be awesome is if there were a swicki directory so that people could use other people's swikis on particular topics. In fact, something like swicki could lead to the downfall of google or yahoo as the big search engines. There could be something like www.swicki.com, which would act like a regular search engine, then the results would be links to swickis on that topic. Then you'd get the direct search results you wanted. However, the downside to that is the "extra step" or doing a search to find the swiki before getting results. People might lack the patience to do the extra step.

Regardless, creating and using a swicki is quite simple and it may be the search engine of the future!

Dreamweaver as a Web Builder

2006-03-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

I am very excited about CAI now that we're into the setting up domains/web design part of the class. I purchased my domain and a host back in January, but was previously too confused about the process of designing webpages in a format other than hand written HTML on the NYU Homepage to do anything with it.

The truth is, I already knew how to do 95% of what was necessary to start using my web host, and Dreamweaver is relatively simple to use, but what was completely dumbfounding me was that 5% that I didn't know. Mostly that's because that 5% included precisely HOW to start using Dreamweaver and SAVING FILES to the right folders (both on my own computer and on my web host's folders), and UPLOADING the files to my web host.

Uploading my pages from my computer to the web host actually turned out to be quite the trial and error process. Things would "look" like they loaded onto my web host's directory, but they'd be blank when I looked at them. Have you ever wanted to scream at your computer? I did!!!!! But then I calmed down......as it turns out, those "5% mystery" items turned out to be the things necessary to have absolutely correct to upload my files to the web. I basically had done a combination of things wrong as far as saving files goes, and on top of that I didn't have the correct information saved in Dreamweaver regarding my FTP connection information. Once I figured that out though - it's smooth sailing from there!

So, I have successfully used Dreamweaver to create the first draft of ElaineOlschesky.com. It's not the coolest website ever (yet, anyway) but it's the general information that I want to make available and it's the general format I would like to use. My index page is temporary because I want to have a really cool flash movie and music and stuff, but for now at least I have something up. Check it out if you're bored!

My Website Ideas

2006-03-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

Over spring break I made an investment in my computer education - I purchased two books. One is on Dreamweaver 8, the other is on Flash 8. Why purchase a paperback book when I can probably find all my answers online in tutorials, you ask? Well..... I've tried to do some tutorials, and I find it a little frustrating to continually switch computer program windows, especially if I don't immediately "get" the concept at hand. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but to me, the book is easier.

I'm really excited about my books because they seem like they will take me far in developing a website. My goal is to have a really cool Flash based index page including a cool Flash movie, then develop the rest of the pages using Dreamweaver. This will allow me to learn the webpage development process using both programs. Watch out - elaineolschesky.com is underway!!

Blogging for Performers, Part 1

2006-03-02T12:29:00.000-08:00

I get the impression that we're supposed to find ways to tie blogging to music education in this setting. Although I am a music student in an educational institution, my mind does not instantly associate those things together. Maybe it's because we're trying to tie it to the academic side of music rather than the performance aspect. The majority of my day consists of either playing the flute, thinking about my practice/rehearsal sessions and ways to improve them, or studying music (either visually or aurally). Right now I see blogging only as a course requirement and I want to find a way that it can directly help me as a performer so that it might become more meaningful to me.

I suppose that one way blogging can help performers is by acting as a practice journal. Personally, I've always hated practice journals. The idea that I am supposed make up a schedule for what I want to do and follow it directly is a pain because often times it means that I don't spend enough time on things I really need to work on and I spend too much time to the point of boredom on other skills/pieces. I think practice should be based more on internal motivation, and I would rather work on music in order of significance or preference.

As much as I dislike the thought of keeping a practice journal blog, I do think that it could be beneficial for other musicians/flutists to read about my daily practice schedule. People might be curious about how other people spend their practice time. I know that I always find it interesting when famous flutists talk about their daily warm up patterns. I wouldn't say that it influences me too much with regard to my own - it's just interesting information to let my brain feast on for a bit.

With that same thought it mind, I would not be interested in hearing other people's comments about my own practice schedule. Maybe that's closed minded, but I think that practice is kind of personal and (assuming the person knows productive ways to practice) what is effective for one person can be completely counterproductive for another. I'm not really interested in someone else directly critiquing me about that. Maybe that's just me though. There's several highly educated musicians in this class (and 4 flute players nonetheless!), maybe you have something more to offer.

The concept of blogging as a practice journal is my only idea for now, but I plan to continue with this thread for at least one more post after I gather more ideas. I am definitely open to comments.

Spam in Technology and Beyond

2006-02-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

10 years ago when you heard the word "spam" you'd think "oh, yeah, that meat-like substance in the can!!!" but today its just a short word for "junk mail". In the article "Spam Mutates", Tom Spring takes a stand on spam and how it makes everyone's lives more complicated.

Spam in our email inboxes is old news - spam in the comments sections of our blogs is the newest form. What is difficult about fixing this problem is that there is no "junk mail" filtering to prevent it, per se. There is even a particular kind of spam blog out there - it's called a "Splog". The simplest definition of a Splog is a blog that is created purely for marketing reasons.

In light of that revalation - what, if fact, makes our attempts at commercial blogs different than Splogs? Perhaps it's the fact that at least to some extent we will provide information about the products we are trying to market instead of just website links. Also, our current attempts at commercial blogs are based on using Google Adsense ads, while the Splogs simply use the blog format to post links to websites that it turn will lead to money making. Go ahead, press "next blog" and my guess is that in the next 5-10 blogs you'll come across one of these Splogs.

So how do we go about cleaning up the spam in our life? Most email servers these days have "junk mail" filters so that only important emails will make it to your inbox. The problem with that is that sometimes REAL emails get stuck in the spam box. Sadly, I end up checking my junk mail as much as my inbox in case someone who isn't already on my "safe list" has emailed me. How about preventing comment spam.......well, Google's blog does have the option of typing in a verification code before submitting comments. This can prevent computers from just posting comments in the spam section, but it doesn't prevent individuals from typing in the code and putting the spam on your website themselves. As far as Splogs go, Google says that we can flag them for objectionable content and they will make every attempt to remove the content or delete the accounts. Way to go Google!

Workplace Blogging Policies

2006-02-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

"According to a survery done by the Society for Human Resources Management in July, 85% of companies do not have a written policy that provides employees with guidelines on what is acceptable to write about in a personal blog." - Amy Joyce, Washington Post

Why would workplaces need guidelines about blogs? you might ask. Well, because apparently some people have actually been fired from their jobs because of something they wrote or pictures they posted in a personal blog. I myself have been astonished at some of the information people carelessly leave in their blogs. While using the "next blog" button I have come across serious work related blogs by people in the finance industry who apparently don't realize that their blogs are still accessible to the world! People like that are just asking to be discovered and fired. However, at the same time, if a person were to be completely anonymous and change all names, dates, situations, etc., who would really know?

The problem with blogging (like with email) is that there is always a traceable path. Kind of scary. Any work done on a workplace computer has the potential to be found. Even if you don't save it, there's the possibility that your network is interconnected and the tech guys are able to see what is going on on your computer screen. At least, that was my experience when I was doing administrative work at an investment banking firm last year. Any time I saw this little red eye on the bottom right side of my toolbar the ITS guys were checking out what I was doing. Actually, one time when my computer was having a virus problem the computer guy just flipped a switch or something and was able to work on fixing my computer from a completely different room! Woah!

So, I guess to make a long story short, think twice about what you write in your blog or in email. Some things are best left written in an old fashioned paper journal or not written at all!

MP3 blogs DO exist, and now I have one!

2006-02-21T09:41:00.000-08:00

In class last week we talked about how cool it would be to have mp3 blogs and comment on each other's work. What was a source of speculation for us at the time actually already existed! There's a lot of mp3 blogs out there, though most consist of lesser known music in the soul/reggae/hip hop generes. This link will take you to a site that has links to many many many mp3 blogs.

My very own mp3 blog can be accessed at http://elainemp3blog.blogspot.com/

I have used mp3 blogging as my inspiration for my feed digest blog. Many podcasts are actually syndicated, so I have included my own mp3 blog, another person's mp3 blog, and two syndicated podcasts in the digest. Check it out!

http://classicalmusicmp3blog.blogspot.com/

It is fair to Adobe if I keep the Creative Suite?

2006-02-20T07:46:00.000-08:00

Last week my friend Michelle was having major troubles installing her Adobe Creative Suite, and the last thing that tech support suggested to her was to attempt to install it on a different computer. Since my computer is the same model (though mine is a 14 inch and a little newer) she thought mine would be the best, so she came over and installed the stuff and everything works perfectly on my computer.

However, the question at hand is........should I keep it? I have more than enough hard drive space, so that's not an issue. The real issue is whether or not this is fair or legal, and I think that might be kind of a gray area.

On one hand, Adobe TOLD Michelle to install to another computer, and they probably didn't say "but you really really must delete it afterward". However, after reading Adobe's licensing agreement it's definitely clear that a copy bought for individual use can only be installed on another computer if the same user is installing it on a second computer for their personal use and wouldn't be using them at the same time. I interpret that to mean, one copy is on your desktop and one is on your laptop.

Legality aside........it's kind of nice to have some of these applications......that is what is preventing me from immediately deleting. The full version of Photoshop is great, and having the full version of Adobe Acrobat could be really beneficial. I'm not really sure what the other applications do.....but those two alone are enough to keep my interest.

Perhaps some of my guilt about keeping the Creative Suite comes from many many years of Catholic school, but in this day and age people are using the internet and technology to steal things all the time. That doesn't make it right, but it makes it more generally accepted by society. At the same time, I didn't "steal" this software. Really, I just happened to get it based on a lucky coincidence. There's nothing in Adobe's Licensing Agreement about a lucky coincidence like this.

I'm still undecided.........

BLOG - "New York" Magazine, Feb. 20th edition

2006-02-16T11:06:00.000-08:00

The front cover has in huge letters BLOG on the front. I bought it like 20 minutes ago for that reason, and it looks like there could be a lot of info for discussion, so go buy it or read it in the library or find it online or something!

The front cover lists the following topics:

The BLOG establishment

The Traffic Racket

Blognomaniacs

The front cover picture is Peter Rojas of engadget.com, the first blogger to cross the million dollar mark

At the very least this should feed the blogging discussions in class and offer insight on the development of our commerical blogs!

Mommy, Help Me Download Farmer in the Dell to My mp3 Player - NY Times

2006-02-14T21:42:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe how technology has changed so much from the time when I was a child. One of my favorite things was to sit with my cassette player and listen to my nursery rhymes and children's songs tapes. And when I got a little older my younger brother and I used to record mini radio shows with our friends using the "record" feature. The only parental involvement absolutely required for that was asking Mom and Dad to buy new blank cassette tapes!

It's amazing how technology isn't just the new toy for adults or even teens, but now it's available for children as young as age three! According to this article, Fisher-Price is set to release a kid-friendly mp3 player and digital camera for the 2006 holiday season.

There are so many different positions one could take about this information. On the positive side, kids are introduced to the technological age practically from birth so they will grow up with all the knowledge and confidence necessary to use such technology. However, as the article points out, there are several major drawbacks:

This is a toy that requires major parental involvement

This kind of toy requires at least some reading comprehension to operate, and not many pre-schoolers are able to read. Actually, there's a lot of kindergarteners who can't read, and that's age 6!

A personal mp3 player isn't much of a social toy, and kids should be encouraged to play with other children instead of regularly listening to music alone.

Another item of similar interest is the kid-friendly cell phones that are out these days. It is not like a regular phone with a keypad. They only have 4 buttons, from what I can recall. Each one was a pre-programmed number. One was for home, another for mom/dad's work phone, and an emergency 911 button. I can see why this would be of interest because it's really nice to have the opportunity to call and check in with your child regularly, but at the same time, kids need to learn a sense of independence and they can't do that with Mommy calling constantly. It could lead to some major attachment issues in the future.

What do YOU think?

Interesting music tech related articles in the NY Times

2006-02-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

As I was browsing the NY Times online edition with my morning coffee, I stumbled onto the technology section, curious as to what the Times would have to say about such things. Two articles of interest appeared.

Mommy, Help Me Download 'Farmer in the Dell' to My mp3 Player

iPod on the Tracks

The first is about marketing technology to youth. The second explains just how emotionally tied people can be toward their iPods! My observations about these articles will follow later on today.

Finally, I'm a Firefox convert!

2006-02-08T09:37:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with new browsers ever since we began studying HTML last semester. At the time, Safari was my favorite (largely because of the toolbar and address bar layout) and Internet Explorer was my least favorite. I downloaded several of the other browsers we discussed in class as well - Netscape, Firefox, and Opera. The only one that actually impressed me at the time was Netscape (due to it's page loading efficiency), so I deleted Firefox and Opera. Thus, the temporary end of my relationship with Firefox.

Particularly with the use of Blogger, I have notice major difference among browsers, and felt that my Safari, my favorite, was inadeqate. The only browser I like using in Blogger was Netscape, and I'm not the biggest fan of Netscape's layout (thus the reason I've never really been a Netscape convert).

Out of curiosity, and Dr. Gilbert's high opinion of it, I again downloaded Firefox.........

......and now I LOVE it! What I love most about Safari is all here in Firefox. I like the smaller buttons on top, and the bookmark bar just below. Additionally, there is the Netscape-esque efficiency of loading pages. The only downside is that I don't like how the progress of how a page loads is on the bottom right hand corner. I prefer how you can check that progress in Safari's address bar.

So anyway..........now Firefox is my browser of choice! :-)

The Life Long Student

2006-02-07T00:42:00.000-08:00

The other day I stumbled across an interesting writing by a famous flutist who discussed the importance of being a life long student if one hopes to ever learn anything. This is absolutely true in music - you can't improve until you leave yourself vulnerable to the possibility that you could do things better and differently. Ultimately, this brings forth a more rewarding experience for the teacher and the student.

The same thing could be said about technology. In fact, the principle is possibly more important in music technology than music performance. Performance practice for the Baroque era, for example, probably won't change much, if at all, over the next for years, but the music technology of today will become all but a memory in a few years time. The CD players are being phased out by mp3 players, CD sales are dropping due to internet downloads (regardless of the legality), and cassette players are practically extinct.

So where is music technology going next? I think that consolidating technology is probably the next challenge for the industry. I got this idea a few weeks ago when I was shopping for a new cell phone. Cell phones are the perfect example because what was once a device used only to make phone calls now takes pictures, makes short movies, browses the internet, acts as an alarm clock, has a calculator, and keeps your calendar! And NOW - A couple models of the newest cell phones have mp3 players! How cool is that? This feature is still in it's early stages, but if it were possible to seriously store all my mp3s on a cell phone it would be a major technological rival to Apple's iPod.

In conclusion, the world is continually changing, so it is essential to remain an open minded life long student. Who knows what the future brings?!?

I'm an overachiever.....I know

2006-02-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

I finished my first Flash animation! I actually had a bit of a tough time remembering all the steps and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong at first. Right now I just have one text animation very much like the one we did in class yesterday. I'm going to experiment more and possibly post more as the week goes on.

Wanna see it? You can access it through my NYU homepage:

http://homepages.nyu.edu/~emo257/

To do, or to study?

2006-02-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

Learning is about acquiring knowledge, but what is the best method to acquire that knowledge? I believe that every person has a different way of learning based on past success and there is no single correct answer. The best way that I learn is through example. Sometimes words alone aren't enough to get the point across in something as complex as music. Sometimes there aren't words to describe. This method works with one on one or group instruction, but what happens when you try to learn something on your own, outside of an academic setting?

I am now the proud owner of my own domain name and web host, but don't know the next step. I have been studying tutorials on Dreamweaver, but part of me wants to just start making my website even though I don't have so much as the slightest clue as to how to make the site I am envisioning. One should never abandon studying, but sometimes the only way to learn is by making attempts and finding out just how successful those attempts were.

I feel that CAI is a wonderful opportunity to participate in a music technology related independent study that still meets regularly to learn and discuss different aspects on the main topic. My goal for this class is to learn as much as I can about technology in a way that will assist me in developing my personal website.

Temporarily technologically tongue tied!

2006-01-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I bought Macromedia Studio 8 so that I can finally start experimenting with Flash and Dreamweaver. Financially it seemed like that was the best option because at the NYU bookstore Flash alone was like $250 and Dreamweaver $200, so why not get the combo for $300? I really thought about getting the Creative Suite with the full version of Photoshop included (since I only bought Elements last semester) but I just can't swing that much money for something I don't know if I'll even use that much. I feel so fortunate to be a student right now so that I can get technological discounts. Otherwise this stuff would be waaaaaaay too much for me.

I've been feeling so computer savvy since taking Tech Trends last semester, but at the moment I again feel a little technologically overwhelmed because now I have several new programs that I don't know ANYTHING about! In addition to Flash and Dreamweaver, the bundle came with Fireworks and Contribute (I don't even know what those do......), so now I have several new programs to master. Each program comes with a simple introduction, but I am looking forward to checking out more tutorials so that I can become proficient!

First Blog

2006-01-18T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my very first post on my very first blog! I'm excited to finally start the new semester and this class.

Stay tuned for further bloggings!