Hugo Chisholm
Bilingue, musician, photograph, Canadian, and étudiant de la Géomatique in Vancouver, BC.
My Twitter Stream- My Tumblr Blog
- My Flickr Photos
- My Last.fm Music
- My Netflix
- Email me
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Tweets
- @Concreteforests I feel like I'm way to late to cash in on that :(
- My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: The Head And The Heart (2), Beastie Boys (1) & Depeche Mode (1) http://t.co/i8pVShTM
- @Concreteforests lol
- @leacarianna wow, you were still rollin' with that thing? You're a trooper!
- @randrews @davegrapes doing a 4-day hike on the Island this coming weekend. Soon tho
- @randrews get instacast and quit you whining!
- @randrews if you mean getting iTunes match songs, yeah it slows down. But nothing that requires a forcequit. Worse on slow connections
- @randrews amen to that! A bunch of beer feels great at the end of a hard (but sunny) week!
- @randrews simplenote has its API and is implemented in many apps. Also, Notes has far fewer features and no ability for note histories
- I don't know if it has anything to do with the iOS 5.1.1 update, but my iPhone 4 battery life is *dramatically* better than yesterday.
- My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: The Black Keys (42), The Lonely Island (20) & Florence + the Machine (16) http://t.co/i8pVShTM
- This is an awesome article about how a couple of travellers with unlimited first-class tickets lost their privileges. http://t.co/okfR1ZLT
- @TanyaFanya tether with your iPhone. Works very well.
- My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Radiohead (49), Jack White (12) & Quicksilver Messenger Service (10) http://t.co/i8pVShTM
- @randrews "Fiendish Dr. Netflix, you dun FUCKED UP now!!!"
- @randrews I think you've tweeted that before.
- I want an Aeropress
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Posts
- Using GPS in farming is All Right
I’ve been reading The Walrus magazine a lot lately since I got a digital subscription for my iPad. I won’t go into detail about the magazines themselves but for those who aren’t familiar with it they off a broad spectrum of stories from the local and person to the strange and insightful.
Something that caught my eye the other day while reading an article on farming in Canada was how elegantly the author describes how GPS works.
It was full dark now, and the field beyond the tractor’s headlights was a rumour. No matter: the action was all on a small GPS screen mounted to the right of the steering wheel…
…When I asked how it all worked, he tapped the GPS, flipping over to a screen that traced the data stream guiding us. Multiple satellites spun within range in the stratosphere high above us, and they traded information with the tractor’s GPS through a receiver in the main farmyard. A radio antenna on the tractor’s roof received minute corrections to the vehicle’s trajectory, based on triangulations calculated between the various satellites.
(via [“The Farms Are Not All Right” by Chris Turner | The Walrus | October 2011]This obviously caught my eye because of my education in that particular field, but to accurately describe how RTK-GPS (Real Time Kinematic GPS) and not alienate the general audience was great. To those who understood what was being described, it showed respect for the reading audience. To those who know only know of GPS as a “black box device”, they weren’t confused by technical words or complex descriptions.
It’s true: nothing I’ve learned will ever cure cancer, build a better Honda, or even make me a lot of money. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to play the “liberal arts” card and admit that my five-year degree was just something I did for fun before moving on to a mundane career in mid-level management.
- Writing for the benefit of cheaters: A scholarly ghost writer.
The business of writing scholarly papers for cheating students is ramping up at this time of year as we approach the end of term for most higher education institutions. And surprisingly (maybe not to those with experience in the field), few students, and even fewer “ghost writers” get caught doing it.
I work hard for a living. I’m nice to people. But I understand that in simple terms, I’m the bad guy. I see where I’m vulnerable to ethical scrutiny.
But pointing the finger at me is too easy. Why does my business thrive? Why do so many students prefer to cheat rather than do their own work?
Say what you want about me, but I am not the reason your students cheat.
You know what’s never happened? I’ve never had a client complain that he’d been expelled from school, that the originality of his work had been questioned, that some disciplinary action had been taken. As far as I know, not one of my customers has ever been caught.
Ed Dante, the alias of the writer who has made his living for over ten years by producing papers for cheating students, has broken down the types of students that generally ask for his services:
From my experience, three demographic groups seek out my services: the English-as-second-language student; the hopelessly deficient student; and the lazy rich kid.
For the last, colleges are a perfect launching ground—they are built to reward the rich and to forgive them their laziness. Let’s be honest: The successful among us are not always the best and the brightest, and certainly not the most ethical.
…
As for the first two types of students—the ESL and the hopelessly deficient—colleges are utterly failing them.
The article is an interesting read and, as expected, a well written incite into the world of cheaters in our highly praised institutions of higher learning. I have yet to study a subject at school that required me to write an endless body of papers on particular subjects. Although I’m guessing that just like anything else, practicing can make the chore much easier. And roughly $66,000 per year if you choose.
“thanx so much for uhelp ican going to graduate to now”.
Original article: The Shadow Scholar (The Chronicle)
In the spirit of Denim Debate, here is my new pair of A.P.C. New Cure H jeans from Dutil. Denim of Vancouver (seriously though, if you’re in the area, you owe yourself a visit to their gas town store). The New Cure is one of A.P.C.’s (which stands for “Atelier de Production et de Creation”) raw denim pants. As you can tell from the photos, they have a minimalist design and really don’t have any overt branding other than on the buttons. It’s something I really like about them.
These photos are taken after my first day of wear back in September felt really stiff. I’ve been wearing them pretty regularly since then and they could still use some softening! They did loosen up at the knee which was one of the tight spots I was originally worried about, so yay!
That being said, I really like the feel of the fabric. This Jean Touitou knows a thing or two about making quality textiles. These jeans have an option of flat-felled or double top-stiched inseam. My pair are the flat-felled which is used to hide the raw edge of the seam (in this case the inseam) which also has the advantage of preventing fraying.
Since I’m in month 2 of my jeans, I should probably take some new photos of them for the sake of watching their development over time, so expect an update in the not to distant future.
- Paul J. Chambers losses his Twitter case (and a whole lot more)
“Robin Hood Airport is closed,” Mr. Chambers, then 26 and a financial supervisor, said to his 690 followers [on Twitter], who included the woman, known on Twitter as @crazycolours. “You’ve got a week to get your [expletive] together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”
For those who never heard about Paul Chambers’ story, his tweet cost him $4,800 in fines. During the case, the judge also “icily lectured the courtroom about the impropriety of sending Twitter updates during the case”. This gained him a lot support on the internet and the “tweetosphere”. Stephen Fry also got in on the protest.
I find the conclusion of the case to be sad and unfortunate, but I don’t think the law can take social ‘internet’ media so seriously any more. I think things will have to change soon enough. People won’t stand for it anymore.
“I am going to blow up the entire universe with my giant spaghetti bomb,” another said.
Someone else asked, referring to the abbreviation for “laughing out loud,” “If I put ‘lol’ at the end of every tweet, will that protect me from prosecution?”
Roy’s Jeans
To go along with yesterday’s post about fashion, this is another interesting video I stumbled upon through some series of clicks and links that began when I found Denim Debate.
Let me begin by saying that I love the idea behind the site:
See how 22+ denim brands stand up against the efforts of the individuals assigned to wear them in. For the next year our contributors -from all walks of life- will live in their brand’s entry. It will be the job of each to bring the denim to its knees, all the while documenting the progress for you to observe.
I’ll just put it out there that I am a sucker for denim, and independently decided to journal the life of my own new raw jeans when I got mine (will have future posts on this). This blog is a great place to see how raw denim ages beautifully with use.
The video above was also interesting to me because I’ve never really known how denim pants are, or were, made by hand. I know many big name brands must automate almost all of the steps, but seeing the craft and art of hand making a pair of jeans really makes me feel fine spending the $200+ dollars on hand made denim. I totally respect the work and effort put into it.
Anyways, enjoy this video and expect my own follow up to the “Denim Debate” soon…
Style. Style is the answer to everything.
Here’s a cute little video I found on the homepage of Graham Withers Clothing. There’s not much to be said about it; just listen.
Tell me what you think. :)
Last summer (‘09) I went to a music festival in Nanaimo called the Big Easy mainly to see my favourite band Thrice. It was great to see them perform in my neck of the woods and I really hope they come back some time soon.
I was even lucky enough to find a lost media pass dropped by some unassuming journalist which let me get back stage! I met and talked with Teppei from Thrice. It was one of my few star-struck moments.
Thrice being awesome wasn’t a surprise. What was a surprise was finding other good bands at this festival. My big find was a band by the name of Open, Parachute!. The were a local band from Nanaimo and Victoria who disbanded a while back and were brought back together as all of their spin-off projects were all playing at this festival too. I’d never heard of them but I was thoroughly blown away.
Over the past year, they have stayed one of my most listened-to bands. I thought it would be nice to share their music and some of the photos I’d taken of them at the festival. Enjoy.
Two weeks ago (April 30th) marked the 35th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. This was a war fought between communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam with the United States being the main supporter of the south.
The war is well known to have had a huge death toll: between 3-4 million Vietnamese, 1.5-2 million Laotians and Cambodians, 58 159 U.S. soldiers.
Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America - not on the battlefields of Vietnam.
-Marshall McLuhan, 1975
There have been countless movies on the subject, including such well known films as: Apocalypse Now, Platoon, The Deer Hunter, and Full Metal Jacket to name a few.
I hope you enjoy (in the least insulting way) this photo-collage I’ve made.
Right Where It Belongs - Nine Inch Nails [With Teeth] - 2005
See the animal in his cage that you built,
Are you sure what side you’re on?
Better not look him too closely in the eye,
Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?
See the safety of the life you have built
Everything where it belongs
Feel the hollowness inside of your heart
And it’s all, right where it belongs
What if everything around you,
Isn’t quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is that all you want to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself, find yourself afraid to see?
What if all the worlds inside of your head,
Just creations of your own?
Your devils and your Gods, all the living and the dead
And you’re really all alone?
You could live in this illusion
You can choose to believe
You keep looking but you can’t find the woods
While you’re hiding in the trees
What if everything around you,
Isn’t quite as it seems?
What if all the world you used to know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is that all you want to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself, find yourself afraid to see?Here is one from the genius that is Trent Reznor. For those that don’t really know about Trent and NIN, you should take a look because he and his band are quite a unique occurrence. Trent is the only member of the band. He writes and generally records all the parts of NIN recordings. When he goes on tour he does being a band with him.
He is quite an outspoken critic of the music industry which tends to get him into hot water. But over the past twenty years he has fought and won his freedom to be an artist totally independent from a record label. In fact, his latest record was given away freely on his website without any promotion.
This song, taken from his 2005 release With Teeth, came out while Trent was recovering from alcoholism and substance abuse. It always makes an interesting story to tell! I love the lo-fi ambience in this album, but especially in this song.
Turn the lights down and the volume up. Yes, it’s one of those songs.
If the TMI [too much information] posts and status updates on Facebook and Twitter have taught us anything, it’s that users apparently have little sense of boundaries in sharing personal or sensitive information with the anonymous masses.
Tony Bradley in an Open letter to facebook.
He goes on to talk about how fb likes to introduce new interfaces and features, which lately were ‘opt-in’-by-default, without warning.
With this business model, Facebook gets the same net result—half a billion users freely sharing personal and sensitive information with the entire world via Facebook and its third-party partners—but without the legal or regulatory scrutiny.
I don’t even care anymore. People are stupid and I am crazy.
They [Twitter] contain more observations, recorded at the same times by more people, than ever preserved in any medium before.
RANDALL STROSS talking about the wealth of knowledge hidden inside of Twitter (http://nyti.ms/cdGwP7)Ever wonder what it would be like to play through Super Mario Bros. as Bill from Contra!? Or maybe Link, Samus or Mega Man? Well now you can with Super Mario Crossover, a flash game developed by explodingRabbit. The game comes complete with all the music from whatever game your chosen character is form, which is a very nice touch indeed.
I recommend giving it a try. It’s super fun!
Simply put, our customers do not want a world in which it is easy for developers to write apps that run on many platforms. They just don’t. They want this to be hard for developers. I don’t know why — you’ll have to ask the customers. We’re just listening, and doing what they want.
Fake Steve Jobs on the removal of Flash from OS X after real Steve Jobs posted his essay “Thoughts on Flash”Hubble is now 20 years old. It is expected to be in continued use until 2014 when it will be replaced with James Webb Space Telescope. Over its lifetime Hubble has captured some of our most beautiful views of our galaxy and beyond. It has helped solve as many mysteries/theories about our universe as it has created new ones! One of it’s main missions was to help accurately measure the Hubble constant (the rate that the universe is expanding, which also helps in determining its age).
Google Earth has the nifty feature of flipping your view of the world to the stars where you can learn a thing or two about constellations, as well as looking at many well known (and not so well known) images taken by the space telescope. This video is a nice overview of many beautiful images taken with this amazing instrument.
Although astronomy plays a much smaller role in navigation and surveying than it used to, it is still taught to geomatics students of survey technology. For example, with observations to a few stars from a thodolite, and a few other pieces of information (Lat/Long and/or time depending on what you’re solving for), you can determin a very accurate true north azimuth, or you relatively accurate location on the earth (if you happened to not know where you were while having a theodolite handy :P).
For example Willem Barentsz, a Dutch explorer and cartographer of the late 1500s, famous for searching for the northeast passage north of Siberia, used astronomic observations many times to help his navigation. It sounds like a cold trip, I wouldn’t doubt if he wished on a few of those stars while he was at it!
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if you combined social networking, photography and beards together, look no further than Whiskerino.
We are alienated from our own facial hair.Society tells us that full beards are unacceptable. Businessmen, politicians, bankers, and the like are all clean shaven; all demonstrating the standards that middle class society expects us to maintain.
The website is an awesome source of inspiration for those of us who love a good beard, but have a hard time staying motivated in letting it grow out to it’s full potential. As all children and parents know, a solid beard is a fundamental part of being a great and well respected father! All that is required in a great beard is belief that it is great… and maybe some good strong genes. Whiskerino’s rules are simple:
Shave completely clean, post images regularly, interact, participate in themes, be nice. Grow a massive beard.
If you think you can handle it, take a look yonder and behold the power of facial hair!
Guess what I found and subsequently purchased today? Yes, a Radiohead album on vinyl. In Rainbows in fact. I don’t really splurge on vinyl music often but I don’t have any Radiohead yet and I like their latest work, so why not?
This happens to be one of those records that can be easily compared with its digital counterpart for the slight mixing changes that happen in vinyl world. The upper end of the frequency range is a lot smoother and less aggressive in analogue land. The lows also sound a lot more round. I guess you’d be best to listen, and compare if you wish, to a high quality vinyl rip of the album which I’m including in this post! Enjoy :D
Here is the music first of all: MP3 version [73 MB], and for those who want the utmost in lossless quality, here is a 24-bit lossless [too many MB] :P. I recommend the lossless even though it’s huge. It will play in iTunes. Yes it is normal for it to be a little quieter than your other MP3s. Increased dynamic range is one of the measureable differences of vinyl. (Lossless coming in a bit, just uploading)
Some key tracks that I’ve noticed:
15 Step - Drums sound more natural in the intro.
Nude - Drums also sound more natural throughout, but more noticeably in the last minute
Rockoner - Tambourine sounds nice in the intro. Stereo separation sounds different throughout
Jigsaw - Guitar sounds awesome! Snare drum also sounds great.
Tell me what you think once you’ve given it a few listens! :D
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Photos
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Recent Tracks
- Asylum by Disturbed
- On the Floor (feat. Pitbull) by Jennifer Lopez
- In Da Club by 50 Cent
- E.T. (feat. Kanye West) by Katy Perry
- Figured You Out by Nickelback
- Such Great Heights by The Postal Service
- Percussion Gun by White Rabbits
- DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love by Usher
- Wild At Heart by Gloriana
ThriceRise AgainstRed Hot Chili PeppersRadioheadAvenged SevenfoldNine Inch NailsAlexisonfireBilly TalentCity and ColourAudioslaveJoy DivisionBob DylanIncubusThe Black KeysThe Mars VoltaKillswitch EngageLed ZeppelinMetricProtest The HeroA Perfect CircleToolThe OffspringJustin TimberlakeFlookMuseThe DistillersJohn MayerJusticeRatatatCoheed and CambriaChristopher ArrudaAirDustin KensrueThe Smashing PumpkinsThe DuhksOK GoK-OsBoards of CanadaThe Tragically HipMiles DavisMaxïmo ParkBon JoviLinkin ParkJack JohnsonLauThe BeatlesThe Cat EmpireMr. Something SomethingQueens of the Stone AgeSystem of a Down- 67 plays
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