Facebook and Me

It was one of those moments in your life where you do something even though your mind, body and soul tell you not to. Sort of like most people’s first drug experience or the first couple of minutes before you commit an armed robbery. You don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, but you do know that things will be forever different after you do it.

I typed in my e-mail address, came up with a password and clicked the sign up button. As the website registered my account, I could sense my mind trying to send the electrical current down my spine and into my finger, telling it to click the exit icon on the top left of the screen before it could completely sign me up. It is only because of the inspiring words of my friends that I was able to resist this urge. They have been telling me that this is what I need to do for so long now it’s not even funny. They were there with me, waiting out this horrific moment.

I asked why it was taking so long, they all laughed at me and assured me that it was standard procedure. I waited and waited, each second going back and forth between feelings of happiness and extreme regret. Happiness because I was putting an end to constant nagging from friends, and extreme regret because I was finally becoming part of the world of Facebook.

At last, I was in. For me, the first second on Facebook was a lot like what Neil Armstrong probably felt like when he first stepped on the Moon. I felt like I was finally witnessing what everyone had been relentlessly hyping up for the past two years. Like Armstrong, I cautiously took my first steps into the world of Facebook by accepting the numerous friend requests that had been waiting for me for the past couple of years, still unsure of my initial decision to even sign up. Then it hit me.

I can imagine what Neil Armstrong felt when he caught his first glimpse of Earth from the moon, because it is what I felt when I made read my first few “wall” posts. People were so nice and supportive of my decision to join them in the world of Facebook, it really made me feel like I was living one of the rare, special moments in life like stepping foot on the moon or proposing to your future wife.

I logged out of my new account and took some time to reflect. I had been living without Facebook for two years, and I not only didn’t have it, but I hated it. I had witnessed creative, intelligent, active people waste hours and hours in front of a computer screen on what I thought was a wretched website. Many of my friends would probably say that my hatred for Facebook was a symptom of a deeper, more complex social inadequacy. However that is besides the point, the fact is that I hated the website for no other reason than the fact that it was becoming more commonplace than Christianity.

Now that I am on Facebook however, I see it for what it really is and I’m learning to love the ability to live out the human experience in the most technologically forward way.

Rather Daft, Isn’t It?

It seems that Daft Punk has had something of a revival this past year or so. Perhaps it’s because rappers like Busta Rhymes and Kanye West have sampled their work in their big hits. Maybe however, it’s because people are starting to give electronica, in general, a fair chance.

Although it’s not as if people didn’t always like techno, it’s always had a firm and loyal core audience, but it seems as though even the most die hard rock fan is starting to appreciate elements of electronic music that they couldn’t, for one reason or another, before. When you think about it, it really starts to make sense; electronic music often has the same intensity and climactic buildups that some of our favorite rock songs are built from.

But even if there is a sudden general appreciation for electronica coming to be, Daft Punk has always been one of the groups that has been genuinely appreciated by rock and hip hop fans alike. There seems to be something in their tone and overall presentation of their material that translates most cultures and “scenes”.

Hailing from France, Daft Punk was started in the early to mid 1990’s by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. It was during a time when house and electronic music was by no means new, but was budding into a healthy alternative for people who didn’t fancy themselves punk, metal or grunge fans. Their first album Homework, was a small release in 1997 with massive critical attention that would be followed up with their second album Discovery in 2001.

Perhaps the single most voiced argument against electronic music among its haters is that “it doesn’t require any musical talent.” Indeed, this is an ignorant argument, but Daft Punk breaks this assumption by playing rock instruments on most of their material and most often using synthesizers and drum machines to fill out the rest of their signature sound.

Daft Punk is one of my favorite groups for a few reasons. First off, they have been one of the only groups in the history of electronica that has been able to garner respect from most music circles, and in turn, bringing fans of music together worldwide. Perhaps the main reason for the success of Kanye West’s hit “Stronger” is that the Daft Punk sample in the chorus is recognized by music fans of all kinds (which says something about both Daft Punk’s influence and Kanye West’s genius). Secondly, the duo uses engaging and interesting themes like overwhelming technological advances and robotic societies to give the sparse lyrics of their music much more meaning than a lot of other electronic music that can often have menial and redundant themes like partying and sex.

A New Discovery On 88 Keys

A Few Things of Moderate Interest

An Intro

Two Point No: (A slightly bitter prediction for the future of the Internet)

Eric Clapton once said somthing to the effect of, “The state of music, as it has always been, is 5 per cent good and 95 per cent rubbish.”

This quote really sums up the way that I feel about Web 2.0. I think that for every useful advent that it brings to us, we are also presented with numerous other applications and programs that are by and large useless.

For example, I think that a site like del.icio.us is a great innovation. Given, website bookmarking is not new, however they way in which it is presented and the ability to check out what your friends have been surfing on the web make it a very handy innovation. The creators of del.icio.us have taken somthing new and added worthwhile functions to it, sort of like a alarm clock with a CD player or a those salads where you can eat the bowl when you are done. Del.icio.us allows us to look at the same information and readings our friends find interesting, which could be useful for many things, especially homework. Salad, alarm clocks and online bookmarking sites are not new, however when useful applications are added, they can take on a whole new functions.

On the other hand, let’s take a look at Twitter. Now, it could just be that in my recent introduction to Twitter I have not been able to use it to it’s fullest potential, but I don’t see the use of this site. As far as I can tell, it’s sole function is to tell you, in less than 250 words, what you’re friends are up to. Do we really need to know these things? Are our own lives so boring that we feel the need to constantly check up on what people are doing? That’s why it’s so great to see your friends in person, because you can tell each other WHAT YOU’VE BEEN UP TO. I get the feeling that in 10 years, everyone’s Twitter account will read : Seeing what (insert name) is up to.

I really am not a bitter person, however I will wait out this current Web 2.0 craze a few years until the true benefits are revealed and once people figure out that sites like Twitter and FaceBook offer nothing you can’t get from talking to a person face to face.

Here’s another blog that, in some ways, speaks of the same frustrations.

Tune In (Or in this case, Tune Out)

Gibson USA, one of the world’s leaders in guitar manufacturing, has recently released a model that has left me dissapointed and rather bummed out. The Robot Guitar is a new model by the company that actually tunes itself. I really think that this is a good example of technology becoming to advanced for it’s own good. I play the guitar, and I can tell you that digital advances in music have been a great aid to my playing. Digital footpedals, amplifiers and recording equipment are all very nifty innovations that have made all things not related to actually playing the guitar much easier. However, I think that when a guitar is able to tune itself, we are in turn allowing ourselves to forget a very crucial skill set: MAKING SURE YOU ARE IN TUNE.

Now you might be thinking: “Well, why do you need to know how to do that if your guitar does it for you?”

Well, how about when you go camping or to a party and people ask you to play them a song on a nearby acoustic guitar. You discover that it is wildly out of tune so you go to press the “Tune” button. SURPRISE!!! You find that it’s not there because it’s just a plain old acoustic guitar. So you look like a bumbling fool who can’t even tune their instrument, which is a shame because you might be quite the shredder, but you just never learned how to tune your instrument because it always did it for you. Or, what if you’re playing a show and it malfunctions? How embarassing would it be to not be able to get in tune in front of 70 people eagerly awaiting your next song?

Now don’t get me wrong, this guitar is perfect for seasoned players who are just looking to keep going out of tune from interupting their playing. But it’s the kids that I’m worried about.

My worst nightmare is a kid who wants to pick up the guitar and his parents but him this robotic guitar. The young boy or girl might end up being an amazing player and joining a band. However, if they never learned how to tune their instrument, they are at the mercy of a machine to keep them sounding good. And this is the big problem.

Machines, like for example a self-tuning guitar, are great inventions. But when we become so dependent on them that we are lost if and when they malfunction, that is a very bad thing. My theory on machines is that we must first be able to complete a certain task before having a machine do it for us. If we know, for example, how to change a tire and are simply so tired of doing it that we create a machine to do it for us, that’s fine. However, when we create machines to do things for us that we don’t know how to do in the first place, well, slave isn’t the right word but it’s the first word that comes to mind.