Carbon Based

Daily Bread

A showcase of things we've done, things we like and other random rantings...

29.4.06

A Toast!

Today we toast the unacknowledged genius of Gyorgi Ligeti.

a man born and raised in troubled times, mr.ligeti is a student of "question." he apparently abandoned time signatures, abandoned melody, harmony and rhythm and embraced absurdist theatre, to name a few. his coming of age was spent working along side stockhausen and g.m. koenig. i find it pertenant to mention that the departed stanley kubrick found his music the MOST suitable to sonically reinforce his most moving moments: the ape touching the stone in 2001? ligeti. the mask-removal scene in eyes wide shut ("duh, dah dah, duh duh, dah dah duh...")? ligeti. and the man is currently 83.

during hungary's communist occupation (and i think this is about as pimp as pimp gets) he "had to secretly listen to radio broadcasts to keep abreast of musical developments." if thats not musical devotion, i dont know what is...

hats off, beers up!
posted by carlito sway at 21:55 1 comments


Another case of: PRODUCT CONVERGENCE!


man, i wish i had one of these in my house! or at least nearby...

its a BEER spa, and dig the photo... and its got POUR YOUR OWN SPOUTS right THERE! i cant beleive it!

IM GEEKIN OUT!

200 euros gets you and your better half a weekend getaway involving the biggest beer mug youve ever seen (you sit in it) and every kind of beer-involved food item you can imagine. go here to find out more! (man my mouth is watering...)
posted by carlito sway at 10:04 0 comments


27.4.06

TOGGLE WINDOWS!

COMMAND + TILDE = TOGGLED WINDOW HEAVEN!

k, so we all knew that "command + tab" changed the program on top, and that (in firefox) "option + command + left or right arrow" changed what tab we used, while "command + left or right arrow" moved us back and forth in the history of each tab. and then, by accident, i discovered a feature that i never new existed!

using sites like GUBA necessitate using separate windows (instead of tabs), while also requiring going back and forth between them. aiming for command tab, i miss judged and hit command tilde, which sent my rear window (not hitchcock) to the foreground. not only does this work in firefox, but accross the entire mac platform. NEXT time you have two pshop docs up, or youve got a video playing via itunes, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

NOW YOU KNOW, AND KNOWING IS HALPH THE BATTLE.
posted by carlito sway at 12:34 0 comments


25.4.06

Double Fisting at the Vice Bar

an interesting evening, sprouted from erlend making himself "busy," so i had to fend for meself.

michelle and "mel-e-mel" mellisa were out in the land of the shoreditch twats, chillen with some of their dudes at the griffin. as soon as i entered the door, the barman called "closed!" so we quickly relocated to a closet across the street. at first, the closet was pleasant, in that "hey this isnt such a bad place, if NO one else comes in..." kind of way, where if it was your local, you might entertain coming back now and again. and then more people got there. at this point, elbos rubbed wall, bar, backs, elbos and pretty much anything else that found it self sequesterd to elbo height. a few warm beers later, we decided the time was now, and made with the wind. next stop, pick-pocket lane.

we arrive at the (so far, to my knowledge) only vice owned, alcohol dispersion point on the planet. but to call it a pub (what it was before a bright neon "vice" sign went up) would be to imply standards and civility, where as the actual place was more like a mullet-adorned feeding frenzy;

one thousand chuck taylors stuck to the floor by a combination of beer and overly-sacharine mix drink combination spilt during revelry; a thrift shop worth of "vintage" leather jackets; an army of appropriately sideways haircuts; and, of course, a slew of "normal" looking people that basically serve the purpose of making the cool people look cool.

i remarked to the group "i feel like my wallet is going to get stolen." then i looked up and saw a sign that said "BE CAREFUL. PICK POCKETS OPERATE IN THIS AREA." after about 10 minutes of failed drink fetching (the hordes were thirsty), i managed a beer, only to discover that my group- whom id lost amidst the frenzy- was a bit to my left, and had purchased me a beer as well.

one of those bars that you think "hey! im not coming back here!" although i probly will, but for that level of ridiculous, why dont i just go to vibe bar? its much closer...

ps. i find it interesting that chuck taylors are the ubiquitous sub-brand of "converse all stars" that somehow every person in england has, yet doesnt seem to notice they are called that.
posted by carlito sway at 04:51 0 comments


19.4.06

Other Hotties from Designers Block at Milan

of those rubbing shoulders with the DIYKyoto crew, were those representing two noteable entries:

-the cycloc and
-dopie shoes
posted by carlito sway at 11:59 0 comments


HOMIES IN MILAN


a friend of ours, Jon, of DIYKyoto, had his products premier at the Milan Design Week 2006, as hosted by DesignersBlock and i just found it as posted on Core77.com. The product is called the Wattson, which provides the user with color coded feedback, about the use of electricity throughout their house and over the course of the day, week, month and year. The idea is that if you are aware of it more, you will be more willing to cut down on your useless uses (like, is it really important to keep your microwave on, just so you can tell the time?). Carbon Based wishes we coulda been there, but ALAS! The funding was not available...

GOOD SHOW GUYS! WE SALUTE YOU, DIYKYOTO!
posted by carlito sway at 09:42 0 comments


Quote of the Day

NOTE: Since posting this, i checked email and read my daily NYTimes dispatch, which SUPER RANDOMLY picked this EXACT SAME QUOTE as THEIR QUOTE OF THE DAY. Either great minds think alike, or its just too easy to quote a moron, when he flaps his jaws so uselessly and with such fervency.

"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the secretary of defense."

-G.W. Bush, being as seemingly self centered as ever, but for what? (wonder if he knows what redundant means?) no one knows... hes obviously out in 1.5 years time, so why doesnt he start paving that path now? he appointed some less than idiotic republican, Rob Portman (who is close allies with the center-of-right-side GOP leaders), a move which many speculate was done to mend ties and lessen a growing divide that the GOP in general is desparately trying to create (and rightly so) betwixt themselves, and this parading lunatic of a black eye, G.W. .

move as he might, lil'george still has an extremely deep hole to dig himself out of- some might even say impossible-, so keep on moving lil'bush, you got a long way to go.
posted by carlito sway at 07:59 0 comments


18.4.06

The GNU Wave Sound



albums that have come out recently, or will come out shortly, that are worth a once or twice:


Venetian Snares - CAVALCADE OF GLEE AND DADAIST HAPPY HARDCORE POM POMS
Danger Doom - The Mouse and The Mask (aka, Danger Mouse and MF DOOM)
Bi Kyo Ran - A Violent Music
Eagles of Death Metal - Death by Sexy...
posted by carlito sway at 16:44 0 comments


16.4.06

Sunday Market Cruize

ive had a cold for the past few days so, after a night of solid sleep, and then awaking to a cheezy "i know what you did last sommer" style nightmare, i decided for a stroll down Cheshire street. (it went something like "a bunch of girls and i had rented some beach stlye joint for the weekend, when the owner or past residient or something suddenly appeared with a vengence to kill. the killer, a slight short asian dude, didnt really seem all that threatening in hindsight, but it was one of those things where your brain tells you something more than you can see..." yeah... anyways.) since its sunday, the street has been taken over by gruff-voiced, snaggle-toothed cockney locals who havent seen a razor in this side of a month. and thats just the women.

oh but yes, it is a wonderous event to behold, the infamous brick lane markets. cheshire being the most northern of the lot, sort of operating as the top part of a T to bricklane, the other markets are strangely diverse; one is an "art" market, made of really bland, pastel-based creations ranging from tea sets and dish ware, to t shirst with pictures of cats on them, and scented soaps. another- which is a marked improvement over the last- is all about hand made goods. ive procured two curios there; a neo-holmes hat that usually gets a comment or two (and which i bought from the lady who made it); and a golden/yellow tie with a silkscreen of an exploded bicycle on it. random but fun, that market (spital fields) is usually good for an indepth peruse, potentially yeilding that awesome find, and boasting a wide range of delectable dishes fit for your change ladden pockets (aka, its cheap).

due to proximity, cheshire is the one for us, as we live about 80 feet north of its east end. for some reason, our end seems to be about dudes selling tools, nails, bolts, and all sorts of other manly things. the other stalls on our end tend to be just generic used goods, but there are some solid finds to be found- twice times ive found sets of glasses with multi-colored floral patterns just screaming to be taken home (but i didnt). further down and you get discount generic work clothing, t shirts for a pound, indian movies and dirty used clothing. further still (beyond brink lane, towards shoreditch high street, and you get to a propper market setting, with stands selling everything from bicycle parts to fruits n vegtables to discount cd players and packs of batteries.

and in case that isnt enough, heres a some photoes from my hood, about our local hero, Mr. Jack The Ripper...

http://www.roberthouse.com/other/france/jtr.html
posted by carlito sway at 06:17 0 comments


13.4.06

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME IN!

its that time....

a new face for the new us.

Carbon Based is pleased to ascend to a higher level of Beta, one closer to finality.... along with a new look, we now feature a live section that will get updated regularly, and will be a bit more casual than a "PURE BUSINESS WEBSITE"... also, im pleased to officially welcome Dan Winston into our collective; dans an accomplished product designer and a deft hand at 3d rendering. with his help, our product range will grow with greatness!

Rock on Dan!
posted by carlito sway at 13:17 2 comments


12.4.06

Zorn On The Radio

two housmates individually, dischordantly, composing away only beckons for a degree of hekticity that zorns composure knows of.

now im working on getting carbon based's site to a point of stability, so i can upload and head on to other tasks at hand.... sooonly, this site will look DRAMATICALLY different... bwah ha ha ha!
posted by carlito sway at 15:40 0 comments


Its Like Bran, but for your Apple!

*NOTE: THIS POST WAS EDITED BECAUSE I FORGOT TO MENTION ONE PART IN STEP 3.

talk about unclogging, this techniques is TECH NINE! YEAH!

k so i had no internet, and i was losing patience. twiddling away at this, reconfiging that, uploading, downloading, interloading and otherwise wasting my time, i finally decided on the apple tech support route.

normally a long and fruitless journey, i saved that one as my "last option" option. only this time, it worked wonderfully. WUUHOO! so i spoke with some dude who not only was able to walk through unclogging my computer, but he also emailed me walkthroughs of what we did for my records, in case i want to do it again.

the process was simple, and the results were plentifull: super fast start up time, quickloading internet browsing, faster up/down times, faster file xfer via wifi betwixt machines.

heres how:
1) kill you caches. under user, library, take your entire "caches" folder and throw it away. assumedly the OS regens when it needs to. also do the same for the system caches (/yourhd/library/caches).

2)in syspref, users, admin, turn off all the auto-start up shite. (i had itunes, salling clicker and usb-overdrive set to boot upon sys-boot).

3) turn off. when you power up, press and hold " command + option + P and R" untill you hear a second F# chord (that gong noise). this resets your "parameter RAM" aka "PRAM." PRAM is this little battery powered memory section that stores system setting (parameters) and such and- periodically- gets clogged up, and needs rebooting.

at this point my shite booted in record time, downloaded at record speeds, and was able to successfully check gmail- all three of which were serious milestones.

if you or your machine is feeling a bit slow, perhaps you should investigate doing this as well. i am much happier now, and i think euclid is aswell.

happing typing...
posted by carlito sway at 13:58 0 comments


8.4.06

Quote of the Day

"I went to france so my flatmate modded my iPod to run Linux." - Me, upon my arrival from a skate trip im Marseille.

apparently it was a test to see if the soft/hardware combo he wanted would work, and if so he would purchase his own 3g ipod; once he showed me how to reboot it into linux (repleat with the cute little penguin logo) it took me literally about 6 button pushes to crash it. i tried for months to get a stable build of linux to run on pandora, but installing linux on my ipod is another thing. although i have faith in linux, the man who did it has no know how whatsoever and only did it because he "read somewhere on the internet" that it would work for recording cd quality sound. OK, thats cool, but once again, not on my ipod.
posted by carlito sway at 09:04 0 comments


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