All right, so the event page has been now updated. The countdown to our debut “sneak preview” event is now officially underway. For additional info, click on the events page and/or visit our us on Facebook…
Happy Thanksgiving!
26Nov 2009
Tagged: l2ork
06Nov 2009
TEDxMidAtlantic took place yesterday in Baltimore, MD. It has been a tremendous honor and a humbling experience to share the stage with Nobel Prize winners, human rights activists, notable public figures, amazing artists, and entrepreneurs. The reason I mention this here is because L2Ork also got its 5 minutes of fame as part of my talk on rediscovering the true potential of human hearing. On-demand video streams of all talks are available on the TEDxMidAtlantic’s website (NB: L2Ork segment also includes first publicly available video footage of L2Ork in action). Additional event info can be found on the TEDxMidAtlantic twitter channel. Special thanks to conference staff for organizing such an amazing event!
03Nov 2009
Publicity! And we didn’t even ask for it! A recent article published by Con-Techie and Associated Content is the first official media coverage of L2Ork, which came out as a result of a Con-Techie team member apparently randomly stumbling across this site (not that we feel any less flattered). The article, an interview with our very own Maestro of L2Ork Dr. Ico Bukvic, gives an overview of what L2Ork is, some of the reasons for building L2Ork the way we did, and a slight glimpse into the future the ensemble. Here are the links to the Con-Techie and Associated Content articles. Enjoy!
02Nov 2009
A warning: I’m writing this from work, so it may be disjointed and horribly unentertaining.
I’ll be honest – I haven’t picked up a real instrument in about 4 years (the last time I legitimately played my trumpet was in New Orleans during the Sugar Bowl in 2005). During the summer months before school started I began to have dreams about playing in an ensemble. In an attempt to calm my mind I tried again to teach myself guitar but self-lessons didn’t pique my interests in the way they had before. And so I would dream of making music… until the semester started. I don’t know if it really was L2Ork that ended the recurring dreams or the exhaustive properties of working 45+ hours a week and taking 13 credit hours, but eventually they stopped.
Why do I bring this up? Well, it may not seem like much right now, but I think that what is being built in L2Ork is something spectacular.
I don’t know how much I am contributing – my music theory knowledge has dwindled after years of dormancy – but I do feel as though I can contribute in some way, shape or form.
Ico is getting stressed from having to constantly squash bugs and with the realization that a performance is only a month away I can only imagine him as Mario, running through the sections in the mini-boss castles in Super Mario Bros. 3 with the spikes at the bottom of a descending wall. Luckily, though, I think that with the help of the members of L2Ork Ico will find that the wall only has spikes on one side and by jumping to the top of the wall can get to the Warp Pipes that lead to “L2Ork,” “…?…” and “Profit.”
I guess what I’m trying to say is that we are making music, we are an ensemble, we are dangerously close to a public performance and I believe that we will make it after all.
23Oct 2009
While somewhat off-topic, I suspect Linux enthusiasts will get a kick out of this one…
A couple weeks ago one of the L2Ork students ended-up with a dead Macbook Pro, likely culprit being the batch of faulty Nvidia video chips (something I’ve had a great honor of experiencing myself last year while being over dozen hours of driving distance from the nearest Apple repair center). Initially, he did not seem to be overly upset since he did have a 3-year extended warranty. The following week, however, he came to me quite upset telling me how Apple would not cover his repair because his Macbook had a dent and that he had to cover the cost himself. So, he decided to send a lengthy email to the highest echelons of Apple and in his email he indicated that I suggested to him, rather than dealing with this mess to simply switch to Linux. After all, this is what we use in L2Ork, right?
The irony is that while I certainly have a soft spot for Linux, I also realize that Linux is not for everyone. Sure, it does allow relatively easy customization. This fact alone has made it the prime pick for us in L2Ork, but customization is time consuming and unless there is a proportional payoff for such an effort, it is also a total waste of time and resources. In L2Ork we maintain our own machines and students loan them out for this exact reason. I also believe, if one is to switch to any OS, there has to be a genuine and compelling reason to do so that comes from within. Hence, while I certainly may on occasion joke with my students about having them switch to Linux, in this case it was the very last thing I would want to suggest. If anything, I wanted to see student’s computer fixed.
Lo and behold, less than 24 hours later (he must have good connections with Apple, since it took me over a month to get my laptop fixed and mine had no dents to start with), he gets the following email from the Senior VP of Retail Ron Johnson (obviously citing only relevant parts):
It sounds like you are not near a store. Let me have Marty dive in and resolve. We don't want you to switch to Linux. You enjoy the Mac and it is a essential part of your studies. Ron
A couple days later my student got a brand new Macbook Pro. So, I guess the moral of the story is if your Apple hardware ever fails, rather than going through the regular support channels, you may want to simply notify Apple that you are considering switching to Linux and maybe you too may end up with a brand new laptop…