atish.net

The other day I thought it would be fun to use real-world semi-random data to serve as triggers for audio events. I also wanted to learn Python. So what I did was I wrote a little program that matches regex’s against the logs of mint.com (the company I work for). Different log statements (caused by user actions) trigger certain sounds. Since all the sounds are all in the same scale, the random user events on the site are creating music…So if you’re using mint.com, you’re helping me write music! Here’s a video explaining what I did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYdHYA5gvOE

Down the line, I want to try and integrate this with Quartz Composer to get some killer visualizations going.

If you’re interested in looking at my code or contributing, check it out here http://code.google.com/p/auralla/. I’d really like for other people to run with my idea and do some cooler stuff with it, too….

I was hanging out with some guys I met at Community Next yesterday (which was pretty damn cool - thanks Noah), and I think we stumbled across some interesting new ideas.

The first piece is similar to that of the Slingbox, a device that lets you view TV shows and DVR content from any internet connection around the world. The idea is to extend the slingbox so I can also watch my DVD’s anywhere else in the world, without needed the DVD in hand. I want to import my DVD’s into my Slingbox (or Atishbox) and have them stored on its hard drive. Then when I’m hanging out at a friend’s house, and I bring up that episode of Mr. Show with that audition sketch that no one has seen, I can just connect to my Atishbox from my friend’s house and watch the content that I legally paid for.
I imagine there would be a lot of red tape around this a la Napster, but the idea has potential once it’s worked out.
Also, I know it’s already possible
with MP3’s, but it really should be much easier.

The second piece is quite simple: TiVo should be a social network. If I have TiVo and you have TiVo, I should be able to add you as a friend. Then, I can view your saved shows, most viewed shows, TiVo recommended shows, etc. Of course, you would have to authorize what shows are publicized, since you might be embarrassed about Beverly Hills 90210 being in your favorites or what not. But after I browse through your favorites, most watched, or whatever, the user interface will enable MY TiVo to record that show when it’s next on so I can watch it…This is good for TV and good for the TV viewers.

Here’s #3…I haven’t thought of a name for it yet, but think of it as a Pandora for video…
Pandora - A website where you enter a song or artist, and it creates a radio station where all the songs match the style of that song. All the songs are streaming. I use Pandora about 10 hours a day. I find it very effective and a great way to explore new music. Because of copyright issues, Pandora chooses the order of the playlist, and I can only skip something like 10 songs in an hour.

Ok so let’s do it for video. I tell VideoDora that I liked Terminator2 and Aliens. VideoDora creates a playlist and starts by playing Predator for me. It’s better than OnDemand and better than HBO.

I’m on fire with ideas. Talk amongst yourselves.

I currently log all my IM conversation. Why? There are times want to analyze an argument, find a funny link my friend sent, call someone on their bullshit, etc…Logging IM conversations is valuable, but only as valuable as the search features associated with it (unless, of course, we remember the date/time when the conversation took place).

What if I could log all my real-life conversations in an easily searchable way? This would only work if we had a very sophisticated speech recognition technology. But when it’s available, imagine the possibilities…

In 2015, we install voice recognition software in call centers. Every single call is run through this software and logged to text files. All our phone calls are already recorded in call centers in 2007, so this is the next logical step, without any loss of privacy from the status quo (remember, we’re just making existing information easily searchable). Call center managers can search these logs and filter for curse words, anger words, “thank you,” “I want to speak with the manager,” etc. Perhaps some extremely sophisticated natural language software could analyze the conversations and tell us where we could optimize our process - find out to which questions most customers answer “I don’t know” or find out which questions make the customers pause the longest amount of time before respondin.

In 2016, I will install a microphone in my family room and infant’s bedroom that is connected to a server running this voice recognition/logging software. When I leave the kid with a babysitter, I turn on the microphone and start logging. I install a trigger on the voice recognition logs such that any time the babysitter uses an offensive word, I am sent that chat snippet in a text message. Perhaps she is using inappropriate language around the kids or maybe she’s letting them watch a movie they shouldn’t be watching…Or maybe I put a trigger on the words “Mommy” or “Daddy.” Or better yet, I put a trigger on the code words “goodnight” so I have a reasonable guess towards when the kids are sleeping. Is this an invasion of privacy? Maybe. Some people already use hidden cameras on babysitters, so this is just another step forward.

In 2017, we optimize the software and install it on our cellphones, such that ALL our conversations (not just the ones where we are making phonecalls) are logged. I can trace through ANY conversation I had during the day - as long as I had my cellphone in my pocket at the time of the conversation.
Invasion of privacy?
Yeah probably.
Extremely powerful?
For sure.
I’ll leave all that stuff to the marketing and PR guys…I’ll just engineer the damn thing.

At my previous company, we had all-hands meetings about every 4 months…A friend of mine would go up to random people in the company and say “congrats.” It’s funny how many people respond well to that.

“Hey [insert name here], I heard the news…Congrats!”

“Oh thanks! I’m so happy w/ my new car!”
“Thanks…Yeah that project was tough, but we made it through”
“Thanks, it feels great getting promoted”
“How did you know my herpes are no longer active?!”
etc.

Anyway, try it out some time… when you see an acquaintance after it’s been awhile, just congratulate them and see what kind of response you get.

My friend has a jewelry box that plays music every time she opens it. That means every time she’s getting dolled up to go to a party or what not, she opens the music box to get her earrings and the music plays. She must have some Pavlovian behavioral association to that song. If she ever randomly heard that music box song in public, she would probably be reminded of putting on her jewelry and going to a party.

What if we took that a step further. Why limit music to just our jewelry boxes? What if every time I opened my dishwasher, it blasted some Daft Punk…Or every time I stepped in the shower, it would play some Smashing Pumpkins. Or every time I flushed the toilet, it would play Nickelback. LOL123! Or maybe I could have some playlist in my house attached to the time of day. So every morning, I would wake up with something soft like Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning…Then maybe during the morning when I work, it would switch to productive music like Mozart. Then during lunch, it would switch to something a little crazier like Aphex Twin and so on…Maybe some solar sensors could tell if the sun is setting and [insert song/genre here] would play. Even if I was in a room with no clock/windows, I would know the time of day, based on the musical feeling.

But what if we took that a step further. I was reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs today, and the author was talking about how Big Brother couldn’t compare to Real World because the latter would play music during dramatic moments…

However, Big Brother was a failed experiment, and I know why: They don’t use music. I never knew what was going on. During key moments on The Real World, we are always instructed how to feel; if two people are playing chess to Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun,” I know their relationship is doomed; if they’re playing along with Sheryl Crow’s “Everyday Is a Winding Road,” I know they are mending fences and exploring a new level of companionship…

So in this case, the viewer in instructed how to feel, based on the music. But what if we used music to enhance or supplement our feelings. Different emotions invoke activity in different parts of the brain. Let’s say we had the technology to attach sensors to those parts of the brain and each sensor would trigger a different playlist. It would be like a soundtrack to my life!