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Open Source Binaural Beats

1/28/2017

3 Comments

 
PictureScreenshot from Android Version
My first smartphone apps were these basic tools to allow users to create their own binaural beats. The app was called Binaural, and this past December, I made both the iOS and Android versions free for anyone to download and use. Now, I've decided to take this a step further and make the core of these apps open source! This means that you can go to my github page and download fully working sample apps that generate binaural beats and isochronic pulses. Then, you can use these algorithms in your own apps. If you find any of this useful, I'd appreciate you give me shout, and perhaps I'll feature your app on my Guided Meditation Treks blog!

Here's the source code for iOS.
Here's the source code for Android.

Or you can just download the app and not worry about how it works!


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Software Development in the Twenty-Teen's

1/21/2017

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PictureWhat my day consists of
I've been doing software development for a long time, and recently, I've been working on some newer stuff with my startup, Synervoz. We are creating cutting-edge technology to bridge gaps in the realms of music and talking with our app TurnMeUp. For example, how many times have you been listening to music with earbuds or headphones when someone in the room is trying to talk to you? Our app lets you hear them without taking off your headphones. Not only that, but our technology lets people not in the room to talk to you in real-time without making you answer a phone call or interrupt that important Jamiroquai song you are listening to in the moment. Here is an outline of some of the technologies I've worked with on this project (and otherwise), which I find to be some of the most relevant technologies in the 2010's, yet they didn't even exist ten years ago!


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My First Steemit Post

8/19/2016

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Picture
My good friend told me to create an account on steemit and start posting some stories, so here is my first one. It's about the ideas and concepts behind burn events like Burning Man and how we can incorporate the good parts into our daily lives without having to go into the desert.

Why I stopped going to Burn Events, But Still Live the Good Parts

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They Live

3/19/2016

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PictureThey Live
I recently rewatched the cult classic movie They Live, and I was reminded how poignant this movie from 1988 remains to this day. Starring former professional wrestler "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, the movie is about a global conspiracy of intergalactic beings who have infiltrated Earth to use humans as their slaves, all while giving them the illusion of happiness under the guise of consumption. After Piper's character begins to "see" what's really going on, he tries in earnest to wake up other humans, but so many times in the movie, the humans try their hardest to stay asleep, culminating in an overly drawn-out wrestling throwdown in a back alley with one of the other main characters. When interviewed once by a radio host, Piper said that the movie was actually a documentary, not fiction.

Through human history, our perception of reality has undergone drastic changes, but only after accepted paradigms were shattered. Unfortunately, it's not easy to shatter patterns that have served us in the past.

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¡Jamiroquai in Mexico!

2/28/2016

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I originally published this article with Austin Daze back in 2013, but I've been seeing the images disappear on my original article, so I wanted to reprint the article here for eternity! Rumor has it, Jamiroquai is about to release a new album in 2016. This month marks the 3-year anniversary of their Latin America tour. Back in February of 2013, Jamiroquai played a show in Monterrey, Mexico. Local Austinites took a trip to give you this report:
PictureDowntown Monterrey
Usually, when I travel, the first thing that people say when I tell them where I’m going is, “Wow, that’s going to be awesome!” When I said we were going to Mexico to see Jamiroquai, the response was, “Be careful.”

Knowing that attitude is everything, my buddy JB and I figured embracing every moment with positive intentions and no fear would result in a great trip, and we’d be totally safe the entire time. With that, we drove to Laredo and ditched JB's car at Wal-Mart so we could take a cab to the bus station. By the border in downtown Laredo, bus companies abound, and each bus leaves at a different time. We meandered for 15 minutes, missing each by 5 minutes until we found one. We boarded it 3-hours direct to Monterrey. Though we saw a beater of a bus at the border that was worse, Greyhound was definitely not the nicest bus option. Ours was a luxury coach with only 2 other passengers, and the trip was only $25 each.


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King Zephyr Saxophones

12/16/2015

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PictureA comparison of my two vintage King Tenor Saxes. A Silver-Plated 1932 Vol True II and a circa 1946 lacquered Zephyr
I once posted a review of two of my saxophones on Facebook before realizing that i could additionally share this analysis with the world. So, here are some screenshots of this post, which is an analysis of two saxophones made by the same company about a decade apart and the technological advances in saxophone making during that time in the 1930s and 1940s. The King Zephyrs of the late model are the precursor to the famous King Super 20 saxophones and can be found at about a fifth the price with an arguably similar sound.

Here is my analysis of the findings...

The zephyr and voll true II sound similar, like they are obviously in the same family, but, the Zephyr is...
1. Less stuffy
2. more easy blowing
3. more edge
4. more ergonomic
5. the high register really sings and the low register really booms.
6. Newer horn does not hiss
7. Not as pretty, but it's all about the sound


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The Discomfort of Questioning Authority

11/19/2015

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Picture
People get uncomfortable when called out on their stuff. I know I do, anyway. Sometimes, an individual gets called out, and sometimes it’s a group or culture. For example, I often post intense political or scientific ideas on Facebook, such as alternative views on reality that are not currently accepted by the mainstream. Most “Facebook debates” are framed into a dichotomy. Someone is either on the popular side of the argument or the unpopular side. Nevertheless, as much as we might try, it can be nearly impossible to find truth between only two choices. To take the evolution versus creation debate, I believe there is evolution, but there is also an unseen creative consciousness beyond entropy that shapes it. Since this theory doesn’t fit into the black/white dichotomy between Darwinian evolution and biblical creation, people get uncomfortable.


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Nature Sounds

10/21/2015

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I'm working on a new album for Guided Meditation Treks that has nature sounds looped infinitely. Here are some nature videos I shot in Alaska this past summer, mostly of waterfalls, my great friends in nature.
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Turn Up Your Talk Radio

10/14/2015

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Picture
In 2015, I attended a publicity conference to learn how to land radio interviews, and since then, I've been going on the radio to talk about my projects and causes! Specifically, how to save money on cheap flights around the world, how to use social networks like Couchsurfing to meet locals and live with them for free, and how to travel mindfully. I've also done a couple of interviews about my Guided Meditation Treks project, and one about my silent disco project.

I love to do radio interviews because they help me verbally express ideas in a concise manner. The added pressure of a 'performance' situation has always helped me be at my best. Knowing that I have a limited timeframe and that potentially many people are listening, combined with the fact that I try to tape most of my interviews for eternity means that these narrow windows of communication have the potential to spread information and knowledge far and wide. Tuning into the brainwaves of a good radio host is also a great practice as well. Their penchant for brevity and packing lots of info in a short space to people with a limited attention span helps me to get my points across in the most efficient way possible. Here is a collection of radio interviews I've done to date:
  • Interviews on Travel: Spin the World Around
  • Interviews on Meditation: Guided Meditation Treks
  • One time when I called into the Alex Jones Show way back in the 00's
  • An interview on Meditation I did on a meditation podcast
  • Another interview about Meditation.
  • A recent travel interview.
  • An interview about Austin Silent Disco.

I love a good radio interview as part of a wider approach to getting the word out.

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Yoga is a Religion

7/2/2015

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Picture
In my previous blog, I discussed how modern day yoga has a focus on Asana -- the yoga of postures. Many modern Hatha yoga postures are less than 100 years old, and many others were invented by the 19th century British YMCA. The Yogasutras of Patanjali dates back to 400AD, and it outlines the 'eight limbs of yoga.' In my last blog, I pointed out that meditation comprises 3 of the 8 limbs! I also covered 3 more limbs: Pranayama, Pratyahara, and Asana. In this blog, I will cover the other two limbs, Yama and Niyama. I consider these two limbs to be the limbs of religion (Niyama) and ethics (Yama), which, between the two of them, comprise 25% of yoga.


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  • Blog
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    • How and Why I Write
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    • Travel Stories >
      • Around the World >
        • Korea
        • Philippines
        • Hong Kong
        • Singapore
        • Retrospective
      • Europe >
        • London Disrupt 2014
        • London 1998 >
          • The Search for Drugs
          • The Ethics of Cities
          • The history of the London Underground
          • A Poem
        • Italy Corsica Amsterdam France
        • Paris in the Spring
      • North America >
        • Yucatan, Mexico
        • Jamiroquai in Mexico
        • Ayahuasca in Costa Rica
        • Fear and Laughter in the Pacific Northwest
        • Burning Flipside >
          • Flipside 2007
          • Flipside 2008
          • Dr Tikis Script
        • Super Bowl XL
      • Morocco 2003
      • Australia 2010
    • Technical Writings >
      • NIME 2013
      • ITT Tech Courses I Taught >
        • Java I
        • Java II
        • Software Application Programming
        • Scripting and Web Authoring
      • Software Development Methodologies
      • Home Wine and Beer Making
    • Book Reviews >
      • The Miracle of Right Thought
      • The Source Field Investigations
      • The God Conspiracy
      • Chinese Health and Healing
    • Show Reviews >
      • Phish
      • Bonnaroo >
        • Bonnaroo I
        • Bonnaroo II
      • Skerik Syncopated Taint
      • Cleveland, Ohio >
        • Galactic 2006 Cleveland
        • Ernie Krivda
        • Medeski Martin and Wood >
          • MMW 2003
          • MMW 8-2005 Cleveland
      • Toast Tour 2009
    • College Musings >
      • Ethics Papers
      • The Story of Cybil and Charlotte
      • Full Circle or Straight Line
  • Music
  • Infinite Creator