James Friesen: News

I was a bit bored this afternoon and, in between chores and such, I tinkered around on my chess board. You may have heard of people playing custom chess games with starting positions different than the official setup. Well, I got the idea to try to make a custom starting position setup that would be an instant stalemate...with no piece able to move.

After many failed attempts, I was beginning to think it was impossible. The hardest thing was achieving symmetry. I could lock up the front pawn line in a zig-zag fashion, then get one side's pieces locked up behind the pawns, but then the symmetry was off and I couldn't get the other side to fit together.

Suddenly, I had two insights that allowed me, after some more trial and error, to achieve a perfect symmetry. I won't tell you any more, in case you want to try it out for yourself.

My setup follows all of the rules: no pawns on the first (back) rows, bishops of the same color occupy oppositely colored squares, and all of the pieces follow the usual movement/capture rules.

Give it a go, and when you finish, or you get totally frustrated and sweep the pieces off the table, take a look at my setup in the photo section.

I'd love to see anything you come up with. Also, if you see a problem with my setup, please let me know.

I have a new electronic piano. I've had the last one for a number of years and the speakers are deteriorating, causing distortion, so I was in the music store the other day and saw the cheapest portable electronic "Grand" piano I have ever seen, so I bought it! It is simple and lightweight, with just a few standard voice selections. I mostly want the piano sound for casual play. If I want more exotic sounds, I play on my synthesizer gear.

At any rate, I recorded a live show on Qik with the new piano. Go to my video page to watch it. Since these Qik videos are streamed live, using my iPhone, the quality is not great. I am looking for a decent microphone to plug into my iPhone for these sessions.

Once I get to playing decently on this new instrument, I'll think about recording good quality versions of my piano pieces to post here.

Take Care,

Jim

As I mentioned in my last entry, I have cancelled all of my Google subscriptions, including YouTube, until such time that Google has shown that they can be trusted in their handling of personal information. I will still use Google Search and Maps, but I have decided to use other services for sharing video and other content. With that in mind, I looked around and decided to try out Qik.

Qik is an online video streaming site. After exploring what they had to offer, I Qik-ly realized that I would be able to record Live video of myself playing music, using my iPhone, and stream it directly to my website!

I have already tested the service, and it seems to work fine. There can be some lag and occasional jitter, for which I apologize in advance. If that happenes, you will still be able to watch it again after the fact, just like any non-live video.

It may take me some time to settle down to a routine, but my intention is to stream a live performance (if you can call it a performance!) every weekend, probably on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I will start out with some of my piano compositions, just to see how the sessions go. Later on I will introduce my Alesis Micron synhesizer setup and play some Live electronic music. I hope you enjoy what I have to share, whether LIVE or Archived. I welcome your comments here or at my Qik page: http://qik.com/jamesfriesen

Thank You

I have lost faith in Google. I don't know what they are trying to do, but some time in the last year, I started having an uneasy feeling about the company.

I started using Google search very early on, before anyone else I knew was using it. It was simple, elegant and fast. Every time Google added annother free service, I marveled at how they could possibly provide so many freebies!

I should have listened to Robert Heinlein, who said, in his book 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress', that "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch."

That's right, nothing is free. Google provides all of the wonderfull services and gadgets from their Lab (secretly nestled in a corner of Willy Wonka's Factory, I am sure) and seemingly without cost, but there is a cost.

Google wants to index the world, they want everything, every scrap of text, every picture, every video clip. They want to scan every book, virtually recreate every building, and before long, they will probably have everyone's genetic code on file. They want you to use their phone services, their broadband, even their electricity. Is there anything they can't do? They're amazing!

So, what's wrong with all of that? What's wrong with free or cheap services, and all from one company? I'm not sure I can explain it, it just gives me an uneasy feeling.

You see, I am very much a libertarian at heart. I believe in capitalism, but what kind of a business model is it for a company to give everything away (and not support it very well, I might add...after all, everything they do is with a beta testing mentallity!) I despise oppressive governments, but big corporations can do a very good impression of an oppressive government. I like innovation, but not when it is handled so carelessly (see Google Buzz.) I believe in the protection of intellectual property (up to a point), but Google has no qualm about raking in ad revenue associated with their sites where there is rampant copyright infringement (Youtube) or aggregation of news articles created by other companies (Google News). I believe in the the right to privacy, as part of our right of ownership of our body, our work, and yes, our information, but Google has a very casual attitude when it comes to protecting our online information, going so far as to suggest that we should not expect any privacy online. While I understand the sentiment that if you don't want something to be public, you are foolish to put it online in the first place, surely we can expect companies to at least make an effort to protect out privacy. After all, what would happen to the world's economies if banks just threw their hands up into the air and said "We can't protect your information, so we're not even going to try"?

You may not agree, or see a danger in any or all of the above examples, but for me they add up to one big arrogant company that wants to take over the world, virtually speaking.

Is there any significant difference between a real Hitler, and a virtual one?

I intend to continue to use Google search, as I don't know of a better alternative, but I am staging a retreat from most of the other Google services I have been using. I just don't like the price I have to pay, in regards to my information, my philosophy, and my dignity, for the use of all of that "Free Stuff."

Boy, am I getting a lot of traffic from Russia. Could someone from the Russian Federation or the Czech Republic please tell me why there is so much activity? It seems to be related to the Yandex web crawlers. Is that it? Or are there people out there who are actually visiting my poor little web page?

До свидания, поддерживать связь!

My sister and her family threw a 4th of July pool party. We had a lot of fun and I took some underwater movies. I posted one of them on my YouTube page, so check it out!

I have added pictures of the stuff I sent into Earth orbit aboard Genesis II, an experimental spacecraft built by the private space company Bigelow Aerospace.

I sent a picture of my family and the volume knob from one of my keyboards.

They are now floating around, with other items, inside the spacecraft, which orbits about 350 miles above the Earth.

There are cameras inside the craft which record images of the objects and any experiments that are running.

The ship itself is a prototype for a fleet of commercial habitat modules that Bigelow hopes to one day maintain in orbit and lease to customers...a private/commercial version of the International Space Station.


Check out my links page for a link to Bigelow.

I got a new pocket camera. It is tough and waterproof, too! I am having fun exploring and taking unusual video footage with it, so you can expect to see some amateur music videos soon. I already have some new footage on my YouTube page, so check it out and stay tuned!

I would like to wish everyone a happy new year. Let's make 2008 the best year ever!

Ni Hao to those of you listening in China. Drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you!

I am playing around with Google Web Page creator and some of the gadgets they provide. Look in my links for my Google Gadget page. There is a really cool view of the Earth on that page.

Zhu ni zou yun!

Last year I sent a family photo and a small trinket to Bigelow Aersopace to be launched into space aboard their next spacecraft.

Genesis II was launched on 6/28/07 and pictures are now being made available of everyone's items as they float around in zero gravity, 350 miles above the Earth.

The trinket I sent, which had to be smaller than a golf ball, was the red volume knob from one of my Alesis micron keyboards.

If you want to see my items in space, go to the link I have posted in my links page and look carefully - I have already seen the knob hiding in the background, can you spot it?

I know you are out there. I know people are listening, judging by the number of downloads. I'd love to hear from you! I only speak English, but i'd like to hear from everyone, and if I can't read it - I'll translate it online!

When someone leaves a message or sends me an email, it really makes my day. I make music because I like doing it. I also like sharing it. It would be nice to make a few dollars off of my efforts, but that is not what drives me, so let me know if you like what you hear!

Let me say "Thank You" to those of you who have already contacted me. Please leave your email address if you'd like a response.

I have been dragging my heels a bit on the new CD, but be patient. I am also working on some videos that I will put on You Tube for everyone to see.

Take Care,
Jim

I finally decided to allow downloading of the tracks on this site. By all means, if you enjoy them, then save a copy to your hard drive or portable player. Don't forget to send your friends here if they like the sound, too.

Thanks for listening!