Ed Colmar's Blog

Dj set from trust sunset - Sep 2011

2011-11-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

This is a dj set I did earlier this year.

Jungle/dubstep

Enjoy.

Ed Colmar at trust sunset Sep 2011

Gamedraft

2011-09-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I was playing World of Warcraft far too much. I was in a raiding guild with some of my real life friends, and some virtual friends. What this means is that we would get 25 people together to accomplish very specific and technical trials in video games.

Now, this presents a lot more challenges than just clicking and pressing keys at the right time. The hardest part of raiding isn't the raid. It is the research, strategizing, and the organization, that is time consuming and difficult. Often in the group you need an exact "class balance" in order to finish objectives. For example, you might need a mage casting a particular spell, with a paladin keeping the mage alive in order to control one aspect of the encounter. This delegation of tasks happens for each player, and making sure that every spot is filled with the right class is critical.

Being web developers, we immediately thought of ways we could use a website to make this easier for us, and Draft was born.

We wanted the site to accomplish a few things:

First, we wanted to have signups be optional. In gaming terminology we were a "soft core" guild. If you could make it to the event that's great. If you couldn't make it... tThat's fine too. You weren't going to get kicked for not showing up. So, we needed a way to track who was available, who signed up, and who didn't.

Then we needed a way to deal with class balance. We needed to be able to see which classes were available, and move them into a group selected to actually perform the raid.

We needed notifications, so lazy guild members would get a message telling them that there is a new event they needed to sign up for, or that they have been picked and are therefore committed to the raid.

Then, after working with it for a few months, we needed a way to track people that did not fulfill their obligations.... Either by leaving early, repeatedly disconnecting, being late, or not showing up at all. These people would get flagged, and the raid leader would give them lower priority for future raids.

This all went great, and the tool evolved a bit with use... But eventually, the guild grew tired, and we all stopped playing WoW. Draft collected dust for a few years, but always was in the back of my mind whenever guild event organization was the issue being addressed - and in the world of MMOs, it frequently was.

Since I have been developing heavily with app engine, I decided to recode Draft, remove the WoW specific elements, and make it useful for other MMO games. It can be used for more than just raids. Pretty much any guild activity can be scheduled and organized.

Now we have google authentication, notifications through google chat, and event transport to google calendar.

If you are an MMO gamer, I'm sure you'll find it useful. Mention it to your guild or raid leader.

It is currently in beta, so I'd love to hear any feedback or comments on it.

Try out the new version of Draft!

How not to set up a backyard garden.

2011-08-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

Alternatively titled: “u r doing it rong”

I just read this (http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/08/experiences_of_a_novice_garden.html) and really wanted to reply, but the site does not allow in line comments, so I am posting my reply here instead.

About a month ago, while I was living in Oakland, I was walking home and I noticed someone had 10 small pots on their balcony. Good for them, I thought. They are growing a little bit of food for themselves. Then I looked closer. They were growing CORN. CORN out of a planter. UMMMM FAIL. The only thing I could think was that they are either stupid or totally inexperienced with the means and process of food production. I’ll go with inexperienced because nearly everyone in our culture has no connection whatsoever with plants. Nor do they have any concept of what happens when plants grow. Conceptually, it is just some industrial process involving tractors, and maybe chickens or something.

I know immediately when people think of farming they think of corn. We have vast fields of corn in the states, so corn must equal farming, right? And therefore, If I want to grow my own food, I have to grow corn. WRONG! The corn we grow in this country is mainly grown for two things. Ethanol, and Livestock feed. Since you are unlikely to be manufacturing ethanol or raising cattle in your apartment, the primary arguments for growing corn are now gone. Also, if you just think about it for 15 seconds you will realize that corn is probably the worst annual crop you could grow in limited space. It requires a large amount of vertical space, and remember that only half of the plant is above ground. It is heavily resource dependent (water and soil nutrients). And, it produces very little edible product for the total amount of mass it creates.

DO NOT grow corn in a backyard garden unless you have plenty of unused space, nutrients and water available on hand.

Similarly, you can extend this example out to most industrialized food products. If it takes a lot of space to grow and you don’t get very much return, DON'T GROW IT AT HOME!

Well what do I grow instead?

If you are growing in planters like my example above, I would suggest perennial culinary herbs. Thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, etc... They are almost entirely edible. They require very little attention or resources. They are very robust and hard to kill. You can use them almost every day, and they will just grow back. You’ll make great friends with your perennials and they will be with you for many many years. You will develop a meaningful connection with the plants and the food that they enhance. This is a start to the development of a relationship with food, the earth, and your role in it all.

This example can be extended as well. If you focus on perennials, and scale up you end up with a “forest garden”. Basically this means, you have a food producing area that requires no tilling of the soil, no fertilizer, no planting, and very little human intervention - other than harvesting.

Do some research on permaculture, and forest gardening before you go out and start planting seeds in toxic containers, using chemical fertilizers, digging up perfectly good soil for no sensible reason, and generally wasting time and effort. Trial and error is good and all, but research, trial and success is better!

Agribusines and Organics

2011-08-16T12:28:00.000-07:00

This planet used to be a place of vast vast diversity. Different species of plants and animals were everywhere. So many species that we could not even classify them all. Now we are removing this diversity at an astounding rate. The human race is systematically converting the planet instead into a farm. A farm that breeds one thing - more humans.

Diversity of plant life is destroyed in favor of the most productive crops. Diversity of animal life is destroyed in favor of more farmland. Ocean life, well that's a topic for a whole other rant regarding growth.

This planet is a farm, and you are the livestock.

If you believe that increasing productivity in farming is a good thing, you have been deceived by the agribusiness industry. The marketing and spin has clouded you into thinking that the way of life we have gotten accustomed to over the past 50-75 years is not only acceptable, but it is right, and it is the best! Worst of all it has you believing that it can continue.

Take a look around you. Go down to the sugar plantations and tell me about the quality of life changes there. Go visit the quinoa farms where land that was lovingly cared for by a family for countless generations, is now owned by international mega corporations. Do a little research on Bananas. There is a reason for the term "Banana Republic".

Lets talk about sustainability for a minute.

For every calorie of energy in food consumed in the developed world, it requires 10 calories of petrochemical energy to produce it. This energy is used in almost every facet of the production and distribution of the food: fuel for tractors, fertilizer (derived from natural gas), transport, and plastic packaging, to name a few.

In case you don't know, Oil and natural gas are a FINITE resource. We are either at the peak of production, or past it already, which means that there will be less and less petrochemical fuel available in the future. This, by definition, is not sustainable.

If you want examples of sustainable farming practices, there are many. None of them are dependent on fuel for tractors, artificial fertilizers, or pesticide/herbicides. It is a simple idea, actually, to derive the energy inputs you need, grow and produce food, and consume it all in the same place, with very little (if any) external input. It requires some forethought and planning, but not a massive industrialized infrastructure.

Mostly, I have been talking about agribusiness in general. Now let me touch on gmos, pesticides, herbicides, and the evil that is monsanto.

Most of Monsanto's genetically modified "products" are designed so you can use MORE herbicide on the field - not less. Of course, Monsanto makes this herbicide - glyphosate. You know it as "Roundup". Naturally they want to sell more of their product, as any good manufacturer of a product in a capitalist society would.

As an herbicide, it has to be applied in a limited amount, otherwise you risk damaging or killing the food crop you are looking to protect. The "Roundup Ready" GMO products are designed to be more resistant to this chemical, and now are completely dependent on the herbicide. This (alongside the emergence of glyphosate resistant weeds) has resulted in a 15 fold increase in the use of Roundup. GoGo capitalism!

When you objectively look at a monocrop (A huge field full of exactly the same genetics), it is obviously highly susceptible to damage. This damage can come from "weeds" or "pests". The common assumption is that these things are bad, and in standard human reasoning, must be killed with extreme prejudice. Never is the premise questioned: "Oh look, we created a completely fragile system. Of course it is going to be attacked by more robust lifeforms".

Here is a personal example from my organic (and sustainable thank you very much) garden: One day I was looking at my Amaranth. I had 15-20 amaranth plants growing alongside a wide diversity of other plants. Three of them had an infestation of aphids. What is the reaction? "kill, destroy, eliminate the bugs with the most vile poison I can find?" Of course not. I don't want that crap anywhere near my food. I'd rather let the bugs feed on the weak plants. Two days later, I see a small flock of birds - quite lovely actually - mounted on the amaranth, happily devouring the aphids.

Complex dynamic systems are quite capable of adapting to change all by themselves.

Walking away from debt

2011-08-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

Wheeee. This is the exciting part of the ride, where we accelerate down the big ramp towards all the hard to predict twists and turns. “No hands!!!”

I’ve been giving advice to my close friends for a couple years now, warning of imminent massive instability and change that will disrupt, and bring into question, the entire premise of our society. Most of this was met by “you’re paranoid” or “why are you such a pessimist”. Now there is a ominous silence as the downward plunge begins.

The design failures of the system are starting to become obvious to anyone that is even slightly paying attention. On the bus to work today, an elderly woman looked at me and said “The stock market crashed, again.” She asked “Is it because of the downgrade?” To which I replied, “It goes much deeper than that. The root cause is energy.” This was too subtle of an answer to her, and she started mumbling about how she could have been a millionaire... She obviously wanted to talk to me about it, but I had to get off at the next stop. I walked off the bus with “We’ll see what happens. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

The thing I wanted to talk about in this post is debt. Not the big debt of the government, or the world. Though they are correlated, and you could say the things I suggest could be applied to all debts... But here, I want to talk about your personal debt.

Personal debt sucks. I have several friends that are either underwater on a mortgage, or have a pile of credit card debt. They all share the same desire to fulfill their end of the agreement - paying back the debt. This comes from some sense of personal integrity, or pride, I’d guess. I think this is misplaced, and ultimately serves to slowly degrade the very things they are trying to honor: integrity and pride.

Before I dig in to debt, let's go on a quick detour so we can get some perspective.

We need to look closely at the “G” word. This word seems to be in every single speech or press release recently, and it is used every time as an unquestioned fundamental principle of fact. Growth. Growth is good, right? We want to grow because it indicates a healthy system, right? Growth shows us that we are expanding, and expanding is always the thing we want to do, right? This is why “recessions” and “depressions” are bad, because they aren’t growth anymore.

NO. Growth is profitable. The reason why we have Growth as the basis of our economic system is that it makes money for the people that control it. Our (and the rest of the world’s) currency is not only based on growth, it REQUIRES it. Unlimited exponential growth is mandated by our system in order to function. Don’t believe me? Google “Fractional Reserve Banking”.

I question the logic of this. To assume that we can grow anything, exponentially, forever, is not very well thought through. I would suggest that instead of focusing on how we can get back to growth, we should be focusing on how we can work towards being sustainable. Or, even how can we scale back to a level that makes sense for ourselves and our planet. But, I digress from the topic at hand.

Back to debt...

Let’s talk about the creation of debt from the perspective of a bank’s CEO. If you want to maximize profits, you maximize volume: Lend to as many people as possible. When you run out of legitimate borrowers, you lend to people that don’t have a way to pay you back. They will pay you more interest, and this vastly expands your prospective borrower base. This practice is commonly known as “predatory lending”, or more commonly “fraud”. Then, after you have loans out to everyone, you can optimize again by abstracting away form the original loan and creating other financial products out of them. These loan packages are called “derivatives”, nearly always assigned false “AAA” credit ratings (more fraud), and then leveraged and sold to other institutions. This leverage is a multiplier. Multiply the risk, multiply the gains, and multiply the losses.

This optimization leads to massive profits on the expansion phase, and massive catastrophic losses on the compression phase. It creates an environment where all of the lenders have to follow these optimizations in order to remain competitive. This is known as “Gresham's dynamic” - where bad ethics drives good ethics out of the marketplace. When every lender is pursuing every possible optimization (including fraud) to increase profit, you end up with a huge expanding financial bubble. Needless to say, the losses on this bubble will be significant.

What I am getting at here is that your debt, your personal debt, is fraud. It is very likely that it is in at least one way fraudulent, and more likely that it is fraudulent in many simultaneous ways.

Now, lets talk about the other side of the debt: your personal interaction with it. If you pay it back, you are supporting fraudulent institutions. If you don’t pay, you are subject to legal recourse, and they have better lawyers than you. But there is a way to not support fraud, maintain your personal integrity, and not get demolished in court. Bankruptcy.

Currently in the USA, declaring bankruptcy is not against the law. It is not a felony. It is not a misdemeanor. It will not result in any jail time. In fact the only negative result of bankruptcy is a temporary debt rating downgrade for your person. Fraud, on the other hand, is a federal crime. Fraud (if prosecuted) will result in severe punishment in a federal prison for everyone that can be connected to it.

The economic environment we exist in was designed from a flawed premise. It was then exploited using not only unethical, but illegal means to extract as much value from the individual as possible. We now live in an artificial financial bubble which is endemic with fraud. As this becomes common knowledge, the bubble will contract or more likely burst.

Walking away from this environment in advance seems like a prudent and morally correct course of action.

- disclaimer - disclaimer - disclaimer - disclaimer -

Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.

Make Space - new Drum & Bass Studio Mix

2011-06-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

Some of the music I've been listening to over the past week here in NM.

And yes, I would like to play at your lovely weekend campout. =)

Ed Colmar - Make Space

Footage from trust CoR 2009

2011-06-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Just found this video hiding on the vcrux site.

Complete Vcrux listing

New soundcloud profile

2011-06-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

I finally gave in and made a soundcloud account.

I'll be posting more tracks later. For now here are the most recent 3 from my blog.

http://soundcloud.com/edcolmar

App Engine Bulkloader - Troubleshooting

2011-05-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Amna and I were working on an app engine hosted website for her job, and it required an import of data from a comma delimited database file. An initial search returned official google documentation, and a few posts with some trivial seeming issues.

In practice, getting the bulkloader to function was a lot of work, and the documentation was not helpful. Google, please include more examples!

So, I'm posting this in case anyone else wants to do a bulkloader import.

One huge gotcha that took us hours to figure out was that the High replication datastore requires a different application name than the master/slave datastore. if you are using the high replication datastore, you must use the flag --application=~s[your app name] Without the ~s, app engine will error out and tell you that you don't have permission to access the datastore.

We then searched for a long time to try to find correct examples on how to do import transforms on different data types. The default data type on import is a string. Unless you specify a different type, it will get imported to the db as a string.

We also had problems finding the correct format for the column titles.

Here is our final bulkloader.yaml

###################################

python_preamble:
- import: base64
- import: re
- import: google.appengine.ext.bulkload.transform
- import: google.appengine.ext.bulkload.bulkloader_wizard
- import: google.appengine.ext.db
- import: google.appengine.api.datastore
- import: google.appengine.api.users

transformers:

- kind: Franchise
connector: csv
connector_options:
column_list: [franchise_title, franchise_added_on, franchise_description, franchise_description_two, franchise_tfu_c, franchise_tcou_c, franchise_tu_c, franchise_tfu_vp, franchise_tcou_vp, franchise_tu_vp, franchise_tfu_vp_percentage, franchise_tcou_vp_percentage, franchise_tu_percentage, franchise_management_employees, franchise_veteran_management_employees, franchise_management_percentage, franchise_wfnetwork_listing, franchise_wfnetwork_url, franchise_class, franchise_logo_profile, franchise_validated, franchise_summary, franchise_logo_rotate, franchise_of_the_week]
# TODO: Add connector options here--these are specific to each connector.

property_map:
- property: franchise_title
external_name: franchise_title
# Type: Key Stats: 119 properties of this type in this kind.
#import_transform: transform.create_foreign_key('TODO: fill in Kind name')
#export_transform: transform.key_id_or_name_as_string

- property: franchise_description
external_name: franchise_description
import_transform: db.Text

- property: franchise_description_two
external_name: franchise_description_two
import_transform: db.Text

- property: franchise_tfu_c
external_name: franchise_tfu_c
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_tcou_c
external_name: franchise_tcou_c
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_tu_c
external_name: franchise_tu_c
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_tfu_vp
external_name: franchise_tfu_vp
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_tcou_vp
external_name: franchise_tcou_vp
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_tu_vp
external_name: franchise_tu_vp
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_tfu_vp_percentage
external_name: franchise_tfu_vp_percentage
import_transform: float

- property: franchise_tcou_vp_percentage
external_name: franchise_tcou_vp_percentage
import_transform: float

- property: franchise_tu_percentage
external_name: franchise_tu_percentage
import_transform: float

- property: franchise_management_employees
external_name: franchise_management_employees
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_veteran_management_employees
external_name: franchise_veteran_management_employees
import_transform: transform.none_if_empty(int)

- property: franchise_management_percentage
external_name: franchise_management_percentage
import_transform: float

- property: franchise_wfnetwork_listing
external_name: franchise_wfnetwork_listing
import_transform: bool

- property: franchise_wfnetwork_url
external_name: franchise_wfnetwork_url

- property: franchise_class
external_name: franchise_class

- property: franchise_logo_profile
external_name: franchise_logo_profile

- property: franchise_validated
external_name: franchise_validated
import_transform: bool

- property: franchise_summary
external_name: franchise_summary
import_transform: db.Text

- property: franchise_logo_rotate
external_name: franchise_logo_rotate

- property: franchise_of_the_week
external_name: franchise_of_the_week
import_transform: bool

##############

And here is the command we used to send the data up to app engine:

appcfg.py upload_data --config_file=bulkloader.yaml --filename=../F4V.txt --kind=Franchise --url=http://franchises4vets.appspot.com/_ah/remote_api --application=s~franchises4vets .

Hope this helps!

Dj sets from TECHNICAL STORMS

2010-10-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

I played two short sets on Oct 2nd.

This was at the same place that I produced "Audition Tape" to try to get a show. The Buffalo Bar.

It was really a great show. I had to put away most of the music that I pulled for it, because people just weren't digging on the softer stuff.

Set 1
Set 2

Enjoy!

New Original Track - Improvised Cardboard

2010-08-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

This one is kinda hard to classify... 180 BPM with some jungle feel, though mostly disguised as hard noise.

Ed Colmar - Improvised Cardboard

Play loud for best results.

Original Track - Bowfry

2010-08-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Another recently finished track that needs to get out.

IDM style.

Ed Colmar - Bowfry

Lochae - New Original Track

2010-08-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a new track that does not have a home as far as an official release. It is IDM flavor with a dash of dubstep.

Ed Colmar - Lochae

Enjoy!

Declassify - 1996 Ambient/IDM Studio Mix

2010-06-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

Another one from the archives. Yes, '96.

At the time I was playing as "LMNT" and released this on a very limited (maybe 50) run of CDs.

Ed Colmar - Declassify

DJ / Live hybrid set at OW NYE 2003

2010-06-28T18:23:00.001-07:00

Let me apologize for the timing glitches in this recording every so often. My collection of DAT tapes are nearing the end of their useful life, and beginning to fail.

Hence I have undertaken the massive goal of moving them onto a more redundant magnetic storage system, and uploading the public files to the cloud (thanks amazon s3!)

This is an old set that I played at Otherworld in 2003. It was new years eve. I was stoked! I think this was the blue Gateway system, if I remember correctly.

I like to refer to this as a dj/live hybrid. It was composed of partially other people's music that got sliced up and mangled with sounds and loops from my music. All of it was being sequenced and affected live.

Ed Colmar - dj/live hybrid - Otherworld NYE 2003

project...

2010-06-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

A project I've been working on at City of Rocks. Thanks Amna for the footage and editing. =)

Techno Practic3e

2010-04-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

50+ minutes of minimal ish techno tunes from a dj practice session last night.

http://bit.ly/edc_techp3

Audition Tape

2010-02-21T15:38:00.000-08:00

I was asked to provide a CD to audition for a possible DJ gig in town.

My initial reaction was to flat out refuse for the absurdity of it. Playing in a NM bar, for country music fans... Probably not the best idea. Maybe a few could be converted. Maybe I'd get shot.

After some careful consideration, I decided it was better to produce the audition material. My goal was to make something honest, sometimes pretty, and (of course) hard.

It's a job application, and a warning at the same time.

Thanks for listening.

Also, please support these artists. They are remarkable.

SIDE A - Dubstep
Mount Kimbie - 50 Mile View
The Prodigy - Breathe (Numbernin6 rmx)
Statix - Purgatory
Subscape - Slow Moe
RSD - Accepted
Broken Note - Dubversion (Hecq rmx)
Ed Solo - Egyptian Horns
Noisses - Square Face
The Streets - Blinded By The Lights (Nero rmx)
6Blocc - The End
Statix - All The Sauce

SIDE B - Jungle
Dj Hidden - Drawn In
Dj Hidden - Scry 2 7734-5335-34
Rregula - Corner Hashman
Spectrasoul - Organiser
Dj Hidden - The Traveller
Ant Tc1 and Dlr - Space and Time
Metrik - Moving On
Commix & Rufage Cru - Justified
SPL - Nihil (The Panacea rmx)
Broken Note - Pyrotek
Rregula & The Panacea - Down Underneath
Ebola - Painkillers

DOWNLOAD (and share)
SIDE A
SIDE B

OSC to DMX on Android

2010-01-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

OSC to DMX testing from Ed Colmar on Vimeo.

I'm using a G1 to drive a G2.

Basic testing here, just showing that it works.

Earth and Technology

2010-01-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

For a long time I have been trying to reconcile two seemingly opposing beliefs:

I love the earth and humanity. I believe that individuals and groups should be sustainable. That they should provide for their needs without much reliance on other people or groups.

I love technology. I believe as a race, we have to grow beyond this planet (and solar system) if we are to survive. Ultimately, the sun will destroy us if we don't.

Last night, I was reading Bill Mollison's "Permaculture A Designer's Manual" and in the "Strategies for an Alternative Nation" chapter I read:

"I do not, in my lifetime, or that of my children's children, forsee a world where there is no eroded soils, stripped forests, famine, or poverty, but I do see a way in which we can spend our lives towards earth repair. If and when the whole world is secure, we have won a right to explore space, and the oceans. Until we have demonstrated that we can establish a productive and secure earth society, we do not belong anywhere else, nor (I suspect) would we be welcome elsewhere."

I don't know if this completely seals up the rift, but the sides feel more connected now.

System Check Edits

2009-10-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we took the sound and lighting rigs out for a test. Lots of new gear, and lots of new connections. The sync from the dj, to the sequencer, to the lighting rig was one of the crucial things we were testing.

Here are a few stitched together clips from the best footage.

System Check Edits from Ed Colmar on Vimeo.

Time Slips By at ASR

2009-10-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

This was one of my all time favorite performances. Things just came together so perfectly. Pascal's new soundsystem, Mike's Lighting support, Great energies all around. The recording attempts failed, so we recreated the set as closely as possible before I came home to NM.

Enjoy!

Time Slips By / Live set from ASR : As you like it 2009 (Redux)

Android Developer Challenge

2009-09-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

The ADC2 is open for voting.

If you use android, please help the voting process. And give a little extra love to my app, Auradust.

Please grab the ADC2 app on the android market.

More details on the process here

Auradust Launch

2009-08-25T21:07:00.001-07:00

Auradust is live!

The primary component is an application for android phones. It allows you to leave and retrieve information for the places around you. A post to auradust can share out images, text and audio about where you are. A local search can reveal details about places near you.

The android application is available for free in the android market if you search for auradust, or click the barcode above.

There is a facebook app that lets you share locations with your social network. Please try it out.

The website has a global public overview, some general info, and a selection of designer ring tones.

You can view android market comments here:
Auradust on Cyrket

I would love to hear everyone's feedback on it.

15Hz Test tone

2009-08-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

I could not find a proper sub bass test tone on the net, so I made one.

You can use this to test subwoofers for blown drivers. Even in residential neighborhoods.

Download 15Hz test tone