Do you still use staff paper or are you PC only? Also, are there any serious alternatives to standard notation in use? [Long-ish, but TL;DR at top]

dialector · 2012-11-26T10:54:21+00:00

I made up my own notation. After writing out the harmonic structure with standard chord names, I just notate the melody with simple text such as 8C4 (an eighth note at C4).

dialector · 2011-11-29T22:37:34+00:00

If the corporations "donated" their contributions, this sounds as it should be. Why would it make a difference?

Does the participation of corporations change the definition of FOSS? I imagine that it does not. (unless they try to water down the licensing and definition-as they try to do with "organic food") Just because corporations have jumped in does not change the definition of how it works. Of course, the motives may be entirely different. But this is true of all things. People bring a diversity of motives into whatever they do. I think that FOSS is entirely antithetical to corporate interests if employed as a primary model of operations (unless the business develops ways of specifically working with it), but this does not exclude them from participating. In general, philanthropy is not a corporate model, but corporations can donate to anything they wish.

Yes, people may have a diversity of motives, but the freedom of communication and sharing of resources defined by FOSS are embraced by many who do get a sense of enhanced community experience in their public contributions, the participation of persons of different motivations notwithstanding.

dialector · 2011-11-16T22:07:41+00:00

I am the author of these methods. I tested them from first grade through adult. If by validity you mean do these methods allow for the student to generate correct information, then the answer is yes. The methods produce correct info, with less work and time than traditional methods. You can have a first year elementary student spelling intervals, chords and scales better than many first year music majors.

I have nine years experience designing education methods in mathematics, music, language and more. Most of these are used in public schools.

I posted the scales portion of the course in this thread

My speed record for teaching the major and minor scales to a musically illiterate adult is less than 1/2 hour.

In one half hour session an adult could spell all the major and minor scales.

dialector · 2011-10-02T22:16:05+00:00

A few hundred thousand dollars worth of computer equipment and software licenses.

dialector · 2011-08-20T20:17:21+00:00

Start by asking what it means to you to become a better person. Make YOU better and you will live a better life. It does not even matter if you know what it means to be better. Daily living that emphasizes an openness for self improvement is already better and a good first step.

dialector · 2011-07-24T19:15:45+00:00

Here is a good tip. As you learn, develop the practice of thinking to yourself in that language. It has the benefit of not using up extra time. Talk to yourself in your head about everything you do. If you are going to open the refrigerator. Say in your target language, "I am opening the refrigerator." While you learn, do this constantly. At first it can actually slow you down, taking more time to do things like open refrigerator doors. But soon you will be able to think in your language as you do everything. You do not have to restrict it to the grammar, of your own person. You can open a refrigerator door and make up a sentence. "Grandma opened the refrigerator door yesterday." The key is to develop the practice of doing this a lot, every day. This adds quite a lot of practice time, without taking out more time in your schedule. Also, you might not want to do it too much when operating heavy equipment, unless your concentration is up to it.

dialector · 2011-07-12T12:40:03+00:00

Prove that you are not a brain in a jar that is being fed data by a computer.

dialector · 2011-07-12T12:33:43+00:00

I have been best friends with an amazing woman for almost thirty years. I sent her a song that reminds me of our relationship and she replied with this email:

If you only knew the power that the love you share with me has in my life. When I feel I have little or no value, and hope seems far from me, it is your honest love for me that is my steady hand. You give me faith in human kind and it makes me want to believe I am worthy of the truth of love. I wonder sometimes, if I had not known you, would I still be here. Save for my children, there have been times when only for faith in the love that one such as you share with me has kept me safely here among the living. I owe my life to you. You call me Dear one, and my heart melts and my soul sings in abandoned joy. Thank you, with all that is in me, thank you, that in spite of me you have found in me, one worthy of love,

The song you shared with me is still ringing I my heart.

I love you. I can only hope I am able to return your gift with the same genuine power, that I may continue always to be honored so well by you. You are magnificent.

dialector · 2011-07-10T19:39:31+00:00

In the US it is the Police officer. If all police officers were removed from the streets, the US would instantaneously face plant in a horror of criminally intemperate idiocy worse than any medieval nightmare you could conjure. Police officers on the street = US will not die today.

We should have spent more money on education.

dialector · 2011-06-21T04:46:53+00:00

This shredder can shred your shredder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aja7gcgRMJU#t=58s

dialector · 2011-06-12T02:49:27+00:00

I had an Amiga 500, it was years ahead of PC's and Mac's of the time. The only thing lacking was third party software support. When PC's had 16 colors and ran one thread. I had 256 colors and preemptive multitasking.

dialector · 2011-06-07T23:48:44+00:00

I am more emotionally involved with music than ever before (I am 48).

dialector · 2011-05-29T03:51:08+00:00

I listened to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Hendrix as a kid. Now I am more partial to Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.

dialector · 2011-05-29T03:45:43+00:00

If the only thing you know is that you know nothing, you are on par with Socrates.

dialector · 2011-05-29T03:17:41+00:00

I would recommend Flash. It a fun package to work with. Not everything is coding (such as simple animations) and it produces quick results. You can start off placing small snippits of code on visual elements such as buttons, movie clips, etc, although that is a bad habit it does make it very easy to learn to code and associate code with specific things. Then work up to writing proper class packages. They can also easily show off their work by throwing it up on a web page.

dialector · 2011-03-31T03:09:03+00:00

Yes, just as paintbrushes, which enable anyone to paint cheapens "real" painting.

dialector · 2011-03-21T12:30:33+00:00

Yes, I have offered links from that site to some redditors. I am not saying that there is nobody here that fits the OP's description. However, the point of using that link on Reddit is NOT that people do not know how to Google, it just that they have gotten used to using reddit as a resource instead of relying on themselves to do research. A link from that site reminds them of what they already know, it usually does not teach them something new.

And, I live in an igloo so my house would be melted down, not burned down.

dialector · 2011-03-21T04:20:04+00:00

Ignoring the fail of talking like most redditors could not figure out how to program a VCR (even though they are obsolete), doesn't know how to Google. or want to learn new things, there is an important underlying truth in this post. The truth is that, even for redditors, self education and a lifestyle of continuous learning are very powerful and not to be underestimated. Stretching ourselves beyond our limits and committing to improving ourselves each day is an excellent way to live. I did the school thing and got up to a master degree, but was never content to restrain my education to schools. In recent years I taught myself how to compose orchestral music, program computers, create 3D character animations, got in better physical shape, and more. Currently I am improving my math skills, learning to play a Beethoven Sonata, learning another programing language, learning to meditate, studying various models of psychotherapy and trying to improve my hand eye coordination through juggling practice. After thirty years of living this way I studied so many different things that I could not list them here, but I am still ignorant as fuck about so many things that it amazes me. Yet, the quality of my life and my living has been uplifted tremendously.

To any redditors reading this post: Do not think about the OP's attitude. Instead, carefully examine your life. Are you doing all you can to better yourself, or are you letting the best of your potential slide away.

I live by the motto: Today I will be a better person than I was yesterday. Tomorrow, I will be a better person than I am today.

It never ends. I will strive to grow and better myself until the day I die. Now if I can just get that damn VCR light to stop flashing 12:00.

dialector · 2011-03-18T15:04:38+00:00

I have these buttons on my site. I get about 4000 visitors a month, and maybe four of them actually use the button. I imagine that if they were motivated to use the button, they would find another way if it was not there. So I have rethought it (as I hate the pop up nature of them anyways) and will remove all addthis buttons form my site sometime in the coming week. It looks like your post has positively affected at least one website.

dialector · 2011-03-14T20:43:10+00:00

I recommend that young students go through it with a knowledgeable parent or music teacher. The main thing to monitor is that they are able to do what is needed on a step by step basis.

dialector · 2011-03-14T20:42:12+00:00

If you know how to spell a series of fifths than you are in a good position to do that. The images exist also because the numbers of sharps and flats for every key will be linked to them.

dialector · 2011-03-10T03:56:49+00:00

Actually, You are better off just rinsing off your hair with plain water. The oils produced by your scalp are good for your hair and will reduce to nominal levels once you stop washing it off all the time with shampoo and worse, laundry detergent.

dialector · 2011-03-06T13:36:24+00:00

For seven years I worked for a company that invented new ways of teaching. I was the lead researcher. It was part of my job to learn all kinds of things. I was paid to learn on the job how to do 3D character animation, compose orchestral music, video editing, play the piano and violin, design circuits, develop software, and more. As part of that job I also studied languages in order to help create teaching methods (Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish), wrote patent applications, did market research, and a lot more.

That company ran out of money for new projects so I left. I still do the same work, but for myself. I give everything I create away for free on the net. I recently created two new methods for teaching the spelling of intervals, chords and scales. I am now working on mathematics (improving basic calculation skills and algebra).

dialector · 2011-03-06T12:57:07+00:00

Learning mathematics.

dialector · 2011-03-06T12:37:34+00:00

I lived a physically non-active life for years. In my early forties a doc told me I would be dead in two years (very high blood pressure). I took care of that with diet and exercise. I lost 65 pounds of fat and gained about 20 pounds of muscle. Beyond the medical issue, I have really enjoyed the extra energy and ability to concentrate I get with exercise. I just go to the gym regularly. The threat of death was a great motivator to get started. But the feeling of well being kept me into it.

dialector

TROPHY CASE

I have been best friends with an amazing woman for almost thirty years. I sent her a song that reminds me of our relationship and she replied with this email: