a different tune

Lunar Eclipse 2007: 8.57.42pm. Photo by PJ Rosenberger.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of last night’s total lunar eclipse, but unfortunately the rain and thick cloud made it pretty much a “no show”. For those of us in the Western Australia, the promise was for a “blood moon” rising. Rising moons are often red due to differential scattering of light in the atmosphere, but with the eclipse we were expecting a “copper” moon. This great photo was taken on the night in Newcastle. The kids and I did manage to catch a couple of fleeting glimpses through the clouds so it wasn’t a complete disappointment.

I was interested to hear a recent talk by Johnaton Nally about the eclipse. Johnathon relates the story of Christopher Columbus who, while stranded in Jamaica, used foreknowledge of a coming eclipse to his advantage. The natives initially helped Columbus and his crew, but they eventually tired of the treatment they received from the sailors and stopped supplying them with food. Columbus announced the the Almighty was unhappy and would show his displeasure by making the moon disappear. Of course, when the moon actually did disappear the natives were terrified and quickly changed their tune.

Whether or not this is true, its an interesting story and one that is repeated in other places in literature. In Mark Twain’s 1889 novel “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”, Hank Morgan is sentenced to death by King Arthur’s court but manages to save himself by predicting the coming eclipse at the precise moment he is about to be burnt at the stake. Fortunately, the events at the court coincided exactly with the historical solar eclipse of AD 528:

the monk raised his hands above my head, and his eyes toward the blue sky, and began some words in Latin; in this attitude he droned on and on, a little while, and then stopped. I waited two or three moments; then looked up; he was standing there petrified. With a common impulse the multitude rose slowly up and stared into the sky. I followed their eyes, as sure as guns, there was my eclipse beginning!

The life went boiling through my veins; I was a new man! The rim of black spread slowly into the sun’s disk, my heart beat higher and higher, and still the assemblage and the priest stared into the sky, motionless. I knew that this gaze would be turned upon me, next. When it was, l was ready. I was in one of the most grand attitudes I ever struck, with my arm stretched up pointing to the sun. It was a noble effect.

A remarkably similar storyline is found in Herge’s “Prisoners of the Sun”. Tintin and Captain Haddock are captured by an “Inca” cult and sentenced to death for trespassing in a sacred temple. Fortunately, they are allowed to choose the time of their death. Even more fortunately, Tintin discovers a scrap of newspaper which reports on an upcoming expedition to study a solar eclipse. So in the end they manage to escape in the classic style as the eclipse saves the day.

Herge (1949), “Prisoners of the Sun”, Mammoth Edition (2002) p58.

Last week saw the 25th anniversary the compact disc. The first commercially released CD was made by Philips on August 17, 1982.

That disc was “The Visitors”, the eighth and final studio album of Swedish pop group ABBA. Probably the best known of the included tracks are “One Of Us”, and (appropriately) “When All Is Said And Done”, which was the lead single. Later ABBA recorded a number of singles which were included in a reissue of the album in 2001. These included the epic “The Day Before You Came”, complete with a day of triviality and a majestic classical synth-orchestral chorus.

While 1982 saw the first commercially released disc, CDs had been under development for several years. Philips started researching digital audio laser discs in 1977. Then in 1979 Philips and Sony joined forces, each contributing innovations that became part of the “Red Book” compact disc standard. The manufacturing process was based on the LaserDisc (remember those big guys?) which Philips developed in 1969, and publically demonstrated in 1972.

Now a confession: I bought my first CD player in 2002, which I guess means I missed about 20 years of CD opportunity. I still have stacks of cassettes from those “lost years”, but have never really been a big music collector. I’ve bought a dozen or so tracks from iTunes, but must admit that I was not impressed with the quality of the sound. To my ear AAC at 128Kbps sounds noticably distorted, particularly at the top end of the spectrum (eg. sibilant lyrics, and percussive sounds like cymbals). Perhaps when someone comes up with a DRM-free MP3s at a reasonable bit-rate I’ll give it another go, but for the moment its back to the good old CD.

“The Silence” is a new orchestral work by Iain Grandage : a narrated story with libretto by Humphrey Bower. Its designed specifically as an introduction to the orchestra for children in upper primary / lower secondary school.

The story tells of a boy who wakes up to find that he is the only person left in the world. The theme obviously allows for the exploration of a range of emotions and situations.

I was immediately reminded of two things. The first was Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”, the classic childrens orchestral story that I remember from my own childhood. The second was “The Quiet Earth”, a strange and beautiful film in which a man wakes up to find himself alone in the world. Its a powerful theme, and makes us question how much our own identity depends on those around us.

Heard recently on Into the Music. The audio may be there for a few weeks. Its great to hear some of the kids reactions to the piece. I hope we see this performed in Perth soon.

Perth’s first Webjam is just over and I’m already looking forward to the next one. Last night, 15 presenters and an audience of around 100 gathered at the Velvet Lounge, Mt Lawley for a fast-paced evening of geek fun.

Webjam gives each presenter 3 minutes to strut their stuff. The audience votes on their favourite presentations via SMS, and there are prizes awarded at the end of the night for the winners. Meanwhile, everyone enjoys the camaraderie, the drinks, and the chance to network. Webjam is hosted by Lachlan Hardy, ably supported by Lisa Herrod and Tim Lucas, all from Sydney.

First prize on the night went to Richard and Simon from Scouta for a dazzling visualisation of Scouta’s social network. Second prize went to Nick Cowie’s blistering “sledgefest” on web-sites that don’t work on mobile web browsers. Third prize went to Gary Barber’s “Web 3.0″ redesign of his own web site.

Here is some video I shot on the night.

• Richard Giles and Simon Wittber - ICCARUS
• Nick Cowie - Web sites on Mobile Devices
• Gary Barber - “Web3.0″ site design
• Nick Hodge - LOLcode
• Bronwen Clune - Coworking at the Silicon Beach House
• Myles Eftos - Canvas Text Replacement
• Daniel - Web Photo Management App

Unfortunately, the lighting is not good, and I didn’t have the opportunity to pan the camera so the display on the screen is often “washed out” with the extreme contrast. However, it does capture the spirit of the presentations and some of the vibe of the night. Apologies to those presenters who I’ve omitted. Some of the presentations were not very clear on video, especially those with bright backgrounds on the slides.

Here are some other reactions from the night: Kathryn Greenhill (including some great geek shirts), Myles Eftos, Gary Barber, and Scouta.

Thanks to the sponsors and organisers. And thanks to the Webjam team for making the long trek to Perth. Hope to see you back here soon.