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Michael Martine

The Personal Blog of Michael Martine

Can't... Stop... Loving... Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

I don't know what the deal is, but I just cannot get enough of this song. The video absolutely kills it. I don't think it's an accident at all there's a touch of Debbie Harry in her look. I've seen other pics where she's riffing off of Bowie's old Ziggy Stardust lightning bolt makeup. I am simply giving in to the GaGa, I guess.

Posted November 21, 2009
// 0 Comments

What is Love? on Mario Paint Composer

Posted November 19, 2009
// 2 Comments

HELL YEAH

Posted November 19, 2009
// 3 Comments

Ray Kurzweil - What is the Singularity?

You may have heard the term "singularity." What is it? Could it be real? Ray Kurzweil, the inventor of the musical synthesizer and more, has been pushing this idea of a technological singularity for some time, now. It's beginning to catch on. Once you understand it, you will probably afraid of it--or you hope it happens during your own lifetime.

Posted November 17, 2009
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The Headway Posse

Grant & Clay Griffiths and me are the guys behind Headway (the new version of which is now available--wait till you see it!)

http://headwaythemes.com

Posted November 17, 2009
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Garbage Night in Midtown Manhattan

The weather was blustery and wet, getting rain drops on the camera lens. Photographer, I am not, but these will give you some idea of what I wandered around looking at while working off steam at my crapped out internet connection. Luckily, that situation was resolved nicely by getting a different room that ended up being more like what I wanted anyway: a smoking room with a desk, so I can relax, puff on my pipe, and get some work done. 

As I wandered about, I noticed huge piles of trash lining the streets like barriers. Not romantic at all, but the scale of it is amazing. As I walked past the New York Life building, I saw it had a huge bar in it. It was packed with people, dressed up for their Friday evening out, unwinding after what was no doubt a brutal work week. I felt like I could have been, at that moment, in any moment. Any moment in the past. I think I may have time traveled for a bit there.

The weird "light tongues" were mounted on the exterior of the Gershwin Hotel, which looked like it got stuck in the land of the Dark Crystal for a while and then decided to come back and plunk itself down in Manhattan. I expected to see a Skeksi come shambling out and whine at me.

The last picture is my hotel, Hotel 30 30.

         
Click here to download:
Garbage_Night_in_Midtown_Manha.zip (11857 KB)

Posted November 14, 2009
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This is the Part Where I'm Supposed to Fall in Love - First Impressions of New York City

I knew exactly nothing about New York City. Seriously, my ignorance is profound. I don't know the Burroughs or where they are. Everything I "know" about New York comes from movies, TV shows, and books. 

Melting pot does not even begin to describe it here. The people here are amazing. There's a definite toughness here that's on everyone's face like a baseline. Every kind of person and food imaginable. Lots of black leather and scarves. Ants in a seething anthill. Ten thousand rituals of commerce and courtship unfolding all around me wherever I look.

I can see why people fall in love with New York. Something about it makes you want to prove yourself, gain significance, reach for greatness, because New York herself is great.

         
Click here to download:
This_is_the_Part_Where_Im_Supp.zip (10834 KB)

Posted November 13, 2009
// 4 Comments

New Media Douchebags Explained

Heh... is this you? Unfollow me now.

Posted November 9, 2009
// 1 Comment

This is freaking funny as hell - Social Media Guru


Posted November 9, 2009
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Really Digging Ubuntu Linux - Goodbye Windows, OSX, I Hardly Knew You

This isn't the first time I've played with Linux. I briefly toyed with it a few years ago, and put it back on the shelf as not worth the time and learning curve. I'm a geek, but I'm not a hardcore programmer-type geek. And Linux wasn't ready for prime time, then. But now, I can install it without a hitch and get going quickly. I am enough of a nerd to navigate the familiar-but-different environment, and I'm learning fast as I go. A good book helps. I know there's help online, but I still find a good reference manual to be invaluable. I'm using Beginning Ubuntu Linux from Apress.

Right now I'm running Ubuntu on an older Celeron M laptop, and it runs WAY faster than Vista did. My next step is to try it out on another laptop that had problems with Vista, and then set up my big machine (quad core, 8gb ram) to dual-boot Win 7 and Ubuntu. Then we'll see if I can get along entirely without Windows and most proprietary software at all. Something tells me it wont' be too hard.

One thing that is really thrilling is all the incredible open source software out there, from games to computer animation and graphics, to office stuff (already familiar with OpenOffice).

Friends have been hammering me for years to get a Mac, get a Mac, get a Mac. But I think I might just jump right down the throat of the open source dragon. No license fees, ever, and I can put the software on as many systems as I want. That's sovereignty and freedom to me. Whoever understands and controls the tech in their lives, nowadays, has a hell of a lot more freedom than those who don't. Knowledge is indeed power.

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Posted November 8, 2009
// 5 Comments