Electroponic advice with the Music Junkie

Is it Intelligent to Teach Intelligent Design?

2005-09-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

This post is a bit off topic compared to what I attempt to write about but I felt that it needed to be said.
Today I feel as if it is the start of something that no one will be able to stop or slow down. In the town of Dover, PA it is now a community devided by one arguement, "Should Intelligent Design be allowed to be taught in science classes?" Intelligent Design is the idea that organisms on this planet are so complex that the only answer is that a higher being had designed them. To me this is a bunch of rubbish; that is just an answer that someone that believes in god would say. Last night I watched a special on Dateline where there was a mother who had given birth to conjoined twins in the Phillipines. They were joined at the top of their skulls making it impossible for either of them to do anything but lay on their backs. The mother decided to search for a Doctor to do an operation that had never been performed before, which is to have the two boys surgically seperated. The reason that these surgical procedures are so dangerous is because many of the main bodily functions are performed by one of the two twins making it almost impossible for both of them to survive. They also shared a couple of major arteries including the artery that supplies blood from the heart to the brain. Something this complex has never been performed before with success but the Doctor who had decided to perform this surgery was very optomistic about the procedure. He explained the operation would incompass a listing of surgeries that they had performed singlely, just not altogether. To me that shows a flaw in the idea of Intelligent Design where it states only a higher being could have designed all the earths organisms. If it so complex and only a higher being can design them how come we have been able to understand and perform miracles such as this surgery without a god performing the surgery.
The group of parents that are all for Intelligent Design state that their children should be taught "alternatives" to the evolution theory. That is not difficult to grasp but what I don't understand is that if specific parents would like their children to learn something different or in combination with what is being taught in school have those parents teach their children at home what they think is being overlooked. The one thing that keeps popping into my mind is some of the beliefs I have towards any followers of any god. I feel as if many of them have actually been completely fooled into believing because someone made them very afraid of this cruel world and if they do not have faith they are completely at the mercy of it. To me it is their belief that blinds them from grasping such topics as evolution because there is no other "alternative" to what they believe. Another thing I don't understand if someone is to teach Intelligent Design in a science class how is a teacher supposed to answer questions such as, "Why does a spider have eight legs and an ant have six?" The response I would imagine someone to say, "It is because a higher being decided it to be that way." That's not very scientific is it? no. This idea is an answer to people who don't want to look deeper, who don't want to understand why things happen, or can't because they are not intelligent enough to grasp some of the concepts we call science. If you want to have someone teach this theory don't have a science teacher teach the theory because to me it is unscientifical and an excuse to not ask more questions.
By having a school board say that it is mandatory to learn Intelligent Design which is based on believing in a higher being to me is saying that it is ok teach about god in schools. That idea goes against the seperation of church and state. Trying to authorize the teaching of such ideas is a way for those who believe in god to get back into the classroom and try to influence students who are young and impressionable. The next arguement is that we have freedom of speech and that is fine but that just means if someone wants to talk about it go ahead and do so but to make it part of a curriculum is going a bit beyond freedom of speech. In conclusion I feel if they make it legally ok to teach Intelligent Design we are just falling down steps we have already climbed.

What will be the future of the dj industry?

2005-09-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

In my mind there is one question that I have yet to have an answer for, "Will the dj industry embrace technology?" Today technology has become so advanced that you can now mix mp3 files on your computer without ever having to touch a pair of turntables. Some of these programs are VirtualDJ, Traktor, and Live 5. Some household names in dance music (i.e. Sasha & Richie Hawtin) are starting to embrace this new technology using Live 5 with specially made Midi controllers. In reality though they have much better contacts, of course, so they have the ability to ask companies such as Mackie to create special controllers for them. The majority of us are still fighting an uphill battle. There are some controllers being sold to the public (i.e. the Hercules DJconsole) but the reliability for these products is not equal to the reliability of using a traditional setup. One company I think is making some headway is Numark with their DXM01usb mixer which is intended to connect to yor pc for recording but can also be used to control some of the computer software I mentioned previously. This is a great advancement but with a price tag of $249 the problem I see is that it is a two channel mixer. What if a knob on one of the channels decides to not function properly, there is no back-up. Another problem I see is dj's who play three songs at once, how are you going to mix the third? These are the battles I have in my own mind since I want to make the dive and try to promote myself as a Computer DJ but until I have answers to these questions I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. If I had the money and the knowledge to some how rewire a traditional three or four channel mixer to communicate with my computer that would be ideal but then I would have to write a the program that would allow to play three songs. All of this deeply bothers me because I am not the only one who is having these problems, every computer dj can see what the capabilities would be if someone would just make the program and then make the controller for the program. What sparked this was a quote I read today in the New York Times, "Every now and then, humanity wakes up, looks at itself in the mirror and realizes that it's been wasting a lot of effort doing things the old way just for the sake of tradition (Pogue, David)." This is what I hope to be saying about the dj industry hopefully within my lifetime.

Fresh and Funky

2005-09-20T11:04:00.000-05:00

Today is a good day to browse the internet for a new fresh and funky website. Well at least that is what I was thinking, sitting in this cell that they call a cubicle and this jail they call an office building. I was searching the internet for something informative but at the same time, not the New York Times. After about three clicks I found Askmen.com which is an online magazine for men. They cover topics from pleasing your lady friends to how to orchestrate a formal dinner for business meetings. While cruising through their site I found what I would the freshest webite out there. It is VintageVantage.com and is a collection of the coolest t-shirts ever made. You know your friends who have those shirts that say things like "Georgia: Reach for the Peach," well now you can out do them. Their shirts are similar to that but are tens times better and tens times more likely that you'll be noticed before they will. The picture below is one of my personal favorites from the "Top Shelf" section of the website, and this shirt is priced at $749. If you haven't heard about this site check it out, you'll be laughing all day.

For the weekend...

2005-09-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

...I would recommend David Guetta. David Guetta (pronounced Getta) is a french DJ who has made a huge impact on the scene in recent months. David's track selection is a bit on the mainstream side but absolutely flawless and his mixing is top notch. If you want some rocking electro-house music to get down to (however you may get down), download a recording from his "F*** Me I'm Famous" tour. When you listen turn it up, turn it up real loud and imagine sitting around hundreds of beautiful people all sipping champagne. Actually at one if his sets at Pacha on the beautiful white isle of Ibiza they actually ran out of champagne. For a club such as Pacha to run out of champagne would be like Godiva running out of chocolate. David's sets are extremely fresh and sexy that include tracks such as the fantastic re-rub of "Pump Up the Jam by D.O.N.S. feat. Technotronic," and David's own phenomenol production "The World Is Mine (F*** Me I'm Famous Remix)." Hope you enjoy the suggestion and play it loud, very loud..."Watch the bodies jumping!!!"

Martin Solveig - Everybody

2005-09-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

This is the first of many reviews... Martin Solveig is a french DJ that started spinning in clubs at the tender age of 18. I first heard of Martin through listening to DJ sets of many superstar DJ's such as Pete Tong and Eric Morillo. I then decided to give some of his music a chance and I stumbled upon this track a few months ago. Unlike some of the other releases recently by some of the famous progressive producers this song has more of an edge to it. Instead of remixing a rock song or heavily sampling one guitar riff over and over, it almost sounds as if there is a band producing the sounds. It has a killer guitar solo along with a boat load of energy to it and no matter what type of music your into if you like electric guitar and some decent lyrics it will keep your head nodding in approval. This is actually one of my favorite tracks right now and I keep it on heavy, heavy rotation. I think the best time to listen to this song is at end of a hard day and your driving home so you let loose. The freedom you feel when reciting the word 'Everybody' over and over as the song proceeds really gets you in the mood to do something, anything. For me it's to go home a sip on nice cold drink and rock out to the song once again. Even if you don't like dance music buy this song and play it over and over. Visit here to listen to a sample of the song and also you can purchase the song there as well. Visit the artist's website at www.martinsolveig.com. The one area I do recommend going to is the "remix yourself" section of the website.

The first one...

2005-09-15T08:07:00.000-05:00

Today the weather sucks, so I decided to start my own blog about whatever I would like to write about. It seems a bit redundent to be stating that since most people that have a blog just want to ramble about a bunch of meaningless crap. I hope to not bog down my blog with a bunch of crap that no one wants to read but something with a little more thought.
I will be writing about the recent shortcomings that has been going on with our lovely country that we call America (land of the free). Most of the time I will be writing reviews for all the music I purchase, as well as some music I currently own. I am into dance music alot more than most people so I will also be writing what I think about some DJ sets. Fell free to comment on anything I say since this is a free country, right?