tl:dr for the last two years, just after Corona started up, I started playing guitar again, (mostly The Smiths) and then took up the hobby of ‘looping’ Looping is creating a song using a digital sampling device. Basically playing a riff or pattern, and then repeat it over and over, Then adding more and more riffs or patterns on top.

Sept update: Finished ‘There There’ by Radiohead. This took a LONG time because I had to change my workflow a bit. Also created a video the way I wanted to do it.

I need to create a part II for ‘There There’ where I explain the break down and the new things I got working to do this project. For example, using MIDI to play drums and fire events to Quantiloop on the IPad. I’ll get to that later. But for now, here is the new video!

When I first started looping, I was using an Boss RC30, however over this time I ended up changing to an iPad, new guitar, new effects pedal, learning post production using a computer, and wasting lots of time trying to figure how to film this using a cell phone. All while still working, so basically finding buckets of time here and there. However, 1.5 years later, finally ready to post some of the results.

I will update this over time but for now, consider this post a placeholder for the videos.

I recommend you open in YouTube. Also ‘Why PeriVision Loops’ is pretty long, so unless you are interested in looping, you can skip after the first part.

Update: I may just put the link to youtube instead of putting the player in the blog directly.

For example, here is just the playthrough of ‘Shoplifters of the World…’ currently my favorite of the 3 released so far.

https://youtu.be/2SbzWgEelmQ

Video List:

• Why PeriVision Loops: How and why for this hobby.
• The Smiths – Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
• The Smiths – Shoplifters of the World, Unite and Take Over
• The Smiths – Last night I Dreamt

This is the first video. Its ok, but I may redo it. I also want to figure out how to bass as I’m playing. Future effort.

This is my favorite so far. Really happy with the sound. My only regret is I figure out how to get a good sound out of my holo-body guitar AFTER this was done. Oh well.

This is my second song. I was still learning how to do these, and really did not get the sound I wanted. After this was done, I was planning on creating another version, but I wanted a dark 1950s tube amp sound and a feeling like you are hearing this in some dank pup somewhere where smoking is not allowed but happens anyway. Go figure, I recently found a version of this sound that pretty much hits what I was after.

Check it out: https://youtu.be/hp-Ic3wZrGM

Yea, this is like boutique store good. Not all that hard to make either. I’ll take you through the steps by steps. Now full disclosure, this is from my wife who read it online somewhere. So if you find it, ping me so I can link back to the OP.

Step 1, get the supplies. Special K with extra strawberries works great. Pink Chocolate (2 bars). I got this stuff on sale at Sprouts, sweet deal of 60% off. (yes pun intended). Dark chocolate at the same place. (4 bars) Now of course you can change out the cereal if you want, but try to keep the pink chocolate. Really adds to the taste. Next get a large’ish pan and put cooking paper on it. You can use cup cake forms or other containers, up to you. I like the pan. (Scroll down a bit if you want to see the pan I used).

Step two, prep. Now by hand, pick out as many of the strawberries from the cereal as you can. Stop complaining it does not take that long. Once you do that, get scissors or a knife or whatever, and cut in half. You don’t have to, but I like this way.

ok, step 3. Now if you never melted chocolate before, its not hard, but not simple either. If this is your first time, do a google search. There is a recommendation to use a microwave, which I will try at some point, but for this, simple pot with a glass bowl. (update, USE THE MICROWAVE! WAY easier) Bring the water to a simmer, place the glass over the pot, and yes the glass bowl MUST be bigger than the pot. (really I have to say this?) Anyway, drop the PINK chocolate first. Break it up into pieces, drop it in and start stirring. When its smooth your done. Pour into your sheet and smooth it out.

Now its time for the dark chocolate. I use 2 bars of dark for every 1 bar of pink. In this session I did 2 pinks and 4 dark and the whole box of cereal. Notice I did not clean the bowl? Yea because we do not want to waste ANY of that sweetness. And dont worry, its 2x dark to pink, it will keep dark when you are done.

Step 4. Its workout time. This take a bit of arm work, but its worth it. You need to work in the cereal to the chocolate. I put in the cereal a bit at time, say 1/4 mix it in, add another 1/4 mix, repeat. I think in the original recipe you do not use all the cereal thus making it more like chocolate than crunch, but if you work at it long enough you will get almost every flake with enough chocolate that it will hold. Bonus, you end up with more Strawberry Chocolate Crunch!! So get at it!

Last step, step 5. Time to spread the goodness. Once you have this fully mixed, turn off the stove and place onto the pink layer, It should be firm by now. Spread evenly. Next, remember those dried strawberries? Place them evenly on the pan. You should have something like this. You do need to push the strawberries in a bit, so do quickly while its still warm.

Put in the fridge for a few hours and that’s it! Cut and sell … oh serve. Or, in my case, put them in containers and eat them all myself. Hey, I made these, I can do what I want. Enjoy!!

I finally got my Tesla Model 3 a few weeks back.  Driving in an unfamiliar parking area, I did an over correction avoiding a pedestrian and ‘crunch’, I scrapped the rim on my M3.  Sigh.  So here is how you can repair the damage without taking the wheel off or paying $200 to a shop.

First, lets have a look at the damage.  It’s not major but heart breaking non the less.  So there are a few ways we can go about this.  With advise from my friend Norman Woo I looked the problem this way.  How far away do need to be before you notice?  So I thought about it and decided on the 3-6-9 rule.  At 9 feet I should not be able to see it.  At 6 feet I should have to look carefully for it, and 3 feet I should be able to see it but it should not ‘stand out’.  Now that is for me.  Most people, unless you say something will not see anything.  And even if you ask them to look for it most will do not find it.  You will see what I mean at the end.  So now that we know what we are trying to achieve, lets get started.

First, lets assess the damage.  It looks worse then it really is, but there are a few pretty deep cuts in the metal.  Now we could take a hand sander and smooth it all the way until it’s perfectly flat, but because the aero caps are almost flush with the edge of the rim, it could be noticeable since the fit will vary from the repair area to the rest of the rims edge.  So instead we decided to smooth down only enough to give us a clean surface and we will let the paint fill the remaining divots.

Step one.  Tape off the area that will not be worked on.  We used duct tape here.  (BTW, its really good for shirts too, ( How to get name tag off a shirt  ).

Next we grab a sander (if you do not have one I think you can borrow from the city or just rent one).  The rim is pretty soft so it only took about 3-5 min of sanding to get to a nice clean level.

BTW, if the cuts are not that deep, or you have time, take a 200 grit bit of sandpaper and do it by hand.  Smaller scrapes I do that.  I went to NAPA auto parts and bought a kit that has paper, gloves and filler.  Really easy.

(Shame.  We forgot to take a pic here)

Next, we grab some emery-cloth (type of sandpaper, (medium) 100 grit I think, followed by 200 (I think) and sand it smooth, making sure to keep the same shape as the rest of the rim.   20-30 min of this I think.  This was the hardest part.  Take your time… Get it right.

This step we skipped but upon reflection, we should have done it.  You can get primer that is pretty good at filling divots.   Ah well…

Ok. Now we get some windex (yes windex) and clean the surface.  DO not touch it!  Let it dry!  Good thing it was a bright warm day so we did not have to wait that long.

Here is where I owe Erwin Lara a bit of thanks.  He found a REALLY good match that is made for Ford.  The pen (link) was around $15 bucks I think.  Shake that think up a lot!!!

And now let the artist flow.  The first coat will not look good (again because we did not buy primer) but keep at it.  We did 5 coats over all.  Be sure to let each coat dry!!  No short cuts.  Plan to take time.  15min per coat minimum depending on weather.  Long strokes!

Finally, we put on some clear coat.  We only did 2 coats, could have done 3 but it’s good enough for the 3-6-9 goal we set out earlier.

And that’s it!!  The pictures we took were purposely at the worse angle to show the damage.  The third pic was with clear coat and the last picture was taking at a good angle.  Even at 3 feet you cannot see it.

Now we put the aero cap back on.  Nice!  Looks even.

And there you go! Around $30 bucks for pen and sandpaper, a few hours time, and lots of patients and its fixed.  So for those not used to low profile tires, sooner or later this going to happen to you.  If you are obsessed will trying to keep you car looking brand new as possible, you will want to invest in the tools listed here.  Worth it!

Good Luck!!   If you end up doing a repair to you rims like this, send me pics and I will add it to this post.

Also, my referral code, because why not?  https://ts.la/christopher12567

…and remember…

I took two plane trips in the last 2 weeks and decided to see what level of utility the gear VR would be on a flight.  Not only was it great, it totally changed the flight experience. In this post I’m going to list my favorite VR apps for flying and WHY it was so much better.

First, lets set the stage. Most of the time when I fly, I do not get to fly first class and often I’m sitting behind someone. short continental flights means I’m crammed into a small seat, with little leg room and even LESS room for my laptop if the person in front of me decides to recline back… which is often.

So here we are in the little space, unable to work comfortably and if you want to watch a movie you have those little screens in the headrest in front of you or worse a large screen somewhere on the ceiling.  Not the best experience.

Now lets introduce the Gear VR to this situation.

We already know that by putting on the HMD we would find my ourselves immersed in a virtual reality.  Whats great about that is almost all the VR immersion take you to a space that is FAR larger then the little seat you are sitting in.  Add good headphones and you are fully isolated from crying babies, people opening and closing blinds, and the person in front of you trying to recline into your lap.  Even though I knew this would happen, the effect and relief was beyond expectations.

Although the Gear VR is not perfect, and you have to deal with cooling and power issues, I found I was able to stay in the HMD for multiple hours per session.  On my flight to Spain I watched Star Wars IV.  Using the oculus theater mode, I started the movie using the cinema setting, making me feel I was in a large empty space.  After about 15 min I switched to ‘void’ mode and did not lose the feeling of watching a large screen TV in a large comfortable setting. BTW, helpful hint here; to maximize the battery live of your s6, turn down the brightness, stay in airplane mode and use ‘Void’.  The void setting will help reduce demand on the system to render all those polys that make up the various movie settings.  Also, turn on the air and have it blow on you.  It will cool the phone, and you, and help with fogging.

One issue, well two issues I’ve found is the movie tends to drift over time and I have to recenter it.  Annoying.  Also when the plane turns I have to recenter.  Its not a big enough issue to stop me from watching movies, but hopefully they will find a fix for this.

A common question I was asked is; can I play any movie?  Yes.  As long as its in a mp4 or other supported format, you should be fine.  If you place the file in you ‘movie’ folder it will find it.  You an use MilkVR too.  Create a folder called “MilkVR” and it should find it.

I preloaded a few movies, some TV episodes and few random video’s I shot. Worked great.

Now on to games.  Here you need to be a bit more selective.  Remember you are sitting in an airline seat and can only turn your head somewhat.  ALSO remember you might have someone sleeping next to you so lots of turning to see 180, which means you have to often turn your shoulders could be out of the question.  So get games where all the action is not more then say 160 fov.  My absolute favorite game, Bandit six o’clock, is around 120.  Perfect.  So if needed play your game a little before the flight in a ridged chair.  Many games lose their essence if you are not in a swivel chair.

Next, try to be sure your game uses the gamepad.  If you game only works on the HMD trackpad, then either make sure you get the window seat or the person sitting to your right is quite tolerant because odds are you might smack the with your elbow.

Finally, spend the money and get full games.  Remember, you are trying to kill time up there and a demo is not going to last.

There are a few games I like but NOTHING come close to bandit six o’clock, and even MORE so when flying.  The game is simple.  You are a tail gunner on a WW2 Lancaster.  Enemy plans are trying to get behind you to shot you down.  What is so great about this game is the game play is actually a bit more sophisticated then it sounds.  Also the immersive effect is amazing for a game.  Unlike most of the games I play I really sense the dimensionality of the airplanes when they are flying in.  Its even more believable when you get a bit of turbulence on your flight!  I played this game for 1.5 hours TWICE! and for an hour on the Spain trip.  I only stopped because of the phone overheating or I was interrupted for one thing or another.

Now some tips.

* Plugin earphone or nice a nice headset.  BRING it! shutting out outside sound is your friend.

* Bring back up power.  Although most flight has AC or DC, not all of them do.  Be prepared.

* Bring a cigarette DC adapter.  My section had a DC socket; I got lucky that I asked the flight attendant right away and got one. I may not get so lucky next time.

* Keep your jacket on and turn the air full blast.  You need to keep the phone as cool as you can.  I have actually hacked a small cooling fan for my Note4 and working on a s6 version now.  I’ll post the these modes when I get time. This is really important, the hotter your phone get the less efficient everything is, including the battery, and at 35,000 feed you need to save power where you can.

There are a number of other apps I played on the flight I did not talk about but the main point is the VR helmet as an escape from a small airline seat was extremely successful. As such I will never fly again without my Gear VR.  And if you have a fear of flying, or hate small places, this is for you!

BTW, many of these mods are unsupported to use with cation once you find them.

From @williammanning

A computer virus that is, and you can.  Seems there is a reported case, on Reddit, of an e-cigarette delivering a payload of malware once plugged into the USB port.  A cheap device from China it seems. No shocker there.  So what should we learn from this especially given the post I did yesterday on lasp security and perhaps back doors left open on cheap Android tablets from China, that anything coming from a source you do not fully trust could have an number of security risks associated to them.  How about that wifi blue tooth app you bought?  Yup, it could have one too.

They way it works is pretty simple.  You plug the USB in, it pretends to be a keyboard, call a file on the device and execute.  Now a number of thing can go wrong with this process, but when you have thousands of these guys out there, a 1 in 100 rate would be pretty good.

Again, this is Reddit so take it for what its worth.  But if you are sufficiently paranoid now, there is hope.  You can get a USB Condom.  Yup, head over the kickstarter and get in on “SyncStop – Prevent data theft and malware on mobile devices”. Makes sense actually, you have no idea of a USB is just getting power short of talking it apart or shooting the middle connectors, but this is not fool proof.

Anyway, hope I made your life just that much richer by adding yes another e-boggie-man. 

BTW, unless intended, do NOT use the Crush setting.  You will be cleaning the crusher blades soon after.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZhqbq3nWU

So with NewsSnacker, on an iOS device, go to Settings and then scroll down to Pebble near the bottom.  Click on Pebble and then look for Developer mode.  Turn this on.   Now you can load apps directly.   So with NewsSnacker, ( Download NewsSnacker here ) and it will ask what application you want to use to upload it.  Select Pebble and it should install the app.  And that’s it!

Enjoy!

Does it show the SSD at all? I would check to see that it’s indeed being picked up by the BIOS and if not, check the cables.
Occasionally, Windows setup can chuck a fit when it discovers a drive with an invalid MBR/boot sector and won’t install to it. To fix this, you could try the following
1.Boot up Windows 7 disc.
2.When the welcome screen comes up on Windows Setup, press Shift + F10, which will display a command prompt.
3.Type “diskpart” (no quotes) and press enter.
4.Type “list disk” and press enter.
5.Hopefully you can see your SSD in the list. You should see a number identifying it. Now type “select disk X” (where X is the number identifying your SSD) and press enter.
6.Type “clean” and press enter. This will write a blank MBR, YOU WILL LOSE ANY DATA ON THE SSD if you did have anything on it.
Hopefully one of these tips helps :

The “USB selective suspends settings” option in the Power Options may be Enabled.

• Click Start, type Power Options in the Search box and then click Power Options from the returned list
• Click Change plan settings for the selected Power plan
• Click Change advanced power settings
• Expand USB settings and then USB selective suspend setting and change the setting to Disabled for the option for On battery: or Plugged in:
• Click OK on the Power Settings window and click Save changes on the Edit Plan Settings window

  Important: This is a default power setting , disabling this setting will cause additional battery power consumption when your mobile PC is in Sleep or Hibernation mode and unplugged.

I recommend that you only do this for the plugged in setting.  If you are on battery, you may want to keep this enabled unless you need the higher speeds.  If so, you can turn it off, pull or push the files you need, then turn power saving back on.  Good luck!