Life on the edge of /dev/null » audio http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog This is what I care about. Why do you care? Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:36:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 A fling http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2010/10/08/a-fling/ http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2010/10/08/a-fling/#comments Fri, 08 Oct 2010 07:44:34 +0000 Jakob Breivik Grimstveit http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/?p=320 Hmm. After having added a new iPod Shuffle (with touch-screen), a 15″ Macbook Pro (w/SSD) and an iPhone 4G 32GB to my personal inventory, I think it’s about time to admit that I might have a thing for this company called Apple.

Next on my shopping list is the Nike+iPod training kit, and then it’s just to start running!

Damn, if only other companies could start focusing on actually making user-friendly devices, I would jump ship immediatly. But this is not the case. Since I’m an extremely pragmatic person, I will continue to use the things in my life that just works, as opposed to spending hours tweaking and configuring something that never will work perfect anyway.

An iPhone screenshot:

A picture taken using Hipstamatic, a retro camera for your iPhone:

]]> http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2010/10/08/a-fling/feed/ 2 MacBook Pro, 2010 edition – now with audio out using Mini DisplayPort http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2010/04/14/macbook-pro-2010-edition-now-with-audio-out-using-mini-displayport/ http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2010/04/14/macbook-pro-2010-edition-now-with-audio-out-using-mini-displayport/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:43:52 +0000 Jakob Breivik Grimstveit http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/?p=180 In September 2008 I bought a aluminum 13,3″ MacBook (“unibody”). It was not cheap, but still it must have been the best purchase of technology for me – ever. The laptop – which I’m currently using to write this post – is small enough to use anywhere, and big enough to use for more than check your email (that did not apply to the 7″ 701 Eee PC I had a few years back).

No laptop will of course ever become “perfect”, and one thing I have been sorely missing from my MacBook, is the ability to use it as a full-fledged media center for my television/surround system. The MacBooks does not have an HDMI connector, but have went for the Mini DisplayPort instead, which haven’t supported audio out, only video. It does not help that the DisplayPort 1.1a specification explicitly states support for this when the hardware in the MacBook Pro does not supply an audio signal :-) .

But now, as of 13th April 2010, this is no longer a problem. Today Apple launched their new line of MacBook Pros, which now supports an audio out signal in their Mini DisplayPort connectors.

Now I just need a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable (ordered), an Apple Remote (ordered) and a new i7 15″ MacBook Pro (not ordered), and I’m all set! :-D .

On a sidenote: I love Wikipedia. Since the news about support for audio out on Mini DisplayPort appeared today, Wikipedia had not been updated to reflect this fact. Well, since I knew all about it, it was my netizen duty to update that information!

Update 16apr10: This also got some press attention, both on the norwegian site Hardware.no and over at reputable Ars Technica.

]]> http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2010/04/14/macbook-pro-2010-edition-now-with-audio-out-using-mini-displayport/feed/ 0 Now, this IS embarrasing material to publish, but … http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2009/08/17/now-this-is-embarrasing-material-to-publish-but/ http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/2009/08/17/now-this-is-embarrasing-material-to-publish-but/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:08:02 +0000 Jakob Breivik Grimstveit http://grimstveit.no/jakob/blog/?p=69 … I had fun nonetheless!

Edirol PC-50 MIDI keyboardI just purchased a MIDI keyboard (since I’ve long thought of trying to learn myself to play the piano), hooked it up to my Mac (now, that was easy!) and started taking a few piano lessons with GarageBand, a very nice little program accompanying iLife ’09. The keyboard is a sweet little Roland Keyboard named Edirol PC-50, and has so far lived up to the expectations from the salesman at the 4Sound.no music store in downtown Bergen.

Will probably look into purchasing a professional sound card (Apogee Duet looks nice!) after a while, but since my silly little MacBook doesn’t have FireWire, I’m not 100% certain what I’ll go for. We’ll see when that time comes.

Now, this is what I managed to put together after playing (in several meanings of that word) with my keyboard and GarageBand this afternoon. It’s nothing to brag about, but I’m happy with it, nonetheless. Isn’t that how one should view one’s own creations – not compare them to what everybody else can, but what yourself think of it?

I both want to try to learn to play the piano, but I’m also eager to learn to mix some silly electronica as well. Will look at several programs, but I think Propellerheads’s genious of a program, Reason, will be a good match.

Well, let me tell you, it’s really fun to play! A bit difficult, and somewhat frustrating when the fingers deny to follow the brain. And then the pain after having played the same chords for too long, and the arms wondering what the fuck I’m doing :-) . The learning curve feels steep right now, but in time I guess it’ll pay off.

Want to listen what I churned out? Of course, try out the soundbite below!


(direct download)

Straight out of GarageBand’s Piano Playing Lesson #5.

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