Alternative Computing for Artists

Don't want to do things the Bill Gates way? Sick of Apple taking yer cash and treating you like a baby? Utterly skint? Want to make a computer do what YOU want it to do?
Here is a quick list of links for alternative computing resources for the workshop I am doing tomorrow at the Straight Out of Brisbane Festival, I have to whip my casios into submission this evening also for a gig tomorrow night so one day I will get back and make this all a bit more coherent. In the mean time wax yer keyboards and surf those beautiful clean breaks away from all of those digital tourists.

CAVEAT: Only do what you know, if you don't know then learn, if you can't be arsed learning, find a nerd, preferably on the Internet. Nerds are constantly beseiged in real life by LAMERS who want to fix their virus riddled Windoze machine, approach a nerd on his own turf and he will decided if you are worthy of his attention.
Do not electrocute yourself, alright? It is not cool, not ghetto nor particularly smart. Hack the tech, respect the voltage.

Getting a Computer

Ideally one should not pay for a computer, so many corporate tosspots are tossing good machines cause Mr Gates can't write tight code but can market overpowered, bloated, overhyped products.

Scavenge

Bin diving (what the yanks call dumpster diving but I REFUSE to trade with that evil empire and certainly will not speak their lingo, daddy-o, well as long as the lingo is twenty years out of date) is the best source for free high end tech, much better than waiting for hard rubbish/kerb site pick up times. Find your local feral hippy activist, they are down with bin diving and where the good bins and skips can be found. Oh and score yourself some free food while 'shopping' for a computer. Dumpster World is a yank page but will give you an insight into the scene.

Keep your eyes open and let people know you need a computer, cupboards and garages around the world are FULL of perfectly usable tech... for those who can HACK THE TECH. Tip: ALWAYS have a phillips head screwdriver on your person, preferably a multitool like a LeatherMan or Gerber. Oh, and remember rain only fries tech if the tech is SWITCHED ON. If you find a skip full of computers after it has rained there nothing a blowdryer in the dunnies can't fix. Hosing off circuit boards is GREAT for getting rid of dust - just dry 'em properly b4 switching back on.

Steal

As long as one chooses their target carefully! Only nick gear from planet raping corporate pricks. Don't get caught and it would also be nice of you to check the data on the machine and post them back a CD of their personal stuff, no hurting individuals alright? (well unless they had it coming...) Personally I can't use this tactic due to a complete lack of gall.

Computer Swap Meets

The ultimate nerdfests, one in a city near you. A collection of stalls of new ULTRA cheap gear plus a few stalls of second hand stuff. These things are intoxicating ... so don't go crazy buying crap you don't need. Good also for picking up consumables and upgrade parts. For $150 one can get a KICKARSE computer that would do pretty much everything the average user would want.

Here is a little article about what to expect when going to a computer swap meet. The most salient points are to thoroughly do your research and know exactly what you want, then go around to all the stores to compare prices before purchasing.
If you are not a nerd then bring one along with you, they won't mind at all, swap meets is utter tech porn for the nerd. Be nice to the nerd and pay for his (yes generally a him... though it is at least 50% women that are SELLING the tech and they know HEAPS more than buyers, yet more proof women are WAY superior to men) entry fee, usually a few bucks, and if his sage advice and savvy motherboard-pcu-hdd combining skills please you, then toss him a stick of RAM.
CasioNova is more than happy to be your attendant nerd for those who are believers in the PENGUIN.

The Sunday Computer Market is the swap meet in Brisbane.
Computer swap meet dates for Melbourne. The Camberwell one is quite prime - particularly because it is near the Sunday Camberwell flea market, a very happy hunting ground for old tech.

Not so Evil New Hardware

Yes, I know, all new hardware has an element of evil due to using up LOTS & LOTS of water and other resources and making stupid people even richer and blah blah blah. There are a few cool trends currently that embody alternative computing. People who play an unhealthy amount of computer games are into overclocking their processors, making the CPU run faster than it's stated rating. Get with it and UNDERCLOCK, run a modern CPU slower for a cooler (in both senses), quieter and less energy intensive system.
LCD screens are also better than CRT's because they consume a hell of a lot less electricity and are more portable. So if you NEED to buy a new screen and are cashed up then LCD's are morally superior. The problem is it is bloody hard to find LCD's smaller than 12". Bigger is better supposedly in the consumer market. I was lucky and got an 11" screen on Ebay (shudder) for a hundred bucks. Be patient, they pop up now and then. For a really small screen if you find a cheap second hand Playstation One screen add-on (5"!) they can be easily modded to a computer display.
Why am talking small? Cause I am a little man? Maybe, but mainly because LAPTOPS SUCK! Why? Primarily because they are a tool for companies to extract even more FREE overtime from employees. Outside of a business context and since a lot of artists use laptops because they are portable consider this: how often do you NEED to run off batteries because there is no power, (is stopping and smelling the roses perhaps a better option?); the hard drive in even high end laptops go at 5200(?)rpm, the minimum that is considered for A/V work is 7400(?)rpm which is found in most desktops; they are EXPENSIVE; they lack connectivity with cool hardware - no PCI slots; pretty much UNUPGRADABLE; run SLOWER than they ought for the specs stated; usually UNREPAIRABLE, particular by the user! I could go on.

A great alternative is a small form factor motherboards which can be had dirt cheap (my craptop is a sff motherboard PIII 500mhz that cost $70, AND it came a case, cdrom and floppy). If by some miracle someone gives you money for being you then what is really neat is the micro itx form factor. Wickedly small motherboards with EVERYTHING on them,they run with very little electricity and some do not even need a fan! Dead silent.
A good jumping off point to learn about mini itx motherboards is atmini-itx.com. Check out all the DIY projects to inspire you about where to stick your mother, convert that Commodore64 with fried chips into a SUPERCOMPUTER!
The cheapest place to get mini-itx motherboards at the moment in Australia is from EYO Computers.

That's enough for now about getting a machine, further down I will talk about pre-pentium computing and PDA's. Now you have your machine are you sitting comfortably?

Ergonomics

Whats the use of having a neato ethical alternative tech rig when you have RSI and it is just no FUN at all? Sick of clicking? Then go command line. It can be REALLY fast and the sense of awesome power and skill as your fingers fly over the keys as you rip cd's into oggs, catalogue them and put up the ultimate collection of Finnish humppa music onto yer ftp server is exactly why nerds have that smug look.

Up until this year I avoided using computers, they sucked, then I got a trackball and a good screen. Life is good. Ergonomics is everything, the weakest point of any technology is the interface with the user, eg. the door of a fridge. It WILL be the most expensive thing of your computer system but who gives a rats if you have a water cooled triple clocked Athlon5zillion if yer screen gives you headache?

Robin Whittle, guru synthesiser modder wrote an article on why trackballs rule. I use a different one to Robin, where the trackball is manipulated by the middle finger, which suits me and some others better as thumb work has caused strain.
To be COMPLETELY radical I would suggest for general computer usage to have your trackball operated by your non dominate hand, that way the hand you mainly use never leaves the keys. For mouse intensive users such as people who draw on the computer the dominant hand of course is the sensible option, I have been hearing great things about tablets also for this use.
Me thinks ultimate interface system would be (for righties) a trackball on the left and tablet on the right.

And now for a side rant about computers in live performance... If I EVER see ANOTHER young PUNK on stage HUNCHED over a laptop I am going to hack his fricken legs off. Stand up straight peeps - it's cool on stage and comfortable in the studio. Elevate your machine, if not at the machine for a while working on a computer standing up is quite good, especially if you want to limit yourself from spending too much time looking up Babylon5 factoids. If on stage and you are are too LAZY to bring your own stand and you have a computer on the venues table then... spread yer legs boy! Get down low but laid back. You will look REAL COOL and your osteopath will nod sagely.

Software

Forget Bill Gates and his zillions and his buggy virus friendly software. Forget the mega bucks for Macintosh and their belief you have the intellectual capacity of a first grader (I do have supporting material for this.. somewhere). OPEN SOURCE! It is late, I am tired. Look up LINUX on the net, or anywhere. It is getting real common and there's heaps of info out there about it that is more coherent than I could present.

For now here are a couple of reasons artists should consider Linux:

It is free, as in costs nothing. As in not a crack. Sure, you are using a cracked version of Photoshop, but did you know the Linux equivalent is called THE GIMP, now how much cooler is that? and if you use Photoshop you are doing everything the Adobe way (or whoever own the company) and they want poor students/artists to use cracked versions of their software because you are HIP and one day you will be HIP & have money, preferably with your own company which CANNOT use cracked software so it will be you that purchases heaps of copies of guess what software... This is not conspiracy, it's business, Apple did it with the Macintosh (by giving them away to design schools in the early years) and it worked.
It is free. As in like, free, man, yeah, far out. Heaps have been written already why it is a very good idea to not have computer code copyrighted. Look up open source on the net. In fact since I am not netted now and can't be bothered explaining EVERYTHING here, go to where EVERYTHING in explained: Wikipedia the open source encyclopedia!
Linux lets you make the computer do what YOU want it to do. It is a very modular operating system, it isn't just one paradigm with some bloated programs, it is several paradigms with lots and lots of useful little applications.
Linux is secure (hello Mr Prime Minister, I know you can read my email now because there was a tiny little bit in the paper yesterday that told me you changed the legislation so you could), virus free and INCREDIBLY stable - perfect for live work or installations.

That said Linux is quite hard work but it is getting more and more sophisticated on an almost weekly basis. Try it though, for the first time since my Vic20 computers are fun again!

For a sensible outline of the three os's (win,mac,linux) this guy did a neat job:Microsoft, Linux, or Apple?

Mandrake Linux is the Linux distribution CasioNova uses. It is very user friendly, for Linux. I have been hearing good things about Fedora also, and this week (Dec,2004) they just released a Live Fedora distro
DistroWatchis the place to go to find out about new distributions
Whats a live distro? An entire Linux operating system on one CD, the idea being all your operating system, programs and preferences are on a disk that you could use on any machine. Add a USB memory thingee for your data and you can bum off other peoples computers forever without feeling like you moved into their bedroom, or stinky old toilet if they are running windoze ;)
CasioNova recommends this as the smallest, cheapest computing method. I would use a live cd if I wasnt using my machine for audio recording and video work. (although live cd's exist for these applications - if you wanna be real hardcore).
List of Linux Live CDs
Those USB memory doohickeys are quite neat when using public computers - broadband is hard to come by sometimes but if you have booked a computer at a library just stick one of these in and down/upload as you please. I got a 256MB one for $45 at a swap meet.

Applications

There is a Linux equivalent to just about any other mainstream software, and as of towards the end of 2004 this includes things like MAX, ProTools, Photoshop & Premiere. Give the developers time, bug reports and your love and help these fabulous programmers revolutionise computing.

Okay briefly some examples, I gotta work on this section a bit :)

d y n e . o r g :: software : FreeJ VJ software
Thac's RPMS for Mandrake10.0Thac has the best collection of Mandrake compiled applications for artist use.
Agnulais an entire distribution on one cd specifically for audio and video work. I dabbled with it, not for newbies quite yet.
Open Officeall your wordprocessing et al needs. For spreadsheeting I prefer Gnumeric though.
:::FreeFrame Open Realtime Video Effects:::cant't remember what this is
Jahshaka - Realtime Editing and Effectslooks promising, still in alpha I think.
Linux Audio Bloggood info here
OpenJay.org : Sound Hazard for OpenSource Djs of interest. Not much activity there so log on and get opensource djing happening!
.:F L U X B O X:. Great lean Linux window system. The speed of console almost and runs KDE and GNOME apps.
Sound & MIDI Software For Linux

NEVER EVER USE INTERNET EXPLORER for going onto the world wide web. Firefox has just been released and that looks like da bomb. If you can hack ads in your face then Opera is pretty good too. There are actually a LOT of different web browsers out there. If you aren't aware that the internet is NOT the icon with the E on your desktop then how the hell did you manage this far into this page? Sorry for not making everything real clear but I don't have the time, plus if that is the level of skill you have this document probably isnt your best starting point. I am still in utter shock from having to explain to a few people who I thought were computer savvy what that a web browser is *software* that accesses the world wide web and that explorer is only *one brand* of many web browser programs. sheesh, and I thought Micro$oft lost the anti-trust case!

NEVER EVER USE, cripes whats it called, you know that micro$soft crap that EVERYONE uses for email. It back doors are wide open to viruses people - don't blame the virus writers, blame micro$oft for bad coding and yourself for being so bloody mainstream. Again heaps of other email programs - eg, a companion email program to the new FireFox browser is called ThunderBird (i think).

And speaking of email, oh I can't even speak its name, THAT free web based email starting with H, this is a micro$oft product again kids, and yes, it sucks! There are STACKS of free email services out there, many attached to communities you probably dig, eg: AtariAge for 'retro' Atari2600 video gamers. (I think its atari age, if I wrong check atari.net)

Networking

It is essential to be connected to other computers out there on the net, particularly if you are running Linux - so easy to update your system and get new software.

Never pay for internet. Libraries, universities, the universities of friends who are in universities but to hook up your own computer to broadband internet for nix then go hardcore and go wifi.
The technique is called 'wardriving', if you stick the words 'juice can' and 'wi-fi' into google you ought to get the information you need. Apparently THE software to get is called KISMET. I have yet to try this all out because I can't afford a wi-fi card yet, but I reckon this is the way of the future for us 'digital havenots'. www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz
WarDriving.com

Oh and one little thing for us modemites, Linux only likes external harware modems. The cool thing is these can be had at op shops for five bucks! And if they don't work, and this goes for a lot of devices, they have a little battery inside, usually a watch type, just replace it and voila!

PDAS, etc.

Ipods suck, deal with it. We gotta stop buying consumer crap because it's cool. If you must buy an Ipod then it is to rip out the hard drive (the drive is more expensive to buy by itself than an entire IPod) and do something USEFUL & COOL with it.
Old Palm III's can do some wicked stuff, especially with homebrew OS's and programs. There are quite a few music applications out there. I have no links on me (I am typing offline). There are mountains of 'outdated' PDA's out there somewhere, all those execs and new media artists have to always have the latest toys.
If I ever had to have a PDA (I carry my craptop everywhere so no need, oh and pad and pen. You HAVE to try the pad and pen. BLOODY AWESOME! No boot up time, dirt cheap, batteries last FOREVER, data ALWAYS stays in memory, its very lightweight and the pen is the ULTIMATE wearable technology (behind the ear)) the PDA I would have would be The Atari Portfolio, the first PDA, it is way cool, way ghetto and actually useful as one can still interface it with a PC. If you find one at a flea market - you are truly blessed.

Hardcore Hardware

Got a Commodore64, Vic20, Atari, Amiga, Spectrum or any other fine 80's computer? They are still fine and people are pushing them to their limits even further right now. What I have seen on my travels is truly astounding (props to Aleksi Eeben and Jaymz Julian). Go out there on the net and explore Commodore64 scenes... your mind will blow and it is a great intro to fun lo-tech computing. The neat thing about nowadays that even if you can't the original machines they can be emulated on your modern machine.

Some random links:

This is the Reverse Engineers, they have an excellent manifesto on modding 80's tech. These guys are the true underground and their skills are to be respected. Word.Quietdom --- the Reverse Engineers site Quietdom --- the Koba No Gomi siteDownload their tunes also - awesome!
|| | www.micromusic.net | ||this is where its at for lo-bit tunesmiths.
Desert Planet Fabulous retro game pop group from the arctic, their website has lots of alternative computing links and information, plus their music rocks and they are swell guys, download their tunes!
Jerry's Collection Of Inapropriate Technology
The Triad HomepageC64 Midi tools and other tools. GREAT!
Obsolete Computer Museum
Pelikonepeijoonit.net - The Arctic Computer and Console Museum - Finland I tellz yas, the arctic is THE place to be!

Hack the Tech & DIY!

You are NOT an alternative computer user if you don't own a soldering iron. One can learn to solder in 5 minutes, just ask someone who already can solder. Your life will never be the same. Some tidbits for now:

Electronic circuit schematics lotsa schematics for anything.
Afrotech is one of the few ghetto computing websites, ultra cheap hardware hacks.
Thorsten Klose is a SAINT! Complete plans and thriving community for the MidiBox, Thorsten's DIY Midi controller projects. Very very very cool. Very modular. PLUS my dream project he actually went ahead and did - stand alone DIY SID synthesisers all excellently documented.
DIY LCD Projector FAQyep, DIY video projectors!
Pic ProgrammerDIY Pic Programmer
10k1BOX project is about building stand alone synthesisers from old soundblaster sound cards.
Good source for electronic components in Oz: RS Components Online Catalogue, also try Oatley electronics who are in Sydney and Jaycar everywhere else, only shop at DickSmith if you are an expert at five fingered discounts cause DickSmith (the store) sucks. There are a few great small electronic shops around the country too, the dustier the better!

Use Your Machine For GOOD

You have come this far and you are feeling guilty about your whizbang apple gstring ipower punce machine. Be guilt free and use all that unused CPU power for good. You have probably heard about SETI at home, processing data from radio telescopes on your home computer to help look for aliens. Much much more important is another project (whom I lost the link and I am typing this whilst unconnected) that will help us prepare for the chaos we are causing to the planets weather systems. Modelling climate change needs a lot of computer grunt, so you can help and donate your unused computer cycles to an EXTREMELY good cause. All you need is a fairly modern computer and occasional internet access.
Hopefully you will find it by googling this: climate change modelling distributed computing
Now WHERE did I put that link...