getting your learn on

alieNDN

i'd think 85% of occupants on this site are done with schooling (not considering work related upgrades as schooling for the purposes of this thread)...so what are you guys learning for your own purposes? i have far greater respect for people that have read books magazines for their own curiousities versus those that have read critically acclaimed texts/text books merely cause they were a part of a curriculum.for me,-i've never attended a design school (did a bit of computer graphics though) so im learning about typography (facinating!) and some basic design principals i should have learned before-learning some general music theory (like a first year piano course) and that sheit is really really enrichining...the piano looks so intimidating at first, but once u get some principals like chord theory and intervals...well its like trying to do something in photoshop the first day u open it vs using it after a couple months of experience-audio books, man they rule...i think with the net, i have a low attention span (so much info) so i got me a portable mp3 player and listen to stuff like physics (lectures on physics for people that have not background on it), buddhism, design podcasts, evolution theory, some of that stephen covey ish and other stuff that sometimes i dont feel like reading but have no prob listening to. check out the ttc series audio books, its like attending a university course in your headphones. i try to make it a practice to listen to at least one audiobook a day, so i know im not wasting my time...and then i can hit the music-i think its also time to learn a new languageso what are u guys learning about?

generique

I really try hard to understand the basics of cosmology and small particle science. I know it has no practical use but it is so damn fascinating. Other popular science I read are books on evolution. Maybe it's not what you mean by "learning" but anyway, I really sweat on these books. I gave up on it years ago but picked it up again because with what's on the news the last 4 years, I need to escape now and then... big time.

I always played the sax but I found out that the sax is not my instrument. Technically I'm not that bad but I switched and am now trying to play drums. I practice only occasionally because I don't own a kit but I'm making progress and am learning by just tapping along with music and analyse it.

I'm thinking about learning French and stepping my Czech game up.

funky16corners

My years of formal schooling are done for good. I'm always reading something though, and surprisingly enough I manage to retain some of it.

gibla74

I was lazy at school & so pretty much everything I know now I've found out for myself since. I have a real thirst for knowledge & am really jealous of people at college but how do you find the time to listen to an audio book a day? I barely find time for music these days as life is so hectic, I have to make do with the pod on the way to work & if I'm djing or at a club.. & where the hell do you find a design podcast? Can you download alot of cool audio books for free? where they at? I just tried to enroll in French class but they where full!

Birdman9

-i think its also time to learn a new language

I need to learn Spanish, so I am thinking about taking a course this winter.
Tired of just smiling and nodding at my neighbors and folks at my weekend job. My problem is I suck at languages.

alieNDN

by audio book a day, i mean like a segment of one, like say a 20 minute lecture (just listen to it on my way to work)

here's the link to the design podcast, that really awesome,actally its more about getting your stuff together in whatever creative field you are than design(its called media artist secrets, though there are design ones), and each one is only like 10 minutes each, get your learn on!

http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=3719

alieNDN

another suggestion,
type "audio books" in soul seek...

asparagus

I frequent the wikipedia for answers to almost anything.



Self-learn technology - this is pretty much what we all do, right? Continually learning, re-learning, and expanding knowledge of software, hardware, computer-geek ish, music gear, etc. Its practical, but often pushes me to learn some basic theory - like fiddling w/ my speakers gets me to learn about acoustics etc.



I try to avoid disinformation- almost never watching TV insta-news, getting my news from multiple sources.



Find experts - everyone (almost) is an expert at something...get them to talk about what they do.

alieNDN

to the dude that pm'ed, soulseek is here http://www.slsknet.org/

gloom

midterm in three hours, fuck.

gibla74

to the dude that pm'ed, soulseek is here http://www.slsknet.org/

I can only dream of soul seek being a mac user, I've tried getting it to work on mac but this has only lead to extreme frustration not sweet soul music. Thanks for the design link. The way we learn has definately changed & is changing. I can't imagine having something like the internet when I was still at school!

each one teach one

monty

i'm learning how to play with nine fingers.

CousinLarry

When I first moved to Richmond and was unemployed I read a bio of Edgar Allen Poe as I read his complete works. When I would get to a part in the bio where they were talking about one of his stories that I had not read would stop and read it. Was cool because he moved up and down the east coast between philly and richmond and I had just done the same thing. His stories are not too long so it kept my interest up. I haven't been reading as much since I started stealing cable and its bumming me out. Now that the Dylan documentary is over I think its time to turn off the damn TV and go to the Library.

asparagus

to the dude that pm'ed, soulseek is here http://www.slsknet.org/

I can only dream of soul seek being a mac user, I've tried getting it to work on mac but this has only lead to extreme frustration not sweet soul music.

since this post is about learning: Get SSX[/b]
http://chris.schleifer.net/ssX/

The only real OS X client to use with Soulseek. Its actually reliably good.
peace,
A

alieNDN

i'm learning how to play with nine fingers.

details please?

back to podcasting...this thing is gonna be huge(already has been big but not so much mainstream)...and of course oversaturated, but huge nontheless. the one that i linked it great quality, of course its inevitable that everyone is gonna wanna do "their own radioshow", and i'm all for it. we're finally living in the DIY era...im totally interested in professors and teachers doing their own mp3 recording on whatever subject without me having to pay university fees for courses im interested about...

monty

i'm learning how to play with nine fingers.

details please?

i lost the use of my ring finger.

alieNDN

that's rough, but i guess your fingers have a brain of their own to compensate... like i was trying this wierd D chord somethin somethin inversion for a couple of weeks (i'm just learning) and it was murder on my fingers, and almost gave up on it till yesterday where i thought i would just try it and thought, what if i formed my hand like giving a gang sign, or like a crab or something, it would be easier to hold the keys down and egads it freakn worked! don't know how "proper" it is, but bottom line it worked

monty

yeah, i wore my ring finger out practicing "Here Comes The Bride"

(i was supposed to play the Dizzy Bull Wedding)

erewhon

This is a great thread. I've always been serious about teaching myself stuff. And the past month and a half has been an especially productive streak for me as far as that goes. I've been reading up on film/video editing and doing library/location research on two possible documentary subjects. Also tracking down a lot of short-subject documentaries of a similar scope for inspiration.

Before that, I was on a big WWI-era history kick.

Learning is dope.

alieNDN

hmm, while i was practicing yesterday, i was wondering...is they a way to hold down multiple keys with one finger? i guess it would be possible if the two keys are sequential by striking right in the middle of them, but yeah it was something i was wondering about

monty

i have no idea why anyone would want to hold down multiple keys with one finger. whatever works, i guess.

alieNDN

This is a great thread. I've always been serious about teaching myself stuff. And the past month and a half has been an especially productive streak for me as far as that goes. I've been reading up on film/video editing and doing library/location research on two possible documentary subjects. Also tracking down a lot of short-subject documentaries of a similar scope for inspiration.

Before that, I was on a big WWI-era history kick.

Learning is dope.

good stuff, the best thing i've found is to join relevant forums as well, this place for example has been dope for expanding my musical interests.

a site with wealth of interesting stuff design related in many different mediums (including film) is www.newstoday.com ...just looking at the links on that site is enough entertainment for a decade

m_dejean

I'm turning 30 on october 15th, and I'm still going to school. I'm in my 3rd semester of Computer Science studies at Copenhagen University. Yeah, just give me a big late pass - a brokeass old fool still going to school . I'm really loving it, though. After years of doing all sorts of different things, I have more focus now. Don't think I could have done it before. The next non-curricular self-learning activity for me will be learn to program in SuperCollider. Object-oriented programming. Shouldn't be too hard, I just have to find the time for it. Unfortunately, college studies eat up time, and I have to get these beats done as well.

Any other foolios in here who still go to school (besides ) ? Seems like most strutters are snuggled up in comfortable jobs and nice paychecks, or am I wrong?

erewhon

Any other foolios in here who still go to school (besides ) ? Seems like most strutters are snuggled up in comfortable jobs and nice paychecks, or am I wrong?

I've been working at a university (Johns Hopkins) for almost three years and still haven't been able to bring myself to take a non-job related class here. Actually, I brought myself to register for a digital editing class this fall, only to have the class canceled. I've just never been able to negotiate the bullshit of registering, dropping classes, and all that. I just want to learn with no bullshit, which means I generally have to stick to books and hands-on experience when I'm lucky enough to have an opportunity come up. But I still do sit in on Public Health-related lectures on my lunch break or after work sometimes.

alieNDN

i went to school for a bit of programming, never really got into it, but i must say that object oriented programming is a really cool philosophy, with the polymorophism and all that, how it relates to practically anything in the world..i can't imagine the world before OOP...imagine that cobol ish, just doing down a straight line all linear and ish. congrats on getting your learn on, age ain't nothing but a number.

Sun_Fortune

I've picked up the pen again after a year long drought or so. Doing my creative writing thang. Short story bullshit, but Im fixin to write me a novel. I'm about to apply for a couple of snotty writing groups in the city so I can workshop. Oh I love saying workshop. I'm now one of those schmucks who write in their moleskins on the subway.

I've also started a new fase of research on my gigantic book that I've written the introduction for. The books is my amateur account of energy and waves. I've been messing around with Euler's function and prime numbers and trying to generate some harmonies from the soundwaves in Reinamann space. (Oh baby.) I've been looking bio-acoustics a bit and the more I look at vibrations, the crazier it gets. Its all energy waves. They get sent to Earth from the sun, are looped around and due to entropy create life and thought. And the prime numbers will unlock the mystery.

Cool post, by the way.

leisurebandit

i'm learning how to play with nine fingers.

details please?

i lost the use of my ring finger.

jeez sorry to hear that Monty. is that permanent?
so are you learning vibes with nine fingers, or keys...?
think Django, one of the greatest guitarists of all time, had two fingers on his left hand...

dollar_bin

i have no idea why anyone would want to hold down multiple keys with one finger. whatever works, i guess.

don't fear the minor second!

alieNDN

i second that

Meep

I really try hard to understand the basics of cosmology and small particle science. I know it has no practical use but it is so damn fascinating. Other popular science I read are books on evolution. Maybe it's not what you mean by "learning" but anyway, I really sweat on these books. I gave up on it years ago but picked it up again because with what's on the news the last 4 years, I need to escape now and then... big time.

I always played the sax but I found out that the sax is not my instrument. Technically I'm not that bad but I switched and am now trying to play drums. I practice only occasionally because I don't own a kit but I'm making progress and am learning by just tapping along with music and analyse it.

I'm thinking about learning French and stepping my Czech game up.

You read this yet? really dope book on evolution..

monty

i have no idea why anyone would want to hold down multiple keys with one finger. whatever works, i guess.

don't fear the minor second!

shit, i stack[/b] minor seconds: http://home.att.net/~quazar4/Never_Let_Me_Go.mp3