I was chill until the Laura Palmer Funko Pop
Posted on May 16th, 2017
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:03 am
That, was a bridge too far me, and that company had vacuumed up the toy rights for way too many shows just to squander them on creepy soulless eye figures, let alone super tasteless creepy eye figures.
So, a diss track 😀
Bandcamp:
Youtube:
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RCA Galileo Pro Tablet Review
Posted on May 6th, 2017
Filed under: Reviews — Karl Olson @ 12:43 pm
So, why am I reviewing a cheap, 11.5”, 2-in-1/convertable Android tablet from RCA?
Well, one it’s a little test of whether it’s actually decent to type and do work on. So far, so good as writing this up on this was a breeze while I sat on the couch and watched TV. More importantly though, it’s a mean of expounding on something I sometimes forget and other times am in awe of: technology is now rather good even when cheap. I imagine other people sometimes forget that too, so maybe this little post might help other folks remember that even cheap tech is pretty good now.
Is the fit, finish, performance of this as good as a 2-in-1 tablet even 40 dollars more, let alone an iPad or a Chromebook? Of course not. However, would this have been a better device that any of the netbooks I got through school on, let alone my first notebook PC I bought when I was in community college? By leagues in all but screen quality, and at $80 US, it’s so hilariously cheap that I can let it’s basic screen slide (besides, it has a mini HDMI port and screencast function, so I could always just hook it into a monitor if I really needed to.) It even manages to recognize peripherals like USB microphones and sound cards, and while it won’t run any cool 3D games, it still runs my favorite mobile DAW software, Caustic, without a hitch. The keyboard isn’t the most luxurious, but it’s actually easier to use than my much better specced Surface Pro 1, and definitely better than trying to use 7-8” tablets with any OS to do some writing beyond a tweet. I think some activities on this would be a bit of a challenge due to a software gap (if there’s something as straightforward as Audacity that runs on Android, I’ve not found it, though I’ve not had the motivation to until now,) but the performance even on this cheap little 2 in 1 is just dandy. Streaming video, browsing the net, social media – all the usual to dos work just fine, and it’s nice to take a break from doing that on the phone without switching to the desktop (I get enough desktop computing at work 5 days a week.) It’s even decent machine to run remote desktop on, easily getting on my company’s VPN and into my Windows box at the office. The battery life is just average, but it’s the modern average of about 7 hours which clowns any of my old netbooks and my Surface Pro 1. It’s far from perfect, but, it really just doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to do the jobs I need it too, and it’s happily achieving that. Plus, some of the stuff that I’m sure some people would hate about a lot end device like this – the 1990s styling and plastics – are actually kind of endearing and keep it from being a theft target as well.
Now, I’ve only had it for about a week, so I’m sure some of my enjoyment of 2-in-1 is new toy novelty creating some rose tinted glasses, but if it’s anything like my other off-brand tech buys from the past couple years like my Blu R1HD Android phone, I suspect that months in this RCA tablet will still be doing the jobs I need and want it to do, all without soaking up a bunch of extra cash to get something fancier but that doesn’t actually do anything more in terms of function or reliability (after all, short of spending at least double to get into a chromebook or windows 10 device or double again that for an apple device, there’s no guarantee you’re getting updates anyway.)
Still, the next time you think need to get the super latest and greatest thing to do what you need, take a minute to really think about the jobs you need to get done on that device, and what tools you already have and whether they’re already covering your bases. You might find that where you thought you needed to make a serious and expensive purchase, something less exciting might easily handle everything you wanted.
If you’d like to pick up one for yourself, here’s a link: RCA Galileo Pro 11.5.
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Vaporwave & Vaportrap, Again
Posted on November 1st, 2016
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 9:41 pm
This time leveraging VHS tape idents, hence An Identity Crisis:
Youtube:
Bandcamp:
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Your Future Presentation
Posted on September 3rd, 2016
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 11:39 am
A visual Future Funk & Vaportrap EP drawn from multiplex cinema policy trailers from days long past.
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Long Time No See
Posted on June 17th, 2016
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:13 am
First things first, I dropped a new album.
It’s also up a lot of other great services like Spotify, Amazon and iTunes.
The reviews are really good so far.
Also, I dropped this EP:
I also dropped a bunch of instrumental releases on bandcamp and youtube, so if the above isn’t enough, subscribe and go in. I should be doing some production work for other artists this year as well; keep an eye out for it.
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Ultraklystron: Most Otaku Ever [M.O.E.] Mixtape
Posted on August 9th, 2015
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 8:57 pm
Ultraklystron – Most Otaku Ever [M.O.E.] Free Download
I know this is something I’ve been teasing for over a year, but here it is, finally. 7 otakucore/nerdcore tracks covering Texhnolyze, Ghost In The Shell, Earth Maiden Arjuna, Fruits Basket, Haibane Renmei, Onegai Teacher & Gravitation, thus covering a breadth of anime genres and HipHop production styles while I’m at it. I’m also happy with the concise the release is – I have backing for three more jams, but I’m back pocketing them for now. Since this release somewhat subliminally ended up as a love letter to the anime of the early 2000s/late 90s, I think I might try to keep a similar focus intentionally in future anyway, which the other tracks would’ve blown. That said, I know some of these titles are rather obscure, but really, that’s the point. I love the big name anime and manga as much as the next guy, but I wanted to show love to the more oddball stuff that actually kept me following the medium, and thus consequently had a huge impact on the path of my life. If anime hadn’t hooked me, well, that’s a full on alternate reality at this point. Being an otaku brought to where I am today, and since I quite enjoy what I do and who I know, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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New Otakucore Hiphop
Posted on May 31st, 2015
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:57 pm
Calling Out (Ghost in the Shell Tribute)
And in case you missed it, The City Awakes (Texhnolyze Tribute)
So yeah, I’m still working on The M.O.E. (Most Otaku Ever) Mixtape. Beats are locked in, but since it’s all gonna be themed tracks, I want to make sure I really represent the anime I’m sampling properly. It’s probably the toughest time I’ve had writing lyrics in a while, but it’s a good tough. The kind of work that sharpens my lyricism and focuses my attentions in a new way. Hopefully the result works well.
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The Full Album Playlist
Posted on May 17th, 2015
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 1:06 am
Ultraklystron – Full Album Playlist
Bookmark it or just subscribe to my YouTube. It’s only going to have more full LPs and EPs as I write more music. If you’re too impatient for YouTube to get my latest work, subscribe to me on Bandcamp.
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My Blu Life: Two Months In
Posted on May 17th, 2015
Filed under: General,Reviews — Karl Olson @ 12:00 am
For a computer scientist and a nerdcore rapper, I’m not terribly big on device upgrades. You’d think I’d always chase new gadgets, but I’m still using the same desktop computer I’ve been using since 2009 (barring a processor upgrade before the socket was discontinued and Black Friday SSD and RAM upgrades.) Had I not run into various problems with my previous phones, I’d probably still be using the Galaxy Nexus I was given at Google I/O 2012. It did everything I needed more or less until the screen cracked. From there I’ve been on a Lumia 521 and a Moto G, both of which were less than stellar with battery life, and both of became erratic after firmware updates (dialer crashes in the middle of calls on the Lumia, force closes due to bad memory management in Android 4.4.4 on the Moto.) Still, I would’ve kept them if they didn’t get weird on me.
My ideal solution: buy a phone with a huge battery built in, and while I’m at it make it a dual sim one since I’m currently bouncing between the US and Canada. Hopefully the firmware never goes sideways, but if it does, the phone should be so inexpensive so that I don’t have to worry about the cost of replacement. Previously, this would’ve been a tall, if not impossible, order. However, as it turns out, a phone was released this spring that fit that bill brilliantly: the BLU Studio Energy D810U, which goes for a mere $150.
This is the point where I expect you to be like “the what phone?” and really that’s quite justified. BLU is a young company out of Florida that more or less puts their badge on designs from various Chinese OEMs, then sells them unlocked directly via retailers like Fry’s and Amazon. However, BLU has been clever about carefully selecting and wisely tweaking the more interesting models from those OEMs, and the Studio Energy is no exception. With it’s outstanding 5000mAh battery, this phone can swing a couple days of reasonable use like it’s nothing, and even with brightness turned up fully and processor intensive work like writing and rendering multiple songs in Caustic 3 and streaming anime off Crunchyroll, I’ve never put it on the charger lower than about 40 percent. That means it’s gone from 8am to 1am (or later) with a workload that’s completely inconsiderate towards battery longevity. It’s not going to play the very latest 3D Android games, but it’s otherwise entirely functional, and most importantly, it’s functional all day long – no range anxiety, ever.
Sure, it’s not without compromises. Hardware wise, the massive battery life means it’s not svelte (though it’s thinner than you’d expect,) and that battery isn’t swappable. It’s only capable of HSDPA speeds, and it’s bands are so limited you need a different model to get those top speeds depending on your carrier. Further still, it only has a MediaTek MT6582 processor with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, half of which is soaked up by Android, though a MicroSD card slot alleviates storage concerns. Still, it’s not buttery smooth all the time, and that’s technically a trade off (though, it’s not like the Moto G it replaced never stuttered.) Those looking for top specs beyond battery will be let down. Software wise, it’s lightly skinned, but if you’re coming from stock Android, you might find yourself running to get everything as close as back to stock ASAP.
However, I think for most smartphone users, battery matters way more than any other consideration, whether they realize that or not. Besides, given it’s current competition in this price point, it easily holds it’s own on performance, camera and storage. I would take this over the current Moto E, Moto G or low-end Lumias any day of the week, and they’re really only phones that compete with this currently. More importantly, it’s worked great in real world usage as my sole phone for the past couple months. It does the jobs it should do, and it’s even changed my use behavior with my phone. Since I don’t worry about the battery life, I’ve already written a few EPs in Caustic 3 while commuting on the train using the Studio Energy (by the way, this means the DAC is alright too.) I wouldn’t do that on any other phone without having a charger at work if not an external battery pack. Even pounding the battery with GPS and high brightness are no longer worrisome scenarios. I haven’t taken the car charger out my car yet, but the only time I bother to throw it on is if I’m making a day long drive, and really, I don’t have to, I just feel like I should.
One day, this phone will come without its tradeoffs, but that goes for the flagships too, and until the day I can have no tradeoffs, I’m going with the phone that can still provide directions after a long flight or late concert. The fact that it costs a fourth of what a top flagship does is just a victory lap.
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This Is My Aesthetic
Posted on April 4th, 2015
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:11 pm
So, it’s not a super responsive dream site, but it’s clean and lean and will be improved farther on those notes while hopefully adding functionality. Gone are the old style style links in favor of a leaner, more modern look.
Meanwhile, I’ve been on Vaporwave-ish kick, and the results have been available to my subscribers on bandcamp for the past month. However, I’ve also started transitioning them to YouTube and non-exclusivity, so if you want to re-live a sleep misspent afternoon in a dead mall, below it your soundtrack:
Ultraklystron – 100 Hours Free:
Ultraklystron – 101 Hours Free:
Next week should result in 102 Hours Free being released from exclusivity, but 103 will remain subscriber exclusive until June.