A Global Lesson, and Dubstep

me: do you know what dubstep is?

Z: yes

me: like it? (much?)

Z: depends on my mood.

me: lol

Z: friday night in the city... sure!

me: lol again

Z: why oh why do you ask?

me: so do you know Skream & Benga?

Z: not tooo familiar. i'd probably know some of their popular songs

me: how about Seeeriousss by Noah D. or Machinedrum, aka Travis Stewart ...

Through the marvel of modern technology, I spent a day last week slaving in a Bangladeshi sweat shop. The idea was to condense a web page about each of 21 groups/artists into 3-4 line paragraph descriptions of each.

I learned a lot about both the music and about being part of the global electronic workforce. The workforce thing is a whole 'nuther story. (More on that another time.) But the music is interesting and I offer a few of the unused summaries here for your perusal.

• Skream & Benga (schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_MS19370) Who created Dubstep? These guys did it. Both are solo artists but frequently team up, along with Arthur “Artwork” Smith, to perform as the group Magnetic Man. Skream released his second full length album, “Outside the Box,” in 2010. Benga’s two albums to date – “Newstep” and “Diary of an Afro Warrior” – were both 2008 releases. Skream & Benga were featured on New Years Day 2012 at Sydney, Australia’s Field Day music festival. www.skreamandbenga.com

Click here for a sample of their high-intensity,

bass-driven music. (You'll need to click on the

"play" icon, then give it a minute to get rolling ... )

• Reid Speed (schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_MS19990) From listening to the work of Reid Speed, you’d soon realize she knows no limits, no boundaries, and perhaps no fear. Besides laying down some monster tracks across all genres in the bass music word, she also is the co-founder, with Alexander Rosson, of Play Me Records, the Los Angeles-based digital label. A native of New York City, she has been mixing since 2001. www.facebook.com/djreidspeed
  
• Drop the Lime (schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_MS18635) Singer, songwriter and guitarist Luca Venezia, who performs as Drop the Lime, brings his truly diverse background to bear on an already stunning career. A Manhattan native, Drop the Lime majored in music at Bard College where he studied under cutting edge electronic musicians. Combining that with an early heavy exposure to the music of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Richie Valens, as well as the gang culture of New York, and it’s little wonder that he embodies a 21st century reincarnation of a 50’s rock’n’roller. www.dropthelime.com
  
• Dubtonic Kru (schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_MS17677) Although they all hail from Jamaica, each of the five members of Dubtonic Kru brings a unique musical background to this Reggae-plus band. Their diverse styles combine to produce an exquisite style that earned the band the title “Best New Band in the World” for 2010-2011 at the Global Battle of the Bands World Finals in Malyasia in February 2011. www.dubtonickru.com

So there you have it - a short introduction to dubstep and other quasi-related stuff (and quasi-music). What is it, you might ask? Interesting, if nothing else.

Z: hahahaha

very interesting

Shaken Allegiances (It's Not What Your Neighbors Are Reading)

Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy reading a book that isn't currently in the New York Times Top 20. Of course, there are a lot of "dogs" out there (no offense to man's best friend), but sometimes you get a tip on a new book that's one of those proverbial "best-kept secrets," and following up can offer both a good read and a reason to hold your head a little higher while you're standing in line at Starbucks.

One such sleeper is "Shaken Allegiances," by Michel Bruneau. Published in October 2009, the novel covers the 48 hours immediately following a fictional devastating earthquake that hits Montréal Island in the middle of an icy Canadian winter. The tale unfolds through the rotating perspectives of a dozen major characters, each dealing with a different aspect of the quake's devastation.

Frankly, it's one of those books that I didn't want to like, but as soon as I got a few pages into it, I was hooked. (Another in this category is "Bel Canto," by Ann Patchett, but I digress.)

Of the two principal things I learned from this book, one came as quite a surprise: The depth of the divide felt by the men and women of Québec - the Québécois and Québécoise - with regard to the rest of Canada. I knew there was a lingering separatist undercurrent, but I had no idea how strongly people on both sides feel about the issue. Through the characters in his novel, Bruneau provides insightful background into both the historical roots and the present-day reality of this schism.

The other take away was less surprising but more chilling - no pun intended. Through the narrative interwoven with the words, thoughts and actions of the main characters, the author leads the reader to a sobering reflection on the hardships inhabitants might face under the combination of winter weather and a major earthquake. Without dwelling on the physical plight or suffering of any individual, he nonetheless clearly illustrates the bleak situation in the aftermath of such a calamity. For example, who would think that the tunnels for the inoperative subway - after all, the electrical distribution system has been rendered completely nonfunctional - would provide the best shelter for the island city's suddenly homeless citizenry? Or that army troops bearing relief supplies would have to camp on the mainland side of the river (in a combination of a blizzard and seriously frigid temperatures), stymied by a total lack of passable bridges onto the island? These are the likely realities of which Bruneau paints a vivid picture.

One of the beauties of this book, which was a 2010 regional award winner, is that you probably won't find it in your local library. The others in your book club have probably never heard of it, which makes it all the more delightful, yet "Shaken Allegiances" is available - just visit Amazon.com.

A native of Québec City, structural engineer and author Bruneau has for years lived and taught in Buffalo, N.Y., "enjoying its comparatively balmy winters," he notes on the back cover. Despite one minor bump in the linguistic road from Québec to Buffalo (remember the "lie, lay, lain" verb forms?) - actually in this case more of a charm than a detriment - this novel is a good read. And in the end, the author's mission is accomplished. He has made us think.

Learn more about Michel Bruneau the author in "The Engineer as Writer," from the February 2012 issue of Modern Steel Construction.

Learn more about Michel Bruneau in his own words at www.michelbruneau.com.

Setting Up Groups in Gmail (User Notes No. 1)

If you’re still getting used to Gmail, don’t feel bad. So am I. It’s a great tool, but many of the functions it offers are less intuitive than one could hope. For example, setting up “Groups.”

Part of the difficulty is that “groups” can mean different things within the realm of Google. In this case, let’s talk about grouping your contacts so you can quickly send an email to a specific set of people.

Gmail automatically collects all the email addresses you send to and receive from, but it's up to you to add them to your “My Contacts” list. With a particular email open, look around for a "More" drop down menu and the option to "Add to My Contacts." One place you can find that is by rolling over the email address displayed at the top of the open email. That brings up the Chat window, which has that More button at the bottom. It's a bit of a bother, but worth taking the time to do.

You also can add new contacts by typing in the information, and you can enter additional information for any contact, but that’s not necessary to set up groups of email addresses. The thing that is necessary, however, is that you set up the group or groups you want to use.

Like most Google things, it’s easy, but it helps to know how to proceed. Let’s assume you want to set up a group and call it “Other.”

Begin by selecting Contacts from the three main options (Mail – Contacts – Tasks). If you’re still using the old look (shown on left), that’s in the upper left corner of the window, directly under the Gmail logo.

In the new look (right) you’ll need to go to the pull down menu associated with Gmail.

Next create a new group called Other by clicking on New Group from the list on the left side of the screen.

Once the group is created, simply go down your list of contacts and check all those that you want to be labeled as part of Other. Then click on the Groups button, which only appears if you have one or more contacts checked. In the old look it says Groups; in the new look it’s just a set of three heads. Select Other from the drop down menu, and click Apply.

The nice thing is that you don't have to pick just one group for a person to belong to. Each contact can be labeled as being in a bunch of different groups.

Once a group is set up, it’s easy to send an email to the whole group. Just select Mail (or Gmail in the new look), then Compose mail (or Compose in the new look). Start typing the group name in the “To” field, select the suggested group, and it will automatically insert everyone's email addresses.

One note of caution – make sure all the contacts you put into the group actually have email addresses as part of their information or they won’t get the email.

As it says on the big red Staples button, that was easy.