Two years ago we had an article on the intricacies of “railgun” in the reflex magazine, this year let us look into the details of another weapon used in Quake, the Plasma Gun.
Plasma rifles are weapons often used in science fiction. They are, in effect, a type of raygun. Plasma weapons use a small nuclear reactor or fuel cell or other type of advanced energy storage device to power an electromagnetic accelerator that fires a stream or pulse or toroid of plasma (i.e. very energetic excited matter); real-world conventional firearms launch a metal projectile from a barrel using an expanding gas.
When fusion reactors exist, one potential source of weapons-grade plasma sources might be a direct tap on a fusion reactor, especially a dense plasma focus, since the natural yield of such a reactor is a hot high-speed plasma beam.
As well as rifles, several science fiction universes also contain pistol-scale or cannon-scale plasma-firing weapons.
Real tools that plasma rifles should not be confused with
• Plasma torches, which have existed for some years, and project plasma streams a foot at most, and are used to cut metal and concrete.
• The plasma gun as used in plasma physics.
The possibility of plasma rifles existing in the real world
At present, plasma rifles are merely theoretical, as currently they need more power than any handheld device could supply. Making real plasma weapons will need a major scientific breakthrough, as the concept of plasma-firing weapons is scientifically difficult, for various reasons:
• The technology to create plasma toroids and particle beams is presently far too bulky for anything man-portable. In such a high-performance design, the plasma would have to be stored and created in highly focused magnetic bottles, such as those used in NASA's VASIMR rocket: this design has been suggested as a potential weapon design for future real human-engineered plasma weapons. For simpler designs based on plasma cutting torches, a designer might be able to heat the plasma with an arcjet, if his power source is strong enough.
• Using current technology, if a plasma beam was fired in a planetary atmosphere, it would quickly be stopped by atmospheric resistance and would make a short hot flame like a blowtorch.
• The plasma shot out of a plasma rifle would tend to dissipate in the surrounding environment within about 50 centimeters from the gun, from thermal and/or electric pressure expansion, called blooming, unless:-
o The magnetic confinement bottle is extended all the way to the target (as it was in the games Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2).
o Or the particles are fired fast enough to reach a target before blooming occurs. This is then a particle beam more than a plasma beam (at least as much as any technical definition for such weapons exists). This would work in space vacuum, but in atmosphere would merely cause a hotter short flame from more violent collision between the flying particles and the atmosphere.
• One virtually universal characteristic of plasma weaponry is its tendency to overheat, thus being sometimes impractical even within the context of science fiction.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Grid Computing in Designing Dynamics of F1 Car
In the intensely competitive world of Formula 1 motor racing, the world's top design engineers are constantly seeking that perfect balance between performance and reliability.
In theory, the ultimate F1 car should be good for precisely one race distance before it falls apart. If it lasts any longer, this indicates that performance must have been fractionally compromised in favour of reliability or vice versa if it doesn't quite go the distance.
The search for that perfect balance between maximum performance and optimal reliability is achieved by analysis--in minute detail--of the various aerodynamic and structural characteristics of the thousands of components that comprise the McLaren car.
Playing a vital role in solving these massively complex situations is Sun's state-of-the-art High Performance computing (HPC) technology. The delivery of two Sun Technical Compute Farm (Sun TCF) systems in 2001 has enabled McLaren to shrink its design cycles significantly. This makes it possible to consider more iterations of each component within a set time frame, a vital factor in the F1 design engineer's eternal quest for the perfect balance between performance and reliability.
The Sun TCF--a powerful, scalable system for High Performance Computing--is a complete rack-based solution that integrates Sun's industry-leading enterprise servers, computing engines and storage arrays for a very effective distributed computing environment. At the very heart of this cluster grid is Sun's Grid Engine software.
The cluster grid system enables McLaren to prioritise and streamline heavy workloads by more effectively utilising resources, including CPU memory and storage. Effectively, unused memory from computers within McLaren International is allocated to areas in which additional processing power is required and is of primary benefit to the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) team.
Since the computing grid's installation last year, it has reduced some of the design times involved in the development of the new season's car by as much as 95%.
As Sun's Vice President of Volume System Products, Neil Knox explains: "F1 is all about speed, not just speed on the track but also speed of development. That, in turn, mostly equates to speed of calculation. Sun's grid computing expertise and high performance systems based on the Solaris Operating Environment provide the calculation horsepower, scalability and reliability necessary to be successful in this compute-hungry environment."
With a stack of 112 processors generating 50 gigaflops of compute power, the Sun TCF systems are in continuous operation, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, solving complex equations relating to the aerodynamic and load-bearing characteristics of the various components and the car.
"Sun's Technical Compute Farm systems are the most powerful tools we've got in terms of evaluating our design, allowing us to identify and eliminate weaknesses in the car quickly and efficiently. This translates into performance and reliability on the track," says Dr Guan Chew, Head of Structure's Group at McLaren International.
"High Performance Computing allows us to break down a complex structure into a large number of small elements, analyse the strength of every component with a great degree of accuracy and then design out all the weak points."
As an illustration of the extent to which HPC has speeded up the design process, he cites the example of the side impact structure, which, according to Formula One regulations, has to take a load of fifteen tonnes. "The first multi-processor we had took 20 hours to do a complete analysis of a single design. With the Sun TCF systems we can do the job in 3 hours. That means in one day we can now analyse four different iterations and four more overnight, giving us a lot more options and a more efficient design cycle."
Considerable Savings in Time and Money
More than 90 percent of McLaren International's current Sun HPC capacity is reserved for the CFD team, which routinely uses it to analyse the aerodynamic design not just of individual components and assemblies in isolation, but of the car as a whole. The team also benefits from the 30 percent extra power and advanced graphics of the 64-bit Sun Blade 1000 workstation, which is based on the award winning UltraSPARC III processor. And with the availability of the new high performance, 1.05 Ghz-based Sun Blade 2000 workstation, McLaren engineers now have access to systems offering the world's fastest floating point performance.
The biggest single simulation that the team runs is the analysis in real time of the simulated airflow over every external aerodynamic surface of the virtual car, including the wing mirror, and involves breaking it down into 20 or 30 million separate elements. With the Sun TCF systems, design cycles have been cut from weeks to just days, saving the team from traditionally costly and time consuming outsourcing to British Aerospace.
"McLaren was one of the first teams to do these very large-scale studies, analysing a lot of the car in one go," says CFD team leader Kevin Colburn. "The others have caught up a bit now but we believe we are still ahead."
The great advantage of such advanced virtual testing is that it saves huge amounts of time, effort and money by allowing the engineers to refine their designs and narrow down the options before they go to the wind tunnel. "We're now putting smarter designs into the wind tunnel, designs that are already closer to being optimised," says Colburn. "Typically, we might look at 10 or 15 different wing configurations before selecting the best one to be dropped into the wind tunnel. In that way we are able to use the tunnel more effectively."
The combination of the Sun TCF systems and Sun Blade 1000 workstations has sped up the design process to the point where, for the first time last season, a front wing was completely redesigned, tested, manufactured and fitted to the car between races. Even so, Colburn and his colleagues at McLaren are constantly hungry for more speed and more power from their systems. "In the intensely competitive world of Formula One, you can never afford to stand still because that means effectively that you are going backwards," says Colburn.
"Every time you think the car is as fast as it's ever going to get, you somewhere find a way of making it go better. It's like an envelope in which you are trying to find all four corners. You push one corner and find the boundary there and then push it in another area and the envelope changes shape and opens up new possibilities that then have to be explored."
At any given time, more concentrated compute power is used in the design of a West McLaren Mercedes F1 car than goes into the Eurofighter. The motor racing and aerospace industries are comparable in many areas, especially in their respective needs for leading edge technology, and both make use of similar mechanical computer-aided engineering software, including LS-Dyna and Star CD.
"The complexities of the models they are working with are roughly comparable," says Henry Fong, Senior Business Development Manager for MCAE at Sun. "The difference with McLaren is that they have an oppressive time frame. They are constantly up against the clock and the calendar. With a jet fighter you are looking at maybe a 10 year development programme whereas with an F1 car you're talking about months, sometimes even weeks."
Summarising the benefits that have come since the installation of the Sun TCF systems, Jonathan Neale, Operations Director at McLaren International says "the ability to speed up our processing power means better ideas faster, and ultimately that is critical. Track time is very limited and expensive and the more ironing out of ideas we can do upstream the more efficient the whole process becomes."
"The F1 pack is getting closer together and these developments are giving us that slight edge. We are not limited by our ideas, only by the time it takes to process them, and Sun's HPC capabilities are a major tool in our constant quest for improvement and innovation."
Looking back over the 15-year association with Sun, McLaren International Managing Director Martin Whitmarsh comments: "In the volatile world of IT, a relationship of that length is quite remarkable. Sun has changed the way we develop our product with its cutting edge technology and we are doing things now that we could not have dreamed of doing before. But we still want more and we want it quicker."
It is a challenge that is welcomed by Sun. Acknowledging that McLaren's requirements for massive computing power and high availability can be challenging, Sun's Neil Knox adds: "Our relationship is very strong because McLaren runs its business just like we do at Sun insofar as they are driven and extremely aggressive in their technology, always wanting to break into new areas. They want to push the envelope and so do we. We pride ourselves on being every bit as competitive as they are."
In theory, the ultimate F1 car should be good for precisely one race distance before it falls apart. If it lasts any longer, this indicates that performance must have been fractionally compromised in favour of reliability or vice versa if it doesn't quite go the distance.
The search for that perfect balance between maximum performance and optimal reliability is achieved by analysis--in minute detail--of the various aerodynamic and structural characteristics of the thousands of components that comprise the McLaren car.
Playing a vital role in solving these massively complex situations is Sun's state-of-the-art High Performance computing (HPC) technology. The delivery of two Sun Technical Compute Farm (Sun TCF) systems in 2001 has enabled McLaren to shrink its design cycles significantly. This makes it possible to consider more iterations of each component within a set time frame, a vital factor in the F1 design engineer's eternal quest for the perfect balance between performance and reliability.
The Sun TCF--a powerful, scalable system for High Performance Computing--is a complete rack-based solution that integrates Sun's industry-leading enterprise servers, computing engines and storage arrays for a very effective distributed computing environment. At the very heart of this cluster grid is Sun's Grid Engine software.
The cluster grid system enables McLaren to prioritise and streamline heavy workloads by more effectively utilising resources, including CPU memory and storage. Effectively, unused memory from computers within McLaren International is allocated to areas in which additional processing power is required and is of primary benefit to the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) team.
Since the computing grid's installation last year, it has reduced some of the design times involved in the development of the new season's car by as much as 95%.
As Sun's Vice President of Volume System Products, Neil Knox explains: "F1 is all about speed, not just speed on the track but also speed of development. That, in turn, mostly equates to speed of calculation. Sun's grid computing expertise and high performance systems based on the Solaris Operating Environment provide the calculation horsepower, scalability and reliability necessary to be successful in this compute-hungry environment."
With a stack of 112 processors generating 50 gigaflops of compute power, the Sun TCF systems are in continuous operation, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, solving complex equations relating to the aerodynamic and load-bearing characteristics of the various components and the car.
"Sun's Technical Compute Farm systems are the most powerful tools we've got in terms of evaluating our design, allowing us to identify and eliminate weaknesses in the car quickly and efficiently. This translates into performance and reliability on the track," says Dr Guan Chew, Head of Structure's Group at McLaren International.
"High Performance Computing allows us to break down a complex structure into a large number of small elements, analyse the strength of every component with a great degree of accuracy and then design out all the weak points."
As an illustration of the extent to which HPC has speeded up the design process, he cites the example of the side impact structure, which, according to Formula One regulations, has to take a load of fifteen tonnes. "The first multi-processor we had took 20 hours to do a complete analysis of a single design. With the Sun TCF systems we can do the job in 3 hours. That means in one day we can now analyse four different iterations and four more overnight, giving us a lot more options and a more efficient design cycle."
Considerable Savings in Time and Money
More than 90 percent of McLaren International's current Sun HPC capacity is reserved for the CFD team, which routinely uses it to analyse the aerodynamic design not just of individual components and assemblies in isolation, but of the car as a whole. The team also benefits from the 30 percent extra power and advanced graphics of the 64-bit Sun Blade 1000 workstation, which is based on the award winning UltraSPARC III processor. And with the availability of the new high performance, 1.05 Ghz-based Sun Blade 2000 workstation, McLaren engineers now have access to systems offering the world's fastest floating point performance.
The biggest single simulation that the team runs is the analysis in real time of the simulated airflow over every external aerodynamic surface of the virtual car, including the wing mirror, and involves breaking it down into 20 or 30 million separate elements. With the Sun TCF systems, design cycles have been cut from weeks to just days, saving the team from traditionally costly and time consuming outsourcing to British Aerospace.
"McLaren was one of the first teams to do these very large-scale studies, analysing a lot of the car in one go," says CFD team leader Kevin Colburn. "The others have caught up a bit now but we believe we are still ahead."
The great advantage of such advanced virtual testing is that it saves huge amounts of time, effort and money by allowing the engineers to refine their designs and narrow down the options before they go to the wind tunnel. "We're now putting smarter designs into the wind tunnel, designs that are already closer to being optimised," says Colburn. "Typically, we might look at 10 or 15 different wing configurations before selecting the best one to be dropped into the wind tunnel. In that way we are able to use the tunnel more effectively."
The combination of the Sun TCF systems and Sun Blade 1000 workstations has sped up the design process to the point where, for the first time last season, a front wing was completely redesigned, tested, manufactured and fitted to the car between races. Even so, Colburn and his colleagues at McLaren are constantly hungry for more speed and more power from their systems. "In the intensely competitive world of Formula One, you can never afford to stand still because that means effectively that you are going backwards," says Colburn.
"Every time you think the car is as fast as it's ever going to get, you somewhere find a way of making it go better. It's like an envelope in which you are trying to find all four corners. You push one corner and find the boundary there and then push it in another area and the envelope changes shape and opens up new possibilities that then have to be explored."
At any given time, more concentrated compute power is used in the design of a West McLaren Mercedes F1 car than goes into the Eurofighter. The motor racing and aerospace industries are comparable in many areas, especially in their respective needs for leading edge technology, and both make use of similar mechanical computer-aided engineering software, including LS-Dyna and Star CD.
"The complexities of the models they are working with are roughly comparable," says Henry Fong, Senior Business Development Manager for MCAE at Sun. "The difference with McLaren is that they have an oppressive time frame. They are constantly up against the clock and the calendar. With a jet fighter you are looking at maybe a 10 year development programme whereas with an F1 car you're talking about months, sometimes even weeks."
Summarising the benefits that have come since the installation of the Sun TCF systems, Jonathan Neale, Operations Director at McLaren International says "the ability to speed up our processing power means better ideas faster, and ultimately that is critical. Track time is very limited and expensive and the more ironing out of ideas we can do upstream the more efficient the whole process becomes."
"The F1 pack is getting closer together and these developments are giving us that slight edge. We are not limited by our ideas, only by the time it takes to process them, and Sun's HPC capabilities are a major tool in our constant quest for improvement and innovation."
Looking back over the 15-year association with Sun, McLaren International Managing Director Martin Whitmarsh comments: "In the volatile world of IT, a relationship of that length is quite remarkable. Sun has changed the way we develop our product with its cutting edge technology and we are doing things now that we could not have dreamed of doing before. But we still want more and we want it quicker."
It is a challenge that is welcomed by Sun. Acknowledging that McLaren's requirements for massive computing power and high availability can be challenging, Sun's Neil Knox adds: "Our relationship is very strong because McLaren runs its business just like we do at Sun insofar as they are driven and extremely aggressive in their technology, always wanting to break into new areas. They want to push the envelope and so do we. We pride ourselves on being every bit as competitive as they are."
how does a gal withdraw cash
How a BOY withdraws cash from ATM.
1. Park the car
2. Go to ATM Machine
3. Insert card
4. Enter PIN
5. Take money out
6. Take ATM Card out
7. Drive away
How a GIRL withdraws cash from ATM
1. Park the car
2. Check makeup
3. Turn off engine
4. Check makeup
5. Go to ATM
6. Hunt for ATM card in the purse
7. Insert card
8. Hit Cancel
9. Hunt in purse for chit with PIN written on it
10. Insert card
11. Enter PIN
12. Take cash
13. Go to car
14. Check makeup
15. Start car
16. Stop car
17. Run back to ATM
18. Take ATM card
19. Back to car
20. Check makeup
21. Start car
22. Check makeup
23. Drive for 1/2 mile
24. Release handbrake
25. Drive on ........
1. Park the car
2. Go to ATM Machine
3. Insert card
4. Enter PIN
5. Take money out
6. Take ATM Card out
7. Drive away
How a GIRL withdraws cash from ATM
1. Park the car
2. Check makeup
3. Turn off engine
4. Check makeup
5. Go to ATM
6. Hunt for ATM card in the purse
7. Insert card
8. Hit Cancel
9. Hunt in purse for chit with PIN written on it
10. Insert card
11. Enter PIN
12. Take cash
13. Go to car
14. Check makeup
15. Start car
16. Stop car
17. Run back to ATM
18. Take ATM card
19. Back to car
20. Check makeup
21. Start car
22. Check makeup
23. Drive for 1/2 mile
24. Release handbrake
25. Drive on ........
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
My project
well heres the synopsis of my project
WORKING ON JXTA TECHNOLOGY
OBJECTIVE
The idea behind the project is to implement the Java's standard server socket and client socket to work on JXTA peer-to-peer network.
• Find peers and resources on the network .
• Boot Operating System on devices through these network.
Alternative
• Share files with anyone across the network.
DESCRIPTION
JXTA technology is a set of simple, open peer-to-peer protocols that allows Any connected device on the network ranging from cell phones, wireless, PDA’s to PC’S and servers to communicate, collaborate, and share resources in a peer to peer network.
JAXTA peers create a virtual network where any peer can interact with other peer and resourses. In the JXTA , any peer can interact with other peers, regardless of location, type of device, or operating environment . The implementation starts with building a network using JXTA and then transferring the boot image of the operating system on the peers using the established network.
FACILITIES REQUIRED
• Hardware
- NIC cards for all Pc’s (Internet Connectivity).
- 100mbps Switch
- PC with 2 GB HDD and 256/512 MB RAM(This machine will host the Web Server as well the Mail Server )
• Software
- OS: Linux /windows XP
- Apache, Tomcat
- JDK 1.4
TECHNICAL DETAILS
JXTA technology espouses the core technology objectives of
• Platform Independence – Technology is not dependent on particular programming language, networking platform, system platform.
• Interoperability – can work in combination with different peer to peer systems
Schedule:
Sem VII
1. Planning/Analysis
2. Design
3. Implementation
Sem VIII
1. Integration
2. Testing
WORKING ON JXTA TECHNOLOGY
OBJECTIVE
The idea behind the project is to implement the Java's standard server socket and client socket to work on JXTA peer-to-peer network.
• Find peers and resources on the network .
• Boot Operating System on devices through these network.
Alternative
• Share files with anyone across the network.
DESCRIPTION
JXTA technology is a set of simple, open peer-to-peer protocols that allows Any connected device on the network ranging from cell phones, wireless, PDA’s to PC’S and servers to communicate, collaborate, and share resources in a peer to peer network.
JAXTA peers create a virtual network where any peer can interact with other peer and resourses. In the JXTA , any peer can interact with other peers, regardless of location, type of device, or operating environment . The implementation starts with building a network using JXTA and then transferring the boot image of the operating system on the peers using the established network.
FACILITIES REQUIRED
• Hardware
- NIC cards for all Pc’s (Internet Connectivity).
- 100mbps Switch
- PC with 2 GB HDD and 256/512 MB RAM(This machine will host the Web Server as well the Mail Server )
• Software
- OS: Linux /windows XP
- Apache, Tomcat
- JDK 1.4
TECHNICAL DETAILS
JXTA technology espouses the core technology objectives of
• Platform Independence – Technology is not dependent on particular programming language, networking platform, system platform.
• Interoperability – can work in combination with different peer to peer systems
Schedule:
Sem VII
1. Planning/Analysis
2. Design
3. Implementation
Sem VIII
1. Integration
2. Testing
my favorite books
i'm not much of a non fiction reader.but books on swami vivekananda are great..........
i'm an avid fiction reader and Frederic Forsythe books just turn me on.High on spying he just knows how to make things interesting .....these are the books in case all research in spying that can give a real high
i'm an avid fiction reader and Frederic Forsythe books just turn me on.High on spying he just knows how to make things interesting .....these are the books in case all research in spying that can give a real high
Monday, October 16, 2006
Network Play in Quake
Quake includes cooperative and deathmatch multiplayer modes over LAN or the Internet. Additional multi-player modes were later added using "mods".
Quake uses the client-server model, where a server has control of all game events. All players connect to this server in order to participate, with the server telling the clients what is happening in the game. The server may either be a dedicated server or a listen server. Even in the latter situation, Quake still uses the client-server model, as opposed to the peer-to-peer networking used by some other games. Quake thus cannot suffer from de-synchronized network games that could occur from different clients disagreeing with each other, since the server is always the final authority.
Depending on the client's specific route to the server, different clients will get different ping times. The lower a player's latency (ping time) is, the smoother his or her in-game motions are, which makes it easier to aim, move, and score. Someone playing at the PC or within the same LAN as the server gets a substantial advantage due to essentially no lag.
While gamers had been deathmatching each other via IPX LAN connections, serial cable connections, and modems in the Doom, Heretic, and Hexen series of games, it was not until Quake that the Internet deathmatch community really began.
Quake uses the client-server model, where a server has control of all game events. All players connect to this server in order to participate, with the server telling the clients what is happening in the game. The server may either be a dedicated server or a listen server. Even in the latter situation, Quake still uses the client-server model, as opposed to the peer-to-peer networking used by some other games. Quake thus cannot suffer from de-synchronized network games that could occur from different clients disagreeing with each other, since the server is always the final authority.
Depending on the client's specific route to the server, different clients will get different ping times. The lower a player's latency (ping time) is, the smoother his or her in-game motions are, which makes it easier to aim, move, and score. Someone playing at the PC or within the same LAN as the server gets a substantial advantage due to essentially no lag.
While gamers had been deathmatching each other via IPX LAN connections, serial cable connections, and modems in the Doom, Heretic, and Hexen series of games, it was not until Quake that the Internet deathmatch community really began.
12 principles of my favorite religion(Buddhism)
1. Self-salvation is for any man the immediate task. If a man lay wounded by a poisoned arrow he would not delay extraction by demanding details of the man who shot it or the length and make of the arrow. There will be time for ever-increasing understanding of the Teaching during the treading of the Way. Meanwhile, begin now by facing life as it is, learning always by direct and personal experience.
2. The first Fact of existence is the law of change or impermanence. All that exists, from a mole to a mountain, from a thought to an empire, passes through the same cycle of existence--i.e. birth, growth, decay and death. Life alone is continuous, ever seeking self-expression in new forms. ‘Life is a bridge; therefore build no house on it.’ Life is a process of flow, and he who clings to any form, however splendid, will suffer by resisting the flow.
3. The law of change applies equally to the ‘soul’. There is no principle in an individual which is immortal and unchanging. Only the ‘Namelessness’, the ultimate Reality, is beyond change; and all forms of life, including man, are manifestations of this Reality. No one owns the life which flows in him any more than the electric light bulb owns the current which gives it light.
4. The universe is the expression of law. All effects have causes, and man’s consciousness or character is the sum total of his previous thoughts and acts. Karma, meaning action-reaction, governs all existence, and man is the sole creator of his circumstances and his reaction to them, his future condition, and his final destiny. By right thought and action he can gradually purify his inner nature, and so by self-realization attain in time liberation from rebirth. The process covers great periods of time, involving life after life on earth, but ultimately every form of life will reach Enlightenment.
5. Life is one and indivisible: though its ever-changing forms are innumerable and perishable. There is, in truth, no death, though every form must die. From an understanding of life’s unity arises compassion, a sense of identity with the life in other forms. Compassion is described as ‘the Law of laws--eternal harmony’, and he who breaks this harmony of life will suffer accordingly and delay his own Enlightenment.
6. Life being One, the interests of the part should be those of the whole. In his ignorance man thinks he can successfully strive for his own interests, and this wrongly-directed energy of selfishness produces suffering. He learns from his suffering to reduce and finally eliminate its cause. The Buddha taught four Noble Truths:
* The omnipresence of suffering;
* its cause, wrongly directed desire,
* its cure, the removal of the cause,
* and the Noble Eightfold Path of self-development which leads to the end of suffering.
7. The Eightfold Path consists in Right (or perfect) Views or preliminary understanding. Right Aims or Motive, Right Speech, Right Acts, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Concentration or mind-development, and finally, Right Samadhi, leading to full Enlightenment. As Buddhism is a way of living, not merely a theory of life, the treading of this Path is essential to self-deliverance. ‘Cease to do evil, learn to do good, cleanse your own heart; this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.’
8. Reality is indescribable, and a God with attributes is not the final Reality. But the Buddha, a human being, became the All-Enlightened One, and the purpose of life is the attainment of Enlightenment. This state of Consciousness, Nirvana, the extinction of the limitations of self-hood, is attainable on earth. All men and all other forms of life contain the potentiality of Enlightenment; and the process therefore consists in becoming what you are. ‘Look within: thou art Buddha.’
9. From potential to actual Enlightenment there lies the Middle Way, the Eightfold Path ‘from desire to peace’, a process of self-development between the ‘opposites’, avoiding all extremes: The Buddha trod this Way to the end, and the only faith required in Buddhism is the reasonable belief that where a Guide has trodden it is worth our while to tread. The Way must be trodden by the whole man; not merely the best of him, and heart and mind must be developed equally. The Buddha was the All-Compassionate as well as the All-Enlightened One.
10. Buddhism lays great stress on the need of inward concentration and meditation, which leads in time to the development of the inner spiritual faculties. The subjective life is as important as the daily round, and periods of quietude for inner activity are essential for a balanced life. The Buddhist should at all times be ‘mindful and self-possessed’, refraining from mental and emotional attachment to ‘the passing show’. This increasingly watchful attitude to circumstances, which he knows to be his own creation. helps him to keep his reaction to it always under control.
11. The Buddha said: ‘Work out your own salvation with diligence’. Buddhism knows no authority for truth save the intuition of the individual, and that is authority for himself alone. Each man suffers the consequences of his own acts, and learns thereby, while helping his fellow men to the same deliverance; nor will prayer to the Buddha or to any God prevent an effect from following its cause. Buddhist monks are teachers and exemplars, and in no sense intermediates between Reality and the individual. The utmost tolerance is practised towards all other religions and philosophies, for no man has the right to interfere in his neighbour’s journey to the Goal.
12. Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor ‘escapist’, nor does it deny the existence of God or soul, though it places its own meaning on these terms. It is, on the contrary, a system of thought, a religion, a spiritual science and a way of life which is reasonable, practical and all-embracing. For over two thousand years it has satisfied the spiritual needs of nearly one-third of mankind. It appeals to the West because it has no dogmas, satisfies the reason and the heart alike, insists on self-reliance coupled with tolerance for other points of view, embraces science, religion, philosophy, psychology, ethics and art, and points to man alone as the creator of his present life and sole designer of his destiny.
2. The first Fact of existence is the law of change or impermanence. All that exists, from a mole to a mountain, from a thought to an empire, passes through the same cycle of existence--i.e. birth, growth, decay and death. Life alone is continuous, ever seeking self-expression in new forms. ‘Life is a bridge; therefore build no house on it.’ Life is a process of flow, and he who clings to any form, however splendid, will suffer by resisting the flow.
3. The law of change applies equally to the ‘soul’. There is no principle in an individual which is immortal and unchanging. Only the ‘Namelessness’, the ultimate Reality, is beyond change; and all forms of life, including man, are manifestations of this Reality. No one owns the life which flows in him any more than the electric light bulb owns the current which gives it light.
4. The universe is the expression of law. All effects have causes, and man’s consciousness or character is the sum total of his previous thoughts and acts. Karma, meaning action-reaction, governs all existence, and man is the sole creator of his circumstances and his reaction to them, his future condition, and his final destiny. By right thought and action he can gradually purify his inner nature, and so by self-realization attain in time liberation from rebirth. The process covers great periods of time, involving life after life on earth, but ultimately every form of life will reach Enlightenment.
5. Life is one and indivisible: though its ever-changing forms are innumerable and perishable. There is, in truth, no death, though every form must die. From an understanding of life’s unity arises compassion, a sense of identity with the life in other forms. Compassion is described as ‘the Law of laws--eternal harmony’, and he who breaks this harmony of life will suffer accordingly and delay his own Enlightenment.
6. Life being One, the interests of the part should be those of the whole. In his ignorance man thinks he can successfully strive for his own interests, and this wrongly-directed energy of selfishness produces suffering. He learns from his suffering to reduce and finally eliminate its cause. The Buddha taught four Noble Truths:
* The omnipresence of suffering;
* its cause, wrongly directed desire,
* its cure, the removal of the cause,
* and the Noble Eightfold Path of self-development which leads to the end of suffering.
7. The Eightfold Path consists in Right (or perfect) Views or preliminary understanding. Right Aims or Motive, Right Speech, Right Acts, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Concentration or mind-development, and finally, Right Samadhi, leading to full Enlightenment. As Buddhism is a way of living, not merely a theory of life, the treading of this Path is essential to self-deliverance. ‘Cease to do evil, learn to do good, cleanse your own heart; this is the Teaching of the Buddhas.’
8. Reality is indescribable, and a God with attributes is not the final Reality. But the Buddha, a human being, became the All-Enlightened One, and the purpose of life is the attainment of Enlightenment. This state of Consciousness, Nirvana, the extinction of the limitations of self-hood, is attainable on earth. All men and all other forms of life contain the potentiality of Enlightenment; and the process therefore consists in becoming what you are. ‘Look within: thou art Buddha.’
9. From potential to actual Enlightenment there lies the Middle Way, the Eightfold Path ‘from desire to peace’, a process of self-development between the ‘opposites’, avoiding all extremes: The Buddha trod this Way to the end, and the only faith required in Buddhism is the reasonable belief that where a Guide has trodden it is worth our while to tread. The Way must be trodden by the whole man; not merely the best of him, and heart and mind must be developed equally. The Buddha was the All-Compassionate as well as the All-Enlightened One.
10. Buddhism lays great stress on the need of inward concentration and meditation, which leads in time to the development of the inner spiritual faculties. The subjective life is as important as the daily round, and periods of quietude for inner activity are essential for a balanced life. The Buddhist should at all times be ‘mindful and self-possessed’, refraining from mental and emotional attachment to ‘the passing show’. This increasingly watchful attitude to circumstances, which he knows to be his own creation. helps him to keep his reaction to it always under control.
11. The Buddha said: ‘Work out your own salvation with diligence’. Buddhism knows no authority for truth save the intuition of the individual, and that is authority for himself alone. Each man suffers the consequences of his own acts, and learns thereby, while helping his fellow men to the same deliverance; nor will prayer to the Buddha or to any God prevent an effect from following its cause. Buddhist monks are teachers and exemplars, and in no sense intermediates between Reality and the individual. The utmost tolerance is practised towards all other religions and philosophies, for no man has the right to interfere in his neighbour’s journey to the Goal.
12. Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor ‘escapist’, nor does it deny the existence of God or soul, though it places its own meaning on these terms. It is, on the contrary, a system of thought, a religion, a spiritual science and a way of life which is reasonable, practical and all-embracing. For over two thousand years it has satisfied the spiritual needs of nearly one-third of mankind. It appeals to the West because it has no dogmas, satisfies the reason and the heart alike, insists on self-reliance coupled with tolerance for other points of view, embraces science, religion, philosophy, psychology, ethics and art, and points to man alone as the creator of his present life and sole designer of his destiny.
My greatest quotes (Alfred Neuman)
"Smoking helps you lose weight -- one lung at a time!"
"Today, if you ask a car dealer to let you see something for 10 grand, he'll show you the door!"
"Medical insurance is what allows people to be ill at ease!"
"Prison inmates are treated to cable TV, hot meals and a college education, while on the outside some people can only afford these things through a life of crime!"
"Thank's to the new welfare bill, the question "Paper or plastic?" now refers to many American's sleeping arrangements!"
"In retrospect it becomes clear that hindsight is definitely overrated!"
"Most people are so lazy, they don't even exercise good judgement!"
"If opera is entertainment, then falling off a roof is transportation!"
"A college jock is someone who minds his build instead of vice versa!"
"The only advantage to living in the past is that the rents are much cheaper!"
"Getting old is when a narrow waist and a broad mind change places!"
"How come stealing from one book is plagiarism, but stealing from many is research?"
"It takes one to know one -- and vice versa!"
"Nowadays, a balanced diet is when every McNugget weighs the same!"
"Teenagers are people who act like babies if they're not treated like adults!"
"A teacher is someone who talks in our sleep!"
"How come we choose from just two people for President, and fifty for Miss America?"
"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!"
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!"
"Blood is thicker than water... but it makes lousy lemonade!"
"The U.N. is a place where governments opposed to free speech demand to be heard!"
"A plastic surgeon's office the only place where no one gets offended when you pick your nose!"
"Today, if you ask a car dealer to let you see something for 10 grand, he'll show you the door!"
"Medical insurance is what allows people to be ill at ease!"
"Prison inmates are treated to cable TV, hot meals and a college education, while on the outside some people can only afford these things through a life of crime!"
"Thank's to the new welfare bill, the question "Paper or plastic?" now refers to many American's sleeping arrangements!"
"In retrospect it becomes clear that hindsight is definitely overrated!"
"Most people are so lazy, they don't even exercise good judgement!"
"If opera is entertainment, then falling off a roof is transportation!"
"A college jock is someone who minds his build instead of vice versa!"
"The only advantage to living in the past is that the rents are much cheaper!"
"Getting old is when a narrow waist and a broad mind change places!"
"How come stealing from one book is plagiarism, but stealing from many is research?"
"It takes one to know one -- and vice versa!"
"Nowadays, a balanced diet is when every McNugget weighs the same!"
"Teenagers are people who act like babies if they're not treated like adults!"
"A teacher is someone who talks in our sleep!"
"How come we choose from just two people for President, and fifty for Miss America?"
"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!"
"You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!"
"Blood is thicker than water... but it makes lousy lemonade!"
"The U.N. is a place where governments opposed to free speech demand to be heard!"
"A plastic surgeon's office the only place where no one gets offended when you pick your nose!"
Peer to Peer (P2P) Networks
P2P networking has generated tremendous interest worldwide among both Internet surfers and computer networking professionals. P2P software systems like Kazaa and Napster rank amongst the most popular software applications ever. Numerous businesses and Web sites have promoted "peer to peer" technology as the future of Internet networking.
Although they have actually existed for many years, P2P technologies promise to radically change the future of networking. P2P file sharing software has also created much controversy over legality and "fair use." In general, experts disagree on various details of P2P and precisely how it will evolve in the future.
Traditional Peer to Peer Networks
The P2P acronym technically stands for peer to peer. Webopedia defines P2P as
"A type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the others."
This definition captures the traditional meaning of peer to peer networking. Computers in a peer to peer network are typically situated physically near to each other and run similar networking protocols and software. Before home networking became popular, only small businesses and schools built peer to peer networks.
Home Peer to Peer Networks
Most home computer networks today are peer to peer networks. Residential users configure their computers in peer workgroups to allow sharing of files, printers and other resources equally among all of the devices. Although one computer may act as a file server or Fax server at any given time, other home computers often have equivalent capability to handle those responsibilities.
Both wired and wireless home networks qualify as peer to peer environments. Some may argue that the installation of a network router or similar centerpiece device means that network is no longer peer to peer. From the networking point of view, this is inaccurate. A router simply joins the home network to the Internet; it does not by itself change how resources within the network are shared.
P2P File Sharing Networks
When most people hear the term "P2P", they think not of traditional peer networks, but rather peer to peer file sharing over the Internet. P2P file sharing systems have become the single most popular class of Internet applications in this decade.
A P2P network implements search and data transfer protocols above the Internet Protocol (IP). To access a P2P network, users simply download and install a suitable P2P client application.
Numerous P2P networks and P2P software applications exist. Some P2P applications work only with one P2P network, while others operate cross-network. Likewise, some P2P networks support only one application, while others support multiple applications.
What Are P2P Software Applications?
A good definition of P2P software has been proposed by Dave Winer of UserLand Software. Dave suggests that P2P software applications include these seven key characteristics:
• the user interface runs outsides of a Web browser
• computers in the system can act as both clients and servers
• the software is easy to use and well-integrated
• the application includes tools to support users wanting to create content or add functionality
• the application makes connections with other users
• the application does something new or exciting
• the software supports "cross-network" protocols like SOAP or XML-RPC
In this modern view of peer to peer computing, P2P networks stretch across the entire Internet, not just a home local area network (LAN). Easy-to-use P2P software applications allow both geeks and non-technical people to participate.
Kazaa, Napster and More P2P Software Applications
The original MP3 file sharing system, Napster became the world's most popular Internet software application literally overnight. Napster typified the new "modern" P2P system defined above: a simple user interface running outside of the browser supporting both file serving and downloads. Furthermore, Napster offered chat rooms to connect its millions of users and performs a new and exciting (in the sense of "controversial") service.
The name Napster referred both to the P2P network and the file sharing client that it supported. Besides being limited at the beginning to a single client application, Napster employed a proprietary network protocol, but thess technical details did not materially affect its popularity.
When the original unregulated Napster service was shut down, a number of P2P systems competed for that audience. Most Napster uses migrated to the Kazaa and Kazaa Lite software applications and the FastTrack network. FastTrack grew to become even larger than the original Napster network.
Kazaa has suffered from its own legal troubles, but various other systems, like eDonkey / Overnet, have continued the legacy of free P2P file sharing software.
Popular P2P Applications and Networks
No one P2P application or network enjoys exclusive popularity on the Internet today. Popular P2P networks include:
• eDonkey
• BitTorrent
• Gnutella
and popular P2P applications include
• eMule
• BitTorrent
• Limewire
Many businesses have been inspired by the success P2P applications and are busily brainstorming potentially interesting new P2P software. However, some in the networking community believe that the success of Napster, Kazaa and other P2P applications have little to do with technology and more to do with piracy. It remains to be proven whether mass-market P2P systems can translate into profitable business ventures.
Although they have actually existed for many years, P2P technologies promise to radically change the future of networking. P2P file sharing software has also created much controversy over legality and "fair use." In general, experts disagree on various details of P2P and precisely how it will evolve in the future.
Traditional Peer to Peer Networks
The P2P acronym technically stands for peer to peer. Webopedia defines P2P as
"A type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. This differs from client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the others."
This definition captures the traditional meaning of peer to peer networking. Computers in a peer to peer network are typically situated physically near to each other and run similar networking protocols and software. Before home networking became popular, only small businesses and schools built peer to peer networks.
Home Peer to Peer Networks
Most home computer networks today are peer to peer networks. Residential users configure their computers in peer workgroups to allow sharing of files, printers and other resources equally among all of the devices. Although one computer may act as a file server or Fax server at any given time, other home computers often have equivalent capability to handle those responsibilities.
Both wired and wireless home networks qualify as peer to peer environments. Some may argue that the installation of a network router or similar centerpiece device means that network is no longer peer to peer. From the networking point of view, this is inaccurate. A router simply joins the home network to the Internet; it does not by itself change how resources within the network are shared.
P2P File Sharing Networks
When most people hear the term "P2P", they think not of traditional peer networks, but rather peer to peer file sharing over the Internet. P2P file sharing systems have become the single most popular class of Internet applications in this decade.
A P2P network implements search and data transfer protocols above the Internet Protocol (IP). To access a P2P network, users simply download and install a suitable P2P client application.
Numerous P2P networks and P2P software applications exist. Some P2P applications work only with one P2P network, while others operate cross-network. Likewise, some P2P networks support only one application, while others support multiple applications.
What Are P2P Software Applications?
A good definition of P2P software has been proposed by Dave Winer of UserLand Software. Dave suggests that P2P software applications include these seven key characteristics:
• the user interface runs outsides of a Web browser
• computers in the system can act as both clients and servers
• the software is easy to use and well-integrated
• the application includes tools to support users wanting to create content or add functionality
• the application makes connections with other users
• the application does something new or exciting
• the software supports "cross-network" protocols like SOAP or XML-RPC
In this modern view of peer to peer computing, P2P networks stretch across the entire Internet, not just a home local area network (LAN). Easy-to-use P2P software applications allow both geeks and non-technical people to participate.
Kazaa, Napster and More P2P Software Applications
The original MP3 file sharing system, Napster became the world's most popular Internet software application literally overnight. Napster typified the new "modern" P2P system defined above: a simple user interface running outside of the browser supporting both file serving and downloads. Furthermore, Napster offered chat rooms to connect its millions of users and performs a new and exciting (in the sense of "controversial") service.
The name Napster referred both to the P2P network and the file sharing client that it supported. Besides being limited at the beginning to a single client application, Napster employed a proprietary network protocol, but thess technical details did not materially affect its popularity.
When the original unregulated Napster service was shut down, a number of P2P systems competed for that audience. Most Napster uses migrated to the Kazaa and Kazaa Lite software applications and the FastTrack network. FastTrack grew to become even larger than the original Napster network.
Kazaa has suffered from its own legal troubles, but various other systems, like eDonkey / Overnet, have continued the legacy of free P2P file sharing software.
Popular P2P Applications and Networks
No one P2P application or network enjoys exclusive popularity on the Internet today. Popular P2P networks include:
• eDonkey
• BitTorrent
• Gnutella
and popular P2P applications include
• eMule
• BitTorrent
• Limewire
Many businesses have been inspired by the success P2P applications and are busily brainstorming potentially interesting new P2P software. However, some in the networking community believe that the success of Napster, Kazaa and other P2P applications have little to do with technology and more to do with piracy. It remains to be proven whether mass-market P2P systems can translate into profitable business ventures.
Jimi Hendrix
In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master at coaxing all manner of unforeseen sonics from his instrument, often with innovative amplification experiments that produced astral-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane blasts of noise and dazzling showmanship — he could and would play behind his back and with his teeth and set his guitar on fire — has sometimes obscured his considerable gifts as a songwriter, singer, and master of a gamut of blues, R&B, and rock styles.
When Hendrix became an international superstar in 1967, it seemed as if he'd dropped out of a Martian spaceship, but in fact he'd served his apprenticeship the long, mundane way in numerous R&B acts on the chitlin circuit. During the early and mid-'60s, he worked with such R&B/soul greats as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, and King Curtis as a backup guitarist. Occasionally he recorded as a session man (the Isley Brothers' 1964 single "Testify" is the only one of these early tracks that offers even a glimpse of his future genius). But the stars didn't appreciate his show-stealing showmanship, and Hendrix was straight-jacketed by sideman roles that didn't allow him to develop as a soloist. The logical step was for Hendrix to go out on his own, which he did in New York in the mid-'60s, playing with various musicians in local clubs, and joining white blues-rock singer John Hammond Jr.'s band for a while.
It was in a New York club that Hendrix was spotted by Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The first lineup of the Animals was about to split, and Chandler, looking to move into management, convinced Hendrix to move to London and record as a solo act in England. There a group was built around Jimi, also featuring Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass, that was dubbed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The trio became stars with astonishing speed in the U.K., where "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary" all made the Top Ten in the first half of 1967. These tracks were also featured on their debut album, “Are You Experienced?,” a psychedelic meisterwerk that became a huge hit in the U.S. after Hendrix created a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967.
Are You Experienced? was an astonishing debut, particularly from a young R&B veteran who had rarely sung, and apparently never written his own material, before the Experience formed. What caught most people's attention at first was his virtuosic guitar playing, which employed an arsenal of devices, including wah-wah pedals, buzzing feedback solos, crunching distorted riffs, and lightning, liquid runs up and down the scales. But Hendrix was also a first-rate songwriter, melding cosmic imagery with some surprisingly pop-savvy hooks and tender sentiments. He was also an excellent blues interpreter and passionate, engaging singer (although his gruff, throaty vocal pipes were not nearly as great assets as his instrumental skills). Are You Experienced? was psychedelia at its most eclectic, synthesizing mod pop, soul, R&B, Dylan, and the electric guitar innovations of British pioneers like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton.
Amazingly, Hendrix would only record three fully conceived studio albums in his lifetime. Axis: Bold as Love and the double-LP Electric Ladyland were more diffuse and experimental than Are You Experienced? On Electric Ladyland in particular, Hendrix pioneered the use of the studio itself as a recording instrument, manipulating electronics and devising overdub techniques (with the help of engineer Eddie Kramer in particular) to plot uncharted sonic territory. Not that these albums were perfect, as impressive as they were; the instrumental breaks could meander, and Hendrix's songwriting was occasionally half-baked, never matching the consistency of Are You Experienced? (although he exercised greater creative control over the later albums).
The final two years of Hendrix's life were turbulent ones musically, financially, and personally. He was embroiled in enough complicated management and record company disputes (some dating from ill-advised contracts he'd signed before the Experience formed) to keep the lawyers busy for years. He disbanded the Experience in 1969, forming the Band of Gypsies with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox to pursue funkier directions. He closed Woodstock with a sprawling, shaky set, redeemed by his famous machine-gun interpretation of "The Star Spangled Banner." The rhythm section of Mitchell and Redding were underrated keys to Jimi's best work, and the Band of Gypsies ultimately couldn't measure up to the same standard, although Hendrix did record an erratic live album with them. In early 1970, the Experience re-formed again — and disbanded again shortly afterward. At the same time, Hendrix felt torn in many directions by various fellow musicians, record-company expectations, and management pressures, all of whom had their own ideas of what Hendrix should be doing. Coming up on two years after Electric Ladyland, a new studio album had yet to appear, although Hendrix was recording constantly during the period. While outside parties did contribute to bogging down Hendrix's studio work, it also seems likely that Jimi himself was partly responsible for the stalemate, unable to form a permanent lineup of musicians, unable to decide what musical direction to pursue, unable to bring himself to complete another album despite jamming endlessly. A few months into 1970, Mitchell — Hendrix's most valuable musical collaborator — came back into the fold, replacing Miles in the drum chair, although Cox stayed in place. It was this trio that toured the world during Hendrix's final months.
It's extremely difficult to separate the facts of Hendrix's life from rumors and speculation. Everyone who knew him well, or claimed to know him well, has different versions of his state of mind in 1970. Critics have variously mused that he was going to go into jazz, that he was going to get deeper into the blues, that he was going to continue doing what he was doing, or that he was too confused to know what he was doing at all. The same confusion holds true for his death: contradictory versions of his final days have been given by his closest acquaintances of the time. He'd been working intermittently on a new album, tentatively titled First Ray of the New Rising Sun, when he died in London on September 18, 1970, from drug-related complications.
Hendrix recorded a massive amount of unreleased studio material during his lifetime. Much of this (as well as entire live concerts) was issued posthumously; several of the live concerts were excellent, but the studio tapes have been the focus of enormous controversy for over 20 years. These initially came out in haphazard drabs and drubs (the first, The Cry of Love, was easily the most outstanding of the lot). In the mid-'70s, producer Alan Douglas took control of these projects, posthumously overdubbing many of Hendrix's tapes with additional parts by studio musicians. In the eyes of many Hendrix fans, this was sacrilege, destroying the integrity of the work of a musician known to exercise meticulous care over the final production of his studio recordings. Even as late as 1995, Douglas was having ex-Knack drummer Bruce Gary record new parts for the typically misbegotten compilation Voodoo Soup. After a lengthy legal dispute, the rights to Hendrix's estate, including all of his recordings, returned to Al Hendrix, the guitarist's father, in July of 1995.
With the help of Jimi's step-sister Janie, Al set up Experience Hendrix to begin to get Jimi's legacy in order. They began by hiring John McDermott and Jimi's original engineer, Eddie Kramer to oversee the remastering process. They were able to find all the original master tapes, which had never been used for previous CD releases, and in April of 1997, Hendrix's first three albums were reissued with drastically improved sound. Accompanying those reissues was a posthumous compilation album (based on Jimi's handwritten track listings) called First Rays of the New Rising Sun, made up of tracks from the Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge and War Heroes. Later in 1997, another compilation called South Saturn Delta showed up, collecting more tracks from posthumous LPs like Crash Landing, War Heroes, and Rainbow Bridge (without the terrible '70s overdubs), along with a handful of never-before-heard material that Chas Chandler had withheld from Alan Douglas for all those years.
More archival material followed; Radio One was basically expanded to the two-disc BBC Sessions (released in 1998), and 1999 saw the release of the full show from Woodstock as well as additional concert recordings from the Band of Gypsies shows entitled Live at the Fillmore East. 2000 saw the release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience four-disc box set, which compiled remaining tracks from In the West, Crash Landing and Rainbow Bridge along with more rarities and alternates from the Chandler cache.
The family also launched Dagger Records, essentially an authorized bootleg label to supply harcore Hendrix fans with material that would be of limited commercial appeal. Dagger Records has released several live concerts (of shows in Oakland, Ottawa and Clark University in Massachusetts) and a collection of studio jams and demos called Morning Symphony Ideas.
When Hendrix became an international superstar in 1967, it seemed as if he'd dropped out of a Martian spaceship, but in fact he'd served his apprenticeship the long, mundane way in numerous R&B acts on the chitlin circuit. During the early and mid-'60s, he worked with such R&B/soul greats as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers, and King Curtis as a backup guitarist. Occasionally he recorded as a session man (the Isley Brothers' 1964 single "Testify" is the only one of these early tracks that offers even a glimpse of his future genius). But the stars didn't appreciate his show-stealing showmanship, and Hendrix was straight-jacketed by sideman roles that didn't allow him to develop as a soloist. The logical step was for Hendrix to go out on his own, which he did in New York in the mid-'60s, playing with various musicians in local clubs, and joining white blues-rock singer John Hammond Jr.'s band for a while.
It was in a New York club that Hendrix was spotted by Animals bassist Chas Chandler. The first lineup of the Animals was about to split, and Chandler, looking to move into management, convinced Hendrix to move to London and record as a solo act in England. There a group was built around Jimi, also featuring Mitch Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass, that was dubbed the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The trio became stars with astonishing speed in the U.K., where "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," and "The Wind Cries Mary" all made the Top Ten in the first half of 1967. These tracks were also featured on their debut album, “Are You Experienced?,” a psychedelic meisterwerk that became a huge hit in the U.S. after Hendrix created a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967.
Are You Experienced? was an astonishing debut, particularly from a young R&B veteran who had rarely sung, and apparently never written his own material, before the Experience formed. What caught most people's attention at first was his virtuosic guitar playing, which employed an arsenal of devices, including wah-wah pedals, buzzing feedback solos, crunching distorted riffs, and lightning, liquid runs up and down the scales. But Hendrix was also a first-rate songwriter, melding cosmic imagery with some surprisingly pop-savvy hooks and tender sentiments. He was also an excellent blues interpreter and passionate, engaging singer (although his gruff, throaty vocal pipes were not nearly as great assets as his instrumental skills). Are You Experienced? was psychedelia at its most eclectic, synthesizing mod pop, soul, R&B, Dylan, and the electric guitar innovations of British pioneers like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Eric Clapton.
Amazingly, Hendrix would only record three fully conceived studio albums in his lifetime. Axis: Bold as Love and the double-LP Electric Ladyland were more diffuse and experimental than Are You Experienced? On Electric Ladyland in particular, Hendrix pioneered the use of the studio itself as a recording instrument, manipulating electronics and devising overdub techniques (with the help of engineer Eddie Kramer in particular) to plot uncharted sonic territory. Not that these albums were perfect, as impressive as they were; the instrumental breaks could meander, and Hendrix's songwriting was occasionally half-baked, never matching the consistency of Are You Experienced? (although he exercised greater creative control over the later albums).
The final two years of Hendrix's life were turbulent ones musically, financially, and personally. He was embroiled in enough complicated management and record company disputes (some dating from ill-advised contracts he'd signed before the Experience formed) to keep the lawyers busy for years. He disbanded the Experience in 1969, forming the Band of Gypsies with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Cox to pursue funkier directions. He closed Woodstock with a sprawling, shaky set, redeemed by his famous machine-gun interpretation of "The Star Spangled Banner." The rhythm section of Mitchell and Redding were underrated keys to Jimi's best work, and the Band of Gypsies ultimately couldn't measure up to the same standard, although Hendrix did record an erratic live album with them. In early 1970, the Experience re-formed again — and disbanded again shortly afterward. At the same time, Hendrix felt torn in many directions by various fellow musicians, record-company expectations, and management pressures, all of whom had their own ideas of what Hendrix should be doing. Coming up on two years after Electric Ladyland, a new studio album had yet to appear, although Hendrix was recording constantly during the period. While outside parties did contribute to bogging down Hendrix's studio work, it also seems likely that Jimi himself was partly responsible for the stalemate, unable to form a permanent lineup of musicians, unable to decide what musical direction to pursue, unable to bring himself to complete another album despite jamming endlessly. A few months into 1970, Mitchell — Hendrix's most valuable musical collaborator — came back into the fold, replacing Miles in the drum chair, although Cox stayed in place. It was this trio that toured the world during Hendrix's final months.
It's extremely difficult to separate the facts of Hendrix's life from rumors and speculation. Everyone who knew him well, or claimed to know him well, has different versions of his state of mind in 1970. Critics have variously mused that he was going to go into jazz, that he was going to get deeper into the blues, that he was going to continue doing what he was doing, or that he was too confused to know what he was doing at all. The same confusion holds true for his death: contradictory versions of his final days have been given by his closest acquaintances of the time. He'd been working intermittently on a new album, tentatively titled First Ray of the New Rising Sun, when he died in London on September 18, 1970, from drug-related complications.
Hendrix recorded a massive amount of unreleased studio material during his lifetime. Much of this (as well as entire live concerts) was issued posthumously; several of the live concerts were excellent, but the studio tapes have been the focus of enormous controversy for over 20 years. These initially came out in haphazard drabs and drubs (the first, The Cry of Love, was easily the most outstanding of the lot). In the mid-'70s, producer Alan Douglas took control of these projects, posthumously overdubbing many of Hendrix's tapes with additional parts by studio musicians. In the eyes of many Hendrix fans, this was sacrilege, destroying the integrity of the work of a musician known to exercise meticulous care over the final production of his studio recordings. Even as late as 1995, Douglas was having ex-Knack drummer Bruce Gary record new parts for the typically misbegotten compilation Voodoo Soup. After a lengthy legal dispute, the rights to Hendrix's estate, including all of his recordings, returned to Al Hendrix, the guitarist's father, in July of 1995.
With the help of Jimi's step-sister Janie, Al set up Experience Hendrix to begin to get Jimi's legacy in order. They began by hiring John McDermott and Jimi's original engineer, Eddie Kramer to oversee the remastering process. They were able to find all the original master tapes, which had never been used for previous CD releases, and in April of 1997, Hendrix's first three albums were reissued with drastically improved sound. Accompanying those reissues was a posthumous compilation album (based on Jimi's handwritten track listings) called First Rays of the New Rising Sun, made up of tracks from the Cry of Love, Rainbow Bridge and War Heroes. Later in 1997, another compilation called South Saturn Delta showed up, collecting more tracks from posthumous LPs like Crash Landing, War Heroes, and Rainbow Bridge (without the terrible '70s overdubs), along with a handful of never-before-heard material that Chas Chandler had withheld from Alan Douglas for all those years.
More archival material followed; Radio One was basically expanded to the two-disc BBC Sessions (released in 1998), and 1999 saw the release of the full show from Woodstock as well as additional concert recordings from the Band of Gypsies shows entitled Live at the Fillmore East. 2000 saw the release of the Jimi Hendrix Experience four-disc box set, which compiled remaining tracks from In the West, Crash Landing and Rainbow Bridge along with more rarities and alternates from the Chandler cache.
The family also launched Dagger Records, essentially an authorized bootleg label to supply harcore Hendrix fans with material that would be of limited commercial appeal. Dagger Records has released several live concerts (of shows in Oakland, Ottawa and Clark University in Massachusetts) and a collection of studio jams and demos called Morning Symphony Ideas.
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