What the bass means to me

SEE ME, HEAR ME - I exist don't I?

For years, since high school, I have played in band after band. None being more particularly successful than any other, I learned to play the guitar because I wanted that one thing that always escaped me: To stand out. I wanted to be noticed for once, and playing guitar and singing in a rock band seamed like a great place to do it. I already had a passion for all things music and years of vocal training under my belt, so why not?

The idea started when, in my junior year of high school, a new friend, Dan Senyk, and I started writing music about a girl in our chemistry class. This girl was like the village bicycle and the lyrics wrote themselves. Dan picked up his Les Paul and banged out some righteous power chords as I began to sing some of the aforementioned nonsense, creating something that somewhat resembled music. We recorded our "masterpiece" and thought we were brilliant.

Our little musical exploration left me wanting more, so I called up Dan and told him I wanted to play bass. He discouraged (mildly) my intentions and said I should, instead, learn the guitar. Dan, for all his idiosyncrasies, had the right idea (even as destiny would have it, I eventually ended up on the bass). Through playing the guitar, I learned everything I needed to know about musical theory and song writing. This is all thanks to Dan's influence, chiefly.

Dan and I would go on to write many more ridiculous parodies before having to focus on 'growing up'. The important thing was that I was finally being noticed for anything at all really. I learned I had a passion for music that I never knew existed. Even though we covered and wrote more serious music, looking back it would have benefited our time more if we just stuck to being clowns. It was the entire basis of our friendship, after all, and it really got me through some tough times. It's too bad I never got to thank him for that...

BASSICALLY MY PASSION FOR MUSIC

At some point I turned to the bass. There was something about the bass guitar that struck a chord with me. The execution of the bass varied with the emotion being portrayed, but through it all the bass is the glue that holds everything together.

I mostly approach bass parts as a mystery that needs to be solved. With all the varying approaches that are out there, it really feels like no one has really got it "figured out". Should I pluck with my fingers/pick/slap/tap? Am I following the drummer or am I just duplicating the guitar... or something else entirely? Should I sit in the pocket or should I show off? Is this the song where I finally get to pull out that solo I've been mastering?

A solid bass line allows the guitarist(s) to wail on solos without care for the direction the rest of the band is headed in. A solid bassist allows the drummer to throw in a fill or get creative because the beat is locked down. The singer always knows that when the drummer is acting like a 2 year old and the guitarist is too vain, the bassist is there to be his/her wingman and get him/her through it.

MY ROLE

So while I knew why I was such a bass enthusiast from a musical perspective, I never connected the dots on what it meant to me personally. Recently I had a revelation regarding this. Being the glue is really what I do. I grew up being glue!

It never mattered how I kept everyone around me happy, it only mattered that they stayed together. My sense of humor, my hard work and determination, my inability to confront others about my own personal unhappiness; all things I do to keep things around me stable.

I know I exist now; I'm beyond that. Going forward, I want to be the glue for people that support me. When you are young and after that, you are forced to support people that do not support you back. You do not get to choose these people and that is OK.

The bassist typically works in the background, unacknowledged for his or her important work. Case in point (for non musicians), name one famous bassist? You probably can't! The bassist is the underdog yet serves such a critical role. I like being the underdog as well. When you watch a band play, there are no expectations for the bassist. That is when I have the opportunity to 'wow' everyone. This is also how I feel about my role in life. Not only can I make a group 'stay together', I'll make it the best experience it can possibly be. And no one was expecting it.

Are you really keeping crucial data on a laptop?

NO CODE ON LAPTOPS!

'No Code on Laptops' is a policy at Google. Employees are not allowed to store code on their laptops. These employees are issued small laptops designed for e-mail and web use. The reason for this is obvious. At best, the laptop's hard drive could die and all the hard work would be lost. At worst, the laptop could be stolen and with it Google's extremely valuable Intellectual Property. Few would argue that in either scenario there is NOT a liability to Google.

Now Google has the resources to provide high speed broadband (WiFi) to all its employees everywhere they go: Their Google branded apartments, their Google branded public transportation, etc. Whatever the cost, though, it is justified. How can Google afford not to in this competitive environment? It's an arms race after all and whoever delivers the best product at the right time wins.

A LESSON TO BE LEARNED...

If you own a small to medium sized business you too should be asking yourself the same question. I realize the convenience of using a laptop for mission critical work seems justified. The reality of the situation is that there is no convenience to be found when your confidential information is lost. If you think it won't eventually happen to you, you are kidding yourself.

An even scarier scenario are the many SMB in regulated industries. In this age of competitiveness, is it worth the risk? One cannot simply ignore the facts because the implications are overwhelming.

If you own or operate a SMB that provides highly confidential or sensitive services to your clients, please ask yourself, "How do I feel about explaining to my client that all their financial data is the hands of whoever stole my laptop?".

The cost of providing a Server Based Computing (SBC) model to your employees is not as high as you might think. That is not to say it is a cost saving model (although it can be), rather SBC can save you in efficiencies and reduce the risk your business is exposed to.

Laptops, workstations and many other computing devices can easily connect to the primary work environment (desktop) in a server room through SBC. The many technologies that power SBC should not concern you. All that matters is how quickly and easily you can access your safeguarded primary work environment.

Here's an example of a user connected to his Windows work environment on his laptop, then switching to his iPad. Notice how seamlessly the user can switch between the two computing endpoints and not skip a beat in his work. Not only is the work now safeguarded but efficiencies and real convenience are gained.

Mac OS X loses file association for ICA files

MISSING OPTION FOR CITRIX ONLINE PLUG-IN

I had a user who recently purchased an iMac and wanted to access the corporate published desktop via our Citrix Access Gateway. Unfortunately, whenever he would try to launch the hyperlink for the desktop VMware Fusion would load.

I verified that the Citrix client for Mac OS X was installed from the link here. After a reinstall however, the behavior continued. Even uninstalling Fusion did not help, instead displaying a [null] result. Creating an *.ica file on the desktop, right clicking and choosing 'Open With', there was no other option than the file association for VMware.

RESOLUTION

1. Launch /Library/Application Support/Citrix/Citrix online plug-in.app <- This creates a new option in the launcher user file for Citrix
2. Create an *.ica file and Command + I to get info
3. In the 'Open with:' section, choose 'Citrix online plug-in' as the option
4. Click 'Change All...'

CONSIDERATIONS

Snow Leopard includes a 64 bit version of Safari and earlier builds of the Citrix online plug-in (v 11) were not compatible so make sure you have the latest and greatest installed.

Unlike Windows, File Associations are not centrally managed through the GUI. There are 'dirtier' ways to change the user account's file associations through the Terminal; this is the safest and easiest way however.