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Archive for the ‘Hobbies and Interests’ Category

Lack of action on the environment

23 Jul
Guiding a bus through smog

Guiding a bus through 1950s smog

I have recently seen or heard a few things about the 50s, and it has made me think on how progress is made…

In the 1950′s the air in London was so polluted that sometimes it was literally impossible to see your hand in front of your face. The pollution was largely caused by the high volume and low quality of post-war coal used throughout a cold winter, and new diesel fueled buses that had replaced the tram system. Thousands of people died from smog related illnesses and everyone knew that the pollution was a major problem.

In 1956 the government introduced the ‘Clean Air Act’ which among other things set regulations about what fuels could be used and set a minimum height for chimneys. It also forced power stations to be situated away from residential areas and the result was a much cleaner London.

Even though the people already knew the causes of the deaths and illnesses they did very little about them until the government actually legislated.

The same story is true today. People are concerned, scientists even more so. Everyone wants to do their bit but it is impossible without government action. We recycle and try to help where possible, despite knowing we cant make any real difference on our own.

If you need evidence that nothing gets done without government action, I was just sent this link to a story on New Scientist about how the efficiency of US automobiles has hardly changed since the Model-T Ford…. and that is a very very long time ago.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17506-us-vehicle-efficiency-hardly-changed-since-model-t.html

I’m not an expert in this field, nor am I any kind of tree-hugger, but it seems obvious to me that if the government were to legislate that all cars sold after Jan 1st 2015 have a maximum of X emissions (no matter what X is) that the industry would adapt and the target would be met. There could be government incentives in order to make this happen: grants, loans, tax breaks, property, equipment…. whatever it takes to make a change. Once this was in place they could even reduce the threshold by 1% every Y months / years and I suspect that the same auto manufacturers would still be selling vehicles for years to come.

As the saying goes, Where there’s s a will, there’s a way – but with governments of the last few decades it seems there is very little will to do anything real about this issue at all. What is stopping them?

 

Garage Band

14 Jul

Even though I have used Ableton in the past and have created a few tracks with it, I have decided to start off using the GarageBand software which comes with OSX . I know Ableton has all the bells and whistles anyone could want, but I’m not sure I need something so involved at this stage.

garagebandMaybe once I feel I have reached my creative limit with GarageBand I will move back up to Ableton, but this time around, seeing as I haven’t even managed to record anything I like the sound of yet, that is definitely a long way off.

GarageBand comes with loads of sounds, seems simple to use and works with the USB XioSynth without any problems.

Currently, the Mac is downloading updates and sound-banks for OSX and GarageBand which total over 1.3GB, so its going to be going for a while.

 
 

Bubble popping photos in super slow-motion

14 Jul
One of the images by Richard Heeks, from Exeter

One of the images by Richard Heeks, from Exeter

I would never normally link to anything on the Daily Mail website, but this was just amazing. Photographer Richard Heeks has managed to capture some images of a bubble being burst in super slow-motion and amazing detail.

Read the full story and see more images here.

 
 

Studio Day 2

13 Jul
Studio Day 2

Studio Day 2

I have spent a bit more time adding appliances, and setting up the Mac. So far, looking quite nice. The Mac previously had OS/x removed so I could run Linux and Windows XP on it – but Im now going through the 1 hour 20 minute install to put the original software back on.

Once everything is set up I’ll tidy up the cables and sort out the rest of the room. I’m even thinking of decorating the room so its a bit more homely than it currently is with its office-style decor. I think I might need some soft furnishings too as there is quite a lot of echo for such a small room.

 

Akai APC40. Worth the money?

13 Jul
apc40

Akai APC 40

I have always thought one of the most frustrating things about Ableton is the lack of real hands-on control. You can do so much with it, but for me it has always been quite difficult to tweak sounds with the mouse. For example, it would be nice to be able to tweak the resonance and the cut-off at the same time when in Live mode.

This sweet looking piece of kit allows you to control pretty much everything in Ableton with your hands for instant gratification.

At the moment they cost £399 so they are not cheap, and seeing as I dont know how to use Ableton yet, I wont be purchasing one just for now.

I’d be very interested to know if anyone has got one, and how they get on with it though.

 

Kung Fu

13 Jul
IKBFKO Logo

The IKBKFO Club Logo

I took my Lau Gar brown sash grading yesterday and passed, though forgot a part of Jorn Sau – one of the earliest sets you are taught. 10 minutes before the grading I was doing it fine… The pressure!

 
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Posted in Kung Fu

 

Ableton Live and XioSynth working

12 Jul
The NC20 running Ableton and the XioSynth 25

The NC20 running Ableton and the XioSynth 25

I managed to spend a bit of time today setting up some of the music equipment I mentioned in my previous post. So far, I have Ableton Live 5.2.2 working (legit) and the Xiosynth. Im a bit annoyed as when I bought Ableton a couple of years ago, it came with a free downloadable upgrade to v6 – which no longer seems to be available. Im downloading the new v8 demo, so will see if it is worth the £250 upgrade once I have had a chance to try it out.

My new Samsung NC20 Netbook / Laptop seems to be handling things just fine. The only major problem is that when I have it on mains power there is a massive amount of noise. At the moment I have cables everywhere – so hopefully this issue can be addressed properly once I have a tidy up. Seeing as the battery lasts for about 5 hours, hopefully this wont be an issue for a while

I might just set up the Mac mini in here anyway. I wonder if Ableton support upgrading on a different O/S?

 

No money abroad

11 Jul

My brother is currently ‘trapped’ in Koh Phangan, Thailand.

As places go, its not a bad place to be, but due to his Barclays Delta card not working out there – he has no money. Im just off down to the bank to try and sort it out for him – but after a 50 minute call to them yesterday which proved uneventful, he has even less money to spend.

Hopefully they will let me at least speak to them about this – as otherwise what is he supposed to do?

More news at 11.

 
 

Setting up my new studio

10 Jul
A big chunk of my audio kit

Collecting dust

I have been planning on setting up my music equipment again for quite a while now. Its been collecting dust for well over a year and the spare room at the office is crying out for me to make use of it.

For a while I was using it regularly and remixed a couple of tunes that were (according to friends!) quite good. Hopefully if I manage to set everything up and have it permanently available, I’ll spend some more time using it and things will progress from there.

Tonight I hope to get a few things wired in and have a play with the M-Audio synth. I’ll let you know how it all goes once I have Ableton re-installed and some sounds coming out of the speakers.

 

Beardyman

10 Jul

I am currently growing a beard… the first one I have ever had and I’m now 31 years old. The plan is actually to shave it off again after a friends stag party but we’ll see how it goes.

I wanted to post something to mention Beardyman, the UK beatboxing champion who has taken beat boxing to the main stream.

He will be ‘playing’ at Bestival again this year, and I cant wait. He was one of the highlights for me at the last event and I hear his show is much improved.

Here is a little clip of him doing his thing.