I have recently started using Notepad2 again.
Its a really fast, small, simple text editor - just like Notepad but with a few added features – such as syntax highlighting. Very useful for editing SQL files, PHP scripts and so on.
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
A Police State?
I watched a fascinating documentary last night about how our liberties are being taken away, primarily as a response to the threat we face ‘from terrorists’. New Labour seem to be the culprits and since 1997 when they came to power, many of our most important rights have now been taken away from us – including our right to protest, right to trial by jury, detention without charge… and the list goes on.
Boris Johnson manages to come across as sensible for once, when he advises the Government on identity cards: “Just butt out of it.”
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/taking-liberties
Here is what the producers of the programme have to say about it:
Riding in on a wave of optimism and real belief in their mantra that things can only get better, the New Labour government proceeded to enact some of the most authoritarian legislation in recent history. With fast-paced satirical style, this Bafta-nominated film shows how, in just over a decade, some rights and freedoms that took centuries to build up have been rolled back or cut away through a personal journey into the decline of civil liberties.
The 82-year-old holocaust survivor Walter Wolfgang was lifted bodily from a debate at the Labour Party conference for, as Tony Benn points out, ‘rightfully’ saying that Jack Straw is talking ‘nonsense’ about Iraq. We see a man who tries to protest against the treatment of Mr Wolfgang also set upon by security, and learn that he was later handled roughly – and that poor old Wolfgang was next detained by the police under the 2000 Terrorism Act.
We meet Moulad Sihali, an Algerian refugee. He was cleared of all charges relating to a non-existent plot to manufacture the poison ricin, but has now been made a prisoner in his own home. He’s been fitted with a tracking device, is only allowed outside at certain hours – and then only within a one mile radius of his house – and is forbidden to meet anyone who hasn’t been vetted by the Home Office. The specific charge against him? There isn’t one. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
Maybe 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.
Today I needed to make a change to our web-based software that would allow input to a field, if a specific category was set, and stop entry otherwise.
This is the jQuery that I used to do the job.
if (category == 'Title') { $('#quoteDetailDescription').removeAttr('readonly'); } else { $('#quoteDetailDescription').attr('readonly', true); }
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
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 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.
What does it say when someone who has broken no laws gets taken away by the police for using a megaphone? Weirdly, the Police seem quite happy to leave his 10 year old son with people they do not even know.
I’m certainly not an expert on the law of the land, but after doing some digging it seems that there was no legal reason to arrest Darren in this clip. For those who are interested in the path this country takes, We Are Change have a UK website: http://wearechange.org.uk.
Seems we are still on the way to becoming a Police state. If only George Orwell had been a politician….
Excellent stop motion animation featuring a wolf and a pig. This has now been ripped off by Olympus and the same technique has been used in one of their adverts. Enjoy!
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?