Twitter this, Twitter that August 14, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Blogs, Technology.Tags: Twitter, microblog, Twitterfeed, Twinkle, Twhirl
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So after a couple of months of use, I find myself facing the tricky question, ‘what exactly is the point of Twitter?’ or to put it another way, ‘how come Twitter got to be so popular?’
For the uninitiated it is a microblogging site which allows the user to publish 140 characters at a time. It is simple to publish by text, and by using third parties such as Twitterfeed, the ‘Tweet’ can be inserted into a Facebook status line. The term microblog is used to describe a blog consisting of or allowing only very basic content, typically text only.
In Twitter, one can post a message or ‘Tweet’ and it is possible to follow individual users and in this way build up or join with a community. The obvious and possibly most common use of Twitter is social (I’m off to see Radiohead in the park - anyone fancy hooking up?) - I wonder actually how much bigger the ‘rave’ scene would have been had Twitter existed in the 80’s…
An interesting development yesterday saw Twitter cancelling it’s outbound SMS service, at least in the UK - which I suspect was one of the features that has made it so popular. The reason for this is the high charges Twitter face from the telecomms companies involved in forwarding texts internationally. It seems that talks are ongoing with several providers, can’t help wondering if this was something that could have been negotiated before the service was introduced?
Other ways I have seen Twitter used are various - posts of the type ‘I’m in the supermarket, pondering the benefits of veal’ abound - and seem to me to add little to anyone’s life. More useful are the Tweets broadcast from conferences - Lotusphere for example was broadcast virtually live from presentation to the internet in seconds.
Where Twitter really excels is in the viral spread of news - links to industry gossip, breaking events etc are everywhere and given the 140 character limit, extremely quick to deliver. As a channel, Twitter is useful to me for this type of content - choose your ‘follow’ list carefully and you will quickly find yourself plugged into the niche networks of your choice.
Perhaps less useful is the small industry of addons - each ‘Tweet’ is appended with the source, (added from the web) personally if I see a Tweet added from Twinkle or Twhirl instead of web or txt, I’m compelled to check out the source in case there is some new gadget I’ve missed! So very effective indeed as a displacement activity!
Spamming is a small problem so far - I was bemused to find myself being followed by ‘PornSite25′ some weeks ago - but this is not as intrusive as it is with E-Mail for example. And if it’s not effective, then it’s unlikely that it will become a major problem.
I’m not sure I’ve found an answer, but it has been useful enough for me to want to continue - there is a sense that the more you put into it, in terms of providing useful content, the more useful the application will become. I’ll continue the experiment and report back!
MiniBlogs, Music and the Death of Rock Criticism August 6, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Blogs, Music, Technology.Tags: blog, Blogging, electro, MiniBlog, Music, Tumblr
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With the notable exception of Laura Barton, who impresses me more with every article she writes, I have declared the practice of Music Journalism to be dead.
The game was effectively up when the first sinister rustlings of electro made their entry some time during the late seventies. Practitioners struggled manfully on, filling pages with turgid hagiography on Kraftwerk and god forbid, Amon Duul, but the death knell was effectively sounded by one of the best electro records ever made - ‘Set it off’ by Strafe. To a lyric consisting entirely of the repeated phrase
“Set it off on the left
Set it off on the right
Set it off”
With the occasional interjection of “Let’s Get This Party Started!” Strafe ushered in the ecstasy generation - the air now well and truly let out of the ‘rock criticism as cultural commentary” balloon, scribes had to fall back on their writing skills. Predictably the few that could actually write - Jon Savage springs to mind, shifted their attention to writing books and journalism proper, the rest shrivelled and died.
So what has this to do with MiniBlogs?
I write, a lot, I also listen to music a lot and have collected records for nearly forty years. However mindful of Frank Zappa’s comment that “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture”, I have studiously avoided any sort of comittment to writing about music. I’ve no doubt I could fill pages with turgid dross, but frankly what’s the point?
So the miniblog - it occured to me that if I restricted the length of the review to say 150 words, it would focus the pen and might even make the whole exercise useful - so my newest blogging venture is Chimera Obscura. This will consist of mini reviews of albums that I feel fall into the category of cult or wilfully obscure. It will inevitably reflect the contents of my own collection to an extent, and will also feature books, films and photography in the fullness of time.
The miniblog provider I’m using is Tumblr, a setup of such startling simplicity that posting a new article takes minutes or even seconds. So far I’m impressed, it’s not a blog, it’s a tightly themed litany. Let’s see how it goes…
Converting Vinyl into Digital Recordings pt3 July 30, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Music, Technology.Tags: digitise, digitize, flac, LP, Music, Vinyl Studio, wav
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So, at this point, we have set up our equipment and cleaned the record - now to capture that music and digitise it!
The output from the record deck will need amplifying before it gets to the PC. This may come as a surprise to anyone who has set up a mid range hi-fi, those amplifiers carry a searate circuit to deal with record players.
I use the ART accessories USB Phono plus - this is extremely simple to set up, phono connections out to the sound card (1 Nikkai Stereo 3.5mm Jack to Twin Phono Lead), or USB connection out to the PC, select Phono and Flat output on front panel and adjust output to the top end of the green signal - it should flicker red on loud passages. Solid red will result in the signal being clipped and the recording compromised.
If the equipment is properly set up, you should be able to hear the output coming though the PC sound system. We now need to use some software to capture the signal. Art Accessories kindly package Audacity with the pre-amp, however Audacity is fiddly to use, particularly when it comes to splitting the tracks.
I use Vinyl Studio, available from AlpineSoft - this excellent utility allows you to capture the signal from the LP, store it as two .wav files (one for each side), filter any scratches, clicks and pops, and finally split the two files into individual tracks. It will also retrieve song titles from the internet!
First job is to create a project and an album in Vinyl Studio - this sets up a directory structure for the recorded files.
Creating an Album
Create the project using the file - New menu, then in the ‘Record’ tab, select ‘Prepare to record a new album’.
Fill in the Artist and Title - take care as it will use the content here to search for the track titles.
Click on ‘Create Album’.
The next step is to check levels. Again, we don’t want to overload the signal.
Checking Levels
Note that the software has worked out that we’re using the USB Audio codec to digitise the analogue audio stream. It is a feature, so I’m told, that certain devices are listed as microphones - the Art Accessories USB plus being one!
Adjust the volume from the USB plus (preamp) until the peaks are registering red, but not butting up against the top of the scale. This is quite fiddly with some records - set the level on the loudest part. Also be aware that back in the seventies, mastering technology was not what it is today, so it’s not unusual to find two sides of the same record mastered at different volumes - set the level for each side to be sure of getting the best results.
Finally we’re ready to go - select record, place the needle on the record and move on to the ‘Split Tracks’ tab while the music is being digitised. Here you can send the software off to retrieve the track listing from a variety of sources, chosen from a drop down list. Again, be careful as different editions of a record may have extra tracks. Yo can also fill in the track listing by hand. Once this is done, return to the ‘Record’ tab, when the record ends, hit stop, flip the disk and repeat the process.
Once we have the LP digitised, then we need to split the tracks. Remember we currently have one huge .WAV file for each side of the album. Return to the ‘Split Tracks’ tab.
Splitting the Tracks
In this screen, hit ‘Scan for Trackbreaks’ - the software will make a pretty reasonable stab at finding the breaks between tracks - it will warn you if you have more breaks than tracks, or less - if this happens, chances are you have a quiet passage which has been mistaken for a track break - simply locate it in the graph and delete the break. This is made simple, by being able to play the track from the software - just put the pointer in the place you think may be mistaken for a break(you can zoom in on the graph), and press play.
If you accept the default sensitivity settings, you will find it gets 90% of track breaks right, but will need adjusting to deal with fade outs. Same principle as above - navigate to the beginning of the fade out and press play, then move the beginning of the brak to the place where the music becomes inaudible.
In the next tab, we can clean up the audio - you can utilise the automatic scan which locates every pop, crackle and click on the record and zaps it, or you can painstakingly locate each audible blemish and zap it - your choice!
So now we take the final step - converting our two large files into several smaller ones. nothing easier! Select the ‘Album’ menu (top of the screen) and choose ‘Save Tracks as MP3′ or ‘Save Tracks as WAV’.
Personally I choose to save the tracks as WAV, on the basis that I can then convert them into FLAC for Hi-Fi and MP3 for mobile listening, later. That will be the topic of the next article!
HTC Diamond - is the iPhone killer July 28, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Technology.Tags: GPS, HTC, iPhone, Orange, smart phone
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So the HTC Diamond arrived today, as promised by Helen @ Orange, promptly at 8.45am!
Total cost to an existing Orange user £0.00 - that’s zero pounds and zero pence! A tad less than the £499.00 that Apple apologist Stephen Fry trumpeted in his Guardian column on Saturday. Here are a few more features that Stephen mysteriously chose to ignore…
Screen - 2.8-inch TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive screen with VGA resolution
Wireless connectivity - two minutes to set up (wireless is switched off by default)
Browser - customised version of Opera - handles Facebook with aplomb
Camera - 3.2 megapixels
Music, Photos - 4Gb storage
Integrated GPS maps
First impressions? I’d say the HTC is better equipped than the iPhone, is better looking and if Orange can control the supply and demand, will raise the bar in the smart phone market - and thanks to Stephen Fry, the muggers will all be lookng for iPhones!
Wordle - What fun! July 20, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Blogs, Technology.Tags: blog, Grapes of Wrath, graphics, Wordle
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Grapes Of Wrath - Fermented
This nifty piece of graphic work is created by Wordle - a web based application which will scan the text of any web site you point it at and produce a ‘word cloud’ which is user configurable - there are a number of templates to choose from, colours etc.
The graphic above is generated from my other Blog - Grapes Of Wrath.
Converting Vinyl into Digital Recordings pt2 - cleaning May 27, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Music, Technology.Tags: record cleaning, Vinyl, VPI
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Taking on the ‘crap in, crap out’ homily, it follows that cleaning the record properly before recording it means a considerable reduction in crackle and pop.
In fact, the manufacturing process for vinyl leaves a fair amount of chemical residue in the grooves in any case, so there is an argument for properly cleaning a record before it is ever played. The traditional methods of cleaning, bristle brush or anti static pad, do remove a fair amount of dirt - the rest, they redistribute, deep into the grooves, where the needle grinds it into the playing surface…
The professional cleaning system is essentially a two phase process. A cleaning fluid is applied and worked into the grooves by firm application of a brush, while the record rotates - this spreads the cleaning fluid across the whole surface. The nature of the fluid is a question for debate - some favour distilled water, others a chemical mixture which is supposed to work on a similar principal to shampoo - ever noticed how clean your fingernails are after washing your hair?
The VPI system I use, supplies a chemical mix and the bristle brush required to work it into the grooves. The machine rotates the record on a turntable powered by a very powerful motor - the power is converted into torque, not speed - the record is rotated at a constant low speed, the brush held firmly enough to slightly bend the bristles against the record. A few drops of the solution across the record are enough to spread a film over the whole playing surface - avoid getting the solution onto the label.
The second phase employs a vacuum cleaner to lift the solution, dirt and all off the playing surface. The VPI deploys a hollow cylinder, padded with velvet to prevent scratching the surface of the record. The residue is sucked off the record and deposited into a steel tank inside the device - this can be emptied periodically.
Once the solution has been spread across the record, move the vacuum arm above the record and flick the vacuum switch - a noise like a jumbo jet will terrify small animals, but the record will be spotless. Allow the record to rotate twice, any more than this will cause static to build up and any dust in the vicinity of the record will immediately attach itself to the surface…. be aware that if the record was visibly dirty then some dust will be present inside the inner sleeve. Many people replace the inner sleeve - use one with a clear polythene lining, the paper ones scratch….
Converting Vinyl into Digital recordings pt 1 May 7, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Technology.Tags: dbPowerAmp, flac, Music, Technics, USB, Vinyl, Vinyl Studio, VP1, wav
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After many false starts, blind alleys etc, I think I’ve more or less got this sorted so - this post and several more will attempt to document the exact process, hardware and software used to create high quality digital audio files from vinyl.
The Hardware
- VP1 Record Cleaner
- Technics SL 1210 MkII Turntable
- ART Accessories USB Phono plus
- 1 Nikkai USB A to USB B Cable
- 1 Nikkai Stereo 3.5mm Jack to Twin Phono Lead
- 1 Soundblaster Live! Sound Card
- Dell Dimension PC 256mb Memory
- Altec Lansing Multimedia Speakers
Software
- Vinyl Studio (www.alpinesoft.co.uk)
- dbPowerAmp Music Converter
Most of the hardware I already owned - but I heed the words of a wise old sound engineer from my DJ’ing days - ‘Garbage in, Garbage out’ he would mutter, as I insisted on soundchecking the newest Alien Sex Fiend 12 inch… he had a point, though it took me quite a while to appreciate it.
The VP1 record cleaner is therefore first on the list. You might think £450 is a lot to pay for a record cleaner, but this device is the closest thing to magic I’ve come across - the secret is in the vacuuming, using conventional bristle or cloth cleaners on a recored simply moves the dust around or worse, pushes it deep into the grooves. Unless a record is actually scratched, this device will pretty much restore vinyl to its original condition. As an ex DJ, much of my vinyl is severely manhandled, nightclubs are not the most vinyl friendly environment, so this device is worth it’s considerable weight in gold.
The Technics SL1210 is similarly a souvenir of the DJ’ing days - still the turntable of choice in the DJ’ing trade due to extreme robustness and simplicity - you simply can’t go wrong with a deck of this quality.
Art Accessories USB Phono+ is the pre-amp that the record player requires to amplify the signal enough to make it usable. This handy device is very straightforward to set up - connect the deck to the inputs, the outputs to your sound card using the Nikkai Stereo 3.5mm Jack to Twin Phono Lead, which takes stereo output from the Technics into a single stereo input for your soundcard. The Device can be powered from the USB port of the PC.
The Art Accessories product comes with a music editing package called Audacity. This I found to be effective, but tedious to use. I elected to use Vinyl Studio instead, for the simple reason that Vinyl Studio will estimate the track breaks, edit out the ‘thump’ of the needle dropping and download the track listing from amazon if it’s available. The reason this is important is that recording the vinyl gives you two humongous .wav files - one for each side. These need to be split into individual tracks before converting to the format of your choice. Vinyl Studio outputs to .wav and .mp3 only. This is where dbPowerAmp Music converter earns it’s crust.
That explains the components - next post will start detailing the process.
Noise Cancelling Headphones April 12, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Music, Technology.Tags: Sony, Walkman, I-Pod
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Carefully balancing the danger of resembling a North London pikey against the desirability of actually being able to hear my music above the roar of the aeroplanes I spend so much time in, I tentatively took the plunge on my way to Orlando last week and shelled out for a pair of Sony MDR NC60 Noise Cancelling Headphones.
The difference between these and the ‘bud’ phones I’m used to using is extraordinary. The stats boast 85% noise reduction - I’d happily concur and add to that crisp, clean bass reproduction, comfort and a range of plug adapters designed to allow use in aeroplanes, with domestic hi-fi and I-Pod and the £100 price tag begins to look reasonable.
From the users perspective, with noise cancelling switched on, background noise is almost entirely screened out. Powered by a single AAA battery, this is a feature worth its weight in gold. I tested these phones on a transatlantic flight, with a Sony Network Walkman playing a mixture of rock, country, blues and jazz - no complaints at all. Listening to the in flight movie only highlighted the paucity of the visual arrangements - wide sound stage, great clarity.
In summary, I’m a convert - I fly at least twice a week and these headphones will substantially add to the quality of my life in airports and aeroplane.
Blogs - Fact or Fiction? July 19, 2008
Posted by Chris Wright in Blogs, Fiction.Tags: blog, comment, Fiction
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Bloggers are surprisingly conservative, for a group that consider themselves to be on the cutting edge of internet technology.
Blogs started life as opinion pieces, the entry of sites like Blogger and WordPress made it simple for anyone with an internet connection to dump the caffeine addled contents of their brains onto the web, soon the internet was overun with self appointed political commentators, sports experts, seers, sages and prophets of every possible hue. New Age, Old Age, no corner was left uncommented.
The vast majority of this verbiage was untroubled by readers, a minor flaw in the grand scheme of things, and despite dire predictions emanating from the traditional media, quality of information and quality of writing gradually rose to the top of the pile.
I run a technical blog, published on a corporate intranet that attracts many more readers and many more comments than my fiction blog (Grapes Of Wrath) - there are some obvious reasons for this (notwithstanding the possibility that my fiction may be unreadable!) - technology touches everyone, I work for a technology company and my name is better known amongst that constituency than it is amongst the many millions of readers in the wider community.
‘Serious’ fiction blogs have an obvious problem - in a medium where the attention span is measured in nanoseconds, why would anybody read it - unless they knew that they would get some value from it - either by recommendation or previous experience. In this way, the dilemma faced by fiction writers is very similar to that faced by unknown musicians - why would anybody bother? The promotional stuff needs to be done. (see previous post)
The Grapes Of Wrath blog has provoked some interesting comment though. To set the scene, the blog is the journal of a fictional character. The events are fictional - I get a lot of mail to my personal inbox, commenting about the stories, the character, the quality (or otherwise) of the writing, I asked one correspondent why she didn’t leave a comment on the blog - the reply was that she felt that a real comment would spoil the fictional integrity - break the spell. I toyed with the idea of creating fictional comments, extending the reach of the fictional world so to speak, but decided against it - the idea of the blog is to showpiece the character and the writing, not to create a stand alone piece of art (though the thought does appeal, I have only the 24 hours in my day).
Up until that conversation, I had one link to the ‘author’ that led to a Facebook ‘fan page’ - a bit of fun really, I filled it with depictions of the author and some of the characters and invented a couple of ‘fans’ who posted pictures of themselves onto the site. I let all my facebook friends know about the fan page - a couple of dozen signed up - to my great surprise - but then something unexpected happened - complete strangers began to sign up too, not many admittedly, but they continue to trickle through from the blog - so some tiny percent of the readers that pass through, ‘get it’.
So about the conservatives…I have had a few conversations with people that just don’t ‘get it’. My argument is that the browser is a medium, like cinema and books. Nobody complains if a film ‘isn’t true’ or even if a book contains blank pages (Tristram Shandy). TV even follows a news program with a sitcom. This is because the rules of engagement are understood. It was not always so - but I wonder how long it will take for people to open up to the possibility that a blog is not necessarily an opinion piece. Don’t get me started on wikis!