Saying goodbye

Tuesday, December 4, 2007 ~ 26 comments so far

No, I’M not saying goodbye, but it’s been on my mind recently.

At some point this blog will end, it may be a gradual decline during which the format and content will slowly morph into something else, or it may just stop and be replaced by something else. I’m comfortable with the fact that I will always have an online presence, my own microbrand if you will, and I’m quite happy for that to evolve naturally. After all, what you see here today is far removed from what I started with.

However in the process of cleaning up the Scottish Blogs directory there is one glaring piece of advice I’d give to all new bloggers. As well as suggesting they concentrate on their readers, tell a story or two and so on, I’d also suggest they say goodbye.

In other words, don’t just vanish. I understand the initial enthusiasm wanes quickly and that the flourish of posts and surge of excitement can disappear as quickly as they arrive, but if you have any readers, hell even if you don’t, then a brief note to say goodbye would be nice.

Admittedly sometimes we don’t always get the choice, but if you do make the decision then, please, share it with the rest of us.

The next question is, how?

For me, a large part of blogging is about connections, and hopefully those would kick in if someone suddenly disappeared. They have in the past, with chains of emails surrounding the “death of a blog” quickly gathering facts and, typically, finding someone with a real world connection to the blogger in question. As we invest more of ourselves online, these connections become vital, linking online with off, and proving the blogging really is about people.

Stress is a wonderful thing

Monday, December 3, 2007 ~ Comments Off

Nearing the end of a project is always a stressful time. Regardless of the best plans, contingency and prayers, things always end up tight at this point. That’s when the stress kicks in.

I actually revel in this kind of work, doing my best stuff under pressure, with no time to ponder I make decisions with conviction and plough onwards. There is also a subtle effect on other areas.

I’m usually working long hours at this point, and so end up a little run-down, narky and tired. Emotions of all kinds are quick to the surface and over the years I’ve started to focus more on them than any impending doom scenarios that are building elsewhere. I should point out that I work in the software industry so, in most cases, missing a deadline is bad for business but no-one loses a life, it’s not the end of the world, so whilst I do get stressed there is a point where I realise I’m getting stressed and I just… well… stop getting stressed. Hard to explain and it took some amount of time to get it sorted in my head.

Anyway, whilst I’m in this zone I try and focus on the positives and one always comes shining through. Louise. She knows how to handle me at times like these, and it makes me appreciate her all the more.

In addition, with emotions wrought and wrangled and because I often resort to headphones to get the last minute of “do not disturb me” time out of the day, I find the oddest songs can develop a strange resonance and catapult themselves into my internally kept list of favourite tracks. Such tracks literally give me goosebumps. Whack on Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and when that guitar solo kicks in… yup, goosebumps.

Sticking with the rock theme, for I cannot lie I do like my rock music, the current song achieving similar levels is the oddly repetitive yet wonderful anthemic Come Alive from the Foo Fighters. Not only does it seem to musically hit the right notes, lyrically it brings me full circle back to the centre of my life, my darling wife. Odd that.

I just wish I could play it just a little bit louder (but I’m quite considerate when using headphones).

Anyone else get this with certain tracks? Just me?

Free is Free

Sunday, December 2, 2007 ~ 6 comments so far

A few weeks back Radiohead, a fairly well-known rock band from England, released their new album via the web and in a fairly radical move, allowed people to pay whatever price they wanted for the privilege. Anything from £0.00 to £100, they said (I wonder what the top amount paid was…).

Since then… apart from a couple of press releases full of ill-thought out stats… nothing.

What happened? Where is all the noise? Where are the “told-you-so” bleatings? What happened to the “revolutionise-the-music-industry”? It’s a disappointing damp squib if you ask me.

On one side, Radiohead remain silent on the matter. Or as good as.

On the other side the press was quick to report that a large number of people grabbed the album for free. They threw stats out like sweeties; one-third of people who downloaded the album paid nothing, average price paid was £3, and so on.

What does this prove? What does this say? Everything and nothing of course, and part of me hopes that was exactly what Radiohead intended.

Offer something for free and people will take it. Offer something with only guilt as a payment mechanism and many people easily push any emotional feeling to one side and plunge onwards. Offer something which can be free, and people will take it for free. This is the society we live in, writ large and then swept under the carpet.

Reaction to all of this freeloading seems out of place, there was SO much hype, in many different quarters, about this that it seems almost out of proportion.

Other artists (most notably Prince) have given away their music for free, realising that they make the bulk of their money outside of CD sales, but part of me hopes (desperately) that the music-loving fan, when given the ability to set a price, would do the right thing and pay up. A glint of humanity and integrity is all I’m looking for…

How laughable.

What I really don’t understand is where is the backlash? There is no screaming rhetoric to be found anywhere, either bemoaning the freeloaders or angry that this experiment failed to show the music industry that it was a viable solution.

But I guess that is a good thing because this experiment could do no such thing. It couldn’t PROVE either, the freeloaders (statistically) grabbed the music in about the same percentage as they do for music released via a record label.

The music industry didn’t take much of a kicking either as Radiohead will also release the album through a record label and hey, guess what, not EVERYONE is comfortable downloading music. The majority of the music listening public like CDs, or at the very least something tangible.

Reading between various lines, I think the only thing this experiment could ever prove was whether an artist would make more money PER SALE if they distributed things themselves, or via a record label. On that front I think Radiohead, on a per sale basis, doubled their money? I’m not sure as getting accurate figures is proved difficult but they certainly didn’t lose any money.

The deafening silence that blankets this entire episode worries me more than any of the financial/industry aspects.

Are we really so quick to put such things aside? Wasn’t this supposed to herald a new wave of thinking in the music industry, or is that where the silence comes from? A million record industry executives trying to figure out how to ‘fix things’.

This kind of thing isn’t a viable business model for a semi-successful band, one who flirts just below the limelight, and whilst it may boost the standings of newcomers (mySpace in particular) at a certain point it will start to hinder them.

I’m bemused and a little disillusioned. I had hoped this would’ve kicked started… ohh I dunno… something, anything… but nothing seems to have come of this. So I’ve gone back to my usual method of purchasing music and will continue to do so with knowledge of a better way gnawing at my wallet.

Stepping Back

Friday, November 30, 2007 ~ 4 comments so far

I was recently chatting to someone who has a plan.

He is retiring at aged 50 and going off to live in the wilds of Canada. He’s Canadian so it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds, but the really scary part is that he is deliberately going to be “off-grid”. He’s a self-confessed geek so this is quite a step and, when he told me all this I suggested that it was some form of backlash against the grip of technology, a deliberate swipe at the lifestyle we all find ourselves living in modern society.

“But of course it is” he grinned.

I harbour a similar desire, namely to retire aged 50, but as yet have no plan to get there. It’s unlikely to happen and as such will remain a dream but, it is something I’m now thinking about. If I did retire early, what would I do? Where would I go?

The idea of living remotely appeals to Louise and I, even if it isn’t that far removed from civilisation. Being off-grid, no internet, limited phone access, is another deal entirely but given that I do so enjoy snatched moments of solitude, an afternoon lost in a book, a stroll round the park, it is worth considering.

Personal space is something for which we all hunt, something we aim to manufacture by donning headphones and blocking out the rest of the world. Regardless of where we are, the message remains the same and annoyance comes from those that don’t even realise that is the aim. It’s not just about listening to music, it’s about creating a place that only belongs to me. It’s most significant when wandering city streets to your own soundtrack, the reverie snapped by Big Issue sellers and small women with big umbrellas. Elsewhere this method of isolation can be more reliable yet the one place where I could be assured of true solitude would be at home and I rarely, if ever, use headphones there.

Perhaps true solitude is only possible when you are in the middle of nowhere, for any manufactured space bears the scars and remnants of modern day living. At home the phone demands an answer, walking down the street you are considerate of others as you navigate the myriad of shoppers and so forth, even lying in the park on a summer day is fraught with stray dogs and misplaced footballs.

I treasure quiet moments. Snippets of a day to pause and reflect before returning to the headlong plunge of life. Some people enjoy the helter skelter existence we seem to have these days. The incredible rush of even the most basic day is at times a sad indictment of our society, at others a thrilling embracing of being alive. Recharging our batteries is reserved for sleep, yet surely there needs to be more, surely we must pause more often to gather ourselves before the next onslaught?

Those that retain the ability to stepback have a skill to envy. One simple step creates the space I crave yet can so rarely find.

I need to learn to step back now and again.

(Don’t) Call me

Wednesday, November 28, 2007 ~ 5 comments so far

I need some advice. I want either cheaper TV, Broadband and Telephone calls, how do I get them? Actually that’s a lie, I only really want cheaper telephone calls.

Currently we have contracts with both Sky and Virgin Media.

We have Sky for our TV viewing and we take all the movies and sports channels, although I am considering cropping the ‘standard’ channel package down a little. My parents have Virgin Media for their TV service and, ignoring the fact I’d have to invest in a PVR system of some sort to get back the functionality I’d be losing, I happen to think the Sky service is better. It certainly seems easier to use and Virgin don’t give you the choice of what to record (hence the separate PVR).

We have Virgin Media for our telephone line and broadband and, from what I’ve read, the Sky broadband service isn’t the greatest and I’m loathed to move from Virgin Media (was Telewest) as the broadband service has been solid and reliable for the past 6 years, and we DO spend a lot of time online (Louise increasingly so). The telephone line is… well it’s a telephone line. We have caller ID and cheap(ish) calls to Europe.

We both have contract mobile phones, and once my contract (with Orange) is up I’m considering moving to PAYG… but in saying that I do miss not having a good phone with internet access and reliable Sync with my contacts… so I might hold out and aim for one of the HTC devices (running Windows Mobile). I am currently reducing my contract at every opportunity.

Basically, given my reluctance to switch broadband and TV suppliers, then the phone service is the one I’m focussing on. Largely our phone calls are within the UK, bar two or three calls a week to Spain.

I’ve done some digging in various forums and websites and think I know the answer but thought I’d see if my wonderfully intelligent readers could offer me another insight.

Given the restraints, what is the best phone service for us to switch to? Should we just ditch the landline altogether? What is the impact on people calling us (actually that’s a moot point, both mobile phones have very poor reception in the house so that wouldn’t be practical)? Do I need to do some more research into VOIP?

And yes, I am one of those bloggers who has just received a months trial with a Skype mobile. So that may be an option I can explore.

Any further comments, thoughts and suggestions are welcomed. Or should I just shut up, because, frankly, this isn’t that big a deal really.

Torrents of TV

Tuesday, November 27, 2007 ~ 9 comments so far

In response to a plea on Twitter, where I’d just mentioned that I’d thoroughly enjoyed Episode 7 of Series 2 of Heroes (and with apologies for the delay), this post will take you through how I get the latest greatest episodes of my favourite US TV shows long before they are shown in the UK.

This is illegal. I am a bad bad man. Torrents can be used for good and it is only my twisted evil that is using them for nefarious purposes… umm.. that and the people who are recording the shows, and posting them online to be downloaded.

Ohhh and I’m presuming you’ve got an internet connection and a computer, then all you need is one piece of software and access to a specific website.

The software is μTorrent, the website is TVRSS.net.

First, download μTorrent from the link above and install it. It includes a built-in RSS reader to monitor RSS feeds and, when new items appear, μTorrent will start downloading them. Great eh.

Next, head to TVRSS.net, and search for the series you want to keep up-to-date with. You probably only need the show name and series number to start with. Once the search results are displayed, you should see a list of torrents, and at the top of that list is the “Search based RSS feed”.

Copy the link location of the Search based RSS feed (right-click the link) and head to μTorrent. Open the RSS Downloader and, on the Feeds tab, click Add. Paste the RSS feed link location and click OK.

Now you should filter the feeds, moving each show into a dedicated folder.

In the RSS Downloader go to the Favorites tab, and click the Add button (bottom-left). Give the New Filter a name (to match the show name) and with it still selected, enter a Filter (typically the show name) and enter a location where the files will be saved (I keep three different shows in three different folders). You can also select a feed from the drop-down list, but typically the filter should be enough (especially as you can’t easily see what feed it is you are selecting).

Here’s what mine looks like:

That’s it. Each time you start uTorrent, it will check the RSS feeds and, if it finds any new items will start to download them. Simple.

Almost.

I would suggest you spend sometime getting a good RSS feed. If you just search for “Heroes” you’ll get around 4 or 5 different downloads for each episode. These are usually a different format or by a different person (or group). Alternatively you can filter the results in uTorrent’s RSS Downloader, again this will take a little experimentation but is pretty easy to figure out.

Full details of this can be found in the provided uTorrent RSS tutorial, and if you aren’t sure about torrents at all then check out the uTorrent Guides.

Any questions? (I’ll happily deal with the ethics of doing this separately)

Quiet your moaning

Monday, November 26, 2007 ~ 7 comments so far

I hate people who moan.

Which is odd as I do like a good old-fashioned whine from time to time but that’s more a cathartic reaction to a crap day than a perpetual state of bloody-minded dourness. Some people probably spend large portions of their life wondering why they have few friends and why they never really feel happy. Actually that’s not true, the moaners of our world have a habit so deeply ingrained they are undoubtedly unaware of themselves and the annoyed by-standers who would really like them to just SHUT UP.

Of course when it comes to any form of self-loathing, everything is relative. MY life sucks more than yours, MY day was worse than yours, MY luck is worse than yours… and so on.

It does seem to be on the rise, this insistence that I have to listen to every gripe and groan, no matter whether they are valid or not. So I’m doing what I can to combat it, fighting back in the only way I know how.

I’m being the cheeriest bugger in the office.

Admittedly it seems to be freaking people out a little but hey, whatever works, right?

I wish I could understand the motivation behind the constant moaner, surely no-one is THAT miserable ALL THE TIME? Surely there is something that offers them a glimmer of hope, a hint of happiness… I mean something OTHER than Celebrity X-Jungle Dancing, or whatever it’s called.