Another poster for "The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey"

My broadband connection has been iffy over the last few days... yes, I have iffy wiffy... so this has been the first time I've been able to post the latest poster for "The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey".

I can't express how excited I am about this film... and can't wait to get my hands on some of the merchandise which, by the way, goes on sale tomorrow I believe.

Tx

What's your number?

Here's an interesting interactive data visualisation... find out your 'ranking' in the world's population.

I am the 4, 007,773,415th person in this world... and I have a life expectancy of 77.4 years (i.e. I have 40 years left).

Find out your ranking on the BBC website.

Tx

Thank you Steve...

These are my current companions...



and here are Olly and my sister with theirs in 2005.



Here's Dayna watching Podcasts on my iPod in 2005...



and again in 2010... this time on her own MacBook.



I've queued in the rain...



and have proudly worn the t-shirt.



My daughters only know Apple...



and their first phones were iPhones.



I can carry my whole record collection in my bag...



and Apple products have accompanied me to hospital.



I have spoken in my local Apple Store about my involvement in a new school of photography...



and I even used to have an Apple sticker on my work's Thinkpad before it blue-screened and died.

So when you ask me why I am sad today... maybe you'll understand.

This isn't a consumption thing... or a materialism thing... its a design thing... its a quality thing... its about wanting the best and being able to have the best.

Thank you Steve... your drive for the very best... your ability to think differently and make 'things' that mattered to me and to my family... 'things' that, I'm not ashamed to say, have changed my life... 'things' that have helped me... my wife... my we'ans... communicate, consume and create.

I never knew you but I have felt your influence... the tangibility of your pursuit of excellence in the 'things' you put your name on... ever since I got my Bondi Blue iMac back in the late nineties.

Thank you!

Tx

Heading to Venice & Lido di Jesolo

On Saturday morning... my family and I head down to Manchester. We are staying over night at the airport before flying out early on Sunday to Venice in Northern Italy.



We are staying in Lido di Jesolo again... although this time we have hotel accommodation in the centre of town.

The plan is two weeks of sun, sand and awesome Italian food... with a few trips to Venice (both in the day and in the evening). I will have my Nikon with me and I intend to get some awesome shots of what is my joint-favourite city (along with Paris).



We want to see more than just Piazza San Marco... and intend to visit other areas of Venice.



I don't know what access I will have to the interwebs and haven't organised data roaming for my iPhone. To be honest... I need a break and the connectivity "fast" will do me the world of good. As such I am calling a Email amnesty and won't be on Twitter or Facebook... I will try to be "off the grid" as best I can.

I intend to read William Gibson and Philip K. Dick on my Kindle... listen to music on my iPhone... watch some films and play some games on my iPad and take loads of photos with my Nikon d60. I also hope to find new ideas and inspiration... and channel this into writing. I have a few albums I want to review while I am away.

Most of all... I want to hold my wife's hand whilst walking through Jesolo at night. I also want to watch my daughters as they play on the beach. I am looking forward to some sun, if truth be told, as I am in fear of developing trenchfoot in Glasgow.

So... if you are looking for something to read while I am away... check out the seven question interviews... or find something new to listen to on bandcamp.

I'll be back before you know it.

Tx

My blogging policy

After reading this article by Bobby Solomon over on the awesome The Fox Is Black I wanted to add my tuppence worth and set out my blogging "policy".

I've been blogging for a number of years now... and I have always been about "the whole of me". This hasn't changed... albeit I now post more of my theological posts/rants over on the Something Beautiful Podcast website. I do this because I don't want to alienate friends who do not share my beliefs.

Over the last wee while my remit and focus, without sounding full of myself, has been to advocate for awesomeness... primarily within the field of independent music. Everything I feature on this blog has one tough obstacle to overcome... one big thick gate to pass through... and that's me. If I love it, then I will post it... if I don't, I won't. Its as simple as that.

I find most things through word-of-mouth, from the awesome folks who make up my Twitter timeline, from other blogs or from taking a donder around the Interwebs. However, recently I have received content to check out... which I am extremely grateful for.

The thing is... if you want your music, art or whatever featured on here... then give me a shout... and I will check it out. If I like it... I will post about it. If I don't... well, it just doesn't work for me... its not a criticism, its just me. I'd rather not feature something than disparage it with low ratings or anything... in fact, I don't rate anything on here because I don't think its fair... but I will tell you why something speaks to me.

Oh and I will tell you if I have been given it to check out. I don't see any point in lying to you. I don't make any money from this blog. I make my money as a Business Analyst. I'm not a journalist nor am I professional reviewer... I am just someone who loves things like independent music (especially ambient electronica and post-rock) and wants to give back to all the folks out there who create for the love of it. This is my fun... this is my golf... this is my WoW... and as such I want to keep it that way.

I hope this makes sense?

Tx

My iPhone headphones control my iPod Classic

I love serendipitous moments like this one. Made me smile.
Tx

Posted via email from headphonaught's posterous

My set up

Inspired by this post by Frank Chimero... I thought I'd share a wee bit about my set up... and a few other things.

My main computer is a 13" MacBook Pro... its where I create my stuff. Its the perfect size for me and doesn't weigh too much. On it, I have the following:

• Adobe Creative Suite 3 - I have only scratched the surface of this... mainly using Photoshop to create the images for album covers, posters and the like.
• Adobe Lightroom 2 - this app is what I use for my photography... mainly for colouring and cropping.
• Quicksilver - a tremendous free app for launching apps... you need to use it to understand it.
• Things - its my To Do app... syncing with both my iPad and my iPhone... and helping me to get things done.
• Reeder - again, an app that I have on my iPad and iPhone... that handles my RSS feeds along with Pulse on my iPad. I like the way it presents the feeds... and yes, I still use RSS.
• Twitter - I use the official Twitter app on my MBP. Its not ideal but it works for me.
• Yammer - I use Yammer for private convos with my Something Beautiful buddies.
• Skype - I use this mainly for convos for the Something Beautiful podcast... but I am known to catch up with pals for the odd off-the-record blether on there too.
• Google Chrome - I use Chrome as my main browser and am very pleased with it... albeit this may change with their recent announcement that they won't be supporting H.264 HTML5.
• Paparazzi - an app for screenshots. Works well with most pages but doesn't always like Bandcamp.
• Evernote - A fab note app that I have on my iPad and iPhone too.
• iTunes
• iPhoto - I use iPhoto for my 35mm photo scans and pics from my iPhone. I like the way it works with Flickr and Facebook.
• Camerabag - a fab wee app that allows me to filter my photos... give them a vintage feel etc.
• iMovie - not an app that I've mastered... but would love to.
• Garageband - for recording audio and creating my mixcasts.
• Silverkeeper - a back-up app that syncs folders on my harddrives.
• Microsoft Office for Mac - I tried Open Office but just couldn't get comfy. Office for Mac rocks and I'm not *that much* of a fan-boy to admit it.

I consume content on my iPad... which is something that I never thought I needed until I became dependent on it. The main apps I use on it are as follows:

• YouVersion's Bible app
• Minimal Folio - for presenting my photos to clients and, to be honest, anyone who stops long enough.
• Quickoffice - for reviewing and editing .doc, .xls & .ppt files on the go.
• Simplenote - a wonderfully simple app for notes that syncs with "the cloud" and runs on my iPhone to.
• Things - as mentioned above.
• Zenbe Lists - for my "life lists" like "things for Olly's Christmas" or "what's in my camerabag" for when I go on a shoot.
• Kindle, iBooks & Stanza - for books... and .pdfs. I have them on my iPhone too but only the Kindle app syncs between my iPhone and iPad (and MBP too). I like that and wish iBooks and Stanza did too.
• Instapaper - an app I love - you save long content on the internet (blog posts etc) for reading "offline".
• Pulse and Flipboard - for consuming blogs / websites. I prefer Pulse, if I am honest, and use it on my iPhone too.
• Twitter - I use the official Twitter app on my iPad and iPhone too. I like it.
• Reeder and Evernote - As discussed above.
• Friendly - For Facebook.
• Angry Birds, Words for Friends, Peggle, BeJewelled, Cut the Rope & Tetris are my fave games... on both my iPad and iPhone.

I use both my iPhones main for communicating... the iPhone 4 is my personal phone and my first gen iPhone is my "published" number at work. I won't go into the apps I have on them... I have mentioned the main ones above... other than to mention Instagram and Hipstamatic - two fab photo apps.

I have two iPods that I use too. I got to the point with the 80gb one... where I was deleting content to add new stuff... and I wanted to do the music justice. I love to be able to fulfil the need to listen to any album I want in my collection. Yes, I could subscribe to Spotify, but I like to have it there... in my hand. Oh and between the two iPods I have about 80gb free... and am actively looking to fill it.

Underpinning my MBP, iPad, iPhones and iPods are two external harddrives... 

1. A 1TB harddrive partitioned in half - first half is for my MBP's Time Machine back up... and the second holds my iTunes data and my "main" Lightroom catalog. It also holds the back-up for my "working" Lightroom (which is on my MBP).
2. A 500gb harddrive is set up to mirror the second partition on the first harddrive (using Silverkeeper).

I need to get some "cloud" storage... but I am talking approx 250gbs. 

Also pictured are...

• Sony MDR-XD100 headphones... unfortunately my AIAIAI's died.
• Bodum 12oz tumbler (25p off a coffee in Starbucks... if you bring a cup)
• A physical copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets... I have it on my iPad but prefer paper when reading at the end of the day... bright screens can keep you awake (genius of the Kindle is that it isn't backlit)
• My trusty Moleskine notebook with an Adam Howie and a Lowercase Noises stickers on the front.

Oh and my fave analogue camera... the Olympus Trip 35. Picked up cheap on eBay before they went up in price. The output is fantastic... especially with the sensor, ability to go to f2.8 and the wonderful glass lens.

So yeah... that's me. That's my digital (and analogue) life... all within a Gap Messenger that I picked up for a tenner.

What's in your bag?

Tx


Tweet

Happy New Year

Wishing you all a very blessed 2011... I hope it is filled with laughter, peace, grace, beauty and, most of all, love.

Thank you for reading... for listening and for participating in 2010. Here's to 2011.

Tx

Tweet

Merry Christmas 2010

Wishing everyone in the ol' Nanolog Community a very merry Christmas. Thanks for your company on this journey.

Tx

Tweet

Sorry for being quiet...

Hey everyone... sorry I've been quiet on the ol' blog front. Been busy doing stuff... taking pics... watching "Supernatural" with Olly... reading an essay... that kind of thing.

Thought I'd touch base... say "hiya"... and see how you all are doing. I've three things for you:

1) Here's a live recording of a Radiohead concert... that's available to download for free :: Radiohead live @ the Henry Fonda Theatre. The band have put this concert online to raise money for Haiti... so drop some cash in when you pick up the mp3.

"The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.”

Jessica Hische

2) The above quote is taken from a fab wee blog called distractivity... that is well worth a home in your rss reader. Their attitude is refreshingly inspirational:

"Distractivity is what you’re doing when you get distracted from what you should be doing. It’s generally what you want to do, often what you need to do, and arguably, what you’ll do best."

My thanks to swiss-miss for the pointer.

3) Watch this video... then ask yourself the following question:

"Are you being the real "you" or are you a parody..?"

Sure... parodies are funny... but will they be remembered or still relevant... in the long run?



Will be back soon...

Tx

The downside of video conferencing is...

...folk can screengrab you putting pens up your nose. Nice one, JD!

He had this great ability at the stove...

"He had this great ability at the stove, great confidence. He was a natural cook... But his very special talent was he could articulate himself and deliver inspiration with words. He spoke in a way that everybody could understand."

Marco Pierre White

I was a big fan of Keith Floyd and am sad at his passing yesterday at the age of 65. He will be fondly remembered as the drunken shambolic chef with a fab way with words... and a fondness for the art and not for the money.

I have to say Marco Pierre White's tribute on BBC News was touching... and I would love to be remembered as having a special talent where I could articulate myself and deliver inspiration with words. It would be awesome to be thought of as speaking in a way that everybody could understand.

Keith Floyd... I will miss you.

Numbers_

Some random numbers for a Saturday afternoon_

• I have posted 10,390 pics on Flickr with 143,739 times views since August 2005.
• I have tweeted 11,174 times on Twitter since March 2007.
• I have scrobbled 20,022 tracks on Last.FM since February 2006.
• This is the 2,840th post on the ol' Nanolog since September 2005.

For me_ its not the number of friends I have on these sites but what I've contributed to them that counts_ hence the reason why I haven't mentioned Facebook or the other sites I frequent.

These numbers will change... but the question will stay the same: what do you contribute to the sites you frequent?

PM on twitter & flickr

Gordon Brown views Pele's shirt, originally uploaded by Downing Street.

"The PM and former Brazil captain Socrates look at the glass-encased shirt of Brazilian football legend Pele at the Museum of Football in Sao Paolo, 26 March 2009;"

I like the fact that I can follow the exploits of my PM via the Downing Street twitter feed and view pics of said exploits in flickr.

OK so he's not my friend on facebook... nor has he connected with me on LinkedIn... or friendfeed... but, hey, I figure he's kind of busy... doing stuff like viewing Pele's shirt on a trip to Sao Paolo, Brazil;

What a job... to do all the PM's social media. I think that would be fun.

This is cool :: improve everywhere's Subway Art Gallery Opening

Another stroke of genius from improv everywhere :: The Subway Art Gallery Opening...

For our latest mission, 50 Improv Everywhere agents created an art gallery opening on the 23rd Street subway platform in Manhattan. We put up 30 placards next to objects in the space (pipes, electrical boxes, signs, advertisements), transforming them into works of art. The gallery included a bar, a coat rack, and a cellist.../

For more... go here.

The 4 Open Space Rules...

The 4 Open Space Rules - 20080824-5- Transport Hero Camp, originally uploaded by roland.

(via swissmiss)

Surfin' the 'tinterweb... so you don't have to #9

Some more links for you to chew on... First few have a twitter theme:



I really like Richard Millington's blog :: feverbee. He posts on building/developing communties and I have taken a lot from this post on 5 lessons on building community from Twitter's experience... To summarise his points:

1. Don’t Set Restrictive Objectives. If the Twitter team had tried to guide their community to set objectives, they would have killed the business.
2. Spam-Free Philosophy. Friends of the creators joined, then their friends, and more people. No-one spammed strangers to join.
   
3. Ignore the Media. No-one pitched the press to write about it. Instead they grew until they became too important for the media to ignore.
4. Low Costs. The cheaper it is to launch the community, the less the need for instant results and profits.
   
5. Don’t Ask For Anything. They didn’t make us jump through any hoops or try to make money directly from us.
   

Valuable insights worth considering when seeking to start something new... especially, in the context of this blog, a new expression of church.



Richard, in the above post, links to this post on the origins of Twitter...

Our board was not feeling optimistic, and we were forced to reinvent ourselves../

I’ll never forget the family-friendly feeling of that day. We all knew that we were going to change the world with this thing that no one else understood. That day stands out in memory as the deep breath before a baby’s first cry../

Makes for great reading.



Last on the Twitter tip... there was a nice wee article on the BBC News website about Twitter.

/..after celebrity endorsements and pictures of miraculous plane landings on the Hudson, the Muggles are coming, and what's more, Twitter is changing as a result - I think for the better../

On a different tangent... I got really excited when I saw this right up for the six month MBA on psfk...

/..Seth Godin is running an alternative MBA program that has, at its heart, a new vision of learning about being a businessperson. Nine participants are currently learning about entrepreneurship, freelancing and marketing in a practical, real world apprenticeship with Godin rather than going the traditional business school route../

Boy would I love to be one of those nine.



I am so grateful to psfk for their ongoing inspiration. They link to some awesome sites. The SAMBA (six month MBA) blog (as mentioned above) is one such awesome site. A real source of inspiration, influence, challenge and encouragement. Check out their 999 business ideas for example... whilst remembering:

Ideas are a dime a dozen. The money is in the execution.

Brilliant. This is an important lesson that I need to learn... I have loads of ideas but I'm not so good with the execution... and need help in transforming these ideas into something valuable.



Lastly... I love the Beatles and enjoy the lyrics to their songs. I found The Beatles Lyrics Archive to be a fab resource... ideal for 7,000th tweets and more.

Freedom of Speech... (Update)

ekklesia have an interesting perspective on the Jasmine case I mentioned yesterday.

First off, its almost as if the Head had read my post:

Mr Read, the headteacher, explained: "We have 271 children in our school from a diversity of backgrounds... We encourage children to discuss their beliefs. What we do not condone is one child frightening a six-year-old with the prospect of 'going to hell' if she does not believe in God."

He added: "“We are a very, very open school and are in no way intimidating people. Unfortunately the context of the conversation between the two girls had a religious nature, but it could have been over any issue. When one pupil is upset by another and is crying, we take action.

“In absolutely no way are we trying to suppress discussion or make it difficult for pupils to discuss or express faith.

We then have a very astute observation from Simon Barrow of ekklesia:

"Before shouting 'persecution' Christians need to reflect much more seriously on how they would feel if their children received similar treatment by non-believers or those of other faiths, and the school tolerated it.

"The issue here seems to be that one young child frightened another. It is surely right that behaviour of this kind is respectfully challenged. I am sure the great majority of Christian parents will want to encourage children to speak with love and respect, rather than condemnation, towards others."

Its all about love and respect... not condemnation!

It would appear that the media isn't picking up on the fact Jasmine was wrong... but running with a "persecution" story to get people all excited and angry. Which, in turn, questions the ideals of free speech. It can only truly work if we are presented with all the facts and can debate them in a respectful manner.

Are we armed with all the facts?

I trust the BBC. I don't always like or get what they do... but I do trust their news service. Their news did report the "going to hell" comment. What worries me is that, according to this press release from ekklesia, not all news sources are making mention of what is the crux of the matter.

Hmm....

Surfin' the 'tinterweb... so you don't have to #8

Hey... its Friday the 13th... and these links have nothing to do with Friday the 13th or scary things in general. I am a big wuss, afterall...



I love "found sound" and I particularly liked the Soundtransit project because it takes found sounds, contextualises them and then packages them up for reference. Basically, you choose a "from" and a "to" location and it creates a found sound mp3 of your journey. I thought the Glasgow sounds were quite distinctive of ol' Sauchie herself.

Thanks to notcot #18,891.



I thought Nikki's Modern Proverbs as shown in my modern metropolis were very funny and thoughtprovoking (as all good humour is).

Thanks to notcot #18,865.



I thought this post from Chung Dha was interesting and an inpirational take on promo flyers.

This is not that new but at the moment there allot of companies using this method to promote their company. However this is actually only possible for countries where there is a cycling culture like the Netherlands. I actually like this marketing because they actually give something usefull, then just spreading a flyers which end up in the trash or on the ground after a few feet's when it is received. These saddle protectors they put over your saddle , are great because they are useful because they keep your saddle dry during stormy and snowy weathers.

It highlights the need to adapt to prevalent culture to be effective in promoting whatever it is you are promoting... and demonstrates potential longevity of promotional item if something useful/practical is created for distribution. Nice.

Thanks to notcot #18,845.



I would love to go snowboarding... and Coolhunting's gear review for their recent trip to the Crested Butte mountain resort is pretty special.

I've always fancied a wee snowboard trip... and am intrigued to see if you could amass the right gear for such a trip from charityshops with the help of discount stores like TKMaxx and secondhand-me-downs. Hmmm...



Thanks to swissmiss for the heads up to this fab post by Emily Chang on getting things done using Twitter. Its a must read for inhabitants of the Twitterverse.

In closing... a couple of podcasts worth your time and attention:



First off, we have the fab Homebrewed Christianity podcast who have remembered Darwin's birthday. Always challenging in the best possible ways. Nice one guys.



I then have a cheeky wee plug for the Something Beautiful podcast with the second part of the Vanderburg's interview. I sat this one out. In fact, I sat it out in Nando's and Starbucks with Olly, the we'ans, Susan and Scott... and was grateful to Stewart for picking it up. I dread to think what insults and insinuations I have coming to me :-)

So yeah... that's me. Enjoy. Check the posts out and check out the source blogs too for further inspiration.

Freedom of Speech...

A couple of things have made me consider the freedom of speech within the UK today.

First off, we have Dutch politician Geert Wilders being banned from the UK.

We then have the story of Jasmine Cain and her so called "religious intolerance".

Both have distrubed me... because it seems the norm nowadays to silence people we don't agree with or at least discredit them. What also disturbs me is that Jasmine's mother is under disciplinary procedings because she spoke out against the situation and sought help from her church (someone from her church received her email and alerted the Head of Jasmine's school).

I believe in freedom of speech. I see it as a fundamental pillar in our society. We all have the right to believe/think what we want and to express what we believe/think in a manner that is respectful to others.

Please note that I say respectful to others... hatred is not acceptable.

Just as much as we should be free to express our opinion, we should have the freedom to challenge the beliefs/opinions of others. It is through debate and consensus... again, in a manner that is respectful to others.

Here I feel is the key to why I have been upset with these two random stories... where is the debate and where is the respect?

I have no desire for Geert Wilders' film to be shown but neither am I afraid of it. I believe Islam has been tarred by the brush of a few madmen and he is jumping on this with both feet... but then again, I can't fully form my opinion of his error because I haven't seen the film - the UK Government have, in essence, quashed any debate and have, singlehandedly, given the Far Right another martyr... another hero silenced by "the man".

Crazy ideas are shown up in the light of debate. That's the way to defeat the kind of nonsense and hate being spouted today. We need to educate and inform with evidence, not silence people because we don't agree with them.

As for Jasmine... what get's me is the comment from her Head:

"This is not an issue about Christianity, it is about religious intolerance."

No, sorry, this is about Christianity because it is the religion you are claiming to be intolerant. If you don't believe in the things Jasmine is speaking of then say so... say to the student she spoke to that this is one belief of which there are many. Do not tar a wee lassie with the "intolerant" brush just because you don't agree with her. Show her some respect... and don't silence her. Use her opinion as a point of discussion and talk through the various perspectives.

Oh and why is her parent being disciplined? For speaking out? For having concern for her child and expressing that to people who she thought could be trusted? That for me is the true disgrace here.

Personally, a we'an shouldn't be talking about hell... its out of context and is a scary idea. People shouldn't be scared into an understanding of God... people should be loved for who they are. In this regard, the wee lassie was wrong for what she said... but her treatment... the way she's been handled is an absolute disgrace.

Freedom of speech, it would seem, is only working for those people who wish to control the speech of others. Political correctness, when done in a respectful manner, does work... but in the way it is being exercised just now... it is a disgrace.