Moleskine City Blogs

This is a pretty cool idea... take the Moleskine City Notebooks and create a blogging space for the cities featured. The blogs are...

...are dedicated to the city, its travellers, residents and independent and free thinking people.

Each city blog features updates, curiosities, traveller experiences and links to other blogs and communities.

Check it out and enjoy. Already looked at the London one... in advance of Tuesday.

Check it out :: http://www.moleskinecity.com/

Thanks to Moleskinerie for the heads up.

Technorati Tags: moleskine

Unhappy!!!

My LaCie harddrive appears to be corrupt... you know... comes from a good family but has fallen in with the wrong crowd kind of corrupt... and I appear to have lost 50gb of music and over 100gb of movie files!

This is the second time this model of harddrive - the firewire extreme - has been problematic for me... and, of course, I should have learned from the first experience but I didn't and I don't have a back up. Arrrggghhhh!!!

The music is recoverable... and Olly has burnt most of the movies to DVD... but not all!

Anyone recommend recovery software / techniques / professionals?

Coming to London :: Part 2

Received confirmation today that my trip to London is ON... and what's more... I'm going to be staying over from Tuesday to Wednesday in the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Baker Street.

From the promo material on the website... the place looks really special.

But what's cooler is that I will be free to hook up with Roy and Johnny Laird (if we can sync our diaries) - Drop me a email, chaps, or leave a comment... and we'll hook up.

Sweet.

Technorati Tags: travel, London

7 from 8 :: S*N*A*C :: bellshill sa :: 10th Dec

Number 7 by NoiseHead
Number 8 by Claudecf

What do you get when you take 7 from 8? You get 1.

S*N*A*C this Sunday night will follow this theme... about the "1" Christmas is all about... and focus on advent :: 7 readings followed by 7 songs... with opportunity for prayer and response. No sermon... maybe some thoughts as the Spirit leads. Just fellowship with like-minded people... hopefully with minced pies. We will have a couple of soloists... and BLOC will play some songs. Should be good!

New Music :: Sutemos Live EP (Sutemos015)

Sutemos have released a fab 4 track "live" ep...

Although more than three weeks are left until Christmas we have decided to give you a little and surprising present. It is a release of impressive minimal, dub, idm music which virtual and free as always.

This Single for Sutemos is yet one more step further as it is the first time you can listen to probably the most popular minimal techno project from Russia SCSI-9 and famous German Monolake. Latter hasn't published none of his track on any net label so we are pleased to be the first.

Let us tell you a bit of history. Sutemos Live event series has already gained some speed. Apparat gave it a hot start and Plaid revealed the beauty. In a few weeks on December 15th this series will be continued by Monolake - German legend of minimal techno music. He has promised us to present his newest programm that will feature lots of tracks from his upcoming album.

In January 12th we are waiting for the guests from Russia SCSI-9 and Sleepy Town Manufacture. Both of them are bringing their fresh live sets. SCSI-9 are representatives of famous German Kompakt label it is a duo of two Russian DJs Anton Kubikov and Maxim Milutenko. They are know for the fans of minimal techno music for number of years. Their biggest success was three years ago when Force Tracks have released their second album Digital Russian. This spring their third album was released - The Line Of Nine. It is being praised as the best creation of SCSI-9 to date.

Another guest of the same party is Sleepy Town Manufacture (STM) who is probably the most active and famous Russian IDM artist. Since the foundation of Sutemos.net we have been working with this astonishing producer who has always been our faithful fan. He also told us that his appearance on all three parts of Intelligent Toys had more influence on his musical carrer than his other two albums. By the way in the end of December his third album Inspired By You will be released on Sutemos. This long matured peace of art is a real pretender for the title of the best IDM album of the year.

But that is not all. On 10th of February Sutemos Live will feature a long awaited guest from island of dreams Iceland. This guy is a real talent of minimal, dub and ambient music. I am sure you have already guessed that we are talking about Yagya. This summer he has released one of the best albums this year - Will I Dream During The Process.

Celebraiting these occasions Sutemos net label is releasing Sutemos Live EP that will present you the guests of all of three upcoming gigs. Here you will find 4 tracks (only one of these has been released previously) created by Monolake, SCSI-9, Sleepy Town Manufacture and Yagya. Bon Apetite!

Enjoy. I will.

Technorati Tags: netlabels, sutemos

A hardthought :: The Salvation Army in Second Life

Here's a hardthought for you :: there are 1,814,136 residents in second life of which 690,800 logged in within the last 60 days and 15,693 are logged on right now (well at least as I type) :: should the Salvation Army be a salt and light presence in this new world?

For everyone new to Second Life (which includes me) here's a bit of background ::

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,814,136 people from around the globe.

* From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

* You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.

* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online currency exchanges.

This interests me... and fires up the planting passion that I have. Imagine a Salvation Army corps or a Freeway style expression in Second Life. More importantly, think of the harvest that is ripe (if handled compassionately).

We have to think out of the box here... community is not necessarily physical! There is an opportunity to reach out to people who maybe are searching - Imagine running an Alpha course in Second Life, for example!?!

Church happens in Second Life... There is an authentic Catholic Mass (link) going on and here's someone asking a similar question (re church... not Army) back in October. In addition, living sounds is an actual online evangelical church . Wow!

There is an opportunity here... one we need to seriously consider.

A hardthought :: The Salvation Army in Second Life

Here's a hardthought for you :: there are 1,814,136 residents in second life of which 690,800 logged in within the last 60 days and 15,693 are logged on right now (well at least as I type) :: should the Salvation Army be a salt and light presence in this new world?

For everyone new to Second Life (which includes me) here's a bit of background ::

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,814,136 people from around the globe.

* From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

* You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.

* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online currency exchanges.

This interests me... and fires up the planting passion that I have. Imagine a Salvation Army corps or a Freeway style expression in Second Life. More importantly, think of the harvest that is ripe (if handled compassionately).

We have to think out of the box here... community is not necessarily physical! There is an opportunity to reach out to people who maybe are searching - Imagine running an Alpha course in Second Life, for example!?!

Church happens in Second Life... There is an authentic Catholic Mass (link) going on and here's someone asking a similar question (re church... not Army) back in October. In addition, living sounds is an actual online evangelical church . Wow!

There is an opportunity here... one we need to seriously consider.

A hardthought :: The Salvation Army in Second Life

Here's a hardthought for you :: there are 1,814,136 residents in second life of which 690,800 logged in within the last 60 days and 15,693 are logged on right now (well at least as I type) :: should the Salvation Army be a salt and light presence in this new world?

For everyone new to Second Life (which includes me) here's a bit of background ::

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 1,814,136 people from around the globe.

* From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

* You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.

* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online currency exchanges.

This interests me... and fires up the planting passion that I have. Imagine a Salvation Army corps or a Freeway style expression in Second Life. More importantly, think of the harvest that is ripe (if handled compassionately).

We have to think out of the box here... community is not necessarily physical! There is an opportunity to reach out to people who maybe are searching - Imagine running an Alpha course in Second Life, for example!?!

Church happens in Second Life... There is an authentic Catholic Mass (link) going on and here's someone asking a similar question (re church... not Army) back in October. In addition, living sounds is an actual online evangelical church . Wow!

There is an opportunity here... one we need to seriously consider.

Coming to London

I'm coming down to London next Tuesday (12th Dec) for an overnight :: anyone from the ol' nanolog community free to hang out.. to talk community and Jesus and church..?

Technorati Tags: london

Church restoration and healing the sick

Source: BBC

This disturbs me. The BBC reported today that

The Heritage Lottery Fund is celebrating 12 years of funding for religious buildings and monuments, which has seen an investment of £392m restore more than 2,600 places.

Let me get that straight... £392,000,000 (approx $775,700,000) (to restore churches / religious buildings / monuments etc.

In fact, the 18th-century organ (pictured above) of St Botolph's Church in London was restored to historical accuracy, with a £261,000 ($516,400) grant. Sorry... could you say that again..? £261,000!

According to HopeHIV, this is what it costs to make a difference in Africa:

* £10 can buy a month's meals for an extended orphan family or school fees for 1 month
* £25 can pay for a business training course for an older orphan
* £40 covers training and support for one foster parent or 1 year's supply of clothes for a South African orphan
* £60 allows a child to go on a 5 day Botswana Kids' Camp offering adventure activities, bereavement counselling, group work and psycho-social support
* £80 pays 1 month's salary for a teacher in Uganda
* £120 pays 1 month's salary for a counsellor or full training of a foster parent to earn an extra income
* £180 will pay for vocational training for an older orphan (e.g. tailoring, mechanics, dressmaking, farming, electrician, hairdressing) and set them up in business
* £600 covers a community parent's salary for a year
* £1200 pays for a children's nurse in a refugee camp in Uganda for a year

Let me put this into context please... £261,000 (the cost of restoring the organ) would provide:

* 26,100 orphan families with a meal for a month or school fees - or
* 10,440 orphans could attend a business training course - or
* 6,525 foster parents could receive training and support - or 6,525 orphans could have clothes for a year - or
* 4,350 children could go on a 5 day Botswana Kids' Camp - or
* 271 teachers in Uganda for 1 year - or
* 181 counsellors for a year - or the full training of 2,175 foster parents to earn an extra income - or
* 1,450 orphans could receive vocational training (e.g. tailoring, mechanics, dressmaking, farming, electrician, hairdressing) and set them up in business - or
* 435 community parents for 1 year - or
* 217 children's nurse in a refugee camp in Uganda for a year

This disturbs me. How can we be taken seriously as salt and light if we spend money on nonsense like this? I don't know the cost of anti-viral drugs... but think how many people could be helped with this kind of money.

What is wrong with this picture? Do we care more about 18th century crap than kids in Africa?

Think about it... and act as your conscience directs.