Here's a little paradox for you, courtesy of Basschat.

Conventional lightbulbs give off more heat than so-called Energy-Saving bulbs. Conventional bulbs supplement one's home heating requirements. 'Going green' requires that one replace the lost heat by consuming more gas. Gas is a finite resource, whereas electricity is a potentially renewable resource.

If Energy-Saving lightbulbs increase consumption of a finite resource, they do not save energy. They are therefore a paradox.

Enjoy.

Wanna be a pastor

An interesting post and just as significant, interesting comments afterward. From my good friend, Randall.

Read it here.

And in similar vein to the ebay post

THE best musical instrument review website on the planet has just 'fouled it's britches'. Harmony Central 2.0 is a non-functioning tram-smash, at least in opera on the Mac.

I'm not sure when they changed the site, although it must be sometime in the last 10 days, but it's not working. The HC2 site has been in beta since about October last year (they orignally announced the first beta about then, but it was such a complete failure of design that it was largely re-written between then and December, when it should have gone live. A re-build was always going to be a good idea, as it had never been designed originally to cope with a membership of 200,000+, but it's gone from a strong, striking site into a slightly bilious, bland mess.

I hope it can be salvaged. Last year when the members saw what was proposed there was huge upset, and it wasn't *just* because a change was on the way. I've not been on the forum since December '09, and I guess my membership won't have transferred to the new site.

As seen on ebay

IF U HAVE TO NO ANY THINK ELS JUST SEND A MESSAGE

CASH OR PAYPAL

IF U HAVE NO FEEDBACK DO NOT BID MASSAGE ME FIRST

This needs no comment.

Sabayon appears to still be working

Which is good.

Still can't transfer emails (which is bad).

Pretty sure Audio isn't working (bad)

Internet seems fast enough (good).

I think the KDE interface/text is crisper than Gnome. Having said that, I prefer the gnome pop-up menu system over menus that require you to click and scroll to navigate.

Sabayon's a lot slicker than Ubuntu (and the way you can handle all file formats etc is spot on) but task bar icons still seem slightly childish compared to classic windows or OSX.

Having run with this for 3 weeks, I'd feel slightly insecure with it if this were the only OS available, but I could certainly live with this if it were all that was available. That sounds damning, but it's real praise after all the shonky, broken, fuzzy, semi-functional Linux installs I've had over the last 5 years.

Certainly Sabayon has been the stand out distro ever since I discovered it. Open SUSE 11 KDE was pretty good, though fragile. Did look nice in it's green livery. I had an install of Mandriva Power version 2008 for a bit, and although it played DVDs and actually found some repositories (another curious failing of almost every distro was NEVER finding repositories) Open Office was broken (why, for heaven sakes?). Fedora looked quite nice too (I even use Fedora wallpaper on the Macbook) but it only had minimal functionality out of the box and all peripherals required purchasing a driver (often for £30ish). I couldn't bear to type much in Ubuntu, fonts are displayed so badly, and stuff doesn't work out of the box either. Mint was like a version of Ubuntu that someone had tried to polish, but it was fragile.

So here I sit, running the Linux box I always threatened to do, and mostly happy with it. I'm slightly tempted to do a fresh reinstall, ignore/turn off update notification and just install the apps I need to make it work for me.

Is it as good/better than XP?

The jury's out. My feeling is probably not, but it's 'good enough' right now.

We're in a curious place right now.

I seem to say that a lot.

But genuinely. Chris and I were talking this evening about the future and things going on, and I do think we're at a forking point. Neither fork is necessarily wrong, though 1 direction I'd see as failure more than t'other, but it's not entirely in our control to decide which path we shall be taking.

Blue pill or red pill?

Actually one pill is more grisly toad than blue or red, I suspect. We'll have to wait and see.

One thing Linux definitely does better than XP

Is audio processing.

The PC downstairs is faster & has a quicker HDD but has only 2 Gb (DDR3) RAM. The Linux box has 4Gb (DDR2) and a slower HDD. The file being processed is no more than 100Mb, so RAM shouldn't make much difference.

Curious.

I seem to be getting better

the throat is still sore, neck tender & glands swollen, but I can control body temperature and don't feel like the world is at one end of a long pipe and I'm at the other and best of all, I don't feel sick at the sight of food.

This may amuse some.

Who should you vote for? UK General Election quiz

Labour				37
Liberal Democrat				16
Conservative				13
UK Independence	-2
Green	-9

You expected: CON

Your recommendation: Labour

Click here for more details about these results

It's only a 'net quiz. Don't anyone take it too seriously.

Update to the Linux install

I've had Sabayon 5.2 on the upstairs PC for a couple of weeks now. Initial experience was mostly good: everything worked, although Firefox had some odd glitches, and speedwise it was somewhere between XP and Vista - about the same as OSX. I got Thunderbird installed, though I've still not managed to transfer a single email or contact.

Then came the updates.

And there were a lot. Enough to nearly match even Apple's gigabyte size downloads.

Then stuff stopped working.

First the time couldn't be reset.

Then audio disappeared.

Next the wireless network became patchy and slow.

Finally the ability to update was lost (oh the irony!) when it could no longer connect to the update repositories.

Each update and iteration has progressively broken the system a bit more. I know of no way to undo the updates either, other than a clean install. On a forum on one of the linux websites someone commented about not updating because people try things with the code that can and do trash machines. This wasn't that extreme, but it will still be easier to just reinstall than dig around hoping for a fix. The downer is that because everything gets installed directly there are no files to save and then reinstall later from CD/memory stick, so it has to be downloaded again.

Ho hum.

Might try the gnome desktop of 5.2 this time too, just to see if it really is a less sharp interface.

I had all these thoughts earlier

And no time to publish.

Now, like the morning mist, they've just got fainter and fainter until there's nothing but a faint haze of what might have been written, hanging there unreadable in the back of my head.

Sorted

I can barely type anything sensible today, but somehow I've I've sorted out a (reasonably affordable) bass amp and cab. The cab needs to be collected from Milton Keynes, the amp will ship.

Wattage required for bass is daft - the lower the frequency, the more power is required to drive the note. In Heyford Park chapel, when I played last autumn and it got a bit loud I was probably using around 4-5 watts through a 1X12 cab, and turning up the (15 watt) amp to half almost made the floor shake. Playing bass, I was having to work the 45 watt amp hard to actually hear myself over the (very quiet) lass playing drums.

The new amp is a well gigged 350 watt Hartke head, about 3 years old. It's been through the cosmetic wars a bit, having just come back from a tour, but is really good value. Certainly not top end, but probably better than an Ashdown MAG (I keep reading about how they can burst into flames) or budget Trace. I also have an old Carlsbro 1X15 cab coming. It isn't pretty, but it was VERY cheap, and is large enough that I should get some serious low end and be able to fill the hall, but gently. At some stage I may need to add a 2X10 for a bit more punch, but we'll see.

I woke up this morning

with a lump in mah throat.

That should be the start of a great blues song. Unfortunately I seem to have caught something miserable of the infectious variety instead, and have experienced the pleasures of that sensation where the world gradually closes in on me while staying exactly where it always was. Limbs ache, I'm shivering and fuzzy headed, but at least my nose isn't running!

Always look on the bright side.

*edit*
This wasn't 'ideal'. Temperature out of control, shivers and flares, can't swallow properly, sore joints. Looks like manflu has arrived in force.

After all the 'let's have Delirious? for No.1' stuff.

I've 'borrowed' this comparison from a thread on HMI. It probably breaks copyleft. (shrug)

When I survey the wondrous cross
on which the Prince of Glory died;
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See, from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts 1674-1748

AND

Is it true today that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break
Kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

Is it true today that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise
And the blind set free
Yes it's true and I believe it
I'm living for you

I'm gonna be a history maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again
Into your arms, into your arms again

Well it's true today that when people stand
With the fire of God, and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
We're living for you

Written by Martin Smith �1996 Curious? Music UK

My feeling is that after seeing this one might consider reclaiming Christmas with Sir Cliff's Mistltoe and Wine. As for History Makers, it probably sounds great on record or sung in a stadium full of people with their arms in the air. Somehow I struggle to see it as particularly anything, really, Christian or otherwise.

Ikea sells things with funny names.

Probably most people realise that.

I've idly wondered whether they have a naming dept. along with marketing, design, purchasing etc. Maybe they just get the designers to name their products?

But however they do it, they seem to have some odd rules about it.

For certain things, the name must indicate (or at least hint) at what it's for, while for others it absolutely must not. Sometimes the name is just funny, like the floor protector we just installed to save the poor old livingroom carpet from the computer chair.

It's called KOLON.

Imagine, just for a moment, if everything was named in a way that hinted at the use, in a Swedishly international manner.

Thus alongside the ORDNING cutlery system and PLASTIS washing up gloves they sold the HAKKEM range of knives.

In bedroom textiles they already have the delightfully named ALVINE VÅG to go alongside the BIBBY SNIRR quilt cover, but how about a SNUGGA VARN throw or FEADA range of pillows.

They do a half sized mirror called GODMORGON and a shaving mirror that's FRÄCK. Maybe they need a full sized dressing mirror called CHOCOLA BOTLARJ?

The possibilities are endless.

Nothing that can be reported here

Life goes on. Went to Ikea, then Brackley, then lunch, then snooze, then leveled the frets on a bass and set it up, then dinner, soon bed.

The bass plays much nicer though, and suddenly I might find I like precision types after all.

Still need a new amp.

It's 2.13am

I seem to be having nerve troubles in my left arm, and can't find a position in bed where it doesn't ache. That and I have a bunch of stuff whirling round in my head that won't go away. How many times does one have to keep bringing issues and hurts back to the cross before they go away (the answer seems to be a larger number than I've tried).

So here I sit (and I'm tempted to complete the limerick "broken hearted....." but good taste prevents me). I've got 'The Graduate' on DVD upstairs, and it's a classic film & a bit of (nasty) culture, so I might try to finish it. I did start, but it was painfully, embarrassingly uncomfortable to watch in the same way that Laurel and Hardy is. However I'm not sure I can bear that much awkwardness. The photography however is really quite special, and a lot of thought was obviously put in, rather than just filming it as a straight drama cum sit-com.

*edit*
Yep, it's seriously embarrassing further in too, but I'd not remembered the ending properly - at least it's happy.

So here I sit. Looks like today will be a wash out.

Oh, it seems I DO need a new bass amp. The 'freebie' I was kindly donated popped tonight, and is no longer operational. Ho hum. Anybody want to buy a Heritage H150CM 'Les Paul'?

Oh, one last thing.

Anyone know where the 'Thunderbird' profile lives in Linux? I've managed to install it OK (the menu link went into 'office' instead of 'internet' - yep, really) but the profile (or any of the software) doesn't appear in the Home directory like the online instructions tell me it does. I'd like to attempt to move across all my emails and settings & with that done the migration will be near enough complete for it to replace this winbox. Even managed to edit some audio using Audacity this evening.

So I wanted to ride tonight.

It's about 6'C, blowing so hard that I needed to use the middle ring, middle gear on the flat and the air has water in it too. Hands and ears aching despite the gloves and hat.

That's probably almost summer weather to my good Canadian friends, but it sure feels like winter to me.

I've been really tired since Thursday

But not particularly sleepy at night.

:P

Never mind.

Went upstairs around 10ish, sat down and played acoustic guitar for 20 minutes - now I KNOW I'm ill - acoustic guitar is 'not my favourite'. Having had enough there, wen and played a strat for another 30 min or so, just running through some minor turn arounds, blues riffs, a little 10cc etc, seeing where things have developed to after almost 3 months of bass playing.

Holding that strat is like having your wife in your hands - it feels great and fits well. I'll stop the metaphor here! There's a reason it's still a fave guitar, and all the stuff that didn't quite work on acoustic just fell into place.

I'm really grateful for the lovely instruments I've been able to own. p.s. anybody want to buy my Heritage Les Paul so I can afford a good bass amp?

OK, so I'm old now.

And to prove it, I like listening to BBC radio 4.

A lot*.

They've done quire a lot of programs covering neurobiology, development and learning recently, and this morning they were talking about learning processes. As part of the introduction to the program, the presenter made a number of 'throw away' comments about the wrong understanding we have regarding use of the brain. Apparently the idea that we only use 10% of our brains is wrong (despite any evidence to the contrary from some quarters) and likewise the idea of being 'left' or 'right' brained.

I have no data, and TBH, neurobiology papers tend to be intensely boring, some there's no enthusiasm to go looking for references backing up or refuting this either. But I do wonder how such stories make it into popular culture.

*But not the radio plays or soaps - ESPECIALLY not the Archers - a complete waste of radio bandwidth and broadcasting funds IMO.

You know that song?

You know: the one with the line that sounds like Gary's a driver or Mike's a mechanic?

Do you mean REM's Calling Jamaica? The one where it sounds like they keep singing 'Collin's a baker'?

Oh, yes, that's the one.

(precis from a conversation this morning).

After successfully installing Sabayon 5.1 Gnome

Today I downloaded Sabayon 5.2 KDE (had no idea there was a new revision already*).

I'm not sure whether it's the difference between KDE and Gnome, whether they've updated the drivers between versions or even if this is the effect of a better colour scheme (nah, not that) but this one looks really stunning, even on a budget 19" 1440 X 900 flat panel monitor. Screen fonts are good, images sharp (it's not just me - I can see the pixellation failure on the .jpg in the post below) and it *feels* really swish.

It doesn't have a *professional* feeling to it, like a Microsoft product, but it does have that kind of niceness and sense of invitation that Macs used to own and do no longer. Bet it's a dozen times harder to learn how to use well than a Mac though, but that's all part of the Linux experience too. Considering I'm running off a live CD, this is really crisp and responsive. Unlike the Gnome 5.1, this didn't automatically connect to the wireless downstairs, but once I managed to get the network manager open (requires digging) told it to search for a network, then told it to connect it worked fine.

Think I'm about to nuke my install of 5.1 in favour of this version. May go back for one last comparative look to convince myself. Looks like the day of me living off a linux box (and making a donation) is getting closer. May even have to learn Wine.

*the reason I didn't know is because it was posted TODAY and the press release wasn't up on their site until this evening. I must have been one of the first to download it, having found it on the mirror, but not taken any notice of the date. Now how cool is that!

This blog is somewhere north

of 2000 posts now.

That means I've blathered quite a lot, over the last almost 7 years.

There is a bit going on under the surface, but I'm not going to talk about it right now. Instead, here's a picture of someone else's spectacular achievement: Richard Branson's Spaceship 2.

It's a funny experience

doing the Linux thing.

Here I am, upstairs, having just done *yet another* rebuild with a fresh flavour this evening. I'd heard good reports of Ubuntu 10.04 M3, so downloaded and gave it a try. Crash city. Neither Ubuntu 9.10, nor Sabayon 5.0 would recognise my Tenda USB wireless network connector - odd because I'm sure 9.10 recognised it previously.

One of the older HDDs was getting a bit flakey anyway, so I pulled it out and popped another drive in. This time wiped and did a fresh install of Sabayon 5.10 (bundled with lots of 3D games (theoretically great!) but also with a Gnome desktop (not so great - I prefer KDE). Couldn't get it to reconise the Tenda USB wireless again (and Gnome had hidden whatever it uses for a hardware manager somewhere, so I can use an NDIS wrapper on the win driver!).

On the off chance I popped into Ben's room and borrowed the 'old' Netgear wireless stick. Popped it in, HDD makes noises, light starts flickering, then the networking icon changed and suddenly it's connected.

Why am I up here?

Ben's PC has 'fried' (maybe) it's PSU, and since he can't live without either watching a DVD or being online, he's watching Oceans 11 with Chris downstairs. I'm up here, installing, fiddling and reading a book while stuff loads. I'd hoped for some practice time on Bass downstairs this evening, but the way things have panned out it's not happening. Oh well, tomorrow night will have to do.

*edit*
wonders will never cease apparently! Not only has the package manager found there are new package updates available, but it's actually connected to the repository, and is downloading them now. Last time that ever worked for me was with the power edition of Mandriva 2008. Ubuntu has never been successful, and it's one of the reasons (I reckon) why Ubuntu studio was a failure for me

The art of improvising bass

is anticipation - planning for what's coming next.

The more bass I listen to, the more I realise that bass actually leads the chord progression, introducing the chord changes and anticipating where the melody is going to go. Obviously that's not true for all styles, but as a rule of thumb (pun not intended this time) it works.

It also seems that finger style playing is essential for some styles of music, with widely spaces jumps between notes requiring an agility between strings that doesn't suit a pick. I don't see this as transferring to guitar, and I'm not a fan of finger style there myself (though it can sound effective sometimes) but it is good to be learning new stuff.

For better or worse

I've just booked our flights.

Lesvos, here we come.

"We shouldn't divorce ourselves from marriage"

An interesting guest editorial in The Times by Alice Thompson. It is good that the value of marriage is recognised in a secular context.

Moral maze - what would you do if.....

What would you do if your country had been taken over by a hostile power, when that hostile power had a revolution a couple of years ago, and was now being invaded by another country that was at war with your invaders?

It would be natural to side with the new invaders, right? They might liberate your country (and especially they might promise you sovereignty after the war.

This is the situation that Latvia found itself in when Nazi Germany invaded, fighting Russia. Could you find yourself on the same side as those you might otherwise find morally repugnant?

Service may get

a little patchier in the next couple of weeks.

We've finally started getting space again in Sarah's room, and hopefully it can become Chris's long-promised office instead of a place for storing amps, guitars and training weights. When that happens this computer will relocate upstairs and I'll reinstate the old one, but running linux.

It may prove to be tricky migrating emails, pass-worded accounts etc, in which case there may be some delay on emails, facebook etc. We'll have to wait and see.

I know this much - it'll certainly reduce the enthusiasm with which this one gets borrowed by Ben, instead of booting up his PC in the morning.

Just done a little tweaking of the links

This isn't a put down of anyone, so much a reflection of my browsing habbits. Also some blogs haven't been updated in >1 year, but I live in hope that their owners will return from the scourge of facebook some day.