General Tech – Page 7

Ten Uplifting Songs To Make Your Day

October 29, 2014 by Editor Leave a Comment

We all have bad days, weeks or months, and sometimes we turn to music to try and give us a bit of a boost. Music is such an individual thing, but I thought I’d share ten songs that may give you some much needed positivity in an otherwise crap day. Enjoy:

The Pogues – Ghost of a Smile

The Waterboys – Spirit

Architecture in Helsinki – Desert Island

Patti Smith – April Fool

Paul Kelly – Beautiful Feeling

Finn Brothers – Won’t Give In

Tracy Chapman – Sing For You

Yusuf Islam – Midday (Avoid City After Dark)

The Panics – Majesty

My Friend The Chocolate Cake – I’ve Got A Plan

Filed Under: General Tech, Music

The Walking Dead – Season Five – Episode 1 – “No Sanctuary” Review

October 16, 2014 by Sean Robinson Leave a Comment

One of my main complaints of The Walking Dead, that I have touched upon in these reviews, is its ability to remain incredibly stagnant at times. The first episode of the entire series showed such promise when it aired – it wasn’t particularly explosive, didn’t feature any melodrama, but it was focused and it showed progress – both literal and emotional. This would quickly dissipate as the show found itself stuck in its first rut in Hershel’s farm during season two, and then again for much of the prison time during seasons three and four. Last season’s finale seemed poised to place our heroes in another round of stagnation – I fully expected the gang to be trapped at Terminus for at least four episodes, complete with poor character decisions (ala Andrea), killing any tension we had in the first place.

I think it’s safe to say that “No Sanctuary” proved me wrong, showing that maybe this show is able to get itself back on track, and providing one of the most satisfying episodes since the premiere.

The big thing is how quickly the show dealt with Terminus. Rick and the gang weren’t kidding when he said that he “screwed with the wrong people”. For a moment there, I was sure that we were going to lose one of our main cast to the butchers (instead we lost a bleached blond Robin Lord Taylor, who can now be found as The Penguin over on Gotham). Thanks to that damn bureaucracy, we were spared the details of a gruesome death. Sure, it’s silly and it did play off a bit cheesy, but damn was it tense.

The moment when the leader (Gareth?) walks into the room nonchalantly asking about bullets as if he was asking for tax forms was great. I’m always impressed at how the show can handle different societies in this world, and while this one seems like they have the organisation down pat, they still are cannibals, and that is incredibly creepy.

This is of course tying into the overarching theme – “What would you do to survive?” It’s obvious that the Terminus people find themselves as a necessary evil, and their grand acts of cannibalism solidify them as part of the evil camp, no matter how much a crazy lady tries to tell Carol otherwise (and we will get to Carol in a minute). Sure, this theme is repeated time and time again with nothing particularly interesting coming out of it – the writers have seemed to place Rick as the go-to guy for the “right way”. They were suitably creepy in how much they were able to justify it, and it was a fun little detour. It did bring up an interesting exchange when Rick was so dead set on returning to pick off the survivors, but of course Carol re-appearing was bound to throw a spanner in those works.

And wow, did Carol throw a spanner in some bigger works too. Carol moving with the herd was incredibly cool – it shows that the writers still haven’t fail to impress on that front – but it also continues to show how far this character has moved. Again, and I really can’t say this enough, Carol is a shining example of how to write a character arc – especially in a show devoid of them. Melissa McBride sells this transition, and she was a saving grace in plenty of melodramatic moments last season.

Coming back to Rick’s plans to return – hey writers, please continue down that path. Angry Rick is a million times more interesting than the Rick we have been seeing, and I would love to see this avenue explored more. Judith being back in his arms could potentially be a problem for that line of thought, but it would be nice to have at least someone call him out on the behaviour he has been showing for the past two episodes.

The Walking Dead has a habit of starting out really strong, and ending really well, it just tends to have a lull in the middle. But – the show has never started a season as well as this, not since the first season at least. Lets hope that this season can capture the magic of a show that began with such incredible promise all those years ago.

(Quite) a few observations

Welcome back to my Walking Dead reviews! Hopefully I will be a bit more onto it with regular coverage this season, but excuse me if I miss a week here and there. This is also a fairly dense episode so I will have a bit more here at the end.
The Daryl/Carol and Judith/Carl/Rick moments were a much better handling of the matter than anything that occurred between Maggie and Glen last season. No matter how much flashy lighting and edits that the show could throw at me, those two could not act out the return the way Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride sold their reunion. Plus the Rick/Judith moment was so unbelievably emotional I teared up a bit.
Carol moving through Terminus was wonderfully shot, and the lack of dialogue lent to a more ghostly feel. The visual “show, don’t tell” is something this show has handled well, and it made for a dense, but subtle experience.
Gareth has to come back. He was shot in a fairly obscure way, and no way would they build a flashback around a character they were going to kill off in the first hour. the flashback was decently done, if only to show that these characters thought (and justified) that they had no other choice.
Tyrese and Dickhead-who-won’t-shut-up were okay, if for another tense and scary moment where Dickhead almost killed Judith. I could have done without it, but that scene made up for the rest of them.
Zombie of the Week: I probably have to go with the Butcher Zombie when Rick let him turn. What a wonderfully creepy image.
Zombie Kill of the Week: The propane tank explosion – I mean come on, not only was it scientifically accurate
Next week: Looks like we gonna take your ass to church, and Morgan!

Filed Under: General Tech, TV Tagged With: the walking dead, TV

Australia: You Can Patent Breast Cancer Genes

September 5, 2014 by Editor Leave a Comment

Isn’t this the sort of stuff patents should apply to?

A fascinating decision by the Federal Court of Australia this week, that will have some significant implications for research in coming years.

The full bench of the Federal Court of Australia has ruled that private companies do have the right to control human genes. The court upheld a decision from February 2013 that ruled patents on breast cancer genes were valid, because the method of isolating the gene created something new and could therefore be patented.

The reaction has been fairly swift from both the legal and scientific sectors.

Dr Luigi Palombi, a patent lawyer and Adjunct Professor in the School of Law at Murdoch University: “The decision ignores the bedrock principle of 400 years of patent law. Only an invention can be the subject of a patent. The decision ignores the scientific facts. It ignores good policy. And it ignores common sense. Australian ingenuity in the biological sciences is now handcuffed by this decision.”

Dr Palombi also questioned the inconsistencies at an international level:

“How is it possible that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously came to the exact opposite result in only three months? Despite the attempt by the Full Federal Court to try and differentiate the precise claims between the Australian and U.S. patents that Myriad has over the BRCA 1 genetic mutations, the so-called invention is the same.”

This inconsistency has ramifications for local researchers as well :

“At the end of the day, the Australian patent claims pieces of genetic material (BRCA 1 gene mutations) extracted from the human body are an ‘invention’. How is that something anyone invented? American scientists, universities and companies now have the freedom to ignore patents over isolated biological materials that are not ‘markedly different to any found in nature’, but Australian scientists, universities and companies cannot. This decision reinforces the need for the Australian parliament to change patent law in Australia.”

Paul Grogan, Director of Advocacy at Cancer Council Australia, sees legislative change as being required:

“Given the unanimous Federal Court ruling is an interpretation of Australian law, the law itself needs to change to protect healthcare consumers from gene monopolies … The patents system should reward innovation and help deliver affordable healthcare, not stymie research and increase costs by allowing commercial entities to control the use of human genetic materials.”

I find it hard to disagree with either men – what’s your take?

[Release originally via Australian Science Media Centre]

Filed Under: General Tech, Science Tagged With: breast cancer, genes, legal

Bruce Springsteen Gets His Own Academic Journal

August 19, 2014 by Editor Leave a Comment

No, it’s not a joke – McGill University have launched an academic journal devoted purely to the work of Bruce Springsteen. The brief is to publish scholarly works looking closely at Springsteen’s creative output in context of wider society.

The first issue is available for free now, and here’s an example of one article’s title and abstract:

SPRINGSTEEN AS DEVELOPMENTAL THERAPIST: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY

Based on differing theories of moral development proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg, Martin Hoffman, and John Gibbs, this paper posits that listening to Bruce Springsteen’s music can increase moral growth. Scores of Springsteen songs parallel psychological techniques used to increase moral development, such as being exposed to two or more beliefs that are contradictory, social perspective-taking by listening to moral dilemmas, gaining empathy with the distress that another person experiences, hypothetical contemplation, and meta-ethical reflection. Through qualitative-based autoethnographical storytelling, the author outlines how his moral development was enabled through such Springsteen songs as “Factory,” “Highway Patrolman,” “Independence Day,” “Johnny 99,” and “Used Cars,” as well as two self-disclosures from Springsteen’s Live 1975-85 album.

It’s easy to scoff, but hell if anyone has observed the progress of life in the USA over the past forty years, it’s Bruce Springsteen. I wouldn’t say no to a PhD in Springsteenology. Would you?

Filed Under: General Tech, Music Tagged With: Bruce Springsteen

Album Review: The Empty Hearts

August 14, 2014 by Editor 1 Comment

A rock band is a machine. It’s a totally unoriginal analogy, but powerful all the same. There’s a bunch of moving parts and when things are running well, a band can feel like it could go into perpetual motion. This is particularly the case where you have each member coming into the project with a decade or four of experience under their belt and a willingness to leave egos locked in the bathroom, if not at the door.
This appears to have occurred with The Empty Hearts. Consisting of industry veterans Wally Palmar (The Romantics), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Andy Babiuk (Chesterfield Kings) and Clem Burke (Blondie), their debut album is as polished as you’d expect, but there’s more to it than that. The agreed approach within the band was to recreate a time where playing music was plain fun, and to use the vintage gear at their disposal to achieve it. Which I’d argue they’ve done in spades.

The self-titled album contains twelve tracks and it’s driving rock from start to finish except for the Petty-esque I Found You Again, but even then the tempo doesn’t drop that far. Picking highlights is always fraught with danger, but the opener and Soul Deep stood out for me. I know it’s somewhat of an anachronism, but picking favourites is a little trite here, as this is an all-too-rare album experience. I’d actually make a plea to The Empty Hearts: get this album out on vinyl. Now.

For the older listeners amongst us, there’s going to be occasions of hearing The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones to name three, but the songs are well and truly strong enough to make it a pleasurable comparison on style rather than any concerns on being derivative. They’ve set out to recreate a period in time and have done it in stunning measure. The keyboard work of Ian McLagan (The Faces) also deserves a shout-out for the too infrequent times it appears on the album.

This is an album that any fan of rock is going to enjoy. I tend to judge a rock album on its ability to put out the feeling of that well oiled rock machine working for all the right reasons, and that’s exactly what The Empty Hearts have done. You’d hope they’re planning on touring in support of this release, as they could play the twelve songs in album order and bring the house down, let alone anything else in their repertoire.

Have a taste of some of the songs:

Filed Under: General Tech, Music, Music-related Tagged With: The Empty Hearts

How To Block YouTube on iPad and iPhone

July 14, 2014 by Editor 3 Comments

Here’s a little tip for those parents who have enabled restrictions on their kids’ devices, but still find that YouTube is accessible. I’m assuming you’ve already set up restrictions (under Settings > General > Restrictions).

The next step is to tap on ‘Add a Website’ under ‘Never Allow’. The trick here is to enter both the normal YouTube URL (http://www.youtube.com) and the mobile site URL (http://m.youtube.com), as most times your iPad or iPhone will access the mobile site.
Here’s a pic of the setting correctly entered:

The same of course applied to other sites that have a mobile version. To determine the URL for a mobile version, just tap once in the URL bar of Safari once the site has loaded, and you’ll be able to see the full URL.

Hope that helps you a little.

Filed Under: General Tech, General Tech Tagged With: ipad restrictions, iphone restrictions, youtube blocking

From The Vault: A 2005 Interview With Brian Canham

July 12, 2014 by Editor Leave a Comment

Back in 2005 I had the opportunity to interview Brian Canham on everything music technology. It was meant for Australian Macworld magazine, but I’d obviously not communicated that clearly, as Brian wasn’t a Mac user at the time. The interview was unable to be used, and has sat in my email inbox the past nine years.

Psuedo Echo launched a new album in April called Ultraviolet (get it here) but I only discovered the fact this week. It reminded me of the shelved interview. So here it is in full. Enjoy!

DH: You’ve been heavily involved in music composition and production for nigh on 25 years now. What’s changed in your approach to creating music over that time?

Brian: I guess these days I am a lot more analytical … and having the benefit of hindsight I like to have a “vehicle” in mind first. The home computer & music software have been the biggest changes in creation for me. Now being able to be completely self sufficient means I can produce a finished product without the limitations of a budget. Time permitting of course….

DH: A lot of readers will primarily know you as the front-man of Pseudo Echo. All your albums relied heavily on technology, none more so than “Love and Adventure”. Can you describe what technology you had at your disposal when making that album?

Brian: Love An Adventure was demoed quite modestly on a cheap (even for the time) analogue 4 track recorder (Akai..?), though we had some nice keyboards e.g. Roland JP8, Yamaha DX7 & RX Drum machine, Korg Poly61. But once actually in the studio (Platinum – aka Sing Sing 3, Melb.), there was no expense spared. We recorded & mixed on an SSL 56 channel console, with up to 3 24 channel Studers synced together.

Additional keyboards used were: PPG Wave terminal, Fairlight, Roland MKS-80 & JX3P, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 & Pro 1. Oberheim OB8, as well as an Oberheim DMX, Roland 808 drum machines, and the famous Simmons electronic drum kit.

Outboard gear (FX) we made heavy use of the prestigeous AMS rack units, dominantly the delay which could be used as a sampler (since this was just pre-sampler keyboards). Also units like the legendary Lexicon reverb, as well as banks of Roland, Yamaha & Korg digital delays, verbs and choruses.

Guitars were fairly conventional, as were traditional string sections (MSO), and brass.

DH: Stepping forward a decade, you were pivotal in the success of Aussie rock group Chocolate Starfish. How did your approach change when producing the two albums for them?

Brian: Basically substituted all of my keyboard production ideas for guitars! Ironically, I recorded both Starfish albums at the old 301 Studios on an old valve Neve console – the very same one that we recorded Pseudo Echo’s debut album on!

The preproduction wasn’t as seperated from the actual recording stage with Starfish, and I worked through all of the parts, sounds, and vocals with all of the guys in the band, whereas with Pseudo it was basically two of us writing, pre-producing, programing etc. Then virtually just pushing the “go” button once in the studio.

DH: Your latest project Origene, is a different ballgame again for you musically. How did it come together and what would you like it to achieve?

Brian: It’s weird because Origene almost feels like Pseudo Echo again, except without me having to be in the limelight – 2 of us in the studio together, writing , programming, recording etc. Though one main difference these days with Origrene is that the writing , recording, mixing etc becomes one big blurred process, as opposed to distinctive processes.

We pretty much are mixing all the way, from the first drum groove we lay down, so we sometimes spend as much as a month or so mixing a track compared to the old school way of mixing a song a day ( or two days if you’re lucky ).

Musically I play keyboards with Origene, though Ben Grayson will play all the tricky technical stuff since he IS actually a wiz bang player!

We are currently on the verge of signing a new record deal directly for the US, Europe, and possibly Japan, so I’d like to see our dream come to reality and do a complete album of pure indulgence, not just stomping club tunes.

I’d really love to pick up where we left of last year with OS touring too. Hopefully this year we’ll get to tour the NY club scene as was planned.

DH: When did computers first become a creative tool for you, and do you remember what model it was?

Brian: Well I bought my fisrt computer solely for music early in the 90s. It was an Atari 1040ST

DH: What software do you use currently use to create music, and why have you chosen it?

Brian: I use Steinberg’s Cubase SX, since I started off using the original Cubase (version 2 ) over ten years ago when it was just a high end midi sequencer.

I was introduced to it by a musician friend (Chong Lim), who showed me how intuitive it was to use and basically sold me on it. I’ve never looked back. I have grown with the program over a decade and now use it to write, program sounds, record, and mix, from start to finish with final release quality.

DH: What are your thoughts on digital music downloads, including operations like the iTunes Music Store?

Brian: Something has got to give. I mean, I’m all for technology advancements but hopefully there will someday be a happy medium, where consumer and artist are both happy, though the BIG corporates may not be so..

DH: What do you hope to achieve musically in the next five years?

Brian: Would ultimately like to score a film, with mixed modern/traditional approach. Develop my own record label, and make my mark in A&R development, finding “real” artists, and music.

Filed Under: General Tech, Music Tagged With: brian canham, pseudo echo

Review: The Jet Lag Monologues

June 19, 2014 by Editor 1 Comment

Innovation in live theatre is about as common as spontaneity in parliamentary oratory, so I’m pleased to report that The Jet Lag Monologues is an uncommon beast indeed. Sure, four blokes behind microphones reading excerpts from Bob Carrs’s Diary of a Foreign Minister doesn’t scream ingenuity, but it was the fusion of fresh material, minimal rehearsal and four striking voices that make it eighty plus minutes of substantive entertainment.

The four performers (Bob Carr, Bob Ellis, Terry Clarke and Jonathan Biggins) manage to create a believable conglomeration of Carr’s narration in the book – no mean feat given Carr himself is one of the ensemble. Biggins’ Keating deserves its own show, the single sentence delivered in his voice providing one of the night’s most humourous moments. His Rudd impression was more than respectable as well – perhaps a Rudd / Keating one-man show should be in the offing? Clarke’s understated but emphatic delivery provided some welcome shade in parts, and Ellis’ Kissinger was very well received. Carr’s work achieved its expected qualities: sonorous and authoritative, with some wry humour injected at key junctures. If I were to find fault at all, it would be that some of the representations of Carr interlocutors from Indonesia, China, the US and Europe teetered on the edge of stereotype at times, but I believe they managed to avoid falling completely into that trap.

Bob Ellis’ curation of key passages into an engaging narrative deserves praise, something Carr himself was effusive with at the conclusion of the night. Diary of a Foreign Minister provides some wide-ranging material that could be difficult to wrangle, but Ellis has managed to create a coherent narrative that entertains throughout. The relationship with the United States, the dinners and Bohemian Grove retreat with Henry Kissinger, the showdown with Julia Gillard over Palestine and the finality of death are all interwoven effectively. It is also worth noting that the audience wasn’t uniform in its response to some of the perspectives presented, which in itself lends weight to the quality of the material’s presentation. There were intermittent mumblings I took to be disagreements with assertions made, and one passionate Gillard supporter made her feelings very clearly known after the show had concluded, shouting her displeasure at Carr’s decision to back Kevin Rudd in the 2013 leadership ballot. That aside, the level of engagement with the material was very high, and the standing ovation from half those present gave an indication to the majority’s appreciation.

The Jet Lag Monologues on its first outing should be deemed a success, and I’d be surprised if there aren’t encore performances. Its uniqueness is in its disinterest in everything but providing a respectable but humorously outfitted vehicle from which to view Bob Carr’s ride through what is likely the most memorable eighteen months of his life. If you enjoy political biography, humorous interplay between four experienced orators, less than stellar but effective singing in well judged moments and a healthy dose of literary and philosophical references, then start lobbying for a further staging.

Filed Under: General Tech, Literature Tagged With: bob carr, bob ellis, jonathan biggins, terry clarke

A New Model For Online Journalism: Nanotransactions

June 19, 2014 by Editor Leave a Comment

For those who write for online publications, the issue of payment and financial viability of online publications is one that’s not going to go away in a hurry. One Australian journalist has developed a great idea to potentially solve the issue, and both publishers and writers bear the fruit.

Here’s the overview:

As both a publisher and freelance writer for a range of print and online publications, this model makes huge sense to me. As a reader, it also finds a nice balance between a desire to pay for content and being able to afford to pay for it. The option to receive payments for republishing content is probably the most interesting part of the whole model and would solve another longstanding issue.

The team at Nanotransactions are looking for funding, so go have a look in more detail at what they’re offering.

What’s your take?
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Filed Under: Business, General Tech Tagged With: journalism, microfinance, nanotransactions

Ten Great Game Of Thrones Theme Covers

June 15, 2014 by Editor Leave a Comment

With Season 4 wrapping up, I thought it was worth highlighting a few great cover versions of the Game of Thrones Theme. Enjoy!

This one is so close to the original you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference during the first minute or so, then it branches off into something pretty amazing: