Acer Aspire One + OpenSolaris 2009.6 = a great combination.

It's been rather too long since my last post, so here's another quick MS Windows-alternative related update.

I've been running an excellent Acer Aspire One since January, which I've tried a number of Linux distributions on. I pretty much settled for Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix, but decided last week to try OpenSolaris 2009.06 preview (build 111a). I've always been a fan of OpenSolaris' beautiful Gnome themed desktop, plus the feeling that it's a fully integrated Desktop. However, it's always fallen short, for me at least, on hardware support. Even the most recent official release will not even recognise the network card on my desktop PC - crazy!

Well, a huge amount of work must have gone into the latest builds of OpenSolaris, as, out of the box, everything works perfectly on my Aspire One, and even though I'm running a 'preview' release, the desktop is extremely stable, and very attractive. I'll be installing the official release when it comes out in June, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting an attractive Ubuntu alternative.


Thanks for reading,
Nick

B&W digital photography

I've been enjoying the BBC's 'Genius of Photography' series currently airing in the UK. Yesterday's covered some fantastic B&W photographs from the mid 20th century, which inspired me to try to get some similar effects from my modern-day Lumix FZ-28.

Previous attempts to achieve pleasing digital B&W shots have been disappointing. Quite often because the technique has been to shoot a conventional colour shot, desaturate it in Photoshop, and then try to add some contrast and grain to achieve the vintage B&W look, without destroying too much detail. Last night I stumbled upon the following article by Tony Karp which gave me some clues as to how to configure my camera to take a good B&W shot directly, with little post-processing required:

http://www.tlc-systems.com/artzen2-0093.htm

I configured my Lumix with settings I believe are close to what Tony was using, and here are my initial results:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mobile.harvey/TwickenhamMarch2009#

OK - not the most exciting subject matter, but I'm very pleased with the contrast and texture of these shots. Certainly the best B&W results I've ever achieved on a digital camera. I'll be taking more in the near future for sure!

Thanks for reading,
Nick.

Time passes quickly...

...not just since my last Blog, but also since buying my first ever album, back in 1985 (or was it '86?) - Paul Hardcastle's, self-named LP.

I remember this having a huge influence on my at the time - from the revolutionary Synclavier sampling & time stretching (put to amazing effect on the classic track '19'), to the high-tech circuit board front cover. I pretty much wore out the cassette (chrome tape, with Dolby B if I remember rightly!) listening to this over and over again (it was my only album at the time after all)!

25 years, and almost a 1000 CD purchases later this album is still not available to buy on CD - something I've never understood. So, today when I found it for MP3 download at Amazon I couldn't flex my Amex fast enough. OK - ideally I'd like a lossless FLAC format, but listening to the album now as I type this, the quality is good enough, and so much better than the original cassette!

Finally, Paul Hardcastle inspired me to want to become an electronic music producer. Not something I ever did professionally, but I dabbled with various software on my Spectrum (yes, really) Amiga, and later Windows PCs. This week I've decided to build a new mini studio, based around my Vista laptop, an M-Audio Oxygen 8 V2 keyboard, and Cakewalk Sonar Studio 8. The Sonar software is still on its way from Amazon, but the rest is here ready to go. If I can bash out anything good, I might put it online - you have been warned!

Thanks for reading,
Nick.

Sorry, I don't speak English.

So, I logged into Facebook this evening and received the following notice:

Hello Nick, do you speak English (UK)?

Help translate Facebook into English (UK) so that it can be used by people all over the world, in all languages.

Hmm, so if the site is not already in English (UK) then what language is it in, and when did I learn it?

Seriously though, this is a great example of how us English folk find ourselves speaking a 'regional' dialect of the language, rather than just plain old English.

Looks like a good year for music!

Fantastic - Spinal Tap to release new material this year. But of course, nothing will ever surpass 'Cups and Cakes'!

Prince Unveils Plan to Release Three LPs Via Lotusflow3r Website at Private Gig

How to launch a new web site in style.

Can't wait for the new albums to be released. Having seen Prince live a few times now, most recently during the 21 nights at the London O2, I'm partucularly enjoying the CD which came with the Randee St Nicholas book. Just buy the book for the CD - it's that good!

Jurassic Coast

I managed to take advantage of the fine weather yesterday, and took my camera down to Dorset for a scout around Corfe Castle and the coastline around West Lulworth. It was a fantastic day, with not too many people around, allowing some nice interrupted shots to be taken.

The best ones are on-line here

http://picasaweb.google.com/mobile.harvey/DorsetJanuary2009#

I find the winter sun a much better light than in summer, as you have a lot more time (i.e. all day) to enjoy the soft light and long shadows. Next time I fancy getting out onto the Isle of Portland and Chesil Beach a few miles west from where I was yesterday.

Nick.