Longplayer Live at The Roundhouse

Longplayer Live is an incredible endeavor. I first blogged about it here.

A single composition playing for 1000 years. It started in 1999 and on the 12th of September I was invited by Artangel to blog about it live.
It was a great day. It was a long day. 1000 minutes of 1000 years.

You can find some Audioboo’s by myself and others tagged with Longplayer here and some of my Flickr images here.

Here is the Longplayer Posterous blog.

The Longplayer trust has been set up to keep it going. Click HERE if you feel you can help.

Thanks to @Encosion for letting me use the audio he captured on the day and for Artangel for helping the whole thing happen.

Longplayer Live

On the back of a bus in 1995 a guy called Jem Finer had an idea. Nearly five years later in 1999, on the verge of the third millennium that idea came to life as a thousand year long musical composition was set into motion.
Longplayer is a piece of music that’s been playing since 31 December 1999 and will keep playing until 31 December 2999. The composer Jem Finer created it in such a way that it will never, ever repeat itself and an organisation called The Longplayer Trust was created to ensure the music continued to play through the coming centuries.

For the last five years there have been a handful of dedicated listening posts around the world – but on 12 September 2009 they’re attempting something completely new: a 1000 minute section performed live by a relay team of musicians in the aptly circular setting of the Roundhouse in North London. It will run from 8.20am that morning until 1am the next.

At the same time, elsewhere in the building a historic relay conversation will be taking place between 24 leading writers, filmmakers, scientists, academics and technology activists, inspired by the philosophical implications of long time. Participants include Jeanette Winterson, Cory Doctrow, Rachel Armstrong and Andrew Kotting.

Artangel, who initially commissioned Longplayer almost ten years ago, have asked me to  use social media to document the day live. This to me is an amazing concept in itself. How will the 1000 minutes of the 1000 years be remembered. Assuming the data survives who will be around to review any captured content? What will they think of the technology involved? How could i say no?

Fancy coming along?  Artangel have also kindly allowed me to give 20 tickets away to others willing to tweet, blog or just share the moment so please drop me a comment/email/tweet or call if you’d like to come along as well.

See www.longplayer.org for the official project website, and if you miss out on the free tickets you can still book discounted tickets direct from this link http://bit.ly/2EJDzJ (use the promo code ‘144′ to get a third off the face value).

Here is a full list of the speakers attending the Longplayer live event.

Hope to see you there.

Video For The Web

Advertising revenue is down, newspapers are struggling and as the economy takes a downturn production costs are up, at the same time online readership and revenue continue to rise. So what’s the answer? Go where the eyes are. Whether you are writing, taking pictures, shooting video or recording audio you can build communities with your content. But only if you take it online.

Three years ago online video was something I mostly only viewed. I’d played around with recording and uploading video but this was a long winded haphazard affair involving hand coded xml files every time I wanted to add a video to my podcast. Then if I wanted to share it further afield I’d upload it to YouTube giving me the option to embed on a website or link to it in an email or forum.

Now it’s just as easy as sending an email. Many of the sites I visit today are either video conversational platforms or at the very least places where video is being shared and commented on. Video is now a medium of conversation.

Recently I have been asked more and more by companies “Do we really need to get involved in video?”

The short answer is “Yes.”

For me, engaging with online video is a no brainer.

The easiest way for me to explain why this shift from old analogue methods of communication to online ones is so important is to compare online video with TV. The buzzword for a while now has been Social Media, Social Media does exactly what it says on the tin, it allows people to have conversations on a new level of engagement, be it from an entertainment or marketing perspective.  TV could not be further away from this world. The most interactive thing TV can offer us is the red button. Nowadays people expect a conversation with their content.

TV advertising is also fleeting and expensive. After the cost of creating your media, you pay for your slot and when it’s gone it’s gone. Online video on the other hand, can be made at a fraction of the cost, and if you spread it intelligently it’s viewable forever. Not only that but the viewer can comment on, respond to, and share it for you. This conversation around your content keeps it alive, relevant, and in the public eye way beyond other forms of old analogue media.

Online video is also instantly global, searchable, on demand and with viewing stats that are easily measured.

It really is a no brainer.

Whether you want content for your website, to launch a brand or product, produce video news releases, or just show the human side of your organisation, you need to have a presence in the digital world, you need to be using online video. I can show you how to do produce content cheaply and effectively. I cover the kit, how-to shooting tips, file compression, uploading and aggregation, how to make your video visible, and loads more.  Whether you wish to use some of the free solutions out there like Twitvid, Tokbox or Qik, or shoot HD on a hand held device, I can be there to guide you through selecting suitable equipment to shoot, edit and distribute your video effectively.

For a little while now I’ve offered one to one consultation and informal training sessions on all aspects of social media and video making for the web. Now, for the first time, in conjunction with Econsultancy, I’m going to be able to offer a formal workshop (snappily titled) ‘Video For The Web‘.

4.7 billion videos are watched online in the UK every year. Make one of them yours.

http://econsultancy.com/training/courses/video-for-the-web

(Please check out the other home for this blogpost and it’s comments here.. Econsultancy.com)

Jeff Pulver – 140 Conference New York

Jeff Pulver, the chairman and founder of Pulver.com was the main man behind the 140 characters conference in New York that brought together Twitter users from all over the world.

New york was the first of the 140 Characters conference and others are planned in both London and Los Angeles. Originally the event was to explore the effects of twitter on: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising and Politics”. These topics were covered, as well as many more. As ever many of the conversations happened outside the main auditoriums..

I was asked by The Open University in England to grab some interviews with the assistance of Matt (@Barnstormed) and in the corridor we caught up with Jeff and asked how the conference had come about..

This interview is also on the Open University’s You Tube Channel.

Blogging the E3 Expo – Los Angeles 2009

I’m writing this on my last few minutes of battery power, about 38,000ft above sea level, with six and a half hours left on my flight from London to Los Angles.

I am traveling in a group of thirteen after being asked by Digital Outlook, in association with Xbox, to blog the E3 Gaming Expo. Not only blog in the normal text based sense but to use some of the tools I normally use that feed into twitter.. AudioBoo, flickr, 12 seconds etc.

I guess they are after a non serious gamer with a different perspective to give their take on the event. And i shall. There’s loads of new tech and game releases for me to get my teeth into so there should me more than enough content to get me excited..

Well thanks to @Loudmouthman and @Delboydare I’m feeling a little re-enthused with my blog.

I chose Wordpress as a basis for my blog a while back and have been happy with it ever since. Me being me though means I have to try and be a little bit different.. a little css adjusted here an over sized graphic here.. As a result I have had to ask Derek (@Delboydare) to assist me in upgrading my wordpress version and he has done a great job. Tapping away behind the scenes, he has ensured my transition to the latest version of wordpress has happened without a hitch.

Then there’s Nik, @loudmouthman. It seems he has been hosting/managing a couple of well known blogs recently and as I’ve been wanting to make the switch from my former hosting company NXS.nl, I thought I’d take him up on his offer. I know that with Nik being on the other end of the tweet almost 24/7 i could not wish for better hosting support.

The changeover itself happened almost too fast for me to notice.. All I had to do my end was insert the new name servers and it was done. I had to check three or four times because I did not think it could really be that easy. But no.. it was done and i was up and running on my new server with no visible downtime.

The conversation with Nik that followed informed me that my security had increased substantially and some extra plug-ins had been installed into my wordpress blog that would on the whole make my life more easier when it came to posting anything on my blog.

I spend a good portion of my working life recommending tools sites and apps that i think worth using.. Derek has shown me how valuable our networks are when it comes to sourcing the skill sets outside of our own and Nik has shown me that I can love a platform without knowing it’s full potential and that there are some people out there that don’t just talk the talk and really know their game.

I should be in the hotel about 8 hours from this sentence. There are about 12 people in the team that headed out from the UK.. Many had come in from other cities in other countries.. Spain, France, Italy and Germany to name a few. Some host gaming forums/sites like www.XboxWay.com and www.Xboxdynasty.com Some are PR.. One guy Sean Geer calls him self ‘old media’ but i think he is much more than that.. Anyone that packs A Nikon D90, Lumix LX3 and an Eye-Fi card is ok in my book.. Especially as I have the same in my bag.

I also am packing two laptops.. two Kodak HD recorders, solar chargers with extra lithium-ion cels.. and so on.. My back is already having a go at me. I really need to make a point of using everything that I have brought just so as this pain isn’t in vain.

All going well and I can jump through the security hoops stateside, I’ll be tagging all of my content with the hashtag #E3. you can listen to my Audioboos on www.audioboo.net or through Buddhamagnet’s BooBase.

If you want to see everything on one Page then Documentally.Rezpondr.com is the place to be (thanks to @Philcampbell for creating/setting that up) and no doubt everything will go through my Twitter account as normal… Documentally

If you start watching/engaging now you will hopefully see the transition from bumbling ignorance to slightly clued up. I will be filling in all the spaces in my gaming knowledge through regular contact with Nik Butler but please feel free to drop a comment on this blog if you would like me to cover anything in particular in the world of XBox..

Thanks for all the tips on what i should go to see out in LA but i feel i may be too busy channeling all of my Expo observations into www.xbox.com/e309

Still, i hope there will be a few hours off here and there so if you get the chance.. ping me on twitter and maybe we can grab a beer.

Dinastia Vivanco – A temple to wine

Last week I suddenly found myself on a plane to Spain. With the assistance of wine expert Robert McIntosh (@thirstforwine) we took a trip to the Region of Rioja to learn more about one of the Twestival sponsors, Dinastia Vivanco.

I was asked to video blog their wine culture museum and vineyard. I have been to museums before.. But nothing could have prepared me for this.

I ended up shooting loads of stuff on my always handy Kodak Zi6.. Probably too much stuff. you will no doubt see clips cropping up all over my feeds. I was walking around saying “wow..wow.. amazing..wow..” I even started to annoy myself in my amazement.

I have decided that the Dinastia Vivanco wine culture museum is the one and only temple to wine. The attention to detail and it’s incredible collection is second to none. Having been collected and built over generations it is house in a partly subterranean setting any Bond Movie director would kill to get access to.

I am sure that even at 29 minutes.. this video only scrapes the surface and if you get even a twitch of curiosity, go visit yourself. If you are not amazed at the treasures, the history, even their winery. I will pay for your trip and buy you a bottle of their finest wine.* And they are pretty damn fine.

Dinastia Vivanco will be sponsoring the wine at the London Twestival which with your help will be raising money for Charity: Water Please give generously.

Keep your eyes open for more clips from spain.. There are loads of little ditty’s between here and 12seconds, and Phreadz etc..

Or just follow at Twitter.com/Documentally

This video is also available on Blip.TV,� Vimeo and Myspace

*Offer subject to an assesment of your sanity. (And me winning the lottery.. just in case)

Bottle-Kicking in Hallaton

On the 25th of February 2008, on a cold bright morning, I visited the village of Hallaton in Leicestershire. I was told to expect something strange. A field full of violent people, small kegs of beer called ‘bottles’ and man with a rabbit on a stick were also mentioned.

How could I not go?

They were nearly right. The man actually had a hare on a pole.

The villages would fight for the food and beer and on one occasion the residents of the bordering village of Medbourne joined in the chaos and stole the beer. The village rivalry continues to this day.

It is also possible that the custom dates back to the Pagan ritual of sacrificing hares to the goddess Eostre.

Bottle Kicking in it’s present form has been and annual event for over 200 years and has occurred yearly apart from in 2001 where the national foot and mouth scare canceled many rural activities traditions and sports.

There are hardly any rules to Bottle Kicking. Each barrel is thrown in the air three times and then all hell breaks loose.

The emergency services were on hand with more than one ambulance and I saw people carried off bleeding and broken.

I did my best to get as close to the action as I could armed with my precious tech. That said, my trousers were torn and muddied, i took an elbow to the eye socket and lost a lens hood in the fray.

The whole spectacle is watched by families friends and the injured. Ales in hand, cheering madly. In the distance over one of the winning line streams on the next hill, more spectators can bee seen in the pub. Staying clean, dry and drunk. There is also the possibility I will be there next year. With a long lens.

The game was won by Hallaton. Everyone was happy. Some were bruised, most were drunk.

Who wants to join me next year.. with or without cameras?

Click this link to see more photographs of Bottle-Kicking on my Flickr page.

Roberts SolarDAB Radio (Review)

I’m back in love with radio.

Although I have a radio in the car and another in the kitchen I have been re-enthused into actually listening to the good old radio over my iPod by the Roberts solarDAB. Maybe it’s the ease of use, maybe it’s the form factor, perhaps it’s just a really cool gadget.

I have another Roberts radio and respect their workmanship and heritage but since breaking the power adapter I have to keep recharging the hulking batteries every so often. This has made me conscious of how much I am using it and that when the batteries run down it’s at least 24 hours till I can listen again.

Another small bind is that it’s a standard analogue radio and I find myself having to adjust the aerial when moving from station to station, or if I move the radio, to get the best reception.

Enter my new purchase.. The Roberts solarDAB freeplay powered digital Radio.

I managed to pick one up from Currys in Milton Keynes. The manger gave me his own staff discount to see I left the store happy as I had originally gone in for a cheaper solar/wind-up radio, which was out of stock.

This is my first DAB radio (Digital Audio Broadcasting) as I have held off for a while, worrying that I may not be able to receive many of the channels.

Well I needn’t have worried. Straight out of the box I pressed the scan button and had 20 stations picked up and auto programmed into the dial.

The overall form factor is compact, 190mm(w) x 110mm(h) x 80mm(d), easy to move from one place to another and my particular model is white plastic with soft touch rubberised ends and controls.

It’s also available in black, pink, red or green, has a built in rechargeable battery pack and although has the solar panel on top It also has a mains lead which in my dark cottage is going to be a necessity in the winter months if I am to want to use it for any great period of time.

OK, lets look at some of the features.

Interestingly as this is intended to be a radio carried around inside and outside the home, the telescopic aerial is detachable and can be stowed in a little slot on the back. I also imagine this is pretty easy to replace should it be lost or broken. It is totally rubberised when closed and as yet, in my location, I haven’t noticed any need to have it fully extended.

It has an 80mm 1 watt speaker which is really quite good. I was a little shocked at the clarity when I first turned it on as it gives out much more than you would expect from a radio this size. As you would imagine, this to me is the most important detail here. The sound. It has more than enough volume for inside the house and I could see it seriously annoying fellow campers or neighbours should you want to take it out and about.

Speech is crisp and music is rich. I love the way that the display shows you the data rate in kbps for each station (i.e. TalkSport 128kbps and Classic a whopping 160kbps).

As this is meant to be a power efficient device I am not surprised to see the small display. It seems to have all that is needed though. Along with signal strength, station id� and selectable data such as time, frequency, network and data rate the display also shows the current battery power and a nifty little solar meter telling you in bars how much light the top mounted solar power is receiving.

At first glance I thought it was too small to be of any real use but it seems Roberts have done a good job at making this unit efficient.

I was reluctant to leave the radio outside all day as being a typical English summer It was raining and although the unit looks pretty sealed, I was not sure how weather proof it was. For the few hours I did manage outside under the overcast sky I noticed no depletion on the battery meter.

For a longer test I left the radio on my dark cottage window ledge for a few hours and moved it around the home using it continually at a decent volume. With the little sun it received through my little windows it ran for over 20 hours before giving up the ghost. The solar panel is really quite sensitive and I could see the radio running continuously should you leave it in a greenhouse. I may well just try that.. I just need a greenhouse.

On the back of the radio is a power port for the 9.5 volt adapter, a headphone socket and the really welcome addition of a line in port. In the not to distant future when the new family of super sensitive photovoltaic cells on the market out I would love to see devices like this fitted with an additional power output port, so on particularly sunny days you can also charge your other devices i.e. phones, ipods etc.

That said, it feels great knowing that should I ever find myself in the gutter, batteries are not one of the expenses I will have to worry about when rocking out in my cardboard box.

As far as cost goes, I am more than happy with this radio, but then I didn’t pay full whack for it. I think �70 is a little expensive, but imagine it won’t be at that price for long. We should not be made to pay a premium for tech just because it is ‘Green’. You do pay a little extra for Roberts products and normally it is because you are buying a wood and leather, chic, retro unit crammed with top components. Yes this does look a little like a toy but it feels well made, is easy to clean if dropped whilst gardening and is easy to operate.

Regarding the tech behind it. I could probably knock up a solar powered dab radio with an existing cheaper model and a small panel from Maplin but it would be a botch job and I feel the more solar devices we see being offered the better. Going into the electrical store and seeing solar devices on the shelf gave me hope. I feel a little sick inside every time I throw away a handful of batteries and feel we should be way more advanced in this day and age.

We all need solar power and radio is bloody great entertainment but don’t buy this because you think it looks cool. Buy this because you need a new radio, you have good digital reception and you want one that can recharge itself naturally.. And when the rechargeable batteries have done their thousand cycles it will still work in sunlight without them!

This I hope is just the beginning. If I made a solar powered DAB radio, I would want it firmware upgradable (to be ready for DAB+).. I would like it to have FM as a back up, an SD card slot for playing mp3’s and recording radio through, a lead to power as well as play my ipod and as I said before, a socket through which I could use the solar panel to charge other devices.

But that’s just me. I always want more.

Conclusion.

It’s the best solar powered radio I have seen on the market at the moment. Providing you have decent digital reception where you are (check this site) and can afford around �70.. it’s a good buy.

(This is an independent review and my own personal opinion I am in now way connected to Roberts and have no advertisements supporting this website. If you enjoy reading OurManInside.com please feel free to show your support by clicking this link)

Photoshoot with the band ~ Talc

I have just finished uploading a few of the photos of the band Talc to my Flickr stream.

For most of Friday afternoon I had the pleasure of hanging out with the two awesome funksters Dr. Fun and The Gift.

They had imaginatively arranged for us to visit their local beer making establishment so as we could take some photos for their up and coming concept album and at the same time not be too far away from tens of thousands of pints of beer. (Probably more).

I have photographed these guys before and every time we meet we have a great laugh, always managing to bag a few decent shots in the limited time we have.

The Fullers Brewery�(London’s last remaining traditional family brewer) was an amazing place of historical pipes and brass, leading us into a sci-fi setting of ceramic and chrome. They are obviously proud of their history and bent over backwards to see we had the freedom to take our photos unhindered. We worked our way through the factory, stopping to snap when we thought the setting inspired.

Our shoot wound up underground in a little private bar where, given a sleeping bag and a few pies, I could quite easily have spent a good few weeks sheltering from the outside world and saturating my body and mind with the various ales made on site and piped into this curious bar with no till and no way to take your money.

Paradise?

Even when my camera was back in the bag and we headed to the local (attached) pub for a debrief, our friendly guide saw that the round was free and we were to order what we wanted.

It’s just a shame i was riding the bike and had to maintain some form of sobriety as otherwise I would have had to stay and help the guys with their debrief lubrication.

Besides.. I had had more than enough motoring action earlier in the day to risk any more altercations with angsty London road users.

Thanks Talc for a great days photography and thanks to Fullers for not only letting us take photos but for going all out to make us feel as welcome as we possibly could.

Talc’s new album ‘Licensed Premises Lifestyle’ is due for release in July and will be touring Japan in September.

..for more information on the band check out www.TalcOnline.com (soon to be updated).

And here is the band talking and moving..