I have found a few problems using total recorder, though. One is that sometimes the on-demand channel is only put out in mono, so it's best to get the "live" broadcast if possible. The other problem is that sometimes the data connection goes, since something detects that there are no keystrokes, and disconnects. This is quite a pain. Alternatively you could sit by the computer and type into applications occasionally, but I've also found that opening and closing windows is likely to produce an audible glitch on the sound channel. You may not have this problem if your isp has different policies.
So far then, the audio on demand mode is a useful extra way of getting music, but is no substitute for recording directly from a very good source, or in the case of radio, from good fm, or a good dab broadcast. Note that sometimes fm is actually better than dab - it depends on the quality of aerial used, the weather conditions, and the bit rate used on the dab channels. According to one informant, dab is particularly bad for some types of music, such as harpsichord music, which may explain why there's not so much broadcast these days on the bbc. dab does do a reasonable job at 192kbps, and if the bbc would actually put the signal out at 256kbps as some german stations do, the quality would be significantly better.
Still, making up cd roms for use in the car is a good way to spend one's time I guess. ]]>
Alternatively the transport planners might like to think that each full bus on the road can typically take 60-70 passengers, and could easily replace 30-40 cars. Allowing an extra inch or two between the seats so that people can sit down comfortably could do a lot to encourage people to use this form of transport, and even if this only attracted a few drivers back to using public transport, the saving of road space would be worth while. Once they figure out how to get passengers back on the buses comfortably, they might then want to consider how to cope with passengers who have luggage or shopping.
Maybe someone should tell ken livingstone!
In the meantime, you might want to see some of the buses all on one page, and maybe you can figure out what the acronyms vtl ,dla, slf etc. actually mean. If you merely want to use the buses, then the transport for london page may help. ]]>
You can also hear the broadcasts when they go out by listening on-line - that's jazz line up at 4 pm on saturday, and the awards on the best of jazz [spoilers!!], and they will be available on demand for seven days after the broadcasts.
The 2002 winners are here, and the list of nominees for 2003 is here. Some names appear familiar from one year to the next. ]]>
I suggest the following strategy for buying tickets for future events:
When the concerts are full you should just be grateful to get in, but when they are not, the algorithm used for seat allocation by the on-line ticket ordering service does not take into account user preferences in any sensible way. I assumed (incorrectly) that since we had tickets round the side of the hall that no tickets with a more direct view were available. It was clear that were many vacant seats, possibly cheaper, with a better view, and the on-line ordering system will not give you this information.
You can find more berlioz concerts here.
ps: grauniad review ]]>
I enjoyed the other pieces in the concert more - the bartok piano concerto (no 3) was really good, and the haydn symphony (no 44) was well played. The soloist hélène grimaud made her debut at the proms on september 11, 2001. There's another opportunity to hear the whole thing on r3 on friday - look at the schedules. It should also be available on demand for about a week. ]]>
Meanwhile the bbc has started to broadcast the proms on bbc4, though not always at the same time as the concerts, and not every one is transmitted. Even so, there are several each week - that can't be bad. ]]>
It is not widely known that she studied with leon theremin, and that her carnegie hall debut at the age of 17 was playing one of theremin's electronic instruments.
For a while she played bach's keyboard music on a harpsichord, though in later life she made most of her recordings on a piano. ]]>
The reviews are variable. One suggests a need for more sex, though I'm not sure what the reviewer wanted, or if reputable west end theatres should have provided it. I thought there was enough of that. The sets were praised, and there seems to be general agreement that it was done well enough. I can't really evaluate this, as I'd never seen it before, though I had read the play. It seemed rather confused - with solness fancying very pretty girls several decades younger - though that's not so implausible, and giving different stories about his behaviour to all comers - that's not implausible either! Some things just did not seem to make sense though. I think I'll have to see it again in several different productions in order to form a more objective judgement.
Oh, the acting was good, particluarly by solness [patrick stewart] and hilde [lisa dillon] (apparently hilde is also a a character in lady from the sea) - and I enjoyed it anyway! ]]>
Look at this and this to find out what other inventors have come up with. ]]>
In tonight's programme sewell was clearly not moved by his visit to the grotto at lourdes, but then the realisation that perhaps it's not just the place which affects people, but the reflection of their own beliefs - that appeared almost to move him, and that could be a very significant observation for us all.
In its way I think it's compelling watching - it's not slick, and it's just some opinionated guy saying the things that many of us wouldn't dare to, and watching this makes us realise why. It certainly has more to offer than many other tv programmes these days, though sadly that is not saying very much. Tuesdays at 7.30pm with brian it is then, for the next 4 weeks.
[ps: if you haven't noticed, there is a slight change of policy. Try clicking on the title of the most recent entries.] ]]>
Just in case you wonder whether this is possible, I have to say that there are amazing things which can be done with the voice, as evidenced in throat singing, which has been practised for centuries in mongolia. This is not quite the same as the throat singing practised by the inuits, though that is also "interesting". If interested, you can always join a society (see also here), or if you are less energetic, you can listen to some cds. ]]>
I'll put more detailed information eventually over at dave2002.alt. For the time being I'm desperately trying to find a way of generating the rss/rdf automatically, since pitas is not so friendly in this direction. This may even cause me to switch hosts eventually, if I can't get this automated. ]]>
mri scans differ from pet scans since they are non invasive, and no radioactive injections are administered. They are also able to give better temporal and spatial location of features within the brain.
The front row web site is interesting, as there are many (audio) interviews with well known authors and artists, and you may also be able to catch up on the week's broadcasts. ]]>
Interesting to see that the same process of justification is being carried out over there as over here, and that bush is doing just about as good a job as blair at defending the action. Surely these guys are wrong to make any kind of statements at all - stonewalling has to be the way to play the game! Eventually most people whom they think matter will give up and forget.
[Entry amended on 12/7 to correct the attribution of this use of logic to ari directly] ]]>
Live with it! ]]>
It's not all immediately bad news as the current limit will remain until 2005, and there may not be an increase even then. However, there is a suspicion that commercial interests may override the feelings of a potentially very large number of people in the areas affected. If the commercial advantages are so great, why can't the revenue generated be used to relocate any people adversely affected? Of course in the crazy world we live in, there will be no (or at least low) value attached to the houses, so there would be no need to recompense anyone for the problems which will be caused.
Who said that people are important, and in any case, why do so many people need to travel by air anyway? Where do they go, and what do they do? Are they mostly brits going abroad on holiday, or are they incoming tourists bringing fistfulls of dollars? Does anyone have a really sensible picture of this?
Maybe I'll try to find out. ]]>
I have previously stayed overnight in hotels near heathrow, without any major problems, though these were not under the flight paths. I have also visited friends with houses directly under the flight path of planes taking off. Such houses are very severely affected by aircraft noise, and I suggest that only deaf people move there. In any case you might become deaf soon enough if you do. Needless to say, the government is deaf to the problems of such people, and simply wants more expansion in order to satisfy industry.
Build roads if absolutely necessary, but not simply because so many people are travelling with no good reason. It's also important to build the right roads in the right places. Yesterday I got snarled up in guildford on the way south, and that was the biggest jam I've been in for quite some time. How many people outside london even know that such towns exist and have jams? How could we ever persuade people to move away from london to smaller towns if the situation there is at least as bad? It would make sense to move organisations out of london, and persuade people to follow, but there have to be incentives.
For the record, although I wasn't travelling to guildford, had I been, travel by rail would have been a much better option, with frequent services, and even allowing for delays, it would have taken much less time. Buses would have been as slow, or slower as they travel on the same roads, and bus lanes had been closed. Is anybody listening? ]]>
This article is probably a bit incomprehensible for most of us, but looks good, and sports a cheery looking foaf icon. You might be able to figure out more about what it's about from this.
You can have a go at making your own foaf page quickly using foaf-a-matic.
There's also a weblog at rdfweb. ]]>
I have a photo id on my driving license - no-one has ever asked to see it. I lived in sweden where in theory carrying id cards or having id is compulsory. I often did not carry any id, and I was never stopped in four years. Sure, people look at my passport when I go in and out of countries - sometimes that is - it still seems quite optional between some european countries, and this includes travel between eu and non eu countries (e.g france/switzerland) - but in ordinary life no one cares.
There are few problems in the uk regarding lack of id - it's not necessary for most financial transactions, unlike in the us, where lack of photo id can be a real problem.
Of course we don't want terrorists and other criminals to act within our society, but how are id cards going to help? If there was an emergency, say in somewhere like waterloo station - how the heck could the law enforcement forces process the millions of cards which would need to be scanned each day - they have admitted that they can't do much about relatively small groups of people on horseback chasing foxes, so what hope do they have with id cards?
Still sounds like a vote loser to me, despite the so-called evidence that many people in this country are in favour.
[I'll come back to this when there's more accessible information - right now this only seems available in printed editions of the papers.] ]]>
Paypal have basically refused to cooperate, as they say that buried in the small print they have the right to do this, though they do say that the situation is different in the usa.
The moral in this case seems to be caveat vendor, and get the money first - in your bank account - not in a paypal account!
For computer security minded people, it's a reminder that non repudiation is a very relevant issue ]]>
I wonder what he's planning for a come-back? ]]>
All I need to do now is to work out a way of doing this automatically - or semi-automatically! ]]>
The cheat in this article is the date - which I'm fixing. It's coming up to archiving time, and that usually takes a bit of effort, so rather than have entries in july, I'm going to post date this one so that it appears in june. Hopefully it'll be the only one I'll do this way.
Upcoming projects are to get an rss feed for this weblog working asap - and it seems straightforward enough. I have ben hammersley's book on rss and content syndication, so with luck it'll all be live shortly after the archive - or should I get it working and then archive - that way I could get rss feeds for the june entries as well as the newer ones?
Keep watching! ]]>