He's Alive!
Now. When is it coming out? Let's just say 2008. Am I likely to be posting here in the meantime? No. But I will be posting over on my Tumblog fairly frequently - so go ahead and subscribe to that!
You've got to make your own kind of music
So what does this mean? The answer is, actually, nothing. Well. Not for anyone who follows what I publish online! The terms of my contract for TUAW & DLS mean that I can still write (but I'm avoiding Realmac related items of course). I'll be here (hell, I'm in the middle of a re-design for this baby) and many, many other places too (hint), so enjoy. If you're heading to London for this week's MacLive Expo, you'll find me around the Expo (Thursday) as I cover it for TUAW, or find me on the Realmac booth (#834) on Friday and Saturday. Please do come and say 'Hello'.
There's a fair few thank yous in order. I've had the good fortune to have so many people offer me support and advice over the past few weeks, and without that, I'd be a wreck. I'm not going to name names here - you know who you all are. All I can say is a most since and heart-felt thank you. Seriously.
You've got to make your own kind of music,
sing your own special song,
make your own kind of music,
even if nobody else sings along.
Recent Reads
General - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Obviously. Great read. Saying no more as I'd rather no incur the wrath of those yet to read it!
The good, the lame, and the frankly brilliant
Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (The Good)
Damn good read. I'm saying nothing more. If you've not yet bought it, you can grab it on Amazon here.
Movie: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (The Lame)
Naively I decided it would be a good idea to go and see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Wrong move, Nik. You know, I have so few positive things to say about it that I was seriously tempted not to write at all. But it's so bad that I simply must warn people to not go. Someone recently likened Daniel Radcliffe's emotional depth to that of a tea-spoon, and it's just so unbelievably true. In the first film, he had something resembling an excuse. But by film number 5, he ought to at least seem to be semi-competent. My main problems with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix are these:
- It's just a bad book to begin with. The source is the most painful book to read of the 7, and the one thing that stopped me, and others I know, re-reading the entire 7 books was book 5. It's just full of waffle, meanders through a seminally dull year at Hogwarts.
- The direction was poor. It was almost as if it had no direction. I very nearly sat through the film with one long yawn. It just wasn't engaging. To think that we made it so very quickly to the Ministry of Magic shows just how brutal the screenwriters were with the book. They cut out waffle, but that wasn't the only thing they cut out.......
- The screenplay was written by someone who never graduated screenwriters school. Tip for future reference: if it's based on a book, it's probably a good idea to encapsulate all the bits of a story line from the book into the film.
First Example: the presence of Luna Lovegood. Luna Lovegood's entire presence in the 5th book is based around her fathers ownership of the Quibbler paper, and how he uses that against the Ministry of Magic's smear campaign against Harry. All we get in the film (unless I really did fall asleep) is Luna saying "My dad and I believe you, Harry". The Quibbler? Nada. Well. Luna is reading it at one point. But that's it.
Second example: The unbearably brilliant Dolores Umbridge. There's meant to be a Centaur teaching at Hogwarts this year (not shown in the film). Hence why there's such hatred when the Centaurs carry Unbridge off towards the end (which IS shown in the film).
- The visual effects were too fast, and too confusing. Oh, and totally unconvincing.
In some ways, I wish I'd had a chance to see Rose Cottage after Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as I needed something witty, lively and engrossing. I was fortunate enough to see a preview of Rose Cottage (part of the Manchester 24/7 Film festival which starts on 24/7) on Sunday. An hour-long tale of immigration, a hospital mortuary and three women, it might sound a little unusual, however I found myself simply captivated. The humour, whilst being highly amusing, had underlying and unnerving touches of reality.
The way the script brought together what appeared to be 3 very separate and different lives was just fascinating to watch, and the three actresses were simply fantastic. If you're in Manchester this week I really would recommend you go see the 'heart-warming black comedy' which is being put on in Pure (yes the nightclub) in The Printworks. The tickets are only a fiver, and it's on at various times from the 24th July through 'til Saturday. More details here.
Away from it all......
As many of you are aware, I'm working full time at the moment on a few things that I, er, can't talk about right now. It's all so diverse (Cocoa, PHP, mySQL, CSS, xHTML, MOD_REWRITE and so much more - and it's all independent of each other for the most part) that I'm glad I was able to shoot this yesterday afternoon. More soon, I promise. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter and Tumblr.
Summertime.... and the running is... easy?
Losing Focus on Manchester
Avatars!
I couldn't help but share this awesome new Support Ninja avatar designed for yours truly on the Realmac forums by Gavin 'JamFactory' Strange. Thanks, Gavin. It rocks - although my flat mates required an explanation that the heart is there to show that Support Ninjas love the product they support! Freaks.....
Beached
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot?!!! Fair Trade sand? From a Sand Farm? Beach sand, if my geography serves me correctly, is a natural resource that is not manufactured - in a farm or anywhere else. I'm all for Fair Trade chocolate and other goods, but the bold declaration of 'Fair Trade' sand twice in the article smells of Greenpeace / Fair Trade-appeasing marketing schmooze more than anything else. Lame."It is hoped to have 80 tonnes of 'Fair Trade' sand from the Bahamas.... The 'Fair Trade' sand will be imported from a sand farm in the Bahamas"
In Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Read it here
Reminiscing [Updated]
Two and a half years ago, I bought myself a Mac - my first self-bought computer. It revolutionised the way I worked. It made using a computer stress free, fun, and above all more creative. For example since the advent of iPhoto in my life, I've simply never stopped shooting, or had as much fun with images. Since I started fooling around in GarageBand I've started podcasting, and since I've started fooling around in iMovie I've made some movies (of a sort) too. Since I started using RapidWeaver, it re-energised a love of web design that I've harboured since the age of about 11 - and I've been writing HTML for the best part of a decade (next year sees that 'anniversary').
Back in 2004 when I started using RapidWeaver, I had no clue that, two and a half years down the line, things would have turned out as they are.The community around RapidWeaver is simply phenomenal - possibly the best on the net - and I hope that a project that's in the works will energise and re-energise RapidWeaver users new and old in the ways the 'old-timers' re-energised me about web design.
So, what better way to celebrate than with a discount?!
RealMac Software: Use coupon NIKLOVESRW0407 for 50% off your order in the RealMac store, valid until the end of April! (Muchas gracias, Dan)
Elixir Graphics: Use coupon NIKFLETCHER for 50% off the 'Light' and 'Dark' themes (Thanks Adam)
SeyDesign: Use coupon OeipZaEGXvLEI225cxsveFyM4 for a discount off 'Creamy' (Thanks Adam) - Must be used via this page!
Thanks are very much due to Dan Counsell, Ben Counsell, Tom Beardmore, Jay Runquist, Larry 'Sundog' Pollock, Adam Merrifield, Adam Shiver, Simon Taylor, Phil Warrender and everyone else. You guys rock. Period. And Phil - thanks for the cake!
![[Blog Photo] RapidWeaver Celebration!](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/227/456834372_15e44412cb.jpg)
Green and Pleasant Land
Here's a shot that's slightly less zaney, and I'm going to sign off for the weekend with it - the title is 'Green and Pleasant Land'.
Happy Easter to one and all - I'll be back blogging on Monday / Tuesday
Ciao!
![[Blog Photo] Leaving Manchester](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/225/444395866_7dace0d96a.jpg)
I'm off home for the Easter break finally. It's been a hell of a term - unlike pretty much everyone else at Uni, I didn't go home during the mid-year recess. I'll have been away exactly 3 months, the longest I've ever been away from home, and I cannot wait for some 'downtime'. Thankfully, I won't be too far from the laptop (and will also be on Twitter via SMS during the 4 hours I'm travelling). Until I reach the green and pleasant land that is Hampshire: Ciao!
Haut Culture
Music - Thursday night was the preview of the RNCM's latest opera production, Tchaikovsky's epic Eugene Onegin. The three act opera is perhaps one of the composer's finest works, and is identified with the composer's own failed marriage. All I can say about it is 'Wow'. You're probably thinking to yourselves 'Nik, you're biased. You know quite a few members of the cast'. And you'd be right :) But purely from a musical view, it was phenomenal. Tatayna's letter scene was exquisitely performed, the suspense in the duel was just unbelievable, and the orchestra was in fine form too. If you're in Manchester any time before 29th March, I'd highly recommend you consider calling the Box Office and seeing it.
Photography - After the ridiculously great, and massively successful, Flickr Meetup last weekend, we're thinking about possible getting an exhibition of Manchester photos from the Flickr members going somewhere in Manchester. It'd be great to see this realised, so if you're a Manc-Flickr-r, then head over to the group and peruse and submit up to 3 of your finest shots! Also, after the meet, we set a new game up using the immeasurably cool Flickr stickers.
The idea is very, very simple. The stickers reads
'Photo this. Upload to Flickr, and tag me: THOMASCHOPHOUSEUK'
and each person who's playing has written their Flickr username on it. The stickers then travel with the user around the world, and in a far-flung corner of the world, they stick the sticker somewhere. The idea is to see how long it takes for someone to notice the stickers, photo them and upload them to Flickr. I'm not a betting person, but if I were, I'd say my stickers that travel to California in August-September will make it to Flickr first. Maybe even Thomas Hawk, Scoble or some other valley big-shot will capture them first. Either way, we've got a group to chart the progress - although I'd be suprised if we see any worldwide photos on there in the next month or two.
Linkage - Flickr contact Lars Ivar has a neat new blog going. Made (of course) in RapidWeaver, he's showing off photos and more. I'd highly recommend you check out his neat site (his HDR photos rock).
Photo courtesy of Tourista de Mancunia.
In Case You Hadn't Heard....
You may be asking 'What does that mean for your RapidWeaver screencasts?'. Well, the good news is, nothing! I'm still making them (although having caught the flu this week means my voice is not fit for public broadcast) and that normal service here will continue as normal. However I would like to to add that 'the views expressed herein are not necessarily those of my employer' :)
Official Warning
So, once again, I phoned them again (having already remind them that I don't in fact own a TV). The phone system at TV Licensing just struck me as 7 different ways of saying 'Please pay for a TV licence here. Now'. So, I hit the ubiquitous 'Press 8 if none of the choices apply to you'. And was routed to another menu. And pressed 8 again, only to be routed to yet another menu system, this time voice controlled. After the second of these menus, I chose to just hold for an operator (if I hadn't been rather angry, I'd have probably held to begin with - I'm convinced the menus have no effect as to which department you speak to). Finally, after 5 minutes of navigating, I reached someone:
TV Licensing Phone-Mug: Good afternoon, TV licensing, can I have your TV License Number please?
Me: I don't own a TV licence so can't give you a reference number. I'm not sure which option this fits into, but I received a two letters today, one dated January 2007, that inform me I'm under inspection. I have also previously phoned to let you know I don't own a TV.
Mug: OK, please tell me the reference number on the top of the correspondance.
Me: (Reads out 20 number & letter reference number)
Mug: Can you confirm your address for me please?
Me: (Runs through address at great pace)
Mug: So you don't own a TV? (After having seen I live in University Halls of Residence)
Me: No, I don't own a TV.
Mug: I've noted that in our database. If your receive any further letters from us, please ignore them. Your address will be visited to ensure this is correct and if it's not, you will be fined and or cautioned.
(Now Irate for being branded a liar) Me: That's fine, I have no TV. Thank you, goodbye.
(Hangs up phone)
Shouting, Me: Fuckwits. How dare they accuse me of lying. What's the f**king point of contacting me to say ' You're scheduled a visit from our highly popular inspectors' and then asking me to let them know if I have no TV, only for them to say they're going to have to visit anyway?!?! I may as well have simply ignored the letters, let them do their investigation, and told them where to shove their letters. (Don't worry, that idea is noted for next year).
Needless to say, the kettle isn't on for when the TV Licensing people eventually arrive. Bastards......
Do we Really Need another Sainsburys Local?
On a slightly better note, Mancubist has posted a link to a Google Maps Mashup of free WiFi in advance of the proposed city-wide WiFi coming in 2008.
Road Charging Petition - Signed by 1.8m people
- "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to recognise that music and dance should not be restricted by burdensome licensing regulations." [Link]
- "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to prevent the BBC from making its iPlayer on-demand television service available to Windows users only, and instruct the corporation to provide its service for other operating systems also." [Link]
Note to Self....
'Music and Lyrics' was alright. The stabs at pop culture, which whilst very welcome, were constant, and perhaps lost their appeal by the end. A couple of people I went with actually fell asleep - not I though, despite a few lulls in the films pace that were not really needed. The fact that the songs were performed by Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore (who is looking disturbingly like Kate Winslet) is impressive, particularly Grant's apparent piano playing. The biggest laughs of all, for me, were the continual attempts by Alex Fletcher (Grant's character) to ensure that Barrymore's character (whose name escapes me) didn't leave anything on the top of the piano. As someone who is part of the 'Don't Damage the Piano' hitsquad, I couldn't help but cringe at the bag going on top of the piano, then Fletcher removing it from the piano instantly. Brilliant, but then with the credits rolling, a postlude of Barrymore going to place her bag on the piano, but then remove it before touching the lid of the polished ebony piano. And when the actors wake up under the piano, and both smack their heads on the underside, I couldn't help but think 'poor piano', not 'ouch'. But that's just the musician in me ;)
'Music and Lyrics' may be a somewhat flimsy film, but it was mostly a good laugh despite the lulls. I won't be buying the DVD but for a feel good film with a few laughs, I'd instruct you to go see it. But please, if you fall asleep, don't ask me to refund your ticket - if I can stay awake, so can you.
As for what I'd rather see, try Hot Fuzz. From the makers of Shaun of the Dead, this looks like a royal laugh.
Harry Potter 7: 21st July
Eurgh
Jetsetting
Talking of Paris, I will not be Apple-Expo-ing there this year. It's clashing with Freshers' Fortnight (The Third). That IS a shame as I really enjoyed 06 (a week of Expo followed by Freshers Fortnight was just insanely great). Why am I posting this rather excitedly? It's a rare day in Manchester where the sun is shining. Too bad Sale are losing in the Heineken Cup at the moment. Argh!
'So how is it?'
The 17" MacBookPro is obviously a very well made laptop. The casing is just awesome, and it's simply the epitome of everything Apple. The screen is gorgeous, and the speakers are not bad at all. I'm still using my JBL Duets on this machine, but I'd happily travel without them from now on. The iSight is neat, and has been put to use already (over Bonjour networking amazingly). As I've said before, the speed of this brute is a force to be reckoned with. It's just a powerhouse to behold, and (wait for it) has exceeded even my own expectations of what the laptop would be like.
Before I moved to the MBP, I installed Lightroom Beta from Adobe on the now-retired iBook G4. A graphic intensive application such as Lightroom has no real place on the iBook, but for purely reference purposes, I played with it. When you launch Lightroom on the iBook, the screen does it no favours. Absolutely none at all. 12" just isn't enough for photos (or, I dare say as a big-screen snob, anything else). So, I launched Lightroom on the MacBookPro. Woah. It just 'clicked' why 17" was just the right model. Perhaps 15" would have done, but boy oh boy am I glad I chose the big-bad-mutha-of-all-things-macbook. It's just a dream. Full screen mode (even in iPhoto :P) rocks. FrontRow just looks astounding. I'm really running out of superlatives to impress upon you all JUST HOW SMITTEN I am with this new laptop. Surpassing even my own expectations is not something I anticipated. If you hadn't guessed it already, this thing damn well rocks.
The reference to Lightroom may bring about a bit of discussion, on my part more than perhaps any other. Truth be told, I don't own a dSLR camera yet (that is without a doubt the next item on the Geek hitlist), but I've been playing with Lightroom, and today in-store during ProCare, Aperture regardless. These tools are clearly what I will be choosing between when I get a Nikon D80 (yes, I know that already), so it makes sense to see what they're like. Lightroom is good. It's free (at least in beta, more on that later) and is a well-thought out product. It sure doesn't feel like a true Mac app (if I were being blunt, I'd say it looks and feels like a big-old Flash / Director programme) but that isn't my main gripe with it.
Basically, my gripe with Lightroom is this: I don't want to be hold to ransom to work with my photos when the beta expires. Sure, educational pricing may apply, but do I really want my photos left at the mercy of Adobe's marketers? Er, no. Sorry Adobe. Sure, you could argue that if I needed the tool enough, I'd pay whatever I had to, in order to get hold of it. But I wouldn't. I'd swear, curse and switch to Aperture. Apple offers a truly generous educational discount, and it would take quite a lot for Adobe to under cut it. Incidentally, they're pricing Lightroom (on its own) between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop itself. Elements (Mac/PC) is roughly £60 on Amazon. Photoshop full (Mac/PC) is £550. That's quite a chasm of difference in price. Of course, all this is speculation, and doesnt factor things in like including Lightroom in CS3....
Since I started playing with Aperture, I've come to realise that I love Aperture. It rocks, and I'm going to run out and buy it very, very soon. I've been working with it the last couple of days, and it simply rocks. Editing tools, the awesome full screen mode, the HUD, tagging, EVERYTHING just 'clicks' for me. Plus, with FlickrExport available, it fits quite nicely into my workflow of Take. Shoot. Flickr. Blog. Perhaps I will try Lightroom one day, but for now, I'm sticking with Aperture.
Quote of the Day
(From Apple's Think Different Ad Campaign. Thanks Seb!)While some see them as the crazy ones, We see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
(Thanks Susan!)A photographer went to dinner at a friends house. After a lovely meal the hostess complimented the photographer on some of his photos. She said "The photos are gorgeous, you must have a very good camera?"The photographer said "Your meal was lovely - you must have a very good oven?"
Logic. Or lack thereof
The title stems, not from my illogical early return, but more to do with our great British railways. Before I question the railway logic, be aware that the ticket prices I quote are for those with a Young Person's Railcard. Example. Cheap Day Singles from Guildford to London Waterloo are £5.95. This morning saw me pay £2.05 more to travel before 9.30am. I'm happy to do that, purely because I have a train at Euston to catch (and am now sat on it after having drunk enough free drinks and eaten enough free mini-cheddars in the First Class lounge :D). The tube, however, is the point of this hideously over-long entry! A single on the Tube costs from £3 for any zones I've ever used, which is pricey IMHO. However to add tube to my £8 ticket from Guildford to Waterloo was just 70p extra. I didn't see the logic in it costing 70p more, but threw my Maestro card into the ticket machine before it changed its mind!
I'm not complaining about the pricing, especially not the £18.50 price for my single First Class ticket (Euston to Manchester Piccadilly), so let's just consider this a rant between friends ;)
On the way to London.......
Today I'm headed home. Thankfully. The last few days I've spent running around Manchester shopping, practicing and trying (mostly failing) to do my essay. Too bad. Sat here on the train has afforded me some time to just sit, think, and do FA for a couple of hours. This term has really drained me for some reason and I cannot wait to have some 'downtime' at home with my parents.Christmas shopping, therefore, is done. If last Saturday was anything to go by, Manchester this wekend is just going to be HORRIFIC and I don't want to be anywhere near the Arndale the two days before Christmas! Yesterday, I finally managed to pick up a CD I've wanted for a while now: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Soundtrack. Written by my favourite of film composers Hans Zimmer, it's an interesting take on what was initially done by Klaus Badelt in the the first film. Either way, I'm enjoying it immensely.
Whilst it's a long way off, I thought I'd mention a project I'm remotely involved in through college: "Shattered Sounds". The RNCM is putting on Shattered Sounds on July 6th 2007. What is Shattered Sounds? Basically, it's an evening of music written as a response to war. As a result, it's not being held at the RNCM, instead it's going to be held at the Imperial War Museum North at Salford Quays. For those of you who are not aware of IWMN.... IWMN was designed by Daniel Liberskiend, and is one of the most popular attractions in Manchester. It's part of Salford Quays and is a very contemporary buiding. For want of a better, slightly less Wagnerian term, it's what I'd consider Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork). Every aspect, from the layout which will confuse and lose you, to the slanted floor (it's really really weird) that leads to a lowest corner of the museum, to the white plain walls (that have images and video projected onto them every hour). It's just a really awkward, yet powerful, building to be in.
So, back to Shattered Sounds. An evening of music, with ensembles littered across the IWMN playing a multitude of relevant music, and perhaps some other important works too, is going to be a frankly amazing experience. Full symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, string quartets and more. It's simply going to be awesome.
--
That's the end of my shameless plug. For now, so in the mean time, send someone a Christmas cracker from the Crackermatic (charity donation required).
Photos Revisited
Free WiFi coming to Manchester?
Kerching. Looks like I will finally be able to use my iBook in public without having to pay for (or otherwise 'borrow') WiFi. Neat.Manchester could become the biggest free wireless internet hotspot in Europe under plans unveiled by the city council....The initiative is being led by the council's Digital Development Agency (DDA), which outlined plans for initial coverage of 100 square miles, rising to 400 square miles in the future.
Progress on the Sticker Front
1. A Zune sticker, so that I can try to explain WTF 'Welcome to the Social' actually means.
3. Any other cool stickers you can think of that relate to Mac-geekery.
4. A relatively small John C. Dvorak 'I Get No Spam' sticker. C'mon TWiTs! Where are they?!
5. Aston Martin sticker.
As you can see from the strikethrough above, I've not done that well. A measly 20% success in fact. However, that doesn't stop me from having plenty of stickers ready for the laptop:
1. Creative Commons sticker (x5)
2. Starbucks Sticker (x15!)
3. RealMacSoftware sticker (xUnlimited)
4. Flickr Stickers (x3)
5. Insanely Great Sticker (x1)
So not a bad start. I've got a US Customs Sticker (hopefully) sorted, and I'm trying to source a 'Highly Explosive' warning sticker too. To top it all off, I've literally just sent off form some Feedburner stickery goodness too, so come Christmas I *might* have something worth showing to you all! Tomorrow sees Apple UK's 'Black Friday' sale - and whilst I doubt there'll any 17" MacBookPro reductions, I'll be checking out what they're cutting prices on. (Any excuse to visit the Apple Store).
Fake Steve: A frankly hilarious post today (although I can't help but feel that comments about Heather Mills are a little harsh). Worth a read for a light take on the supposed Apple + Beatles collaboration coming 'soon':
"You cannot believe the crap we are going through to make this Beatles licensing deal work out. EMI desperately wants the deal to happen too, so they leaked the story to our good pals at Fortune (much love, Brent) so they could crank up the pressure on the Apple dudes.[...]
The real hassle of course is Yoko. Sheesh. Don't even get me started.[...]
Finally I just snapped and I'm like, "Jesus friggin Christ, bitch, it's bad enough you broke up the greatest band of all time. Now you're gonna frig this up too? Jesus, lady! Get a friggin grip! It's just a distribution deal!" She bows her head and says, in this voice that's barely more than a whisper, "I will pray for your soul." Well that did it. I won't get into details -- my lawyers won't allow it -- but let's just say that Yoko had to wear sunglasses in public for a few days, and Peter Oppenheimer had to drag me out of there by my ankles."
Apple West Quay - If anyone has an information as to the opening date of the store please get in touch! I'm trying to plan a visit to Southampton to coincide with the opening and would much appreciate any advanced notice!
Christmas Market!
