cyberviking

Moving on

2012-02-02T00:43:00.000Z

After a good few years on blogspot, I finally migrated my digital ramblings my own domain, mikaelfernstrom.com. Hope to see you there from now on.

Charlie

2011-05-17T00:59:00.001+01:00

Charlie

December 1997 - 16th of May 2011

He ran like a greyhound

He swam like a dolphin

He fulfilled our dreams,

walking across green hills

and Atlantic beaches

He had a heart of gold

We miss him.

R.I.P.

Irish Election 2011

2011-02-06T02:09:00.001Z

It is that time again when Gombeen men (and women) will call to your front door trying to convince you to vote for them or somebody that they support in the General Election 2011. This time, it is more important than ever to get some real answers and real commitment from the politicians-to-be, as the previous governments have managed to crash the economy beyond repair ad betray us all.

There are several excellent initiatives by ordinary citizens to try to bring clarity to what, if anything, the politicians-to-be say they stand for. In any case, we have to make sure that the politicians-to-be are made fully aware of that they will be hired to for work us, not the other way around.
So, here are some links to what YOU can do to help uncover the truth about the politicians-to-be:

1. The National Interview
Get your camera, phone or whatever recording equipment you might have and ask the questions, below.
Upload your video to YouTube (or whatever site) and post your video link on Twitter with the tag #natint.

Links to good questions can be found here and here.

In addition to this, some good questions are:

Do you think our government should give away Irish gas and oil for nothing?
Do you think the debts of a private bank should be paid by the Irish people?
Do you think pensioners should pay extra taxes to pay for the cost of the banking collapse?
How did you vote on March 20th 2003? Did you support the invasion of Iraq through your support for the US military at Shannon airport - against the will of he majority of the Irish people?
Can you explain why we have still not sorted out the health system so that sick people have access to appropriate medical treatment?
Why have you given away millions of euros of Irish people’s money to bail out the religious orders that have raped and abused Irish children?
Did you support wasting millions of euros of Irish people’s money on electronic voting machines that are completely useless and expert advice would have told you this if you looked for it prior to commissioning them?
How could you sell off Eircom and Aer Lingus - they belonged to the Irish people, not you?
How can you justify building private hospitals on public grounds instead of spending the time, energy, and resources improving the public hospitals and health system for all people not just the rich?
Why don’t we have proper public transport?
Why have you wasted millions of Irish people’s money contesting the rights of children to have access to appropriate education and have sentenced countless autistic children to a life of isolation and misery?

2. The Tell Us Why campaign
Just as any other job applicant, get your politician-to-be fill out this form so that you can determine if they have any qualifications and who is the best suited for the job and make sure that we don't get the wasters back.

3. And finally, remember to vote! It's your life, your money, your family and your future that is at stake.

Xtranormal and Bailing out the Irish Banks

2010-10-10T03:27:00.001+01:00

I found www.xtranormal.com the other day and it's a really fun tool for creating your own animated movies, based only on your typed script. In addition to your script, you can easily add camera movements, gestures, sound effects, etc., in a simple drag-and-drop interface.

I made this little movie, inspired by the current crazy state of the Irish economy and the Irish government's mismanagement. No politicians were harmed in the making of this movie.

‘Marbh Chrios’(Dead Zone) World Premiere

2010-10-10T02:21:00.000+01:00

The Lovely Weather Donegal Artists Residencies, a ground breaking art & science project examines the issues of climate change in County Donegal, Ireland.

In 2008, Virginia Institute of Marine Science Professor Robert Diaz showed that the number of “dead zones”—areas of seafloor with too little oxygen for most marine life—had increased by a third between 1995 and 2007. Diaz and collaborator Rutger Rosenberg of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that dead zones are now “the key stressor on marine ecosystems” and “rank with over-fishing, habitat loss, and harmful algal blooms as global environmental problems.” The study, which appeared in the August 15, 2008 issue of the journal Science, tallied 405 dead zones in coastal waters worldwide, affecting an area of 95,000 square miles, about the size of New Zealand.

It is currently estimated that there are 20 such ‘dead zones’ in Ireland and two ‘contested dead zones’ were identified in the study at both Killybeg’s Harbour (1999) and Donegal Bay (2000). With a number of unique and purpose designed statistical algorithms and heuristics, Softday (visual artist Sean Taylor and Mikael Fernström) have translated the scientific/environmental data of the Dead Zones into abstract ‘live’ sound sonifications and vocalisations.
On Saturday the 16th of October 2010, at 19:00, Softday will stage the world premiere of ‘Marbh Chrios (Dead Zone)', a live performance of a unique multimedia sound art work, in Mooney’s Boatyard, Killybegs, County Donegal. The computer generated music composition that the Donegal Youth Orchestra and the Softday Céilí Band will perform, is constructed utilising eight years of related marine data. Admission to the event is free, please contact Terre Duffy at the Regional Culture Centre, Letterkenny for further information: terre.duffy@donegalcoco.ie, mobile: 087 2508373

This project was made possible with the support of the Regional Cultural Centre / Donegal County Council Public Art Office in partnership with Leonardo/Olats, Met Éireann, Marine Institute of Ireland, Aquafact International Services Ltd, County Donegal VEC, Donegal Music Education Partnership, Killybegs and District Chamber of Commerce Ltd, the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation Ltd, Mooney’s Boatyard, and the Marine & Heritage Centre Killybegs. Further project information from: Softday.

Irish rail and total lack of coherent thought

2010-10-08T04:00:00.001+01:00

Irish Rail have problems and is actively ripping off their customers.

I traveled from Limerick to Maynooth the other day. My colleague had pre-booked and bought his ticket online and had no problem getting his ticket based on his reservation code. His ticket covered Limerick Colbert - Dublin Heuston [Luas tram] Connolly Station - Maynooth.

I really don't trust Irish rail's pre-booking system as it has failed me in the past, a couple of years ago. Anyhow, the way things used to be was that the Good Olde Manual Ticket Office would always open 10 minutes before departure, even at the ungodly hour of 05:30 in the morning. Not anymore.... This left me trying to book and buy my ticket from one of the ticket vending machines in Colbert station. The big surprise was that the machine refused to show Maynooth as a destination, probably because the journey would require a change in Dublin, from Heuston to Connolly station, via a tram journey on the Luas.

I asked two sleepy staff at the station, who were present only to check that passengers actually had tickets, but these two rail-workers could not, manually, sell me a ticket, hence my only option was to buy a ticket for just going to Dublin, and buy the next ticket when I got there.

In Dublin, at Heuston station, the ticket machines could not provide a ticket to Maynooth either.

Eventually at Connolly station, the machines listed Maynooth, but were offline and could not handle payment with a debit or credit card, but finally I managed to get a ticket from the manual ticket sales.

Later, during my return journey, I verified that the reverse was also true, i.e. that you can’t buy a ticket for Limerick in the Maynooth or Dublin Connolly stations.

I asked the staff in Maynooth, and was told that Irish Rail have at least three different, separate, not interconnected, ticketing systems. The manual ticket offices have the oldest ticket machines that cannot print an integrated ticket. The web-based ticketing system can sell you any possible kind of ticket, as an integrated ticket that can include train and tram, changes, etc. Such a transaction results in a booking number that you then enter on the ticket vending machine in the station, and your ticket is printed. But... on the booking screen of the vending machines in each station, only stations connected directly to the station your originating from are listed.

Finally, analyzing the cost, my colleague who bought his ticket online paid €67, including Luas.

If you buy all three tickets offline as you go, like I was forced to do, the cost is €47 + €2.90 + €6 = €55.90

So why would Irish Rail charge their customers almost 20% more if a customer buys their ticket on-line? Not even Ryanair would be so daft.

I think this is yet another simple and clear example that Irish semi-state companies are not joining the dots, live in cloud-cuckoo-ballygobackwards land and just focus on ripping us off.

Pro-NAMA People

2010-07-23T02:37:00.000+01:00

Some people's hot

Some people's cold
Some people's not very
Swift to behold
Some people do it
Some see right through it
Some are pro-NAMA
If only they knew it

The pro-NAMA people are boring me to pieces
They make me feel like I am wasting my time
They all got flannel up 'n down 'em
A little trap-door back aroun' 'em
An' some cozy little FTSE's on their mind

pro-NAMA people!
pro-NAMA people, people!
Lawd, they make you sleepy
With the things they might say
pro-NAMA people!
pro-NAMA people, people!
*Mother, Mary 'n Jozuf*, wish they'd all go away!

pro-NAMA people!
It's a pro-NAMA people special...
Take one home with you & save a euro today
pro-NAMA people!
pro-NAMA people, people!
Wrap 'em up
Roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way

-------

This was inspired by Frank Zappa's song Po-jama People.

Stop Israel's violence

2010-05-31T14:01:00.000+01:00

The State of Israel has, again, violated International Law and murdered civilians. There have been numerous accounts for this morning's violence.

Please feel free to download the image below and if you have a printer that can print stickers, print it and place on all things you find in your local shop that has been sourced from Israel.

New and updated web site for Interactive Media

2010-05-26T18:48:00.001+01:00

The "real" web pages for UL's Masters in Interactive Media course have finally been updated. Now, it should be easily accessed both from desktops, laptops and mobile computers. With the new design, I'll add creative content from the last few years student works over the next few weeks.

The course is now in its 10th year and this years cohort of students have turned out to be one of the most creative groups of young people we have worked with.

Creative forces at UL

2010-04-16T01:57:00.000+01:00

It has been a few very intense days in the Computer Science department at UL. With all student events coinciding, ranging from our first cohorts undergraduates in music, media and performance technology (MMPT) and in digital media design (DMD) showing their Final Year Projects, to the Masters students in Interactive Media and in Music Technology showcasing their course work Lighthouse eleMENTAL, it's been a great week. The creative energy in the work the students delivered is almost positively overwhelming.

Lighthouse eleMENTAL (photo by Lette McNamara)

Conor Higgins demonstrating his Final Year Project to Malachy Eaton

Thinking back a few years, around 2005, when we finished writing the new curricula for DMD and MMPT, envisioning a new kind of graduate that could handle both aesthetics and technology, science and art, working and living in a computer-augmented world, it is just amazing how this year's students have made our digital dreams come true. Initially, when we proposed the new courses, there was quite a lot of resistance to the radical change we suggested, while we had a strong belief in the necessity for changing the profile of our future graduates. We knew, from talking to young people looking for something interesting and relevant to study, that we needed a multidisciplinary approach. We also knew from our contacts with industry that they had difficulties finding graduates with a more creative and all-rounded profile. Last but not least, we know that students had to be introduced to what research is ideally already from their first year at university. When the new programmes had been approved and more than twice the number of students we had anticipated arrived, the hard work started - both for the students and for faculty. It feels like a real reward for all the laborious hours we have invested and all the money it required to modify laboratories, lecture rooms and to have new recording studios built, that we finally have a large group of excellent students, ready to take on the future.

Ba-NAMA Boat Song

2009-09-21T00:54:00.001+01:00

(sung to the melody of the Banana Boat Song by Harry Belafonte)
-----
...This version of the song can be heard as the Irish Builders and Developers are escaping (walking away) scot-free from their liabilities, as Cowen & D'Greens saving their banking friends, all at the Irish tax-payers future expense for many years to come....
------

Day-o, day-o
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Work all night on a drink of stout
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Stash some euros till de mornin' come
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Come, Mister Tee-Dee man, screw us with ba-NAMA
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Come, Mister Tee-Dee man, screw us with ba-NAMA
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Get six bill', seven bill', eight bill' loan
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Day, me say day-o
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day...
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

A beautiful bunch o' ripe ba-NAMA
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Hide the lively black econ'my
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Get six bill', seven bill', eight bill' loan
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Six foot, seven foot, eight foot bunch
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Day, me say day-o
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day...
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Come, Mister Tee-Dee man, screw us with ba-NAMA
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Come, Mister Tee-Dee man, screw us with ba-NAMA
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Day-o, day-o
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off
Day, me say day, me say day, me say day
Me say day, me say day-o
NAMA cometh and me wanna feck off

Muppet Republic

2009-07-30T23:34:00.001+01:00

Greedy businessmen (and women), many known as real-estate developers, in collaboration with the Irish banks drained the Irish economy of at least 90 billion euro over the last few years. That is the remaining balance when the economy now has ground to a halt and the developers say they cannot pay. The Irish government now wants the Irish people to pay them to pay the banks at least 90 billion to bail out the greedy developers.

Let's think this through. There are outstanding "toxic" (i.e. cannot be repaid) loans of 90 billion. This amount was lent to the developers by the banks and profits have probably been moved off-shore, elsewhere, or just plainly spent on excessive consumption, by the aforementioned developers and bankers. As developers and bankers are now so unhappy, having to pay for themselves or go bankrupt or cease to be or disappear, they want us, you and me, to pay them 90 billion euro to allow them to continue their life styles and spend some quality time to try to figure out their next scheme to rob us of our savings (if any remaining), work (if any), life, pensions (if any), etc.

If we allow the defunct Irish government to proceed, we will all (every baby, teenager, adult, pensioner) be made to pay or owe 22,000 euro each, or, if the Central Statistics Office figures hold, about 62,000 euro per household.

Can you afford that?

Links: National Assets Management Agency (NAMA)

Softday Bacterial Ensemble

2009-04-29T03:30:00.002+01:00

The 18th of April 2009, the Softday Bacterial Ensemble performed the live music and multimedia Nobody Leaves 'till the Daphnia Sing. The performance with both humans and Daphnia Magna was a once off, but the INFECTIOUS exhibition and our installation with the Daphnia runs until the 17th of July 2009.

Nobody Leaves Until the Daphnia Sings

2009-04-17T10:37:00.005+01:00

A new Softday project

Finally Sean and I got the NLUTDS installation finished at the INFECTIOUS exhibition in the Science Gallery in Dublin.

The installation has four stations, each with a Petri-dish with a few Daphnia swimming around, veiwed by a web-cam connected to an Apple iMac (Thanks to Apple for support!), with a PD/GEM-patch making vocalizations depending on the movement of the Daphnia. The voices of the stations are Bass, Tenor, Alto and Soprano.

We are also growing Daphnia on site....

The exhibition runs from the 17th of April 2009 to the 17th of July 2009

The New Bootleggin Band

2009-03-03T00:32:00.001Z

The Bootlegin Band is being reincarnated, now with the addition of a sax and a trumpet. We rehearsed today (which is extraordinary by Bootlegin standards) and it sounded really good. I felt this was REALLY fun and it sounded the way I would lke the band to sound.
The band will be playing this Friday, the 6th of March, in Hurlers Pub in Castletroy in Limerick. I hope you can join us.

DULL computers

2009-01-09T01:49:00.002Z

From my perspective, as a lecturer and researcher at UL, Dell represents yesterday's computing needs. For the last few years, all the new laboratories I have specified, together with colleagues in the Computer Science and Information Systems department at UL, have been filled with Apple computers, and lots and lots of software tools and peripherals. That is the technological platform we needed to create the graduates for today, and perhaps more important, tomorrow.

In our research, we've been working on Ubiquitous Computing since the late 90s and we have published extensively in internationally recognized scientific journals. Many of our research projects have been financed by the EU. We are currently looking at what will happen after the Internet, as we now know it. What I would like to indicate is that while it is very sad to see Dell and many, many subcontractors and suppliers winding down, we have a fantastic opportunity to pick and choose among new technologies that have been created here, to help to get tomorrow's technology off the ground, facilitate real people's needs, make organizations more efficient, enable more people to participate in an ever-increasing web of ideas and possibilities.

Zeitgeist addendum

2008-10-12T01:04:00.000+01:00

World financial crisis

2008-10-05T00:24:00.000+01:00

The reasons for the current global financial crisis are easier to understand if you read Leo Huberman's Man's Worldly Goods. We'll al be paying for George W. Bush's unjust (criminal) acts of war. These acts were committed for the sake of greed. Unfortunately for GWB, his creditors (Arab countries producing oil and China producing most material goods for the US) didn't accept the flaky security of US banks (property) hence won't sell anymore. Reult: system grinds to a halt and they need everybody else to pay.
This is unacceptable.

The Changing Sound of Limerick

2008-09-25T23:41:00.000+01:00

I'm just home after yet another evening's excellent experiences. The TWEAK festival has had a very positive impact on the city, with the addition of tonight's SOUNDINGS event. Still, tomorow I need to go and see the TWEAK exhibition in City Hall...

The art of sleeping

2008-08-17T23:28:00.000+01:00

When one has to catch a flight at some totally inhumane hour of the morning, it does not work to go to bed early. At least not for me. For the last 50+ years, the only strategy that has worked for me is sleep-deprivation. Hence, I'm sitting here, now, writing.

UL Spatialisation and Auditory Display Environment (SpADE) Premiere

2008-07-29T00:25:00.001+01:00

This afternoon, Kerry with the help of a few PhD students had rigged up the 32 channel rig in CSG-01 in the CSIS department at UL. It was amazing to see, and in particular hear. A number of pieces were heard:
- Steve McCourt's quadrophonics work.
- David Spondike's Schnappschuss von der Erde (8 channel)
- Roland Cahen's ROTATIONS II (8 channel)
- Kerry's stochastic tape work (24 channel)
Finally, I got the opportunity to try out one of my new experimental pd patches, using modified VBAP.
The SpADE is a fantastic resource, allowing our unique approach in both artistic endeavors in electroacoustic music and scientific work in auditory display to co-exist and flourish.
Today's event was a pre-hear, testing the general configuration and the equipment. In the autumn, we'll run a full public event.

ICAD 2008

2008-07-07T00:38:00.001+01:00

After a week in Paris at ICAD2008 and a week back at UL, I'm trying to stop neglecting this blog.
While in Paris, I rediscovered La Ferandaise an excellent little restaurant. In the mornings before the conference I enjoyed the fountain outside IRCAM

Taste of Europe

2008-05-21T01:12:00.000+01:00

For some time now, I've been considering if any of the Polish or Russian shops in Limerick might stock some of the Scandinavian speciality foods that many Nordic people would consider essential. Eventually I found Taste of Europe in Mungret Street in Limerick. It's a wonderful shop! Most of the wares seem to be Polish, but I found both Kalles Kaviar as well as Matjessill. The also have a great selection of sausages, way beyond what the Irish think can be made and eaten.

You can save a life

2008-05-20T01:12:00.000+01:00

I did my re-certification last week, to be able and allowed to use an EAD defibrillator to try to save someone's life. I would hope that more people would learn this, as we will all need one another whenever in trouble.

Kerry

2008-04-17T02:11:00.000+01:00

I just noticed in Kerry L. Hagan's Skype tag that she has a new web site, www.kerrylhagan.net". Excellent, and I think we all should make sure we have examples of our work on-line and accessible.

Sound sculpture at Gairmscoil Clu Uladh

2008-04-12T01:37:00.000+01:00

Friday and Saturday, JJ and I installed our latest sound sculpture at Gairmscoil Clu Uladh in county Donegal.

Visiting Andromeda

2008-04-04T02:06:00.001+01:00

I took my 2nd year Digital Media Design students to meet Ralph Lundsten in his Andromeda studio/atelier/home.
We had an amazing time and resonance

Later the same day, we went to the Museum of Music.

The Swedish government is threatening to close down the museum. If you're in Stockholm, go see (and hear and experience) it.

Summer time

2008-03-30T03:25:00.000+01:00

I've just adjusted all "old" clocks in the house. 1h+. How will I convince my body and soul that the universe has jumped in time? I have a vague recollection when this winter/summer time change started. But, why... Instead we could decide to keep clocks as they are and get out of bed one hour earlier or later.... It's all down to frame of reference. Are we moving the window or the document. Personally, I'd prefer to keep clocks as they are and make my way out of bed earlier, or later.

Coincidence or causality - at the end of the day the universe rules

2008-03-22T00:42:00.001Z

I've been reading my feeds on the web. Suddenly it dawned on me, not through logic but through imagination, that everything is connected - which I believe but cannot prove.
In the past week, a couple of significant events occurred.
1. Arthur C. Clarke passed away.
2. The brightest ever supernova, GRB 080319A, exploded.
The timing of the events is extraordinary!
Did he go there? What the hell happened? Is it, by any metaphysical metaphor, connected? I guess the pure fact that it got my imagination going is a proof that it makes life, and death, feel significant. What if.... How???... and the most difficult, Why?????????

Apple, multi-touch and Sonic Browsing

2008-03-12T01:03:00.000Z

With the rapidly increasing development and deployment of multi-touch interfaces (primarily from Apple), it’s definitely time to consider how the interaction design of media playing devices could benefit from a Sonic Browsing approach. While we used an circular aura around the cursor in the original Sonic Browser, with multi-touch you could directly manipulate a rectangle (or oval, or any shape if you use more fingers) that define your aura.

iTunes , but no Sonic Browser

2008-03-02T02:22:00.000Z

Why doesn't iTunes have a Sonic Browser? As a musician, I never forget a melody, but I seldom remember the title. Therefore, I normally use my EARS when looking for a recording, not text. I think that if Apple had a Sonic Browser they'd sell many more songs.

My AppleTV works - again!

2008-03-01T18:51:00.000Z

I was really happy yesterday evening when Galmac delivered my replacement AppleTV to my door. After half an hours twiddling of settings, everything downloaded automatically from the house server, then I updated it to AppleTV2. The new GUI is definitely more usable. The back-end integration with YouTube now works fine, which means that my favorites created from any computer now show up automatically on the AppleTV, etc.
Concerning sound, it revs up into full Dolby 5.1 surround during start-up, so I'll have to try it out with my own surround stuff while waiting for iTunes to start to provide movies for rental in Ireland.

Sound Art exhibition

2008-02-28T01:22:00.000Z

Finally, we launched the catalogue for the Two Places Exhibition.

It works... Getting my life back

2008-02-15T01:31:00.000Z

This evening, the Bootleggin band was back playing in the Hurlers Pub in Castletroy in Limerick. It was the first time since I got it, my new PA and my new ear-gear. It worked - fine! And, I didn't have any head pain, so I feel really good now. I'm hoping that tonight's gig marks the end of this Horton period and that I can work my way back to normal (whatever that is...).

It's getting better all the time...

2008-02-11T02:48:00.000Z

Life is still SHITE. I have excruciating pain at least once a day, but the frequency is dropping.

Pain, who needs it? I don't. I wish for a day some weeks from now, when I don't have to fear this.

Hell is becoming more frequent

2008-02-01T18:50:00.000Z

It's getting worse. Day by day, for the last week, the number of hours between Horton head pain attacks shortens.

During an attack, there is no time, no place, no world - only pain.
The intensity ranges between 8 and 10. Quality of life is getting very low.
Amount of work done between attacks is minimal...

I've been to 9 today...

2008-01-28T01:48:00.000Z

and crying with one eye. The number 9 corresponds quite well both to the Kip and Mankoski scales of pain.

Horton's head ache

2008-01-26T15:56:00.000Z

After two years without severe pain, my Horton's head ache re-emerged again last night. I think it's wrong to call it head ache. It's bloody excruciating pain!!!!

Cyberviking's Tabbouleh

2008-01-01T16:27:00.000Z

2.5 dl bulgur
3 dl parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cucumber, finely diced
5 tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 leek, finely chopped
10 leaves of mint, finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
5 tbsp olive oil (best possible quality)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pour boiling water on the bulgur and leave it for 30 minutes.
Drain the bulgur and allow to cool.
Add all the other ingredients, mix well, and leave for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

New Year's Party

2008-01-01T14:18:00.000Z

We had a good New Year's Party last night. Excellent nutritious and delicious contributions from everybody, good company and plenty of fun.

Gabriela's fantastic 2008-cake

At the end of the night, my iTunes shuffled into Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water and we finally got to play our air guitars, or keyboards ;-)

Liam on air guitar

Michael on air guitar

Cyberviking on air keyboards.
Happy New Year!!!

Ultimate PA

2007-12-21T01:00:00.000Z

Today I picked up my ultimate keyboard PA system. A Numark 1,900 W amp, 2 ProSound 800W speakers and an Alesis mixer. This is a perfect match to my keyboard setup. I just wish I was well enough to be out playing a gig.... (currently suffering with chest infection).

Ultimate Ears

2007-12-03T23:08:00.000Z

I know the Bootleggin Band is loud. Very loud. Or, as J.J. says "a wee band with a big sound". I don't have a problem with the big sound as long as I have hearing protection. So far, I've been using the cheap standard earplugs that you can buy in any pharmacy for less than a euro. But they dont give me the option to hear what I want to hear.
So, last night I ordered what I could afford from Ultimate Ears. It'll be interesting to see (or rather hear) how it works....

Empirical Science

2007-11-26T01:56:00.000Z

this evening, I'm working through all my recipes for toffee. I'm trying to develop the perfect toffee recipe. Anything is allowed, vanilla, brandy, mustard. The only way to find the prefect toffee is to make it and eat it. Pure fun, and science.

I'm back

2007-11-06T01:07:00.000Z

from West Clare. I should have stayed another week.. and another week... and another week. I think I belong there.

I know this is not a good QT panorama (sorry, wrong settings on the camera), but it illustrates what I feel.

Doin the Omoralisk Schlagerfestival

2007-10-09T23:26:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, we watched a Swedish dramadocumentary that we had received on VHS - Upp till Kamp. This inspired us to look for more stuff from the 60s and 70s Gothenburg... ;-) The video clip above is from Tältprojektet - the Tent project. It shows Sillstryparn a.k.a. Garotta Di Anchovy performing his most famous hit.

iPod touch

2007-10-03T02:06:00.000+01:00

This is posted using my new iPod touch. The interface is just great. The functionaity sucks.how the hell does Steve jobs think that safari would be acceptable without flash and various media players?

ECSCW2007 in Limerick starting

2007-09-24T23:31:00.000+01:00

Very early morning. Got out of bed 05:00 and arrived Hilton at 07:00. No sign of iBahn, Hiton's preferred ISP. After 35 minutes we found iBahn's technician. but no conference code. I phoned all their support lines, without luck.
After some coffee and more telephone calls, and some nasty emails via Hilton's free Internet, we got the Conference Code.
Suddenly all rooms worked, but one. The Harris room net was not working. It was a patch cord in the wrong place.
Hilton had also managed to swap vga feeds between conference rooms!
Finally, just before 09:00, everything worked. At the end of the day, I have to say that Hilton's and iBahn's efforts are quite unprofessional...

Significant week[end]

2007-09-17T02:56:00.000+01:00

It's been one of those... significant weekends. Coming out from the local shopping centre, Hugin (or Munin) was talking to me. The Raven speaks, the Raven flies...

Saturday, we had Sushi. Sunday, we had lobster (see older blogs for pictures)
We [re-]watched the movie Ray [Charles]
I cried and laughed.

Yet another report from my Sonoverse

2007-08-23T01:18:00.000+01:00

It's been a good day. I've been working at home on the .... PhD. While trying to re-conciliate some odds and ends on where and how we start thinking about sound making I came across some really good and funny sources.
First of all, I remember going o various music hall and variety shows in the 1960's and onwards where, quite often, one of the acts would be the sound guy. This was normally some short funny stories where the performer created all the sound effects with his or her voice (or body) live, on stage. Part of the trick was the performers understanding of how to use or utilize the microphone [perspective] in relation to their voice and body.
While trying to find a written source on this topic, I found Fred Newman's book Mouthsounds, which I immediately ordered. Continuing to refine my search terms, I also found some very good examples on YouTube:
- Joe Saba
- Harry Potter sound f/x
- Amazing beat box
Listen and enjoy!

Welcome to my Sonoverse

2007-08-13T02:00:00.000+01:00

Over the last couple of weeks, Softday has completed yet another interesting piece of electroacoustic music. This time, we had an invite from Germany to create something about Orpheus. We looked at all kinds of source materials and eventually landed on the parallels in Irish mythology. The result will be released on some kind of German compilation CD.

Eldorado

2007-08-12T02:23:00.000+01:00

It's been busy weeks. To calm the soul, we tune in to Eldorado, Kjell Alinge's weekly webcast. This is audio art. Audio exploration. Audio experience. Audio appreciation. Audio fun. Audio erotica. Tickling your ear drums. Touching your brain, or perhaps, your soul (or psyche...). Tune in - let go. Relax. Go to Eldorado.

How to deal with clients

2007-07-12T01:56:00.000+01:00

My wife is in hospital. I'm the “spouse of the patient, from Hell”. What this means is that I ask too many questions. Between each visit, I use Google, all university accessible Scientific Journal databases, etc., to find out more about how little we know [me and the medics] about what's going on.
Yesterday, I realised some of the Medical Magic... It's actually the same in Tech Magic.
DON'T TELL THE CLIENT
So, what does this mean? Well, it's pretty simple. As a professional, as data unravels, one hypothesises. While doing this, it may not be such a good idea to tell the Client about all possibilities. Just tell them:
“Don't worry, we'll have this sorted by the end of the week”
or
“We're all going to die, so there's nothing to worry about”
Uh, Oh, don't tell them the latter. It's probably to radical... Let's try
“Your hard disk it totally corrupted. They're quite cheap these days. Let's get a new one, re-install everything, and load your backup”
Uh, Oh....
Anyhow, what dawned on me was that as professionals, we all do the same. The more we know, and hypothesise, the less we should tell the Client while we're trying to make our minds up what the hell we're going to do next.
As a patient, I don't like this. I'd like to know it ALL. On the other hand, if we accept this, the implications are that I don't need to worry about things:
My Accountant: should worry about my tax returns.
My Bank Manager: should worry about how to keep me supplied with cash.
etc...
That's a happy thought ;-)

ICAD2007

2007-07-05T02:04:00.000+01:00

I had a really good time at ICAD2007. Despite tha fact that I don't like to be in big cities, the excellent company and academic content made it worthwhile.

Montreal is a beatiful city. In a distance, I even spotted a Bucky-Ball!

Finally, on Saturday we went to the Jazz Festival. My favourite act was definitely Rick L. Blues.

Longest day of the year

2007-06-22T01:33:00.000+01:00

Skål! It's the longest day of 2007. After spending most of the day at TSSG in Waterford on the HEA Site-visit, I made it back home to Limerick. After dinner, we browsed the video shelf and picked Erik the Viking. Good topic for a day like this.

The death of humour in Sweden

2007-06-08T02:14:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, we picked up the news that Povel Ramel had passed away. It's a sad day. Povel was the most amazing show-man. I saw him and his KnäppUpp-team several times when I was a kid. So many of the best performing and comedy artists in Scandinavia today owe him everything. Apart from the great music and musicianship, his way to deal with text and lyrics was just amazing. What really surprised me was that Swedish Television didn't include comments from Robert Broberg!

Landed in Reykjavik

2007-05-10T00:45:00.000+01:00

So, after all this travel I'm finally in Reykjavik. Great place, great views. Look!

There's also a great art festival on...

What's a Danish sandwich?

2007-05-10T00:28:00.000+01:00

On my way to Iceland, stop-over at Copenhagen Airport. I could not resist a "dansk smørrebrød" and a pint...

Searching for WiFi

2007-05-07T00:17:00.000+01:00

So, back in the old home town. Plenty of WiFi but almost all secured. Found a Cloud connection at Strandbaden. Great!

View from Strandbaden over Kattegatt

The importance of oxygen

2007-05-04T00:36:00.000+01:00

Tonight, I'll be sleeping with this contraption on my hand.

It's a wrist-worn device from Nonin.
The reason for this is to check how well my CPAP therapy works, and if my parameters needs to be adjusted.

Vista sucks

2007-05-01T01:26:00.000+01:00

Ian sent a very interesting link today about Microsoft Windows Vista and their DRM stuff.
If you're a CREATIVE professional, Microsoft will more or less make sure that you can't work. If you're a sound artist or scientist using things like S/PDIF or optical audio i/o, Vista will disable your subsystems. Just think - you've invested thousands of euro in your studio, you get Vista, and nothing will ever work again.
So, apparently Microsoft does not want you to be creative. They only want you to be a consumer...

Back from Brussels

2007-04-26T02:25:00.000+01:00

Mon-Wed was used for going to Brussels to participate in launching the new COST action on Sonic Interaction Design.
Apart from work, we had the opportunity to re-explore food in Brussels. I would strongly recommend:
MANGETSU
(owners Kzutomi & Kyoko Watanabe)
13 Rue de la Fourche
1000 Bruxells
Phone: 02-5118367

iTunes suck

2007-04-16T00:16:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I heard a tune on radio. I had a vague idea about the band. Immediatly searched iTunes shop - about 150 hits. I was then forced by a traditional list-based interface to double-click, listen for two seconds, double-click on next, etc. With a Sonic Browser, I would have found the tune in no time and Apple would have made money faster!

Bootleggin in Castleconnell

2007-04-15T23:59:00.000+01:00

This Friday night, the famous Bootleggin Band played at Charco's Pub in Castleconnell. Mr Shortt made an extensive and fantastic guest performance on saxophone. More gigs during summer....

Hrafninn flýgur

2007-04-11T01:34:00.000+01:00

This evening we watched an old VHS reel, Hrafninn flýgur, to get inspired for my Horzontal Rain piece. While the story is quite theatrical or epic, it is still a very nice film in terms of showing where Icelandic culture is coming from, its people and conflicts.

AppleTV now installed

2007-04-03T01:32:00.000+01:00

After getting yet another thingie, the YPbPr to RGB transcoder, I finally got my AppleTV working. I'm still missing a SCART cable, but I've borrowed one from the DVD for the moment. It works, it's neat. Now the only missing thing is content, i.e. video. It's great being able to share and stream music and photos from 5 other computers. One disadvantage is that you can't get Web Radio, as far as I've tried, on the thing.
So remedy the lack of content, I'll have to define a few clever Final Year Projects to convert all kinds of video content to MPEG so that it can be imported into iTunes and played.
I still haven't tested if it'll do surround sound. I think I have all the formats enabled on the sound system...

New jobs...

2007-04-01T20:15:00.000+01:00

According to some sources, the IDC is being privatized!

AppleTV has landed

2007-03-28T18:54:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, I got my AppleTV box. As I wanted to connect it to the home cinema system, I thought I'd be OK using the RGB output. I then discovered that the RGB output is actually YPbPr, so I've now bought extra cables, ordered a SyncBlaster RGB to Component video Transcoder from Keene Electronics in the UK.
Apple needs to update their documentation!
A postive discovery while going through all possible troubleshooting from Apple was that AppleTV at least uses a simple form of Auditory Display to indicate what it's doing while going through all its possible screen resolutions and synch options. The AppleTV box goes PING every time it changes screen settings and finally PING-PING when it has completed the cycle and restarts.

Suborderly's blog

2007-03-26T19:44:00.000+01:00

It was with delight I received bread and tech's note about suborderly's arrival on blogger. I hope that we can further develop the concepts of art and anarchytecture!

Spring Equinox

2007-03-21T22:39:00.000Z

So, finally it's here again. The Equinox. Or, as we should call it, Vårblot. In the image below, you can see us dancing around the garden naked, while drinking and chanting (at midnight ;-)

Horizontal Rain

2007-03-11T18:18:00.000Z

I've started to write a piece of music/performance for the ConGas concert in Reykjavik. I'm using a set of natural sounds – wind, rain, geysers, birds, etc., that I re-synthesize and make controllable from Tyndall WIMU-motes through PD. The reason for the title is that horizontal rain is one thing that Ireland and Iceland have in common.

Reclaiming the field

2007-03-11T18:15:00.000Z

This weekend, the four horses are gone from the field down from our garden. Great! Despite the gloomy gray weather, with rain and wind, we had a lovely spring walk down the field. It's mucky. After all rain, and four horses trampling around the fields for months, it's more muck than turf.
The first few buds are turning into leaves on the trees. There's hope again.

Paris in February

2007-02-23T02:12:00.000Z

...is a great city. It's probably great any time of the year. Went for a pre-project/proposal meeting. I was lucky - had most of Friday off. Went to IRCAM and Centre Pompidou. There's hope for humantity....

Getting peculier by the day

2007-02-09T00:38:00.000Z

While in York last week, I eventually found an olde friend in The Olde Starre Inne... the extraordinary good and excellent Old Peculier. It's a wonderful brew, but slightly dangerous. Three pints will definitely put most people to deep sleep... (or perhaps it was four?). As you can see in the image below, both I and the camera had difficulties focusing.

PhD day

2007-01-21T23:44:00.000Z

It's been a very good day. Woke up early, did the dishes, cooked breakfast, walked the dog. Then, and meeting with Liam re MY Phd. It's now or never. This time it'll happen. Aarrghhh, just got distracted by Dilbert.

Apple Day

2007-01-10T02:00:00.000Z

Watching CES2007, I'm now convinced that Steve Jobs is sharing my visions of the future, or vice versa.
In his Keynote, the iPhone and AppleTV is exactly what's missing in my life.
Make your next device purchase and Apple. Make you next media purchase iTunes.

RE-NABLE

2007-01-05T02:55:00.000Z

Tonight, I finished writing teh final draft of the RE-NABLE grant proposal to Enterprise Ireland. Last time, they [the reviewers] didn't like it enough, but this time - well - I can't see anything better or more important.

Managing energy in Ireland

2007-01-01T20:32:00.000Z

Today, I've done a full energy assessment on our house, all according to the stuff published by Sustainable Energy Ireland, the state agency responsible for the energy future of the country, and the EU DEAP directive. It didn't turn out that well, as expected. The final measure ended up with 293 kWh/m2 which is pretty bad. The main causes are single-glazed windows and not enough insulation in the attic. To make things a little better, I'll try to shop around town tomorrow and get a new set of thermostats and timers to improve the performance of the boiler.

Merry Midwinter

2006-12-22T00:22:00.000Z

I wish you a Merry Midwinter. The real midwinter happened 22 minutes past midnight, the 22nd of December. We went out into our garden, reading a verse each from the Old Nordic Edda. Midwinter is a time to reflect upon what happened during the year, in our life.
What can we do, from now on, that will make things better for creatures on this planet – the only one we have... This is, of course, an impossible question. But, the more people that ask themselves this, and understand the question, the better it may become. If you don' know how to, ask. If you know, just do it and be happy.

Me, Tretow, Lundsten and Kubrik

2006-12-18T02:45:00.000Z

Tonight I realised how right they are. Why travel? If you want to talk about my work, you come HERE. I have heard that Stanley Kubrik refused to travel. For a number of years, I have tried to invite Michael B. Tretow (amongst other things, ABBA's sound engineer) and Ralph Lundsten (one of the world's finest electronic music composers). They refused to travel. So, here I am, trying to plan my work for 2007. Invite from European Commission for Luxembourg in January, keynote in York in February. I might skip Luxembourg, but for York I'm currently checking out the possibilities using trains and ferries. That's life. Hopefully this approach will enable a low CO2 footprint.

Plumbing in space

2006-12-14T01:26:00.000Z

I've been really excited for the last few days, since NASA launched the STS-116 mission, including the Swedish (Norwegian?) astronaut Christer Fuglesang. This evening I've been watching NASA's TV-feed while Fuglesang and Curbeam try to do some re-assembly and assembly of some of the gear they brought up on the mission to complete the International Space Station.
I suddenly realised why I would not have been suited for the job. Part of the conversation the two guys had with Houston was asking if they would be allowed to use a different sized wrench to untighten a bolt. I would surely have picked the tool I found appropriate and done the job. I guess from the likes of NASA's point-of-view, that would be unacceptable frm a disciplinary point of view.

Taps....

2006-12-08T02:55:00.000Z

Today, we had Mr James Devine working with us. We're testing him and the software we have developed for him. Our software enables real-time analysis of tap dancing, in terms of taps per second. Today, James broke his own Guinness World Record. His fastest tappng today was: 43 taps per second!!!!

h2g2

2006-12-04T00:07:00.000Z

Tonight, we watched our DVD of the latest Hitchhikers movie, again. Alarmingly, it wasn't the same movie as when we watched it the first time! The only rational explanation is the Effect of the Improbability Drive, i.e. each time to watch it, it'll show you different versions....
Whatever you do, Don't Panic.

Home Network

2006-12-01T02:23:00.000Z

Tonight, I finished my local infrastructure - as far as networking is concerned. House server is installed, wrireless at 54 MB installed, etc. Next: get a new printer to connect to house server.

Soundings in Limerick

2006-11-17T01:27:00.000Z

This evening I had a lovely experience. I went to the Soundings concert at Daghda in Limerick. First, we had Slavek’s piece, including some live stuff, then the three winners of Diffusion 2006, and finally the finale with Stockhausen’s “Gesang der Jünglinge”.

From here to Clare - and back

2006-11-05T23:54:00.000Z

I'm just back after a week's holiday in West Clare. Ahhhh! Every time I go out there, I find it increasingly difficult to go back. One day, I'm sure, I won't. After a week out there, normal semi-urban reality seems unreal and irrelevant. I've read three books while out there, and as many newspapers as I could find. Out there, time is not focussed on the Clock. It's the tide and the weather that controls Life, the Universe and Everything.
Some good news: Sealyons a.k.a. Lyon's Seafood have started a delivery service of fresh fish to Limerick!

JK Ensemble

2006-10-11T00:50:00.000+01:00

John Kelly is back on air, now on RTE Lyric FM. The first week, he was on the verge of referring to trains and train drivers, but this week he seems to have settled in. Still, I wonder, why can't he play Jimi Hendrix on Lyric?
I sent him an email yesterday, recommedning Armenian Navy Band. Today, wich was lucky, I managed to listen to half of the program over the web in real-time. I think he should choose themes (odd and awkward themes). Perhaps, for Women's Day (I think it's the 8th of March), do female punk rock artists? I'd love a programe with, for example, Nina Hagen.

Eldorado

2006-10-02T23:27:00.000+01:00

The web is fantastic. Broadband (although only 3 Mb/s) is great. This evening I rediscovered a Swedish radio program that I really love - Eldorado - by Kjell Alinge. It's pure art, pure sonic experience. Great stuff.

Sexy lab

2006-10-02T00:26:00.000+01:00

Today, Sunday, I was at UL for a few hours, trying to help Colm to finish building the new lab for the B.Sc. in Digital Media Design and BSc in Music, Media & Performance Technology. It's great to see 36 Imacs (dual core, Intel chip) in a room. As I a read an article in Sound on Sound magazine over breakfast, I realised that we now have the most powerful and excellent studio in Ireland, perhaps Europe, if we use our studio with this lab as Protools Nodes ;-). What sounds will we make...?

MetaMusic finishing

2006-09-28T00:29:00.000+01:00

It's been a very intense day. The MetaMusic project is finishing. Handing over a full software system in just a day or so is unreal. But, let's hope for the best. Justin and I had a few sentimental moments while everybody else were hacking. It's about four years since this started. Thanks to Andrea Deverell and Paul Dillon, we got it started. Now, it's finished, thanks to Eoin, Ian, Tony and Brian. I need a holiday.

Post-examination depression

2006-09-26T00:38:00.000+01:00

So, last week week we examined all I-media and MusicTech stundets. Exciting and exhausting. When I got home Friday night I felt like "I need to get another job", but today having met the new students I think I'll give it another year. Our postgrad programmes are, from faculty's point of view, insane. We don't get ANY time off. Just when we finish, we start again. Still, I love what the stundents produce - new interesting work and ideas.

Great Broadband

2006-09-17T21:55:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Digiweb, www.digiweb.ie we have watched the Swedish Election TV coverage on-line this evening, This is just the start of a new media trend (even in bally-go-backwards contries like Ireland). I want my video iPod - iTV, thingy for Xmas!

Finished with proposal

2006-09-13T01:06:00.000+01:00

After 2 weeks research, discussions and writing, I'm finally finished with writing a new research grant proposal to Enterprise Ireland. The project RE-NABLE aims to enhance and improve post-stroke rehabilitation, using inertial sensors motes and novel multiplatform software systems. Now, it's finally bed time.

Going bionic

2006-09-07T02:05:00.000+01:00

I went through a serious dental surgery experince yesterday. The valium didn't work. Unfortunately, I have a microfracture at the floor of the tooth, hence a full root canal job will not provide a long-term solution. So, I've started to research how and what to get for an implant.

This is a titanium screw that they drive into ones jaw, and put a nice and well-working crown on top. As they say, "It'll last you for life"...

Dentists

2006-09-04T00:56:00.000+01:00

So... I'm due for the final and ultimate root canal job. This time with a specialist in Ennis! I was up there during the week for examination, and he sure has the right gadgets, but IMHO that's what I'd expect. While he explained the procedure fairly straight, I've decided I'll need some extra sedative to actually go through with this. I'm picking them up tomorrow morning. Annette has agreed to drive me there, and Mona has agreed to support me. They both suspect that post-surgery, I'll ask them to stop at every pub between Ennis and Limerick for a pint, as sedatives, they tell me, has this effect on me. Let's see...

More dentistry - but not yet

2006-08-31T00:54:00.000+01:00

I went up to Ennis today to see the specialist who'd sort out my root canal problem. After examination, and yeee this guy had the widgets, we agreed that next Tuesday, I'll take my sedatives and he'll drill through my jaw for 2 hours. If we're lucky, it'll work. If not, I won't be able to talk about it.

Rapid prototyping

2006-08-22T00:46:00.000+01:00

I have the most amazing neighbour, Donal. He’s a mechanical engineer, making prototypes for all and everybody. I gave him a drawing yesterday afternoon and today he called in with the finished design, in triplicate! Top quality, exactly to spec, just fantastic...

Detain the Queen

2006-08-21T00:31:00.000+01:00

After all the troubles with air travel through the UK in the past week or so, I think we may have discovered the ultimate plot. It is suspected that the Queen of England, Elisabeth the II, is in fact an Arab in hiding! The name Elisabeth (or Elizabeth) is in fact the English form of the Hebrew name, El Isheva. So, our best advice to MI5,6 and whatever numbers they are using nowadays is - go arrrest the Queen. She might not be whom you think she is...

Sleeping with Darth Vader

2006-08-16T01:53:00.000+01:00

From tonight, my wife will be sleeping with Darth Vader - to-be. Me. After being diagnosed with 25% sleep apnoea, I finally received my magical machine today that hopefully will force air down my nostrils while the rest of my body has forgotten how to breath, while sleeping. Either it works, and I’ll be very happy, or it doesn’t and I’ll have to start a new research programme into cyber-remedies for sleep apnoea.

Mystery sound

2006-08-07T00:43:00.000+01:00

For the last few weeks, we've been hearing what sounds like a distant gunshot when we're sitting in our garden. It goes BANG every 70 seconds. From my subjective judgement, it might be anything from 350 to 1000 meters away, in the direction of Castleconnell. We don't have a clue what the hell it is. Even the most ambitious hunter would not be able to afford that many clay pidgeons. If anybody has an idea what it is, please let me know.

Root-canal job and new kitchen

2006-07-25T03:20:00.000+01:00

It’s interesting to have a holiday, This morning, I had an appointment with my dentist. An hour later, we had completed stage one of a serious root-canal project. Yikes. I had my lunch, trying to avoid to eat my own lips and tongue, while the anesthetic was wearing off.
Later today, I continued the project re-making our kitchen (with the help of Mona and Annette). After standing on a ladder for hours, I’ve discovered hundreds of neglected muscles.... But, the kitchen looks nice ;-)