ic:blog

Bird table version 2 (and 'stick soup')

There are few better ways to spend a sunny springtime Sunday afternoon than in outdoors; while Beth was out visiting her sadly ailing grandfather, the children kept themselves occupied in the space left on the drive and I worked on the final part of my bird feeder project, bringing all the bits to the front of the house (where, to be honest, the majority of the sunshine was).

After scooting and skating around for a while, the children discovered a bucket of water that had been left out since (I think!) we last cleaned the car - it was three-quarters full of just thawed water, and they enjoyed acting out a TV cookery show, adding ingredients from the hedge and ground to their 'stick soup' - it was most entertaining.

My main objective was to replace the copper pipe - which had been previously used to support the two bird feeding elements - with something more substantial that could at least take the weight of a new bird feeder that I built on a quiet Monday afternoon last week (after an engineer had been and finally fixed our errant dishwasher!)

The bird feeder itself (there's a photo below) was constructed almost entirely out of bits of left-over wood (including the right-angle brackets of an inexpensive shelf that was never put up, but which made a good roof guide) and a frying pan 'spatter guard' that we never used. I had, however, run out of any substantial lengths of two-inch thick wooden battens to use as a sturdier stand, so I was on the lookout for something a little more natural. It wasn't perfect, but the thick branch I'd removed from the leylandii trees last year seemed like a good enough candidate, so that's what I've used.

Unfortunately, it's not very straight, so I've had to modify the stand a little(!) but if it all collapses, I can always rework it using something a bit more sensible.

That said, I've so far seen a robin and a blackbird enjoying a nibble from the seeds on show, so I'm hopeful that this will continue to encourage birds back to the garden - especially the somewhat troubled house sparrow, and despite the regular presence of cats nearby. I'll certainly be keeping an eye on it from work using the Ustream video link I set up last week!

AudioBoo: Transition Luton Hustings, 25th February 2010

I was fortunate to be able to attend some Hustings run by Transition Luton last Thursday, where all eight of the prospective parliamentary candidates for Luton South (the seat that will soon be - thankfully - vacated by Margaret Moran in May) gave their account of a vision for Luton, in terms of improving the environmental and, well, the mood, really.

Here's my account of the event, and a photo of almost all the speakers (Mark Scheimann hadn't quite got to his seat by that point).

Listen!
An audio recording from audioboo.fm

Bird feeder cam..!

One of my objectives this year is to encourage wild birds into our back garden, not least because some species are becoming somewhat rare in urban areas.

I need to do some work on the provision of food, since the home-made bird feeder we made a couple of years back doesn't seem to be very popular - I've made a couple of minor modifications, but visitors are still scarce.

Despite this, I've set up a little webcam, using the Stickam video streaming service, so I can keep an eye on that little corner of our terrace. I originally chose Stickam because it has an iPhone app, which means I can have it on a little screen on my desk during my workday, but it proved a little unreliable, so I'm now using Ustream, which seems to work OK. I've now set up a 'proper' camera, but the video capture device doesn't update very quickly, so I'm hoping any visitors stick around!

If you'd like to see what's (probably not) going on, you can click here: www.ustream.tv/channel/luton-garden-bird-live-webcam or you can see the video below (if you've got Flash Player... and if it isn't dark!):

Webcam chat at Ustream

Half-term fun and action!

Although it has been a rainy, cold half-term, the children have had a number of opportunities to get out and about during this week-long half-term break. I was able to take them to an outdoor playscheme run by the Play Rangers of www.childrenslinks.org.uk. I think maybe because it was somewhat snowy(!) they were the only children present, which meant they had a good opportunity to play. And get very muddy! Beth and I took a walk around the perimeter of the park while the children enjoyed themselves - good exercise for both of us. Thursday's session - which was even muddier - had a better turn out, and Eleanor told amusing tales of how it was impossible to run on some parts of the grass. That, however, is what washing machines are for!

Stockwood Museum organised a special "Bugs 'n Beasties" exhibition, too; unfortunately it was extremely busy on the day Beth and her parents wanted to take the children, but it's great news that it was a popular attraction, and will hopefully encourage them to run more.

Yesterday morning there was a musical performance session that the children attended, and they went swimming in the afternoon at Harpenden Swimming Pool - at which they are able to go swimming for free due to a government initiative (definitely worth investigating while it lasts - entitlement varies between local councils).  We have, however, a quiet weekend ahead - well, at the moment anyway; it's Beth's Grandma's 90th birthday today (Saturday), which we'll all celebrate, but I daresay there'll not be as much travelling as there was a week ago, when Beth and I took a brief trip down to the south coast to have my first fitting for a wedding suit - my best mate Jon is getting married later in the year, and I have the onerous task of being Best Man.. I have a book to read about it, but my intention is simply to do my best on the day.. and not lose the ring!

Annoyingly, I've not taken any photos, nor shot any videos this week - and I've not really done much recording, either, but work has been unbelievably busy which has left me exhausted in the evening. Hopefully my brother and I will continue work on a piece of music we're working on in the next few weeks... I think some studio time is definitely in order if the opportunity arises this weekend, while the keyboard's still on the desk (although I really ought to fix the pitch-bend, since it's behaving somewhat erratically - I can assure you that can have a dreadful effect on the music!)

In fact, I've been trying to update my main website, but it seems to be a bit stuck - that's another job on the list of things to do. Speaking of which, I don't think I've tweeted about a really good "To-Do List" application for iPhone/iPod Touch - it's free and called Errands, and I find it extremely useful to keep track of the jobs I need to do in the studio, things I need to buy and general household tasks... I'll not miss the recycle bin again! Perhaps I should put 'update my blog' on the list as a regular appointment, too...

New(ish) year..?

Since the snow's gone away, and winter has moved on, it's really been 'business as usual' for me and the family - we've had a few days out here and there, but much of the time has been spent enjoying family time in the warmth of our home!

This has meant that I've not really taken any photos of note, and we've not really had many opportunities to take out our family Christmas present - a rather excellent Flip Ultra HD video camera.

That said, just after Christmas, there was a most enthralling exhibition called 'Space Age' at the Stockwood Park Discovery Centre that I compiled into a short video (see below).

The software that comes with the camera is simple but effective - in fact, a new version was released that means that videos that are edited in the software are able to be transferred back to the camera, which can be plugged into an HD ready television, so we can watch our finished products in their full glory (or not!)

Here, then are our creations - my video of the Space Age exhibtion, and Christopher's video of the snow people he and his sister made!

My new year's resolution has been to be more organised, and to focus on getting things done. One of my objectives has been to clear out some of the cupboards in the studio and bits of the loft - in doing so, I've actually done fairly well selling it on eBay or giving it away with Freecycle. It's amazing how time-consuming doing these things can become, but if it saves taking stuff to the tidy tip, there's definitely a benefit!

I started recording a daily 'mini-podcast' on AudioBoo, but - as with many of these good intentions, that has dwindled somewhat... it is not before time, though, that I need to get myself organised again, and start creating!

That said, my brother Dave is coming over this evening - we'll probably just have a bit of a jam (as we did last time) but it keeps my focus on making music! The studio has been multi-purpose over the past couple of months, from workshop (I had to carry out repairs on a broken bookshelf in the lounge, so sawing and drilling of wood was required) to warehouse (it's where the stuff that I'm selling and giving away tends to accumulate).

It would be great to get back into the world of podcasting, too - I'm still a voracious listener, occasional contributor, but I've not actually made anything original for over a year, now. It's all about finding the time, though... and, more importantly, having the self-discipline not to waste it!

Anyway, that'll probably do as a brief update to this somewhat neglected blog! As always, my daily 'goings-on' are chronicled on Twitter (with an archive here, but I'll hopefully update this blog sooner rather than later!

A couple of links, while I remember:

lutonlive.com - a live (sometimes real-time) webcam of a Luton Street.. yes, it's inspired me to do something similar!

Google FlashBlock / Firefox FlashBlock - There seem to be more bits of Flash animation than ever before on the internet, which has caused something of a backlash - certainly with small netbooks, all the processing power required just to display all the adverts can grind it to a halt! Here are a couple of useful add-ins that stop Flash items starting automatically when a page is loaded.

An audio recording from AudioBoo

syzygy: audioBoo: Last night shenanigans boo

Listen!
An audio recording from audioboo.fm

A photo from TwitPic

A photo from Grove Theatre in Dunstable are presenting Cinderella) with her Beaver colony.

Somewhat frustratingly, I was beset by a stomach bug, which meant that Beth had to brave driving in the snow and ice to enable Lenni to enjoy the performance - consequently missing her work do - what a hero!

I was a little better yesterday, so we took a family walk up the hill to the supermarket, and I took the opportunity to take the Flip HD with me, to record the children as they stomped around in their (fortuitously ordered!) new snowboots. Unfortunately, I had to attempt to steady myself on the slippery surface, so it's not the smoothest of videos! The crisp, still air, clear blue skies and rarity of traffic brought memories of cold days on the continent - it really was nothing like the Luton I know.

If I don't blog beforehand, have a Happy Christmas!

(YouTube video - requires Flash)

Hemel Hempstead Snow Centre - and Santa!

It's always nice - certainly while the children are young enough to appreciate it(!) - to pay a visit to Father Christmas. A couple of years ago, we were able to see him at Harrods, and Beth made arrangements this December for a visit to the Snow Centre that opened in Hemel Hempstead in May this year. We'd never been into an indoor ski centre before - the closest we've come, I think, was looking at the Xscape in Milton Keynes from the shopping centre there - and I vaguely recall watching some ice-skating from the viewing balcony somewhere else.. though I have no idea where!

December has been fairly mild (and wet!) so far, but the temperature as we trudged through the compressed snow along the base of the floodlit snow slope was - understandably - much lower. Because we were indoors, the humidity was much greater than one would expect "in the wild", but the snow was perfect for playing in - there was a snow garden set up in one of the corners, and that's where the children spent a happy quarter of an hour or so before being called in to see Santa.

It's a little cheeky, I know, but we took delivery of our family Christmas present during the week, so we made good use of it. It's the first digital video camera we've owned - a tiny Flip Ultra HD - and it takes remarkably good pictures for those family memories.

Here, therefore, is a short compilation of our first proper 'go' on the camera (please excuse the poor editing and cheesy music) and, of course, our two cheeky children with Father Christmas.

Lenni and Chris with Father Christmas

BBC iPlayer on the Goodmans internet radio (and elsewhere!) - techie

The BBC iPlayer is an amazing thing - not only can it play live and catch-up TV and radio programmes on a computer, but it is now available on all manner of gadgets, from Nokia mobile phones to the Nintendo Wii. This latter option has been an absolute wonder, since we can now catch up on practically any BBC programme on the lounge TV without having to plug in a laptop or watch on the mac from the kitchen table. It's easy to install, since it appears as a free download in the Wii Shopping Channel.

The interface designers have done a fantastic job of making it easy to use; the Wii version is amazing, since it uses the Wii-mote controller to select programmes from an interactive menu, and even on the tiny screen of my N95 it's quick to find and play the programmes I'm interested in. If you get the chance, then, it's always worth seeing if the iPlayer's supported on your portable device (unfortunately, we're not quite there with our Samsung i600 - it's Windows Mobile Smartphone 5, which is a bit old to be supported, I think).

One device that has - until now - been sadly devoid of such function has been the internet radio in the kitchen. The reason for this is that the system by which on-demand content is generated has changed substantially since the Penbex directory was created. For a start, the rather annoying (and poor quality, in my opinion) RealAudio system is no longer used - MP4 (for video) and AAC (for audio) are the preferred formats, both of which use a clever Flash player that decrypts the stream, for security.

I've been waiting, therefore, until the 'legacy option' - Windows Media - is supported. I've known for a while that the Coyopa system (the BBC-end of which is supported by my department) generates WMA files, but the distribution beyond the BBC hasn't been ready. That's until now.

BBC Audio & Music Interactive have published the means to gain access to the material they supply - I believe manufacturers and suppliers need to sign a 'non-disclosure agreement' to gain access to it - and I made it my project, over the weekend, to write an automatic script to read the on-demand availability file, and format it so that the Goodmans CD1505Wi radio could play it.

In fact, given that the radio uses fairly straightforward comma-separated lists of station name, stream URL and type, it was fairly straightforward (if a little time consuming, since my Linux shell scripting remains rusty, since I don't write it all the time!) to create an A to Z list of available programmes for each national network. Slightly more complicated was making it a little easier to navigate, since the four-line text screen isn't really very versatile, but I managed to do something which generated a separate comma-separated file for each day, and listed each title in time order, with the start time at the left-hand side.

Of course, creating the text files was enough of a challenge, but getting the radio to see it was another matter entirely! The original firmware automatically points to the Penbex server for the first continent-based list (stationcn.penbex.com.tw/island.csv). This is maintained by the system developers, and although it is possible to submit stations for them to add, it is not possible to remove stations, and, although I've been in contact a few times (for example, to have the defunct BBC Radio RealAudio streams replaced with Windows Media ones), submitting updates via email is not ideal.

An enterprising radio owner - William Jansen (who kindly contacted me through an earlier comment, and has a blog of his own at penbex.wordpress.com) - has modified the firmware to use his own directory at penbex.mine.nu, which is more interactive - in fact, he has been kind enough to make me a moderator, so I can make a start on maintaining the 2,000 or so UK radio stations. His directory is organised in a very similar way to the Penbex one - it has continents (plus internet only and a user-submitted list of 'private' stations, which enables addition of bespoke stations, and is really useful as an alternative to the internal 'favourites' list, which is limited to twenty items), then countries, and underneath that, there is a list of radio stations.

However, the original Penbex list has an additional layer, where, instead of a station stream, a comma-separated file can be linked to, containing alternative connection options and interactive content. William is looking into implementing this, which I can then link to my automatically generated list. Over the weekend, though, I needed to find an alternative means to do this.

My dear mate Jon (who was visiting for the weekend, and therefore got roped into trying to solve this conundrum!) worked through all the possibilities - and some rather nifty network traffic analysis using Wireshark. The trick I eventually settled on was to get my router (a Linksys WRT54G - one of the definitive home routers, since it runs a version of Linux that can support different firmware; I'm currently using DD-WRT, which is so versatile you can even use it to create a separate wireless hotspot for guests!) to point all requests for stationcn.penbex.com to my home webserver, and create my own, slightly modified islands.csv file that includes an 'On Demand' link to my CSV files. I also cheekily included a Hart Family Favourites list, so it's quick and easy to find and play our own stations. Here, then, is a video of my version of iPlayer for the Penbex Internet Radio:

(Flash video - 4MB)

I am, of course, very happy to share the script I wrote. I've got to double-check that the xml file locations are publically accessible, and will link to it on this blog post when I know it's OK to do that - it's just one single script, using built-in Linux functions, and all the folder names can be defined based on the file structure.

For the time being, though, it's nice to be able to listen to any BBC Radio show in the kitchen without having to resort to a PC - it's one of the reasons I bought an internet radio in the first place!

Vive La Difference (in Luton..!)

Even though it's only Saturday night, the weekend has already been packed to the gunnels with things going on... unfortunately, one of Beth's guinea-pigs, Pogo died overnight - she'd been unwell for a little while, and was finding it difficult to move around.

This afternoon, we popped to Pets At Home to see if we could find another companion for Frisbee, and Beth found Hopscotch - a baby cavy, who is tiny (she's only a few weeks old), but won't be for long!

The weather has been extremely volatile, with gale-force winds and torrential rain overnight and in the morning making the idea of going out somewhat unwelcome. However, the day improved somewhat, and we managed a visit to my Dad's early afternoon - he always has some amusing stories to share! - and this evening, once the children had gone to bed, I was able to pop out to St Thomas's Church in Stopsley (www.stopsleyparish.org.uk).

David Alexander, the vicar there, is certainly adventurous; I first got to know him on Twitter (he's @stopsleyvicar) and heard about his visit to Manila in the Philippines, shortly after the typhoons. Tonight, though, he started another project - a 24 hour sermon, streamed live on Ustream (www.ustream.tv/channel/stopsleyvicar). I stayed for about half-an-hour, and I'm hoping to pop back again tomorrow afternoon, to see if he's still awake! If you have the opportunity (and he's still going!) I'm sure he'd appreciate a tweet!

Tomorrow, we're hoping to go to the official 'switching on' of the Luton Christmas Lights - last Saturday night was the Luton Fireworks.. there's plenty going on at this time of year, and it's only going to get busier!

Luton's 2009 Firework Display

Tonight was the first Luton firework display we've attended since the children were born - one or both of them were just a bit too young up to now (and it was damp last year!)

The event was organised by Luton Cultural Services Trust, and the display was created by Alchemy Fireworks, a local company.

It was actually rather impressive, and the children stood, spellbound (well, apart from their excited commentaries!) at the musical masterpiece as it illuminated the clear, cold November sky. There couldn't have been a more perfect night for it, and thousands of folk came to Pope's Meadow to enjoy it. Here's a brief video and audioboo:

A video from icmusic.vox.com - click it for a larger version.

Listen!

An audio recording from audioboo.fm

Dark clouds and sunrise..

I was taken aback by the dark grey clouds that shrouded a tangerine sunrise this morning.

A photo from TwitPic - click it for a larger version.

"Chris TV News": Hi-tech half-term homework!

Chris was given a couple of bits of homework to do over the half-term break, one of which was to: "Using all the skills you have acquired in journalistic writing, produce a report on an exciting event that took place in half term..." His choice? To create a news-style video on the clock change.

We took full advantage of the half-term break to set up a miniature TV studio - I found a big old table that we could use as a 'news desk' and, clearing some space for it in the studio, put some spotlights above and in front of it so that it could might look reasonably authentic.

Chris's first idea was to use a webcam, but the picture quality was dreadful, so we borrowed a proper digital video camera (thanks to Beth's Dad!) and recorded the various scenes based on the script he had written, throwing in some comedy ideas as well. We had great fun making it, and both Chris and Lenni showed natural talent and composure in front of the lens - hopefully this comes across in the video!

Sticking it all together was just a little too fiddly a job for Chris (I decided to record a separate audio track because camcorder microphones are notoriously noisy, so this had to be dubbed on in sync with the picture) so I took on the challenge of Windows Movie Maker's many foibles to compile all the bits under his direction. I think I'll stick to iMovie or Final Cut Express on the mac next time!

For my part, though, I think I've learned a lot about how to light, frame and generally make video, so hopefully our next venture will technically be a little more polished. If I can resist the temptation to buy my first video camera (Argos have a Flip HD on special offer at the moment..), that is!

At just under two minutes long, it's far from a feature-length epic, but I think Chris's teacher will enjoy it, and considering the effort Chris put in, I think it was a great way to spend the half-term.

Without any further ado, then.. here is Chris News in all its glory:

A narrowboat trip up the Grand Union Canal

One of the adventures on which we'd planned to go during the summer was a trip up the nearby Grand Union Canal on a narrowboat. It was fortunate that we were able to book ourselves on a Grebe Canal Cruise (www.grebecanalcruises.co.uk) near Pitstone on the last Sunday of its seasonal run. That said, when we boarded the Princess Of The Chilterns, it was tipping it down with rain, but fortunately, the passenger area of the boat was covered, so it was a dry, comfortable trip - and as luck would have it, once we had set off, the rain relented and the sun came out!

The hour-and-a-half journey traversed two pairs of locks, before turrning about and returning, with a commentary from the driver (pilot?) as his colleagues took charge of opening and closing the gates - quite a physically demanding job, although they were clearly far more adept at it than we could have been. Who knows what would have happened if they'd asked for passengers to volunteer? I'm pretty sure we didn't cover much of a distance - the boat went at a fairly pedestrian speed, and it's fairly clear that navigating the canal all the way up to Birmingham would be almost as much effort as walking!

We all had a good time, I think, in the company of Beth's folks and brother. Had it been a warmer day, I think we might have been more bothered by waterside insects, and being under a roof in summer might be a little restricting, so I think we went at just the right time. Save for some large fish at the wharfside, a few ducks, swans and a solitary moorhen, we didn't really see much wildlife, but that's only a trivial gripe to what was otherwise a Sunday afternoon well spent messing about on the river (sort of!)

Lenni took on photography duties about halfway through the trip, and the gallery has a selection of the photos we took. I've put a few of her finer works below - click them to see the large versions.