Bzzzzzzzt!....

*tap tap*

Hello?

Is this thing on?

*blows*

Crrrrrkktzz!

New Tunes...

Direct copy&paste from the post I made on the Solid Air Message Board...



Hi folks,

I've uploaded 4 new MP3's to the myspace page of
my side-project 'Computer Comedown'. It's quite a
nice day so I thought I'd share them with you
guys. Most people who come here a open-minded and
either write music or experiment with the
instruments and technology we have available to
us or even just love to listen to and experience
new stuff - so I thought this was a perfect forum
for this to be opened too. (I'll probably stick
this post on BHone's forum too and my blog later).
Anyway, onwards to the music. You can go straight
to the music HERE.
Below is some brief descriptions about what's going
on behind them.

They are...
1. 'Microcosm' ... experimenting with an abnormal time-signature (6/4 I think, correct me if I'm wrong)

2. 'Dark Dubble' ... Was trying out some bit-crushed MIDI percussion sequences and building them up with more MIDI drum tracks to see what I could come up with. Eventually I needed a tune in there so I made something up, it was feeling dark so I finished it off with some 80's synth at the end.

3. 'Name me' ... It's called that cos I couldn't think of a name (I'm sure we've all been there). Blind Voyeurs band mate, Lee, had an acoustic guitar riff he wanted to do something with. So we recorded it lo-fi and had a play around with melodies. It felt like it needed a pretty up-beat drum section so messed about with some tight cuts and delays to bring a break-beat that trips over itself. Added some slide guitar, made it talk back to itself with a ghostly echo.

4. 'The Sun Always Rises' ... I was having this strange dream where I was soundchecking for a gig. When it came to checking the keyboard levels I had to play something. It was pretty weird but it was nothing I'd every played before but I could see my fingers actually playing these notes. I woke up, it was about 4am and couldn't go back to sleep so I got up, went into the lounge and just recorded these chords on the laptop. Listened to it through and put some generic 'out-of-the-packet' drum loops on there and that was that. By now it was 5:30 and the sun was coming up (hence the name) so went back to bed. Don't expect much - it's a bit cheesy but I liked the changes in it. I'll probably never use it in anything but here it is if you wanna check it out.

Have a listen. Comments are always welcome. The
other two tunes have been there a while if you
wanna check those out too.

Steve x

Computer Comedown (MySpace)

Blog Fail!!

So um, if I'm gonna fail at something why not let it be my blog. I seem to be used to it as you can probably tell be previous posts. Twitter seems to be my blog right now.... in fact I should find out how to have a Twitter feed on here. Maybe I should do a bit of spring cleaning. Y'know redesign the look of this blog. Black and green was last years colours.

So um, plans for today?? Take out the trash, buy a new camera, pay some bills, think about work (optional), put the bike in the shed, tidy the flat (optional), stroke cat (mandatory).




So um, I've been thinking about buying Scott Pilgrim for a while now. Just check Amazon... Volume 1 is FIFTY THREE FUCKIN QUID?!?!!? That's gotta be a typo. Have a look. On Borders's site it's a more down-to-earth £8.99. That's more like it. Mind you I still haven't started reading Alan Moore's V For Vendetta. Will get round to that though.

So um, It was James's Stag Do this weekend just gone (or Bachelor Party for the Americans). Will type more about that when I get my head around what happened. Al I know is that it involved lots of drink and memory loss .... oh and camera loss (that's why I'm gonna buy a new camera today)

So um, what's with the "So um"s at the beginning of each part?? Well, read Eddie Izzard's tweet and it should become clear...READ

New Horizons

I've been starting to get bored with Facebook for quite a while. And after reading a news article about Facebook selling its users personal information for "targeted marketing campaigns" (otherwise known as "spam") I've come to a conclusion that it's probably a good time to stop using it altogether and close my account. But it's not that simple to do. Even if you chose to close your account Facebook only deactivates it, the information remains on their database for 12 months. During this time they can use the information however they like. "Hey, that sounds unfair!" I hear you cry. But it's right there in the terms & conditions that you have to accept when you sign up. What was that? You didn't read the T&C's?? Neither did I, but it's right there. Why do they keep your info? Their excuse is that it's in case the user changes his or her mind and wants to re-register, and all of their info is right there and ready to go. The profile will look as though you've never gone away.

It turns out the only way to actually get it deleted is by writing them a letter requesting full removal from their database. They're probably relying on the fact that most people can't be bothered to do this seeing as we're now in the age of the email and SMS. To actually put pen to paper, write out a letter, put it in an envelope, write an address, buy a stamp (most people don't have them lying around the house like they used to) and post it in a pillarbox is far too much of a chore.

Last October I signed up to Twitter. I didn't use it much at first but recently I've become addicted. If you're on there too follow me at @stevejbeck.

EDIT: BTW, that Twittercounter over there on the right is broken. It says I've got 8 followers!! I've actually got 19 (I know it's not many but when you've got this few they're precious!)

Happy Birthday to me!!

So, I'm now officially one year older... making me a ripe 33! Mum woke me up with a phone call at 8 to tell me "Only 7 years to go until you're 40!" Thanks for that mum, I don't need reminding.

Lisa's planned a meal with all my friends at Zizzi tonight. Looking forward to that.

I've already got 4 birthday messages from friends on facebook.

Oh, and I found out that Edgar Wright has added me as a contact on flickr.com. Cool.

Bad news: Our goldfish died overnight. She was 7 years old!!!!

Happy 2009?

Well, I guess I should wish anybody who reads this blog a Happy New Year. I know it's late - 16 days late to be precise - but I have been quite ill. I've actually been pretty ill since October!! I'll get it out of the way quickly because nobody wants to hear it. Basically, I had some panic attacks at work and have been signed off for stress. I'm still of work at the time of typing this. Also over Christmas I've had the flu and pulled a muscle in my back and just before New Years Eve I managed to have a tooth infection. I'm fuckin' falling apart!!!!!!!

So, now you know. 2009 has been shit for me so far. But I'm trying to think positively... at least it means that things can only get better from here. My back is back to normal, my flu has pretty much cleared (just a little sniffle left), my tooth infection has gone and I'm on anti-depressants to help me cope with my stresses.

Right.... so.... I'm gonna start using this blog again shortly. I do miss using it, and have had a few things I wanted to put on it but never could be bothered. Mainly because I've been using my facebook status as a kind of mini-blog. I've signed up to Twitter too and have been doing the same with that. OK, I'm gonna sign off now, it's getting late and should get to bed. Lisa's got some surprises for me for my birthday this weekend. My birthday is actually on the 20th but that falls on a Tuesday so she's got something special lined up for me. Can't wait.

Diggnation Live 08

Had an AMAZING time in London with Lisa. We got the train up to London, arrived at about 5. Then it was a case of hopping on the tube and DLR to our hotel which was right next door to the Excel Arena. The DLR wasn't running for the last two stops so we walked it with a short cut through some weird industrial area, almost getting lost but not quite! We had a pretty good idea which direction to walk in!

Anyway we found the hotel ok - it had a weird pod in the room for the en-suite bathroom. It was nice inside but very strange... here's a capture from the Ibis hotel virtual tour.



After a quick freshen up we headed for the Arena - got in there nice and early, and got our pass. There was nobody at the door of the hall cos we were so early so we went to grab a burger - but when we got back the queue was snaking all around the exhibition units!! As soon as they opened the doors to the hall google opened the free beer stand. We got ourselves a good seat before we got the 'Googlebeers'

Here's Revision3 CEO, Jay Louderback giving us a quick insight to the Googlebeers stand...



About 10 mins before the show I ran out there to grab some beers. I only took 4 - 2 for me and 2 for Lisa. I didn't take the piss like some people did. Some people were coming back into the hall with a laptop bag full of bottles and as many as they could carry in their arms. A bit cheeky if you ask me. But still, thanks Google. I almost feel obliged to upgrade my Gmail to a premium membership ... Almost... not quite!

So, yeah, it was cool. We made some new friends, had a laugh before Kevin and Alex came on stage. There were all kinds of people there from your stereotypical geeks with slick side-parting, glases and pens in the top pocket of their cheap shirts, to skater kids with piercings and long hair... and everything between. Some had their laptops with them, there was one dude playing Spore while we were waiting in the queue to be let in. Here's some more pics - starting with a short clip of all the people in the hall...









After the show there was an after party at the bar next door. It was sponsored by Digg and Facebook - I think the founder of Facebook was there but I didn't know what hee looked like. We had a few drinks, chatted to random people and got to meet Kevin and Alex as well as the guys behind the camera Glen and Prager. Kevin and Alex did a thing where they were giving out freebies to people who could answer the right questions.... this is where I use other peoples photos....



...and now a few from my photos...





The rest of the photos can bee seen in my flickr photoset.

All in all we had such a great time.