Not exactly music-related, but some news anyway. I’ve recently had an article published in a popular e-learning magazine in the USA. I wrote about how young kids are growing up learning the language of the World Wide Web and how we should encourage them to become proficient in using the internet at an early age. The article was reproduced from my own e-learning blog that someone from the magazine found a while ago, and asked if they could publish it. I’m quite chuffed, as you can imagine, and it just adds to the the list of other articles/letters I’ve had published in the last year or two (eg in Future Music magazine).

You can read the whole thing (and the rest of the magazine) online in a virtual magazine reader here at E-Learning Magazine’s website (go to page 50 of the NextBook edition.) or see it in its original form on my e-learning blog.

Also…. I’m seriously considering moving all my other blogs into one place (here!) as it’s easier for me to keep tabs on what I’m writing and who’s reading them.

I was quite excited about the Muxtape idea that mentioned the other day, and it even got a mention in Dreamrapper’s blog too. However, it’s all gone a bit pear-shaped over at Muxtape’s HQ and I feel a little bit foolish now. It looks like my twelve tracks have gone from my virtual tape and ended up in someone else’s, as there’ve been one or two problems with their software and servers.

On May 21st, Muxtape experienced an error that caused every song in the database to be overwritten with the wrong artist & title. (from Muxtape’s blog)

I must say that it was a very good concept, and right now I hope they manage to get everything sorted as soon as possible.

If you’re not too sure what Muxtape is, have a look at the article I wrote the other day for more information.

By the way, I’m still on the hunt for recommendations etc., about the Presonus Firestudio. If you’re using one, can you give me some info about it (pros and cons, that sort of thing) as there’s just too much info to wade through on the web.

I’ve just found out that my some of my tracks can still be heard on O’Neill TV - the place that all the promos for O’Neill surfing contest are shown. Three tracks (Croydon Library, Never Alone, and Hello) were used in Deep Blue Open 2005. The thing that sets this film apart from all the regular surfing events is that it focusses mainly on the effects of Tsunami on the Maldives. Watching it again recently reminded me of the devastation of the hurricane in Burma and the earthquake in China. Click the link here to watch the whole film (approx 25 minutes):

O’Neill Deep Blue Open 2005 on O’Neill TV

If you don’t want to sit through the whole thing, here’s a short clip:

The film has been shown all round the world on TV (eg the Fox network in the USA, Channel 4 in the UK) and in all the O’Neill equipment stores. A couple of the clips from the film are on the Video Wall section of my blog - and have received a lot of plays since they were uploaded to Youtube.

I remembered the other day that O’Neill Europe started up a TV channel on their website last year and that the whole of the DBO 2005 film was up there in its entirety. I thought that it might have been replaced by footage of more recent surfing events, but I checked yesterday and it’s still there. It’s a bit tricky to find if you’re searching for it on the O’Neill site as it’s fairly well-hidden behind some of the 2007 events, but it’s there……

New music….

We recently got rid of our old desktop computer at home and replaced it will the Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop/notebook that I bought a couple of years ago. Before we binned it (actually - gave it to Adam - eldest stepson), I had to transfer hundreds of files including loads of half-finished tracks I’d made in Acid Pro over the last few years. I’ve just started listening to some of those tracks and rough arrangements and I really think I can do something with them. Maybe some of them will turn up as new tunes soon. One thing that should finally see the light of day soon is the remix I’ve been working on for the last few months. It’s for a New Zealand band called Pitch Black and the song is “Rude Mechanicals”, the title track of their latest album.

Site changes….

My website schizophrenia has kicked in again and I’ve changed the site theme again (and will probably change it again). I wanted this blog to look fairly original and be able to tie it in with the main mistrustmusic.co.uk site (and my myspace page). Some work ahead to make everything tie up!

Updated: 28th May 2008

It seems that my Mixtape/Muxtape isn’t working because the Muxtape website has lost most of its data. I’m currently uploading a new playlist which should be available here shortly…

Here’s a word you don’t come across much these days: Mixtape. Remember? The thing you made for your friends or for listening to in your car on a long trip, taping your favourite vinyl tracks or the week’s Top 30 on Radio One. The thing you made for your mate’s party. The mixtape is now only a mythical beast since the ubiquotous CD came along. Well, I came across a website that will let you recreate your favourite mixtapes online. It’s a website called “Muxxtape”, which lets you upload upto 12 tracks to create your very own mixtape. A lot of the people who’ve signed up seem to have have made mixtapes of their favourite albums (copyright problems anyone….?) and uploaded them to the site.

Well, I thought I’d upload some of my own tracks from the last few years, seeing as though there may not be many new ones finished for a while. You can listen to my own “mistrust” mixtape by clicking the image below. There’s also an RSS feed so you can add the playlist to iTunes etc and get notified of any updates.

Add mistrust.muxtape.com to iTunes (RSS)

Don’t forget, you can listen to all my blog entries via Talkr at the Podcast Directory

More on the possibility of me getting a Presonus Firestudio, I’m a little bit more convinced after reading this interesting article on Recording Review’s website:

Just ordered a presonus firestudio

“So my first goal was to find an audio interface that had a powerful headphone mixing system with zero latency…..I ended up selecting the Presonus Firestudio. It has just about everything I need for $700.”

It looks like a very indepth review.

I’m trawling the web for reviews, articles, videos of firewire audio interfaces, particularly the Presonus Firestudio, to help me make my mind up. If anyone’s got any suggestions, please let me know.

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