Jack Thorpe

Friday again

I’ll start with an apology for not writing last week, fact is i didn’t get a train so writing to the blog didn’t cross my mind!

Anyway, this last two weeks has been rather spectacular tech-wise, which will be the main focus of this post. I’ll start with Android, 4.0 ICS became official along with a new model of the Nexus, the Galaxy Nexus. This is a reasonably well specced phone, coming  with a  dualcore 1.2Ghz processor, a 4.65″ 720P screen and 1GB RAM. The annoying thing about this phone is that although the display is listed as 720P, due to the way it is manufactured (Pentile system), it’s actually more likely to have a PPI that matches the iPhone 4, which only has a 3.5″ screen. None the less, with this being Google’s chosen child for the next year or so, you can be guaranteed that it will be the first with official Android updates, which would be lovely compared to say HTC who have to take the latest updates, skin them and then send them to network operators for more useless rubbish to be put on them (check out my vanilla post).

Another beauty on the scene recently has been Nokia with the announcement of their first Windows Phone phones. The Nokia Lumia 800 is their flagship, running with a 1.4Ghz TI OMAP inside it along with  512MB RAM, this  phone is going to run as mooth as it looks, and my god what amazing looks, they’ve taken their N9 and replaced internals and OS to produce something that will appeal to a much larger fanbase than MeeGo could have hoped to achieve over the same period (Don’t get me wrong i love the idea of MeeGo). Of course you also get a Nokia 8MP shooter which you can almost always guarantee to produce good quality shots.

Over to software, Battlefield 3 is up for release this week, and i cannot wait to get my hands on it! No doubt it will be a PS3 AND PC purchase on my count. In preparation, I’ve joined up with an old BF2 pal of mine, a COD fan and a few others to make a new clan. I’ve been working on their website and you can check out the progress here.

This week has also seen the hand-in of our Initial Report for our 3rd year project coursework so it’s nice to feel a lot of weight disappear (in fact the only times i will be sober this weekend will be when i’m at work), tonight i’m heading straight from the train to a pub for some live music / birthday get together up at the Queen Victoria in Lincoln, head across if you’re in the area.

Finally, music. I’ve not picked up much very different over the last couple of weeks except for one particularly lovely CD but i’ve forgotten the name… I’ll let you know when i’m back up in Hull with the disk in my hand. Another that i got (which is quite nice but only on occasions) is Wild Flag by… Wild Flag, a US female supergroup, the album is loud and brash which i love, but again it’s something to listen to in moderation.

Oh! I also bought a new (well.. second hand) CD player, an Arcam CD72. I finally got bored of using my PS3 as a transport device since the DACs inside my amp are definitely geared towards film & games. It’s a lovely warm sound that makes my B&Ws sing and dance in a new and under-appreciated 24-bit glory, especially when you give them some power (i can cook bacon in the kitchen three floors down and still hear my music).

That’s all folks, catch you next week jah?

That Friday Feeling!

My Friday Feeling is very rarely a good one, unlike a lot of people, i work weekends back in my home town so i have to do a fair bit of commuting. This is after a day of lectures starting at 9AM.

This week has been exceptionally hectic, we’ve had our first full week which has given the lecturers chance to throw all of their coursework at us. We’ve also had to keep plodding away at our 3rd year project, meet supervisors and attend lectures. My brain is now a little fried but atleast this only happens occasionally.

There’s also talk of another Three Thing Game competition, but with all this work it might not be a good semester to do it (plus there is no way i could get time off work!).

On the plus side, i found a little time to head into town this week and came back with a lovely Arcam CD73 player. Plugged it in and have been giggling continuously ever since. This has replaced my PS3 i had (embarrassingly)  been using as a CD transport system. This might not have been a problem, if it had been transporting to an amplifier designed for music, which it wasnt (mine is a Sony DA-3600ES cinema amp). As such CDs always sounded a bit clinical, however now, they are full of warmth and 24bit flavour.

New music this week has been an American band called the Wild Flags, they’re an all female rock/light unk superband and i have to say it’s quite nice to listen to, worth a go if you’ve not heard any new stuff recently and need a little filler.

Also on my cards this week has been learning how to  use cope with Joomla!, a CMS system i’ve never looked at before, so we can use it in our new Battlefield 3 clan. It’s not going too badly (once i’d managed to sort out the horrible problems Multiplay web hosting seems to have with it’s configuration) and you can see it develop over at the clan website.

We’re approaching Doncaster again now so i’ll sign off and catch you all in a weeks time.

Rock ‘n’ Roll!

General update

Man, I’m getting pretty bad at updating this poor old blog, but by now you probably realise this.

It’s a new academic year for me in Hull, same house which is nice and easy but we’ve traded house mate Dave for house mate Jonny. My New (academic) years resolution of eating healthily has so far gone… well it’s gone. Needless to say after a long hard day of being a student, the last thing you want to do is actually spend some time stood in the kitchen when you could just as easily be stood at a bar somewhere, or collapsed in front of a TV, or playing one of the houses numerous beautiful guitars. We’ve put up some guitar hangers on the top floor landing and as an acquaintance of mine has stated it’s a “nice wallpaper”. To complete, we’ve installed some new flooring in the form of amplifiers and coffee machines.

New neighbours on both sides of us this year, one side is quite-alright-thankyou-very-much. The other knocks on the walls for our loud music (they’re not very good at staying in time with the rhythm though) at 11 PM and sends us post-it notes proclaiming that if we don’t shut up rather soon, we will end up in their slow-cooker. Then at 7AM the next day they wake  everyone on the street up with their incessant bickering. They don’t seem to be a very happy bunch =( but on the upside, they don’t set off the fire alarm as regularly as the last set of people did.

University timetable actually has some gaps in it this year, as we’re only doing two modules each semester (along with our final year project), and for once it’s actually not too bad. I’ve managed to escape with only two 9AM’s a week, which i can’t complain about as acquaintance A is in at 9AM practically all week. On the other hand, Jonny is on a 3 day week with no 9AMs. Sod.

I have decided to inform you of some albums your absolutely need to purchase ruddy well now!

• Baxter Dury – New Boots & Panties  Happy Soup. A lovely album from Ian Dury’s son which begins in much the same style as his fathers work (only without the Blockheads =( ) and then  progresses and morphs into through many songs into something uniquely his own. I can’t do it justice but if you enjoy old school synths, catchy lyrics and some jolly good singing please listen to it!
• Little Dragon – Ritual Union. Latest album from LD (they haven’t put one out for eight years i believe!), quite nice but takes a few listens through to really get the hang of it. Worth your hard earned dollars.
• DJ Shadow – The Less You Know The Better. This is quite nice, but it’s something to listen to on occasions. His usual style of samples prevails and he occasionally gets some nice music flowing… before quickly demolishing it with gratuitous usage of wrap. Still, I could just be a bit biased as his first album is a masterpiece that takes some matching.

Here are some to avoid

• Lenny Kravitz – Black And White America. I didn’t enjoy it but then it is rather soppy and full of dull riffs.
• A few more i’ve not put onto my PC yet (i’m on a train motherlovers! and hence have not access to my CDs).

Hints for the adventurous

• Cancel The Astronauts – Check out this rather lovely Scottish band they’ve just put out a new EP & album which i’m enamoured with, also if you buy a copy they send a little handwritten postcard with it. I love that.
• Three Trapped Tigers – Awesome new single just released sounds pleasant. Same label as one of my favourite bands The Tall Ships, and i think one of my house mates is in some way blood-related to them.
• 120 Days – Norwegian Electro-pop/rock is rather awesome in it’s minimalism, check out their first album and their new one (due for release on 10th October).

Nearly at the station, i guess i could make this a weekly thing? If i remember (hah).

Why are instruments so goddamn personal?

This morning, i woke up to the sound of birdsong and the warm bask of an early summer sun. The kind of day where you want to listen to Athlete and spend all day in the garden doing nothing. Maybe this unusually calm start to my day put a rose tint on me but as i rolled over i caught sight of my newly purchased PRS guitar and smiled in the knowledge that i own it.

I feel i should point out that in many ways is another of my  impulse purchases. I had set out with the grand idea of finding myself a Firebird in one of Nottinghams numerous guitar stores. However, fate (if such a word can be applied to spending money) meant that nowhere in the city had a one. Feeling pretty downbeat that i would not be spending the evening gaping, gawping and gasping at what i would consider the prettiest body design of any electric to date, i shuffled through into the last of our stops, national chain Music Room.

Needless to say, they did not have a Firebird anywhere to hand, but non-perturbed, i ambled to the back to browse their current stock, and there, nestled in amongst some other mighty fine looking solid bodies was a gorgeous, shining (slightly dust covered) PRS. I lusted after it for its looks alone. I asked the staff in a giddy voice if i could possibly run it through an amp, and of course they obliged. Job done. I had to have it. Perhaps it was my luck that there was not a single Firebird to be seen for miles, as i honestly would have ended up coming home with one of each.

Keep in mind, i had no intention of buying a PRS when i set out with Mark for a “day trip”, but something about this axe fitted like the missing piece to a puzzle.

And so, when i opened my eyes this morning and spotted it propped against the wall i couldn’t help but feel a little warmer. This is what i am trying to get to in my own rambling way in this post, how is it that a musician can fall so deeply in love with an instrument? At the end of the day it is “only” a few pieces of machined wood, some metal and a few electronics thrown in for good measure. Why is it that every time i glimpse either my PRS or Yamaha acoustic that i cannot help but pick it up and strum out a few chords or finger pick a bit of some song?

A guitar can almost become part of your family, you grimace everytime it takes a knock, you grin everytime  you get that perfect riff, but mostly you’re content knowing it’s always there. Often it becomes more than just an instrument to the musician, it comes to embody their music, skill and style.

Learning to play an instrument takes a long time, and all of those hours spent practising makes the skill feel like something special. Things that are special to you should be treated occasionally, to a treat, and i guess what it comes down to is that each guitar you buy somehow marks an musical epoch in your life, and as such you attach some of those associated memories and emotions to it, as you would do with a member of your own family.

I have four months off?!

Now that i have all my exams out of the way, it could be said that i am a free man. This assertion is wrong. I still have to go to work every weekend to bring in the dollar. But what to do with my free time?

Many many things it would seem, a few of the Lincoln bunch are heading out into yonder British countryside for a week camping, by which (obviously) I mean drinking, playing poker and building fires. This has become an annual thing for us now (myself not having missed a single one). Last year we did Cornwall which was far too brilliant, despite not enough people coming along and this year, to save on costs in this economic climate, we’re heading somewhere a bit closer to home and because of this there is going to be a large handful of us!

After this, I have been invited to spend a couple of weeks in France with my house-mate Ben, whose family are apparently very very rich (i did not know this?!). It would be nice to head across and apparently not too costly either since all I would need to buy are flights to and from his nearest airport. Once there, i would intend to do nothing but drink, play guitar and sleep in the French sunshine. Wonderful!

Programming wise, father dearest has asked me to make him a little application for recording money he lends to people (so he knows when he needs to go and break their legs i assume) , this in itself would normally take a matter of hours, possibly two days to make, but I’ve decided it will be the project to introduce me to some new ideas such as LINQ to XML, data binding and some other little things I’ve never really bothered to play with.

Later on in the summer I will be making a nice Android app that will make use of Google Navigation and that’s all I’m going to tell you… in case some other bugger comes along and makes it before i can. This should allow me to brush up on my Java and Android SDK knowledge for my final year project next year (Android client for Mantis Bug Tracker).

Oh yeah, and I’ve just bought Minecraft to bide me over till Battlefield 3 is released later this year.

Vanilla

A few months ago, i was sat down in Coffee Aroma Lincoln with two equally tech minded friends of mine and we were discussing the benefits / drawbacks of our individual phones, two of us are running Android devices whilst the other is a fan of iOS. Anyhow, needless to say the main problem we come across with Android is a topic many people loath. Fragmentation.

Fragmentation is a problem that can be found with many different pieces of software, however, the media has picked up on the fact that it is a (real) problem with Android. Basically the problem revolves around the fact that any hardware manufacturer can put whatever version of Android they like on their devices. So a tablet which you might expect to come with Honeycomb 3.1, the latest version of Android designed specifically for the form-factor, it is possible that it will come with Android 2.2 for example the HTC Flyer.

This is not a problem you get with Apple hardware as they retain a locked down hold on iOS which in many respects is a very good reason for a manufacturer to keep a firm grip on its software. However we came to the conclusion that in reality, this should not be a reason to avoid Android.

Most problems with updating an Android phone sprout from the fact Android has to support many different hardware devices. In order to do this updates take a very convoluted route from Google HQ to your device.

Lets say that today Google release Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of it’s Android OS. Before you see that update, it’s probable that the manufacturers of your phone will have had a hand at it to match it to the hardware in your pocket and then your carrier will have spent some time “Testing” (Read: filling with crap you don’t really want) to make sure the build is stable for your phone.

The manufacturers stage of modifying an update is something that is unavoidable unless you buy one of Google’s reference devices. These are the items that Google use to build their newest versions and hence work from day one of the release. In a market full of very similar devices though, many manufacturers want to distinguish themselves from the competition and hence will do unnecessary things to your update such as adding a new skin to it.

This is where things start to stagnate and bog down because it can take several months to build in their new features, all the time making you wait (in painful frustration) for the update to arrive. Sometimes these additions are worth the wait (such as with HTC’s much applauded Sense UI), often though the extra layers of “gloss” that are added appear to do nothing but eat up your battery and occasionally crash.

Once the manufacturers are finished adding things you never knew you needed it’s time for your carrier to make sure the product you’re getting works well and comes with all the features you never knew you needed. This is a REAL problem with Android, in a market where customer loyalty is almost unheard of, carriers feel the need to throw loads of applications in your face to milk every last penny from your pockets before you disappear from their debit list.

This was really evident at Coffee Aroma, Myself and friend A both have the same phone, atleast hardware wise. This is the HTC Desire, however we are both on different carriers and hence have had very different experiences with the phone. I have a phone that came with no bloat-ware and was relatively unmodified beyond the addition of HTC Sense. On the other hand friend A’s (an Orange customer) device came with a lot of extra things that slow down his phone, cause it to crash and take up a fair amount of space for good measure.

How can you fix a problem like this?
Over on the Engadget website i heard a very good suggestion. All Android phones should come with a switch that enables you to put it back to stock; no skins, no bloat-ware; no modification to the core beyond hardware support etc. This means that customers would have the choice between a possible and very slight upgrade in usability through whatever has been preloaded from manufacturers and carriers or the ability to run unadulterated Vanilla Android, exactly how Google want you to experience it. Yeah.

The other solution we came up with at Coffee Aroma was a Vanilla Carrier (VC).

VC would be a minimal virtual carrier. We would offer you a phone that came exactly as the OS makers want you to have it. No forced addons, no applications offering you premium content. Just a phone with a Vanilla OS on it, or even just a SIM card you can put into your unlocked phone.

Now the kind of people who would care for this type of service would probably be people who know a little about the devices they are using. As such VC will not offer you any support with your device (Why would we? We’ve not given you anything extra that could go wrong). If you have a problem with the hardware, you’ve got manufacturers guarantee.

Best of all because VC would be a virtual network, we wouldn’t need to worry about upgrades to network too much because we’d be piggy-backing on larger companies hardware.

All of these little things could also mean that you get your contract at a far cheaper rate. We don’t need to employ hundreds of people to re-write the OS, we don’t need to employ thousands of people to answer support questions and best of all the only network charges we incur are those needed to keep your device connected to the network.

So in summary you’d get a device that runs an OS as the company intends it, you pay marginal costs compared to other networks, you don’t have to worry about apps that you can’t ever remove, and your updates arrive as quickly as the manufacturers can produce them.