now at nunuboogie.com

ooooh I now have my own domain so this blog has now moved to www.nunuboogie.com

migrating blog

I am in the process of migrating my blog to http://nunuboogie.wordpress.com/ goodbye blogger thanks for the good times!

colourscrape logo

Working on a logo for Sam, this is the first attempt.

A Brief History of Mac System Sounds - Eep!

A Brief History of Mac System Sounds - Eep!

Apple’s computers weren’t always auditory delights. The very first Mac, the 128K released in January 1984, started up with a somewhat maddening beep reminiscent of the backing-up warning sound made by some big trucks. It took a few years for Apple to add interesting noises to their machines; the Mac SE/30, released in January 1989, booted with a cheery three note sound and included a wonderfully creepy noise -- The Chimes Of Death -- which the machine would emit when it was very upset. Accompanied by a black screen emblazoned with a picture of seriously sick looking Mac, it definitely was an attention-getter. The Chimes of Death got even more gothic in later versions, perfectly expressing the angst of a major technical problem. Over the years Apple’s other warning sounds included the Performa’s squealing-brakes-breaking-glass crescendo and the Quadra AV’s peculiar little bongo drum riff.

The Mac startup sound changed to a more impressive sustained C Major chord (the sound heard in the movie Jurassic Park when all the park’s computers were rebooted) on the 1991 Quadra 700, compliments of Jim Reekes, the engineer on Apple Sound Manager for System 7. In a May 2005 interview with MusicThing Reekes talked about how he created the sound on his home studio on a Korg Wavestation. “(It’s) played with both hands stretched out as wide as possible (with 3rd at the top, if I recall). This just sounded right to me. I wanted something really fat, heavy bass, high notes, and a sharp attack. The chiffy sound was from pan pipes and something like a stick hit (I'm testing my memory here). I wanted lots of evolving timbres, stereo phasing, and reverb for further richness."

Reekes also created “Sosumi,” a one-note alert sound that sounds like a piano plunk to some people and a xylophone to others. The story behind the name is way more interesting than the actual sound. Due to a trademark agreement with Apple Corps (owned by the Beatles), Apple Computers wasn’t allowed to enter the music business in any way, shape or form. Apple Corps was less than thrilled by System 7’s Sound Manager application, and concessions had to be made which included changing some of the included sounds’ names to less-musical monikers. Among the sounds slated for change was the Beep that became Sosumi. Reekes had wanted to name it “Chimes,” which was apparently too musical for legal comfort, so in a fit of pique brought on by long hours and too many last minute changes he suggested it be called “Let It Beep.” When that suggestion was taken seriously he responded “So sue me!” He then had an aha moment, changed the spelling to “Sosumi,” and it’s been a happy little inside (albeit widely known) joke for decades.

Some of Apple’s other earliest alert sounds also have cool background dossiers. “Moof,” for example, is the sound made by Clarus the Dogcow, a creation of Susan Kare who also designed many the Mac’s early user interface elements. Dogcow was originally a dingbat for the Cairo font, later the image was used as an icon in the printer page setup dialog box. Clarus the Dogcow became wildly popular among geeks (back in the day there were t-shirts, and buttons, and bumper stickers and even a Microsoft ad featuring the Dogcow image). And according to the infamous “Tech Note 31” Clarus even has two sidekicks; "Moofo, The Psychic Dogcow” and  'Lackey, The Obnoxious Talisman Dogcow.” The “Moof” sound made by these rare beasts was included in System 7.

Another legendry beast sound, the “Wild Eep,” was contributed by Apple developer group head C.K. Haun and was a sound made by his then-wife Lora Ray Medina, according to an entry in WikiMac. Haun commented for the WikiMac piece that “for years I was pestered by hearing her going "Eep!" at me from hundreds of computers on the Apple campus.”

If all of this has gotten you into an emo mood of longing for the sounds of Macs long gone, you can download a free collection of Apple’s greatest hits, all nicely formatted for OS X -- yes, your new Mac can quack, clink-clank, uh-oh, squeak, chainsaw and cheep just as happily as it did a decade ago. And if you want to hear every single one of the Mac startup and death chime sounds ever, download the obsessively wonderful MacTracker program, which offers detailed information on every Apple Macintosh computer ever made, including clips of their start up and death chime sounds.

If you miss the old System Sounds or you feel like rolling your own, check out our tutorial on adding new alerts to your OS X Leopard System. 

Mud Runner

Stumbled across this site after fellow twitter mentioned he was taking part this weekend

http://www.mudrunner.co.uk/the-classic---17th-october-2010---event-details.html

Mud Runner "THE CLASSIC" - Sunday 17th October 2010

Run the gauntlet on the very tracks that have been used to develop and test the worlds best all terrain vehicles for 40 years.

Land Rover's uncompromising tracks at Eastnor Castle have been the proving ground for these ultimate vehicles for a generation - MUD RUNNER CLASSIC, opens these tracks to intrepid athletes with the passion for a challenge.

MUD RUNNER

arguably the toughest off road run in Britain

17th October 2010

Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire

Mac Start up chime

A snippet of conversation in the office got me thinking about the chime you hear everytime you start up a mac, so much so I wanted to find out a bit more:



OMT in San Francisco #3: 'Let it beep' from One More Thing on Vimeo.


http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-4-mac-startup.html


The Mac startup sound wasn't a $$$ marketing exercise. It was a hack that was quietly dropped into the machine by an engineer with a home studio… 
This [mp3] famous Mac startup sound (still installed in every new Mac) was recorded Jim Reekes, and first used on the Quadra 700, which launched in 1991 costing $7,000.
Jim's most famous pop-culture moment was the scene in Jurassic Park where the park's computers are all rebooted with his sound. But it's most awesome musical use is as the bassline in Transformer di Roboter's ace cover of 'Stranger in Moscow' - here [mp3] 

"The startup sound was done in my home studio on a Korg Wavestation. It's a C Major chord, played with both hands stretched out as wide as possible (with 3rd at the top, if I recall). This just sounded right to me. I wanted something really fat, heavy bass, high notes, and a sharp attack. The chiffy sound was from pan pipes and something like a stick hit (I'm testing my memory here). I wanted lots of evolving timbres, stereo phasing, and reverb for further richness." 
"Mac people are very familiar with the sound, after restarting their machines too often. In fact, that was one of the issues I was conscious of when designing the sound. Turning the Mac on is one thing, but being forced to reboot from a crash is a totally different experience. I wanted to avoid a sound that would be associated with the crash. I wanted it to sound more like a "palette cleanser".
"After I changed the startup sound (which required much persuasion and working around the system) the ROM engineers continued changing it with each new machine. Some of them were weak, such as the Stanley Jordon guitar strum used on the first PowerMacs. I objected to it, because that sound had no "power". The engineer wasn't a recording engineer, and not familiar enough with audio. The sound was hallow and without depth. When Steve Jobs returned in 1997, I heard he wanted only one sound for all Macs. He wanted the "good one" which was the one I created. At least that's how I heard the story, and I was still working there at the time."

 If you're concerned that you don't know enough about vintage Mac Startup sounds, I can recommend Mactracker, which runs on Mac or PC.

Summer Holiday 2011

Plan to take full advantage of the van next year with a summer biking trip to the alps, fed up with British weather, and views like this are just too tempting!

Not sure really where to go? The above shot is of Morzine, which seems a popular choice. Have quite a bit of research to do. Do we need a guide? Would prefer some following singletrack and not mad descents.

morzine and portes du soleil for mountain biking

Calm like a Riot graphic

Some time ago I designed a new graphic for the band Calm Like a Riot, but didn't really push the design or follow it up. While watching the band last night I noticed how tired their current drum skin looked and thought it was about time it was updated, Mick the drummer agreed.
Watch this space....

WTF 2nd puncture this week!

Worcester Music Festival Competition

kab-Howard_Kenny-Firefly, originally uploaded by Worcester Music Festival 2010.

kab-V2A-Marrs-Bar, originally uploaded by Worcester Music Festival 2010.

kab-lewisspeltbackwards-Air, originally uploaded by Worcester Music Festival 2010.

Well none of my entries have been shortlisted into the final, Pah!!
I see the usual names are there, mmmmmmm apparently one of the judges Lauren Rogers boasts an A level in photography "yeh" ....... Most of the finalists are technically great, yes but shame there isn't any thing original in the mix. Oh well maybe next year I should try harder, not that the iphone doesn't take a good photo, its just not competition standard.
Come on the Hoy!


worcester music festival photo competition 2010

Boxfresh socks

You can't beat that fresh sock feeling, so much so i'm tempted to order just one last pair.

Addicted to sock!

Lack of preparation

Keen to make the most of possibly the last sunny day for a while a trip to the Wyre forest was called for. As we were getting the bikes out the car, John said 'you want to take this inner tube?",I replied "Nah, I don't want to carry it, plus I never get a puncture" well keep your f'in mouth shut next time!

A great ride was rudely interrupted by lack of preparation! Innertube was in reach just a stroll back to the car, but stupidly no allen keys so no way to remove the rear wheel.
I WILL be more prepared in future!
Bike and I had a nice walk round the forest though.

Alfine hub

Can't bring myself to sell my redundant on-one frame, so I have started a little side project using a hummingbird fork I brought from Sam at Singular cycles a while ago.
I don't really want to build a singlespeed or put gears on it, but quite fancy a internal geared hub for touring duties. BUT do I spend the extra cash on a 11 speed hub or bag a bargain 8 speed hub?
After thinking carefully about how much use this bike might get I have deceided on the 2nd hand 8 speed option. Realistically will probably only get winter commuting duties and hopefully a sea to sea touring trip, with maybe the odd Sunday ride in the Wyre.
So the feelers have been put out on singletrack and with riders looking to upgrade their current hubs to the anticipated 11 speeds hubs hopefully it shouldn't be too long before a pick up a bargain.

EDIT:
Found a complete wheel and shifter on singletrack classified arrived yesterday, now to fit!

Tunnocks jersey

Mmmmmmmm teacakes, that reminds me, must buy some more.

Rockin the new socks

Ordered from CRC cycles Wednesday afternoon and collected from the post office Thursday morning! Amazing! Can't really complain about that, our postal service only really gets bad press, time to big up the postmen and women.

Littlewhitehead

Really like this work, takes the piss but in a not being too arty up my own arse way (if that make sense?)

littlewhitehead linky

Saatchi gallery - Newspeak: British Art Now

No visit to London is complete without seeing an exhibition, hamster wanking the iphone searching for current exhibitions but not really inspired by any of the offerings, we opted for the Saatchi Gallery. 

This was the first time we had visited the new site, and I was as keen to see the building as much as the art. The building didn't disappoint, inside it has amazing beautifully sanded wooden flooring with huge rectangular down lighting, that casts a clean, crisp natural light into each room. 

The gallery attendants did not abject to photo's being taken so I snapped a couple of the works that I found interesting.

Scott King, Pink Cher

artist unknown

I liked the manipulation of paper, they reminded me of my university self portraits.

artist unknown

Playful images, well painted.

John Wynne Untitled

300 speakers, Pianola, vacuum cleaner, audio amplifiers, hard disc recorder, speaker wire, suction hose, piano roll 

Littlewhitehead - It happened in the corner

Very spooky piece, also maybe the strongest work in the exhibition, reminiscent of the blair witch project, still is very eery looking at the photograph now. John and Christian are extra in this photo, they remained lifeless on the perimeter of the art work until a couple entered the gallery, as they approached the art work they moved and scared the shit of them.

Artist unknown

Having watched a program about recently graduated art students working toward an exhibition, I familiar with this work, and unsure if I would of taken as much interest in the piece if I hadn't known the background.

Richard Wilson 20:50

Used sump oil, steel

I have seen this piece many times and it just seems to get better. Unfortunately we were unable to enter the room completely as I have been able to do before, but that didn't seem to take any of the impact away. A truly beautiful work of art. 

Many of the pieces in this show, I just didn't seem to get, but when I see this work i remember the excitement I used to feel about art, maybe one day that felling will return?

Visit to London

Ten Bells Pub - Bricklane (also know as The Jack the Ripper between 1976 - 1988)

This pub has become famous for its association with two victims of Jack the Ripper, Annie Chapman and Mary Kelly. During this visit, it appeared very run down and in-between renovation, with toilets straight out of hell, but the ten bells has a strange atmosphere and seems to attracts many drinkers including many tourists who stop as part as a walking tour.
The decorative tiles are entitled 'Spitalfields in ye Olden Time" and date back to the late 19th Century designed by the firm of Wmb B Simpson and sons.

  

Invader Artist - Spitalfields (taken from Rootmasters window, while enjoying some healthy scran)

 

D*face, Truman Brewery, Brick Lane

Drone Dog, D*face's signature character on top of a battered car.

Rootmaster veggi - london's first vegan Bustaurant also reasonably priced too.

This part of London has a real vibe about it, a great place to spend a saturday afternoon. I was amazed how many Londoners ride fixie's now and how they all congregate around Spitalfields, maybe the newly opened Missionworkshop has a lot to do with the steady flux of riders cruising through bricklane, or maybe this is just where the 'cool' folk hang out? What ever it was I felt right at home surrounded by fellow riders and the good graffiti and artistic images that decorated the outsides of buildings rather than shitty tags you normally see strewn around the city.

Art crank - London

IMG_9385, originally uploaded by ARTCRANK.


Great idea and a great show, hopefully Art Crank will continue to put on more shows in different venues all over the UK.
I came away with a great print by Matt Oxborrow, (left hand in the above photo) my mission today is to find a suitable frame to do the print justice. 

MTB van design

Isn't she pretty! :)

Last weekend we visited Vanfest hoping to get some ideas for our MTB van conversion, but Malvern's vanfest proved immensely disappointing, there was plenty of the run of the mill conversions on display but unfortunately Amdro conversions (the top contender for our bespoke conversion) wasn't there, the only other company that may be suitable was dirty weekenders. It appears there is a gap in the market for mountain bike conversions.

Hopefully we will be able to get down to Bristol soon to be able to see one of the Amdro conversions in the flesh, they do look good, and they appear to have enough room to store two bikes in the rear. The only con against is the cost.

http://www.amdro.co.uk

Dirty Weekender's design is slightly different, positioning the bed on high legs about 2 to 3 foot from the roof of the van, I can see the advantage of this if you transport long sports equipment like surf boards but not practical for our MTB van. They are willing to design a conversion bespoke to our needs though, and are very local, but we are yet to get a proper quote for the conversion so its hard to make an informed comparison of the two companies.

http://www.dirty-weekender.com

Awnings seem like a practical way to solve the issues of cooking/hanging out when the weather is pants, but some of the designs are truly awful, the reimo davos 2 seems to be the best on the market but after a search on t'erweb they don't appear to be readily available. Shame!

http://www.reimo.com/en/900120-van_awning_davos_2/

Art Crank

Looking forward to going to ArtCrank this weekend, been a while since we last visited the capital city and my old uni mate Sam.

Cyclemeter Cycle 17 Sep 2010 07:37:38

First Commute into work for a while, took it easy and just enjoyed the ride, first noticeably fresh one too!

Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/bnPf56

Started: 17 Sep 2010 07:37:38
Ride Time: 44:59
Stopped Time: 2:57
Distance: 9.89 miles
Average: 13.19 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 27.85 miles/h
Climb: 289 feet
Calories: 368

http://www.cyclemeter.com

Blackberry wine stage 2

Second Stage now complete, filtered out fruit and added more sugary water solution, now I've got to leave it 10 days till the next stage.

Fixed in progress

Cool things on a mac

"Move the mouse over a word and press Command-Control-D to show the dictionary/thesaurus entry. If you don't release "Command-Control" you can move the mouse to other words"

Just discovered the dictionary on the mac! Having owned a mac since the year 2000, how slow am I?

Other cool things on the mac are:

Screengrabs 

Shift-Apple-3 will do the entire screen.
Shift-Apple-4 will take a screen shot of the area you select

and Shift-Apple-Ctrl-4 will copy the selected area to your clipboard.
and Shift-Apple-4 followed by the space bar will grab a single window.
To Show Clipboard - Finder -> Edit menu -> Show Clipboard.

Another function that not too many Mac users know is “Invert screen”. Just press Ctrl-Option-Cmd-8 on your keyboard and see your Mac invert its colours.

Now my appetite has been wetted, I'm on the hunt ;-)

Sushi

Second attempt at sushi, still seem to be over packing my rolls, a couple required an extra sheet to bridge the gap! Lots more practice needed here. Must visit our local japenese restaurant again soon to see how the experts do it.