Wake up and smell the coffee

Singing Java Java Java Java mega mega white thing mega mega white thing.

Sorry I haven't posted lately - been busy - away from home on business. Not in the UK, etc. So now - after some nagging that SURELY I must be able to find the requisite TWO MINUTES - here is something for you to ponder...

I'm looking at a survey showing the top 10 software packages sold in 6,800 UK retail outlets last week. And I am surprised by what I read. I might expect CD-ROM burning software. Graphics software. Photo-editing software. Route-finding software. An interactive wine guide perhaps.

But no.

The No.1 spot is taken by an Internet security package.
So is No.2 and No.6 and No.10.
Anti-virus packages occupy No.4, No.7 and No.8.
Leaving just three places from Microsoft Office Student Edition and two Driving Test packages.

So I am surprised - but it's good. Perhaps complacency is on the demise.

I recently came across an instance where a less-savvy friend had switched off his AV software, because it seemed to slow his PC down. Of course, the inevitable happened. PC was trashed. I would probably attribute the slowness to the PC being used as a zombie. I rebuilt it and put on a firewall, an anti-virus product, an Internet security package, and two spyware tools. All that lot running - PC running nice and fast - thank you very much!

My friend has learnt from his experience. His PC is now fit for broadband connection to the Internet for more than the 17 minutes it now probably takes for a hacker to find you and attempt to do something nasty.

So the state of the UK home software chart is generally a good thing. People need to be aware of the risks inherent in the Internet today. People need to take precautions. You need a firewall, and you need at least one (ideally two) AV and spyware/adware tools. Upgrading to Windows XP SP2 is a good thing, but I'd still recommend another firewall product between you and the Big Bad Internet.

Be safe - don't be a muppet.

Why I like Underworld

There are two reasons:
1. it's great music
2. I like the way Karl Hyde is wired

There is no question that Underworld is my kind of music. But music is a form of expression - it's very personal, intimate - and in creating it, you are showing and sharing something of yourself and your soul. This is not true of a lot of the crap music that is out there, obviously - but Underworld are not in that superficial class. I've always liked music that is closer to poetry - a flow of meaning, of thoughts, of concepts and ideas. Those things set to music. Marillion and Fish have lyrics that I love, but the music was always a compromise for me - I liked it, but I didn't love it. Underworld has the type trance, ambiant, music that I like, but with lyrics that grab your attention. I'm not doing Underworld justice here - let me hand you over to Karl...

I gave up long ago on trying to please everyone, check out the lyrics on the ‘Underneath the radar’ and ‘Change the Weather’ albums, now ‘that’ is ‘bullshit’ people pleasing low-grade pop wordage. Yeah, that’s what you get when Hyde tries to be populist, didn’t work then, and it won’t work now, it’s not what I do.

I collect fragments:
Things overheard, S
een,
Smelt,
Tasted,
And experienced.

I collect them, write them down, along with the thoughts they inspire. To some these phrases look disconnected, but, if I say, “this was a walk through New York city”, “this was a walk from the Ship on Wardour Street to Tottenham Court road tube station” , “this was a journey through a dark head” and we call them “Mmm skyscraper I love you”, Born Slippy” and “Dirty Epic” the fragments have a context. Then if we imbed them in sound and groove that’s evocative and maybe a counterpoint to the mood of the text, you have that magical thing that happens when Rick and me get in the studio and let fly. What I collect and bring back to the studio reflects my state of mind, the place I’m in and what, of all the stuff going on around me, I’m focusing on at the time.

"I'm a big sister and I'm a girl and I'm a princess and this is my horse."
Was something over-heard, like: “second toughest in the infants”
“I am just a waitress”
“Thunder,…lightning ahead…”
“Don’t put your hand where you wouldn’t put your face!”
K.O.S.
“…did you wash it?”
“You don’t even have to iron your own stuff”
“Do you like a blue boost?, try a blue boost”
oh yey, brothers and sisters etc, etc,

Most of the Media world news/documentary presentations I’ve seen present the World in big chunks, loud stories, amazing things, wow! wow!, woo!, woo!. Media is generally drawn to ‘big-ness’, the thought being that, “it sells”. I prefer the details, the small things, the fragments. It’s the details, the little things, the seemingly insignificant things that bring richness to my vague memories of places, people and experiences. So, along with a note book, I started carrying a camera, photographing the stuff that always caught my eye, but which I knew I’d forget. It’s was easy to remember the bigger picture, it’s the details that I’d forget. What I was constantly drawn to were the fragments that described the World on a human scale, at a time when I was deeply frustrated by how countries and cultures were being reduced to easily digestible icons, images and sound-bites from which many an ill informed prejudice has sprung.

All the big news moments are made up of tiny events, and within these events I’m drawn to fragments, objects, a quality of light, a facial expression, a collection of stuff in a shop window or in an alley or thrown out onto the hard shoulder of a road; graffiti, a sign, and all manner of marks left by unknown hands.

To me they are beautiful, intriguing, funny, tragic, inspiring, and they’ve been mounting up here at home, collecting dust for years. Very little of what I collected used to see the light of day; those that did came out in Underworld tracks, or as the ‘Skyscraper’ book, a tomato book, or (on rare occasions) in exhibitions. These were just the tip of an iceberg, there was and still is a load of unpublished fragments (hence, why John Warwicker and I have been jamming on the follow-up (!) to ‘Skyscraper’, based on dark times on and under the streets of London, leading up to and beyond the time of Born Slippy.).

The internet, gave us another place to publish. Somewhere unfettered by scheduling and financial considerations, somewhere outside of the usual underworld/tomato processes, somewhere that allowed us to have an idea, and be able to make it available immediately, and somewhere we could publish for free without charging anyone or having to make compromises in order for the work to get out there. We wanted a little freedom in the domain of releasing work, some play time, as a balance to the way in which we normally work. When we’re not on the road, that important physical contact with people is greatly diminished. The internet, and knowing that some one, even if it’s only one person outside of the studio, some one in there in the World, can see something we’ve made today, means that we no longer feel isolated when we’re in the studio. We have the freedom to broadcast without it having to accommodate any third parties, and the beauty of it is that no one is expected to pay for these fragments, they’re free, not major releases, not earth shattering, deep or crafted for months on end, no press campaigns and no claim that they are high art or deeply emotive poetry; they are what they appear to be, the fragments of my journey’s, emotional responses to the little jewels my dumb head gets a buzz over. If you don’t like them, that’s cool. This would be a teeth grindingly boring place if we all had the same taste.

Thanks for you support and inspiration, keep on keeping on.

karl

This is Keith again - hi. I hope I've whetted your appetite to hear/learn more - have a look at http://www.dirty.org/underworld/. Another nice thing about Underworld is that they really encourage you to listen to, and experiment with, their music. If you want to download some Underworld music to listen to, go to http://www.dirty.org/underworld/fan.html. This is free, legal, and encouraged.

Enjoy!

TV Diet Reloaded

New Season Update:

1. Spooks
2. Stargate
3. Stargate Atlantis
4. Battlestar Galactica

OK - so I do watch SOME television!

I have to say that I'm liking what they've done with Battlestar Galactica - it's very - different.

Windows XP Blues

Over the weekend, I spent ten happy hours rebuilding my PC. This is not as bad as it sounds - there were a lot of software and drivers to put back. I did hit one problem in upgrading (if that's the right word!) to Windows XP Professional.

After installing a new OS, I always go in to Device Manager and look for any problems. When I did this, I found that Windows thought my VIA IDE Bus Mastering driver had a problem - there was a warning indicator against the icon, etc. My first port of call was to Google on the problem. I found a number of things:
1. many, many other people had the same problem
2. there was no clear solution
3. there was a lot of white noise and rubbish

Eventually, reading between the lines, I found my answer. And I'm posting it here, because I'm aware that Blogger is indexed by Google, so this might just help a few other people.

One answer suggested was to download the latest 4-in-1 drivers from your motherboard vendor's website. Did that - went to Asus and downloaded something like version 4.37. Didn't help. I found one post from someone saying "try 4.53", and VIA are now called Hyperion. So I Googled on "Hyperion 4-in-1 4.53 download" and got some good links. Downloaded the software, installed it, and problem solved. :)

If you have this problem, you can download the driver from http://www.download.com/VIA-Hyperion-4-in-1-Driver/3000-2098_4-10313330.html.

Japan: Weather you like it or not

Japan is an area of interest for me. I am interested in the philosophy and culture of the East, as well as the karate aspects. Japan is somewhere quite different. I have a friend and colleague from Japan who sits behind me, and it is always fascinating to talk to him.

My friend, Hana (see Blog link on the left) has a website where his aim is to talk to people in the West about the culture and events in Japan. Hana is in the UK for 3 years, so he is in a great position to judge the Western perception of Japan - and his website is an effort to correct some of the many false perceptions we have.

One thing we talked about was WEATHER. Hana says that we in the UK have no concept at all of weather. It is not too hot here, it is not too cold, and, when it comes to wind - WE DON'T HAVE ANY!!! Compared to Japan. In Japanese terms, the last time we had any kind of weather at all was October 1987! I guess this is true of England. Might be a different story in some of our remote areas, but the South East - yep - fair cop. So - it's quite often like a scene from Crocodile Dundee here - you know the one with the knife "ooh - look at that bad weather", and Hana says "that's not bad weather" (pulling up image of storm-swept Japan) "THAT'S bad weather!". Yeah, OK.

So - when it comes to serious weather, we in Hertfordshire at least, probably don't know we're born. Do we want more drama and excitement in our weather. A bit more violence and pyrotechnics? I don't think so - maybe I'm too English. ;)

The Power of D

Take the word ENTRANCE. It is a mundane, and relatively "boring" word. We see it everywhere. The way in, a door. You probably don't give it a second thought.

Now - prepare to witness the AWESOME POWER of the letter D.

I give you ENTRANCED!!!!

This is a whole new ball-game. Now we are talking about a seriously interesting word, which you don't see everyday - you might consider it if you've just been emotionally knocked sideways by that drop-dead gorgeous babe that you just made eye contact with across a crowded room. (I should stress that I use 'babe' as a gender-neutral phrase). Entranced is to be captivated, held in a trance-like state, filled with wonder or delight, beguiled, charmed.

Have a good one!

The Road to Hell: A poem

I've noticed that a lot of people use their Blogs for posting poetry. An outlet, I suppose - a medium. A way of expressing. Or maybe just fishing for an agent or publishing deal - I'm sure there are a lot reasons.

Why The Road to Hell thing again? Well - this is going to be my poem post. Don't worry - there are unlikely to be more. I don't feel of a mind to share my self-penned song lyrics with you just now. The link between this poem and the M25 is pretty tenuous. When I wrote this, I was parked on the M25 on a Monday morning, on my way to Microsoft for a meeting with some inconsiderate person, who hadn't bothered to think through the implications of requesting a Hitchin resident be in Reading for 09:30 on a Monday morning!! Grrr. (End of rant).

Anyway - here's the poem - it is - as yet - untitled - comments welcome!...

Hope is where you keep talking
Peace is where you make it
Love is where you find it
Beauty is where you see it
War is where you loose it
Faith is where you believe it is
Respect is where you earn it
Honour is where you live it
Truth is where it always was
Friendship is where you're safe in being yourself

I hope you liked it. :)

See ya!

Generation X

I am now at the mid-point in Douglas Coupland's dayglo pink-covered cult classic Generation X. It is taking me some time to get through, I admit. I keep taking little bites out of it when I get the chance.

It hasn't drawn me in. It is not compelling reading in that way - but it is good; it is amusing me - I am finding it interesting and entertaining. It is well-observed and witty.

Consensus Terrorism - the process that decides in-office attitudes and behaviour.

Have a good one!

The Road to Hell: A Fantasy

The Road to Hell is a Chris Rea song about the M25. I wouldn't say I'm THAT frequent a user of the M25, but I know it well enough to have a bit of a fantasy about it.

You see, the time I usually get to travel, it really is London's orbital car park. You are driving along quite happily at 70-80, and you can see this line of unmoving traffic ahead of you. Cars as far as you can see. So in my little fantasy, I am driving along at 70-80, and I can see the cars looming up ahead, but I just keep on driving...

I get closer and closer, but I am not slowing down at all. In fact, I take it up to 90. Then 100. Just as I am approaching the line of cars, I pull back gently on the steering wheel, towards me. The nose of the car rises from the road. As the back wheels leave the ground, the car shoots forward over the cars in front. I bank the car over to the left on it's side, and pull the wheel back. As the car banks away from the line of traffic, I level up and raise the nose a little more to gain some more altitude. Level off, and then floor the accelerator. There's a raw that even rises above the CD player as the afterburner kicks in and I'm thrown back in my seat as the car leaps forward.

The M25 shrinks in my rear-view mirror, and I am FREE!!!

Have a great weekend.

Over and out.

TV Diet

I thought I would share with you my current TV diet.

Things I Am Currently Watching On TV:
1. Doc Martin
2. (there is no 2)

Things I Will Watch When They Come Back On:
1. Spooks
2. Stargate / Stargate Atlantis

Things I Used To Watch, But They Aren't On Now:
1. Enterprise
2. 24
3. Silent Witness
4. Prime Suspect
5. Angel
6. Buffy
7. JAG
8. Murder One
9. The Practice
10. Ally McBeal

50kg

(I'm posting this today, because I doubt I'll get time tomorrow - but then the post is about today anyway, so...)

At the gym this morning, I was just going round doing all my normal stuff - going from machine to machine. At one point, a lady was standing next to the machine I was on, waiting to use it. She noticed that I was lifting 50kg, she said, "I can only lift half that - you're doing very well!"

I thought about this for a moment - I am quite pleased with myself on that particular machine. This time last year, I was on 35kg, and I've gradually been working up. The machine goes up to 100kg, so there's still plenty of scope to pile on more weight. Even though she was being nice to me, what she'd said was quite flawed. If you compare yourself with someone else - anyone else - you are setting yourself up for trouble. You can't compare yourself with anyone else in a lot of things in life. This lady was a lot older than me, different build, different gender, different weight - I can't think of anything about us that gave grounds for a fair comparison on what we might do at the gym.

If you compare yourself with someone else at the gym, you'll either end up feeling inferior and useless, or you'll be vain and conceited. The only valid comparison is with yourself over time. I told this lady that I'd been gradually increasing my weight over time, but you've got to go at your own pace.

Don't make the mistake of comparing yourself with others - one way or another, you'll always loose!

I'm Watching!!

Today, I added a hit counter to my Blog - this will enable me to see just how many people (if anyone) really is following my meanderings. If you want to add a hit counter to your Blog - it's easy - go to www.sitemeter.com. I hope you are having a good weekend.

Spot On!!!

When I was young,
And my life was an open book
I used to say...
"What's happening at The Spot today?"

Does anyone remember The Spot? The first time around?
This mid-to-late 90's we're talking here. In Internet terms, that's between the last and the penultimate ice ages.

Back in those heady times, Marcus and I were involved in a project that I won't bore you with called The Edge. As part of that, we got Internet access, and an opportunity to look around. This is back in the days when everything was new and exciting and it was still cool to go to the CIA, White House and Playboy websites. I'm pretty sure Marcus discovered The Spot, but I was equally hooked by it from the word go.

The idea is that you have this house in California where a bunch of people live, and they all keep diaries of the goings-on in the house and in their lives. The diaries are on-line for you to read, and you could e-mail The Spot residents, and they would quite often e-mail you back. There was also a messageboard. And LOADS of photos.

So it was like an interactive soap opera. Today, think cross between Blog and Big Brother, and you're about there. But remember - this was way back then. So cool - very original. It was captivating. We really did read it every lunchtime. And we used to e-mail them.

There was much urban legend around The Spot. Who, or what, was behind it? What was the point? Was it real? The last one is easy to answer.
/SPOILER WARNING/
No.
/END SPOILER WARNING/
It takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to be able to get around the fact that Spotnik, the dog, had a diary, and replied to your e-mails. Sorry. Somehow that didn't matter, though.

I used to e-mail Tara Hartwick - ah - Tara - sigh... We did get to the stage where she switched to her real name (Laurie Plaksin) - it was good fun to mail her. We drifted - our paths uncrossed - Laurie - where are you?? Marcus e-mailed Spotnik - not sure they made it to real-name terms. Marcus's real name is Zara, by the way - since that very expensive operation in Brazil.

So much for memories. The Spot was very good, and very cool, and totally years ahead of its time. And I would love to catch up with Laurie and find out what she has been doing since. One thing I can say, though, is that she isn't at The Spot.

The Spot is BACK!!! Check out www.thespot.com. But has it had its day? Now we DO have Big Brother. There have been other interactive soaps. Are they still characters that we can, want, and do, connect with? In the fourth year of the 21st century, with the Internet having evolved to the point where it currently has, is there still a place for The Spot? My brief survey would suggest not - but I'd be interested to hear what you think of The Spot.

The Spot Reloaded?
The Spot Revisited?
A Spot too far?

I like The Spot Reloaded - reloaded with new people? :)