Patron-saint of the Bog.

[reddragdiva]

Sunday was spent on appalling quantities of domesticity. I caught up a little on the housework. redcountess and I got stuff done in the garden and put up a new bird feeder. I enjoyed the sun on my skin and the feeling of a fitter body. But you're still not getting my g*th card.

We were going to hit Homebase, but it occurred to Liz that Homebase on a Bank Holiday weekend would make Ikea seem pleasant. Some evening this week, perhaps.

arkady and I didn't make the Dev on Sunday evening, but we did Monday. Surprisingly large crowd for a Monday — we hypothesise post-Infest comedown. Arkady geeked music with flavius_m. She resolved to grab the USB interface for her MIDI controller keyboard from him and start putting up MP3s, and I resolved to put Rosegarden on tart and start my bad EBM career. SWOOOOOORDS.

Today it is about a Godzillion degrees. The Engrish still do not understand air conditioning, but I do have a fan on my desk at work.

Comments

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

I remember when I was working with Aussies and they were melting from the heat. It was explained that over there, you're sensible and install aircon.

[redcountess]

Of course, the aircon is usually at freezing point so that one is forced to wear a jacket indoors :-/

[sweh.livejournal.com]

In the early 90s I was onboard a ship installing some new computers, along with an American (originally from California, then living in the Florida Keys). The radio office was around 68F, which I found nice and comfortable and wore T shirts. My friend found it too cold and wore a coat!

The next year I went to Florida in November. We hit Disney; I wore shorts and T-shirt and the back of my neck got sun burnt. My friend and his son both wore coats and complained about the cold.

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

> Homebase on a Bank Holiday

No where near as bad as IKEA.

[loosechanj.livejournal.com]

/me huggles his air conditioner.

[seahorsemystic.livejournal.com]

I am happy for my air conditioning. But I love IKEA, and there is not one near by. :(

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

I have figured out why the Department of Materials Science at Cambridge University is covered in lead which creeps downwards. It's because it keeps the rooms inside at a steady 22 degrees C in summer, and about 18 degrees C in the winter, with no extra effort.

Of course this is bugger all use to me, I am considering sitting in the greenhouse corridor at the top (measured temperature about 40 degrees C on a very hot day) and doing my work tomorrow.

[kellydamnit.livejournal.com]

I think you can keep the goth card if the sun is on your skin through the protection of SPF 45.

[reddragdiva]

I'll make it an indushtral card instead.

[kineticfactory.livejournal.com]

Are you using external synths or softsynths with Rosegarden?

From what I know, Linux as a music production platform is rather primitive. I gave up on Linux for music production some time around 1997, when I bought a Mac and Cubase VST. It was then that I went from using a computer as a simple MIDI-piano-roll sequencer controlling an external Sound Canvas to an actual virtual studio with EQs and effects plug-ins and softsynths and the ability to edit audio and such. I looked at Linux and audio recently and found it was still rather primitive (they now have their own audio plug-in standard named LADSPA, which, apart from sounding like the name of a boy-fanciers' organisation or something, doesn't seem to have many plug-ins above the 1st-year-DSP-programming-assignment level of sophistication; though there may be a way to jerry-rig Windows VST plugins to run under some WINE-based rig).

Besides, if you want to do EBM, you'd want something capable of hosting Native Instruments' FM7 (http://www.ni-fm7.com) softsynth; it has presets that could fill the floor of a goth club (or a Eurovision backing track). That and some Roland R8 ("80s goth in a box") drum samples.

[reddragdiva]

So far I can't get it to give me even a sensible error on starting ;-) Needs a bit more kicking I think.

[reddragdiva]

To be more specific, it's reminding me of early synthesis, before MIDI and the DX-7 — when you either spent a friggin' fortune on something that was really quite middling, or you got to be a dab hand with a soldering iron (much like this icon) and tapeloops. I need to get out the software soldering iron, I fear.

[kineticfactory.livejournal.com]

I've got your software soldering iron right (http://www.audiosynth.com) here (http://puredata.info/).

Let me know if you get anything resembling dance-music coming out of it. You could well be the pioneer of micro-EBM.

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Oh god, the suffering... I had to wear a jacket and tie in the office today, for an interview, and travel out to their place in the sweltering August heat... two floors down. Surreptitiously turning the thermostat in the interview room to 17 degrees helped me along no end. As does the uniform 18 degees on our trading floor.