London-Somerset-London, 28 & 29-12-12

London to Somerset, 28-12-12
Don't Save Me - Haim
Ça plane pour moi - Pigloo - La banquise
(Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag - Black Prairie
Bermondsey Street - Patrick Wolf
The Soul City Walk - Archie Bell & the Drells
Sit Down - James
The Wagon - Dinosaur Jr
Baby Please Don't Go - The Amboy Dukes
Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force
Cheap Universe - V for Volume
The Message - Grandmaster Flash
Live And Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings
Apache - Sugarhill Gang
Torn (7" Mix) - Natalie Browne
Happy Kid - Nada Surf
Zola - Wonder Villains
All I Want For Christmas Is You/Creep - Peace
Mister Big Stuff - Jean Knight
Baby, It’s Cold Outside - Rufus Wainwright
7 Days - Craig David
Sleigh Ride - Fun
Tthhee Ppaarrttyy (Radio Edit) - Justice
Santa Claus Is Comin to Town - Joseph Spence
Doom and Gloom (Jeff Bhasker Mix) - The Rolling Stones
You Eat Too Much - Harold Burrage
Toast - Street Band (with Paul Young)
Arizona Yodeler - The Dezurik Sisters
Where I Find My Heaven - Gigolo Aunts
S.O.S. - ABBA
Just Like Christmas - Low
Fight The Power - Public Enemy
That's When The Music Takes Me - Neil Sedaka
A Sad State of Affairs (feat. George the Poet) - The Herbaliser
Wonderful Christmas Time - The Shins
Pool Hall Richard - The Faces
Pretty in pink - Psychedelic Furs
Call Me the Breeze - Beth Orton
The Notion - Majestyy
Virginia Plain - Bryan Ferry & Roxy Music
I Found You - Alabama Shakes


Somerset to London, 29-12-12
Taste It - Jake Bugg
You Spin Me Round (like a record) (ext) - Dead Or Alive
Harder Than You Think (Radio Edit) - Public Enemy
People Are People - Depeche Mode
Mama Said - The Shirelles
Cheddar Cheese (National Treasure) - Shaun Keaveny & Friends
Don't Deny Your Heart - Hot Chip
I Think I'm A Clone Now - Weird Al Yankovic
Where Da Money Go? - The Jim Jones Revue
Bum Bum - Mabel
The Spaniard That Blighted My Life - Al Johnson & Bing Crosby
Whole again - Atomic Kitten
Rockin' All Over The World - Status Quo
More Than A Woman - Tavares
Camouflage - Stan Ridgeway
Clouds across the moon - Rah Band
More Than A Woman - Bee Gees
Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp
This Momentary - Delphic
I’m A Cuckoo - Belle and Sebastian
Vacationation - Hooded Fang
Moves Like Jagger (feat. Christina Aguilera) [Soul Seekerz Club Mix] - Maroon 5
A sweet old fashioned girl - Teresa Brewer
Lazy Sunday - Small Faces
Place - Lucy Rose
Best of Friends - Palma Violets
Can You Hear Me? (Ayayaya) - Wiley
Secret Smile - Semisonic
Celebrate (feat. Pharrell Williams) - MIKA
Been Away Too Long - Soundgarden
Sun - Two Door Cinema Club
Rapper's Delight (full length version) - Sugarhill Gang
Outtasite (Outta Mind) - Wilco
He's A Tramp - Lady And The Tramp
Femininity - Summer Magic
110% - Jessie Ware
Telstar - Tornadoes
Loco in Acapulco - The Four Tops
Fineshrine - Purity Ring
Your Drums, Your Love - AlunaGeorge
Big In Japan - Alphaville
Inhaler - Foals
Mother Abyss - Black Breath
Locomotion - Kylie Minogue
Spacer - Sheila B Devotion
Resurrection - PPK
I Don't Care - 7" Remix - Shakespear's Sister
Mountain Sound - Of Monsters and Men
Cough Cough - Everything Everything
Home - Friends
I Want You Back - David Ruffin
Gangnam Style (강남스타일) - PSY
I'm Blue - 5,6,7,8s
Batman Theme - Neil Hefti
Holiday - Green Day
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Brett's Christmas Card 2012

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Excerpts from John 1:1-18

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A new kind of magnetism

Extreme Tech reports: [edited]

Researchers at MIT have discovered a new state of matter with a new kind of magnetism. This new state, called a quantum spin liquid (QSL), could lead to significant advances in data storage. QSLs also exhibit a quantum phenomenon called long-range entanglement, which could lead to new types of communications systems, and more.

Generally, when we talk about magnetism’s role in the realm of technology, there are just two types: Ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.

Ferromagnetism has been known about for centuries, and is the underlying force behind your compass’s spinning needle or the permanent bar magnets you played with at school. In ferromagnets, the spin (i.e. charge) of every electron is aligned in the same direction, causing two distinct poles.

In antiferromagnets, neighboring electrons point in the opposite direction, causing the object to have zero net magnetism. In combination with ferromagnets, antiferromagnets are used to create spin valves: the magnetic sensors used in hard drive heads.

In the case of quantum spin liquids, the material is a solid crystal — but the internal magnetic state is constantly in flux. The magnetic orientations of the electrons (their magnetic moment) fluctuate as they interact with other nearby electrons. “But there is a strong interaction between them, and due to quantum effects, they don’t lock in place,” says Young Lee, senior author of the research. It is these strong interactions that apparently allow for long-range quantum entanglement.

The existence of QSLs has been theorized since 1987, but until now no one has succeeded in actually finding one. In MIT’s case, the researchers spent 10 months growing a tiny sliver of herbertsmithite (pictured above) — a material that was suspected to be a QSL, but which had never been properly investigated. Using neutron scattering — firing a beam of neutrons at a material to analyze its structure — the researchers found that the herbertsmithite was indeed a QSL.

Moving forward, Lee says that the discovery of QSLs could lead to advances in data storage (new forms of magnetic storage) and communications (long-range entanglement). Lee also seems to think that QSLs could lead us towards higher-temperature superconductors — i.e. materials that superconduct under relatively normal conditions, rather than -200C.
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Enthusiast Zoom Compact Cameras

Digital Photography Review has performed a Group Test on the following 'top-end' compact cameras:

- Canon PowerShot G15
- Canon PowerShot S110
- Fujfilm X10
- Fujifilm XF1
- Nikon Coolpix P7700
- Olympus XZ-2
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7
- Samsung EX2F
- Sony RX100

The Olympus Stylus XZ-2 and Sony RX100 come out on top.
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StickNFind Bluetooth Stickers

India Times reports: [edited]

A US technology firm has come up with Bluetooth stickers which can be attached to your essential items like wallets, keys, and even kids and pets to track them. Your valuables can be detected by the stickers which work through a smartphone app that sets off a buzzer to help locate them. The app also includes a radar-like function to help you find your way to your possessions.

About the size of a 10p coin, the StickNFind stickers can attach via adhesive to valued possessions and send a low-energy Bluetooth signal with a range of about 100ft. So far the team behind it have developed apps compatible with smartphones with a range of features to help users track down their stickered-up possessions when they go missing.

The first function the app offers is a simple radar screen that approximates the distance - but not yet the location - of all the paired StickNFind stickers in range. The technology does not yet allow the app to determine which direction the lost items are in, so users have to start walking while watching the screen to see whether the device they are hunting for gets closer.

A second feature, which the designers call the Virtual Leash, allows users to set an alarm to sound whenever a sticker moves a predetermined distance from your phone. This feature could be used to keep track of your children at the playground, for example, or to remind you if you're getting ready to leave the house for work and forget to pick up your keys.

A third feature called Find It helps to locate any items that are out of range by setting an alarm to sound as soon as they appear on the app's radar, allowing you to begin using it to track down the lost item as soon as you are nearby. The stickers themselves will keep going for up to a year on a watch-type battery.
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GE develops thinner, quieter cooling device

c|net reports: [edited]

General Electric has developed an ultraslim cooling solution that could be used in laptops and tablets in the near future.

The cooler uses what GE calls dual piezoelectric cooling jets (DCJ for short). Unlike fan-based versions, which utilize spinning blades, the DCJ implementation is akin to mini bellows that suck in cool air and push out warm air.

GE touts its cooling solution as measuring just 4mm (less than a quarter of an inch), half that of existing coolers. It also runs more quietly. These characteristics make such a system very desirable for ultraslim devices such as ultraportable laptops and tablets.

GE has licensed the DCJ technology to Fujikura, a Japanese thermal-management company, but probably take a couple more years before the technology makes its way into retail products.
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Samsung Galaxy Camera

Oliver Lang has published a review of Samsung's Galaxy Camera.

Excerpts follow:

"I’ve been a mobile photographer for a number of years now. Shooting with a mobile device has changed how I use all my cameras, both film and also digital devices with higher quality sensors. Over the years I’ve developed specific processes for shooting and editing with a mobile phone."

"Devices that give you the freedom to shoot and share from any where at any time don’t have to be the best technical camera equipment; instead they need to be used in a way that gives you the best community experience possible."

"Even though I don’t photograph my food, my feet or some other banal object, I do shoot street, event, portrait and documentary photography with the purpose of sharing the image. My photography is about communication, and supported by the connectivity of the device. I shoot to share."

"Most recently, I’ve been shooting with the Samsung Galaxy Camera. In a flash, this device has zoomed the point-and-shoot camera back into focus, and with a powerful 1.4GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system and 3G/4G as well as Wi-Fi connectivity the camera sets a new standard for the 'point-and-share' market."

"The noticeable differences in feel between the Samsung Galaxy Camera and a similar sized mobile phone include a dedicated finger grip and the raised shutter button. The finger grip is appreciated, and the wrist strap (included with the model provided) provides added security when holding in one hand."

"A comparable grip is only available for mobile phones with the addition of a case. The Galaxy Camera grip allows access to the zoom control and shutter button with the same hand, and with a free thumb you can freely access the main icons on the display screen to help change shooting modes easily with one hand. When you rotate the device to review images, the camera lens makes a nice finger hold and feels comfortable."

"Selecting Mode gives you quick access to three shooting options of Auto, Smart or Expert. I’ve tested most of the Smart functions and they’ll certainly suit general needs for certain situations, including Night, Action Freeze, Rich Tone and others. I’ve usually gone straight for the full control over ISO, exposure and aperture in the manual setting under Expert mode."

"In Expert mode, you can select ISO, exposure and aperture settings. The lens offers 21x optical zoom, which is so far beyond anything offered on a mobile phone camera that there is simply no comparison. I’m really excited by the zoom as I’ve seen countless mobile images with horrible noise created by the digital zoom of smartphones. At full zoom, I found the camera must be held steady to frame accurately, and this is where the large display screen helps."

"The touch screen covers the back of the camera, with no protruding or recessed buttons or dials. The large 4.8-inch display does help to compose images. The onscreen icons are large and responsive to touch."

"In Expert mode the screen displays ISO, aperture and exposure for adjustment in a screen overlay that looks somewhat like a manual camera lens. I found this animated overlay frustratingly slow and tacky."

"The Samsung Galaxy Camera is not the first Android back-ended camera, but it is certainly the best fusion of a point-and-shoot camera and Android operating system that I've seen... it’s the use of a singular device with the capability for shooting, editing and sharing photography in real time.
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Zana Apophis USB Flash Drive

GizMag reports: [edited]

Bucking the trend of ever decreasing prices and increasing capacities that has marked the portable flash drive market in recent years is this space-age offering from ZaNa Design.

Starting at US$1,100, the USB 3.0-compatible, 64 GB Apophis drive is crafted from African Black Wood, authentic and certified meteorite with a high-purity, embedded diamond.

There's also an 18-carat gold model that will set you back US$1,990.
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FlyVIZ 360˚ Vision Headset

New Scientist reports: [edited]

EYES in the back of your head - you know you want them. And soon you may get your wish, simply by slipping on a headset that gives you a 360-degree field of vision.

Called FlyVIZ, the system was designed by Jérôme Ardouin and colleagues at the Grande École d'Ingenieurs Paris-Laval in France. It captures images from every direction around the wearer, then transforms them into something our measly human vision system can comprehend.

The system is at prototype stage: at 1.6 kilograms, it's a bit heavy to walk around with, and remains connected to a laptop for image-processing while it runs. It uses a video camera, mounted atop a helmet, along with specially shaped mirrors to capture the environment on all sides of the user, then displays it in real time on a modified Sony Personal 3D Viewer headset.

The system takes about 15 minutes to get used to, its creators claim in a paper they presented at the Virtual Reality Software and Technology conference in Toronto, Canada, this week. Once acclimatised, the wearer is able to move around and interact fluidly with their environment.

In a series of trials, users grabbed sticks that would have been outside their normal field of view, dodged balls thrown from behind them, and even drove a car.

Despite the strange new perspective on the world, the device does not cause any nausea, motion sickness or visual fatigue, the team claims. And even though FlyVIZ acquires and displays images in 2D, wearers still had serviceable depth perception, which the researchers attribute to wearers intuitively tracking object motion and parallax in the image to compensate for a lack of normal binocular vision.

A streamlined version of the system could one day be useful for security guards, police, or fire fighters - or anyone with good reason to watch their backs.
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Field Notes Expedition Edition

Field Notes reports: [edited]

“FNC-17″ marks the start of our fifth year of FIELD NOTES COLORS. In that time, we’ve explored a wide variety of papers, colors, and printing techniques, but with this new “EXPEDITION” edition, for the first time, we’ve actually expanded the basic utility of our notebooks.

Aesthetically, you’ll find an all-new design with plenty to like: a hi-visibility “Antarctic Survey Orange” front cover and “Polar Night Black” back cover, with a subtle varnish effect featuring a topographic map of Antarctica. The body pages feature our popular ‘dot grid’ graph paper, printed in light gray.

But the real innovation here is the paper. It’s maybe not even fair to call it paper. The whole book is printed on Yupo Synthetic paper, an amazing water- and tear-proof paper extruded from polypropylene pellets in Chesapeake, Virginia.

via Daring Fireball
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BRD Redshift

Core 77 reports: [edited]

The Redshift, BRD's flagship motorcycle, is 250 pounds of power and handling all wrapped up in a drop-dead gorgeous custom frame that charges in a wall socket. "Nobody needs electric motorcycles," says Marc, "but we found a way to make everyone want electric: by making them go faster."

On the test track, the RedShift is four seconds faster on a 1:10 lap than the KTM 250, a comparable gas-powered bike. "That's the difference between classes!" says Marc. "Motocross has two full-size classes, 250cc and 450cc."

Moreover, pro riders heavily train their arms in order to endure "forearm pump," the debilitating strain generated from shifting with the clutch with the left hand and cutting the throttle with the right hand. Using an electric motor helps eliminate this strain, since the rider remains in the same gear the entire ride and only needs to "fine tune" the throttle.
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ProForm Le Tour de France Exercise Bicycle

Wired has published a preview of ProForm's elite exercise bike. Excerpts follow:

"It’s stacked with bells and whistles. Front and center is a new 7-inch tablet-like touchscreen control panel — still not huge by today’s standards, but a radical upgrade over the previous TdF bike’s tiny computer screen."

"The bike tilts 20 degrees fore and aft to simulate steep climbs and descents. The former paddle shifters on ProForm’s older bikes have been redesigned to look and feel like ergo-levers."

"Other goodies: a built-in speaker, an actual power meter, a heart-rate monitor, Google Maps (Street View, even) on the screen, internet connectivity, plus accurate readouts of speed, cadence, and all the other data you’d expect. But, beneath all the flash is a really nice exercise bike. Climb on, and a good old-timey sweat-fest awaits."

"you get to use your own saddle, handlebars and pedals. Gone are the big adjustment knobs for adjusting saddle height, bar height, saddle fore/aft and handlebar fore/aft. Now you can micro-adjust the components to the millimeter using a standard hex wrench, which is great for getting your position perfectly dialed."

"With set-up out of the way, the very first thing you notice when climbing aboard the trainer is how quiet it is. Shockingly quiet. I was able to complete entire virtual rides before work without waking my wife from her cocoon one room over."

"The interface is based on ProForm’s iFit web portal. You can draw yourself a new map, peruse your most recent rides, track and taunt your buddies through social channels, or compete against other schmucks stuck indoors on their trainers."

"The ProForm Le Tour de France training bike will be available this spring, so you can try one out for yourself. The MSRP is about $2,000."
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Casio G-Shock GB6900AA Bluetooth

Slashgear reports: [edited]

Casio has unveiled the Bluetooth-equipped G-Shock GB6900AA series. The watch can be linked to the user’s iPhone via the G-Shock app, allowing the two device to interface with each other in order to provide time syncing, call and email alerts via the watch.

One of this watch’s biggest features is its low energy consumption. It achieves this conservative energy usage via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy). The G-Shock uses an ordinary watch battery, which lasts up to 2 years with an average Bluetooth usage of 12 hours per day.

The G-Shock features countdown timer, 1/100th second stopwatch, an LED super illuminator, five daily alarms, a mute feature, world time zones, and is shock/water resistant up to 200 meters. The smart watch is compatible with the iPhone 4S & 5.

Price: $160
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Hanebrink X-5

Wired reports: [edited]

The 120-pound bike has a dual-suspension monocoque chassis build out of aircraft-grade aluminum tubing. The suspension has 177mm of travel, while Avid hydraulic front and Brembo four-piston rear brakes bring it to a stop.

Mounted inside a water-tight box lies four lithium-ion liquid-cooled batteries that Hanebrink claims will get you 200 miles of travel on a single charge. The 14-speed transmission lets you hit a top speed of around 80 mph.

If/when the juice runs out, pop out the pedals from behind the fairings to go on human power. Regarding the X5′s street legality, Hanebrink says, “the benefit of a legal electric bicycle is, of course, that it does not require registration, drivers license, or special motorcycle permit, etc. and can be operated where motorcycles are not permitted.”

The X-5 will cost you $16,940, and if you order now you can expect delivery by the end of March 2013.
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Foldify

Foldify from Pixle on Vimeo.

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Wii U

Register Hardware has published a review of Nintendo's latest £300 games console.

Snippets follow:

"Six years ago Nintendo brought gaming to the masses with the Wii, now it’s hoping to repeat the trick. The Wii U signals not only Nintendo’s first foray into HD, but the arrival of a new peripheral for us to get to grips with in the shape of the Wii U GamePad and its ‘asymmetric’ gameplay."

"You’ll be greeted by an interface very similar to that of the Wii. You’ll navigate through channels – eShop, Netflix, YouTube, Settings and the like. Wii owners can even use the Wii Transfer Facility to copy all of their Wii’s data to the new console – accessible by rebooting the Wii U in the non-HD Wii compatibility mode."

"The GamePad’s screen at 854 x 480 and 158ppi, while not as sharp as the iPad, still looks bright, vibrant and near enough to HD to mean you won’t miss it. It comes with touchscreen, stylus, camera, microphone, gyroscope and accelerometer. It’s also surprisingly light and ergonomically designed so that even my longest stints haven’t led to aches or finger cramping."

"Battery life is a concern; it takes about three hours of play to drain, so you’ll have to plug the GamePad in to keep playing."
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