Band pages on facebook

Interested to know how other people are getting on using facebook band pages.
Its kind of strange having ilike on both and i am wondering how much more integration there might be coming.
Also interested to know what apps/customisations people are using.



If anybody wants to go to/fan my page its at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/phil-openshaw/64751171414

Phil Openshaw's music at amazingtunes.com

My music at amazingtunes.com

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Avery. Online image and audio editors...

Ok. There are a lot of these things about but i think this one is particularly good. For one thing the drawing app is very 'Photoshop' so everything is where you expect it to be. The audio app is really impressive because it actually works...Which i have never seen any browser based app do before. Its a bit garage band and a bit acid...The really impresive thing it the non destructive effects on tracks.

http://aviary.com

'Transpennine Express' Album now on Amazon, iTunes etc

Transpennine Express is now available on:

Amazon uk....here
Amazon ...here
iTunes...here

(Search 'phil openshaw' if these don't work in your region)
also downloadable from:

emusic...here
napster...here

Weisskalt/Blauwarm myspace netlabel

This has to be one of the best put together MySpace music pages i have seen. It works as the front page for a net label and has loads of music to download. More like a real website then a MySpace page...
http://www.myspace.com/wkbw

...and there is some good stuff on there.

RSC E-Learning Conference 02-06-09 rscyh09

rscyh09. Overall really good this time...the venue and weather helped a lot. As always its good to catch up with what others are up to.

http://www.rsc-yh.ac.uk/conference2009/index.asp

Good opening speeches, its interesting to see how far we have come, lets face it we are at a point (at last) where enough people are finally doing this stuff for it to be mainstram...its taken a while.

Sessions attended:

What Google can do for you...
It is interesting to look at what people present actually use. Not many seem to use Google Docs either in class or with learners yet.
As the presentation tool is fairly simple to use should teaching staff be using this to build up resources with? Forms could also be used for in-class activities.

I came across Google Web Elements a while ago (here) this provides a simple way to embed Google components onto websites and VLEs. This could be useful for building up a resource-heavy page with documents, maps calenders etc. If anybody has used this in anger I would be interested.

It is interesting to look at the rapidly expanding Google portfolio, if you include YouTube, Google reader etc...what more do you need for basic staff and student activities?

Its going to be interesting to see what happens to when Google Wave Launches as this will allow you to tie in everything with easily definable groups.

Google offer an educational version which can be monitored and tied to IP ranges. Microsoft are offering very similar educational products (go to http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/free-hosted-student-email.aspx ) Personally i like them both but they have different stregnths at the moment.

I can see mainstream social networking becoming a competition between Wave and Spaces (flame here please). Lets face it...been trying to change my profile picture in Twitter for a month. If they can't get that right ...

Ucan Skills Project...
http://www.slideshare.net/paulmayes/jisc-rsc-yh-elearning-conf-2009-ukanskillsJisc capital project 2007-9. Online 'skills development maps' for a range of courses. Used mapping to integrate skills in degrees/fds. Accompanying learning objects where developed along with a repository (here).

Interesting that curriculum mapping is so much more embedded in the US...how many courses do this as formally in the UK?

We recently produced a skills audit tool for FD prior accreditation. If anybody else has any similar tools i think its worth sharing...go on...

Learning to walk befor you can run (etc)
Very well produced online resourses using video and photography. Its always good to see practical subjects delivered online (when done properly). Its also good to have development time to do this...

2d-Codes / smart media / rfid (aiDC)

Interesting talk on removal of data needs from connectivity - using barcodes
uses:

• as receipt system for coursework
• adding text to real object
• driving text readers
  
  4ooo ascii chars...thats quite a lot of data in a small space.... i have to confess to liking these things for the sake of it apart from any practical applications. If anybody has any real life experiences please share. I think the whole point the 'phonecam and make things happen' is enough to get kids engaged. Please put the presentation online...
  
  
  

Posting some free sounds/samples

Going to start posting some free samples/sounds i've made over the past few months. I use a lot of generative software and have more electronic bleeps and loops then i could ever use.

Some of them are made with image to audio software such as audiopaint http://www.nicolasfournel.com/audiopaint.htm or coagula http://hem.passagen.se/rasmuse/Coagula.htm. Both are worth experimenting with if you like bleepy 70's type sounds made from your phone pictures.

Anyway feel free to use if you like anything.

Might start posting up some loops and other bits and pieces if anyone's interested.

Anyway i will be posting via twitter/twitwall for now so if your interested, have a look here
http://twitter.com/philopenshaw or here http://www.twitwall.com/view/?who=philopenshaw for a direct link.

Google Web Elements

Google Web Elements lets you add your Docs, Maps, Customs searches etc to your site...Its as simple as adding the link to a box, copying the code and adding to your website.

I can see this being useful for wensites and its also a big improvement on screen grabbing Google Maps.

http://www.google.com/webelements/

BBC Radiophonic Workshop - The Dreams

Was listening to a 1964 BBC 'invention for radio' I downloaded from Newstalgia. Its a strange radioplay/electronic composition/montage piece that runs to about half an hour and is worth listening to if you're interested in the tape splicing/music concrete era Radiophonic Workshop.

Its interesting what was considered mainstream listening back then...but maybe that's just common to any era. Anyway the original posting is here.

http://newstalgia.crooksandliars.com/gordonskene/weekend-galimaufry-bbc-radiophonic-wor

And the montage stuff and sound effects is Delia Derbyshire apparently. So that probably makes it worth a listen...

Glitch DS - Cellular automaton sequence drum machine

Finally got this one working on the Nintendo DS it works by using cellular automaton patterns to trigger multiple samples on an underlying grid...Like most homebrew DS its slightly fussy about what folders go where on your memory card...but apart from that - brilliant. Makes drum loops you would never think of doing manually (not sober anyway). Lots of samples on the site to get you started. You could probably use this for something more melodic if you turned the BPM down...if that's your thing.
It also works on Mac (if you must) and PC now.

http://www.glitchds.com/

gizapage social network organiser

Yet another social network but with a difference...your profile has a set of tabs for all your blogs, myspace, twitter etc...which is handy if you want to point someone at someone at all your info...or just keep track of it all yourself. have a look at http://www.gizapage.com/ or look at one I set up earlier...here

Update: 20/05/11. Not sure it this page is still active...

some widgets for blog website etc

This could be useful for some people, a collection 'web2' (sorry) widgets to add twitters, blog feeds, youtube videos etc to your social networking or web pages....

http://www.yourminis.com/

New Google image search features

I thing this one is rather nice: http://similar-images.googlelabs.com/ . Type in something, for instance 'tree', click the similar images link under the pictures and see what happens...

Its all rather clever.

The other clever feature is now in the standard image search, a little colour tab next to the image size and colour tab, simple but useful for lazy designers?

Duck Race!

Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdTH1mhaoPo

Elephant Talk Trades Club

Saw Elephant Talk at the Trades on Saturday...rather good stuff.
have a look at the website at http://www.elephanttalk.co.uk/ .

Pace Egg Play Heptonstall

Posted this up from yesterday...its all good fun...or possibly not if you're not from round these parts...
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7330548570017394737

Transpennine Express

Finished the LP last week...10 tracks of electronic loveliness which can be found to download at:
http://www.last.fm/music/phil+openshaw/Transpennine+Express
It will be on iTunes etc in a few weeks but if you want to listen to listen to the tracks you can also pop in at http://www.reverbnation.com/philopenshaw or have a look at http://www.philopenshaw.com .