mistrustmusic's posterous

Twitter ye not!

Looks like an overload at Twitter HQ! Far too many people using Twitter? Whatever it is, Twitter ain't working. If you go on Twitter.com there's a message saying: Something is technically wrong. Thanks for noticing—we're going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon. I hope it's back up soon. I've started to get into now and have quite a few followers, so come on Twitter folk, get a move on....

Filed under  //   blog   blogging   microblogging   personal   social networking   twitter  

Ping.fm

I've discovered Ping.fm, which if it works, will allow me to post messages and updates straight to my blogs etc from one service. Here's hoping! ...well it posted ok, but the only problem with services like this is that you have to edit the blog post to add other categories!

Filed under  //   e-learning   education   pingfm   social networking   social networks  

Moodle mania

I've got my e-Learning head on today whilst writing this blog. Anyway - the title of this post - "Moodle Mania": Should really be "E-Learning Mania", as all I can do at the moment is think about the resources and ideas that are cropping up in the "Moodle and E-Learning" Roadshows I'm putting on at College. Today is the 5th day of the roadshows sessions when I've visited one of our campuses, with the intention of getting teaching staff to come and talk about their Moodle and e-learning related issues. Plus, spread the word and get people moodling. So far these sessions have been a success, largely because I've dealt more college staff than I thought I would, mainly face-to-face, some of whom I haven't had contact with before, and who want to start using Moodle. The thing I'm pleased with is that I've had a few people logging into the chatroom I set up for these roadshows, for staff who can't get to the sessions in person. I'm also looking at the idea of using Skype or something similar the next time I do these roadshows. Some of the things I have had requests for, and being able to help with are: getting art students' work online so they can do some evalution - embedding a Flickr slideshow into Moodle; using forums for class discussions; setting up a cross-site music resource area; and getting across the pedagological benefits of using moodle.

Filed under  //   e-learning   education   moodle   music   network   vle  

Jorum Forum E-Learning workshop

In my role as E-Learning Developer at The Manchester College, I visited the "Jorum Forum" the other day. The Jorum Forum was an event to showcase the latest developments of the body known as Jorum. If you don't know them, they're there to develop and promote an online repository of learning objects and materials that can be shared by all HE (and some FE) institutions in the UK. So far, it's been all about contributing and freely distributing materials that institutions have developed themselves, eg a video, or an interactive quiz, stuff like that. Now they're looking at using Creative Commons licences for sharing materials, which means that you have some control over what users can do with them. Up till now, all the objects have been available as being reusable. Jorum has been getting a bit of a bad press recently at our place, along with the NLN materials, so it was good to hear how other colleges in universities were using and promoting them. It's something I haven't really pushed as much as I should here, but all that should change soon as a result of the event the other day. One of the main things I could show our staff is that you can knock up a really quick Powerpoint slideshow using some of the videos on Jorum. Steve Smith, who seems to get everywhere these days (!!!) did one in about 10 minutes - ideal for when you're in a hurry! I think people like Steve really enthuse teachers and e-learning practitioners, and bridge the gap between the techie-folk and non-techie ones. Something I'd really like to be able to do myself...I probably do that a little bit, but I need the right tools and oomph (I'm quite shy and retiring really....). Anyway, I'm doing a presentation about Moodle on Monday, to some of our staff, so maybe it's time to get some oomph going!!!!"

Filed under  //   e-learning   education   jorum   moodle   online   presentation  

Three-legged cats

It's been a funny (as in, "strange") few weeks. I've been on a trip "down south", ended up with a three-legged cat, and been to Silverstone Racing Circuit! To explain more......I took my 4 y.o. son to visit his grandparents at the end of October. They live about 30 miles north of London, so it was a long way to travel from up here (Bolton), so we went on the train. My 4 y.o. loved most of the trip down and we had a good time when we were there. His grandad took us up to Silverstone - the motor racing circuit - where he works part-time, and we saw the McLaren team trying out a couple of new drivers. I've seen and heard the Formula 1 cars on TV and thought they were loud, but when you hear one in real life, shooting round the track at 150 mph, it's just like a really loud, high-pitched scream. I'll put some photos and videos of the trip up as soon as I can. It was really strange being at Silverstone with all the grandstands empty and seeing just one or two cars going round the track. Now for the three-legged cat! Skye, our 1 year-old cat, was hit by a car outside our house the other week. We couldn't find her until the next day, and then took her to see the vet. It was obvious her front-right leg was broken, and her shoulder was dislocated. The vet kept her in overnight, and the next day said the cat would need an operation to either pin the bone or to amputate her leg. There'd be some potential problems if the bone was pinned, like she'd have a short-leg and the bone may not set properly, so we told them to go ahead and remove her leg. When she came back from the vet - the RSPCA Animal Hospital (the one featured on BBC TV, with Rolf Harris) - the kids were really upset to see a three-legged cat, and Paul just didn't want her around. It's taken the cat (and Paul) about 10 days to come round to her having only three legs, and she's somehow managing to hop around ok inside the house. So, we've now got a three-legged cat. The kids seem to be getting used to her being like that, especially as she looked like something from cruel experiment that had gone horribly wrong...

Filed under  //   animal hospital   cat   cats   family   formula 1   kitten   racing   rspca   silverstone   vet  

Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) out now

My remix for Pitch Black's Rude Mechanicals track is out now!!! You can get it from the following download stores now, as part of the Rude Mechanicals EP: Pitch Black - Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) - buy on iTunes Pitch Black - Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) - buy on Beatport Pitch Black - Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) - buy at Amazon.com Pitch Black - Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) - buy at Dancerecords.com Pitch Black - Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) - listen now at Myspace Please note - some of these may only let you download from the USA/Canada. .....don't forget to read the rest of the blog!!!!

Filed under  //   beatport   download   itunes   mistrust   music   myspace   pitch black   rude mechanicals   soundcloud  

I'm on iTunes at last

The remix I did for New Zealand dub/dance band Pitch Black is out today on iTunes and all the usual download sites (Amazon.com, Beatport etc). It's one of the tunes on the band's 6-track EP "Rude Mechanicals" and is my very first release on iTunes - in fact my very first "official" remix - so I'm feeling quite chuffed! The track has been on my music player for a while, so hopefully someone might like it on here! Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) on iTunes Rude Mechanicals (mistrust remix) on Amazon.com

Filed under  //   amazon   beatport   ipod   itunes   mistrust   mp3   music   news   pitch black   release   rude mechanicals  

Barack Obama didn't review my Rude Mechanicals remix

As you've probably seen, Barack Obama has been doing pretty much anything these days to get the word around and get himself elected. Good luck to him. However, he's obviously been too busy to have a listen to my remix of Pitch Black's Rude Mechanicals, which is out on October 27th. It's even on Amazon.com's and Dancerecord's download sites, so don't tell me he doesn't go on there? Well, Mr Obama, a few people have listened to it on Myspace and Last.Fm to name some of the places the previews can be found, and so far, the reaction has been good, to say the least. It's had over 1100 plays on my own myspace (myspace.com/mistrust) and over 200 on Pitch Black's.  The reviews and heads-up have started to come in - and so far, they're really positive. Here are some of them (with links to the original comments): Dubmaster PHD featured the track on his blog - he gave the track a massive plug, so a big thanks to him -  and there are some comments from his subscribers - "I love it, you have done Micheal and Paddy proud" (AOTEAROAnz) "awesome" (kyosuke316) "Electro-Techno goodie" (Panzerplatte) "Cool!!" (Babyjay99) Read more here on Dubmaster's site.... Some more: "really good, good quality, liked the beat" (Helix, on Di.FM forums) "Great Tracks, Especially the Rude Mechanicals remix!" (Mahabashi, on Myspace) If anyone comes across a review of the track anywhere, please let me know. If you listen to it yourself on myspace, last fm, or anywhere else and want to tell me what you think of it, then please leave a comment on here. ------------------------------------- This is my first post for a while - been laid up with an ear infection. Seems like very few people get ear infections these days. Typical isn't it. A musician almost deaf in one ear. I've had it for over 2 weeks, and antibiotics just won't shift it. Back to see the GP, I think!

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Filed under  //   USA   barack obama   mistrust   music   obama   pitch black   politics   president   remix   rude mechanicals  

Rude Mechanicals remix on Myspace

Following on from my last post about my Rude Mechanicals remix being released on October 27th, I've just got a couple of updates about the track. It's now on the music player on Pitch Black's Myspace profile - in fact there are two different remixes up there: the first one is an instrumental version by Mike Hodgson (one member of Pitch Black), and the other one is the remix that I've done. So, you've got 2 Myspace profiles places you can hear the track before it's released - mine and Pitch Black's. I've had quite a bit of interest in the "mistrust remix" so far.  The Only Michael played it in his DJ set at the BFI 75th birthday Big Weekend celebrations last weekend, and it looks like a DJ in Lithuania will play it on his alternative music radio show. Also, the track is getting quite a few plays on Myspace and some great comments around and about on the web. I've also put the track on my Unsigned Band Web page, where you can get a widget for my music player, plus a load of links to add to social bookmarking sites. There's also a banner to promote the release of the Rude Mechanical remix. If you'd like to help out promoting the song, please copy the following code and paste it into your blog or website: http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/4140/20081002141951ff4.gif

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Filed under  //   mistrust   music   myspace   pitch black   remix   rude mechanicals  

Rude Mechanicals official release date

My remix of Pitch Black's Rude Mechanicals gets its official release worldwide on 27th October 2008. The band's latest newsletter says: The second single from Rude Mechanicals - the title track itself - featuring Queenstown's KP, is due out digitally on October 27th with remixes from PZ, Sound Guise, Mistrust, and our very own Mike Hodgson in his nefarious Misled Convoy alter-ego. We'll be posting the tracks up here for your musical delectation. Don't forget, you can listen to the track on my myspace music player right now and (hopefully!) download it on iTunes etc when it's released. If you're a DJ and want to play the track in your set, let me know and I'll send you download link for a CD quality file. So, it's official - my first proper release!!! I know it's only a remix, but I'm very proud to be part of this project, and thanks go to Mike and Paddy, and of course Jasper at Crazy BaldHead.

Filed under  //   beatport   cd   itunes   mistrust   mp3   music   october   pitch black   release   remix   rude mechanicals   single