WiFi Wabbit
Meet Nabaztag. Very cute and the first of a new generation of humanised hi-tech gadgets. He/She tells you the weather, when you've got mail, sings and wiggles it’s ears when someone is thinking of you. Me likey... I think.
Nabaztag Homepage
Tags:Nabaztag
D&AD Lecture: Erik Spiekermann
Went along to the D&AD lecture at the Institute of Education last night to hear Erik Spiekermann give a talk. Entitled ‘You don’t do design; you live design’ it was an eclectic romp through his career as designer/typographer/all-round good guy from early days with a letterpress at a railway arch (a sad story lies there) to world renowned type honcho via the Dambuster’s Music, Spinal Tap (..Type!) and a pretty good affected Lancashire accent.
I saw him speak when I was 18 at the Icograda conference at Marble Arch Odeon in 1991 and he was an inspiration. I don’t think I could have become ‘the biggest-font-monkey-in-geekdom’ without some influence from him. It’s really refreshing to hear a real information designer talk in this world of faddy low-quality design.
I persuaded Jo to come along because I had a good-feeling it would fun for everyone not just the clan, and I don’t think he disappointed—being as eloquent, enthusiastic and witty as I remembered him 14 years ago. Jo said after that I’m a lot like him which I’ll take as a compliment. He is a hero of mine (if I was pushed to cite one), and I suppose we have similar standards and passions.
Below are a couple of links to his blog and new agency plus of course one to FontShop—the remarkably ‘looking as good as it did when it started on the web 12 years ago’ online erm font-shop...
Erik’s Blog
Erik’s Agency - UnitedDesigners
FontShop
Tags:Erik SpiekermannTypography
Ecoutez moi!
Welcome to edition five of Bontempi Radio Köln. This one has been fun to put together; 49 minutes of French (or tenuously gallic) goodness for your ears. Tracklisting is below if you are unsure of the JMJ inclusion ratio! It's been difficult cramming in all I wanted—so watch out for a ‘part two’ at some point in the near future...
Listen here or subscribe via iTunes with the Podcast link in the right-hand column
If you liked the show or have requests, comments, suggestions, please email me (address at bottom of page) and let me know! I'd love as much feedback as possible so I can continue to make BRK as interesting and fun as I can.
Tags:PodcastsGallicFrench Music
Bontempi Radio Köln 05; 29/03/06
Tracklisting:
01 Michel Polnareff: Computer’s Dream
02 Richard Ayoade & Matt Berry/Univers: Whistle Test/Sideral
03 Serge Gainsbourg: Melody
04 Beck: Paper Tiger
05 David Holmes/Madonna/The Verve: Don't die with just the power of bittersweet goodbyes
06 David Holmes: Don't Die Just Yet
07 Wood Nymph: Hairdresser
08 Renegade Soundwave: Deadly
09 Modeselector: Dancing Box
10 Bomb the Bass: Bug Powder Dust (La Funk Mob remix)
11 Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot: Bonnie and Clyde
12 MC Solaar: Nouveau Western
13 Stereo Total: Ma Radio
14 Cassius/Jean-Michel Jarre: TV Rules the Nation/Rendez-vous Three
15 Cassius/Jean-Michel Jarre: TV Rules the Nation/Rendez-vous Five
16 Max Berlin: Elle et Moi (Joakim mix)
17 Stereolab: Lo Boob Oscillator
18 Charles Trenet: Boum
Blatant Self-congratulatory Post
Not to blow my own trumpet but my podcast subscription went into the triples today; I'm so proud![beams, then crawls back under rock]
Hollywood’s biggest star on W7 bus shocker!
Yes was bussing to work because aforementioned annoying as hell ear infection is preventing me from riding on Monday when who should get on at my stop, literally yards from our house but Mr Andy ‘Gollem/King Kong/Lumpy’ Serkis. Seemed like a nice chap. Huge quiff; we all had to stand and I tried not to weird him out by starring too much. I hope he’s not one of the local SUV clan. That would be upsetting...
Watch out! Alex H is in town
Only a week since the last BRK, but that’s probably because I barely had to lift a finger for this edition. Yes—Number Four is a guest mix by the ever-talented Alex H who heard BRK editions 1&2 and begged me to let him have a go*
*Not in fact entirely true; It's an honour...
Who is Alex H? He's a producer/DJ of note I just happen to work with who’s mashups and long-form mixes never fail to amuse or get your toes a-tappin’. He’s got an impressive back catalogue of bootlegs, original stuff and mixes to peruse: Get over to www.alexh.org to hear more!
But we digress; this 26 minute mix has been scalpelled together for your aural pleasure with some fantastic gobbets of unlikely soundtrack history, razor-sharp beats and breaks and (as if that wasn't enough) it even comes with a twist of hispanic hip-hop. It’a treat - if you haven’t subscribed yet… Why the delay?!?
Listen here or subscribe via iTunes with the Podcast link in the right-hand column
Tags:PodcastsSoundtracksAlex H
Bontempi Radio Köln 04; 13/03/06
Tracklisting:
01 Ghost in the Shell OST: Making the Cyborg
02 Never Ending Story OST: Fantastia (w. beats)
02 The Spy Who Loved Me OST: Bond 77 (w. house beats)
03 Kontrol OST: Orangyal
04 Kontrol OST: Uldozes
05 Derren Brown: Hallucination Button
06 Hexstatic: That Track
07 Wagon Christ: Rendel Shack
07 Cypress Hill: Hits from the Bong (Spanish Version)
08 Rueben Wilson: Mr Big Stuff
09 Bis, Magic Dance, Labyrinth, Queen, Living Daylights et al vs. Alex H: Unnamed Mashup
10 Manu Chao: Me Gusta Tu
11 The Great Escape OST vs. Africa Bambataa: Funky Heroes
Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside
Or on the deck of a listing liner in a force 8 squall, cos that’s what it feels like to have an ear infection named after a terrible David Bowie movie from the eighties... Let’s hope it clears up soon as I’m really beginning to tire of nearly falling over every time I get up or look in the cupboard for a mug.
This post should be my first with the doody new Blogger dashboard widget for Tiger; Post now comes with added Domo Kun!
What are the chances of an image search for Labyrinthitis coming up with our clumsy misunderstood Japanese monster? Pretty minimal for sure. Credit must go to Lynette M. Silva at Stanford for this ace rendering of a Domo party in the inner ear...
Also: Make your own Domo iPod Case! Cuteness ensues...
Tags:LabyrinthitisDomo Kun
Yessiree... Edition three is out!
Length is finally creeping towards the magic 45 minute mark and there’s a bumper pack of 19 tunes somehow squeezed in this time. I've had a lot of fun making it—I hope it’s a fun listen for all of my 43 listeners! (If you liked it - tell your friends! ;)
Listen here or subscribe via iTunes with the Podcast link in the right-hand column
Tags:PodcastsTom Baker
Bontempi Radio Köln 03; 05/03/06
Tracklisting:
01 Mohammed Rafi: Jaan Pehechaan Ho
02 The Electric Chairs: Barbie Girl
02 The Droyds: Girls on Pills
03 Tiga: Burning down the house
04 Soulwax: NY Lipps
05 PWEI: Def-Con-One
06 Cassetteboy vs BIll Gates
07 Commodore 64: Unbeatable
07 Atari: Out of this World
08 Tangerine Dream: The Dream is always the same...
09 LittlePixel vs The Tangs: I'll never get to College
10 Lost: Main Theme
11 Hedgehoppers Anonymous: It’s Good News Week
12 ICI: The New Way to Dress
13 Ladytron: P.A.C.O.
14 Ann Armstrong: I'm tall but even I couldn't...
15 LittlePixel vs The IT Crowd & Bandulu: Reality Guidance
16 LittlePixel vs Nathan Barley and the Grand Detroit Pubahs: Awesome Sounds
17 LittlePixel vs Sugababes & Bandulu: Guide the Button
19 Meat Beat Manifesto: Circles
I love my bike. I built it myself. It’s pretty reliable too.
Except for the rear tyre—which is driving me to distraction; Today I had my second puncture in less than a week. The vicious irony being that I fitted a brand new tyre after the last one as the old one though not worn out was looking more than a little pockmarked from its many gorings by London’s razor-sharp road debris.
Since I finished it not-quite-a-year-ago I’d estimate I've had something like 15 punctures. I exaggerate not. Only one of those was the front wheel. Can anyone tell me why that is? It may be that the front wheel saddles less of the overall weight—but surely it covers all the same road and should be about as equal?
My tyres are always at a good pressure, I do repairs properly—maaan I even have a puncture ‘resistant’ (HA!) diaphragm between the tube and tyre on the rear—but still they come—regularly and always to the rear. The difficult to get off wheel. Maybe I need to change my route. The sad truth is probably something to do with the amount of broken glass in London. When I make repairs nine times out of ten the culprit is a little shark-tooth shaped sliver of glass peeking defiantly through the rubber.
The logical conclusions surely is that I should get chunkier tyres but sadly bike-vanity prevents such a terrible solution. I am not a BMXer! My brother remembers how his first bike had solid tyres and he could ride through the glass—much to his friends’ delight—but I fear such wonderfully basic and practical bicycle equipment is no longer available.
I want inner-tubes that fail incrementally. If a tube was composed of say five independent (plaited?) tubes then if one failed you would only lose 20% of pressure and still have a functioning wheel. Kinda like the sealed hulls in a ship where if one fills up with water the whole lot doesn’t sink. Maybe I should patent it. Tricky part would be the valve. Hrm...
Tags:PuncturesPatents
Name: Littlepixel™
Location: North London, UK
Introduction:
Welcome to my blog; you can probably already see that it contains the occasional Podcast, bits and bobs about music, Macs, design, bicycles and whatever else I’m finding interesting at the time of posting.
Feel free to have a mooch about, sift the archives, and maybe — if you feel driven enough — post a comment if you enjoyed, can elaborate, or think differently about any of the subjects I’m banging on about...
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