Audio Blog and Flash MP3 Player
Friday, October 27, 2006

Given my new found web space and bandwidth capabilities I have decided to turn the music section of this blog from a simple "review and list" posting of my favourite albums to a fully fledged mp3 blog with inline flash streamed mp3s and music videos via YouTube. My inspiration for doing this comes from the well versed Spiked Candy for which I am a regular reader.

However the "Radio Blog" flash script used there seems too cumbersome for my liking, so I searched around for an alternative flash streaming audio player. I found two options - both by Jeroen Wijering, the first was very similar to Radio Blog, it has a list of songs and you can choose to play them; whilst very nice and highly customizable it did not suit a post by post situation. So I opted for the second, a concise progress bar which allows colour and size manipulation (but has no text display), perfect for my needs.

To check out this neat little script I suggest reading the latest posts in the Audio / MP3 blog section, I have put up three posts so far including Lulu Jackson's pre-war blues rarity "You're going to leave the old home Jim" and a video of Mohammed Rafi's "Jaan Pechechaan Ho" performed for the Bollywood film Gumnaam.

My satisfaction with this script has also lead me to integrate it into the forums so that any direct link to a file with mp3 extension is parsed to generate an inline playable version and an option to download the track. This modification is amongst the many I have added lately, including the ability to post YouTube and GoogleVideo inline from the reply box. Now I only wish I could somehow apply these to blogger so that I don't have to add the html every time I want to post something dynamic.

Labels: Technical

Firefox 2.0 - Fix tabs
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The new Firefox release is great, especially the built in and seamlessly integrated spell checker, this should dramatically improve all those poorly spelled posts and web pages we see everywhere. The new glass theme and highlighting is an improvement (in my opinion) and new built in Phishing tools are also a positive development. Other noteworthy features include session saver, and suggestions in the search box. To test this release with regards to the ill-fated memory leak I loaded up a page of 20 or so animated GIFs which previous versions would choke on and die a painful death, the page still saw a large increase in page-file usage and some slow down but after browsing away from the page it all disappeared and I didn't have to restart the browser.

A couple of things I don't like, or maybe I am just not used to, are the changes to tabs. The changes give a fixed minimum width and a horizontal scrollable toolbar when the number of tabs exceed the screen width and also a "Close" icon on each tab. So I thought it would be helpful to state here how to change the tabs back to "the old style" ( i.e. FF 1.x):

Remove Close Button
To remove the close button from each tab and instead place one button in the top right, in the about:config file change browser.tabs.closeButtons to "3"
(For more details see: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.tabs.closeButtons ).

Fit More Tabs on the Page
To do this you have to reduce the minimum width of tabs. Once again, using the about:config file change browser.tabs.tabMinWidth to a value of your choice. The changes will not be apparent until you restart Firefox.

For the complete run down visit: Mozillazine

Labels: Technical

$10 Threadless Sale
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Threadless is having another $10 sale on all their t-shirts, but it only lasts another day or so, so be quick.

Other notable online t-shirt retailers:

• Oddica
• Dirty Microbe

From Oddica:

Polish up the old Google
Saturday, October 21, 2006

I follow the inner workings of Google frequently through the excellent blogs "Google Blogoscoped" and " InsideGoogle ". I get excited when new google products are announced, when upgrades are implemented and generally every time Google makes my Internet life a little easier. A Gmail and Reader tab lie open continually, I use Google ad products to promote and earn from, I use google bookmarks, search history, personalized homepage, calendar, groups and obviously search. I am sure I have at least dabbled with most other releases also. So I sing my praises where I can, indeed I spent a half hour session with my last boss showing him all the ins and outs of Gmail and all those subtle little features you need someone to showcase.

But then again not everything is perfect in the increasingly large and amorphous world of the GOOG. In general, the spate of recent releases and acquisitions over the last year or so has left Google with an assortment of great and good products that need more dedicated development time and overall integration with other services to become truly useful. It has become increasingly difficult to find or even remember that Google has a suitable method for dealing with a certain enquiry. Google's aim is to organise and make available the world's information - I fail to see how this can be achieved when their own development procedure and release methodologies lead towards an increasingly difficult plane to circumnavigate. It is a white-walled maze -

For all is clean and clear but hidden behind a thousand doors.

Labels: Google, Technical

Version 7 "and into the light"
Thursday, October 19, 2006

The site has changed and I would like to dub these edits and improvements an upgrade. The old black and orange layout, shown below, was my first attempt at creating a site completely from CSS, more than a year ago now. This turned out a failure, after hours of messing and continual frustration with the discrepancies between Internet explorer and Firefox and the bastardization of CSS rendering, in desperation I resorted to methods I knew best - tables and those dreaded font tags. This resulted in formatting that was half controlled by a hacked IE-fixing style sheet and half by random style and formatting strings placed sporadically throughout the design. To say the code was messy was an understatement. Another problem became the accessibility of content - all the links to older posts, archives, special pages, my websites and other random articles became obscured, hard to find and ultimately hidden from the reader. Thirdly the site, although looking relatively stylish on a flat screen was almost illegible on a classic CRT. For these reasons, and probably a few others I decided to address my distaste with this blog and fix everything that was once wrong.

My aims were thus to create a clean crisp appearance that looks good on all screens, where links are in visible and logical positions and the separation of posts, content, ads and information is obvious. This was to be brought about using a pure CSS design, no tables - a site that's content can be completely separated from its appearance. I am pretty pleased with the results, my aims have been fulfilled and the style sheet did not have to revert to a single IE fix. The biggest problems I had to overcome were firstly the central positioning of the main table and the right column.

My first attempt at creating the centre-piece was to use an auto-margin on either side of the <div> using margin-left and margin-right, yet Internet explorer doesn't like this in the slightest. I remember having a number of simple margin issues with IE during previous escapades. I switched to the 'all-in-one' definition and defined only the left margin as auto: "margin:0px auto;" and then set the table width to a fixed amount before applying the 'work-around' which is to provide the body element with a "text-align:center", this positions the <div> in the centre of the page from the start. A second text-align is then required within the <div> so that all the text within it is not also centered.

Fixing the column issue has a less elegant solution. In fact the first method was the best, it utilised the float parameter and allowed text to flow around the column once it had ended, the height of the main <div> would adapt to include all the content. However applying my design to blogger prevented this, on each post Blogger adds an irremovable <div> with the style "clear:both" which renders all floating around said element impossible. I imagine this is a security measure to prevent users hiding malicious things, etc. Going back to the drawing-board yielded an absolutely positioned column with margin to get the correct alignment and a restriction on the post <div> to prevent overlap. A new problem presented, by placing the content absolutely the main container would not stretch to encompass the full content, a crude fix for this was to include a minimum-height tag within it. If anyone has some better suggestions on solving this dilemma I am all ears.

Labels: Technical, Website

Art House Movie Posters
Friday, October 06, 2006

What do you get when your favourite local art house cinema starts giving away its reserve of original theatrical posters from over the past 10 years? A lot of freakin' awesome and huge posters, that's what. The rest of this blog entry is just one giant boast and a list of pictures. The most impressive of finds was the Welcome to the Dollhouse poster, a rare little Todd Solondz feature from 1996 that is hard enough to find on DVD and the David Lynch/Disney team up in "The Straight Story", the soundtrack for which contains "Lauren's Walking" by Angelo Badalamenti, one of my consistently favourite tracks.

Here we go:

Labels: Life

Sozopol - The Bulgarian Adventure!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Here I am in Bulgaria on our first warm evening (Monday). I have decided to write this blog entry as I go so that at the end of it all I won't have to spend forever trying to recall all the fine little details. My girlfriend and I, who I shall from hereon refer to as Samantha, caught a flight from the over-secure queue riddled Gatwick airport via Thompson holidays, to Bourgas airport - a large city on the black sea coast in Bulgaria. From here we travelled by taxi through thunderous downpours to the old old town of Sozopol (610 BC) and its sprawling new town Harmanite.


Language barriers are high over here, I speak a little French and Sam speaks some German. The local tongue seems to be an odd amalgamation of German, French and Russian - most signs occur both in English and Cyrillic alphabets. This meant that showing our driver where the hotel ( Hotel Diamanti, ***) was - sans address, with a poor map in low light and he, without his glasses, proved difficult. The labyrinthine cobbled streets seemed alien and the destination far away and hidden. When hope was running thin, out of the dark and from nowhere the large Russian "Diamanti" sign affronted us. And so we are here successfully. The amenities are as standard - beds, shower, satellite TV, air conditioning and a balcony with slight sea view.


After a good nights sleep came the crashing sounds of Saturday morning and the dust bin men rattling over the cobbles with their wheelie bins. The weather was still overcast. We set out on our tour of the town; leading north then west (along the top of Sozopol) past the harbour and naval base. Old boats rusted and ye-olde Russian cars rolled by. Many of the buildings here were half built and the area seemed unsightly in the murky weather - suffice to say this wasn't the greatest of places to start. We turned left into the centre of town and proceeded past the market stalls selling jewellery, art work and fake Armani for 5 lv.


There's a slight wind at the moment, a boat is chugging past and the Cicadas are singing. The odd glitch sound of a passing bat is common and the light-house on St. Ivan's is booming. The stars are bright and Sam is attempting a fiendish sudoku with a deterministic fervour on her brow whilst chomping on her pen


But back to Saturday - our day saw the exploration of central old Sozopol before lunch. Old hanging buildings of wood and panelling aside newer stone houses, similarly overhanging with orange ceramic roof tiles. All the streets are cobbled with a semi circular pattern and they intertwine seemingly at random. The shops give a limited selection of products - there are the cloths and tourist shops alike with bargainous deals, numerous cafes and food outlets - each selling potato crisps, biscuits and alcohol - lots and lots of alcohol. We have in fact not yet located a good source for fresh bread - it seems to be a rarity and we can only find a peculiar rubbery brand.


For lunch we stopped at a horrid food place that can be likened to a British greasy spoons caf'. We had our pizza and chicken for 6.60lv and swiftly returned home. After a nap and a little sort out we headed south and then west towards the first of Sozopol's two beaches. We passed the elderly ladies selling lace and home made Jam (as mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide) and we came to a rocky outcrop where we could get some good panoramic shots of the new-town and bay. In moving south we came across the finer parts of Sozopol  and a little alleyway that took us to a cliff side walk which ran via the city wall. Overlooking the bay the views are gorgeous and the aroma of fresh and trodden fruit from overhanging trees paved the way. This took us right along to the beach side and past many tine restaurants that offered a view and the sounds of a crashing sea.

The remainder of the day and for a lot of Sunday we explored "Harmanite", or New Sozopol; its cemented hotels, abandoned building works and tiny summer-only shops (gone since September) gave a quaint but characteristic feel to the town. On the surface it is just an attempt as a tourist sprawl but the obvious distinction between western and east European modern cultures is of some interest where the prosperous and new dwarf the basic and poor. Here we learnt of day trips via a Bulgarian/Russian man too busy running his business to talk to his customers. Sam also met a charming Russian fellow who was happy to have it pointed out that his bag had been left open.

Sunday was overcast again but today the clouds cleared and we awoke to clear skies and a warm sun. Heading into town to catch a minibus day trip to Ropotamo nature reserve and river was our best option. Out friendly driver - a fan of 90s trance music - carried us to the reserve and organized our boat trip with a newly arrived coach party from "Sunny Beach". From here we chugged away at the front of an open-slow moving tourist barge. The guide boasted wolves and wild boars but we saw only wild and rare birds. Herons, Jays and Woodpeckers speckled the riverbanks and many other unnameable ducks and wild fliers graced the route - such as an all blue king fisher variety and large billed brown species. The hill views were astonishing and we were all happy to see the odd random fish fly out of the water. The scenery also reminded me of that seen in Jurassic Park.


We came home past a marshland and withdrawn 5 star hotel that looked overly posh and introverted. Lunchtime saw us eat at the "El Grecco" cafe above the bay - a selection of freshly made dips and tuna canapes. The sun was now hot hot hot and the only thing left to do was spend the day at the beach. To the sea we went with towels and beach mat. The bay here is such that you can walk half way out and still have your head above water (which is of course lovely and warm at this time of year). And so the hours were spent finding shells, chasing crabs, scaring fish and watching stray dogs play with the tide and each other.


The GBP-BLG exchange rate is favourable to the strong pound. At the time of writing £1 is the equivalent of 2.7-2.9 levs, depending where you get them from. Herein Bulgaria the face value of money is the same as in England, that is for 1 unit you could expect to purchase a coke or for 5 units a single course. Thus for a "budget" holiday this is great - we can have 3 meals out a day and buy plenty in between. Our trip to Ropotamo cost us 40lv, only £7.50 each.

And here is a good place to talk about the food! Saturday night we ate at "Panorama St. Ivan" that offered an outside sea view of the island opposite our hotel. We opened our banqueting with a shared dish of shrimp, we snapped back their heads and sucked out their innards whilst rolling them in a hoi-sin like sauce or butter. This was accompanied by a sweet house white wine. For the main course Sam ate a shark fillet steak with salad garnish and I had a Wiener Schnitzel - an odd looking but tasty pork dish with potatoes. All this cost us only £7.50 each.


For the same price on Sunday at the famous "Viatarna Melnitsa" (windmill) restaurant we enjoyed a selection of salty fish h'orde oeuvres including Anchovies. For mains we had a swordfish kebap - onion, mushroom, tomato and olive flavoured fry/stew whilst Sam ate a Veal cutlet. For desert we had a shared ice cream with freshly cooked raspberries - delicious!! For wine we chose the Pomorie chardonnay.


Tonight we ventured to Ksantana - a three tiered custom built house overlooking/hanging the sea. For the staple price of 40lv or £7.50 each we once again ate like kings. Straying away from wine we had a taste of other alcoholic offerings, a Bulgarian beer - Zargorka and a fine chocolate liqueur and whisky cocktail with creme. For starter we had chicken wings and frogs legs before moving onto a Pork fillet and beautifully stewed vegetable mix and a Bulgarian Rabbit casserole. Now it is late and I must sleep so I can carry on with this fine holiday tomorrow



Part two and it is now Thursday - the day of Sam's atrocious bad luck. From the sun that came out as we went in, the rain that fell during beach time, the cakes that looked delicious and tasted terrible and the 18:00 boat tour that left without us. At about 14:00 we realized everything we would attempt to do would somehow go wrong (even the game of Pool did!), furthermore we narrowed it down to choices Sam had made. She is now lying next to me recovering from a bad dose of Shellfish. So here is my chance to fill you in.

On Tuesday things were once again blistering hot and beautiful; so as all good British folk would do, we went to the beach again - for the day. Walking in the sea here you are incredibly close to the wildlife (unlike in Britain). Around us we saw jumping fish and sea creatures alike. To round off our sun tanning beach trip we took a ride on a Pedalo for the lowly price of 6lv (£2) per hour. Cycling out of the bay gave us some great views of the coast, including the old Sozopol town-wall and overhanging restaurantation.It also convinced us that taking the slide on the back of the pedalo and swimming in the sea was not the best idea as we encountered a number of jellyfish - both large creamy white and small and clear species. The suns warmth did not hasten and suffice to say we are both now a golden brown - even Sam who has never tanned before in her life. For an early dinner we chose to eat at the 'breme' pectopaht at the tip of the town looking out over the bay - the views were great however the food not so. Our seafood salad, bacon and cheese skewers, grilled veg', button mushrooms, "chicken delight" and chocolate pancake tasted prepared and manufactured - entirely horrid and the only saving point was the below average 27lv price.



Wednesday saw the weather turn for the worse, so the beach was out. This was the day of little shopping trips - liqueurs, wines, chocolate, wooden sculptures, postcards and the GREAT WOODEN SNAKE! For lunch we stopped at a tavern looking place with the word "Mexhana" over the door, there we ate a selection of cold and seasoned salami meats with chips whilst accompanied by two charming cats - two of the many that inhabit Sozopol.



For dinner we chose our restaurant well - we did not want to waste another evening eating terrible food. This time we ate at " Neptun", another old establishment along the Morski-Skali road overlooking the black sea. For starters I had a vegetable risotto and Sam had mussels in garlic, for mains Sam ate the pork kebapches (like sausages) whilst I opted for the recommended "grilled belted bonito" fish. And thus the fish came, it was whole - complete, head tail and all, but most of all it was absolutely delicious. My meal was larger than Sam's so she ordered an extra shrimp shish kebap. For dessert we had fig pancake (freshly made this time) and a nougat ice cream - I ended up eating both. All of this and a bottle of domaine boyar wine cost us 42lv (not 72lv as we misread). For me personally it was the best of the meals so far - it was a gamble that had finally paid off, considering I was particularly wary of the concept of giving someone a whole fish to work through.



Part 3 now and here I am on the plane home - writing the final chapter in the Sozopol entry for my blog, on pen and paper that is. I am now amongst the fat and yobbish Brits that come for the sun and cheap booze at Sunny Beach & Golden Sands - they are a delightful bunch, sporting white jogging bottoms, gold jewellery and the latest football strips.

To carry on from where I left off, Thursday evening saw us eat at the recommended fish bar,"Kirik". For starters we opted for the Bulgarian mussel and mustard specialty (after they told us they had no black sea crab) and chicken wings. As Sam was ill and I felt a little under the weather we opted for two non-fish dishes; the mixed grill and meatballs and cheese with sauteed potatoes as mains. Our palettes were moistened by a Traminer white from the Tragovishte province. All this set us back 37lv.


And onto our final day in Bulgaria - it ended as it had began - with rain and lots of it. We stayed in and packed for the morning whilst watching CNN's terrible news coverage and wishing for the BBC. By lunch time we were bored so headed back to "Kirk" to try their infamous fish dishes now that we were feeling better. This time Sam ate the red mullet whilst I opted for the Zargan - a long thin fish with a blue spine. Sam also tried the "buttermilk" drink which she had seen others have, it tasted like some obscure liquid cheese/bitter yogurt and was promptly pushed away. 21.50lv this all costs us and the fish was fantastic.

The rain didn't let up but this didn't deter us from one final shopping tour and photo spree. I have officially been dragged through and around every shop in the old town. When finally my legs gave way we returned to the hotel to finish packing before having a card game of head-to-head Texas hold 'em and a variety of "strip jack naked" incorporating snap and other rules - we dubbed it "Paul wins" three years ago. The kind hotel management let us stay in our room until we need to leave - which is great considering our flight was at 23:45. We paid our dues and booked our taxi before heading out to the "windmill restaurant" for our final Sozopol outing.

Yes, here is ANOTHER paragraph about food - in fact this holiday has been all about REALLY good food, cheap. We ordered some more specialty starters - a serving of caviar and sarmi - vine leaves stuffed with mince meat with a side order of garlic bread. The fun didn't stop there, for our main course we had the fabulous Pork Kawarma that came in a hot pot on a plate of oil which once ignited cooked the food on our table for us and a scrumptious succulent Salmon in honey dish. This came as we overlooked St Ivan's and the distant hills lit up a brilliant burning red as the sun set behind them. For dessert we had the ice cream again. This was one of the greatest meals I have ever eaten and it was the perfect end to our eatery-summer Bulgarian adventure.


I guess I will now sit back and watch the rest of King Kong or do a Sudoku! Oh and here is a girl in a bag on the side of a van:

Labels: Life