where the web, music, and faith collide
Finally I can announce with a great deal of joy, that BeatsBase is live. It’s been a lot of work, but every bit has been enjoyable and Robbie has been the most fantastic client.
I’ve spoken about BeatsBase quite a bit before, so I just recommend you take a look yourself to get the lowdown. Suffice to say we’ve still got loads of ideas for the site so the work has really only just begun, but for now I’ll crack open a bottle of beer and eat this final chocolate eclair.
No doubt the entire world is going to be raving about this over the next few days. Google (you don’t really need a link, do you?) have released the beta of their new Analytics service which tracks visitor usage of a website. And it’s fantastic, just incredible.
Now, the amount and breadth of data that Google Analytics collects has always been very impressive, even if they have been a bit tight-fisted over it. (Did you know you would break their terms of service if you ran a report showing individual IP addresses visiting your website? It’s personally-identifiable information, a big no-no.) However I’ve always felt the reports shown were a bit hit and miss. That has all changed.
This is a quick screenshot of the Analytics dashboard for this very site, don’t laugh at the numbers too much 🙂
Every report now has the main bit of information you want to see – the number of visitors – in a handy graph at the top of the page. Then there are areas below that showing specific data, with plenty of use of sparklines. The reports themselves have been split into Visitors, Traffic Sources, Content and Goals – much better than the old webmaster/marketer malarkey.
Below that the individual reports seem to be fairly in line with the old system, but polished up a lot of course. There’s still the “site overlay” report, which now shows you your actual site with a Google Analytics toolbar over the top, and little graphs to show how many people clicked each link. Classy. The map overlay report allowys you to drill down from the entire world to individual continents, then sections of continents (North Europe, for example) then countries. That’s a massive step forward from the old way of having to zoom into the Flash map to see any kind of details. Well done Google.
But the bit that’s impressed me most so far is the PDF export. The exported reports are fantastic, just beautiful, and perfect for sending to managers who like looking at graphs. The attention to detail is impressive, too. For instance, their sparklines (both on the web page and in the exported PDF) aren’t just squiggly lines, they have subtle shading underneath. Special.
All in all this is a fantastic upgrade, and makes it an even more difficult choice when selecting a site statistics package. Basically the choice is:
Something I’ve been waiting for has finally happened. Ubuntu Studio, the Linux distribution for “creatives” has finally been released. Based on the marvellous Ubuntu it has been specifically put together with tools to help people working in the audio, video and graphics industries. That, dear readers, includes me.
In particular I’m looking forward to trying out Ardour, a free multitrack digital audio workstation, which basically means I can record stuff at home in great quality. I’ll let you know how I get on.
The projectGenie website has had a little makeover using the estimable WordPress system. While not much has changed on the surface, underneath the bonnet it’s an entirely different animal which means it’s a whole lot easier to update. So, hopefully, that will mean no more 5 month gaps between announcements.
And speaking of announcements, there’s good news. I’ve started (albeit slowly) to rewrite the projectGenie software for the forthcoming Brookmeyer version. As well as using my JavaScript library based on Prototype for click-candy purposes, it also has a few neat new features. For example user flags for items, sortable lists, finance management and time management.
projectGenie (yes the ‘p’ is meant to be lower case, don’t ask me why) is a completely free project management system written in PHP and using a MySQL database. Designed for website development teams it could also be used by pretty much anyone else wanting something better than a stack of scribbled notes on the back of envelopes, but without the budget for something all-singing, all-dancing.
In short: Insane guitar killer unleashes his fury with six strings. Must be seen to be believed.
★★★★★ It seems at the moment all I do is work, with occasional bits of sleep thrown in. However last night was A Night Out, and it truly deserves the capitals because I went to see Nick Harper, one of my favourite musicians, at the New Roscoe. For those that don’t know of Nick, he’s the son of the famous Roy Harper, but don’t think there’s any kind of reflected glory stuff going on, as Nick is one of the undiscovered musical geniuses of this country, if not the entire world. Big words, but he deserves them.
You see, Nick transcends the acoustic singer-songwriter label placed on him, not just with searching and emotionally-charged songs, nor awe-inspiring technique, nor even a stage presence that makes you feel as though you have a deep connection with his music. He has a raw, undiluted and passionate energy that unleashes itself when he stands on stage with his guitar. In essence there is a war being waged inside his head between the “guitar virtuoso” side of him and the “insane guitar killer” side. If last night is anything to go by, the insane side is winning.
One of his party tricks was performed twice last night. As often happens to guitarists, Nick had a couple of strings break. But rather than wait until the end of the song, make a joke about it and restring, he just keeps singing. A pack of strings came out of his back pocket and, still singing the song, he restrung his guitar, tuned the string and started playing accompanied by cheers and applause. The second time he had to go backstage to get a new one (it was a D, if you’re interested) but carried on playing thanks to the wonders of wireless. That got even louder acclamation when he’d restrung and started playing again.
He played a good selection of his songs, and a fair smattering of other peoples work as well. The ever-popular “Universe Song” by Monty Python went down a treat, as did his usual mash-up of “Whole Lotta Lovin'” and “Guitar Man”. During one of his extended guitar sequences he even touched on “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” by Kylie Minogue, and got the crowd singing the “nar-nar-nar” bit while he improvised melodies over the top. Fantastic.
But it’s his stage presence, his warmth and engaging personality that makes a Nick Harper gig so special. Between reminiscences about his family, thoughts about his forthcoming trip up Everest, and potshots at politicians (his impromptu version of “Golden Brown” in honour of our new Prime Minister was hilarious) everyone in the audience felt they got to know him better. Maybe you wouldn’t have felt that you were the only person in the room, but you would definitely have felt you were in a special group of close friends having a private concert with Nick. And there are some pictures in a new Gigs category of the Gallery for you to enjoy.
The review of this event was created on May 11, 2007 by Chris Taylor and is marked up using hReview. Visit Nick Harpers website for more details of his touring schedule.