There might be the occaisional update here, but most will be over at the new blog.

Even though I haven’t been updating my  blog, I have been writing off and  on, and I’m now in a position to announce the next article in my Fedora Music series: Professional audio with Fedora, Part Two: External Devices and Sound Sources.

I’m now working on part three which will cover composing using the Rosegarden Sequencer and some of the sound sources covered in part two.  As ever, feedback is welcome.

• gypsy-0.6-0.fc8.i386.rpm
• gypsy-devel-0.6-0.fc8.i386.rpm
• gypsy-0.6-0.fc8.src.rpm

Use these rather than the ones linked from my previous blog post.

Updated 10th November 2008 – Gypsy is now available from the Fedora Project.  You should be able to install using either PackageKit or YUM.

• gypsy-0.5-200803290.fc8.i386.rpm
• gypsy-devel-0.5-200803290.fc8.i386.rpm

Install these using the normal RPM commands.  Once you have the packages installed you should be able to follow Iains tutorial describing how to write a simple application that receives position updates from your GPS via Gypsy.

For those interested in what I did, you can get the SPEC file and the init script I created. You’ll notice that I’m building against subversion rather than the latest 0.5 release. This is because Iain has included a check for non-Debian system in the build scripts for the 0.5 release and it seemed simpler to build from subversion than to try and patch the released version. I’ve dropped Iain an email about my work and hopefully he’ll remove the Fedora restriction in the next release.

An old boat beached a the mouth of the Cromarty Firth

During the week we managed to get a fair amount of exploring done. We were on the Black Isle, ascended Cairn Gorm on the Funicular Railway, on the beach at Cullen, and visited the Landmark Center in Carrbridge.

Nairn from the dunes of East Beach

As usual more photos are available in the gallery.

Sandy and Fleur on their wedding day, July 2004

Yesterday I heard the sad news that a friend from my days as a resident of Baird Hall, Sandy McNair, died suddenly when an aortic aneurysm burst. I had last seen Sandy, and his wife Fleur, at Martin and Genevieves wedding in May 2007, they were looking forward to the birth of their son Ross later in the year. Sandy will be sadly missed.

The cairn and shelter at Stronend.

As far as I am aware the route I took is not documented in any guide books. I parked the car in the car park at the west end of Carron Valley Reservoir. Opposite the car park is a new track leading towards Todholes Farm, but mainly built to provide access to the new wind farm on Cringate Law, Ling Hill, and Hart Hill. I followed this track for about a kilometer until I reach a sheepfold on the left:

The sheepfold, Carron Valley Reservoir, and Meikle Bin

From here I headed in a westerly direction following the ridge along the south side of the Fintry Hills before turning north towards the summit. The upper area is gently undulating but pretty featureless, in cloudy weather it would be easy to become disoriented without a map and compass or GPS. To get back to the car I retraced my steps.

The total trip was just under 15 kilometers with an ascent and descent of 400 meters. I used the OS 1:25000 Sheet 348 Campsie Fells map.  Photographs are available in the Gallery.

Culter Fell from above Glenkirk Farm

I mostly followed the route in the SMC Corbetts book. I parked the car off road just before Glenkirk Fam (note that there is no longer a locked gate, just a sign stating there is no parking further up the road) and then proceeded through the fields and up Chapelgill Hill. There was not much to see on the summit so I walked on to Birnies Bowrock where I was granted a great view north west to Tinto. From here I followed the fence line across King Bank Head and Glenharvie Moss and on to the summit of Culter Fell. There was a stiff breeze on the summit which was very chilling so I didn’t hang around for long, from the summit I descended to the south over Moss Law and Holm Nick. On the descent I had a lovely view of Coulter Reservoir.

I continued heading south following the ATV track up to the summit of Gathersnow Hill, at this point the weather turned and the clouds rolled in reducing visibility to about 100 meters and a light rain started to fall. To get back to the car I walked along the tops over Coomb Hill, Broomy Law, and Glenlood Hill, finaly descending down Barrow Rig towards Glencotho Farm before picking up the road and heading back to the car.

The total trip was just under 15 kilometers with an ascent and descent of 1000 meters. I used the OS 1:25000 Sheet 336 Biggar and Broughton map. Photographs are available in the Gallery.

The mock farmhouse hiding the entrance to the bunker.

The museum was a mixture of the very interesting, for someone who grew up in Cold War atmosphere of the 70′s and 80′s, and the very poorly executed. My first complaint is that as well as the admission fee you have to buy and audio guide or a guide book, very few of the exhibits are well labeled. For example, there is a room full of old BT telephone equipment, but there is little explanation as to what each item is and how it was used!

Another complaint is that the displays are now showing their age, the mannequins used look like they are cast-offs from a department store and the displays seemed to have been arranged by someone who wanted to cram in as many items as possible rather than tell a story. My final complaint about the interior is that the audio visual presentations are terrible. There are a number of interesting films being shown but the televisions used are tiny 14″ CRT devices rather than large modern flat screens, and the films seem to be played back from the original video tape complete with accompanying picture and sound degradation.

Immediately outside the farmhouse above the bunker is a collection of old military vehicles. Unfortunately these are kept behind wire fences to stop you getting near them. What is the point of this? I wanted to walk around the vehicles, look at them closely and take some photographs. In addition to the vehicles being chained off so is the mound of earth that covers the bunker, given that this was designed to survive a nuclear strike I fail to understand why I cannot walk over the mound or perhaps stop and have a picnic on the grass.

Photographs of the Secret Bunker, and our trip to Elie and Anstruther, are available in the gallery.

To contrast this experience with how an exhibition should be done we visited the Kylie: The Exhibition at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.  First up entry is free, and you get given a guide leaflet as you walk in the door.  The exhibition is clearly laid out, divided into different sections such as stage costumes, video costumes, and photo shoot costumes.  Even the large collection of photographs is in chronological order.  The only minor niggle is that, as with all high profile exhibitions, photography is not allowed, but overall a thumbs up and highly recommended