The Revo iBlik Radiostation

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I hope you all had some good pagan holidays.

This year the best girlfriend and I decided to hold a credit crunch Christmas (ccc) and limit the presents to the appropriate sums for a general recession. Nevertheless there was something on my mind for some time: I always wanted a small, ‘all in one’ solution for the bedside: It needed to be small, be able to dock my Ipod, play music from my media server via uPnP, stream from the internet, play DAB stations and FM. Tall order.

Or so I thought.

Enter one the most ridiculously named products ever, the Revo iBlik Radiostation.  Revo are a Scotland (Lanark, to be exact) based company specialised in DAB/Multisource devices, and the afore mentioned device does it all. So, I can listen at night not only to Radio4, but also to my podcasts on the Ipod, and, even more amazing, my beloved Radio New Zealand National via wi-fi or ethernet.

It all does it from a stylish little box with an antenna, an ethernet connector, a headphone adapter and, crucially, a stereo cinch connector that can hook up to an amp and a set of proper speakers, making this a very delectable choice for the living room as well.

So, does it work?

Yes. All of it, every bloody feeature. No bugs yet, and I have to admit that I am mightily impressed.At 180 pounds (that’s really favourable in Euro, btw) it doesn’t come cheap, but it does everything it should do, with so much more flaire and style than the other multisource options out there, like the ridiculously expensive and ugly as hell Phillips Streamium. Honestly, good hardware does not have to look like something out of ‘Star Trek: The next Generation’ and does not have to be as expensive as a dilithium chrystal either.

Merry bloody Christmas!

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As a certified atheist I am mainly looking forward to 3 days of good food, sleep and relaxation, but I personally have nothing against the seasonal message of peace, love and goodwill to all women and men.

So merry Christmas to all you religious types and may your personal deity do you good. For the rest of us I hope the religious types will abide by the spirit of Christmas and stop shooting and bombing each other.

Just for a bit.

Love,

FB

Planck Density. Something to get your head around.

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So last week’s New Scientist attempted to familiarise me with the concept of  ‘loop quantum cosmology’. If I get this right (and please, somebody correct me if I am wrong) this theory states that before the big bang our universe already existed: after expanding to its fullest diameter it then shrank back until it reached microscopic volume in which things were pretty dense: 5.1 × 1096 kilograms per cubic metre dense (also called Planck Density) . Now that is even denser than population density in the East End. So when the universe reached that state of density, every thing started anew with a ‘big bounce’.

That of course means that we are all recycled, like a park bench made ouf recycled plastic.  A comforting thought, but the creationists will probably have another hissy fit when they find out (again) that the universe is older that 6000 years.

It is time. Again.

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Ok, so it it is thingie. Christmas.

Which has a lot of advantages, e.g. Christmas singles. The best, after Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ must be Mel and Kim’s “Rockin’ around the Christmas tree”. But I insist on somebody please identifying  ‘Curiosity killed the Cat’ as the annoying carol singers.

Please ? It’s been bugging me only 22 years.

The RAH Band. Back from the nowhere to be found.

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Everybody knows ‘Clouds across the moon’. Everybody.

Ok, everybody over 30.

Ok, most people over 40. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that when I was 18, this album came out that I just have to have, and if it was just to hang it up on the wall of my room. That cover (a proper LP of course) still defines the epitomy of eighties cool for me. For heaven’s sake, just look at it:

Richard Anthony Hewson did not only have a knack for excellent tunes, he also produced this album immaculately (at least for eighties standards. The current iTunes version suffers from excess white noise and sloppy cutting between tracks). The tunes were immediately hummable, the drum computers sounded positively organic, and even the sax solos weren’t too embarassing. And now it’s finally available again. After I’ve been searching for the blody CD for ever and a day (I even struggled on the marvellous Gemm.com) I received a friendly email from The Rah Band’s webmaster (Richard ANthony? You still alive?) letting me know that Mystery is finally available again. This time as downloads on Amazon and itunes, but that was enough incentive for me. The album sounds as fresh and exciting as 23 years ago: the female vocals still haunting and evocative, and the production and songs still unforgettable.

A must for every eighties fan and conoisseur of electro pop. Get it here!