dee3 | blog

Best releases of 2015 - IMHO

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 26 Dec 2015 17:47:00 +0000

Yet another - at the moment - irregular post from my hand (and a probably close-to a feeble attempt),
regarding, which releases have been doing it for me in 2015!

2015 - Favorite 12"/EP (In no particular order)
F.O. - there are way to many to list up here, but highlights include Roger van Lunteren's
"The Hills" and the "rare as rocking-horse shit" limited release of "Octoplex", Karl Lihagen's project - Evigt Mörker's "3", plus releases by Tominori Hosoya as for John Shima's "2", too!

2015 - Favorite albums (In no particular order)

Ø [Phase] ‎– Alone in Time?
(http://www.discogs.com/%C3%98-Phase-Alone-in-Time/master/913922)

Benjamin Damage: Obsidian
(http://www.discogs.com/Benjamin-Damage-Obsidian/master/890144)

The Chemical Brothers: Born In The Echos
(http://www.discogs.com/Chemical-Brothers-Born-In-The-Echoes/master/861123)

Post Scriptum: Post Scriptum 01
(http://www.discogs.com/Post-Scriptum-Post-Scriptum-01-/release/7171553)

Hot Chip: Why Make Sense?
(http://www.discogs.com/Hot-Chip-Why-Make-Sense-/master/835938)

Levon Vincent: Levon Vincent
(http://www.discogs.com/Levon-Vincent-Levon-Vincent/master/795239)

Vril: Portal
(http://www.discogs.com/Vril-Portal/master/790384)

Periskop: Immerse
(http://www.discogs.com/Periskop-Immerse/master/864987)

Oscar Mulero: Muscle and Mind
(http://www.discogs.com/Oscar-Mulero-Muscle-And-Mind/master/826469)

St. Germain: St. Germain
(http://www.discogs.com/St-Germain-St-Germain/master/896967)

Leftfield: Alternative Light Source
(http://www.discogs.com/Leftfield-Alternative-Light-Source/master/844564)

2015 - Favorite compilations (In no particular order)

Regis: Manbait
(http://www.discogs.com/Regis-Manbait/master/892797)

Detroit Techno Militia (Various): Tip of The Spear
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Tip-Of-The-Spear/release/7099267)

Dystopian (Various): Soliloquy
(http://www.discogs.com/Dystopian-Artists-Soliloquy/release/6389592)

Ostgut Ton (Various): Zehn
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-Ostgut-Ton-Zehn/release/7662371)

Ostgut Ton (Various): Berghain 07 (Pt. 1)
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-Berghain-07-Part-I/release/7009426)

Ostgut Ton (Various): Berghain 07 (Pt. 2)
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-Berghain-07-Part-II/master/838305)

MDR (Various): MDR Compilation
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-MDR-Compilation/release/6798814)

MDR (Various): MDR 14.1
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-MDR-141/master/813168)

MDR (Various): MDR 14.2
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-MDR-142/master/813445)

Polybius Trax: Moog Your Body Vol.2
(http://www.discogs.com/Various-Moog-Your-Body-Vol-2/master/795538)

2015 - Favorite vinyl re-issues (In no particular order)

Underworld: Second Toughest In The Infants
(http://www.discogs.com/Underworld-Second-Toughest-In-The-Infants/release/7761310)

Orbital: Green Album (European version)
(http://www.discogs.com/Orbital-Orbital/release/7351561)

Orbital: Brown Album
(http://www.discogs.com/Orbital-Orbital/release/7663463)

Thanks for reading this...
d.

DREIFALT - PROMOMIX

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 15 Feb 2015 07:08:00 +0000

A selection of tracks from the DREIFALT-releases, which can be found at: http://dreifalt.bandcamp.com/

Tracklist:

ZEHN (A) - 00:00 (0:00:00 - start)
FÜNF (B) - 08:00
VIER (A) - 14:00
SIEBEN (B) - 19:00
ZWEI (B) - 27:00
ACHT (B) - 31:00
EINS (A) - 35:00
EINS (B) - 45:00
NEUN (A) - 50:00
SECHS (B) - 55:00
DREI (A) - 63:00
DREI (B) - 73:00
FÜNF (A) - 81:00 (1:30:00 - end)

All listed running-times are approximate.

"This mix was made exclusively with recycled electrons; no bytes were harmed during the creation of this mix."

The tracks used and made accessible in this set are with the featured artist's full knowledge and prior written permission.

More info:
http://dreifalt.wordpress.com/

Thanks goes to DREIFALT

"I'm back"

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 09:48:00 +0000

A year ago, I posted two blog-postings, which was a goodbye to the "dee3"-moniker and all related activities.

I've changed my mind in the meantime - and even though I haven't been the most productive individual in the "dee3"-department of things (let alone have been showing this blog some love) - there has been and will be more dee3 related antics in the future!

Since my two last blog-posts (now removed) I've done and have had publicized two sets, which you can hear here:

And here:

I can also reveal that I've been requested and commissioned to do three other sets in the near-future - more details on these will follow as they get made and go public.

Otherwise, I'll be using this blog to announce "dee3"-related activities (obviously) and posting my comments on what I find musically interesting (or the opposite).

Thanks for reading this,
d.

NEW SET ONLINE! Exclusive to 2BContinued....

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:35:00 +0000

Yeah - that's right: I've been so fortunate to get a brand-new set included on
2BContinued's "Open Space"-section, where I'll be in good company with the
likes of +Frédéric PERRIAULT (Oxytek) amongst others!

TBH, although originally intended for another podcast, I'm both really proud,
totally stoked and eternally grateful that +Niv Margalit has decided to include
the set here; and hands-down: I'd rather see my set on 2BContinued, than the
other (undisclosed) podcast, the set was initially made for!

In any event, you can check out and give the set a listen here:
http://www.2bcontinued.co.il/?p=4738

Once again tons of thanks goes to Niv - also for going beyond all reasonable
call of duty!

Enjoy...!

d.

P.S. The previously mentioned clean-up of this blog will soon take place...

Soon cleaning up this blog...

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:01:00 +0000

As the title says: I'll be soon cleaning up this blog, where this blog will in the future focus more on dee3-related stuff and musical-content, in general; the nerdy, geeky coding stuff in this blog that a lot of people out there have also been glad to read about, will get moved over to and continued on the following blogspot-address:

http://donvoorhies.blogspot.com

I'd like beforehand "warn" (some of) the readers out there that some of the "nerdy-geeky" coding stuff, which has been previously posted here, not only will be removed from this blog, but also might not get (re-)posted on the "new" blog, either!

The reason for this is that some of the code-solutions that were previously mentioned and posted here, are no longer valid and/or are deprecated in some way or another; a good example of this would be the HTML5-fallback for Soundcloud's player, as Soundcloud - as you probably already know- has now already implemented and launched an (IMHO) excellent HTML5-player.

In any event, this blog will soon be subject to some spring cleaning within the next couple of weeks and most of coding-related the postings will be moved over to donvoorhies.blogspot.com.

Thanks for reading this...
d.

Guest set for Chunk-FM now online (for a limited time only)

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 06:48:00 +0000

Hey-hey people!
My most recent guest-set, which got aired on Chunk-FM (via fnoob techno radio),
is now up for grabs - but for a limited time only!

Tracklist:
01 Orphx: Stillpoint
02 Traversable Wormhole: Relativistic Time Dilation (Kevin Gorman Remix)
03 Pfirter - Function vs. Jerome Sydenham: Two Ninety One
04 Morgan: Flowerchild (Adam Beyer Remix)
05 Marcel Dettmann: Latice
06 Planetary Assault Systems: Function 4 (Shifted Remix)
07 Planetary Assault Systems: Function 4 (Marcel Dettmann Base Dub Remix)
08 Mark Broom & James Ruskin: Black Lines
09 Mark Broom & James Ruskin: No Time Soon
10 Dave Clarke: Red 2 (Wisdom to The Wise)
11 Function vs. Jerome Sydenham: White Light (Slam Paragraph Mix)
12 Function: Disaffected
13 Regis: Blood Witness
14 British Murder Boys: Dead Sun
15 Choice: Acid Eiffel
16 Underground Resistance: Final Frontier

Thanks for reading this...
d.

Second guest-set for Chunk-FM - bumped up and to be aired!

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Admitted, my first blog-post for 2013 is something that is posted with a very short notice!

I've just been informed that there's been a quick change of schedule-plans at the Chunk-FM HQ!

Hugh Mcmahon has just informed me that my sophomore appearance on Chunk-FM (via Fnoob techno radio) has been bumped up to appear on their first 2013-show, instead!

In other words, my second guest set for Chunk-FM will be aired Wednesday, the 9th of January - at 9:00P.M. GMT (that's 21:00 hrs GMT for all of you Mil-speak types out there) on:

http://fnoob.com/radios/fnoob-techno-radio/

I'd like to say thanks a LOT to the Chunk-FM crew (and Hugh Mcmahon, in particular) for letting me kick off Chunk-FM's 2013 proper - so be there...! :-)

Thanks for reading this...

d.

P.S. Facebook event-details can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/events/413075755436326/

[PIAS]: Happy 30th Birthday...!

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:27:00 +0000

To celebrate the birthday/anniversary, here is an audio visual mashup of PIAS' releases
over the last 30 years - courtesy of the Radiosoulwax-crew.

Animation by: Lewis Kyle White, Laurie Hill, Karl Sadler, Michael Zauner, and Glyn Peppiatt.
Edited by: Glyn Peppiatt

Enjoy - and thanks for viewing and reading this!

"CaN"- and "dee3 | datamixes"-set merger - UPDATE

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:48:00 +0000

Here's an update regarding the merging of the "Compiling a Network"- and "dee3 | datamixes"-sets (plus some other related stuff).

As I wrote in my previous blog-posting, I've decided to gather the two mix-series, which I've got online, into one joined mix-series; one of the reasons behind this move is due to I cannot see the point in any longer operating two different mix-series - mainly due to the administrative and maintenance "hassle" that's involved in doing so.

But I'd like to also add before going on that mainly due to various life-events and personal-issues over the past couple of years that I - admittedly - haven't been too productive regarding putting up and adding new sets to either of the two mix-series...!

But in spite of my blatant lack of productivity, all of the mixes - from both series - have still been continuously downloaded (at least at a minimum of ) by the scores on a daily-basis, so it's not like the interest has gone away for any of the sets; furthermore, it occurred to me that if I was to move on with either of the two equally - and apparently - successful mix-series (i,e.: mix, make and put new sets online to either of the series) , it might be a good idea to gather my efforts in one place to make things easier for those interested in accessing whatever set I'd might put online - or already have online.

And based on the combined experiences with having all of the sets gathered in one place, as I've already done at sonicsquirrel, mixcloud and mininova's torrent-service, I've decided that the time has come to officially join the "Compiling a Network" and "dee3 | datamixes" into one joined mix-series, which will henceforth go under the "Compiling a Network [CaN]"-name.

In effect, all sets are already now available from the updated "Compiling a Network"-website and -podcast, and provisions have been set into motion regarding the redirection of "dee3 | datamixes"-podcast to the "Compiling a Network"-ditto.

As of the 1st of December, the "dee3 | datamixes"-website and it's podcast-feed will be taken down; and FYI, all of the other "dee3 | datamixes"-related sites that are out there will either be taken down - or retro-fitted for other dee3-related purposes.

The reason why I'm going to these lengths in explaining what's going on, is that I don't want any rumors to start, let alone run rampant, regarding the "dee3 | datamixes" going offline etc.

On an end-note, the 23 podsafe-sets that I currently have online, have now almost been downloaded close to 2 million times; therefore, I'd like to again take the opportunity to thank all of the contributing artists, net labels and other parties for their initial - and continuing - support over the years...

Thanks for reading this...
d.

The CaN- and "dee3 | datamixes"-sets soon to be merged

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:38:00 +0000

With now an almost combined 2 million downloads under their collective belts (sort of speak),
I'm currently in the process of now merging the "Compiling a Network"- and "dee3 | datamixes"-sets,
as I no longer see any reasons to run these two mix-series as two separate entities.

Further details regarding this merger of these two mix-series will shortly follow...

Thanks for reading this...
d.

New set online: PCM

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 09:35:00 +0000

Here's a completely forgotten set from my hand - heralding from '08 - that has been
recently found/"exhumed" from a HD, and which I thought could be fun to share with
all of you, exclusively via Mixcloud - enjoy...!

Thanks for reading (- and hopefully listening to -) this...!
d..

Guest-set on Chunk-FM - now online

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:53:00 +0000

For those of you that missed the show on Chunk-FM last Wednesday,
here's my set - UL'ed courtesy of The Machinists...!

Thanks for reading (and hopefully listening to) this - 'laters,
d.

Guest-set on Chunk-FM, Wednesday the 3rd of October

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:04:00 +0000

Here's what you might call an advance notice:

Not-easy-to-impress, hard-ass Hugh Mcmahon from The Machinists has now cast his verdict -
I've made an one-hour guest-set for Chunk-FM, which is now slated to be heard next month on:

http://fnoob.com/radios/fnoob-techno-radio

Wednesday the 3rd of October 9:00pm until 10:00pm in UTC+01

Be there...!

Further details regarding, will follow shortly!

Thanks for reading this...!
d.

P.S. Just kidding 'bout Hugh being a hard-ass! :-D

Re-uploaded on mixcloud.com (two radio sets...)

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 09:25:00 +0000

Hey-hey reader!

Due to vacationing etc. this blog hasn't been receiving the love and attention from me that it properly deserves!

And that will soon change - HONEST...!

But in the meantime - here are two radio sets that I've made the past year or so (and have both been previously mentioned in this blog), and which I've decided to make available again via mixcloud.com for your listening pleasure (hopefully)!

4-Teknology (Teknology Radio Show, Jan. 2011)

4-remotesignal.net (Remote Signal 019)

Enjoy - and thanks for reading this...
d.

Compiling a Network app (Android) out now...!

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 21:59:00 +0000

(Sorry - but beforehand I'd like to warn you that this post might be - in the beginning - running somewhat down a runway before getting to the point and start taking off, but there is some explanation needed ...)

Although it's been over 5 years since it's start, and over three years ago since the latest installment, the "Compiling a Network"-series ten sets are still seeing more than a fair number of downloads happening out there on the web (written in all modesty, mind)!

Some of the conceptual keywords behind this series were (and still are) "availability" and "accessibility", thus resulting in a promo mix series that not only offered it's listeners all of the sets to be downloaded either in lossless- or lossy-formats, but go even further in meeting the listeners "on their terms" by making these sets available "where the users are at"!
Meaning not only having the sets being available at all of the (appropriate) major services (i.e.: archive.org, Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Official.fm, SonicSquirrel, last.fm etc.) as direct downloads or streams, but also by having the sets readily available for the listeners via podcasts (iTMS, PodcastAlley, podcastblaster, PodNova etc.), RSS-feeds and various torrent-sharing services, too!

As an end-result, the combined number of downloads the series' ten sets have been subject to, have a while ago exceeded more than one million downloads - and are still downloaded by the scores on a daily basis...(again - written in all modesty, mind)!

Since this podsafe, promo mix series went online, the internet-landscape has undeniably changed, and apparently within the next (now) three years "...more users will connect to the internet over mobile devices than desktops pc" (sic.).

Acknowledging the fact that the listeners out there (probably) are turning more and more "mobile" and since I still want the "Compiling a Network"-series to be "available" and "accessible", on the users' own terms and where they might (also) to be at, I've decided to create and now (finally) release the "Compiling a Network App ver. 1.0 BETA"-app ("Android-only" for now - due to hardware-reasons at my end)!

The free "Compiling a Network"-app - containing all of the series' ten sets - can now be downloaded from here: http://compilinganetwork.freehostia.com/app/

If this app turns out to be a success AND/OR there is a massive demand for an iOS-equivalent of this app, I'll see what I can do to get a iPhone-version of this app put together, as soon as it's technically possible...!

On an end-note, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Carina M. Boese, Bill Causer, Enda Rochford and last but not least Hasan H. Samanci for helping out with the alpha-, beta- and UX-testing of this app - and for going beyond the call of duty, in general...!

Thanks for reading this...
d.

We are now 5 - Thank you! (The Compiling a Network promo mix series)

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:03:00 +0000

And with a weeks delay ("Boooooo...!"), the "Compiling a Network" promo mix series has just celebrated it's 5-year anniversary of being online!

YAY....!

Conceived as being a pod-safe promo mix series with the submitting artists' and (net-) labels' permission and blessing to use the tracks involved - and with a budget of 0 (insert whatever currency) plus little - or no - support from the established blogs and sites out there (except from some of the submitting artists and labels) - the ten sets of this series have currently racked up way over 1 million downloads combined, and to this day all of the sets from this series are still being downloaded on a daily-basis!

TBH, this series as exceeded my wildest hopes and expectations regarding the interest shown - as for numbers of downloads, too; furthermore, I'm still grateful for the continuing interest there is out there for this series!

And although this series hasn't seen much love from my side - and has virtually been dormant for the past three years (due to various reasons) - this just might soon change...

But in the meantime, if you haven't checked out any of the sets from this series, then either visit the official "Compiling a Network"-site here: http://compilinganetwork.blogspot.com/

...or just subscribe to this mix series by one of the following ways:

Podcast | iTunes Music Store

Podcast | "On-Click"-subscription

Podcast | Google Reader

Podcast | RSS 2.0 XML-feed

Once again, I'd like to thank all of the contributing artists and net-labels for their initial and continuing support - and to all of you, whom have taken the interest and time to download and check out theses sets during the past five years!

Thanks for reading this...!
d.

Atomic Jam: 01-28-12 (Wish that I could have been there...!)

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:56:00 +0000

Obviously, I sometimes get a little bit all burned up 'bout I can't go to gigs such as the closing Atomic Jam at the Q Club - but thank God for be-at.tv!
So to share some of the magic from this event - here's some of the sets:

Sorry, no mobile device support...

Enjoy - and thanks for reading & viewing this...
d.

"Right on the money..." (regarding Simon Cowell's DJ X-Factor)

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:17:00 +0000

No, I haven't been showing this blog a lot of love during the first month of the new year,
but this can be attributed to "Life and work got in the way"!

That being said/written, last Wednesday Music Week posted a story that Simon Cowell
might start a new global X-Factor show focusing on finding DJ-talent!

Needless to say, this has more or less stirred up shit-storm in certain circles and even in my own small Facebook-network there's been a lot of (heated) thread-postings regarding this - even from your's truly!

Now it could be tempting for me to get up on a soap-box and throw a rant or two about
$imon Cowe££'s new X-Factor concept from this blog, but instead I'd rather post this link to http://bedmodisco.com, where SELL BY DAVE, has posted an excellent piece regarding
$imon Cowe££'s new, pending X-Factor concept, which you can read here:

http://bedmodisco.com/2012/01/26/sell-by-daves-rant-cowell-you-plonker/

For the record, I wholeheartedly agree with what SELL BY DAVE's written in his piece -
and this is all that I'll be posting about $imon Cowe££'s new - albeit conceptually still-born - X-Factor concept on this blog.

Thanks for reading this...
d.

Detroit Techno - The Creation of Techno Music (HighTechSoul)

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:29:00 +0000

Well, here's one historical perspective of the story...

Thanks for reading - and viewing - this...
d.

P.S. Thanks goes to a certain Mr. Massey for initially finding and sharing this one...

More already soon to come...

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:03:00 +0000

Hoping sincerely that all of you visitors and readers have had a really merry X-mas
and a Happy New Year, I've just returned back from my own holidays and now back at work!

(Picture taken from: http://www.kraftfuttermischwerk.de/blogg/?p=32596)

But rest assured - there's already lined a lot of geeky stuff and musical-mayhem
coming to this blog very, very soon - so stay tuned...

Thanks for reading this...
d.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of you...!

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 11:46:00 +0000

I'd like to take the opportunity to wish all of you visitors and readers of this blog a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Thanks for reading this...

d.

P.S. Once again, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all of you - see you all in 2012...!

Hero still going strong: Gary Numan's mix for The Quietus...

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:26:00 +0000

This might be old news, but it has first come to my attention that one of my still-active music heroes since my teens has just recently made a set (along with Ade Fenton) for The Quietus!

And when it's as good and eclectic as this (IMHO), then I'd gladly like to give it some blog-acreage!

Thanks for reading (and listening to) this...

d.

Falling forward (in HTML5) with html5media...

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:20:00 +0000

After writing my previous blog-post regarding the Yahoo! Web Player, I thought that I could just as well follow up on the aforementioned post by mentioning another equally easy-to-implement solution by Dave Hall, called html5media.

As you probably already know, I've previously posted about html5-based fallback solutions for Soundcloud's, Mixcloud's and Google's Flash-based embedded players - i.e.: if the flash-plugin isn't supported by the browser (read: "i-Whatevers and other mobile devices"), the html5 audio-tag would (sort of speak) step in instead.
html5media does actually the opposite, and will normally only use a Flash-based fallback, if and when a browser cannot use a native, HTML5-based player (a.k.a.: a fallforward solution).

But why is Dave Hall's htm5media-solution intereseting then?

Well apart from it's easy to implement (which will revealed shortly), unfortunately there are still a number of older browsers being still used out there (such as IE7 and IE8), which don't support html5 video- and audio-tags!
And just to make things even more tricky, virtually all of the (more) modern browsers don't support a consistent set of audio and video-codecs, thus making embedding audio and/or video somewhat difficult, if one whats things to work for any user that graces one's site with a visit.

So if one wants to make html5 video- and audio-tags work in all major browsers, Dave Hall's html5media is solution worth considering, as all it takes is just a single line of code to make HTML5 video and audio tags to work. And if one's browser doesn't either support html5-tags or the used media file's codecs, it'll then revert to a Flash-based player insted!

Getting things to work by using html5media is simply done by adding the following line of code somewhere in the <head> of your document - and preferably just before the closing </head>-tag:

<html>
<head>
<title>My Website</title>

<script src="http://api.html5media.info/1.1.5/html5media.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body> 
-
-
-

...and that's it!

If you're (audio-wise) using mp3's and/or (video-wise) using H-264 encoded mp4's for your website, then you won't experience html5media kick in, if you view your website with IE-9, Safari or Google Chrome; the media-files will be played by these browsers' native, html5-player!

However, if you're using Firefox, IE-7 or -8, or Opera, then you will experience html5media work in full-effect, and play your mp3- and/or mp4-files using a Flash-based player (actually: a Flash-based solution from FlowPlayer)
Firefox-, IE-7 -, IE-8 - or Opera-users can see html5media work by clicking on the screen-shot below:

"O.K., so this all seems pretty cool, but are there any drawbacks or pitfalls in using html5media?", you might ask, and the answer is: "Yeah - sorta..."; just like the Yahoo! Web Player, which I previously posted about, html5media relies on javascript to work!

And again: according to the latest stats from http://riastats.com/, almost 37% of the World's Internet population could be considered as either not having Javascript enabled - or flat out do not have it installed; which in turn means that html5media will NOT work for these users out there!
And again: Something worth keeping in mind, IMHO...)

Otherwise, if you're already using/coding in html5 and do not want to save and upload your media-files in various formats (for example: mpeg AND ogg) to ensure all of your bases are covered regarding having your files played in any of the newer browsers out there - and/or you want all of the IE-7/IE-8-users to hear/see your embedded media-content, then html5media is a viable solution to take into consideration.

On an end-note: yes, I'm well-aware that there is an similar (javascript-based) solution out there by John Dyer, called mediaelement.js, which more or less does the same thing and works equally fine!
"Unfortunately" though, one has to download all - and host yourself - of the necessary files in the mediaelements.js-package to get it to work; a factor which might not appealing for blogspot-users, for example!
But before anyone gets the notion that I'm poo-poo'ing mediaelements.js in this blog-post (which is NOT the case), I'd like to add that mediaelements.js also boasts of having plugins for Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, jQuery, and BlogEngine.NET, ruby gem, plone, which be of some interest for some of you readers out there that have your own hosting-opportunities and are already using one of these solutions/platforms already!

For the rest of you, try and give html5media a shot...

Thanks for reading this...
d.

Introducing the Yahoo! Web Player - a cool evolution...!

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:43:00 +0000

TBH, the topic regarding this blog-post might not be breaking news per-say, and I'm probably (more-likely: "definitely") not the first to mention the following in a blog-post - but for a couple months back (last August, to be exact), the people at Yahoo! have given their Yahoo! Media Player a major overhaul!

Their player has now evolved into the Yahoo! Web Player, and not only can it now also handle playing videos, Yahoo also claims that it's: "The easiest way to add video and audio to your site"...!

First of all, "i-Whatever"- and Android-developers can stop reading this posting now, as this player does NOT work on handheld-units (explaination follows), but otherwise will work on virtually all browsers - that is if certain requirements are met!

First of all, the Yahoo! Web Player needs JavaScript to be installed and enabled to function.
PERIOD!

And be advised that according to the latest stats from http://riastats.com/, almost 37% of the World's Internet population could be considered as either not having Javascript enabled - or flat out do not have it installed! (Something worth keeping in mind, IMHO...)

So in other words, if JavaScript is disabled (or not installed) on a user's browser, the Yahoo! Web Player will not appear (obviously); furthermore, the Yahoo! Web Player currently employs some Flash to work (which explain the lacking "i-Whatever"-support) - thus requiring the users have to have Flash installed for the player to work, too.
However, Yahoo! claim to be working on removing this limitation in a very foreseeable future.

But is it really "The easiest way to add video and audio to your site", as Yahoo! claims? Well, if we're dealing with adding and integrating media to a site or blog with one line of code, then the answer is: "Yes"!

All you have to do is add one line code like this:

<html>
<head>
<title>My Website</title>
</head>
<body>
 .
 .
 .
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://webplayer.yahooapis.com/player.js">

</script>
</body>
</html>

What happens then is when a page loads, the Yahoo! Web Player scans the webpage's contents and adds play buttons next to ‘playable’ items (for example links to mp3-files or links to YouTube videos).

Once clicked, a play button will open an in-page player in the lower left-hand corner that will stream all the detected playable items in one unified playlist - just like it's predecessor, the Yahoo! Media Player (except the Yahoo Web Player now also supports videos, too).

You can try and see it work in full-effect by clicking on the screen-shot below:

As an added "bonus", it can also easily be added to some of the already existing blog-services out there, such as WordPress, Blogspot and Tumblr, too!

There might be some readers out there that might be already asking themselves, if this blog-poster would use the Yahoo! Web Player himself?

And the answer to that would be a "Yes" and "No" - as it "...depends", where I'd use it and if there are any design- and other technical considerations involved!

For the record, I think the Yahoo! Web Player is a vast improvement compared to their previous endeavor, the Yahoo! Media Player, on all accounts; and yes - admitted - it is a v-e-r-y easy affair to implement!
And it works immediately out-of-the-box, too...!

However, I'm personally not too keen on a solution´that relies on a plugin-topology, which statistically isn't supported by up to approx. 37% of the everyday web-users out there (BTW, I am NOT a Javascript-hater); nor does the Yahoo! Web Player work on mobile devices (as of yet)...

And design-wise I'm not too sure about placing things down in the lower left-hand corner of things, neither; although this reservation that I might have got could change, as the Yahoo! Web Player is to evolve, based on user-input and -suggestions!

That being said, if one needs an easy to implement, quick-and-dirty media integration solution that works out-of-the-box, than look no further; the Yahoo! Web Player is definitely better than it's predecessor, and should seriously be taking into consideration - regardless of my own minor hangups with (potentially) using it!

Thanks for reading this...

d.

"Let's Mix" - R.I.P.!

noreply@blogger.com (donvoorhies) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:03:00 +0000

Whilst in the midst of wrapping things up at my IRL-work for the pending X-Mas holiday - as for wrapping up the previously announced and forthcoming "dee3 | 30th"-set, too - I've just recently received the following mail from the staff behind "Let's Mix":

"It is with great regret that Let’s Mix today announces that the Letmix.com mix streaming site will go offline on January 1st 2012. This decision follows the reassessing of our licensing restrictions, alongside a critical evaluation of the business case for our service. Our intention to expand on our operations had fundamentally outgrown the Let’s Mix site.

The closing of Let’s Mix is not the result of complaints from copyright holders. It is a decision based on the equation of cost for hosting and delivering copyrighted components, versus the ability of monetizing use of the site.

We found that as the business of music streaming evolved, so would we need to. Had we desired for Let’s Mix to grow any bigger, we would also have been forced to impose strict limitations on mixes in ways neither we nor our users would have wanted to. Faced with the proposal of sacrifizing user experience and scale, we were forced to reach the difficult decision of seizing all activity at Let’s Mix.

It has been a great pleasure to enjoy the hours upon hours of mixed music, and we are thankful for the many discoveries we have made listening to your mixes.

We have already begun offering our members the ability to download their own music mixes when logged in to their accounts. These are after all your music compilations, and we encourage you to download backups of these unless you don’t already have these in place.

Access to the service in its entity will be terminated on January 1st 2012."

TBH, I've never been a fan - nor a heavy user - of their services, but it's still a shame to see sites like this disappear…

"Let's Mix - R.I.P.!"

Thanks for reading this...
d.