Category: Uncategorised

  • Release Forthcoming :Back To Basics series! Revisiting a 2020 Basic materials Project!

    This is a 2025 remix of a 2020 project, downloading building and installing bitcoin core, litecoin core, dogecoin core from scratch.

    This remix will retrace the original basic materials project, we will be hosting a linux fedora server on top of a Xeon workstation, with the additional fast PCIE bridge card, a RAID card with x4 NVME disk drives running the various of blockchains.

    Its five years later,so that means the block chain, distributed ledger, will be 5 years later bigger than before!

    However we can get this going fast, and as per back then, way back when, we will show you a linux command line security pinhole, a particular configuration that will allow manipulation and interrogation of the blockchain core from the website/web browser will pass command and data back and forth via the linux operating system.

    The reason we are doing this is because these kinds of blockchains,bitcoin, litecoin and doge coin, are different kinds of block chains than Ethereum and later cryptos such as solona, these earlier blockchains and cryptos behave and work differently than the later ones.

    So we will see that we can interrogate and perform work against these kinds of blockchains with a C++ application, or and installable apache server module, we can program ourselves using C++.

    At this level we don’t need a wallet, or De-FI or even C-eX to work the blockchain.Heck we don’t even need a web browser.

    All’s we need is a computer capable of 24/7/365 electricity supply and a 24/7/365 always internet connection.

    We can then add our inhouse hashrate to any of the HashRate Pools out there in the internet land if we wish.

    However we cant do anything other than create, store, buy or sell really !

    That’s why we will show how to run other cryptos like Cardono, Etherium, Solona, XRP, Hedera, all much later blockchain crypto tokens and we can then truly understand the use case for a Chainlink or an AAVE3 protocol.

    Stay Tuned for our forthcoming basic materials project!

  • Tiny Tape Out and Beyond. Open Source Manufacturing and Design Paradigm and educational social community

    The Tiny Tape out and the PsychoGenesis social platforms are absolutely phenomenal resources and a text book example of social outreach using various online platforms and including GitHUB

    Yes in way you can say its an expansion of the last years open source 3cad AND KiCAD with the STEM modules but the TinY TapE out and PsychoGenesis, are again, online social education resource you simply cant miss.

    The ground they have covered and the results they have achieved are mega ! Yes Mega Results!

    The GitHUB interacitivty is probably the most impressive github actions in the world.

    You can effectively compile and build your own microchip via the tiny tape out website and github resource.

    Alternatively you can download the linux/opensource iso/VM so you can just run that and all the tools are all available already with all the versions aligned and everything working together harmonously !

    This is one of the most next level community driven social education programs in existence well worth walking alongside with as the times progress because you know, its not too far away, at least in principles, of how the biggest companies on the planet in electronics names like intel, nvidia, amd, arm samsung apple, the list go on into motherboard and graphics card manufacturers, to a variety of microchip companies like Siemens and Texas Instruments.

    The pinnacle, or more acurately, the underpinnings, of the maker community.

    Just out of interest to see how its done to coming to understand the underlying knowledge to getting involved and getting to grips with both digital electronics, and analogue electronics, and the best part is they give you access and teach how to use industry standard tools to build in the virtual world designs that would work in the real world, and whats more,all of it is free up to the very point of manufacturing where you then have the decision, after completing the building, modelling, and most importantly, the verification of your design,of actually getting a real world manufactured microchip of your own devising! That’s something else

  • Crypto Portfolio Returns +10% month on month gains

    Heck of a few months in the crypto space !

    Any chance of hibernation this winter ?

    I feel that this past three or four months at the basic materials project have been bumper to bumper absolutely ram jammed with back to backs non-stop

    I thInk My brain has melted!

    Seriously begining to get bored with cyfrin updraft maybe its because i have learned all the secrets to web3 smart contracts, secuirty audits, zero-knowledge proofs etc etc etc.

    JOKING ASIDE ! The Cyfrin Updraft has been my number one essential go to resource, which I have been a fan of since doing the first earlier course on youtube back in 2020!

    Seriously much time has passed since then and much progress has been made, a whole lot actually.

    So ive been slowley working away in my free time over at cyfrin updraft doing the whole lot, I have done about 5 courses out of a potential 23 , and partway through 3 or 4 which Im spending some time here and there on each of the partsm rather than buring and blasting all the way through any particular one.

    And to back up the knowledge actually provding the code based interface, mainly in javascript, wallets, solidity , and a bunch of similar toolsets for all of the crypto-currencies out there, you find that the concepts are roughly the same between crypto-currencies, with slight differences here and there, you get what I mean, without going into any of the particular nuances of each.

    SO, even if you just want to securely play in the crypto space safely, or even go all in buying and sellings, staking,competing ,etc

    Then Cyfrin Updraft is highly recommended and certainly has been my go to resource at the CYfrin Updraft website at least since this past May 2025.

    Bitcoin, Etherium, Solana have performed really well all almost to near all time highs however due to critical traffics backlog in the crypto web3 space, speculation is moving to the lesser coins, and their respective lesser chains because the on/off ramp into most blockchain projects on etherium and solana are absolutely over subscribed and very backed up.

    Naturaly, the next available crypto blockchain style that has availability is seeing an uptick in interest and demand, if developers and releasers want to float high quality high avaialablity digital assets for TradFI of DefI, DEX/’platformless’, crypto wallet based trades, or even the main centralised Exchanges !

  • Azure .netASP windows server 22/25

    ‘Blazor’ – c# , Microsoft offering to enhance the website development and hosting experience and improve business process and procedures.

    Well documented, contemporary developed, well supported, slightly more expensive than open source solution.

    Genuine alternative to React/Node.js.

    Easier to manage.

    Ties you into windows server for the entire lifecycle of the digital product.

    Capable, availability of trained staff.

    Makes things much easier on the developer.

    Microsoft Azure connectivity, far easier to expand scale and scope with access to azure component from AI, computer vision, VGPU, blockchain and crypto, more easier manageability

    Cognitively simplified tech management conceptualisation.

  • NVIDIA in Paris

    Another NVIDIA festival this time in Paris this week, be prepared for even more amazing spiel from NVIDIA.

    The punishing NVIDA continuum continues on this time in Paris ! Expect the usual rehashing of the last NVIDA festivities except even more mind blowing and time consuming and expensive than ever before!

  • Unreal Engine 5.6

    Unreal Festival so as expected the all new with the latest features, unreal engine is out!

    SO as per usual another round of festivals, industry announcements and version updates as the game rolls on.

  • Ableton 12.2 forthcoming this week.

    Looking forward to the next upgrade in the popular DAW Ableton.

    Due out the 12th, so will be interesting to see what comes up, or down with the downloads, I hope this isn’t the start of gimmick updates as too much to deal with especially with every man and his dog having a total warfare social media strategy, its bad enough when one particular brand gets social media firebombing going but when EVERYONE and their DOG are its a network effect were its just total interruption, total adverts new features that effect the solid core of the underlying product.

  • PlayStation 5 discless edition

    Recently purchased a PS5 discless edition. In the UK it was 329.99 £.

    Have to say Im well impressed all together.

    Some of the games are mind blowing.

    Cheap compared to a gaming PC and has the particular SONY offerings, its quite integrated and the graphics and gameplay are quite smooth and bit more simple and straightforward than playing on PC.

    The game pad is smart, a bit power hungry and always need charged.

    Your not gonna wind call of duty on it but hey you cant have it all in a 330 pound console, there are graphics cards that cost more!

    Great to play and relax and have a bit of r&r. Its great to see the final results of all the production and productivity processes.

    Taking it back from the RM Nimbus days all the way through the atari 2600 , BBC, ZX spectrum, Sega, Nintenedo, PLaystion., XBox gaming PCs over the decades it quite a cool thing in terms of perspective and fightin in with the whole thing. Maybe a bit too far into the indivuall hereo games like the last of US and ghost of tsushima, the sort of immersive movie thing, which is all good.

    More impressive to me is the amazing conceptual art and amazing 3d worlds that are in games like destiny2.

    Mostly built with unreal engine, you can see how the games development engine is essential really to the industry as a whole.

    However, coming from my perspective its just cool to switch of a play some mindless games really.

    Overall a bargain and a high value proposition. However not gonna get anywhere playing competitive e-sports.

    Games are expensive individually however these PlayStation Store subscriptions offer further value for money.

    PlayStation 5 is coming to the end of its life cycle however its actually not that difficult to get your unreal engine game onto the PlayStation store, so its also a relatively easy processes.

    Games i have played so far AstroBot, Gran-Turismo (free edition), Call of Duty Black OPs and Warzone, and Destiny 2 free version.

  • Solidity Sart Contracts with Cyfin Upddraft

    Inspite of the billions of dollars worth of crypto been stolen last year and set for the even bigger cryptos heist this years we are are studying etherium smart contract development from cyfin updraft.

    Its been interesting, very similar to ‘Corba’ from back in the day.

    this is like the fourth course ive done with cyfin and its interesting, i am a bit too progammed from the ‘old’ way of programing, there are major differences in the meaning of the words used such as ‘virtual’ and ‘override’ there meanings backwards compared to c++!

    Any how, more than just an interesting waste of time, certainly fascinating stuff. If you want to get into etherium and smart contract development, and smart contract security development head over to cyfin updraft and start there.

    NOTE! This is different than a previous basic materials projects from around 2020 were we built bitcoin, Litecoin and dogecoin and ran the blockchains locally. This project and skill-set is completely different however some of the same skills are relevant between the projects.

  • Ablton Live Suite 12, MaxForLive, Izotope, Native Instruments, Universal Audio

    Received refresher project to bring up to date skill sets in digital audio workstations using Ableton as the main building block with everything else mentioned added on.

    In particular using Max for Live to get to grips with the nitty gritty under the bonnet and really get a good look into how everything works behind the scenes.

  • Etherium / Brave Browser/ Meta Mask / Coinbase (for receiving merchant payments)

    Forthcoming basic materials project on receiving etherium easily without the need for much fuss.

    Straight forward set by step procedure, easy to follow guide.

  • CAD/CAM SPICE VLSI

    Working through some cad/cam software lectures over on youtube.

    It looks like new developments are taking place due to the present economic shennanigans going on therefore we are looking further into technical design and manufacturing.

    The process is relatively simple and straightforward, as there are already some great software’s out there including Altium, Solid-works, and again this doubles back into FreeCAD and Blender with the simulation modules added on, which we already have strong experience on.

    On a personal note , I can remember well the eighties and nineties were there was strong political direction to turn the UK economy into a knowledge based economy.

    Therefore the directionality was away from product design and advanced manufacturing. Those days are over and it looks like the general direction of the economy is going back towards industrial design and manufacturing.

    Therefore skillsets in this area should be recovered , practiced and improved upon.

    The power of Nvidia omniverse will really really come in handy here.

    Its a bit of a historical loop back around from pure knowledge to applied knowledge in industry.

    Skills in logistics, strategy, software engineering can be forward deployed into the physicality of industrialism and combined with psycho-cybernetics for goals based outcomes leads us forward to competitive edges in providing the products and the industrial capacity to fill – in the massive gaps left by successive waves of negative political philosophies and political shennanigans over the past recent years.

    the basic materials project is in a strong generalist position due to experience in the digital world of software and design, and in having extensive experience building, from personal computers to recording studios to supporting film and media. Through to wide practical experience using the various music production systems out there in the marketplace and from having developed software on a variety of paradigms and architectures.

    Leveraging Artificial Intelligence, chiefly on the Nvida platform this broad generalist approach has the potential to be concentrated into real world business to increase the chance of successful outcomes.

  • Apple development using Xcode

    This year spent considerable time going through Apple Xcode and the Apple Developer connect.

    Must say Im very well impressed, Apple really have got their act together. It seems that everything is covered. Payments, 3d, VR/XR, even legal requirements for apps hosted in the apple store across global regions.

    The programming language, tooling is probably the best in the industry.

    However, screen real estate is a bit cramped unless, of course, you have the big apple monitor or iMac with the big screen.

    That aside its definitely the best offering.

    Onboard AI and ML , really cool tools such as those based on the ‘Metal’ 3d graphics toolset.

  • More Work On the Website

    today spent a couple of hours working on the website configuration.

    got nowhere.

    trying to solve this mysterious error 500 and correctly configure the MySQL workbench tool.

    beginning to drag on now and taking away from basic activities like making music and doing audio and post.

    there seems to be an issue here which is why I’m definitely looking at getting into windows server instead because it just doesn’t seem to work.

    one last work around before I quit

    I will get Ubuntu desktop on the laptop and try using that instead see if that will help us progress.

    So basically the situation is this.

    everything works fine up to a point, about 75% say.

    The MySql works great, from comandline, from the tool, i can do about 75 percent of the stuff needed, the WordPress is working fine aswell.

    we actually upgraded the whole thing today every now and then you have to do the basic Linux upgrades and updates.

    spent about 4 hours today on all of this.

    wound getting a bit better knowledge of MySQL and have discovered that the MySQL user in ubuntu has to have a few key settings configured via ubuntu server (! ) AND there is some configuration files missing which is stopping this SSL thing from working properly.

    Everything mostly works but the point is there feels like there is some invisible line that is stopping us from putting up a strong show of force on the website front which is in effect actively retarding progress because we cant the website we actually want.

    So today we got into the MySQL a lot from both the commandline and the MySQL workbench tool as well as some performance testing. However still didn’t resolve the fundamental stumbling block.

    it looks there is a triple layer sandwich going on.

    the Ubuntu operating system isn’t letting the MySQL read and write to configuration files, and that is stopping MySQL from loading SSL certificates, which in its turn is knocking about 25% off the mysql workbench tool.

    At the same time, ubuntu, Apache, PHP, and MySQL, outside of the WordPress thing IS NOT allowing my own code to work when it is live on the webserver, so effectively I’m stuck with WordPress.

    Cant figure this out today will get back to making some music and doing some other creative stuff. Will get back to this when I feel like it.

  • this is a test post

    to see wether recent modification of the mysql conf files has tanked the build

  • CHMOD 644

    Again a test post to see if the CHMOD 644 hasnt tanked everything

  • CHMOD

    this is a test post to see if the recent CHMOD hasnt crashed everything!

  • Maxon Cinema 4d

    my laptop is too slow to use this software ! doh!

  • Adobe Lightroom !

    We are using a Canon 1300dslr which is connected to the mobile phone using a cannon app. this allows us to take photos with the camera, and bring them into mobile phone and then open adobe lightroom which installed into the mobile phone.

    We can use adobe lightroom from the mobile phone or we can bring in the photos onto the laptop.

    Using the canon application from the mobile phone we can connect using NFC, so we tap the canon dlsr with the mobile phone while using the canon app and then the two devices will pair.

    Alternatively, we can set up the canon dslr to act a wifi router, and we can log into the canon dslr using our mobile phone. when this is connected successfully we can then go onto the cannon app and operate the dslr via the mobile phone app.

    We can later connect the mobile phone to the laptop and bring in the photos. During this process, the original camera format, which is called RAW, is transformed into JPEG.

    Alternativity we can take the memory card out of the cannon dslr and put the memory card into the laptop and transfer that way instead. this will maintain the original RAW format.

    There is a lot to the field of photography, there are lots of different cameras, different types and kinds of lenses, and there are loads of different modes you can set the camera to.

    Some are good for taking photographs which are fast paced and action packed, others great for portraits, some for photographing things like food or little insects.

    Alternatively, you can ignore the rules and find out which settings work best. Obviously its learned skill so the more you practice the better you get.

    Adobe Lightroom is a great bit of kit. Here you can make up for small mistakes and slight errors during the phot shoot. There are an overwhelming bundle of options and configurations settings.

    You can even select your camera model inside of lightroom to apply custom settings and configurations for that particular camera, which is cool and can save a lot of time.

    There aren’t really any rules when it comes to post production in photography, just like in music, or film, you kind of write your own.

    Obviously you can also argue that there are loads of rules and a good few tricks of the trade, but the more you practice, the better you get and sometimes figuring things out for yourself is better for your development as an artist, other times its good to take advice from someone with a bit more experience.

  • Building FreeCAD on windows.

    Its a pain to build freecad on windows. you literally have to install 50 gb of downloads to get it to work.

    libpack, QT, visual studio community edition, CMake, then there is python, and a good few python modules. Add to that one two other tools needed in the build and then your going to have to figure it all out. So, why bother ?

    Why? Its good practice to see how a popular contemporary software tool like freecad is built maintained, and iproved over time.

    the build style is continuous integration, continuous development, with multiple build targets. the conceptualisation is a good one, however we want to build a specialist build using intel oneAPI to exploit the fact that there are millions upon millions of intel igpu cpus, if that makes sense. the reason for a specialist build is performance, and security.

    We are going to try and build a specialist version of freecad, using intel one api. the expertise we will create by succeeding at this challenge will be important going forward. If we successfully build , it means that we will have done the opposite. So basically the software only work exclusively on intel cpus with intel graphics cards, however it will be the most compact, most powerful version. we estimate by doing this we will speed the maths up a lot.

    Its a difference of opinion. the freecad and the various bundles that come with it, are available for pretty much all platforms, due to this Multiple build targets , this is were the complexity in the building process comes in.

    This also brings in loads of possible faults and “security in software” considerations.

    There are basically two differences of opinion, build for everyone, in which case that’s were we are at, or preform a specialist build in which case it will only work for a particular target platform.

    Basically its another form of compile for platform, in which case we exploit all of the often hidden underlying features that general purpose builds can not include due to the differences have to be over mapped with general purpose stuff.

    There is a whole world of difference when it comes to understanding, performance, security, complexity, size and scale, some around the table statistics that software engineers and computer programmers might otherwise not take into consideration.

    Yes, if we perform a specialist build, we reduce our user base to only those that have the particular platform, however we increase performance and security or those users. So it is a trade-off, most people actually go the other way round, and build for multiple target platforms using multiple compilers and have to deal with the extra complexities and difficulties that come with that.

    So on the one hand a specialist build reduces, reduces the potential user base, reduces the size of the repo, reduces the complexity and reduces the security footprint, reduces the compilation and build time, and reduces the time the software take to perform its various functions and procedures.

  • Izotope Equaliser versus the Steinberg WaveLab 12

    Forthcoming : A quick break down how you can use the software plugins and tools mentioned to get amazing different varities and kinds of sounds for your music or audio work flow.

  • Web Site Development

    The whole process is divided into two parts. Front End, and Back End.

    However these days the desirability is all about artificial intelligence so its not the cutting edge any more.

    It is the same with software engineering, C++, C#, Python, all are being augmented with artificial intelligence.

    So the industry is moving into artificial intelligence.

    But in the mean time so if you want to spend the time learning how to build websites perhaps its best to understand all of the activities involved.

    Front end development, is essentially what it looks like to the end user of the website, whether that is on mobile phone, desktop, laptop, console, 4k television or even smart watch !

    The back end is usually business services. and infrastructure services. This is were all of the essential products and services is kept. On the server.

    SO throughout the evolution of the whole computers and networks we historically arrive at the now, which is ai, robots, drones, 3d printing, cryptos, nfts.

  • Encryption / Cryptography

    This are is very very very hard.

    Its probably the most difficult part of the whole thing.

    Basically the computers and the mobile phones and the internet and the cash machines and the CCTV, drones, cars and just about everything in the world is connected to the internet.

    This naturally brings security considerations.

    Therefore mathematicians and hackers are engaged in an adversarial relationship , with each side trying to do better than the other.

    Cybercriminals, lone wolf predators, and hacker groups are all engaged on the internet, as well as criminals freaks and weirdos.

    Criminal gangs use the internet and so do the police with spyware and bugs, as again, they are engaged in an adversarial relationship.

    This dysfunctional relationship escalates into state level actors, like government spy’s for example or special branch police units.

    Of course there are also master level super arch criminals that are also using computers and network technologies, such as apps or mobile phones.

    Above this level there is the master level of artificial intelligences. Somebody could build an artificial intelligence that was more clever than anybody else and thus would be king of the jungle and ultimately, because artificial intelligence can figure everybody out then it will be clever than anyone and therefore be above them in the scale of things, commonly known as the pecking order.

    Now finally, the argument becomes this, if artificial intelligence does indeed finally happen, and as this event occurs, which is commonly called the singularity, which means that computers and robots would be cleverer than human beings, then it is discussed amongst the community whether it is fare or not.

    What are your thoughts on the subject ? Do you thing that ai will bring everybody up to the same level and help make things more equal amongst one another ? or does yon think that some people will secretly build an big ai and keep it all for themselves ?

  • Computer Safety

    User name and password, text message code, or passkey are just some common everyday ways of staying safe online.

    Nowadays it feels like the whole world is online. Computers also crash sometimes and have internet down, and occasionally the software programs themselves have inbuilt errors, called bugs!

    There is also online frauds and scams aplenty so please stay safe online.

    Here in the UK there are law such as the data protection act, online safety bill, and the information and data protection agencies aswell.

    Cookies are a big concern, and also storage of bank details which could later lead to a hack or later be used to commit fraud.

    In the UK websites hosted inside of the UK are legally obligated to register with the data protection commission. This is called the data protection registration.

    Cookies are a kind of left over technology from the history of the internet and are necessary to make the website work. If a website does not collect information, then it does not need a cookie.

    If a website users a log on with user name and password, passkey, mobile phone text code, then cookies will need to be enabled, and if the website is storing your personally identifiable information then this website needs to be registered with the data commission office. Usually, for small traders, and entrepreneurs that have a small website, this registrational usually only costs about 45 pounds per year, IF , they collect more information that the basic information needed to make the internet work.

    The smallest websites that do not collect data usually do NOT require an information certificate from the information commission office.

    Just something to be aware of going forward.