Launching my own night, Blended Beats at Escape Bar, Coventry

Writing about web page http://www.myspace.com/blendedbeatsuk

On March 13th I am launching my own night, called Blended Beats, at Escape Bar in Coventry (see http://www.escapebar.co.uk/ and http://www.mysapce.com/blendedbeatsuk for further information) Thereafter, the event will be weekly on Tuesdays from 9pm to 1am. The launch is also a birthday celebration for me as I turn 25 the day after.

Wondering what the night will sound like? Take a listen:

Or Download the mix

For promotional purposes only!

: 07 Mar 2007 11:55 |  Tags: Audio Bar Blended Beats Coventry Dance Dj Edm Events Music Nights Progressive House |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

21" CRT monitor for sale

Ok, so I have something of a problem that’s going to be recurring I think. At the moment I’m trying to shift a 21” CRT monitor. It’s a black, Samsung model and seriously one of the best screens I’ve ever used, I just can’t fit it in my house any more.

Please see: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300079161616

At some point, I’ll also want to get rid of a nice, silver 21” Toshiba CRT televison. Again, it’s a really good piece of kit but no one wants bulky electrical goods these days.

With regards to the TV, it might be suitable for a student house (as it’s decent, has a number of inputs – think games consoles here and I won’t want much money for it) so if anyone’s interested in either item, please feel free to contact me, cheers.

: 08 Feb 2007 10:33 |  Tags: Computer Crt Display For Sale Monitor PC Sale Samsung Selling |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Great customer service

Ok, like many people, I like to have a good rant if I get bad customer service or mistreated by a company. Today, though, I had such good customer service that I thought I should share.

I ordered a printer from Printerland late on Wednesday and it was dispatched yesterday. I didn’t receive an email containing a consignment number so I gave them a quick call. They said I should call back the next morning (today) and they’d inform me of the courier and tracking number – so I did. Top marks to Printerland for being prompt and friendly on the phone.

Then I called up Target Express who were delivering the item. I explained that I’d like a rough idea of when my printer would be delivered since I am only 10 minutes away from home and could pop there in my lunch break. The helpful lady phoned the driver who called me a few minutes before he was due to be at my house so I could rush home and accept the delivery. He did this and when I got home he was waiting on my drive.

Why can’t everyone’s customer service be this good?

: 03 Nov 2006 13:13 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Blended Beats October 2006 [mix download included]

Writing about web page http://www.mixdepot.net/MikeyC/BlendedBeatsOctober2006

Every Monday at 8pm UK time (currently 8pm GMT), my radio show Blended Beats airs on Code FM Server 1 – http://code.fm I will be making my favourite show from each month available to download. Remember that they are recorded live and completely unplanned so please forgive any mistakes!

This month’s show was aired on 30th October and mixed on 2 x CDJ1000 MkII with a Vestax PCV-275 mixer.

Feedback is greatly appreciated as always.

Enjoy listening.

Mike

Spooky – Belong (Sasha Remix)
Bjork – Kindness Kind (Delikate Imposters Remix)
Panoptic – Surface (Kingkade Remix)
Softminds – Breakaway (Electric Re Edit)
Sarah McLachlan – Fallen (Satoshi Tomiie Interpretation)
Miro – The One I Run To (Original)
Terry Grant feat. Jennifer Horne – Be My Guide (Original)
Clubbervision – Deeperways (Original)
Miika Kuisma & Mr. A feat. Elena Mady – Smokey Room (Parham & Dominic Plaza Remix)
Prolocutors – Close Your Eyes (Roob V Remix)
Ty Tek feat. Cat Conger – Killing Me (Rhythm Code Remix)
Benz & MD – Mar Del Plata (Dousk Mix)
DJ Bia – The Double Reason (Original)
BT – Shame (Way Out West Remix)

Visit the following page to download and/or rate this mix:
http://www.mixdepot.net/MikeyC/BlendedBeatsOctober2006

: 31 Oct 2006 15:55 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

I need more pins on my power supply

So, I agreed to build my girlfriend a PC that she can use for her course but, having fairly strong views on such things, I decided that whilst it was important to keep the cost down and adhere to a budget, it should be upgradeable in case she wanted to do more demanding things in the future. I found a great ASUS motherboard and paired this with some basic but decent parts. The whole lot came to around £430 inclusive of VAT and delivery, with a half decent 17” TFT monitor. Great, I thought. But hang on, this motherboard is nice and modern with provision for DDR2 and PCI-E (should one want to add a hefty graphics card in the future). Hence, it has a 24-pin connector on the motherboard (introduced by the ATX 2.2 spec I believe) and finding a reasonably priced PSU or case with integrated PSU that states it has this connector is absolute hell. The PC doesn’t need a 5 million watt supply, a decent 300W or above will suffice since there are going to be a very small number of components (I have looked into this properly and anticipate a maximum power draw of around 210W even if a PCI-E card is added in the future). I contacted Scan technical queries who told me that none of their cases with integrated supplies have 24-pin connectors, oh joy.

There’s no way she’s going to see the value in spending large amounts of money on a PSU or case, which I can fully understand, so unless I can find a case with PSU or PSU alone that doesn’t cost the earth and clearly states to me it comes with the requisite connector then I’m a little stuck.

I’m also aware that often you can connect a 20-pin to a 24-pin and run the PC fine but I’ve done this once before and stability was an issue – generally the motherboard manufacturer will recommend against it, I think. Also, you can get a 20-pin to 24-pin converter but to support this a hefty power supply is required, which would be expensive anyway.

Aaaaghhh.

Rant over.

: 18 Sep 2006 13:22 |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

For those interested in what I do in my spare time

Writing about web page http://www.mixdepot.net/MikeyC/PickingUpWhereWeLeftOff

For those of you who might be interested in what I do in my spare time, I’ll post up here some information about, and a link to, my latest promo mix. The following is copied from my page on MixDepot

---------------------------------

The last few months have been a bit of a struggle and the title of the mix reflects how I feel: like I’m just picking up where I left off. Hopefully things are on the up now and this mix represents the first of many good things to come.

I’m sorry it’s been a while since my last set but I am very pleased with this and think you’ll agree that it was worth the wait!

As always, good and bad feedback appreciated so please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you for listening!

Mike

1:. Ray Calman – Kashmir (Simuck Breaks Mix) [FeralCode Records]
2:. DJ Bia – The Double Reason (Original Mix) [Segment Records]
3:. KPAXX vs Dave Begg – Cold Below Zero (Original Mix) [Plastic Fantastic]
4:. Dean Coleman – Bak 2 Deeper feat. Errol Lewis Greene (Original Vocal Mix) [Heavy Rotation]
5:. Blueroom Project – Apertif (Ebon Remix) [Mirror Image Recordings]
6:. Off Mind – Eternal Night (Snake Sedrick Naturally Clear Remix) [FeralCode Records]
7:. The Funky Badgers – Funky Tramp (TFB Original Mix) [RPO Traxx France]
8:. Elevation – Upward Spiral [Fiberline Audio]
9:. Robimon – Aquatic [Wildchild/Baroque]
10:. Matt Rowan – Gold Mine (Original Mix) [Only Digital]
11:. Perry O’Neil – Recharged (Original Mix) [Electronic Elements]
12:. Opencloud – Life (Original Mix) [Proton Music]
13:. Baunder – Homesick (Original Mix) [Segment Records]

Visit the following page to download and/or rate this mix:
http://www.mixdepot.net/MikeyC/PickingUpWhereWeLeftOff

: 14 Sep 2006 22:40 |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Big Brother is Watching You (or, more specifically, me)

It seems that other people discovered I had blog almost before I did, with both Karen Mortimer and Eleanor Lovell commenting to me today, "Oh, you set up a blog yesterday, didn't you?" Not to mention the fact that I received a comment about 15 minutes after the blog's creation.

Paranoia is setting in…

: 29 Aug 2006 13:47 |  Comments (5) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

My first ever entry

Well, I decided it was time to create a blog since I spend a small part of my time at e-lab supporting them anyway (usually only if the query comes through HEAT, oh joy). I doubt I'll be putting a lot in it since I already have far too many collections of content out there on the web (think numerous forums, own web sites, myspace and various copycat pages), but maybe I'll be proved wrong.

That's all for now.

Cheers

Mike

: 28 Aug 2006 14:01 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem