Rick's b.log - entry 2024/02/10

SimpleSeq v0.21

Accordingly, the voices can be loaded by pressing F6 and then using them. There are the undocumented keypresses Alt-Up and Alt-Down to change the current instrument to the next/previous in the list. I used this for testing the selections worked correctly.

I wrote a small BASIC program (supplied) which translates RealBand ".ini" files into the SimpleSeq format. Accordingly, you now have a selection of voice mappings:

• GM1 (General MIDI 1, the default)
• PSRe333 for the Yamaha PSR-E333 keyboard
• RolandE09
• RolandGS for a GS compatible keyboard
• RolandJunoD
• XGLite for a Yamaha XGLite compatible keyboard
• YamahaPSR for Yamaha PSR keyboards

Available voice files.

It's worth noting that different PSR models may support slightly different voice sets. The PSRe333 mapping is specific to my keyboard, and it offers fewer voices than the full PSR set; however it does support some of the sound effects that aren't present in the YamahaPSR file, so...

Transcribing has been extended to allow you to choose which channels to pay attention to. The possible options are All channels (how it was previously), the current channel (the default), or channel 1.

Transcribing.

You can choose the input until the first note is received, after which it will be fixed.
Note that only two options are shown in the example above, it won't show the choice to pay attention to channel 1 if the current channel is 1.

There is something else, but this isn't an official part of the UI yet as it's only just been coded and may be subject to... issues. It seems to work for me, but I've barely tested it.
What, you ask? Well, you can press F6 to load a voice file, right?

What happens if you press ^F6?

How about this...

Categories.

Press Esc to make it go away, or click on a category. Then...

Instruments.

Press Esc to make it go away, or click on an instrument to select it as the current one for the channel.

The list is quite a bit longer when we're talking about extended voice maps. There is, currently, a hard limit on the number of entries - about 40 (HD) or about 60 (big screen) - that can be shown on the screen.
This will be the next-developed feature as I'm sure you can understand that it is currently non-trivial to select a voice out of a couple of hundred; and that a menuing method makes it easier.

The user guide has not yet been updated.

Wait, WHAT?

Screenshot of Pure Cremation advert.

This in itself is no big deal, it's just an advert for a cremation service.

What broke my brain was that every so often it would pop up a banner saying "Britain's favourite".
WHAT?
If Britain has a favourite cremation service, then I think they're even more screwed than is already obvious.

Tree hacking

They've also seen a middle-aged podgy git swinging from a branch with one arm while sawing with the other. In the words of Roger Murtaugh, I'm too old for this sh!t.

Brioche against the odds

As the machine beeped for the part where I could add ingredients like nuts, I got up to make a tea and take a peek at the preparation.

Which was a pathetic looking small lump of dough. It hadn't risen. Was it too cold? Didn't feel...
...oh, hang on...
...you did put the yeast...
...oh, you twat!

So I took out the dough ball, rolled it in the contents of a yeast packet, and put it back in with a sprinkle of salt. I don't really understand why the yeast and salt can't go together given that they're pretty well mixed after a few minutes.
The program was restarted and...

Buttered slices of brioche.

The edges were a bit over (but still edible), I might try knocking some time off the baking time. The middle? Delightfully fluffy!

Hmmm, I'm in danger of clearing a place on the kitchen work table for the breadmaker to be a full time resident.

Big parcel

I had to wait until now as the little local post office is only open alternate Saturdays, and the one in the town where I work shuts at 5pm and I finish at 4.45pm (which gives me barely a minute or two once I have driven, parked...). Danew's returns centre has a stupidly long address.

This address is too long.

I had to fit all of that into the little space on the posting slip.
My address, by comparison, is:

My name
The house name
Postcode Village name

Of course, city-dwelling parcel companies used to rubbish like the above reject my address as "Incomplete" until I complain. But not a lot more is needed in the country. Yes, there's no road. The road I'm on doesn't have a name (Google Maps gives it the same name as the nearest house, which isn't right but...). The road that connects to? One's the C7, the other is the C4. The 'C' means it's a Communal road, which means that the numbers apply only within the boundary of the village.
Actually, more than a few people know this place as Chez Delauny, and I don't think the Delauny family have lived here since some time between the wars.
That's just how it is in the countryside.

More comically, as part of a big "numérotation" of properties, the village handyman come down a while back and screwed a number plaque to the wall. It's a single number. Which means I'm the nth property along the road (and for some reason they don't run consecutively). What should be pointed out is that my number is not unique in town. So you still have to "have the knowledge" of where this place (by name) is. Or cheat and use an online map service.

Your comments:

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David Pilling, 11th February 2024, 13:04

Chez Delauny - you could have changed your name, like when people buy a business, you'd not change a chip shop from "The Fish Plaice", to "Rick's Plaice".    Retain the goodwill/reputation.

jgh, 13th February 2024, 00:15

I've sold a handful of books via the bay of fleas to a couple of addresses in Greece and Spain. Geez, they are like a small novel. 8 lines the last one! And that was central Athens.    I actually went online to the country's post office website to check the correct formatting for postal addresses, as I know from experience my local post office will put the wrong info in the 'street address' and 'postcode' boxes.

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