Sebastian Payne

Those who use Flickr might have seen my stream has been updated with a bunch of new photos today. Some from a recent trip to Lake Como, some general summer photos and some from university - something for everyone to enjoy! In recent weeks, I have been running out of hard disk space for photos - I kept the RAW files on an external 320gb Maxtor hard disk with the previews on the internal library - but the hard disk has been creaking. At my local computer store, I found a cheap and cheerful 500gb Lacie drive for only £60, compared to £119 for a 1TB version; the fellow said that most 1TB external drives are simply two drives linked together with RAID 0, hence the inflated price.

I have been making the transfer of 16,000 files across and today (finally) worked out how to get Aperture to realise where the new files where, as I gave the new drive a different name. In the File menu, there is an option for Relocate Master for..., which will let you choose where you have the actual file stored. Using the All Photos option, I was able to do this in bulk for all my photos, taking several hours in the process. Handy to know for the future, when the next drive upgrade is needed.

As my friends have seen, I have never stopped ranting and raving about this new guitar - the Fender American Precision Electric Bass with S1 switching is now mine, after doing a direct swap for my Jazz. The style, shape and body of the Precision seem to suit me much better than the Jazz ever did.I have yet to try it through my Ashdown Engineering combo amp but after exams, I'll be pumping out some great bass moves - that's the idea. If anyone has a good suggestion for an ironic, tasteful or even relevevant name then be sure to let me know.

The Bruce Springsteen ticket is still with me so I will try the various Springsteen forums. I want to avoid eBay as much as possible as the seem to be many scalpers around who are looking for poor saps to take advantage of. The lack of entries has not been empathy but simply exams. Some more interesting things (less pictures, more words) will come when work is flowing less.

It has been three weeks since I last put a post out so, it is time for an update. With my return to Durham, my Facebook usage has increased while my Radio Nowhere postings have decreased. There is a link here - it never surprises me how vital Facebook is to daily life at Durham. My return at the end of April also saw me become the official Station Manager of Purple Radio. The first two weeks of broadcasting have been fantastic, stressful, exciting and worrying all at the same time. Some of the issues have included a broken compressor, a broken swivel chair, a broken studio monitor and an air-con machine blowing out hot air. Continuing to study and run the station is a major task of balance and will take a while for adjustment. Next year when my work load increases for Computer Science will bring extra challenges too.

On the other hand, some things have been excellent. The new exec team have really pulled their weight and everyone has done everything expected of them so far. Our new posters have arrived and feature everywhere in Durham - pubs, student bars, colleges, shops and random university buildings. To accompany these, two 8ft banners were ordered in the first week and arrived just a few days ago. After several emails with Estates and Buildings, they are up at the University Library and Dunelm House.

This Sunday will bring us the biggest thing the station has ever done - the Student Radio Chart Show. Several student stations around the country are taking their turn to host the show and 11th May is the turn of Purple Radio. Both the new and old exec have been working very hard to make this a memorable occasion for the station. If you want to hear the best of student radio and latest music, remember to tune in this Sunday at 3:00pm to www.purpleradio.co.uk. Fingers crossed for no technical problems, or personelle ones for that matter.