I’ve been listening to Armin van Buuren a lot recently, and the result is this track: arguably my first “straight” trance track. There are, however, strong orchestral and rock influences in it, plus a few chiptune elements thrown in for good measure.

This was the first track I wrote with my new headphones (courtesy of my lovely wife) — Sennheiser HD 598s.

Listening to this track does make me realise that I’ll need to spend some time (when I get the chance!) learning how to master my tracks properly. The overall volume on this track is way too low (it’s been amped to the point of not-quite-clipping), but I’m loathe to compress it until I’m confident that I can do so without producing sausage music. So if anyone has any tips on audio compression, I’m all ears!

(Download: Opus | Ogg | MP3)

Starlit by Barry van Oudtshoorn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

If you’re interested in using any of my music in your games, videos, or other multimedia productions, let me know!

This track is a fusion of orchestral and electronic sounds — a technique which seems to become more and more a part of my idiom. A slowish lead-up to a strong middle section, which then moves through to a floating solo viola line (I love the slightly “rougher”, less refined sound of violas as compared to violins), then back to the fuller electronic/orchestral sound — a straightforward ternary form, which so often works well.

Note: play this one loudly.

(Download: Opus | Ogg | MP3)

When you’re asleep by Barry van Oudtshoorn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

If you’re interested in using any of my music in your games, videos, or other multimedia productions, let me know!

Opera’s move from Presto to WebKit

• And then there were three – Robert O’Callahan, Mozilla.
• Strange day for the open web – Daniel Glazman, W3C CSS working group co-chair, Gecko embedder.
• I will miss the Douglas Crockford of browsers – Christian Heilmann, Mozilla.
• Opera switching to WebKit: thoughts and guesses – PPK
• Opera and WebKit: a personal perspective – Bruce Lawson, Opera.
• Another chapter of a long goodbye – Charles McCathieNevile, Yandex (formerly Opera)

Web technologies

• The future is unevenly superdistributed – how and why content goes beyond its URL.
• Using WebAPIs to make the web layer more capable – an overview of some of the awesome APIs being pioneered by FirefoxOS.
• The real conflict behind <picture> and @srcset – why responsive images are effectively at odds with a quick browser.
• Balancing text for better readability – an Adobe CSS proposal that I’m hoping will become a standard.
• Report on the activity of companies in the WebKit project – interesting to see who’s been involved over time, and how that’s changed.
• Making an accessible dialog box – including setting and trapping focus, and ARIA roles.

Miscellaneous

• Keeping passwords in source control – a neat way to keep passwords stored securely in a VCS.
• Apple Core Rot – if you look beyond the “this is annoying me in OSX”, a caution on software development generally.
• This guy’s car got stuck at 125mph for an hour
• The ghost who codes: how anonymity is killing your programming career

Web technologies

• You can’t create a button – Nicholas C. Zakas on accessibility concerns around links and buttons and things that look like links and buttons.
• Styling ordered list numbers – a technique for making lists prettier — effectively replacing the standard numbers with your own in CSS.
• Using the fullscreen API in web browsers – a good introduction to what the fullscreen API is, and how to use it.
• SVG in OpenType: A new approach to SVG fonts – an intriguing idea to essentially mash SVG fonts and OpenType together.
• Flash is not the enemy – our lack of focus on what’s important is – Chris Heilmann on why tooling is essential

Miscellaneous

• What is LOIC and can I be arrested for DDOS’ing someone? – Troy Hunt discusses what DDOS is, and why comparisons between DDOS and physical protests are fundamentally flawed.
• Moonrise in real time – worth watching.
• Would you spend the night at an underwater hotel? – The USS Enterprise, underwater, as far as I can tell.
• How Newegg crushed the shopping cart patent and saved online retail – the story of a patent troll getting their comeuppance.