A Strum and a Pick for the First of the Month

Guitar

I enjoyed my practice tonight, slight improvements on three of the songs and slightly more consistent with the playing of Higher Ground, the one song I'm waiting to complete in order to get the next stage completed.

I played 11 songs for 39 minutes. I have played for 132 hours 56 minutes in total with 9867 hours 3 minutes to go before I reach the point at which you are supposed to become an expert at an activity.

It has been 65 days since I have played all of the songs I have been practising. It will take 3 hours 20 minutes to play through them all in one session.

Improved Songs

Slow Hands, Boss and We Share the Same Skies.

Playlist

Higher Ground by Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Scored 82488.

I Want Some More by Dan Auerbach: Scored 72787.

Boys Don't Cry by The Cure: Scored 73958.

Slow Hands by Interpol: Beaten previous high score of 97094 with 97817.

Boss by Chris Lee: Beaten previous high score of 10896 with 11663.

Number Thirteen by Red Fang: Scored 5310.

We Share the Same Skies by The Cribs: Beaten previous high score of 18547 with 22114. Beaten last streak with a streak of 40 notes. Beaten last percentage of notes right with 83%.

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Full song list

Song	Artist(s)	Latest Score	Latest Score	Streak	Percentage
Higher Ground	Red Hot Chilli Peppers	88698	82488	155	92
I Want Some More	Dan Auerbach	86629	72787	58	91
Boys Don't Cry	The Cure	94355	73958	79	91
Slow Hands	Interpol	97817	97817	233	97
Boss	Chris Lee	11663	11663	23	72
Number Thirteen	Red Fang	55166	5310	126	86
We Share the Same Skies	The Cribs	22114	22114	40	83
Surf Hell	Little Barrie	45568	42840	63	82
Song 2	Blur	81736	80395	154	97
Where is My Mind?	Pixies	76970	76970	95	90
Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	67483	67483	105	82
Use Somebody	Kings of Leon	73745	65556	104	88
Unnatural Selection	Muse	53483	42135	97	86
Ricochet	Brian Adam McCune	30587	30587	29	80
Jules	Seth Chapla	30147	29194	63	75
Well OK Honey	Jenny O	48263	28596	22	72
Run Back to Your Side	Eric Clapton	22763	16779	20	71
Do You Remember	The Horrors	103326	79052	23	80
High and Dry	Radiohead	73334	59323	81	90
Sweet Home Alabama	Lynyrd Skynyrd	15980	14812	51	82
A More Perfect Union	Titus Andronicus	39300	36259	100	83
California Brain	RapScallions	24917	24917	54	81
Outshined	Soundgarden	50996	47265	54	83
Icky Thump	The White Stripes	57364	53643	79	87
Slither	Velvet Revolver	24683	18316	27	78
In Bloom	Nirvana	74179	69679	43	81
Breed	Nirvana	72322	72028	56	87
Me and the Bean	Spoon	57060	54923	68	87
Vasoline	Stone Temple Pilots	92261	85017	205	97
Mean Bitch	Taddy Porter	57779	56977	83	83
I Got Mine	The Black Keys	49686	49686	52	85
When I'm with You	Best Coast	41949	39215	76	91
Plug In Baby	Muse	46821	43846	114	93
Panic Switch	Silversun Pickups	64089	64089	106	84
I Can't Hear You	The Dead Weather	67594	67594	63	88
Play with Fire	The Rolling Stones	38127	36169	30	75
Next Girl	The Black Keys	113578	112679	191	99
Step Out of the Car	The Boxer Rebellion	45842	45842	34	81
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	90167	77864	108	96
Angela	Jarvis Cocker	106878	95809	186	95
Gobbledigook	Sigur Rós	43953		48	88
I Miss You	Incubus	29963	21522	39	79
Sunshine of Your Love	Cream	44550	41974	62	80
Rebel Rebel	David Bowie	57428	42878	87	87
Islands	The xx	23519	22254	43	86
The Spider and the Fly	The Rolling Stones	37943	28976	40	98
House of the Rising Sun	The Animals	47327	43675	152	93
Good Enough	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	41508	41508	26	72
Burnished	White Denim	29444	23335	74	92
Chimney	The Yellow Moon Band	26664	26664	44	75
Are You Gonna Go My Way	Lenny Kravitz	27378	22315	47	85
Between the Lines	Stone Temple Pilots	58501	41417	78	85
Go With the Flow	Queens of the Stone Age	168515	93459	541	97

A Rocksmith 2014 night

Bass

The only thing that bugs me about Rocksmith 2014 is that the scoring system is almost totally different. The only thing in common between the two is they both track the streak of correctly played notes.

I spent most of the time working on Stay In by Jaws going from 33% overall score to 94.8% overall. This is near the point at which Rocksmith will automatically put you into master mode. 

In master mode the notes to play are hidden from view, so you have to play from memory. In other words you have learnt the song. For me, it will take more than a few dozen plays of a song to have it anywhere near memorised.

If I put the PS online, I can get a tool to convert the older tracks into the newer format. I'm still undecided about doing this - benefits would be the same scoring across both, but the disadvantage is I don't know how the original game progress would be carried forward.

Lessons Attempted

One of the key things on the game is the tutorial lessons. Today I tried two.

Shifting 101B 

Shifting is moving your fingers onto the correct position on the fretboard to play the next note. Probably an important concept in the whole scheme of guitar playing. You also get scored on how well you play these -- I got 100% accuracy and 60.7% overall (as you get better, you get more notes to play in the tutorials too).

Sustains 101B

A sustain is picking (or plucking) a note and letting it ring out for longer than usual - some can last for several bars of the song. I got 100% accuracy and 100% overall - quite happy with this.

Unlocks today

Well, children, today I unlocked a Level 4 venue. I understand the different venues on the original Rocksmith, but have no idea how they work on this version of the game. I'm wondering if there is an entire mode to the game I haven't had a look at year.

I also unlocked a CL-5S skin and a Marsall Plexi skin.

Time played

As far as time played goes, I spent around 100 minutes wall-clock time most of which was actually playing songs. This figure isn't counted in the total time played. That only measures the time actually playing full songs and doesn't include time going through the tutorials or playing the mini-games.

I played 10 songs for 46 minutes. I have played for 16 hours 18 minutes in total with 9983 hours 41 minutes to go before I reach the point at which you are supposed to become an expert at an activity.

It has been 62 days since I have played all of the songs I have been practising. It will take 3 hours 55 minutes to play through them all in one session.

Improved Songs

Stay In, Every Breath You Take, Paint It, Black, Losing My Religion, Knights of Cydonia and R U Mine

Playlist

Stay In by Jaws: Equalled previous high score of 0.

Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard: Equalled previous high score of 0.

Every Breath You Take by The Police: Equalled previous high score of 0.

Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones: Equalled previous high score of 0.

Losing My Religion by REM: Equalled previous high score of 0.

Knights of Cydonia by Muse: Equalled previous high score of 0.

R U Mine by Arctic Monkets: Equalled previous high score of 0.

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Full song list

Song	Artist(s)	Latest Score	Latest Score	Streak	Percentage
Stay In	Jaws			61	94
Pour Some Sugar on Me	Def Leppard			48	88
Every Breath You Take	The Police			43	93
Paint It, Black	The Rolling Stones			113	90
Losing My Religion	REM			25	87
Knights of Cydonia	Muse			56	83
R U Mine	Arctic Monkets			16	83
Are You Gonna Go My Way	Lenny Kravitz	39520	39520
Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	58204	50646	36	76
Mean Bitch	Taddy Porter	89733	88233	116	87
House of the Rising Sun	The Animals	97160	97160	57	88
Number Thirteen	Red Fang	38664	38664	56	78
Angela	Jarvis Cocker	105640	105640	146	99
Good Enough	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	97746	83541	46	81
High and Dry	Radiohead	68257	67944	45	79
Ricochet	Brian Adam McCune	34404	30575	14	66
A More Perfect Union	Titus Andronicus	66157	66157	69	86
I Got Mine	The Black Keys	62841	62841	51	83
The Spider and the Fly	The Rolling Stones	65734	65734	45	80
Higher Ground	Red Hot Chilli Peppers	23787	17378	17	60
Step Out of the Car	The Boxer Rebellion	46936	30674	53	84
Panic Switch	Silversun Pickups	63089	56813	85	81
Between the Lines	Stone Temple Pilots	45582	42145	47	82
Song 2	Blur	53274	53274	61	89
We Share the Same Skies	The Cribs	42364	42364	72	86
Under Cover of Darkness	The Strokes	52000	52000	46	81
I Want Some More	Dan Auerbach	59872	59161	20	81
Surf Hell	Little Barrie	55450	55450	21	75
Use Somebody	Kings of Leon	65934	65934	48	88
Slither	Velvet Revolver	54709	48777	105	87
Boss	Chris Lee	26880	26880	32	85
Unnatural Selection	Muse	28930	28785	42	76
Plug In Baby	Muse	42036	42036	45	87
California Brain	RapScallions	55984	55984	119	89
Sweet Home Alabama	Lynyrd Skynyrd	58672	58672	45	74
Outshined	Soundgarden	61332	61332	42	77
Slow Hands	Interpol	33467	33467	33	72
I Can't Hear You	The Dead Weather	132442	132442	22	90
Burnished	White Denim	25160	25160	28	74
Run Back to Your Side	Eric Clapton	37568	37568	50	76
Islands	The xx	94407	84284	80	87
Jules	Seth Chapla	77159	77159	71	93
In Bloom	Nirvana	56211	56211	51	88
Me and the Bean	Spoon	71649	71649	43	85
Vasoline	Stone Temple Pilots	98894	91786	83	88
Do You Remember	The Horrors	109014	107672	132	96
Go With the Flow	Queens of the Stone Age	84741	82511	98	86
Boys Don't Cry	The Cure	35618	35618	33	77
Space Ostrich	Disonaur	39637	39637	29	81
Breed	Nirvana	63878	63876	61	86
Next Girl	The Black Keys	111302	107653	177	97
Chimney	The Yellow Moon Band	101481	99019	148	97
Where is My Mind?	Pixies	100813	100813	119	93
Gobbledigook	Sigur Rós	109655	109655	63	91
Well OK Honey	Jenny O	69112	69112	48	87
Sunshine of Your Love	Cream	47630	41570	30	77
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	57563	56213	65	80

Split session

Bass

I played half of the songs yesterday, but got sidetracked into taking James into town to get his bus back to Cleckheaton.

I played 10 songs for 39 minutes. I have played for 15 hours 28 minutes in total with 9984 hours 31 minutes to go before I reach the point at which you are supposed to become an expert at an activity.

It has been 61 days since I have played all of the songs I have been practising. It will take 3 hours 28 minutes to play through them all in one session.

Improved Songs

Angela, Good Enough, I Got Mine, The Spider and the Fly, Rebel Rebel

Playlist

Angela by Jarvis Cocker: Beaten previous high score of 105637 with 105640.

Good Enough by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Scored 83541. Beaten last streak with a streak of 46 notes.

High and Dry by Radiohead: Scored 67944.

Ricochet by Brian Adam McCune: Scored 30575.

I Got Mine by The Black Keys: Beaten previous high score of 53433 with 62841.

The Spider and the Fly by The Rolling Stones: Beaten previous high score of 61100 with 65734.

Sunshine of Your Love by Cream: Scored 41570.

Rebel Rebel by David Bowie: Beaten previous high score of 40240 with 41692.

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones: Scored 56213.

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Full song list

Song	Artist(s)	Latest Score	Latest Score	Streak	Percentage
Angela	Jarvis Cocker	105640	105640	146	99
Good Enough	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	97746	83541	46	81
High and Dry	Radiohead	68257	67944	45	79
Ricochet	Brian Adam McCune	34404	30575	14	66
I Got Mine	The Black Keys	62841	62841	51	83
The Spider and the Fly	The Rolling Stones	65734	65734	45	80
Sunshine of Your Love	Cream	47630	41570	30	77
Rebel Rebel	David Bowie	41692	41692	40	84
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	57563	56213	65	80
Are You Gonna Go My Way	Lenny Kravitz	39520	39520
Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	58204	50646	36	76
A More Perfect Union	Titus Andronicus	66157	66157	69	86
Higher Ground	Red Hot Chilli Peppers	23787	17378	17	60
Step Out of the Car	The Boxer Rebellion	46936	30674	53	84
Mean Bitch	Taddy Porter	89733	88233	116	87
House of the Rising Sun	The Animals	97160	97160	57	88
Panic Switch	Silversun Pickups	63089	56813	85	81
Between the Lines	Stone Temple Pilots	45582	42145	47	82
Pour Some Sugar on Me	Def Leppard			48	88
Number Thirteen	Red Fang	38664	38664	56	78
Song 2	Blur	53274	53274	61	89
We Share the Same Skies	The Cribs	42364	42364	72	86
Under Cover of Darkness	The Strokes	52000	52000	46	81
I Want Some More	Dan Auerbach	59872	59161	20	81
Surf Hell	Little Barrie	55450	55450	21	75
Use Somebody	Kings of Leon	65934	65934	48	88
Slither	Velvet Revolver	54709	48777	105	87
Boss	Chris Lee	26880	26880	32	85
Unnatural Selection	Muse	28930	28785	42	76
Plug In Baby	Muse	42036	42036	45	87
California Brain	RapScallions	55984	55984	119	89
Sweet Home Alabama	Lynyrd Skynyrd	58672	58672	45	74
Outshined	Soundgarden	61332	61332	42	77
Slow Hands	Interpol	33467	33467	33	72
I Can't Hear You	The Dead Weather	132442	132442	22	90
Burnished	White Denim	25160	25160	28	74
Run Back to Your Side	Eric Clapton	37568	37568	50	76
Islands	The xx	94407	84284	80	87
Jules	Seth Chapla	77159	77159	71	93
In Bloom	Nirvana	56211	56211	51	88
Me and the Bean	Spoon	71649	71649	43	85
Vasoline	Stone Temple Pilots	98894	91786	83	88
Do You Remember	The Horrors	109014	107672	132	96
Go With the Flow	Queens of the Stone Age	84741	82511	98	86
Boys Don't Cry	The Cure	35618	35618	33	77
Space Ostrich	Disonaur	39637	39637	29	81
Breed	Nirvana	63878	63876	61	86
Next Girl	The Black Keys	111302	107653	177	97
Chimney	The Yellow Moon Band	101481	99019	148	97
Where is My Mind?	Pixies	100813	100813	119	93
Gobbledigook	Sigur Rós	109655	109655	63	91
Well OK Honey	Jenny O	69112	69112	48	87
I Miss You	Incubus	133824	132357	25	91

First practice for ages

Guitar

I played 11 songs for 38 minutes. I have played for 132 hours 17 minutes in total with 9867 hours 43 minutes to go before I reach the point at which you are supposed to become an expert at an activity.

It has been 63 days since I have played all of the songs I have been practising. It will take 3 hours 20 minutes to play through them all in one session.

Improved Songs

Boss, Take Me Out

Playlist

Higher Ground by Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Scored 81836.

I Want Some More by Dan Auerbach: Scored 65595.

Slow Hands by Interpol: Scored 92229.

Boys Don't Cry by The Cure: Scored 79573.

Boss by Chris Lee: Scored 8876. Beaten last streak with a streak of 23 notes.

Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand: Beaten previous high score of 64621 with 67483. Beaten last streak with a streak of 105 notes.

Between the Lines by Stone Temple Pilots: Scored 41417.

Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz: Scored 22315.

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Full song list

Song	Artist(s)	Latest Score	Latest Score	Streak	Percentage
Higher Ground	Red Hot Chilli Peppers	88698	81836	155	92
I Want Some More	Dan Auerbach	86629	65595	58	91
Slow Hands	Interpol	97094	92229	233	97
Boys Don't Cry	The Cure	94355	79573	79	91
Boss	Chris Lee	10896	8876	23	72
Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	67483	67483	105	82
Between the Lines	Stone Temple Pilots	58501	41417	78	85
Are You Gonna Go My Way	Lenny Kravitz	27378	22315	47	85
Number Thirteen	Red Fang	55166	49887	126	86
Surf Hell	Little Barrie	45568	42840	63	82
Song 2	Blur	81736	80395	154	97
Where is My Mind?	Pixies	76970	76970	95	90
Use Somebody	Kings of Leon	73745	65556	104	88
Unnatural Selection	Muse	53483	42135	97	86
Ricochet	Brian Adam McCune	30587	30587	29	80
Jules	Seth Chapla	30147	29194	63	75
Well OK Honey	Jenny O	48263	28596	22	72
Run Back to Your Side	Eric Clapton	22763	16779	20	71
Do You Remember	The Horrors	103326	79052	23	80
High and Dry	Radiohead	73334	59323	81	90
We Share the Same Skies	The Cribs	18547	16877	32	79
Sweet Home Alabama	Lynyrd Skynyrd	15980	14812	51	82
A More Perfect Union	Titus Andronicus	39300	36259	100	83
California Brain	RapScallions	24917	24917	54	81
Outshined	Soundgarden	50996	47265	54	83
Icky Thump	The White Stripes	57364	53643	79	87
Slither	Velvet Revolver	24683	18316	27	78
In Bloom	Nirvana	74179	69679	43	81
Breed	Nirvana	72322	72028	56	87
Me and the Bean	Spoon	57060	54923	68	87
Vasoline	Stone Temple Pilots	92261	85017	205	97
Mean Bitch	Taddy Porter	57779	56977	83	83
I Got Mine	The Black Keys	49686	49686	52	85
When I'm with You	Best Coast	41949	39215	76	91
Plug In Baby	Muse	46821	43846	114	93
Panic Switch	Silversun Pickups	64089	64089	106	84
I Can't Hear You	The Dead Weather	67594	67594	63	88
Play with Fire	The Rolling Stones	38127	36169	30	75
Next Girl	The Black Keys	113578	112679	191	99
Step Out of the Car	The Boxer Rebellion	45842	45842	34	81
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	90167	77864	108	96
Angela	Jarvis Cocker	106878	95809	186	95
Gobbledigook	Sigur Rós	43953		48	88
I Miss You	Incubus	29963	21522	39	79
Sunshine of Your Love	Cream	44550	41974	62	80
Rebel Rebel	David Bowie	57428	42878	87	87
Islands	The xx	23519	22254	43	86
The Spider and the Fly	The Rolling Stones	37943	28976	40	98
House of the Rising Sun	The Animals	47327	43675	152	93
Good Enough	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	41508	41508	26	72
Burnished	White Denim	29444	23335	74	92
Chimney	The Yellow Moon Band	26664	26664	44	75
Go With the Flow	Queens of the Stone Age	168515	93459	541	97

Getting a raspberry pi to show videos at start up.

A side project today at work was to get the Raspberry Pi to automatically display video files for our partner company.

The first part was getting the files to loop, I used the script from the learn adafruit site.

#!/bin/sh # get rid of the cursor so we don't see it when videos are running setterm -cursor off # set here the path to the directory containing your videos VIDEOPATH="/mnt/storage/videos" # you can normally leave this alone SERVICE="omxplayer" # now for our infinite loop! while true; do if ps ax | grep -v grep | grep $SERVICE > /dev/null then sleep 1; else for entry in $VIDEOPATH/* do clear omxplayer $entry > /dev/null done fi done

That was the easy bit.

The more challenging part was to autoplay the script on startup. After a number of fruitless trials, I discovered the raspberrypi.stackexchange font of wisdom.

Basically all you need to do is to add a line calling the script into the /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE/autostart file.

@/home/pi/bin/videoplayer.sh

Knowing the SSH address of the pi is helpful to safely shutdown - or just pull the power ;-)

Adding Firstname, middle name and last names to a Ruby on Rails app

I was wanting to add first name, middle name and last name columns to a Ruby on Rails application (specifically the Rails-Devise tutorial from RailsApps).

After a couple of hours working through various sites I came up with three migrations:

timestamp_add_first_last_to_users.rb
class AddFirstLastToUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
  
  def self.up
    change_table :users do |t|
      add_column :users, :first_name, :string
      add_column :users, :middle_name, :string
      add_column :users, :last_name, :string
    end
  end
  
  def self.down
    remove_column :users, :first_name
    remove_column :users, :middle_name
    remove_column :users, :last_name    
  end    
end

timestamp_update_names_to_users
class UpdateNamesToUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def up
    User.all.each do |user|
      na=user.name.split(" ")
      nc=na.size
      user.first_name=na[0]
      user.last_name=na.last if na.size>1
      user.middle_name= na[1..na.size-1].join(" ") if na.size>2
      user.save!
    end
  end
  
  def down
    User.all.each do |user|
      user.name = [user.first_name, user.middle_name, user.last_name].compact.join(" ")
      user.save!
    end
  end
end

timestamp_remove_name_from_users.rb
class RemoveNameFromUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def up
    remove_column :users, :name, :string
  end

  def down
    add_column :users, :name, :string
  end
end

This works, but is probably not the best solution.

If you have an easier way, please feel free to let me know.