Nicola Fasano & Ultra Natè - No Wasted Hearts (Alex Gaudino & Jason Rooney Remix)

Top 10 Holiday Destinations For 2010

In 2009 the Top ten Travel Destinations were dictated by the Credit Crunch, people wanted good holidays at affordable prices and could not really afford the luxurious resorts that they would normally visit.
2010 is no different the Credit crunch is still hurting a lot of people and the cheaper end of the holiday market is still the way to go for most people, there are a few changes from the list of 2009 because some travel operators are making the more luxurious resorts more affordable by cutting prices to try and encourage you to go with them. Now you can visit the more exotic parts of the world if you so desire.

Number 10 - Bulgaria

Bulgaria was the number 1 choice for Holiday makers last year, with its many resorts along the Black sea coast, and the Balkan mountains Bulgaria is perfect for tourists who dont have too much money to spend because the prices of items and food in the country are very cheap.

Bulgarian resorts are mainly made up of 4 star accomodation and you get the luxury of an expensive holiday at a fraction of the price.

  

Number 9 - Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura, has always been popular with the tourist especially if you are into water sports, if you prefer though you could always take a jeep safari accross the rugged Volcanic landscape, the beach is one of the safest in the world especially if you have children and most of the accomodation in the resort is an impressive 3 stars rated.

  

Number 8 -  Egypt

When you think of Egypt the Sphinx and the Pyramids are the first things that come into your head, a great destination for sight seeing and for a slow relaxing sail down the Nile.

There is alot more to Egypt though than you may think, if you want the watersports and the relaxing by the pool vacation Egypt also offers that in the resort of Sharm El Sheikh, this luxurious destination has an average hotel star rating of 4 and people love this destination so much that they return year after year.

  

Number 7 - The Algarve

Portugals Algarve is always a popular destination and at number 7 for 2010 people are flocking to it again this year, plenty of sea sand and guaranteed sunshine, keeps this resort busy and tourists return year after year.

Golfers have a great choice of courses in the algarve and there is a multitude of bars and Nightclubs 24/7 the Algarve is alive and with a range of activities and shops there is something for everyone, Algarve hotels have an average 3-5 star rating.

Of course there is a mix of the new and the old in the algarve too with many historical places to visit.

 Number 6 - Corfu

One of the most popular of the Greek Islands, Corfu has a plethora of beach resorts, including Kavos for the night life young people swarm too, a picturesque island Corfu has a long and interesting history and you can explore the many old buildings and ruins until your heart is content,.

There is a lot to be said about relaxing on the beach and there are many resorts in Corfu that are very laid back and chilled out.

most hotels in Corfu have a 3-5 star rating and they are very reasonably priced.

  
Number 5 - Tunisia

Tunisia a non Euro destination is popular this year for many reasons including the low price of food and other items, of course tunisia has a long and varied history making it the perfect getaway for sight seeing, with plenty of old roman ruins merged with the old tunisian style buildings. for the beach buffs there is an array of choice in many resorts there are peaceful beaches and touristy beaches where you can try out a full range of watersports. 

 Number 4 - Spain

With a whole country to choose from Spain has everything that anyone could ever want out of a holiday, take a trip to the magnificent city of Barcelona, or to any of the thousands of seaside resorts, there is always the quieter option of a break in the countryside for a whle week or 2 of complete and utter relaxation, it is a big country and the choice is yours Spain is also quite cheap compared to many european countries.

Accomodation in spain depends on what you pay for and is rated from 1-5 stars a last minute deal with your travelagent can save you a few hundred.

  
Number 3 - Tenerife

 Another year in and year out favorite destination Tenerife is always popular with sun seekers, there are a plethora of waterparks, golf courses, and of course there are plenty of beaches to choose from , there is also a chance to do some whale and dolphin watching.

The night life in tenerife Is very lively with plenty of bars and nightclubs to choose from.

most accomodation here is rated 3-5 stars and the price is right for most of us.

 Number 2 - Menorca

Menorca is full of unspoiled resorts and secluded beaches perfect for that peaceful getaway, there are markets and shops a plenty and there is also an active night life with many bars and restraunts open till the wee small hours, food lovers enjoy British, French and Spanish influenced styles of cooking which offers a very wide variety.

With beach resorts for sun worshippers, historic buildings for sightseers and a great night life Menorca is the second most booked resort in travelagecies this year.

accomodation ranges from 3-5 stars and is priced very reasonably.

  Number 1 destination for 2010 - Turkey

Being a non Euro destination means that Turkey is cheap for all of your holiday needs , with a fine history and a multitude of beach resorts Turkey has alot on offer at very low prices and it is number 1 this year because it falls into a price category that almost anyone can afford.

Turkey is improving for tourism year in and year out and the tiny resort of Mamaris has become a must for British tourists.

Relax on the beach, try out the watersports, trail around the many ruins and old buildings then go out on the town for a fantastic night out with a wide range of bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

Accomodation ranges from 3-5 stars but you can book a 5 star accomodation for less than it would cost for a 3 star accomodation in most other destinations on this list." Article source: www.hubpages.com.

Cosmic Gate & Emma Hewitt - Not Enough Time (Andy Duguid Remix)

"Over 10 boundary-pushing years, Nic Chagall and Bossi have evolved Cosmic Gate into one of the most creative and highly-sought-after electronic music acts in the world. Revered uber-producers, their musical acumen has seen them become long-term favourites of the trance's Big 5 DJs with their 4 hugely-received albums transporting anthems like 'Body of Conflict', ,Not Enough Time', 'I Feel Wonderful', ,F.A.V.', 'Analog Feel', or the classics 'Exploration of Space' and Fire Wire to the dancefloor. As DJs, their kinetic, blood-pumping live performances are seen by hundreds of thousands of club and festival goers annually. Playing a 100 nights every year, it's this ever-visible club presence that saw them reach their highest position to-date on the DJ Mag Top 100, landing as highest climbers at No.19 in 2009.

 Following a chance meeting at a label office in Cologne in late 1998, the pair collaborated for the first time. It's a production partnership that has become one of the dance world's most successful and memorable. In their homeland of Germany, they've maintained a consistent level of chart success, with no fewer than 7 Top 40 singles to their name and a Top 10 hit in the UK in 2001, with the quintessential club hit, Fire Wire. Drawing on a broad-range of their individual musical tastes and influences, they've continued to advance and enhance the sound... Following up the long-players 'Rythm & Drums' and 'No More Sleep', in 2006 they released 'Earth Mover', which saw a seismic shift towards a more melodic and electronically orientated music. Including the club hits 'Analog Feel', 'Should Have Known' and 'I Feel Wonderful', the long-player was IDMA nominated for Best Album of 2007 and was latterly seen as a new 'year one' for Cosmic Gate.

In 2009 Nic and Bossi released their fourth studio album 'Sign of the Times', which contains 11 floor-monsters, last year's vocal anthem 'Body of Conflict' and the smash single 'Not Enough Time', which in the words of Tiësto is "a great and solid vocal trancer that touches all your musical senses!" And in the broader scale on 'Sign of the Times' Armin van Buuren says "The new Cosmic Gate album is one of the most anticipated releases of this year. They are on the forefront of the dance music sound of the moment... Bring on 2009!" 

 Deck-side Nic and Bossi have whipped floors into frenzies all the way around the world. In 2009 they played the ,How Sweet It Is' and ,Electronic Daisy Carnival' in LA, rocked roofs at the Judgement Sunday nights and decisively broke into the US and Australian clubbing scenes through a string of sell-out tours, like the ,Sign Of The Times' Album Tour with 14 shows in a row in North America and the Godskitchen Tour through Australia in the amazing ,Boombox'. They appeared in the DJ Magazine's list of Top 100 spinners for 7 years now and are regular festival attraction, spinning at events like Trance Energy and Mysteryland in The Netherlands, Summadayze in Australia, Germany's Nature One and Stateside at Nocturnal.

Back2Back, Cosmic Gate's on-going compilation series was devised as the at-home testament to the pair's club-rocking exploits. In 2010 Cosmic Gate are set to release the 4th volume through Tiësto's Black Hole label. The compilations bring the evocative mix of trance, progressive and electro and stands apart through their use of numerous at-the-time unreleased productions and unique Cosmic Gate edits.
Over their production lifetime, the Cosmic Gate remixes have become almost as fêted as their productions. Essentially a blow by blow of trance music's A-list, Nic and Bossi lent their studio know-how to productions by the likes of Tiësto, Ferry Corsten, Above & Beyond's OceanLab project, Paul Van Dyk, Deadmau5, Rank 1 and Blank & Jones. Most recently they rewired John O'Callagan's 'Find Yourself' to devastating effect, put their hands on Armin van Buurens ,Rain' and created two highly-praised remixes of 'Vincent De Moor - Fly Away' and 'Veracocha - Carte Blanche'."Article source: www.cosmicgate-music.de.

Dash Berlin - 'Till The Sky Falls Down (Rowald Steyn Dub Mix/Kettel Remix/Monokini Beach Remix)

"Dash Berlin is a true deejay at heart with a profound passion for the comprehensive culture of dance music. He is often described as an invigorating and charismatic newcomer, with the unique ability to leave a long-lasting impression upon his audience well after the night is over. Dash is one of those rare individuals that seems to understand the unwritten laws of the nightclub by nature. He keeps his ever expanding, nocturnal following alert, ecstatic and craving for more, with remarkable precision and skill. One could easily mistake him for a superstar deejay. However, the truth remains that Dash Berlin views the world through the same eyes as his public. "It's virtually impossible to make progress without the continuing support of the people", he humbly said.  

Dash Berlin, was born as Jeff X. Sutorius, in November 1979, in The Hague, the Netherlands. A family with wide musical tastes surrounded him and because of his late father, who was a distinguished drummer in a jazz band; Dash became acquainted with the typical marks of rhythmic music at a very young age. While still at high school, he became a devoted fan of electronic music, regularly enjoying mix tapes that his older sister brought home from the clubs she worked at as a professional dancer.

In his late teens, Dash Berlin started working at a record shop and became a dedicated vinyl collector with a fascination for melodic, synthesized house music, subsequently known as "Trance". Inspired by pioneering figures such as; Sven Väth, Oliver Lieb and Sander Kleinenberg, he slowly but surely started to develop his own innovative style of mixing and producing. His hidden work ethic seemed not to be about producing more, but rather less and differently. It is this vision that still sets him apart in a crowded and highly competitive scene.

Propelled by his passion, he literally performed everywhere, from nine-hour long gigs in shopping malls to the notorious illegal Dutch warehouse parties. During his set on the world famous Love Parade, Dash decided to incorporate the word ‘Berlin’ in his artist name. "It's an ode to a metropolis and her engaging, urban landscape," he said, "Where I have seen more then a million people dancing on the streets, in the in the spirit of an ever-evolving Europe".

In early 2006, he teamed up with fellow producers and close friends, Molijn & Kalberg, who were regular customers at his record shop. "These guys are amazing visionaries and astonishing studio wizards, they are the foundation of my sound" Dash remarked, "I still learn from them every day".

Together they designed an ambitious and unprecedented new sound of Trance, quickly labeled as the "Dash Berlin Sound". Futuristic, scintillating, but above all, moving and emotive music that relates to the universal dance floor experience, shared by innumerable music fans from multifarious cultures around the globe. Although a vigorous believer in political awareness, the message of Dash Berlin is simple; "It's all about having a good time again," he stated, "The art of celebrating life resonates inside of everyone".

In 2007, none other than Armin van Buuren revealed his newfound discovery to the world and featured Dash Berlin’s debut record "Till The Sky Falls Down" on his legendary ‘Universal Religion’ album. The track became one of the most memorable, global anthems that year and remains one of the cultivated blueprints of the new Trance renaissance. The black & white music video that complimented the radio mix was shot in the heart of Berlin proper. The clip grew to be a genuine labor of love, using the latest in digital cinematography, and successfully avoided the typical clichés of contemporary dance music videos.

In the beginning of 2009, under the mighty wings of Armada Music, plans emerged to expand the Dash Berlin universe with his very own label called ‘Aropa’. It represents an eclectic high-quality outlet for Dash Berlin’s avant-garde productions and collaborations. The label will also be a solid foundation for rising talent and established like-minded artists. "The Aropa brand holds a deeper connotation too", Dash revealed, “It also stands for the axiom of sharing art, inspiration and creativity". The first release is the monster anthem "Man On The Run", which is a prolific collaboration with fellow Armada artists Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren. The track sky rocketed to the top of the international Trance charts and received a prestigious nomination for ‘Best Trance Track’ at the annual Trance Awards.

October 2009 brought the global release of Dash Berlin’s critically acclaimed debut album: "The New Daylight". Besides being a varied collection of styles, it also features instant classics such as: "Till The Sky Falls Down", "Man On The Run", "Waiting" and "Never Cry Again". 2009 ended with a reverberating bang, when listeners voted for a large number of Dash Berlin tracks and remixes in the ‘A.S.O.T. End Of Year 250’. With "Man On The Run" standing out at number 5, the anthemic "Waiting" even went neck-and-neck with number one, ending at a respectable second place as the A.S.O.T. Tune Of The Year.

2010 promises to be another momentous year for Dash Berlin. In January, his ‘New Daylight 2010 World Tour’ kicked off in Australia and due to an overwhelming public demand, the "Flying Dutchman" is scheduled to jet to every corner of the world. From the hottest nightclubs to festivals with crowds numbering in the thousands, Dash connects with his audiences in a magical way that has spawned a worldwide following. This following is backed by a massive online presence through Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social networking platforms. His dedicated fans actively vote for him when it matters the most. This loyal support already resulted in an astonishing number 20 DJ List position early in the year. It also gained him honorable spots on the ‘Trance.nu Future Stage’ at Trance Energy and the A.S.O.T. 450 Celebration, which are two of the largest and most essential Trance events in the world. Last years voting rewarded him with an esteemed nomination for ‘Best Break Through Artist’, this year Dash Berlin was nominated an astonishing three times at the International Dance Music Awards.

In February, Dash raised the bar with a pioneering 42-minute long 'Flashback' YouTube video mix, which received more than a hundred thousand views within a few weeks after uploading. Other ‘Dash Berlin TV’ videos are breaking records as well, with millions of views from all over the planet. With the creation and release of a free Dash Berlin iPhone app, the hard working deejay reaffirms his forward-thinking multimedia mindset.

In March 2010, after mixing various popular Armada compilations, Dash Berlin released his very first official and long-awaited mix album aptly named ‘United Destination’. This double-CD is a reflection of his recent gigs with a top selection of tracks straight from his record bag into two seamless deejay mixes." Article source: www.dashberlin.com.

Ray Isaac - You Want Or You Don't (GrooveShakerz Remix)

"Ray Isaac is Australia's first singing DJ. He has shaped himself into a brand that is sought after by producers and labels that admire his intoxicating lyrics and his insanely original performance style.
Based in Sydney, his signature style expresses pain, love and redemption that moves fiercely between fear and functional and has placed him in a position to dictate his own brand of pop-infused soul. 

His single ‘I don’t give a damn’, released through Ministry of Sound (2007), strumpets through the confines of genre and sounds like a redux lesson in all that is good about pop music. No small feat for an artist that boasts an extensive repertoire monopolising all music fields.

His 2007 follow-up track ‘Such a Fool’ (EXM Records) is an all-consuming lyrical narrative that morphs quickly into a raw disclosure of modest insight. That’s the way Ray is – all or nothing – when speaking about his infectious talent. Collaborations with Robbie Rivera (Stand By Me), Ministry of Sound (‘I don’t give a damn’), Dario Nunez (Four to the floor), WaWa (Let me Live again) and the inclusion of two new songs in the Australian feature film ‘Cedar Boys’(2010) has cemented Ray as a formidable songwriter and performer. Ray is support Act for Cascada at the Endless Summer Music Festival 2010.

With a background of study at the Actors pulse, Ray acts up to the crowd in his new re-invention of DJ by teasing his audience with pop/house remixes saturated with tribal undertones in brooding arrangements that hark back to the day of old-fashioned hands-in-the-air fanfare. His success is built on his ability to combine, as illustrated by Time Out Sydney, a brilliant ‘electro retro-funk’ vibe to ignite his audience into a frenzy.

Together with his desire to create and impress both the media and himself, Ray’s Las Vegas bravado will cement his place in an ever-changing scene in which he has an insatiable hunger for, yet still avoiding contained statements of boundaries. Soon the buzz surrounding Ray Isaac will become a roar." Article source: Ray Isaac on Facebook.

Movetown - Girl You Know It's True (Instant Move Remix)

History of the Portable Audio Player

"Most people nowadays enjoy listening to music. Some feel more relaxed, others become more energetic, but regardless the reason the fact is that music is an essential part of most peoples lives. You can see the proof in this by observing more and more people who have headphones in their years while walking, taking the subway or even during work. Portable audio players are now as popular as the Beatles were in the 60's.
But how did it all start?
Well, the audio players of today have their roots in the Sony Walkman brand. Aside from radio devices, Sony was the first to introduce a portable music player. The first Walkman devices used magnetic audio cassettes and where kind of bulky at first. Sony first advertised the series in Japan, in 1979. Walkmans where usually powered by two AA batteries and provided good music output provided the source (cassette) was of good quality. Later on came the CD Walkman. It featured the same basic concept: a portable audio player that instead of audio cassettes used CDs. The main problem of this device was that, despite being indeed considered “portable”, its size was nowhere near comfortable to use on a daily basis. The best way to carry the device was probably in a backpack.

One of its biggest problems was the fact that it used a laser beam in order to read data from the CD, and the beam orientation system was mainly mechanical, so when the device was moved it very often skipped parts of a song or sometimes fail to play at all. This problem was later solved by manufacturers by adding a buffer which was used to read ahead and store data. Thus, whenever “live” reading from the CD was not possible, the player continued to play data until the buffer was empty. An important problem related to CD players regarded limited music storage. A CD could store on average around 20 audio tracks and users would either have to limit themselves to this number or carry with them more CDs. This problem was not solved by the next wave of audio players, but rather the solution gave birth to the next generation of devices.
Enter the MP3

Karlheinz Brandenburg, along with other contributors, created the MP3 audio format. The idea behind the MP3 standard was a new compression algorithm that took advantage of a human hearing limitation called auditory masking. Brandenburg used a CD recording of Suzanne Vega's (named by some the mother of the MP3) song "Tom's Diner" in order to refine the compression algorithm.
MP3 greatly reduced the amount of data needed to store audio track information. Compared to a CD, an average-sized MP3-encoded song provides an improved compression ration of 1/10. This achievement paved the way of digital music as we know it today.

As flash storage technologies became cheaper, companies started developing portable MP3 players. One of the first companies to offer high quality products was Rio, with its PMP300. The player came with 32MB of internal memory and a SmartMedia slot for storage expansion. As far as dimensions go, the device was about as large as a deck of cards and connected to the PC using the parallel port.

Rio's success was moderate at most, since it was a bit ahead of its time. But a few years later, various companies started manufacturing en-masse USB, flash-based MP3 players. These where simple USB sticks that plugged in an USB port and allowed for any kind of file transfer, but could only play MP3 files. Most of them came with a small LCD that was designed to display the artist's name, song name and a bunch of other info. Although these devices were an immediate success, at the beginning, manufacturers also offered CD-based MP3 players, because flash modules were still a bit expensive, especially when compared to CDs. As so, most flash portable MP3 players toped at 512MB. However, over time, MP3 CD players lost the battle as the prices of flash memory continued to drop.Also, Sony still continued the MD Player brand. MD stands for Mini Disc and was introduced by Sony before MP3s were born. The device used discs whose size was just 2/3 of that of a CD and allowed music recording from the PC or from a microphone. Later on, the format was updated to store any kind of files, but the disc price was relatively high and users seemed to prefer MP3 players instead. Most USB MP3 players were very similar design-wise, the main differences between them being the casing or color. There were companies like Sony that provided some so called “deluxe” players with glossy finish and elegant design, but no manufacturer could really say that it had an innovative product.

The iPod makes its entrance - and the world of music changes forever

Everything changed when Apple announced its iPod audio player. The company's marketing was aggressive and propelled the iPod, despite its huge price compared to other players, in front of the pack. The first generation iPods were hard-drive based players (not the first of its kind as most might think, Creative was the first with the idea). The player was something new and users where intrigued by the Click-Wheel control ring (later to become touch sensitive) used for scrolling and the impressive storage capacity. The first iPods came with a 5GB hard drive, followed by a 10GB version.Another smart Apple marketing scheme was the use of its own on-line music store, the iTunes. The store provided users with the opportunity to buy single songs at very good prices, or build custom playlists that could later be synchronized with the iPod. This level of freedom made the player famous and everybody was considered cool or fashionable if spotted with an iPod.
Later on, the iPod evolved and it currently offers an impressive 160GB storage space and comes with a slim size factor and a sleek design, given by the chromed backplate.

 Apple also extended the iPod line with various derivatives like the iPod Shuffle, the Nano (a smaller flash based replica of the classic iPod with a smaller storage unit), and is now promoting the iPod touch which, might replace the original iPod design. The Touch features multi-touch user interface and a large, 3.5-inch LCD display.

Other well-respected companies involved in audio (and I say audio and not MP3 because most modern players support all kinds of audio formats) players manufacturing are iRiver, Cowon, Microsoft and Creative.

Today's portable audio players provide various features like movie playback, picture viewing, different web services and some of them (the ones with big enough screens) even allow users to play games.

I guess some are wondering why I enlisted Microsoft as a respected audio player manufacturer, but haven't mentioned anything about any of its products. Well, that's because it only has one product, called Zune. The device is meant to compete with Apple's iPod and has a large screen that allows movie watching and gaming, but, compared to its direct competitor, the device has integrated Wifi and can connect to the Zune MarketPlace for music and video downloads. The device also has a feature that allows Zune owners to exchange music and video files by using their devices' wireless capability.

Picking out an MP3 player is a tough choice these days. Users have hundreds of choices and most of them don't even know what exactly they want or where to start looking. My advice is to first decide what you really want. Do you want just a mp3 player or do you want a multimedia capable device? Do you want to take your entire music collection on the go, or will a flash device be enough? Just take a minute (or a day....or even a few days, but don't go over a month 'cause companies will announce something new and you will have to start all over again) and think about what you need/want. Everything will be a lot easier once you decide that. Next just ask a few friend about their audio players, use some Google magic and in you will have your music on the go in no time." Article source: www.gadgets.softpedia.com.

Bentu De Soli - Pearls Of Summer

The History of MP3

"The German company Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft developed MP3 technology and now licenses the patent rights to the audio compression technology - United States Patent 5,579,430 for a "digital encoding process". The inventors named on the MP3 patent are Bernhard Grill, Karl-Heinz Brandenburg, Thomas Sporer, Bernd Kurten, and Ernst Eberlein. In 1987, the prestigious Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen research center (part of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft) began researching high quality, low bit-rate audio coding, a project named EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).

Dieter Seitzer and Karlheinz Brandenburg

Two names are mentioned most frequently in connection with the development of MP3. The Fraunhofer Institut was helped with their audio coding by Dieter Seitzer, a professor at the University of Erlangen. Dieter Seitzer had been working on the quality transfer of music over a standard phone line. The Fraunhofer research was led by Karlheinz Brandenburg often called the "father of MP3". Karlheinz Brandenburg was a specialist in mathematics and electronics and had been researching methods of compressing music since 1977. In an interview with Intel, Karlheinz Brandenburg described how MP3 took several years to fully develop and almost failed. Brandenburg stated "In 1991, the project almost died. During modification tests, the encoding simply did not want to work properly. Two days before submission of the first version of the MP3 codec, we found the compiler error."

What is MP3

MP3 stands for MPEG Audio Layer III and it is a standard for audio compression that makes any music file smaller with little or no loss of sound quality. MP3 is part of MPEG, an acronym for Motion Pictures Expert Group, a family of standards for displaying video and audio using lossy compression. Standards set by the Industry Standards Organization or ISO, beginning in 1992 with the MPEG-1 standard. MPEG-1 is a video compression standard with low bandwidth. The high bandwidth audio and video compression standard of MPEG-2 followed and was good enough to use with DVD technology. MPEG Layer III or MP3 involves only audio compression.

 

Timeline - History of MP3

* 1987 - The Fraunhofer Institut in Germany began research code-named EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).

* January 1988 - Moving Picture Experts Group or MPEG was established as a subcommittee of the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission or ISO/IEC.

* April 1989 - Fraunhofer received a German patent for MP3.

* 1992 - Fraunhofer's and Dieter Seitzer’s audio coding algorithm was integrated into MPEG-1.

* 1993 - MPEG-1 standard published.

* 1994 - MPEG-2 developed and published a year later.

* November 26, 1996 - United States patent issued for MP3.

* September 1998 - Fraunhofer started to enforce their patent rights. All developers of MP3 encoders or rippers and decoders/players now have to pay a licensing fee to Fraunhofer.

* February 1999 - A record company called SubPop is the first to distribute music tracks in the MP3 format.

* 1999 - Portable MP3 players appear.

What Can MP3 Do

Fraunhofer Gesellschaft has this to say about MP3:"Without Data reduction, digital audio signals typically consist of 16 bit samples recorded at a sampling rate more than twice the actual audio bandwidth (e.g. 44.1 kHz for Compact Discs). So you end up with more than 1.400 Mbit to represent just one second of stereo music in CD quality. By using MPEG audio coding, you may shrink down the original sound data from a CD by a factor of 12, without losing sound quality."

MP3 Players

In the early 1990s, Frauenhofer developed the first, however, unsuccessful MP3 player. In 1997, developer Tomislav Uzelac of Advanced Multimedia Products invented the AMP MP3 Playback Engine, the first successful MP3 player. Two university students, Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev ported AMP to Windows and created Winamp. In 1998, Winamp became a free MP3 music player boosting the success of MP3. No licensing fees are required to use an MP3 player." Article source: www.inventors.about.com.

Lily Allen - F*ck You (Ralphi Rosario Remix)

"Lily Allen has been called all these things, and much, much more - sometimes with justification, often without. She's posh, she's common, she's sexy, she's demure, she's reticent, she's outspoken, she's sensitive, she's shameless, she's loved-up, she's distraught, often all in the same evening. Then she goes to bed, gets up and has breakfast. Then she posts her breakfast on the Internet. Then other people analyse her breakfast. And wonder why she posted it on the Internet. Contrary, contradictory, occasionally catty, always compelling, Allen, at 23, is Britain's most consistently engaged and engaging pop star, as well as one of our most successful. She first commandeered the public stage in July 2006, a fully formed phenomenon with a song that would help define that summer, the hugely infectious "Smile", her first CD single and her first UK number one. "Smile" served as an excellent primer for the Allen oeuvre, a breezy, lilting, ska-inflected slice of perfect pop distinguished by sugar-sweet vocals and unflinchingly autobiographical lyrics. It was a song of female empowerment sung by a smart-mouthed, wide-eyed, pretty post-teen in a pink prom dress and box-fresh Nike trainers, fluoro make-up and huge hoop earrings. "LDN" was, if anything, even more insidious and distinctive: a faux-naive, text-spelt, profane paean to the city of her birth in all its grimy glory. By the time of the release of "Alright, Still", her debut album, Allen's stardom was solidified and her public persona cemented: cheeky, waspish, searingly honest, sparky, spiky and satirical. Some of the stories about her were even true.

Lily Allen was born in May 1985 in Hammersmith, west London, the daughter of film producer Alison Owen and actor Keith Allen. It was an unconventional childhood, but not one without its compensations, and it made Allen wise beyond her years and tremendously motivated to carve her own place in the world. Raised alongside her sister and brother in Bloomsbury, Shepherd's Bush, Primrose Hill and Islington, she attended 13 different schools in total before abandoning her formal education at 15 and embarking on a teenage odyssey of innocence and experience: clubbing in Ibiza, studying to be a florist, always hoping to break into the entertainment industry. She knocked on record company doors from the age of 16, and her first deal came in 2002, with Warners, who pushed her in an uncomfortably folky direction. It was two years later, working with producers Future Cut, when Allen began to find her feet as a songwriter. In 2005 she signed to Regal, an imprint of Parlophone, and, frustrated by the slow pace of the music industry, began to post demos on her MySpace page. Meanwhile, a series of live appearances at the Notting Hill nightclub Yo-Yo in the spring of 2006 whetted press and public appetites.

"I find it hard to write songs about nothing," says Allen. "I try to write things that are both relevant to my life - which is totally weird and surreal - and also universal. I think the record probably is a bit darker but not because I have a darker outlook on life. I actually feel happier right now than I did when I released "Alright, Still". When I was writing the first record I felt like I was really struggling. I wanted to be doing something and I felt no one was interested. Now I feel like people are very interested." " Article source: www.lilyallenmusic.com.

Neylini - Share My Love (Deepside Deejays Remix)

KORG Music History

Korg is recognized as one of the most innovative manufacturers of electronic musical instruments and accessories in the world. With its headquarters based in Tokyo, Japan, Korg maintains a network of distributors operating in countries around the world. From producing the first synthesizer in Japan, to defining the Music Workstation category, to inventing the world’s first handheld electronic tuner and more, Korg has been at the forefront of technology, and strives to bring to market products that are not only cutting edge, but also extremely user-friendly, inspirational, and of the highest quality.
Inception
The company began as many do—with the idea that something could be done better. In the early 1960s, Korg founder Tsutomu Katoh was a nightclub proprietor. Tadashi Osanai, a noted Japanese accordionist, performed regularly at Katoh’s club. Katoh told Osanai that it would be nice to have a rhythm machine to keep the beat. Osanai, an engineering graduate from Japan’s prestigious Tokyo University, was certain he could build a rhythm machine himself, and convinced Katoh to finance his efforts.
In 1962, Katoh rented a small facility alongside the Keio (pronounced K-O or Kayo) railway line, where Katoh and Osanai worked on developing a mechanical rhythm machine. The fledgling enterprise was dubbed Keio Electronic Laboratories, which later became Korg — a derivation of the words “Keio” and “ORGan”. Their first product, the Disc Rotary Electric Auto Rhythm machine or DoncaMatic DA-20, was released in 1963. While primitive by today’s standards, the instrument represented a major breakthrough in its day. By 1966, the company had made the transition from electro-mechanical technology to solid-state with the introduction of the DoncaMatic DE-11. Korg continued to release many “Drum Machines,” as they came to be known. The Mini-Pops (MP Series) and Korg Rhythm (KR) series were extremely popular. As sampling came into vogue in the mid 1980s, the DDD-1 and DDD-5 (Digital Dynamic Drums) became the star performers, eventually giving way to the S3 in 1990.  

Keyboard Products

During the 1960s and 1970s, the organ was a dominant product in the keyboard market, so in 1967 when Katoh was approached by Fumio Mieda, an engineer who wanted to develop keyboard products, he provided the backing for Mieda to try his hand at developing a new type of organ. In 1968, Mieda created the “Prototype I,” which was an organ with programmable voice capabilities similar to a synthesizer.

Furthering their idea and in order to produce products to bring to the public market, Katoh and Mieda created the KORGUE organ, which was completed in 1972.

During that same time, a musician friend of Katoh and Mieda visited the USA and saw a MOOG synthesizer. Upon his return to Japan, he told Katoh that the Prototype I was actually no different than a synthesizer, making the Prototype I the first “synthesizer” in Japan. This encouraged Katoh to develop the Prototype technology and to enter the new synthesizer market.

Synthesizers

In 1973, using many of the basic design concepts of the Prototype I, the company introduced their first synthesizer, the mini KORG 700 (K1 in the U.S.), a monophonic synthesizer. This was the first product to be sold under the Korg brand name. The mini KORG was soon joined by the mini KORG 700S (K2 in the U.S.), an effects-enhanced version. The mini KORG family proved popular for providing high quality sound in an easy-to-use and affordable package. Based on the enormous success of the mini KORG, the company continued to develop synthesizers.

1975 saw the introduction of the Dual-Voice Maxi-Korg 800DV (K3 in the U.S.) SyntheBass and the 900PS preset synthesizer. A year later, the Polyphonic Ensemble series (PE1000 and PE2000) was unveiled. The PE series helped to launch Korg as a full-line electronic keyboard company. By 1978, Korg had introduced two new lines of synthesizers that retained some of the patching capabilities of early modular synthesizers — the polyphonic PS series and the monophonic MS series. The MS10 and MS20 were extremely successful, and are still coveted by techno and dance artists today. Also part of this flush of products was Korg’s first vocoder, the VC-10. The PS-3100 was the first polyphonic synthesizer from Korg, and it was soon joined by the PS-3200, one of the first programmable polyphonic synthesizers ever created, allowing sounds to be recalled at the touch of a button. The PS-3300 followed in 1979, and actually contained three separate polyphonic synthesizers that could be played together from one keyboard. In 1980, Korg launched the TRIDENT, combining a polyphonic/programmable synthesizer, a string synthesizer, a brass synthesizer, and effects into one performance-oriented keyboard.

Sequential Circuits revolutionized the synthesizer industry in 1978 with the Prophet-5, the first instrument that was polyphonic, easy to use, and allowed every knob setting to be saved in a bank of user presets. Musically the instrument drew raves; however, its $4,000 price tag limited its appeal. The significance of the Prophet-5 was immediately apparent to Mr. Katoh and the engineers at Korg. They began work on a similar product, which led to the introduction of the Polysix in 1981. The Polysix featured six-voice polyphony and, like the Prophet 5, was fully programmable. However, its $1,995 retail price tag was unprecedented. In 1981, Korg also released the Mono/Poly, another coveted item today.

Korg further redefined the synthesizer market with the introduction of the Poly-800 in 1983. With a list price of $795, the Poly-800 was the first fully programmable synthesizer that cost less than $1,000! It was also Korg’s first product equipped with MIDI. The Digital Waveform series (DW6000 and DW8000) in 1984 and 1985 introduced a whole new palette of tone colors by utilizing complex digitized waveforms beyond the reach of the simple square and sawtooth waves used up until that point. 1987 found Korg breaking ground again, using FM technology in a highly intuitive way with the DS-8 and 707.

Korg acquired Sequential Circuits in 1989, forming the nucleus of a research and development center based in California’s Silicon Valley. The first product developed by Korg R&D was the Wavestation, introduced in 1990. Using technologies such as Advanced Vector Synthesis and Wave Sequencing, the Wavestation won awards and recognition for its technical achievements and innovation, and was followed by a number of related products.

Both the California-based R&D group and Korg Inc. continued to explore new technologies, delving into physical modeling and other forward-thinking forms of synthesis. One of the most unique results of these efforts was Korg’s WAVEDRUM, released in 1994. It combined the expressive playability of an acoustic drum with the dynamic power of DSP Synthesis, allowing drummers and percussionists to use all their familiar playing techniques to create and dynamically control a wide range of sounds.

Meanwhile, the R&D group worked on a new project dubbed “OASYS” – Open Architecture Synthesis. Their research yielded new technologies that Korg went on to implement in a number of products, including the OASYS PCI Card that brought unparalleled sonic excellence to the computer platform back in the late 1990s; and set the stage for the OASYS keyboard in later years.

The Prophecy Solo Synthesizer was unveiled in 1995. Using DSP synthesis first developed for the OASYS project, the monophonic Prophecy provided algorithms for producing realistic analog timbres, VPM (Variable Phase Modulation) tones similar to FM synthesis, and physically modeled brass, reed, and plucked string instruments. Korg built upon its DSP technology in 1997 to create the Z1 Physical Modeling Synthesizer. This 61-key polyphonic multitimbral instrument was equipped with a stunningly powerful synthesizer engine, a cool polyphonic arpeggiator, and an X-Y control pad. This same modeling technology is the basis for Korg’s MOSS expansion board, which is still widely used in its workstations today.

In 2000, Korg introduced the MS2000 Analog Modeling Synthesizer, as well as a rack version dubbed the MS2000R. Featuring the latest DSP-powered analog modeling system, these products pay homage to the meaty analog sounds of the original Korg MS series synthesizers. They include powerful 16-band vocoders, modeled on the classic Korg VC-10, which can use vocal or rhythm sounds as input. Revamped versions with a new sound set and color scheme - the MS2000B and MS2000BR followed. A mini-key version based on the same sound engine appeared in 2003. Dubbed the microKORG, this fun performer rapidly became one of the best selling synthesizers in the world, and stayed at the top for years. The HI (Hyper Integrated) synthesis engine that powered the famous TRITON Workstation line proved strong enough to stand on its own in the X50 and microX stage and studio synthesizers. Collectors are still searching for the rare camouflage version of the X-50, and the elusive white version of the microX.

Exhaustive research and development led to the MMT (Multi Modeling Technology) synth engine, giving rise to the knob-laden RADIAS in 2006; followed by the streamlined R3 in 2007. These two full-size key synths offer vocoding and sound engine. The RADIAS is a sound designer’s dream, adding drum parts, step-sequencing and the retro-style tilt-up panel found in certain analog classics.

Accolades

Over the years, Korg and its products have received numerous awards and honors from members of the music industry in countries around the world. Honors include product awards from industry consumer publications, POP display awards, and product/product category awards from various trade publications.

Here, There, and Everywhere

The far-reaching influence of Korg products have been seen not only in popular music spanning over 40 years, but also in projects as diverse as Korg’s product line—from recording traditional Chinese Music for a TV program, to participating in a special presentation at the famous Smithsonian museum, to aiding a research project involving interspecies animal communication, and much, much more!

The Future

Today, decades after his humble entrance into the world of musical instruments, Mr. Katoh and Korg are still dedicated to providing musicians with new and better products to help express their creativity. We are a company of musicians and music enthusiasts that see ourselves as your musical partner. Like you, we love great sounds, we love a good interface, and we love music. We’re Korg." Article source: www.korg.com.

Adrian Sana - Hold On (Original Club Mix)

A burst of creativity and extravagance at the Liberty Parade

"The beach between resorts Venus and Saturn could barely contain the 50,000 young people who gathered on Saturday at the Liberty Parade, the biggest Romanian dance music event, according to Realitatea.net. The party kicked off around 16:00, in Olimp.
Hundreds of youngsters walked from there, accompanied by three trucks bearing DJs who mixed live up to the Liberty Parade arena on the beach between Saturn and Venus. The party people danced in the streets and some of them donned original costumes. By midnight, the arena was bursting with people. “It’s great, so cool. The greatest concert of 2010. It’s not my first time here. I come here every year,” one of the young people attending the event said.

“It’s OK, it’s awesome. There’s chaos, it’s very crowded, but it’s awesome. We’re doing great,” another said. The party spirit was kept alive by 20 top DJs, who mixed until daybreak. The Liberty Parade caravan, made up of three open trucks in which the DJs mixed live, passed through the seaside resorts.

The organizers also prepared a special Michael Jackson tribute. Michael Jackson’s figure, projected on the white screen, performed alongside dancers wearing light-fitted suits. This was followed by the three members who make up Above & Beyond, the most appreciated trio in trance music. Hotel owners in Southern seaside resorts took advantage of the number of tourists pouring in just for the weekend and raised their prices by RON 50. However, most of the youngsters rented rooms in villas, where the price for a night in a flat amounts to EUR 100." Article source: www.nineoclock.ro.

The Nightmare of Duisburg (Loveparade Failure)

"A stampede killed 19 people yesterday and injured over 340, some seriously, in the techno party Loveparade , being held this year in the city of Duisburg, western Germany. The wounded included four Spanish students who have been discharged, according to diplomatic sources have confirmed to the Cadena Ser. The panic began in the access tunnel to the festival site, which had gathered hundreds of thousands of people. In the afternoon, the police banned the entry of new visitors to the former goods station where they were celebrating. Hundreds of people, angry about being out, tried jumping over fences or trying to sneak in side entrances. The tunnel of the tragedy became a funnel through which many thought they could come to the party and others tried to get away from the site following the instructions of the police.

According to several witnesses, the subway was packed for more than an hour. The shortness of breath and suffocation caused tens of fainting. Around five o'clock in the afternoon, panic ensued. The head of the cabinet crisis of Duisburg, Wolfgang Rabe, said last night on public television ARD that panic originated near an entrance to the pass. In this version, several people fell into the void while trying to sneak into the party climbing the fences. The police said, last night, these young people fell from a fire escape with trying to sneak. His fall from eight to 10 meters would have caused panic and the stampede of those who crowded into the tunnel. WDR public television also collected statements from witnesses who accused police of negligence.

While the tragedy is consummated in the tunnel, the party continued at the site. The organizers chose not to inform attendees to avoid further incidents and outbreaks of mass hysteria. Many in the Loveparade, the highest expression (number of visitors) of the nineties rave culture, illegal drugs and heavy alcohol drinking.

A cabinet crisis in the city of Duisburg decided "for security reasons" not to suspend the event after the disaster, according to City Hall spokesman, Frank Kopatschek. Mobile phones and word of mouth spread the news. Gradually, the visitors were leaving the premises by emergency exits, but at eight o'clock in the afternoon was playing techno music. 

The venue which hosted the 2010 fatal Loveparade was too small for the huge number of fans who often turn to the call of summer techno. The frustration of being left out of the party, combined with alcohol and drugs, certainly contributed to the tension that culminated in the tragedy. According to a reporter from WDR, the emergency services were immediately overwhelmed by the situation. Loveparade 1200 was in the police: one per thousand revelers, according to some estimates.

The incident occurred in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the entrance of a former railway station, where they celebrated the festival, which organizers estimate that had gone a million people. Access to the event was closed due to overcrowding, reports the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. According to witnesses, police tried to prevent him getting more people to the site. Some of the people trying to access has dropped pushed by the mass and have been crushed.

Health services could barely cut through the crowd to treat the injured. According to the same newspaper, the festival has not been immediately suspended after the incident and continued to hold some performances. In the north of the site is still listening to the music minutes after the avalanche. The health service spokesman said that until that area of campus news of what happened had not yet arrived.

Organizational challenge

A celebration of this size is an organizational challenge for a city of less than half a million people as Duisburg. The turnout was massive and came to double the municipal census. So the trucks with the DJ and music is not passed through the streets of the town, as was done in all previous editions, but stayed in the room festive. The former goods station was surrounded by metal fences. Apparently there was only one access. The tragedy tunnel converged at the main entrance. The rejected trying to use it to leave, while thousands of people jostled to enter.

A witness told by phone news channel N-TV how "some were already on the ground, others tried to climb the walls to enter the premises." The masses of people "began to pass over those on the ground, ie a true mass panic."
Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed solidarity night with the victims of the incident. It said "sad and shocked by the pain and suffering" of families. The federal president, Christian Wulff, in turn asked for clarification of "all" the causes and responsibilities of the "horrible catastrophe."" Article source: www.loveparade.ro.

As a conclusion, this event is considered a big failure, gone tragically, so I've decided no music to be played on this post. Let us share a few moments of silence in memory of those trapped in a nightmare.