Daniel James
curriculum vitae
I am the director of 64 Studio Ltd, a company which produces a 64-bit GNU/Linux distribution designed specifically for creative users, and does custom development work for OEMs with multimedia products. You can read my profile on LinkedIn. I worked on LinuxUser & Developer magazine for around seven years, serving as Editor from the autumn of 2005 until early 2007.
Over the last few years, my media work has expanded to cover a long-held interest in sound recording, with several music and voice-over projects completed at my own studio. I also contribute regular articles on music, recording and related technology to Linux Format and Sound on Sound magazines.
Since 1999 I have lived and worked on the Isle of Wight, which is a small island a few miles from the south coast of England. I helped launch the UK's first community wireless ISP there, and it's still going strong - now as an independent business. Back in early 1996 I set up my previous company, mondo designo, to pursue various design and publishing projects, made possible by the DTP revolution in pre-press. I was a relatively early adopter of the Internet, back in the BBS days, before web browsers were common.
ARTICLES
Just a few of the features and opinion columns I have written:
ALSA: Advanced tips and tricks, Linux Format issue 108
Dynebolic: easy audio streaming, Linux Format issue 106
Interview: Robin Rowe of the CinePaint project, Linux Format issue 104
Audio codec round-up: AAC, FLAC, MP3 and Vorbis. Linux Format issue 104
64-bit is good for your audio health, mstation.org
Four-part tutorial on Ardour, LADSPA and Jamin, beginning in Linux Format issue 102
What on Earth is: PulseAudio?, Linux Format issue 102
Trinity mobile DAW feature, Linux Format issue 101
All together now... a report on the European Broadcasting Union's first open source seminar, in Linux Format issue 100
Rackmounting Your PC - for security in the studio and durability on the road
(I also contributed to Sound on Sound's July 2007 cover feature 20 Ways To Create Cash From Your Audio Gear & Skills)
Orbiting Debian -an interview with Bdale Garbee of HP
Trip the Light Fantastic - Linux in the special effects industry
SpikeSource - supporting free software in the enterprise
This is Hardware: Do Not Enter - laptops break too easily
Meek not geek - interview with Michael Meeks of OpenOffice.org
DSSI with anticipation - the disposable soft synth interface
FAVE raves - a new event for free software creativity
The 64-bit question - 64 Studio distribution
Snake dance - the Kamaelia streaming media system
One cable to rule them all - mLAN on Linux
Hot on the wire - the FreeBoB project
Breaking out of the loop - LinuxSampler and QSampler
Surfing the Pipeline - the GStreamer project
Project Looking Glass - Sun's 3D desktop
Hack down Babylon - Jaromil of Rastasoft
Switching off the circuit - Voice over IP and Linux
Not only, but ALSA
Xiph.org - The foundation for free audio
The Audacity of it!
Pluggin' away (Steve Harris, LADSPA and Jamin)
The Promise of Rosegarden
An Ardour for Linux
Behind the scenes at the Isle of Wight Festivals, past and present
Tuning Debian for musical ears
Apple Notes - the JACK sound server on OS X
Sounding Off - is iTunes a missed opportunity?
Dweezil Zappa and the 64-bit studio - restoring the Frank Zappa archive
Linux Audio Conference report - the second international event
Mirror Image Studios - the first commercial studio to use Linux
Getting your money's worth out of free software - not an oxymoron
The second Mac revolution - OS X and free software
Liam Watson - the man who recorded the White Stripes
Safe Sound? - digital rights management
The content tail wags the IT dog - content is not king
Silent Running - how quiet can a computer get?
Broadband on the beach - the Turboweb project (with Cris Verrinder)
Linux and Music - an overview of free software in the industry
Fire fight - Security on a budget with a Linux firewall
Time to pay up for your free software - it's not free as in beer
What about the Romans? - GNOME vs. KDE
Some of my product and book reviews:
Studio to Go
Liebert UPS
The Blender Book
Rebel Code
The Book of Linux Music & Sound
Smoothwall
UKLinux.net and Dragon Linux
WEBSITES
Sites I have coded include:
Seahorses Guest House
Sylt Genealogy and Family History
Disability - with a life
Freshwater Memorial Hall
Tux Deluxe
Slower Speeds Initiative
Mirror Image Studios
Linuxaudio.org
Mental Health Awareness Training
Media Bureau
Plan Research
Mental Health Media
LinuxUser & Developer
Clarity Books & Workshops
Workbike.org
Christian Aid Colombia Gallery
London School of Cycling
Naturesave Policies Limited
Hearing Eye Publications
Built Environment Network
I've also created cross-platform CD-ROMs, which ran inside a web browser:
Restoring the Balance for the Mental Health Foundation
Mediafirst for a partnership including Mencap
Mental Health Awareness Training for the Youth Justice Board
BOOKS
I've designed and typeset books including:
Terrifying Ordeal
So Far So Bad
Rats Getting Close
Collected Poems 1987-2003
Paul Birtill
One Sez This Then The Other Sez That
David Halliwell
Poet for Poet
Richard McKane
Parrots, Poets, Philosophers & Good Advice
Raymond Geuss
Grandchildren and other Poems
Bernard Kops
Sleeping Volcano
Dubravka Velasevic
Drawing to Extinction
Pat Arrowsmith
The Exile
Anthony Edkins
Looking for You
Peter Phillips
Hotel Eliseo
Harry Eyres
Victor Hugo: How to be a Grandfather
Timothy Adès
Jacques Prévert: Selected Poems
Sarah Lawson
WORK HISTORY
2008 The Trinity Audio Group project is now taking shape as Indamixx. 64 Studio's free distribution is continuing to stabilise and attract new users, with the 2.1 release made recently. In the Spring, I completed a technical review on the third edition of Beginning Ubuntu for Apress, and I'm also contributing further features to Linux Format magazine.
2007 I completed my final issue of LinuxUser & Developer in January. I'm now working full-time on 64 Studio projects, including software for a very interesting OEM product, the Trinity mobile DAW. I have also contributed new features to Sound on Sound and Linux Format magazines.
2006 I was editing LinuxUser & Developer magazine throughout this year. The 64 Studio project made its first beta release, and exhibited at Sounds Expo in London during March. In April, we gave a presentation on the project at the 4th International Linux Audio Conference in Karlsruhe, Germany. Meanwhile, the 64 Studio company was working on a custom Linux distribution for the Lionstracs Mediastation keyboard instrument, and the second FAVE event took place in London.
2005 I founded 64 Studio Ltd - the company began to develop a native 64-bit Linux distribution, designed specifically for content creation. In July, I was invited to speak about the project at the Libre Software Meeting in Dijon, France. Linuxaudio.org returned to Sounds Expo in April, with sponsorship from AMD. In August, I helped organise a new event called FAVE, which is based around the creative use of Linux and other free software. In November, I was promoted to editor of LinuxUser & Developer, and I rebuilt the Naturesave site around the Drupal content management system.
2004 I launched the linuxaudio.org consortium in January, and organised the first Linux stand at the Sounds Expo trade event in London. I wrote several more articles for Sound on Sound, and recorded some great musicians in the studio using a Linux machine. I chaired the LinuxUser & Developer Conference in April, and in July I was promoted to Deputy Editor of the magazine. I started writing a regular column for LU&D on music software, called Audio Libre. I also rebuilt the Slower Speeds Initiative website using the Mambo content management system.
2003 LinuxUser became LinuxUser & Developer; it had 50% more editorial pages and was launched on the news-stand. In June, I chaired the judging panel of the inaugural LinuxUser & Developer Awards. I was also commissioned to write features for Sound on Sound magazine, on topics including Linux in the music industry, digital rights management and silent computer hardware. The Turboweb project was now running smoothly with the help of an Aramiska satellite link.
2002 Still working mostly for LinuxUser, Mental Health Media and Hearing Eye. Our local wireless broadband project Turboweb was at the testing stage, and I helped out on the Linux side by designing the network and testing it with my laptop.
2001 Became News Editor at LinuxUser. Continued to maintain LinuxUser website and write email bulletins. Also created Media Bureau site and Mediafirst CD-ROM for Mental Health Media, and designed and typeset several books for Hearing Eye.
2000 As Web Editor at LinuxUser I was responsible for the web site and news bulletins, and contributed several reviews. Following my redesign of the Mental Health Media site, I was asked to judge the website category of the Mental Health Media Awards, and presented the award to Befrienders International.
1999 (Autumn) Relocated both home and work to the Isle of Wight. Helped start LinuxUser magazine.
1997 (June) to 1999 (July) Designer & trainer, Copyart. Design projects included everything from poetry books to no-budget leaflets for community groups. I held regular training sessions for web site designers, specialising in raw HTML and low-bandwidth design. I also installed Red Hat 5.0 on a 486 PC - combined with Netscape and the GIMP, GNU and Linux were starting to look useful on the desktop.
1997 (January-June) Web site designer, Input/Output Centres. Maintaining www.earl.org.uk, www.air-edel.co.uk and various other sites, using Photoshop 4, PageSpinner and Fetch on the Mac. Saw my first Linux distribution, InfoMagic, which was in fact a collection of other distributions thrown on to a CD set.
1996 Started my own design & publishing business mondo designo. Projects included the rescue of a half-finished hardback book and a freesheet for cyclists distributed around London. My own web site was developed as an extension to these on-paper publishing activities - to this end I learnt HTML. I also helped set up Haringey Council's Environet BBS for a public demonstration.
1995 Acquired my own modem and learned more about dial-up bulletin boards, despite limited access to the 'full' internet. I also attended courses run by Select Training & Consultancy in Quark Xpress, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator on the Macintosh. Subsequently I was asked to give Quark Xpress training to a group of ten people, and assisted training on other days.
1994 Finished university and became a Bachelor of Science. Unfortunately, Science wasn't as interested in me, and I found there were few opportunities available to inexperienced psychology graduates. Around this time I got interested in desktop publishing, and worked on numerous projects using Aldus Pagemaker - from leaflets to magazines. This taught me the rules of typography and layout by trial and error.
1991 Arrived at Middlesex University to study Psychology. Probably the most useful thing I learnt in the lab was MS-DOS, on a Dell 286. But I also got to use a Grass Model 7 Series polygraph, while conducting experiments on the human physiological response to auditory rhythms. Students in the Psychology department didn't get internet access, but I was able to borrow an Amstrad 'portable' PC, actually about half the size of a suitcase, for use at home. This machine contained a modem, which allowed an introduction to email and newsgroups.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
I am proficient with the software tools of the design and publishing trade on most platforms. For web projects, I never use the likes of Dreamweaver, preferring to hand-code Drupal CSS-based templates rather than create unmaintainable static sites. Although I'm not a website back-end specialist, I can use PHP and Perl, and know how to implement Javascript. I try to avoid the proprietary web technologies because I can remember what computers used to be like. I can install hardware and software, and trouble-shoot most problems, but I prefer to confine this kind of work to my own systems. On the audio front I generally use Ardour and Audacity, both on 64 Studio of course. I do know one end of an XLR cable from the other, and I know what the knobs do on the majority of analogue mixing desks.
DESIGN INFLUENCES
William Morris - for the Kelmscott Press
Herbert Bayer - for his universal type
Eric Gill - for Gill Sans
The Designers Republic - their CD artwork
Vaughan Oliver - his artwork for 4AD
ACTIVITIES
I enjoy playing the bass guitar and recording my band's music; I run a Linux-based recording studio, based at a local community music venue. Equipment includes an analogue Seck 12:8:2 console, an M-Audio Delta 1010 interface and Mackie HR626 monitors. Mics include Audio Technica 40 series condensers, an Oktava MK-219, and Beyer, Reslo and Film Industries ribbon mics. I also have some vintage dynamic mics from Pearl and Grampian. I recently entered the Bestival DJ contest under the name 'djdj' and got to play in the final, which was a lot of fun.
REFERENCES
Available on request.
CONTACT
daniel at 64 studio dot com