Moved my Twitter feed from Feedburner to Dlvr.it

This post is really just a test to see if my new delivery system is working. Until now I have been using Feedburner to handle email subscription to my blog with automatic tweets every time I add a new article. Because Feedburner does not work with my custom URL shortener I have switched to Dlvr.it for tweets but retained my email subscription service at Feedburner. Dlvr.it has other useful functions including the ability to send links to articles and status updates to Facebook and Linkedin. My only concern is how long it will take to pick up new articles which is why I am writing this test.

Apologies to any email subscribers.

Setting up a custom URL shortener with Bitly

I recently set up a custom URL shortener using Bitly. The custom domain service used to be charged for, but is now free. The domain name I used was gh.cm which I paid for using some remaining balance at one of the domain registrars I use. It cost $99 for a year. I want to use it for URL shortening and as part of an image hosting service (for my own personal use and as a bit of a technical challenge). If you go to http://gh.cm you will see that it takes you to the bit.ly front page. This is unfortuante, but just the way it works. To counteract this a bit I have set www.gh.cm to go to my business profile web site.

It integrates with Tweetdeck and Twidroyd using the Bitly API key. Any links I make from the Bitly web site, via Tweetdeck or from the Google Chrome extension use gh.cm by default.

However, there are a few drawbacks to all of this that I have not found a solution to:

1. If I use the Twitter web interface it sometimes shortens my already shortened links.

2. There appears to be no way of letting anyone else use my custom shortener without giving them my bitly API key (although making a link with bitly and then replacing bit.ly with gh.cm works).

3. There is no way to use Bitly with the Twitter web site interface (although you can use Cotweet as an alternative).

I might consider setting up my own shortening script on my own server, but this would lead to further integration difficulties.

The set up itself was very simple. Once the domain was registered I logged into my Bitly account, went to the link shortening box and where it says "shorten with:" I selected custom domain. This took me to a page woth the instructions. I used this to make the necessary changes to the DNS settings on my domain registrars name servers. Once the new version of the zone file had propagated it all started working.

The advantage of having my own shortener is that it gives the impression that I know what I am doing on the internet (which I obviously do having founded and run a successful - and profitable - web hosting company). Its a reminder to people that I still have those skills and its useful marketing. Its also quite nice that "gh.cm" is reminiscent of my professional profile web site address gordonhudson.com.

Update:
Feedburner does not support the use of Bitly so I have left my email subscription service on Feedburner and moved my automatic tweeting of new posts to dlvr.it. This was a simple case of entering my feedburner  feed address and my Bitly API key. This defaults to my custom domain and it is working correctly.

I have also installed the Bitly browser extension for Chrome so I can tweet links directly from the browser.

Cornet Mouthpiece Throat Sizes

Following on from my article about choosing a cornet mouthpiece which includes a discussion of balancing out the resistance I thought I would share my knowledge of  cornet mouthpiece throat sizes. I have converted the sizes to US drill sizes for easier comparison. For a description of what these sizes mean see Jim Donaldson's very informative article here.

Throat size is one element in determining the resistance of the system (the others being instrument bore size, mouthpiece gap and embouchure aperture). Its possible to compensate against a very resistive instrument by using a mouthpiece with a larger throat (bore) size or against a very open instrument by using a tighter mouthpiece.

Bach
Standard - #27, 3.66mm
Megatone - #26, 3.73mm (larger throat designed to overcome the tight feeling that results from the larger mass of the megatone mouthpiece)

Bach used to (maybe still) do custom mouthpiece work and I have seen a 5V (very deep V cup) with a larger #20 throat that was stamped "20" in the factory.

Schilke
Standard line - #26 (except models with "A" backbore which are #27)

Schilke now make deep V shaped "symphony" models. I do not know what throat sizes these use.


Denis Wick
Models without letters - 4.6mm #15
except: 2 which is #14
B models - 4.3mm #18
S model - 4.1mm #20

These mouthpieces were originally designed for the old Imperial and early Sovereign cornets which had more resistance than current models. I feel that they tend to encourage over blowing in modern, freer blowing, instruments. Wick seem to have recognise this issue by making  a 4 ½ which is identical to the 4 but with a narrower #16 throat.

Curry
BBC (Brass Band Cornet) - 4.07mm #20
VC (Vintage Cornet) -  #18
DC (Deep Cornet) - #25

Yamaha (short shank)
11E4 - 4.2mm #20
16E & 14E - 3.98mm #22
David King - 4.60mm #15 (presumably influenced by the Wick standard of larger throats)

Warburton
Long shank (standard) #27
(Warburton make #23 mouthpieces as a standard option so these are also in circulation but marked "23")
Short shank with "BC" tops for UK market #20 (unconfirmed though as I have not seen one personally)


Other factors
The shape of the cup of a mouthpiece also affects resistance with flatter, shallower cups generally being more resistive. You can test the relative resistances of two mouthpieces by running a constant stream of water into them from a tap and observing how much it will take before the cup starts to overflow. Its surprising how much some apparently small mouthpieces will take (try comparing a smaller Jet-Tone trumpet mouthpiece with a standard Bach 7c - the apparently small Jet-Tone will handle as much flow).