February is getting busy: The Scottish Alternative Music Awards 2011, and Acoustech

The Scottish Alternative Music Awards are here for their second year, and this year Metaltech have been nominated for best Metal act. Voting and judging will happen from the 7th of February, leading up to the awards show at the Classic Grand in Glasgow on the 25th of February.

To help us in our quest to win this prestigious award, we need YOU to visit the SAMA page from Monday the 7th of February to vote! Use Metaltech's Facebook Page to tell all your friends. Tweet about us - hashtags #metaltech and #sama11, or retweet my tweets @roryalsop - and buy tickets for the awards event so you can come and enjoy the fun with us. We will have T-shirts and merchandise on sale there. Spread the word, people!

Metaltech, the crazed brainchild of Erik Tricity, Lord Thrapston Flagellator and the Insidious Dr Mayhem has found a common resting place in Scotland. The band have built up a loyal following in Edinburgh through regular gigs since their conception in 2009, and in 2010 stepped up their visibility through touring, a sell out gig at Club Antichrist in London, an evening on Edinburgh radio, the release of their first two EP's (Alkomatik and Sex On The Dancefloor), being asked to remix tracks for Japanese band Psydoll and the Edinburgh based Gin Goblins. They have also provided tracks for local venues' compilation albums to much acclaim.

Metaltech delivered staggeringly popular sets at GoNorth, Rockness, Wickerman and Belladrum Festivals and have carried on increasing their fan base playing venues such as the prestigious King Tut's Wah Wah Hut supporting Swedish band Marionette on their tour.

Metaltech were the support act on all dates of Psydoll's Scottish tour and converted many a punter during an epic gig supporting Alec Empire from Atari Teenage Riot. Return gigs on request in Inverness and Aberdeen have not only helped cement this band's place in the local psyche but have led to further requests for upcoming tours.

As a full alchemical mix of pounding techno/dance beats, grinding guitars, lyrics smeared with innuendo/tongue in cheek humour, audience participation, ridiculously infectious imagery and gifts for all who attend their live gigs, Metaltech are not only a force to be reckoned with but a force you want to be a part of!

What we need YOU to do to help us win this year's SAMA for best metal act is VOTE FOR US!

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This year, Metaltech has spun off a weird and wonderful creation, which is playing live in Edinburgh on the 9th of February at the Royal Oak.

Acoustech - does almost the opposite of what it says on Metaltech's tin. There is no metal, there is no techno, no industrial. Instead we have slide guitar, 12-strings and a fretless acoustic bass, and Erik's dulcet tones sans Marshall stacks.

-------------Reviews:

‘the Alkomatic EP IS one of those rare records which is as much at home on the dance floors of the UK’s club fraternity as it is when you’ve just got a few friends around and the alcohol is flowing freely.’
(isthismusic.com)

‘FINALLY a band that put fun into Scotland's music scene. Erik Tricity veers from the languid vocals of The Jesus and Mary Chain to Slipknot's throaty growl.’
(Daily Record)

‘...mix of electronic beats blended with distorted guitars and a voice which sometimes reminded me of Rob Zombie...Guaranteed to make you dance, drink and chant along to the choruses! … and to want to destroy this planet ! Think Orange ! Think MetalTech !’
(Dose Productions)

‘the powerful and loud sounds emanating from this charismatic threesome are theirs and theirs alone! These songs are guaranteed to get your feet moving while your head and ears pulsate uncontrollably with the electronic beats and sequences. But MetalTech have a serious side as well...This versatility in material combined with their mesmerizing stage presence and truly entertaining show makes me certain that it’s just a matter of time before MetalTech (signed to Alex Tronic Records) become mammoth.’
(Tone and Groove)

Remember - Go to Metaltech's Facebook Page and click on [Like] - and then share the link with all your friends. And their friends. And vote on SAMA11.co.uk!

Oh, and if you haven't yet bought either of the first 2 EP's, or T-shirts or badges, get on over to www.metaltech.me for merch links.

Improvement and Education in the Security Community

Those of you who know me will know how keen I am on helping the continued professionalisation of information security, and in providing training, guidance and steer back to the community. I get a lot of queries from individuals in IT or Information Security roles asking for more ways to get information, improve their skillset or even just to learn from others.

Many of you may be familiar with the Stack Exchange family of websites - a question and answer site using reputation weightings to help individuals find answers that they can trust.

We have been working with a new one - Security Stack Exchange - near the end of its public beta - that aims to provide security professionals with a forum thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo ask or answer questions around security, risk, governance etc.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Some examples to show the range of questions already on the site:

Securing the security guy's home office: what should we do?
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Although Incident Response is often handled well in larger organisations, it is very relevant for smaller companies

Establishing routines on what to do if a PC gets stolen?

Security around database password hashing:

If I hash passwords before storing them in my database, is that sufficient to prevent them being retrieved by anyone?

If you deal with information or IT security, governance or risk your input could be very valuable, or if you have questions in these areas someone on the forum could help you out. Either way, have a look and see what you think.