Living Room Fragile trailer

View the 'trailer' of this one hour drama made for cable access television in Minnesota. Produced by St. Paul independent filmmakers Phil Holt (writer and director) and Jim Radford (cinematographer). The plot: when John is laid off from his job, he and his family try to keep their lives from shattering apart. Slowly, steadily, the cracks begin to show. Starring Kathleen Kohlstedt, Jerome Marzullo, Tim Payton, Jay Urmann, Stu Naber, Joshua Iley, and Phil Holt. See the entire hour movie at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9200442134190865358

Free Speech Threatened

I suppose you have been following the progress of federal legislation of the Internet, which would permit the carriers (Verizon, Comcast, ATT) to charge different rates for usage ... so your site with more hits woyld pay more than me with less hits,, but I might pay more by publishing more or less video online. The likelihood of pay as you go is a very threatening control mechanism by the feds and utilities, and would dramatically change the current Net model ... with the tradeoff of increasing corporate services, reliability, speed, and reach, but putting the small guy who can't afford that out of business. I think its very similar to the cable TV legislation that would create tiered packages for viewers, and if the channel is not in the package, it could not be viewed ... that would most likely eliminate most of the non-commercial community cable access channels, such as where I air my documentaries, church programs and screen play -- and where many relevant local programs are aired and producers are trained in TV, thanks to grants from municipalities and the cable companies. That open access (AKA freedom of speech), and equality of viewership would end ... as many people would not likely pay the extra fees to get community TV ... but simply accept a pay per view model. If you get the chance to voice your opinion on either of these issues, cable TV and Internet open access, don't hesitate. Write your legislators. When the utilities take these over, it will end free speech as we know it.

Reselling Web Sites

New idea to make money ... according to the current issue if Business 2.0 -- very easy money. Buy and sell existing websites ... not just a domain-name play, but spot the potential of an existing site, rehab it and increase traffic, and resell it. At onsitepoint.com., for $10 people can list sites for sale or aution them off. Demand has soared. In April, they added 400 new sites, growing 25% per month. All sorts of sites are available ... blogs too. The key is to understand what you are buying ... check their Google ranking, and Alexa.com etc. Check revenue stats and scan message boards for their credibility with users ... and build a plan. BUILD NEW VALUE into the site ... Example ... 411hype.com sold last August for $1,000, and resold after a refurb and accompanying customer increase, to $13,500 ... not a bad profit margin.... excluding the new ad revenues from Adbrite, Yahoo, and CasaleMedia ... revenue of apx. $1000 a month. This exmple was completed in 6 months, by a high school senior. How much is your site worth?

Growth Stocks

Huge surprises to me in he top 100 list of 2005 growth companies ... bottom line, best bets in bio-med and pharma stocks, not just Net biz. Starting with Celgene (think thalidomide) at 144% growth, then RedHat Linux ... at 104%, and Apple (thanks to iPod), and SanDisk, and ValueClick (online ads), but then the bio firms kick in ...Palomar, LifeCell, Gilead (flu drugs), Clinical Data, Kyphon (surgical products for my spinal osteoporosis), and many more ... eBay fell from 14th to 92nd), and Digital River was a MINUS 29% growth.... all according to Business 2.0

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Geo-caching for Outdoor Fun

I've discovered (OK, tripped over) a really enjoyable ... uh hobby, sport, past-time, part techno, part environmental, part exercose. They call it ... "geo-caching." As in geography, and nested stuff. The concept, I explained to my 6 year old grandson, is to find hidden treasures, using a satellite GPS unit, or a geek's walk in the woods. Of course, levels of difficulty make it more interesting. There doesn't seem to be a huge after-market of commercialism attached to this ... and it works for all ages ... and is global. It appeals to my gecko side, So ... off to my first cache .... a mile from the house in the woods. Cool ... found it INSIDE a tree stump, sealed in an ammo box, including a traveling "bug" with dogtags for proof of identity via a registration website ... the next guy who finds this can remove the dogtag and diary and re-plant it in a cache somewhere in Washington or Arizona, whatever. I also left a toy in the box. So, what's my GPS? A VERY cool Magellan Explorist XL, with big bright screen, streets software and 3D, good battery life and handheld or car portability. Anxious to take it on a trip.... especially to Europe. Another plus ... unlimited (??) smartcard memory for maps ....Only downside is the limit on map area file size (65Mb) ... so it requires transferring one state or area at a time from computer (disk) to the GPS via the smart card. No big deal ... don't need the entire country anyway. Has improved my map reading -- never to be lost again. Hmmm, I can't rcall ever being lost.

TECH NEWS BLOG SITE

You want one of the best new tech weblogs and website?  Go to:  http://www.gizmodo.com/ -- thorough coverage, good photos, brief and to the point, pulls no punches.  Fast way to keep up with tech toys and gizmos. 

PROJECTION OR PLASMA OR LCD

It's been several months.  I'm now a total fan of the projection system (see photo of my cave.)  This is not only huge at 90-inches, but this Optoma 2000 lumen projector is compact, "sufficiently" bright, and admittedly my first step into high-def TV (Olympics were awesome).  Ok, it's not great in a bright room.  For that, it's either a pricy plasma or LSD screen, or I use the old-fashioned floor model TV set (for the grandkids or when I want to save on lamp time). For less than a grand (Best Buy), this thing is perfect for a 2 or 3 year bridge to 'the next big thing' in home electronics -- which appears to be Sony's light emitting diode displays.  Further, this works great for many on-site video jobs, where the room is dark, and the audience is 50 or less.  Set up my Yamaha 'loud' speakers, and we have a pretty impressive video display and sound system. 

Test Posting Using Net2Phone

This is a test audio feed, originating from a voice call using Net2Phone, fee-based at 2 cents a minute ... maximum of 5 minutes per posting. The option is a cell or landline call to the blog service in California, thus a higher fee option. Both seem to have acceptable quality, and differ only in price and the communications equipment available at the moment -- phone or laptop.

Donna Finishes Disney Marathon

End of the Disney marathon for Donna ! Great accomplishment! Book your own trip to Disney with Donna, who has some great travel deals ... check out her webpage, title above.

Camcorders for 2006

The videocamera improvements in 2006 are designed to shake up this lethargic business which has dropped off in consumer spending since the iPod. Here are "Camcorder's" pick of new or desired features:

1) Wider LCD screens to 3.5 in. diagonal for older eyes and touch controls... plus 16x9 ratio on SD cameras.

2) enhanced sound with Dolby 5.1 for home surround systems.

3) better DVD camcorders (all Sony) ... hope for 3 chip cameras to improve this segment, widescreen and price.

4) More MPEG-4 storage flash cards with high qualit images, better lenses.

5) better combo cams with still photos up to 4 MP and maybe higher. Capture stills simultaneously with video.

6) better HDV cameras up to 3 chips, lower pricing.

7) improved disk drive cams, record many hours on MPEG-2 format ... no tape, improved ergonomics.

8) more featurs ... from larger screens and touch screens to manual audio controls, ie the Canon GL2

9) Integrate MPEG-4 or WMV video capture into portable media players ... already lots of storage at 20Mb ... up to 50 hours of video, or 200,000 1mp photos, or 10,000 mp3 songs. See Gemini 402 by Archos.

10) phase out of analog ...VHS and Hi-8

MP3 Players

You might find this of interest, if you have ever thought of getting an iPod for your workouts, etc. BUT also want an audio RECORDER in the same unit, AND at low cost. This is particularly attractive to event videographers.

For recreation listening, I own a small $100 MP3 player ... an economy version of the iPod, but made by Sanyo. Only a gig of memory for about 300 songs, but I don't need more as I only store my favorites... the rest are on CDs or my computer. Many MP3 players like this Sanyo have FM radio and can record voice too with a built-in mic, BUT they usually can't record with a lapel mic as they don't have a recording LINE IN connector -- until you reach the higher end ... ie $300 - $500.

Event videographers have many occassions to record multiple sources of audio only -- voice, instruments or just background ... later synch'd to the video. This requires a multi track camera or multiple mics and mixer.... or separate audio recorder. That's not always convenient when shooting on the fly. A pocket recorder is soooo much more convenient.

In the past videographers used digital mini-disk recorders from Sony. It was standard equipment for about $300, until flash memory replaced these disk units. Instead, I bought a multi-track digital audio recorder from Korg ... but its comparitively large and much more complex ... but has great recording quality and mixing features ... I'd like to sell it. Just not right for my needs.

Recently, I recorded a piano player at a reception for background music in a video, but had to use track 2 on my camera, and keep it rolling, as I forgot my Korg audio recorder. Well, an MP3 recorder would have been more convenient. Turn it on and forget it, separated from the camera... synch it up later as background music. Good for audio interviews too. Easy to use. Great digital quality, especially voice interviews for voice-overs.

Well, there is one brand still with a cheap price that has the LINE IN plug for external mics, but its being replaced by new models without this feature, so buy em' now is my advice. Its available new on eBay, and I just bought one for $69 ... (watch out for high shipping costs) ... its the iRiver model T30, but any of the 700 or 800 series will do the same thing. iRiver is a major competitor to iPod.

I really love my little Sanyo MP3 player, and will still use it for recreational listening replacing bulky CD players. Neither have LINE IN recording. So, I'll dedicate the new iRiver MP3 to audio recordings for video productions, and sell my larger Korg digital pro audio recording equipment. A nice, compact, low-cost, digital recording solution.

COPING WITH CRISIS

Storms just seem inevitable. Some close to home, like this week's high winds and two tornados ... which felled some trees, including one down the road that split a house (left). And the snow and cold are coming, soon. Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast lives in the wake of hurricanes, year after year, and California's existence is threatened by earthquakes, even volcanoes. Nature is awesome.

How we deal with such crisis, not to mention the day to day disasters of wrecks and illness, seems to be a question we and our children must meet head-on, from a very young age. I've seen the range of emotions involved and realize each of us has a unique composure and threshold for pain, stress and aggravation. But I've also seen where two purpose-driven, intentional approaches helps: 1) advance preparations, both physical and mental, and 2) faith in God. How miuch simpler and clear can it be?

You'll notice I did't say self-confidence, which seems like a worthy candidate for coping with crisis. But in my experience, confidence just seems to be a by-product when people exercise the other two steps, and it grows on us without any extra effort. Prepared and spiritual believers tend to spew forth allot of confidence.

I was impressed with what I heard of the pilot's reaction to his faulty front wheel on the JetBlue plane that landed safely at LAX. It was said that he calmly executed the procedures amidst the storm of havoc and mechanical failure surrounding him. It was said that this crew had been well trained for such a crisis, and rehearsed every response again and again in the plane before the final approach. It was also reported that many people on the plane helped that pilot with prayer. What a powerful combination. And ultimately, it was God's will that saved them. And that is my point ...

I heard a jockular monolgue on TV addressed to GOD, following years of natural disasters: "What is it about 'God Bless America" that you don't understand? From sea to shining sea!" Well, it appears this commedian missed the fundamental concept of "...thy will be done." It is a mystery, but it is apparently not God's will to make earth predictable or perfect or even palatable for some. That is a heaven thing, we can look forward to, with faith and preparation.