Aroundthecurve.net

I think that one of the best goals in life is to keep busy.  You need to keep yourself occupied and keep your mind thinking.  If that is the case for a healthy life than I can only assume that I am going to live forever.

My goals for the weekend

• Finnish Longstickmiddie.com
  • There is a lot of work that needs to be done on longstickmiddie but I have the majority of the wordpress install complete.  I just need to make some minor modifications, and I need to the automatic includes for the camps on the splash page
• AdventureGeekProductions.com
  • Another website that needs to be done. I have the majority of the work for this done. The styling needs some tweaks and then I should be to produce a first viewing to the client.  This has taken way to long to work on however I am almost done and it doesn’t need a lot of work.  I still wish that the client would produce more information for me on this project.  It would have given me more motivation on completion
• Maine State Police Recruitment Video
  • This is essentially a highlight reel with some heavy graphics and effects.  Most of the footage was already lied down on a timeline however there are a lot of effects and graphics that need to be added.
• Amber Alert System Video
  • I am seriously behind on working on this and I have a lot editing and pacing work that needs to be done.  I also need to get the updated script from the producer

The hardest part about this is that I also need to work and maintain a social life.  These are my goals for the weekend, if i manage my time and use the time that I am given to work on these properly I should manage to make a lot of headway on these goals

I sometimes seem to think that patience is something that people have completely forgotten about.  Today was what seemed to be nothing more than a pathetic show that people can’t just talk to time to let life unroll.  Maybe I am taking this and just over thinking it, but why are people just so eager to move on with life, in general?

It seems that all of life has been from getting from point A to B faster hasn’t it.  If you think about it, the automobile was  method of moving faster, the plan, and even the mordernized ship has been another way of just moving faster.  Even now technology speeds our lives.  No longer do we wait for a letter to arrive, we simply use email. Heck, I watched a friend pay his bills in five minutes, and he commented on how it use to take him over a half hour to do the same task.

What bothers me is that patience and common curtoisy are running dry. It seems that there is a link between the two of then and as people get less patient and are unwilling to wait, they become rude, almost crude. Today I was at one of the many town festivals that the lovely state of Maine has, and as people were crossing the street at a side walk (which means they have the right away) this one man was blaring his horn at everyone.  It made such a ruckass that the police came and told him to stop and then had to stay there to make sure that people were controlled more not to offend someone like him again.

I hate to this happen in Maine.  Maine has always been that chunck of land that most people don’t even realize exist, and I have always felt that we’ve been less effected by the mordern day, and the shortening patience and darkening attitudes of people.  We are one of the safest states when it comes to crime rates, gang volience, even road rage, and I find it fustrating to see people like this guy, a Mainer himself act in such a maner.  It just seems that sometimes things should stay the same.

At one point I had high hopes for this website, I wanted to use this for something more than well next to nothing.  My goal was to create a small blip of interest here and there for people other than myself.  Well a couple times I have actually succeeded, it seems that many times I have more or less failed at my goal.  I think that its time that I take and use this as a change to  make a come back.
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For the past few years I have had the domain aroundthecurve.net and I have been trying to figure out some sort of logo that would give my website an idea.  Many nights I have thought about some sort of logo, but have never able to go from the idea to something actually existing.  I feel that what I have gives me a very simple look that has the ability to fit along with my current theme.

With the Internet growing, and the idea of on demand media coming up, I have finally taking a serious look into it.  Over the weekend I decided that I would take a look at Netflix.  Its common, and I know enough people that have it that makes me interested in if it was exactly everything that it is all its cracked up to be.

This takes a look more at the web streaming end of things, especially since I haven’t been a member long enough to really get to experience the mailing and receiving of DVDs.  At first I thought of the idea of streaming a movie very tributyl, much like Youtube.  While Youtube is a popular trend, and there is a lot to be seen on Youtube, to me there is no seems to be no complete substance.  What I am trying to say is, I really don’t find the point behind, or more as an overall objective.  I believe that that Youtube has a great ability to entertain, but I feel it lacks the overall substance to be a true sit down with the family medium.

At first I was surprised with some of the novelties that I found within the content of the streaming area of Netflix.  Some of the more

amusing things that I found where Legend of Zelda TV episodes, along with various old cheesy specials, and some very old tv series that seem to be more of cute novelty about it. Though while spending time some time on the streaming side of Netflix, and comparing the selection to what they have on physical disc version I find that some of the classics that I would hope to see live and instantly. 

The biggest problem that I have found with the experience is the effects of slow bandwidth.  Being at my college, the bandwidth in the dorms can be rather limiting.  There are times where I find the video quality disappointing, and even at low quality I found the load times could be rather annoying, and a reminder of some of the lower quality videos on Youtube.  I found the experience with a higher amount of bandwidth enjoyable, but still someone disappointing.  The downside that there is yet to be a high definition quality.

Through my experience I have gotten my first touch of Microsoft Silverlight, and I can’t help but think that it is a reasonable alternative to Adobe Flash.  So far I have found a few titles here and there that aren’t yet ready of the new Silverlight player.

All and all I would say that this alternative to physical media, especially on the go.  For those that have a standard definition tv, and decent amount bandwidth this could replace running to the store for a video, or waiting for the mailman.

There is nothing like waking up early in the hopes of having a successful remote productions.  Even though it was just the football game on campus, it was a fun event, and it gave me the opportunity to improve my skills in my video “concentration”.  

It starts off as we all slowly stager in, progressing to running cables, setting up cables, preparing for the show,.  Then there is the show, to me its the best part.  You struggle to get things working well, work hard to get all the kinks out, and then you just have a high as it all seems to work out decently at worst.  Afterwards is the tear down which with a big enough crew takes less then an hour to tear down and get all the equipment back to the building where it belongs. 

It was fun despite me being in control of the CCU (camera control unit) and having a hard time white balancing, having off colors, and completely forgetting to white balance a camera.  Even with the trouble, and some help I was able to make most of the coloring look decent

Ever thought about what would happen to you if you lost all of your data in one day.  Could you imagine that all the projects that you have worked on over the past year and a half gone in one instant because of someone else’s mistake.  Could  you imagine it if you walked away for a minute, and it was all gone?  Thats what happened to me the other day.  I was in an edit bay at my school, and I walked away for five minutes; when I came back my hard-drive was on the floor, crying in its last seconds of life!   Its hard to take such a shock, and deal with it.  Here I am trying to recreate work that I have done before, and trying to create new and original work in order to start filling another hard-drive

The classic debate is up, whether or not I go back and start working, or not.  I have had this debate with myself every semester, but I think that I might actually be serious this about.  I figure that if I just work the very minimum that I can, and just have some spare cash around.  When thinking about it, it would be nice to have a chance to get out and something to motivate me.  Beyond that there is just a lot of stuff that I would really like to have, and this would give me the opportunity to afford it.  The difference this time is, I would have someone that would be work with me.

The cons on the other hand are that I have been so busy this semester, and unless I get better control of my time, and find a more productive way to get my work done, I just won’t have the time.  I am constantly on the edge of running out of time for things, and always find myself pulling something (usually amazing) out of no where.  I am afraid that if I start working that I would put myself in a bad spot when it comes to homework, epically as things become more complex, and more is demanded from me.

The debate continues …