Stan February 17th, 2008
As soon as the Apple TV software update (Take 2) was available I downloaded it to my 40 gig Apple TV. The download/update process seemed a little funky but after about 15 minutes or so my unit had movie rentals and all the other goodies Apple added to the mix!
This past Wednesday I caught a touch of the flu and was laid out on my back for pretty much two days straight sooo…. it was a perfect time to check out Apple’s movie offerings and the whole rental process Apple-style.
We have our Apple TV hooked up to a VIZIO LCD TV using an HDMI connection to get the best HD image out of the device. Audio is passed through RCA cables to a Kenwood receiver. (I have to upgrade our audio system “one of these days.”)
The whole family gathered around as we checked out the rental options. We decided to look at only the HD offerings to see what the picture would be like compared to the DVDs we typically watch on the set. After going through the selections and checking out a few trailers we decided to rent The Italian Job. My son wanted to see the movie, I’d seen it back when it was new, and my wife agreed to go along for the ride 
The movie download went well, after approximately 2% of the movie was downloaded the Apple TV told us it was ready to watch. We had a few things to do before we wanted to watch the movie but when we did sit down to watch it, it was GREAT! Picture quality was fantastic, no compression artifacts that any of us noticed, audio was clear, and my son watched it several times… and so did I.
We had so much fun with The Italian Job that we decided to rent Live Free or Die Hard the next day. Once we started the download of our second movie my son went back to watching the first one. When he was done with THAT viewing we checked on the status of Live Free or Die Hard. It was only at 8% complete! I don’t know if watching a movie or otherwise using the Apple TV interferes with the download process but something was wrong. I checked my wireless router (Verizon’s FIOS unit) it was inactive. So I went back to the main menu on the Apple TV and then navigated back to the rentals menu and the download restarted. We decided to let the movie download to about 50% complete and then we started the film an were having a great time once again - perfect picture and sound - until the film was almost over when the picture stopped! The movie progress bar appeared and said that the download was at 90%. I didn’t expect this as the download speed should have at least kept up with our viewing. Once again though there was no activity on the router so I went back up to the main menu, waited a few minutes, and the download started again! After a couple more minutes we started the film up again and watched the ending.
With the exception of these download hiccups the new software and the services Apple back them up with are phenominal!!!! I LOVE the Apple TV and recommend it wholeheartedly. In between movie viewings I was able to check out a few of the podcasts I enjoy right from the Apple TV and WITHOUT downloading them in advance to one of our computers. This is simply great. I can’t imagine someone not like what this little box can do for you now. You know that Apple will increase the movie library over time - the only thing I could ask for right now would be some program to buy into to get a discount on rental rates for movies because with the ability to see a preview as I cruise through the library I know that I’m going to be tempted to watch a ton of movies! At least with Netflix I can watch as many flicks as the system can send me for a single fixed rate - and that includes postage! I don’t know what Apple’s bandwidth charges are but no atoms are being shipped anywhere… I hope the movie studio’s don’t get in the way of progress here.
Conclusion: The Apple TV is amazing, especially with this new software and rental system from Apple’s iTunes. Go out a get yourself one today.
Stan January 17th, 2008
Well Macworld 2008 is happening and the “true believers” are all running around the Moscone Center in San Francisco. There were some pretty interestig announcements - software updates to the iPhone and iPod Touch, the ultra portable MacBook Air, and the announcement of Apple TV take 2. These are all really great announcements but since I’m waiting for the GSM-based iPhone I can’t get REALLY excited by the news in that area. I just recently bought a 17″ MacBook Pro, so I don’t have the cash to really consider the MacBook Air (although I will be at my closest Mac Store to check it out once they’re in). What I’m really interested in is the software update to the Apple TV.
I’ve always thought that the Apple TV was a really neat product, so much so that I ran out and bought one and did the initial groundwork to start a site to distribute HD content for the Apple TV. As sometimes happens life has taken me in a different direction right now so I haven’t been able to give the site the attention it needs to get off the ground but this announcement may give me the kick in the pants I need to get this started.
So, the site is HD4AppleTV and my initial idea was to make it a type of YouTube clone from a conceptual level but unstead of simply displaying Flash based videos HD4AppleTV would allow people to download the HD version of the videos. These downloaded files would then be dropped into iTunes and either sync’d or streamed to the person’s ApplTV and enjoyed on their HD set. I have the site pretty much constructed, I just need to create a few sample files and upload them and promote the site to all the independent videographers out there and have them uplad their Flash preview files and HD downloadable files. I’m allowing uploads of around 500 meg. which should translate into 10 minute short movies. This should be something folks would be willing to download to experience high-quality independent filmaker-style shows.
So what do you all think? Will Apple’s announcement drive interest in this great device? Or should I just pack it in and move on to more lucrative pursuits?
Stan January 8th, 2008
We’re a few days into 2008 so I’m a bit late with this posting… OK this is what I’m going to resolve to do this year:
Virtual Worlds - pardon me if I come across a little heavy here but this technology is white hot right now and I believe that we’re at the beginning of a traditional “hockey-stick” graph of adoption. As I mentioned in my previous posting I’m in the game with ProtonMedia and their virtual world/collaboration product ProtoSphere. You can check out the offering by going to the company’s web site and download a free demo - ProtoSphere is business friendly (not wide open like the public-facing worlds) and has features that make it a tool I use (you know, that eating your own dog food thing). OK enough ranting, what do I resolve to do? Help to get ProtoSphere to the top of the heap and increase overall mindshare and marketshare.
Video - OK also from my last post I resolve to focus more on my video projects this year. This isn’t all that hard as I love my video work and (he says humbly) I do very good work. So what am I going to work on? I have three projects that I researched last year and simply need to work on. One is in the personal biography/documentary space and the Veterans History Project. I want to get involved with this project and am going to look into how I can go about doing just that. Another project I have is a webisode/marketing series that I see having tremendous potential on the web and possibly in the “On-Demand” video market. The issue I see here as posing a real challenge for me is that this project will require some serious sales effort to make the production possible. This is a challenge because I am historically terrible at sales - specifically closing sales. We’ll just have to see how this goes…
The last project I’d like to start this year is the refurb of my 1969 Camaro. I’d love to document this for people through the web and on a DVD, This is another one that we’ll just have to see how things go. The kicker here is that next year will be the 40th annivarsary of that car, 1969 - 2009 so there will be even more interest in this historic model.
2008 is going to be a busy year… it’s already started that way but let’s all crank up the volume to 11 and get rockin’! (sorry for the bad Spinal Tap reference
Stan December 30th, 2007
Well 2007 has been one incredible year! My interactive media work had taken me into a completely new direction, that of virtual worlds. I joined a local company (ProtonMedia) that does computer-based training development and has a virtual world product called ProtoSphere. I’m doing instructional design for them and helping with marketing and proposal writing. This work has been so interesting and exciting that I unfortunately allowed my video work to slide a bit over the year.
For 2008 I hope to be firing on all cylinders in the video space again and continue to help ProtonMedia make ProtoSphere the premiere virtual world for business. (sorry for the touch of marketing there 
Lasty, I’ve cleaned up this site a bit, removed some old posts that seemed to attract a ton of spammer “comments” and did some general database maint. You should notice an improvement in the site’s performance (at least I hope so). 2008 is going to be great! I wish everyone the best and brightest New Year and look forward to chatting with you over the next 365 days… and remember, everyone has a story to tell - listen and you just might learn something.
Stan April 9th, 2007
Everyone tells stories. Whether you realize it or not, we tell each other stories everyday of our lives. (Unless you go through a day not speaking to anyone, or more accurately, not communicating with anyone.) They don’t have to be big or elaborate stories, they can just be short little ditties; “How was work?” - “Pretty good. We won that contract I worked on last week and my other project is ahead of schedule.” - “That’s nice.” Not War and Peace but it is a story and from the looks of it, a pretty good one for the people involved.
Most of the time, the stories we tell are pretty good. It seems though that when someone asks us to tell a story, that’s when we say “oh, I’m not good at that” or give some other excuse. Why? I bet that some people don’t think that have anything interesting to offer or maybe they don’t like to be the focus of attention. Whatever the reason the result is the same, they’re taking the easy way out, they’ve cheated the people around them of the opportunity to hear a story, and they’ve cheated themselves out of the chance to tell a story.
So if everyone tells a story at some point in their day, then by extension, everyone hears at least one story during that same day. So, we all should be pretty good at judging the quality of stories and to some degree we know, at some level, how to tell a story. Before we as humans developed writing we passed-on knowledge verbally through story telling. This is one of the most basic and fundamental ways we have of communicating with each other. If you think about it, telling a story is much easier than writing a story. We’re able to impart emotion and direct attention through our voice and body motions much more easily than we’re able to with the written word. The task is much more economical done verbally rather than written.
Today we not only tell stories verbally and in writing but through other media as well. Now we have movies, television, radio, and the Internet to use to tell and receive stories. This “new” age of communication (these media have been around for decade mind you) gives us tremendous power both in terms of the number of people we can reach and in the effectiveness of our message or story. Think about how effective TV and the movies are in informing you of something (Supersize Me, An Inconvenient Truth, Happy Feet, etc.) and how great the numbers of listeners FDR had for his fireside chats. Today, the Internet allows virtually everyone to communicate with anyone or everyone in the world!
Stan April 7th, 2007
Way back in the stone-age of the 1990’s, interactive TV (iTV) was just around the corner. There was much promise in the air - we could watch baseball (or any other sport) and choose the camera angle we wanted to follow, we could be watching a show and order the clothes or props we thought were interesting, and we could also order a pizza right from the TV and the comfort of our couch (’cause the phone is just too much work.)
The purchasing aspect of this was “important” because whatever you bought would just show up on your cable TV bill or whatever/whomever provided this televised nirvana.
Well, we’re still waiting.
But we do have some neat things happening in the TV arena. First of course is our transition to HD. This is big news throughout the industry and for consumers. On the industry side we have massive and expensive upgrades to equipment, cameras, monitors, transmitters, and all the other equipment inbetween. On the consumer side we have HDTV monitors (no tuner inside the pretty box) and TVs and recently we’re seeing consumer-grade HD camcorders. When we look at the HDTVs out there prices have been dropping through the floor - right now you can get a 32″ set in WalMart for around $600 and I saw a 37″ set in Sam’s Club for $800. When you think that these size sets were thousands of dollars just a short time ago this is amazing!
So where is iTV? If you subscribe to satellite TV or digital cable, you have a set-top box that controls your channel selections. This box and the infrastructure back at either the cable or satellite companies is now giving us basic iTV functionality. Where? In the program guide at the very least and possible in the on-demand or pay-per-view features. The program guides are “channels” or menus that you can comb through to find the programming you want to watch. Once you’ve found something, you select it with your remote and after a moment you’re watching your show.
When will we have the full, promised features of iTV? There are so many standards to consider and more importantly, beyond the technical aspect, we have the Madison Avenue issue - the advertising people have to get behind the idea because they ultimately pay for our fun. Without commercial support, TV won’t be possible and iTV will certainly not be possible.
One last thought.
Today we have a new notion for TV distribution and that’s the Internet. No one is exactly sure how this will work, if it’ll be an adaptation of the current broadcast model or simply a file download process. With the inherent interactive nature of the Internet we do have to consider if TV over the Internet will finally allow us the promise of iTV. In fact, will the “i” in iTV stand for internet or interactive? Only time will tell and what we’ve all learned from the rise if the ‘net - we won’t have to wait all that long to find out one way or the other.
Stan March 31st, 2007
One quick side note - we went to the craft fair where my son sold his Watch Dogs and he did pretty well! Attendance seemed on the low side but he had a good time and sold some of his puppies. Success!
Once we got back from the fair I checked my e-mail and found a message from a former student. He asked me to complete a survey for a project of his. The survey focused on what it takes to work in the video/television field. This is something I discuss with most of my students and I thought it might be useful to share it here.
Education - I know a number of people working in the field with no formal training at all. They simply have an innate sense of composition and storytelling and often have a voracious appetite for learning outside the four walls of a class. Most of the people in the business though did go to college for mass communications or a related degree and a few (like me) have done post-graduate studies.
Experience - Almost every profession you might pursue would like to see a job candidate with some experience and TV/video is no different. The best thing you can do for yourself is to work on as many projects while in school as possible. Work on projects outside of school - just do stuff! The worst thing you can do ‘TO’ yourself is fall into the trap of talking about what you’d like to do, don’t talk - do!
Landing the first job- My previous comment leads right to this. Work on a bunch of projects and create a demo reel of your work. Hopefully you’ll have soem brilliant stuff to show but even if you don’t, the simple fact that you have a reel will show a potential employer that you’re serious about working in the field.
Best part of this profession - The creative expression and the storytelling. Hands down this is the best part of the business. I enjoy storytelling and this profession allows me to tell stories constantly. Even better, every story is different and new - so each project allows me to learn something new, and that’s simply great in my book.
Most important thing for working in the field - I feel that continual learning is key to working in virtually any field. With TV and video though, we work in an almost constant state of change. You should be infinitely curious about your profession and the world around you. In 2009 the big HDTV switch is supposed to finally be tripped. Our editing and acquisition gear is constantly being upgraded and improved. And our core job skills have to improve almost daily just to remain competitive in a market where thousands of people enter the field each and every year. I do have to say that I love working in video production. When I’m out in the field or in studio I’m having a ball doing what I’m doing. When I’m in the edit room cutting together a story I just can’t believe the fun I’m having creating something that will touch people’s lives. The shows we create, the stories we craft, can make people laugh or cry, we can inform and educate, we can change the world… how cool is that?
Stan March 28th, 2007
I’m completely stoked by the XR3 hybrid being developed by Robert Q. Riley. This is a two seat, three wheeled vehicle that can potentially get 225 mpg! It will have both a diesel and electric motor working in concert to deliver this type of economy. The XR3 is a kit vehicle. That means that you buy the plans from Mr. Riley and build the car yourself or have someone build it for you. According to the web site, you will also be able to buy the body pre-built to kick-start your project.
I want to build the XR3 but make it a total electric vehicle. Mr. Riley says that you can build it as diesel-only, electric-only or as a hybrid. Gasoline in my part of the country is at $2.59/gal. for regular and everyone is saying that it’ll be over $3.00/gal by summer. I’m pretty much fed up with this situation so I want an all-electric vehicle for, if nothing else, to make a statement. There are several companies either in the electric vehicle space or getting into it - the most famous/high-profile (in my opinion) being the Tesla roadster. This is one amazing car! We’re seeing people developing these cars because I believe a lot of folks are getting fed up. Why we’ve allowed ourselves, our country to get into this situation is beyond me. Actually I know how we got to this point, we’re comfortable and lazy. We like gasoline-power, we like our cars as they are right now. Change takes effort and often-times is uncomfortable, at least in the short-term.
If you listen to the news you might have heard about this issue. If you watch movies you might have seen or at least heard about former Vice-President Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” about global warming/global climate change. All of this stuff, gas prices, energy prices, climate change, etc. are all interrelated. What they all have in common, what is really the issue at stake is the fact that we’re at a crossroads in terms of energy and the energy industry. We have a multi-billion dollar industry that is looking at it’s end. And this industry isn’t going to die quietly. If you think about it no industry that has been at this point in it’s life cycle has ever gone quietly. They all have fought tooth-and-nail to survive and you can’t really expect anything else from them. But we as individuals, as a nation have to do what’s right and what’s best for us. Big oil is looking out for big oil. The future isn’t with big oil anymore - and this is what I’d like everyone to understand. The future is in alternative energy - and just as there is money to be made in oil and all the supporting and follow-up industries, there’s money to be made in alternative energy and energy conservation. This isn’t a partisan issue. We all should do what we can to conserve energy and become less dependent on foreign sources of energy. As a good capitalist I can make money form this by investing in compact fluorescent light companies or LED lighting companies. I can invest in and support electric vehicle manufacture - and not just from the big three either since they may be part of the current problem.
I wasn’t planning on getting into that rant, sorry about that. I really dig the XR3 and hope to be able to build one this year. Who knows, maybe I’ll produce a show around it!
Stan March 27th, 2007
This week, New York is playing host to the Virtual Worlds conference. This is an event that is exploring the relatively recent phenomenon of virtual on-line worlds such as Second Life, There.com, and ProtoSphere. (ProtoSphere is the creation of ProtonMedia, a company that I work for.)
A virtual world is a synthetic or computer-created 3D environment where you control an avatar, or 3D representative of yourself within the world. Typically your avatar can be and can look like almost anything you desire. In the public virtual world Second Life, you can design your avatar yourself. In There.com I believe you have a little less freedom of expression but I haven’t spent time in that world to really see. The private worlds such as ProtoSphere can give you the level of freedom of expression that Second Life does or they may be more structured. ProtoSphere is designed to be business friendly so it’s avatars reflect the corporate culture of the companies that implement its world. That means that if a company is business casual, the avatars are dressed in business casual clothes such as khakis. If an implementing company prefers suits the avatars aree dressed in that fashion.
The most exciting aspect of virtual worlds for me is the immersive nature of them and their ability to simulate various events and equipment. If you want to train people on the operation of a nuclear facility, a concrete production plant, or how a sales call might go based on what the rep says and does - all these things can me modeled and simulated for people all over the workd to experience. Do you have a distributed sales force? You can train them remotely through a virtual world. Is there an emergency at a chemical plant - the emergency responders can practice their entry and procedures in the virtual world before they have to face the real situation.
Today’s virtual worlds point to the exciting possibilities and promise of the future of this technology. Ten years ago virtual worlds of the scale we have today would have been the work of science fiction. Ten years from today - who knows the level of realism that will be possible?
One thing is certain, virtual worlds are here to stay and they offer up tantalizing opportunities to the companies and people who are using them. Simulations can be and are more realistic and more relevant to the learners going through them. Business that is conducted in virtual worlds in the form of virtual meetings, training, and collaboration are saving companies time and money… and are producing positive ROI (return on investment) which most times is the primary metric for a business.
Virtual worlds are something every company should look into - and as you examine this new technology, look around at all the options to make sure that you don’t fall in love with, or are turned off by - the first thing you see.
Stan March 26th, 2007
Far too many years ago I bought a ‘69 Camaro from a cousin. My dad and I replaced the motor, started some body work that was needed and… promptly left the car to sit. It’s been buggin me for quite some time that I have this neat car sitting around - rusting. But I don’t live at home, or anywhere near my folks place so it’s kind of hard to do anything about the car. So it sits.
Well a few months back I was flipping through the magazine racks at a book store and came across an article about a reproduction steel body for 69 Camaros. Wow! a fully licensed steel body. This is awesome! The article detailed how the body’s are built and how much work it would be to put a car together using this as the foundation. Super Cool.
Well here’s the company, Dynacorn, and they seem to be pretty good at what they’re doing. Plus they have a facility of some type in Western PA. So if I wanted to buy one I could make a day trip of it and pick up the body - yeah right!
So check out the company. They seem to have a pretty cool business. I have to figure out what to do with my Camaro. I think I’ll call the company up and ask them about the body - I’ll also need to call the guys at Z&Z restorations in Pittston (North-East PA). I shot a TV show pilot and they did a segment for me in their shop. At the time they had a ton of Camaro’s and Firebirds that they were working on - so they’d know about what it takes to bring a Camaro back to life. They should be able to help me decide if I should fix the body I have or if it would be better to buy the Dynacorn body and get a head-start/clean slate structurally speaking.
Interestingly enough, I have another cousin who told me that he’s done better in the muscle car restoration market than he has with his investments. I’d like to think that I could fix this Camaro and sell it for a modest profit… what I’d love to be able to build and own is a ‘32 Ford three window coupe. That is the car of my dreams! That and the XR3 of course.
