Thirty years ago I was roaming nervously throughout Dr. Miltenberger’s home. Waiting for Rev. Harlan to show up and make an honest man of me. Combo Halloween Party/Reception followed (photo). Barb is still my best friend and I’m counting on another 30 years with her.
Spent most of Saturday morning at the Coffee Zone with George, Tom and assorted pals, while George migrated files from the old Mac Book to the new one. There are Windows utils that will copy a lot of your stuff from one PC to another, but then you have to go back and reinstall all the apps, one at at time. Yes, I know there are ways to avoid this but not for Joe the Dumbass (me).
My my first hands-on impressions of the new Mac Book Pro are extremely positive. Too soon for me to try to share much here but once I stop stroking the case, I noticed the new multi-touch pad is amazing. WAY better than even the most tricked out mouse. I’ll show you when I know enough to do so.
And the new NVIDIA graphic cards make everything damned fast and beautiful.
From the Coffee Zone it was out to the Prairie Garden Trust to work with Henry on a little video project. We’ll post it here when it’s done (assuming it doesn’t suck, in which case you’ll never hear another word about it). We had a beautiful fall day for.
So no post on Saturday. A rarity. Sometimes life just gets in the way of blogging.
I’ll be in our Dallas office for a few days next week. The agenda is kind of loose and open-ended. Our sports division (HQ in Dallas) is exploring ways to use more “new media” tools and I’ll try to help them find ways to do this. I think. My point is, what a great job.
And here’s what I’ve learned. Just about every online tool you need is out there. Cheap or free and easy to use. The hard part is finding people who… I wish I could come up with a better word… people who “get” this whole Internet thing. Sure, everybody uses email and Google and all that, but for most the net is where you go to find something rather than create something.
Posting photos to flickr, writing a blog, even something as simple as Twitter involves sharing something of your self. Expressing who you are. It’s walking out on that high school stage and singing Killing Me Softly. A lot of people just can’t do it.
But when I meet (discover?) such a kindred spirit, someone who has something to say and a passion for saying it, it’s great fun showing them things I’ve discovered on my endless surfing safaris.
A few months ago I got a call from Brian Slawin. Someone told him I fooled around with streaming live video and he wanted some ideas on how to stream his daughter’s softball games so family members could watch her play. He gave Qik and Kyte a try but wasn’t happy with the results but he kept at it. This past weekend he packed up his laptop, webcam and Sprint cellular card and headed for the ball field.
“Initially, I was concerned that a wireless cellular card wouldn’t allow enough upload bandwidth to actually stream the signal, but it turned out that even at 100kbps upstream, the signal was rock solid and remarkably clear. My gear includes an HP Pavilion PC, the Sprint card, a Logitech QuickCam Vision Pro, a power strip with 1400 joules filtering and some other cables, etc…
“Turns out I got lucky…my Sprint signal was 5×5 and there was power right at the backstop plus an angled desk/bench that made for the perfect setup. I used the Justin.tv streaming system and it was tons of fun to have about a dozen parents/friends watch each game and join in the chat with Justin’s embedded chat feature. I made like a play-by-play narrator typing out what was going on…and every now and then playing “Joe Buck” for fun.”
“I’ll need a better setup than just hanging the web cam from a couple of lanyards and a bag…when it got windy, or when there was a foul ball, the camera shook and I had to reposition it numerous times. Likely a tripod or perhaps a platform that is more securely attached to the fence and would allow for a higher angle is what I’m going to experiment with next.”
Brian’s company has some big plans.
“I can see a time where we’d actually hire broadcast teams (students in broadcasting programs in local high schools or colleges) to broadcast the games. We’ve already begun working with a softball tournament company on the East coast and are going to try and bring this forward for next summer’s tournaments in the New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey area.”
“But for now, I’ll continue to enjoy traipsing after my daughter this fall and into next summer as we travel to Junior Olympic softball tournaments throughout the Midwest. Be sure to visit Warcats18Gold.com for more information about the team and if you’re nearby, be sure to come by and say hello at the Eleventh Annual St. Louis Softball Showcase in Chesterfield, MO Oct 31 – Nov 2.”
During my early radio days (’70s) there was tremendous pressure on the radio station to broadcast high school football and basketball games. We did some high school baseball but I don’t know that we ever found air time for girls softball. There just wasn’t enough time, staff or advertising support. And if one of the local radio stations didn’t broadcast the game… you had to be in the stands.
No more.
I had every intention of staying offline this weekend. I even left the MacBook back in t Jeff City. But it’s 7:30 a.m. here in Tulsa, Blane and the kids are still asleep, Tonya is making breakfast and Ryan’s laptop is just sitting here. Connected to the Net. Practically begging me to take a spin.
This is Ryan’s first trip home (as in temporary U.S. home) from college (he’s a freshman at Union University in Jackson,TN) and I get to be part of it. Blane and I will take him back to school today, so lots of quality car time.
Yesterday we hit the mall and –lo and behold– found ourselves walking past the Apple store. So we popped in get Tonya an accessory for her new iPod and I got to fondle the new MacBook Pro. I ordered mine online, sight unseen and it’s somewhere between here and China.
I won’t bore you with my impressions. But if you find yourself near an Apple store, just pick up one of the new MacBooks. Hold it. Open and close the lid. Run your hands over it. That’s all I’m saying.