I Flip for my Mino

I purchased a Flip video camera a couple weeks ago and took it along with me to Colorado. I decided to go with the Flip from the suggestion of Lisa Young who owns one and Alisa Cooper, who did a summer project on videos. I officially love this thing! First of all it is so compact and easy to use. I was able to keep it in my pocket and whip it out for short video clips on horseback! The software that comes with it is so easy to use its amazing! I even had to call on their tech support via email and they responded in a timely manner and got my problem solved in seconds. I just need a mini tripod and I'm set! I seriously recommend this camera! If you are looking for professional quality video then this isn't for you but if your looking to get into grassroots video for your work or home then its a bargain. My only complaint is the zoom does not refocus but for under $200 and ease of use you can't beat it! If you're at PV - check with Brian H, I believe he has a few for check out use - he or Sam can show you how it works!
Sample video: windygap96 @ Windy Gap

Time Lapse?

I came across a free and fun little application to take time lapse images using a web cam or your built in iSight camera on standard Macs.  This software lets you set up how many images or still photos to take and the duration time.  For example you can record an event and schedule the software to take a snap shot every 3 seconds.  You also have control over the frame rate of the final video.  I like to use 10 frames per second, but you will have to play around to get your desired result.  When the event is over, the software complies the images into a movie file, that you can export to the web, upload to YouTube, or insert into your blog.

The software is called Gawker- This can be found at

http://gawker.sourceforge.net/Gawker.html

Speaking of Goodbye: Forget bittersweet its just painful

So I have this chest pain and while I've been having a lot of tests done these days poking, probing, x raying, this ill can't be seen; its the one you feel when your heart is breaking. No meds to cure.

Don't misunderstand, I am looking forward to new adventures at Mesa, truly, but right now its hard to see past the great people I've chosen to walk away from.

I have always said, PV has an exceptional, group of individuals working here; especially in the LTD and not to mention faculty. I had no idea four years ago when I started, that I would depend so much on other people. Its amazing when you work with fun, talented individuals how the world of opportunities open up to you; what we can accomplish together. All good things come from supportive bosses, a talented trainer, an exceptional artist & developer, whiz of a database wizard, and fun, clever network admins who help us play, amazing IT director, faculty willing to play and take risks, the list goes on.

Why would I leave? Its a good question & one I asked myself (a lot) when I got the offer. So I wrote my "Do I go" pro/cons list. My cons...as in the reasons to stay, were filled with people. In fact it was mostly people, it went on extensively with names. The pro side was filled with job opportunity items (sorry MC, I don't know you guys yet!) When it came down to it, the Con list was filled with the one thing I could not control...people staying.

I'm heartbroken to leave, its my roots, my home...but sometimes, even in a home you adore, for a million possible reasons, you'll find yourself hanging a "For Sale" sign out front. I just hope I'm leaving it in better condition then when I arrived, I know it did for me. For my own team, Sam, Chrystle, and Vanessa, ouch is all I can say, ouch.

Goodbye...

In about 21 hours I will be losing  a very good boss and friend to another college.  Yes another PVC employee jumps ship.  I am not saying it's not a better move for her, but I am saying she will be missed around PVC's campus.

Having worked with her for about 4 years and worked for her for the last 2 have been a great experience.  She never backs down from a challenge and she always knows how to squeeze the most out of my creativity to make a project that much better.

I have learned a lot from her over the years and hope to still collaborate with her on many district wide projects!  Remember ONE Maricopa!  We had many plans and ideas to take Instructional Technology to a new level on our campus, I am just sad that we ran out of time or never got the resources to start.  

Jen, I might not be next door anymore, or there to say "good night, see  ya tomorrow!"  but we shall collaborate, create, and continue to learn virtually.  

Take care friend,

Sam

AKA Hypnotoad

Another blow to user protections

I'm dismayed by a Judge's decision in the Viacom/Google-YouTube lawsuit. Yesterday a judged ruled in favor of Google turning over copies of all videos that were removed for any reason, IP addresses of all users, with log in id's, and viewing history, and...what I find particularly interesting, on page 23 of the ruling (.pdf posted by Wired) is the argument Viacom makes to challenge the term "Private." Viacom argues that if you post a video private but then refer to that url in a discussion forum you are giving up the rights to privacy, yet there is no definition of the boundries to that...so if I post my url on my email signature and send it out to say 50 people in my address book - all of whom I know btw - is that no longer "private" or if I post my URL on say....Twitter does that mean its no longer private although I only have say....47 followers all of whom I know? I was glad to see the Judge denied this claim - somewhat. She ruled they could have the "non-content" information of these videos. So I am thinking this means they can have user ID, IP addresses, how many times its been viewed and by what IP address and the tags and comments?? Although tags and comments may border on "content data."

Also, if you look to the end to the conclusions you'll see all the rulings and its clear Google worked hard to protect their stuff but looks to me like they put their users out to swim on their own! Now on one hand I can't really disagree with this...ultimately the blame should not fall on service providers short of negligence on their part should they choose to ignore laws being broken the ultimate fault should fall to the users who break the laws. On the other, I just find it frustrating that those law abiding citizens who like to post videos of their family vacations find refuge in YouTube suddenly are under the microscope for copyright infringement both in posting and viewing.

Overall I don't know about you but I find it unsettling. While I recognize privacy on the internet is a misnomer the truth is we all have some expectations of privacy in certain places - email, network storage, websites, etc. Is it too much to expect privacy in such places as YouTube? If it is too high an expectation, then truthfully, I have to agree with organizations such as...say, Maricopa CCD, who hesitate in forming alliances with Gmail and Apple iTunesU. Its a running joke in our district about how long the Google - district wide student email contract has been lingering in legal but now I see...and I can't blame them one bit!!

When are the companies like Viacom and the major Recording industry giants going to stop spending so much time and money on seeking retributions against their customers and start embracing the 21st century technology and find a way to make it work for everyone? Seems to me if they stop their "buy CD's" mantra and go where the users are - online - they may find bliss! I liken it to someone wanting to hang onto the 8-track cassette - come one- its time to move on! What do you think?

Flash + PDF= Awesome!

Adobe announced that it will releasing it's new version of Acrobat which will allow users to package Flash based videos inside the PDF. This is an amazing feature that will change the way we deliver and collaborate materials with all of our users, clients, or coworkers.

The way we send presentations or collaborative work among our colleges will be much easier using this feature. The professional version can package powerpoint presentations along with audio.

Kevin M. Lynch at Adobe says, "You can now send someone a presentation that speaks on its own all through a PDF." This is great news since Adobe hasn't released a new version for about 2 years.

Sam Fraulino

We're moving

Sam and I are moving from our "pv" blog so please have some patience while we get up and running. Our archives are here: http://pvccitech.blogspot.com/
Thanks!