This blog is called ravings from a media madman for a reason, I suppose. It's a place for me to complain about technology and other things that bother me. Perhaps I am just getting to old to understand all of these gadgets most people take for granted.
I have been using a Flip Video Camera for the last few days. Officially I am getting to know the ins and outs of the camera so once my students begin using them I can answer questions they might have.
Unofficially, I am having a blast playing with the camera.
The software, though, is becoming a bit of a pain. Just figuring out how to save a video in the proper spot was a bit of a challenge. Uploading videos to YouTube and e-mailing them are relatively easy.
Posting the videos on my Web site is another matter. I have chatted with tech people until I am almost blue in the face and my videos still do not show up the way they are supposed to when I add content to my site. In fact, they don't show up at all.
I am settled for posting links to YouTube where they work just fine.
The videos are in the proper format. They work just fine everywhere except my Web site. I can't figure it out. I really can't.
So, for now, it is back to playing with the camera before I turn it over to my students. Maybe they can show me why the videos won't post on my site.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Hair today, gone tomorrow
Actually, the hair was gone yesterday.
Yes, I am now bald. My head itches and I don't recognize the man in the mirror. It was all for a good cause, though, as several donors sponsored me to have my head shaved with all the money going to St. Baldrick's and to find a cure for childhood cancer.
You can still donate. Just go to Stbaldricks.org and search for an event. Type in either Campbellsville, Campbellsville University or 42718 and you will soon find the proper event.
There is also a video on YouTube showing me losing my hair as well as several others.
You can go to my wife's Web site, joanmckinneyphotography.com, and under photographs find links to two different videos.
They were both taken with a new Flip video camera my students will soon be using to post to the Web. Things have certainly changed since I was in college.
Anyway, I'm bald, I'm older and I am glad it is spring break.
Yes, I am now bald. My head itches and I don't recognize the man in the mirror. It was all for a good cause, though, as several donors sponsored me to have my head shaved with all the money going to St. Baldrick's and to find a cure for childhood cancer.
You can still donate. Just go to Stbaldricks.org and search for an event. Type in either Campbellsville, Campbellsville University or 42718 and you will soon find the proper event.
There is also a video on YouTube showing me losing my hair as well as several others.
You can go to my wife's Web site, joanmckinneyphotography.com, and under photographs find links to two different videos.
They were both taken with a new Flip video camera my students will soon be using to post to the Web. Things have certainly changed since I was in college.
Anyway, I'm bald, I'm older and I am glad it is spring break.
Friday, March 12, 2010
I have pre-ordered an ipad
OK. I did it. I pre-ordered an iPad. I went with the 3G model and the largest amount of memory available.
I also ordered a keyboard docking station and an Apple case. Of course, an extended warranty, an Apple Care plan, was necessary.
Let's just say that my last notebook computer didn't cost much more.
I just got a notice from Apple that my order for the protection plan has been canceled because my home state (Kentucky) has as of yet not approved its sale.
I assume that will change as a delivery date approaches.
Since I do not have an iPhone or a fancy cell phone with a data plan, I decided to pass on the wi fi version of the iPad that will be released on April 3. That means waiting a while to play with this new device, but the 3G will permit me to cruise the web anywhere I wish using a relatively cheap data plan.
I can hardly wait to cruise the web while in the middle of nowhere. (Yes, I really need to be able to do that. Read sarcasm).
Yes, I am a gadget freak. Today at my office I received five new Flip Video cameras. I was like a kid at Christmas though they are intended for student use. I will have to play with them, only to learn how they work so I can assist students. Right? The camera is simple to use and easily imports video to a computer through a built in USB port.
So far I am impressed.
I only hope the iPad will please me as much. It doesn't have a USB port, though, so I will have to get a bit creative to mate the Flip Camera and the iPad.
I've got about six weeks to figure out how to do that. It's going to be like Christmas in late April
I can hardly wait.
I also ordered a keyboard docking station and an Apple case. Of course, an extended warranty, an Apple Care plan, was necessary.
Let's just say that my last notebook computer didn't cost much more.
I just got a notice from Apple that my order for the protection plan has been canceled because my home state (Kentucky) has as of yet not approved its sale.
I assume that will change as a delivery date approaches.
Since I do not have an iPhone or a fancy cell phone with a data plan, I decided to pass on the wi fi version of the iPad that will be released on April 3. That means waiting a while to play with this new device, but the 3G will permit me to cruise the web anywhere I wish using a relatively cheap data plan.
I can hardly wait to cruise the web while in the middle of nowhere. (Yes, I really need to be able to do that. Read sarcasm).
Yes, I am a gadget freak. Today at my office I received five new Flip Video cameras. I was like a kid at Christmas though they are intended for student use. I will have to play with them, only to learn how they work so I can assist students. Right? The camera is simple to use and easily imports video to a computer through a built in USB port.
So far I am impressed.
I only hope the iPad will please me as much. It doesn't have a USB port, though, so I will have to get a bit creative to mate the Flip Camera and the iPad.
I've got about six weeks to figure out how to do that. It's going to be like Christmas in late April
I can hardly wait.
Friday, March 5, 2010
I'm going to be taking it all off
Before anyone gets greatly concerned, I'm not planning to do anything obscene. On Saturday, March 13, I will be getting an ultimate haircut just like the one I had a year earlier.
Seriously, I am a shavee in the St. Baldrick's fund raising event set for Campbellsville University.
How do you raise money by having your head shaved? That's a question someone asked me just a couple of days ago.
You raise money by securing donors.
Let me be the first to admit that I am a terrible fundraiser. I just don't like asking people for money. That may have something to do with the fact that I was a practicing journalist for many years.
So far my fund raising total isn't exactly breaking any records. As of Thursday, March 4, my donations totaled $10. Please, won' t someone donate to the cause?
The cause, in case you didn't know, is a good one. The money goes toward research to find a cure for childhood cancer. Any cancer cure will be a blessing. I am also hopeful that if we can cure one form, cures for others will soon follow.
My mother died a little more than three years ago from cancer. The hurt of her death is still with me each and every day.
Last year I had my head shaved for the first time to raise money for cancer. I did that in my mother's honor. I am doing it again this year in her honor and memory. I plan to keep doing it, as long as I have hair that can be cut, until I die or a cure for cancer is found.
I remember taking my mother to the Brown Cancer Center in Louisville for radiation treatments. There were so many people of all ages there being treated for cancer. I often wonder what happened to all of those people. Did they win their battles or did they lose their fights with cancer?
As we all know, cancer treatments can cause patients to lose their hair. The idea behind St. Baldrick's is to shave our heads with pride and in honor of those who lose their hair because of cancer treatments.
Some of my students last year were a bit shocked to see me without hair. This year I have encouraged a couple of them to also have their heads shaved.
I just wish we could raise more money.
Please give if you possibly can. Donations may be made on line at stbaldrick's.org or may be given to any participant. Donations may also be made at the event which will be most of the day in the gym on campus.
Let's all take it off and help make cancer a thing of the past.
Seriously, I am a shavee in the St. Baldrick's fund raising event set for Campbellsville University.
How do you raise money by having your head shaved? That's a question someone asked me just a couple of days ago.
You raise money by securing donors.
Let me be the first to admit that I am a terrible fundraiser. I just don't like asking people for money. That may have something to do with the fact that I was a practicing journalist for many years.
So far my fund raising total isn't exactly breaking any records. As of Thursday, March 4, my donations totaled $10. Please, won' t someone donate to the cause?
The cause, in case you didn't know, is a good one. The money goes toward research to find a cure for childhood cancer. Any cancer cure will be a blessing. I am also hopeful that if we can cure one form, cures for others will soon follow.
My mother died a little more than three years ago from cancer. The hurt of her death is still with me each and every day.
Last year I had my head shaved for the first time to raise money for cancer. I did that in my mother's honor. I am doing it again this year in her honor and memory. I plan to keep doing it, as long as I have hair that can be cut, until I die or a cure for cancer is found.
I remember taking my mother to the Brown Cancer Center in Louisville for radiation treatments. There were so many people of all ages there being treated for cancer. I often wonder what happened to all of those people. Did they win their battles or did they lose their fights with cancer?
As we all know, cancer treatments can cause patients to lose their hair. The idea behind St. Baldrick's is to shave our heads with pride and in honor of those who lose their hair because of cancer treatments.
Some of my students last year were a bit shocked to see me without hair. This year I have encouraged a couple of them to also have their heads shaved.
I just wish we could raise more money.
Please give if you possibly can. Donations may be made on line at stbaldrick's.org or may be given to any participant. Donations may also be made at the event which will be most of the day in the gym on campus.
Let's all take it off and help make cancer a thing of the past.
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