First video
This is a short video I made with the Xacti camera just before we left Kalgoorlie. It’s Jim and Maggie performing a very disjointed version of Ba Ba Blacksheep.
I tried to film Princess the pup tonight, but it came out pretty dark and there was a lot of background noise.
I’ve got a lot to learn about using this camera. it should be fun though, if I can find the time.
Tags: family, Twins, video2 comments
21 May 2008
New video camera
I bought a Sanyo Xacti nine-megapixel video camera through eBay from Hong Kong before it was readily available in Australia.
The gadget has only just arrived and I haven’t had much time to experiment with it yet, but first impressions are very positive.
It’s small and shoots high quality. There are recording options for television standard or web.
I plan to use it on our drive across the country to hopefully film a scene of the Great Australian Bight and the houses we previously lived in at Ceduna and Port Pirie. If they work I’ll post the clips here in a couple of weeks.
More importantly, I hope Dad will be well enough and willing to speak on camera. That was a great suggestion from a friend of mine to capture a special memory.
Down the track I hope to use the camera for recording some web news at Mount Gambier.
Tags: photography, Technology, video0 comments
22 April 2008
Video journalism
This is my first effort at video journalism. I took some footage of the football fiasco in Kalgoorlie when one club forfeited because of concerns with the condition of the oval.
We posted it to the Kalgoorlie Miner web site after I uploaded it to YouTube. The video was made using a digital camera.
Tags: journalism, Kalgoorlie, media, Sport, video0 comments
29 December 2007
New web gadgets
I’ve been so busy for most of this year that I haven’t had much time to indulge in experimenting with web scripts, online services and widgets. Winding down towards a holiday I had the opportunity this weekend.
My first discovery was a free script called PHP Easy Downloader. It cleverly creates a neatly structured directory of text or image links for all the contents in a web folder. It’s ideal for listing downloads of files or pictures.
The program includes icons for file types and can create thumbnails of images. It has an accurate search function and can list files according to several options. There’s also a back-end administration tool.
I’m using it to list file downloads and to show a thumbnail gallery of my images directory. The latter isn’t my main photo gallery, but I thought this script would be handy to administer the files I have uploaded previously for this blog and elsewhere, many of which are no longer in use.
I’ve been experimenting a bit lately with video and searched a while for an online video solution. Motionbox has limited free storage (300MB) but looks attractive and offers handy features like online editing.
Tags: internet, software, Technology, video0 comments
20 December 2007
A Passion for Dance
Margaret’s first dance concert was held on December 1 at the Goldfields Arts Centre. It was the Kalgoorlie Dance Academy’s end-of-year presentation: “A Passion for Dance”.
The Tiny Tots (girls aged 3-4) were making their debut stage appearances. They were introduced individually to the crowd and then performed Splish Splash.
We bought a DVD of the concert and after some experimenting I managed to make a video of Maggie’s performance and uploaded a copy to You Tube.
Tags: entertainment, Kalgoorlie, Kids, video0 comments
16 December 2007
Birthday video
Here’s a brief video of Maggie opening one of her birthday presents:
[coolplayer width="380" height="505" autoplay="0" loop="0" charset="utf-8" download="1" mediatype=""]
Maggie’s birthday
[/coolplayer]
0 comments
15 October 2006
Online data storage
A recent development in the constantly changing world of the internet has been the proliferation of data storage services. Placing documents, pictures, music or videos online used to involve a convoluted process of file transfer using specialised software and it required the user to have their own domain.
That led to the creation of social networking sites such as Flickr and YouTube where people could easily upload and share their files.
People who wanted to confidentially save personal files online still had to use their own domain, or more sneakily, set up a gmail account for that purpose and take advantage of Google’s generous email data limit.
Today there are quite a few services offering large amounts of space free of charge. It’s easy and intuitive to upload whatever you like through a web browser.
I’ve looked closely at three of these services in the past week. One is called MediaMax, another is Box.net and there’s also Protectmyphotos. Read more »
Tags: email, google, internet, life, media, music, PR, software, video, war, work, world0 comments
28 December 2005
A dilemma of parenthood
Christmas week is a time when families come together and bridge the generation gap. Grandparents get to watch video games and DVDs. Kids get to hear a singalong.
Something I’ve noticed this year is that Dude has come of age with his cricket. He’s no longer the awkward little kid who could hardly hit a ball and couldn’t bowl straight.
He hits the ball more often than not, but more impressively, he generates some serious pace when bowling and is fairly accurate.
I used to love backyard cricket when I was young, and when Dude was born in March 1996 it was almost a cliche that I had someone to share that passion.
Now that he’s at the point where he can actually play, my time to play with him is limited to holidays and maybe some weekends. That’s the dilemma of parenthood and responsibility.
Tags: Christmas, cricket, holiday, Kids, PR, video, war0 comments
30 October 2005
Windows password and Mandriva
Dude forgot his Windows password! The kids have passwords because they are paranoid their siblings might read their personal files. The older ones are just nine and 11, yet they have computer passwords! I didn’t touch a computer until I was 22.
Anyway, what to do about Dude’s PC? There are a few tricks involving live Linux CDs that I might have tried, and did, but because his computer was a dual boot with Suse I couldn’t get the boot loader to behave as it should.
There might have been a solution, but I couldn’t be bothered. Read more »
Tags: fire, firefox, Kids, linux, office, PR, video, Windows, writing0 comments
30 September 2005
New version of Puppy
A new version of the Puppy Linux live CD has been released. I’ve been playing with Puppy since December and it’s definitely the best live Linux distro out there.
Better than Knoppix? It’s horses for courses, but I can’t see much sense in running a fully featured distro from a CD for everyday use.
It needs to be small enough to run from RAM, which rules out all the big distros. There are some nice-looking smaller distros like Slax and its derivatives, but you need geek skills to add software and save the configuration. I haven’t figured that out with Slax yet. Read more »
Tags: audio, feature, linux, PR, software, video, war, Windows1 comment
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