Category Archives: geekspeak

site-related techspeak, computer crap, other technical garble not of interest to the general populace.

geekspeak

Back in the Swing

It has been a loooong time since I sat down and did any video editing.

So, I got a hair up my ass to try my hand at making an anime music video. Downloaded a bunch of free apps (and some not-so-free ones), ripped some DVD footage, imported it into Premiere, and sat down to edit.

OMG. I had forgotten a.) how much I love to edit video; and b.) how easily it can suck away several hours of your life.

Even for my little 1½ minute AMV, this is going to take some serious time. If I were returning to Media 100®, everything would come back to me in an instant. I mean, I was an assistant for Media 100® seminars for my second co-op, and I used the program for probably three academic classes after that. Alas, I am now using Premiere Pro, and I’m having to first remember the *process* of editing, remember how I would have done it in Media 100®, *then* figure out how to do it in Premiere. Luckily, it’s making sense now.

Unluckily (depending on how you look at it), I’m still as detail-oriented and anal as I ever was — even more so, now that I don’t have a deadline.

Aaron: When you decide to make an AMV, I’ll do my damnedest to explain Premiere to you. I think I can make it make sense. We’ll see…

otaku

Kick-Ass Mics + iRiver = Crazy Delicious

After a weekend of cooking, driving, and eating, Aaron and I drove up to Ann Arbor to meet a couple of podcasters, Erin and Noah — better known as the Ninjaconsultants.

It was a little awkward at first, meeting people we only knew from teh intarweb, but we all relaxed after a while. After we took a turn around Wizzywig and purchased our respective geeky otaku goodness (I got the cutest Nyanko Burger stickers and Post-Its and a Totoro wallscroll), we retired to a nearby coffee shop for some mobile recording.

We got some beverages and sat at a table in the back of the shop. After we’d all had the chance to get comfortable, and we finally got around to talking about some anime-related stuff (good fodder for Aaron’s podcast), Aaron busted out the iRiver and his new, handmade lapel microphones. We had two mics between the four of us, so Noah had the idea of clipping their mic to Erin’s wooden cappuccino stirrer and propping it up between them in his empty glass. We did the same, clipping our mic to both of our straws in one glass, making a bit of a bipodal affair leaning against the edge of Aaron’s cup. It may seem like quite the jury-rigged setup, but it worked smashingly.

We recorded for two hours.

We talked about all sorts of things: Star Wars, the homeless, anime conventions, public transportation, probably dozens of not-quite-related topics. (Aaron’s going to have a fun time sorting it all out later, so he can actually use some of it on his show…) But it was a really good time, as I’d hoped it would be.

Whether anyone’s interested or not, I’ll probably post a heads-up here when Aaron airs parts of the interview (and I use the term “interview” loosely). The audio quality turned out fantastic, we got a good amount of decent content, and Erin and Noah recorded a few bumpers and IDs for Aaron’s show. I think there’ll be a few fun one-liners he can use, too.

As we were leaving, I commented, “I feel so counterculture, podcasting from a coffee shop…”

Are you hip to it, daddy-o? Yeah.

geekspeak 2 Comments

I Done It.

The new Lakeshoremen.org is live.

I still have some stuff to add, like the photo database, a forum, and fixing whatever random bugs the membership finds as they tool around the site… but it’s pretty much done.

Oh, and can I just say that Core FTP Lite would suck my ballzac, if I had one.

Thanks.

drumcorps, randomness, webdesign 3 Comments

Things That Make Me Depressed

When I realize I’m neglecting a given website and think to myself (way in advance), “Gee, once I’m done redesigning this website, I should really go spruce up that other one.”

Then, right before I launch the redesigned website, and am almost ready to think about the neglected website, someone e-mails the mailing list related to said neglected site and says, “Hey. Why isn’t this site ever updated?” Then I feel like a schmuck, and publicly apologize for sucking, and share my plans for updating the neglected site. Other list members express their appreciation. I feel better about myself.

Then the person (I hesitate to call the person The Complainant) e-mails the list again, just to say that they didn’t mean to start a fight, but really, why is the webmistress giving lame excuses for neglecting the site?

Which, of course, puts me into instant “fuck you” defensive mode, partnered with an unnecessary depression. Not a good way to get motivated to finish the LSM site.

Sometimes I think I should just let someone else take it over. Sure, the entire website was my own idea back in the day (1996), and yeah, that was what made me learn HTML in the first place… but maybe it’s time for someone else to take over.

Maybe I will.

I’ll give it some thought.

Update, 10:05pm: I told the mailing list of my poor neglected site to give me six weeks in which to turn the site around. If they’re not satisfied with the site by Veterans’ Day, I will abdicate in favor of a new webmaster of their choosing.

Still depressed. Still haven’t done any work on the LSM site tonight. Still has to go live either tomorrow night or Saturday morning.

I hate being depressed when I shouldn’t be. I’m going to bed.

geekspeak 1 Comment

That Was Easier Than I Thought

I just spent 90 minutes to create a form with which the members of the Lakeshoremen will be able to correct any errors with their first name, last name, title, or e-mail address, and will be able to change their passwords.

I actually drew a flowchart.

And it helped.

…Actually, now that I think about it, there’s one more step of password validation I should probably add, that I had ended up striking from the aforementioned flowchart: allowing only alphanumerics. The passwords can be 6 to 8 characters, and I’d rather not go through the bother of unescaping HTML to figure out the “real” length, and whatever the hell else would be involved. As it is, could somebody break it? (That was a question, not a request, btw.) Basically, is this a major security issue?

Apart from that, though — holy crap, I made something that really, really goes! I might actually get to work on the photo database before launch. It’s on the “Nice To Have” list, while the password editing was on the “Gotta Have” list.

Comments and last-minute suggestions are welcome. The site goes live Friday night / Saturday morning, whether I think it’s ready or not. I promised.