One of Benjamin's favorite books right now is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See. Here, I'm reading it to him. You can hear him say the names of most of the animals too. Quite fun.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Kodak Zi6
With the third child here, it was time for a new imaging device. Before Benjamin arrived, we got a Canon DV camcorder. After Hannah arrived, we got a 7.2 (effective) megapixel Cybershot. The Cybershot could record VGA video in a codec iMovie didn't like very much. So I just have to re-encode these videos if I want to use them with iMovie. It was also limited in other ways. It takes great stills and the video is good enough in a pinch.
The old camcorder stopped working about a year ago. I think it might still play the tapes, but it can't capture video any longer. So it was time to buy a new video recorder. I looked at what Target had from Aiptek and the Mino Flip. But I settled on the Kodak Vi6.
First of all, this is really just for point-and-shoot. It is not a camcorder replacement. The main thing I like about it is that it records in HD. Specifically, it can shoot 720p@30 and 720p@60. If you're not familiar with that, it means "High Definition" in either 30 frames-per-second or 60 frames-per-second. It's what I wanted and that's about all you really need to know. If you want a more technical explanation on what the numbers really mean, just Google it.
The first complaint I have about this camera is the firmware. It doesn't allow you to set a default format. So if I intend to only ever record at 60 fps, I have to switch it each time I power it on. Second, sometimes the record button doesn't start recording, but I think that's probably pilot error.
Another slight problem is that there is no indication the unit is powered on when the USB is plugged in. Half the time I'm waiting for something to happen after realizing I need to turn it on after connecting it. The other half of the time, I'm pulling it off the USB port while it's still powered. The nice thing is that this camera has never dumped the data as result of pulling it off the USB port while it's still powered. I've had several cameras that will dump the data in that event, which is a real pain. Not so with this camera.
Last, the battery life indicator is incorrect. After about 15 minutes at 60 fps, the battery life indicator was red, which supposedly indicates the battery was almost dead. But the unit went on to record over 30 minutes more on a red indicator. I turned it off and back on to see the battery indicator back to 50%. So battery life seems quite antiquate but the indicator is wrong.
As far as complaints are concerned, that's about it. I think those are really mild complaints. One of the features I like is that it has a macro mode to allow focus on extremely close objects. I've had cameras with a macro feature that doesn't offer much of a difference.
Tip: I recommend either a) avoid putting this device in your pocket or b) get a rubber band to keep the USB from popping out. Even if you put the device in the felt bag that comes with it, if you put it in your pocket, the USB will pop out at some point.
Another Tip: Get the big, high quality SD card and get extra Kodak batteries. Kodak sells Ni-MH 2100mAh AA 1.2V. Don't use alkaline. Even though it looks like regular AA cells will work, I'm not sure it's such a good idea. I've been reading reviews of people who use regular AA and they seem to have nothing but problems. Some reviews say there are no problems. Kodak is not clear about it.
Here's a clip I shot in LAX before getting on the bus. It was originally recoded on April 29th, 2009 at 720p @ 60 FPS:
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Abortion Common Ground? #abortion #liberty
Today, the president said:
He was talking about the abortion "debate." At first, I believed there was no way to discern "common ground" on the abortion debate. But then I realized, the common ground is the use of force. US Presidents either advocate the use force to ban abortion or they advocate the use force to perform them. I object to the use of force for both situations.
I am being taxed to perform abortions. If abortions were illegal, I would be taxed to prevent them. It is a form of welfare either way and it is wrong.
For the record, I object to being taxed to prevent things like rape and murder too. Law enforcement doesn't do a very good job at preventing it anyway. I would rather protect myself with my own resources, not the resources of someone else.
... when we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do -- that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.
He was talking about the abortion "debate." At first, I believed there was no way to discern "common ground" on the abortion debate. But then I realized, the common ground is the use of force. US Presidents either advocate the use force to ban abortion or they advocate the use force to perform them. I object to the use of force for both situations.
I am being taxed to perform abortions. If abortions were illegal, I would be taxed to prevent them. It is a form of welfare either way and it is wrong.
For the record, I object to being taxed to prevent things like rape and murder too. Law enforcement doesn't do a very good job at preventing it anyway. I would rather protect myself with my own resources, not the resources of someone else.
Don't Give Up On Mozy
I've been using Mozy to perform backups on my home system. Basically, Mozy is an online backup solution. It's rather inexpensive compared to certain solutions and more expensive than others.
One of the problems I've had is that Mozy never seems to ever complete the backup. According to the log the longest attempt was a try for 3 hours, and in that attempt, the software only got half way through my total backup. It seems to give up after 11 tries or so. Each subsequent attempt would get only so far then report failure.
I was thinking of giving up on it since after a month, it never completed a backup. But I also noticed that the log claimed to have files on the server, with the message "Already on server." In other words, my client would report a file to upload, but the server would claim it already had the file, which is good. So it appears that previous failed attempts did actually result in files being backed up.
But how many files have been backed up? That's the thing, I don't know from the client. But the server says there are massive files on its side. I'd estimate about 65% or 70% of the files I've been trying to upload have actually reached the server. And that's a sliding average because I have a lot of large video files that I back up locally and remove. So it might actually have all of my files.
Bottom line is that over a month's worth of use, a large number of files have reached the Mozy server, so I'm going to stick with Mozy for now. I'm not happy with the client, but it appears to move in the direction I want. I think the client could certainly improve, but I'm willing to work with it.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Titus Play-by-play
I've had some time to reflect on the events right before and to the birth of Titus. We are safe and sound at home as a family. Grandpa Jerry dropped off the kids the day after we got home and we're all together again in our tiny apartment.
We appreciate all of the well-wishes and congratulations from everyone. It took so long to get to this point, yet Titus was really only two days "late." His due-date was the 8th, and he ended up being born on the 10th.
A bit of the story can be seen on my Facebook account as it happened and as I would snap pictures and upload them. But that really doesn't capture the story completely.
T-06:09: Book Store - Just a few hours before Titus arrived, Karen and I were actually on a date. Aunt Tammy was watching the kids and we went to Souplantation. After that, we went to the book store and even met with a friend there.
T-05:30: Home - We arrived home to find the kids were asleep in bed thanks to Aunt Tammy. Karen complained of "gas" pain, which made Tammy and me suspicious. But there were false alarms before, so we treated this the same.
T-04:10: First Stage Labor - We went to bed and Karen continued to report pain every 10 minutes. I got dressed. Twenty minutes later, I called Grandpa Jerry, who was our designated baby-sitter for the big event. Jerry arrived quickly after that. We were still trying to figure out if it was time to go to the hospital. See, we didn't want to spend hours there and we didn't want them to pressure us with any unnecessary procedures before we were ready. Then the contractions came more quickly, so we decided just to go.
T-01:10: Hospital Arrival - We arrived at the hospital at 1:20 AM. It took a moment to locate L&D department on the 3rd floor. They were closed up and no one was at the front desk. We found the intercom and they let us in. I had to leave Karen to move the van from patient arrival to the parking lot.
I got back from moving the van and joined Grandma Sue, Aunt Tammy, and Uncle Gilbert. Karen was already in a hospital gown. I briefly stepped out to tell Gilbert we might be a while. Little did I know Karen was "complete, complete." This means dilation was complete and effacement was complete. The doctor was 30 minutes away, so we got the "on-call" doctor.
T-00:18: Second Stage Labor - Karen answered their questions and signed their papers. So much for second stage labor.
T00:00: Delivery - Titus Joseph Martin arrived at 2:13 AM on May 10th, 2009 (Mother's Day), weighing in at 10 pounds, length of 21 inches.
After he arrived, got cleaned up, and Karen was patched up a bit (she sustained far less injury than with Benjamin's delivery, even though Titus was about 7 ounces heavier), we were moved from L&D to our room at around 4:30 AM.
There were several visitors on Mother's Day including Gramps and Nana.
They were already scheduled to volunteer at Torrance Memorial that day, so they arrived early and too me to breakfast.
Later that day, Hannah and Benjamin arrived with Grandpa Jerry. Jerry had some things to take of, so all the kids got to hang out for a while.
We stayed one night and left after diner on the 11th. The hospital is not a place to rest, so we were all too glad to get out of there. They did a number of tests and picked on on the new kid for various reasons (due to his size and other factors) and they all came back negative.
Arrival at home was around 10:30 PM. Benjamin and Hannah were still with Grandpa Jerry, so we had a peaceful night and morning. Titus was very quiet ... almost too quiet. But Karen assured me he'll get more vocal very soon.
Since we got home early, we were in uncharted territory. We never had such a peaceful time so soon after the birth of either Benjamin or Hannah. I highly recommend going home early if it's safe to do so. And I highly recommend ditching the kids of possible, even if for 24 hours.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Getting Away From The Nebulous World of 1000+ #googlereader
So say you're using Google Reader and it's getting out of control. Often, this happens because there's too many articles from high-volume subscriptions, but it can also happen because there are just too many subscriptions period. Even if a subscription only yields 1 article per day, if you have enough, this can be overwhelming.
I find one of the best solution is to open Reader and select the "Trends" section. Under "Subscription Trends," look for the "Frequently Updated" tab. At the bottom, click on Show: top 40. Look at the 40th subscription and select it.
Now decide, do you really need this subscription? Are you ever going to get around to these articles? If not, just unsubscribe and be done with it. Repeat until Reader is under control again.
Price Gouging Is Good #swineflu
The Colombian government has imposed a price fix for face-masks of 180 pesos (about 8¢ US). Violators will be fined, shut down, and/or imprisoned. This is a basic economic mistake governments always make during emergencies (real or hype). Even in emergency situations, the free market should dictate the price of things, not a centralized bureaucracy.
This is because forcing the price to stay low will only result in a shortage and distribution complications. Likewise, allowing the price to rise mitigate these problems. Will certain people be denied access to face-masks? Yes, either way, they will. But if denial of face-masks is brought on by government intervention, less people will actually receive them due to red tape than if they were merely unable to afford them.
This is why price gouging is good. If a face-masks are fixed at 8¢ each even during an emergency, I am more likely to buy more than I need, which would bring about a shortage. But if each face-mask is going for $10 each, I might be a little more careful and leave some for other people.
The free market solution is to allow the masks to rise to a point where no one can buy them, even in a panic. Maybe they rise to $1,000 each. Crazy, right? Maybe one sucker would buy one mask and that's it. After that, the seller won't sell any more until the price falls. Eventually, it will fall to a level where more and more people can afford them.
People critical of the above free market solution would say this slows everything down. They think it takes too long for the price to fall to the "proper" level. They would say the government should step in because they know a) the proper price and b) the proper quantity.
Yet, if they remain at 8¢ each, the one person who would have used $1,000 for one mask is suddenly able to afford ten thousand masks. This is where governments decide to impose limits which slow the whole process because they know the proper quantity, after all.
Trusting the free market is smart because it naturally addresses the problems associated with hording better than red tape ever could. Private property and multiple wills react better and more quickly than government "experts" and red-tape.
Trusting the government that sucks at everything it does is just dumb. What makes us believe they know the proper price and quantity for face-masks, especially in a hyped emergency?
Gouging protects against the effects of panic. This applies to face-masks as well as medicine and generators. Whenever the government monkeys with prices and quantities, unintended consequences abound.
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