Watching the Watchers

Tumble along

2007-04-08T02:03:31Z

So here's my problem with Vox. It wins incredible points for community building, and encouraging a regular amount of blogging from its users... but it falls apart for me because I'm a horrible at regular blogging.

Regular blogging in this case, is what blogging has become in the past few years. Many of the people I consider 'good' bloggers are quickly becoming something resembling journalists. Writing stories, cracking leads, actually becoming... interesting.

Of course, for me, the net result is when I think about blogging, I think that I need to be coherent, articulate, and informative. Well that just seems like WAY too much effort, so I'm going back to our roots. Back in the day blogging was things like links.net; a running train of thought, a log of someone's online web presence. It occurs to me that REALLY active online, just not here on Vox. There's a community here that I keep track of, and occasionally comment on, but I'm also on Flickr, and Twitter, and any number of different places. What I realised I needed, was a place to pull them all into one space.

Enter my Tumblog, no it's not always coherent, occasional cryptic, but it is strikes me as the perfect way to pull all my separate online lives into one by aggregating all my separate 'personal' RSS feeds into one site. Yes, I'm still going to occasionally use Vox, but I'm also going to use Del.icio.us, Flickr, Google notebook, Twitter, or any other number of things online, not one of them is a whole of who I am though. Tumblr may be as close as I get in this place though.

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Gorillapods

2007-01-30T22:56:41Z

Gorillapod in action, originally uploaded by MHJohnston.

So I got the new camera, of course I need to start investing in gear so I can narrow down things to blame my poor photos on other than my own inadequate technique.

First on my list: a tripod.

Of course, I find myself wanting to pack as light as possible (something most people might laugh at when faced with my current backpack) and don't want to lug a huge tripod through the city unless necessary . My day job often requires lugging around a rather hefty tripod and I know for my own still adventures, I'd rather not deal with it.

Enter the Gorillapod. It's small, packable, sturdy, and can attach to nearly anything. Sure I'm not going to be able to stand it up in the middle of a crowd to get a shot, but if there's a fence, a sign, or a sturdy mailbox near by, the gorilla can wrap it's lovable little legs around it and hold still so I can get the shot I want.

Added bonus, I grabbed the big guy, the SLR Zoom. Yes, you need to get your own head for it, but it's got the ability to hold even my work video camera still for incredibly long periods of time with no wear, tare, or shifted frames.

They come in sizes for your standard point and shoot, SLR, or SLR with zoom lens, and they've got my endorsement.

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Vox Hunt: It Better Be Good

2007-01-18T21:42:44Z

What's the first image that comes up when you Google your name?

At least it's not Morgan Fairchild.

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Statue

2007-01-02T18:57:40Z

Statue at Night

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Somebody got a new camera

2006-12-27T21:36:36Z

Self Portrait in a ball

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Macheist Bundle

2006-12-12T00:00:57Z

If you haven't been paying attention to all the random Mac Geek news, you may not have heard of Macheist the puzzle, treasure hunt game created by the guys behind "My Dream App" (another brilliant contest that pitted everyday Joe's against each other "American Idol" style to design the most interesting Mac app - the winners get made)

Macheist is slightly different than My Dream App. While the later seemed to pride itself on accessibility of it's site - inviting anyone to participate or vote, Macheist seemed closed off to the public - The Invite only group scoured the Internet looking for clues, conspiracies, and codes, which they could use to "open the vault" and amass a trove of useful Mac applications - and credit towards a final software bundle.

It sounds like, (and in fact, WAS) a lot of fun. But now that it's done and the bundle has been revealed, it's time to share with the masses. And share we must!

If not for the incredible deal of nearly $300 worth of software being sold for $50, there is the added incentive of 25% of the price going to charity. I urge any Mac users to go and take a look at the applications included, you're bound to find something you like, and together, if we raise enough, we can unlock the "top apps" NewsFire and TextMate.

Go to Macheist for the full rundown of the included applications

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comfort

2006-11-23T17:35:20Z

Comfort is Thanksgiving back home, relaxing in the comfy chair in the sun near the fireplace.

Comfy

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ZAGGLE!

2006-10-25T20:45:16Z

Pbf

The Perry Bible Fellowship or "PBF" has got to be one of the most dry, evil, most awesome web comics out there.

I suspect the only reason this strip hasn't been picked up by every paper out there is because if they did, they'd probably loose quite a few readers from some of the most subtly subversive jokes I've ever seen.

This most recent comic strip is the most perfect example I've seen of "fun time at the Johnston's!" Really, there's nothing quite like having your father enthusiastically try to explain "redshift" to you at age 7.

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thought

2006-10-20T21:03:32Z

One quick thought to let everyone know I'm still alive and paying attention:

The Republicans seem to be harping on the Democrats that, "they only seem to be coming forward with these scandals a few weeks before the election to try and swing voters." Well, I agree, that's probably true... but it's a damn sight better than LAST election when the Republicans used the deaths of thousands to tell the American public, "you don't change horses midstream"
don't ya think?

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Bertrand Weeps

2006-10-01T14:50:48Z

Ze Frank is manipulating our lizard brains. It's not a bad start, and one worth exploring. Terrell Russell posits that Ze Frank (of The Show with Ze Frank) has read, and is taking advantage of ideas covered in The Media Equation:

Chapter 3 of The Media Equation works through a series of experiments where people are shown a series of shots from different distances and at different sizes - all of the human head/body. The participants were questioned afterward and the faces that had the most impact on the viewers were the ones with screen-filling faces and that seemed ‘closer’ to the viewer, those with the least interpersonal distance.

So when Ze does his trick "bein' all up in your face" he's actually manipulating his audience to accept his ideas more easily.... Well no shit, but it doesn't take a book to figure that out does it?

The fact is, when dealing with this latest incarnation of internet video, the old laws of video composition are all askew. Giving adequate headroom, lead room, a shot change every 5 seconds, or anything else for that mater are all open for discussion. When the screen you're suddenly faced with presenting in is a small 320x240 box in the middle of a barrage of open windows, applications, and distractions, you'd better do what you can to make sure gain that attention and hold it long enough to get your message across.

How do you do it?

First, make sure you're properly framed to fit your viewers entire screen, so what if their view into your world is a small 320x240 window, you both know they're missing the full picture, and will struggle to see it.

Second, don't break eye contact. Images of police are shown to promote honesty amungst shoppers, so you too can get and maintain eye contact with your audience even if you aren't actually making eye contact.

Lastly, MTV is slow and lazy. What, do they make an edit every three seconds? You could potentially be dealing with viewers who've got MUCH more interesting things opened nearby, you'd better make a cut at least once a sentance. the flashing sudden movement will kick in another neglected part of our instinctual reptillian brain... the hunter.

Ze Frank didn't have to read a book for this, didn't need to do research, Ze just knows the medium, and the people he's dealing with.

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