Vlog?

Instead of sitting down and writing out a blog post, I thought I'd try something new today. I filmed this in flat-color protune mode at 2.7K resolution, just like I did for a previous video, though this time I exported it at 720p to make up for what poor lighting did to this. I think I'll have to settle for 1080p when I'm not using a video screen and extra lighting since it maintains sharpness better.

I'm Afraid It's Spreading

This is my desk at work. When I sort of inherited it back in August, it came with the mac and the screen you see here on the far right. The laptop between them is my own personal one. The rest just sort of happened over the last couple weeks. The really cool (or really sad, depending on how you look at it) thing is that I'm using all of them pretty much simultaneously. 3 computers (running three separate operating systems) divided by 6 screens equals 2 screens per computer. And it's all just for two projects.

The mac is being used to run Adobe CS tools for video production while my personal computer is being used to watch tutorial videos that will hopefully show me how to do what I need. The laptop on the left is being used as a Linux test server on which I'm trying to set up ZoneMinder to run security cameras so we can get video surveillance set up around campus. Not too bad, right? However, put yourself in this picture, turn to the right, and you'll see a big whiteboard on the wall next to my desk that is home to a growing list of projects. It's not that I'm not getting them done, but that they just keep coming in.

I don't mind it, though. It keeps me busy and gives me reason to work a little extra (being a student worker, I'm paid by the hour). But it definitely makes me feel like I know next to nothing. I can edit videos well, but I've never done it using Premiere Pro until now. I've worked with computers for four years, but I haven't worked with Linux until now. I was handed the surveillance project and left to my own devices on it with only the vague statement of, "The guy before you was able to get one of the cameras working with a home router," and zero documentation. It's been the bane (and boon) of my existence for the last month. But work is good. Work is fun. Work pays money and my boss is amazing. And the skills I'm learning along the way could be marketable later.

As long as I keep it separate.

Dear Senioritis

Senioritis.

It's the worst kind of feeling staying up until 1am cramming an assignment that was due last Friday. It's even worse when I turn it in only to find out it was the wrong assignment and that it can't even be turned in as supplementary material because, though unintentionally, it mirrors a sample assignment from the syllabus. So here I am, sitting in my 8am Romans class, drinking coffee to stay awake, paying the penalty of staying up late to accomplish something that won't go for anything. This semester is kicking my butt.

It doesn't help much that I'm busy outside of class. I'm quickly finding that I simply don't have much downtime this year. I guess classes, work, and internship will do that to a person. But, I can't complain; I'm already learning how to find balance between work and play and, more importantly, how to separate the two. It also means I'm learning to compartmentalize things in my life a little more efficiently (though there is One thing that could never be compartmentalized, because Christ dominates my being).

I'm learning quickly, and in a tangible way, the meaning of priorities. I have a prototype stage light sitting unfinished on my workbench, waiting for me to make another 20 minutes or so worth of progress. Footage is slowly, gradually beginning to pile up on my computer, tucked away in neat date-stamped folders, untouched and unprocessed. My frisbee golf discs sit almost unnoticed underneath the passenger seat in my car, which is getting dirtier and could use a good wash so I can touch up the paint in a few places before the cold weather comes. My diving flippers are really no more than a decoration at the moment.
At least I was able to do an oil change on Sunday afternoon.

The things I so passionately involved myself in over the summer fade into the background behind employment and academics, and I still find myself getting less sleep than normal. This week is going to be particularly busy because it is Missions Emphasis Week on campus. This means we have chapel every day, which cuts into my normal work schedule. To make up the hours, I'll be working extra in the afternoons, which cuts into my normal homework schedule, which will in turn push side projects and socializing all but out the window. I don't mind this, because introversion rocks, but I definitely feel a little sting.

And then there's senioritis.

It's the thing that sucks away every the last few drops of motivation I have left at the end of the day to actually do the work that I need to do for classes. It's that whispering voice at 5:00 that says, "Oh, look at how beautiful it is outside. I should enjoy it for an hour before I go back inside." It's the thought at 10pm that says, "I should be going to bed in an hour, but I'm really craving a limeade." It's the lapse of judgment about once every couple weeks that seems to forget what taco bell does to the digestive system. It's the coffee mug that seems to run dry far too quickly. It's the paper that's written the night before it's due. It's the blog post written in the middle of class between note taking.

I had previously passed off senioritis as a myth, but I'm starting to believe it could very well be a reality. This idea comes as a swift kick in the rear, though, when I realize that I have three semesters left. If I'm feeling senioritis this early and with so comparatively little time left, I don't want it to drag my GPA into the black abyss of irreparability. I've worked hard to bring it up to the 3.46 where it currently resides, and would like to continue the upward trend if possible. This means hard work and dedication, more coffee, and more consistent prioritizing of life. And it will pay off. The sense of relief I experienced yesterday when I completed and submitted the final requirement of my Associate of Worship Arts degree will only be magnified when I complete my Bachelor's next fall.

Senioritis won't be the end of me.

What day is it?

I'm pretty sure it's Friday, but it feels like Monday.

I think the busyness of last week has finally caught up with me now at the end of this week, and my body and brain are telling me that I need rest. My 8am class felt like it lasted for an eternity and I remember very little from it except for going off on a mental tangent about faith. Even now, sitting in my 9am class, I'm finding it very difficult to stay awake, let alone focus. Coffee is helping, but not as much as I'd like. This is one of the downsides of ADHD; when I'm tired, focusing is the single most difficult thing for me to do.

So, naturally, I'm blogging. Of course I'm taking notes, but the two are existing in-between each other, like fingers that have become entwined. It's difficult to keep my mind from wandering, so blogging gives it a direction to wander in. Sometimes, that's the only thing I can do; I can't stop my mind from going, but I can give it a direction to go in. That's how some of my coolest things have come about, be them drawings, writings, videos, "inventions" or DIY projects, various ideas, etc. If I wasn't so concerned about taking notes, I'd be playing around in Linux while I listen to the lecture.

I just want to go to work, where I can listen to music and drink coffee while playing with computers. 

It Died, So I Killed It

Today I discovered that my wireless keyboard was dead.

This thing was old. The receiver was a big (about the size of a standard mouse), obnoxious-looking thing that plugged into the computer with a dual combination of USB and a traditional keyboard plug. The keyboard itself was even more obnoxious, with buttons for functions that ceased to exist (or at least ceased to be useful) with the advent of Windows Vista. I'm pretty sure that when this keyboard was in stores, 512MB of RAM was the performance norm and 500GB hard drives hadn't yet hit the market.

Something so ancient surely deserved a proper farewell. So, I decided to destroy it while recording it at 120fps with my GoPro.

You're welcome.

I'm Down On My Internet Connection, I'm Down

Yesterday, the campus network went dark.

I mean, completely and totally dark. So, naturally, it made for a very interesting day in the I.T. office. I felt bad for my boss, because from the time I arrived (an hour early) at 9am until the time I left (a half hour late) at 3:30, he was on the phone with various support agencies for our equipment. First, an internal part of our network went dark. Then, our ISP (Charter Communications) dropped. The campus receives internet via two sources: fiber-optic cable, and coaxial cable. The fiber was down, but Charter was able to get the coax live again. Unfortunately, our network controller was down, so internet could only be achieved by plugging directly into the coax box in the server room.

Knowing students would be without internet for at least the day, I managed to plug a home router (just a standard Cisco router) into the coax box and set up a temporary wireless network for the staff to use in our office if they needed. Surprisingly, it worked really well. Of course, when you're bypassing the network and going directly into the coax and feeding every ounce of 100Mb of available bandwidth to one router, you're going to get some pretty fantastic speeds. I managed to download a 1.38GB iso for LXLE in five minutes.

The LXLE was for another project that I made a little more progress on yesterday. We came across a box of IP cameras and the task of finding a way of setting up a surveillance system was handed to me. So, for the past several weeks I was playing around with them and finding how to get them working. LXLE may be the OS on which we'll run our surveillance software, but that depends on how well the software works when I install and test it. But, I couldn't do that part yesterday because I had to take down my temporary camera test network to set up the temporary staff wifi.

I can't express in words my level of appreciation for all that my boss does for this campus. When two others left the I.T. department, he was left alone with all the big and small tasks. I was hired to handle more of the small tasks and side projects so he could focus on more pertinent things, but that still leaves him with a lot of things that he didn't have to worry about previously. When I got back to my dorm last night around 10:15 and saw both the ethernet and wireless networks online and fully functional, I immediately texted him to say, "thank you for everything that you do."

At the end of the day, everything was live and fully operational again, and life goes on as normal.

Still, this song kind of describes the frustration (and it's catchy).

[Video Stuff] It looks so cool!

I have a new toy to play with!

So, my GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition shoots videos in 2.7K resolution (technically, it can go up to 4K, but sacrificing frame rate to shoot that high would make it look choppy). This means I can shoot professional HD videos. I was excited to realize this, because for a long time I've wanted to try vlogging. However, I don't have a studio to shoot videos in! So, I started thinking. How could I make a studio in my dorm room that can be quickly and easily set up and torn down that could fit within my meager budget?

I found the answer at Walmart. The cost? $9.

Okay, so a full-size black bedsheet doesn't exactly constitute a studio. But, all I needed was a backdrop, and I was able to hang it using binder clips and command hooks. Fortunately, post-production is flexible enough to let me make the most of what little I have. 

Before post-production, this is what the backdrop looks like. The camera was angled a bit far to the left, but that can be corrected later.

After post-production, this is what the backdrop looks like.

Now, yes, I know I could have managed better lighting than two 13W fluorescent lamps and positioned the camera a little better, but for my first go at it, I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Shooting in 2.7K allows me to do post-production framing edits while maintaining quality and crispness. Unfortunately, since I'm shooting with a GoPro, higher resolution means lower frame rate. So at 2.7K, I can only shoot at 30fps. This will be fine for what I'm doing with it, but part of me wishes the camera could maintain a higher frame rate at high resolution so as to avoid motion blur. But, "eh", it's no big deal.

Now I'm just waiting for my next toy to get here, so the audio quality of my videos can be better.

Open Mic Night

CCCB Open Mic Night, September 27, 2013

I really, really love open mic night.

I remember the first time I performed at an open mic event. I didn't actually sing a song, but rather played an instrumental electric guitar piece I had been working on. It wasn't my first time playing in front of people, but it was different. The normal barrier felt between performer and audience was not there. I was also playing original material, which to me felt like pouring out the contents of my heart. It was nerve-wracking to say the least, but the feeling (yes, I say feeling) that accompanied finishing my piece was something surreal. Finally, I had taken something that I had created and shared it with others. I had found an audience for my artistic outlet.

I cannot express how much I love open mic events. Maybe it's the part of me that grew up in Wisconsin around laid-back "bar" culture, or maybe it's my insatiable love for music, but I think open mic events are the "bee's knees." It's like a concert, but smaller and less formal. There's a closer sense of intimacy between the performer and the audience; often times, the two personally know each other and a particular bond of trust is formed when the performer shares his or her heart with their friends through art.

I've also found that open mic events are a great way to build community through active participation. If there's one thing I've learned during my time as an open mic coordinator (August 2013 until now), it's that no two open mic events are ever the same. In internet-lingo, this is because open mic events work based on "user-generated content". In other words, open mic is only as good as the acts performed by those willing to participate. It lends an element of unpredictability, which brings with it a degree of anticipation that leaves people (like me) wanting to come and see what's going to happen each time.

When my friend Derek started the open mic event in 2012, it certainly accomplished the hope he had of building community on campus. It was my favorite thing to look forward to. When he told me that he wouldn't be returning in the fall of 2013, I was super bummed out. Open mic had given myself and several other students such a great outlet, and I really wanted to see that continue. When student development granted me permission to continue open mic in Derek's stead, I could not have felt any happier. I also could not have felt more helpless.

I had been involved in all aspects of chapel (from music and leading to sound and tech) during my first two years on campus, so I had a general handle on the technical logistics of things. I knew what size of sound system would be appropriate for open mic. I knew how to set it up, how to mix sound, and how to tear it all down without breaking anything. However, I didn't know how to organize or promote an event, and I had no idea how to get people to want to come. To be honest, I was a little scared and nervous.

I owe the current success of CCCB's open mic events to performers who were willing to share their talents in front of an audience, the harvest house manager for offering the venue for use, and numerous volunteers who have stepped up to help. I'm astonished to see how far open mic has come from the first event that Derek hosted in 2012 until now. Still, I see things at almost every open mic night that could be improved or changed to make the next a little better, and passionately strive to give my best to this thing. Even now as I write this, I'm drawing up plans for things that could not only help improve this event, but the venue itself for future events.

But, my time as coordinator will end. I'm a little bittersweet right now, knowing this is my senior year and thus the last year I'll be able to coordinate open mic nights here on campus. Part of me is honestly nervous with anticipation of what may happen after I leave. I don't think open mic would cease to be an event. This being the third year of open mic night, I'm confident that somebody would step up and take it over. However, what direction will it go? I've always feared the day it might be absorbed by student council and become over-regulated. Personally, I'd rather pass it off to the venue that has so kindly hosted it. But I know that once this year is up, I'll need to step back and let someone else step in.

So I want to leave open mic in as good of a state as I can for the next person. 

Ideally, I'd like to see open mic become something that the right person could come along and easily take over. I've been making small steps toward that end goal. A few things I have done include getting approval from the chapel coordinator and Harvest House manager to keep a sound system in the venue for a faster and easier setup/teardown, instituting open sign-ups, video announcements, scheduling the event dates at the beginning of the semester, and recording videos of all the acts to upload select ones to YouTube. Of course, there are more things I'm trying to do, but I prefer not to reveal my plans until a certain time.

One thing I consistently do is keep my eyes and ears open (literally) for things that could make open mic better. Since open mic night is for the students, my best source of ideas for improving the event is the student body. If somebody voices an idea (either directly to me, or something I simply overhear in passing), or if I see something that could be visually improved, I'll tuck it away in the back of my mind and ponder it. With any idea I consider, I think of how it can be done efficiently and consistently from one open mic night to the next. And, of course, one thing I'm keeping my eyes and ears open for is a person who would be a capable and willing fit to take over my role as coordinator of this event.

I'm grateful for this event and the incredible opportunity I've had to coordinate it. I've learned so much as I went along with it, and grown in community with others through it. I'm excited to see what this year's freshman class will bring to the event and how it's going to change and morph over the next few months. 

Mostly, I'm excited to see where it'll go after my time is up.