JoeWindish.com

links for 2011-07-15

2011-07-15T20:02:59Z

The Most Hipster Colleges

UGA is #3; Portland has a "hipster librarian"

(tags: academia georgia)
Is the tablet computer a new PC or post-PC? | asymco

If Windows remains marginal on tablets, the “PC market” will likely tip away from Microsoft in two years (depending on how quickly Apple can build iPads.) Microsoft is making the commitment to move Windows to a tablet form factor but they are doing it while retaining the user interaction model of a desktop... Whether Microsoft succeeds or not will depend on whether the new form factor is disruptive in more than user experience. In other words whether this is just a “new PC” or a “post-PC”... For example the new model comes with different cycle time of product development (deep, integrated, yearly changes), different ecosystem (apps), different cost structures (high R&D in hardware), vast scale (device economics, components, ramps), and potentially new distribution (operators in the channel mix.) Summed up, the real challenge for Microsoft is whether they can keep their business model (selling OS licenses to hardware vendors) as PCs become more device-like.

(tags: microsoft ipad computing apple)
The Tea Party and the debt ceiling - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post

The marching orders were, first, you must not vote to extend the continuing resolution [that would keep the government open through 2011] unless it, in their words, “defunds Obamacare.” Number two, you must not, under any circumstances, vote for an increase in the debt ceiling. Period. No conditions. Number three, and they said this explicitly, we don’t trust John Boehner or Eric Cantor. And the state party chair from Virginia was from Cantor’s district. And, finally, the members themselves told me afterwards that what they thought they did wrong in 1995 and 1996 was they gave in too early to Clinton... it was clear to me that there was no way they could come up with a compromise or agree to a deal before the deadline. Even if it was a great deal, the presumption would be that they gave up too much by not waiting till the last second, just like with Clinton. So there’s no way they won’t blow through the 22nd of July, the date that got set up for an early deadline.

(tags: economics politics congress teaparty)

links for 2011-07-07

2011-07-07T20:02:22Z

iMovie '08 Was Originally Called 'First Cut', Ubillos on Final Cut Pro X - Mac Rumors

Apple's Chief Architect of Video Applications Randy Ubillos had originally created an application called "First Cut" which later evolved into iMovie '08. iMovie '08 was met with similarly mixed reactions due to the complete overhaul over iMovie 6. According to Mellicker, Ubillos returned from vacation and found that Final Cut wasn't ideal for organizing raw footage. From that experience, First Cut was born which would let you import your raw footage and quickly skip through, organizing and building a rough edit. The intention originally was to then export to Final Cut Pro. At some point, Apple officially latched onto the project and turned it into the new iMovie '08. Ubillos was the creator of the first three versions of Adobe Premiere and later developed KeyGrip which was sold to Apple and released as Final Cut Pro. Ubillos continues to be the Chief Architect of Video Applications at Apple.

(tags: software apple editing)
Apple Takes a Step Back With iMovie '08 - NYTimes.com

Apple has done this before: "I can’t remember any software company pulling a stunt like this before: throwing away a fully developed, mature, popular program and substituting a bare-bones, differently focused program under the same name."

(tags: software editing apple)
Final Cut Pro X FAQ eases fears of some, confirms those of others

Apple has already communicated to some video editors that this is not the "final state of FCPX," as noted by Gary Adcock, with some features apparently coming as part of the release of Mac OS X Lion. Still, as evidenced by Apple's new FAQ page, there are some things that just plain won't change.

(tags: video software apple editing)
lonelysandwich - “Final Cut Pro: The New Class”

Final Cut Pro is like a soap opera and Apple is the network. You’ve had a character, let’s say Luke and Laura, who’ve been around, developing their storyline and their romance for a decade. The show’s viewers are heavily invested in Luke and Laura. But the network decides that Luke and Laura represent an old, outmoded character type, and that the new way is young, hip, lean…

(tags: video apple software editing)
Why Apple built Final Cut Pro X - Sachin's Posterous

I worked on Final Cut Pro from 2002 to 2008. It was an amazing experience. The Final Cut Pro X project was just getting started when I left Apple. It was an ambitious and controversial move, but it made sense for Apple. Here's why:

(tags: apple video software)

Conan Slams Final Cut Pro X

2011-07-07T03:52:59Z

links for 2011-07-06

2011-07-06T20:01:58Z

ACLU Warns Gwinnett Schools: Stop Blocking LGBT Websites | American Libraries Magazine

Graduating senior Nowmee Shehab, who headed the Gay-Straight Alliance at Brookwood High, discovered the filtering when she was unable to access the group’s own website, reported WSB-TV in Atlanta. Other blocked sites included those of the Georgia Safe Schools Coalition and the It Gets Better Project. “They are not sites that are pornographic or in any way provide adult content,” said Chara Fisher Jackson, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia. The group sent the school district a letter demanding that it lift the filters or face a possible lawsuit. Shehab said it was crucial for students to be able to reach the sites at school. “They may not feel safe at home or don’t have a computer at home so it’s very important they be able to access these sites from school,” she said. She told CBS Atlanta that students can reach reparative-therapy websites like Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Exodus International, both of which claim that homosexuals can change their sexual orientation.

(tags: GLBT georgia internet censorship teens)

links for 2011-07-03

2011-07-03T20:01:39Z

Blogs - Fayobserver.com - American Greed: U.S. Income Gap Worse Than Egypt

The income inequality gap in the United States now exceeds that of Egypt, which you’ll recall, just had a revolution. We’re a long way (I think) from violence between the rich and poor, but even a cursory glance through history shows that when the gap gets ever greater, societies usually come to no good end. The income gap here also exceeds that of Ivory Coast and Cameroon, two countries with long histories of instability. The income game between the top-earners and the rest of us has been this great only once, just before the Great Depression.

(tags: politics economics income)
Samuel Johnson: "Why Do We Hear the Loudest Yelps for Liberty from the Masters Drivers of Negroes?" Department

Edmund S. Morgan's American Slavery, American Freedom is all about the paradox that the most aggressive and strident political advocates of the small-government personal-liberty tradition in America were the highly-racist plantation slaveowners of the Virginia Dynasty. There is something about holding hundreds of your fellow humans in inhuman bondage that makes you very averse to even a moderately-strong and powerful central government--especially one that you and your class do not control.

(tags: south race slavery history)

links for 2011-07-02

2011-07-02T20:01:44Z

Daring Fireball: On Attribution and Credit

MacStories deserved a link to their original post on the story, and they got that. AllThingsD’s readers deserved to know who discovered it. Yes, they could find that out by following the link to “an Apple enthusiast site”, but how many of the people who read Fried’s story actually clicked that link? My guess is not many. Fried’s piece was itself a complete version of the story. That’s how much of the for-profit weblog world works — building up your own site’s page views.

(tags: journalism credit links attribution blogging)

links for 2011-06-28

2011-06-28T20:02:53Z

Professional Video Editors Weigh In on Final Cut Pro X - NYTimes.com

The Bottom Line: Apple has followed the typical Apple sequence: (1) throw out something that’s popular and comfortable but increasingly ancient, (2) replace it with something that’s slick and modern and forward-looking and incomplete, (3) spend another year finishing it up, restoring missing pieces. Professional editors should (1) learn to tell what’s really missing from what’s just been moved around, (2) recognize that there’s no obligation to switch from the old program yet, (3) monitor the progress of FCP X and its ecosystem, and especially (4) be willing to consider that a radical new design may be unfamiliar, but may, in the long term, actually be better.

(tags: apple software review editing video)
Winston Hearn - Editor & Motion Graphics Designer - Nashville, TN - Proof of Existence - Winston Hearn - Nashville, TN - Apple's Response to the Final Cut Pro X Release

In every situation where Apple comes under fire, Apple takes their time to respond. But when they finally respond, they show that they understand the issue, and they do what it takes to address the full problem. With Final Cut Pro X, I imagine they are reading every review and every blog post and seeking to understand the root of the problem. And once they fully grasp the issue, they will figure out what is necessary to address it.

(tags: apple editing software video review)
Final Cut Pro X - A first Look

I love the organizational intelligence of FCP X and frankly it's long overdue. If you think about what a computer was born to do... I also like the smart analysis, background rendering, the skimmer and the Precision Editor. These features make the editing experience feel fluid, organic and less mechanical then track based editing applications. Also, I don't mind the single monitor. The Viewer is simple and clean and the interface does not feel cluttered. Anyone should feel at home editing on it from an iMac to a MacBook Air... Also, adding effects, titles and transitions and editing them is infinitely easier and more intuitive....While FCP X will no doubt be referred to as a souped up version of iMovie by some, this is not my impression at all. I have been cutting a documentary on it among other things, and I just finished a tutorial that is close to 5 hours long which speaks to it's depth. I was very surprised at how much iron the Apple engineers put into it.

(tags: apple video software review editing)
First Look: Final Cut Pro X | Video | Creative Notes | Macworld

Apple has revamped Final Cut Pro's hands-on user experience in three major areas: Editing, media organization, and post-production workflow. New tools such as the Magnetic Timeline, Clip Connections, Compound Clips, and Auditions provide a smooth, intuitive editing experience. With the rise of data-centric workflows and tapeless video recording, organizational tools such as Content Auto-Analysis, Range-based keywords, and Smart Collections work in the background to automate formerly tedious and time-consuming manual processes. Post production workflows now offer customizable effects, integrated audio editing, color grading, and a host of streamlined delivery options. With this new application, video pros can no longer follow traditional ways of working.

(tags: apple software editing review video)
64-bit Final Cut Pro X now in Mac App Store, reaction is mixed

For users who still need to deliver projects on disc, they will have to use the existing version of DVD Studio Pro or consider Adobe Encore. Most vexing for some pro users, however, is the lack of tape control for import and export. While Final Cut Pro X has some capacity to import from tape, there is no ability to control output to tape. Final Cut Pro X is largely built on the assumption that footage is captured digitally and output directly to some digital form. Editors that work in the broadcasting industry in particular, where tape is still regularly used, may not be able to work with these limitations. Again, the ability to install FCPX while still holding on to and using FCP7 will be advantageous here.

(tags: apple, video, editing software review)
DVcreators.net | Blog | What does the guy who led the original Final Cut Pro revolution think of the Final Cut Pro X release?

Apple may have had no choice– due to all the legacy code, FCP7 might not run in Lion at all, forcing Apple to take drastic measures, releasing an FCPX app before it was fully cooked, and pulling FCS3 off the shelves. So this entire debacle may have come down to a choice by Apple: delay the release of Lion– probably for many months – OR – release FCPX (and Motion 5/Compressor) prematurely so there was at least some editing software that ran on Lion and scramble to get everything Lion-ready? This makes a lot of sense, I, for one, believe it.

(tags: apple video review)

Pick A GA License Plate

2011-06-28T00:56:07Z

Online voting through July 8. The press release says the winner will be announced July 15.

links for 2011-06-25

2011-06-25T20:01:45Z

Stephen Jay Gould, Samuel Morton and Investigative Bias | Head Case - WSJ.com

"...bias is everywhere, that many of our studies are shot through with unconscious errors and subtle prejudices. To Paul Simon, we see what we want to see and disregard the rest. In recent years, it's become clearer that these psychological shortcomings are a serious societal problem. Because we believe we're impervious to bias—we're blind to our own blind spots—we assume that our judgment isn't affected by financial incentives or personal opinions. But we're wrong."

(tags: science bias objectivity)

Everything is A Remix

2011-06-25T18:28:59Z

Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Jeanne Bowerman and Douglas Blackmon on Film Courage

2011-06-19T16:11:40Z

On bringing Slavery by Another Name to public television. More here.

Watch the Tony's Tonight

2011-06-12T15:30:15Z

I was in the audience for the second performance of The false start, personal apology from the director and Trey Parker and Matt Stone sitting sixth row center all only added to the wild enthusiasm of the audience. We knew the show would be a hit. I wondered what number they'd do at the Tony's.

My assumption is that it will be the most benign of the show. "Hello," the opening number, is set at a mission training center in Salt Lake City where young Mormons are learning to missionize door-to-door. Scott Brown agrees:

I can dream that the the Tonycast will include The Book of Mormon's "Hasa Diga Eebowai," the category favorite's most talked-about number, which contains a helpful suggestion for the Supreme Being that might be anatomically impossible, even for Him. But considering the extreme de-crass-ification of past broadcasts, it seems unlikely that CBS will allow tuneful, good-natured blasphemy on its Tiffany air (yes, the same crystalline ether that, until recently, transmitted Charlie Sheen). Full-contact God-cursing just isn't easily bleepable. The show's medley will most likely open with Mormon’s doorbell-ringing opening number, “Hello!” Later, we're told there'll be a number anchored by Best Actor in a Musical nom Andrew Rannells. (I believe it'll be “I Believe," but don't make me swear on the Bible.)

An excellent CBS Sunday Morning report on the Book of Mormon includes discussion of that most talked-about number, "Hasa Diga Eebowai":

The Tony's will be live-blogged here. FiveThirtyEight looks at just how much a Tony is worth. Fresh Air did an interview with Parker and Stone on the show. Kevin Fallon says watch even if you've never been to a Broadway show.

For Such A time As This (Web)

2011-06-08T03:18:45Z

Recognizing that 10 minutes is an eternity on the web, I cut a shorter version of my Rev. Genie Hargrove profile video, For Such A Time As This.

Today Trish Bendix at AfterEllen linked to it. Nice traffic; thanks Trish!

The full version is being entered into film festivals. I will have an announcement of the first festival screening soon...

Doug Does BRAG

2011-06-06T17:23:39Z

The 32nd annual Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) began Sunday at Oglethorpe College in Atlanta. It moves on to Oxford, Milledgeville, Dublin, Metter and Hinesville before coming to an end in Savannah on Saturday. Rest stops, set up every 15 miles along the route, are managed by the Special Olympics.

This is the fourth year in a row that my partner, Doug Keith, is riding. He tells me the 72 mile ride from Oxford to Milledgeville on Monday will be among the toughest of this year's course. The 100° high we're expecting, down from an earlier prediction of 102°, won't help.

Doug says he's become a star of sorts on these rides. One reason is the funny-looking vintage Pederson bike he rides. The Bentley of Bicycles, Doug's was a gift from a friend who once rode it over eleven Swiss mountain passes in ten days.

"Good testimony that it's a good hill-riding bike," says Doug.

He'll need a whole-lot-of that tomorrow!

But Doug is also known on these rides because, it turns out, a good number of the riders saw my 2008 video of his first ride. The second half gives a good sense of what it's like on the road. If you have 10+ minutes (I know, an eternity in internet time!) you might give it a look. Be sure to let me know what you think.

Congratulations Georgia College CLASS 0F 2011!

2011-05-07T14:12:45Z

Watch live video from Georgia College on Justin.tv