Tonight in honor of Zippo being in business for 75 years, there was a parade and fireworks show right through downtown Bradford. Both shows were very well down (and I'm biased), but just ask Donovan, he had a great time and I think Brent made a new friend tonight - I know Peggy did with the blinky pen thing she gave him. I guess that will learn Dylan for being a butt, he didn't get to go.

Even with the impending doom of storm clouds and lightening looming and raining on Donovan's parade, it was still a good time.

Interestingly enough too, Congressman Peterson made a statement on the floor of Congress today about Zippo's 75th year in business, and its dedication to being made in the USA.

As far as my m4d sk1llz as a fireworks photographer tonight, I blew out my arse. I only captured two or three shots that are even usable, all the other are totally out of focus. Oh well, good thing i was doing it for the heck of it. It could have been due to the jag-offs up the hill thinkin' it was 4:20. A' holes - keep your shite to yourselves, or at least away from my kid. I was distracted by Donovan and the fact that there was some lightening over the hill,and it was all I could do to convince him we were fine, and that we could stay.

It was a good show though, and a nice end to a very hectic week.

In general computers aren't inexpensive, compared when the first IBM XT first made a home for itself in our living room back in the day, they are down-right free, but it's still far too easy to pay $1,000 for a good desktop machine. So why is it that in order for us to get this much needed and heralded new productivity tool - we have to, and are expected to tolerate all of the complete failures of the industry? It is in fact, the only industry where you know the thing you're buying isn't going to work right, or even as advertised and/or designed; and yet the money is spent regardless.

I'm working on some rather involved video projects at work right now, 3 separate ones in fact, and they all have to be done today and burned to DVD. I started working with the RAW footage 2 weeks ago getting it into After Effects, and since all our hardware and software is 4 years old - naturally things did not go well. About a week into it I started getting an error:

After Effects error: retrieving frame from video stream. (3) (53 :: 34)

The problem began rather benignly, and I was able to keep it at bay by turning the preview resolution down to one third, and continuing to work. On last Thursday, out of the blue, the video just simply would not render. None of it. Not an 18 minute clip or a 1.5 minute clip. After a little of freak out, I thought about what I had last done, and removed the filters applied to the video.... Negative. No joy.

Being the upgrade happy little boy that I am, I decided to download the 837 mb trial of After Effects CS3. After installing it and goofing around a bit - it worked like a charm! I was back in bidness! Well, not quite. I was back in bidness until Monday - then all hell broke loose. Some clips started to fail, so I switched CODECs, and that worked until Monday Evening when my over night render failed, and left my video machine running at like 75% capacity all night.

As a side note, I never did find a solution as to why this error started popping up. Some folks online decided it is a CODEC issue, but if that's the case then how did switching to After Effects CS3 (from 6.5) help, when my version of Premiere is the same release version as After Effects? They should both be able to handle the same CODECS, and I used a CODEC that was available to both applications.

Since then, I have been left with no solution other than rendering out the clips from After Effects in small sections and recompiling them in Premiere to achieve the final output. WTF?! Okay, it works, but it's retarded. Right now the only thing I can assume is that the machine could use another 2gb or RAM to max it to the Windows XP limit for 32 bit versions (4gb). I can't upgrade Premiere, or migrate to the 64 bit XP because my stupid Matrox card isn't supported any longer, and they end of life it.

Even with the resources available, I haven't had any problems in the 4 years we have had this machine. I regularly use Premiere and After Effects in tandem to produce video for various events, so just saying that it needs more juice, doesn't explain how all of the files can simply render one day and not the next. Is it a hardware problem or software, a double-whammy combo of the two?

I shouldn't complain I guess. This is what I get for choosing a path in the computer industry right? Software and hardware manufacturers know their products are going to break when they sell it to you, so I should expect it by now. Just look at Vista; they had plans for releasing SP1 even before the OS hit the retail shelves - nice going on that one.

This sort of things happens all the time across the board, and you just get used to it. Whether it be reinstalling Windows XP every 12 to 18 months because the install just gets too dorked to work with, Flash just randomly booting you out for no good reason, Office 2007 files getting corrupted after running Windows Update, or any number of other glitches. What's sad is that you do get used to it, you expect, and companies have built safeguards into their applications because of it, you probably have it enabled right now in fact; auto-save.

I'm glad my car works better than my computers.

:: update ::
The problems that I was experiencing in After Effects seemed to be directly related to system resources, and the fact that the machine I use to render video at work needs more. With greater than 50 layers, and no less than 30 gb of source footage - the Machine just doesn't have the chutzpah to pull it all off. There are upgrades int he future - another CPU, and more RAM....

This is another great micro-site. I found this after seeing another of the Scion Little Deviants commercial, and remembering to go and see what else they had out here to go along with this rather twisted little campaign they have themselves. So it's a little creepy, and the Deviants are quite.... hungry? But it's still cool.

The graphics on the site are awesome, and the game, while short and quite easy - is still very well executed and developed. God I love Flash! There is quite a bit of meat to the site once you get into it and complete it. There is a link to another site, want2bsquare.com - which is pretty slick too. You also get to watch the commercial, as well as meet all of the different Deviants and see what they are exceedingly good at - hehehe.

Okay, so this isn't a site my kids are going to frequent any time in this decade - but it's an excellent site.

Scion is taking a pretty big risk here to isolate the demographic they are targeting with their cars. They have really toned down the print and tv ads, and gone for a more viral, web based approach to target folks like me and naturally 10 years younger too. What really gets me about that though, they missed their mark here in town. Almost all of the folks driving the Scions here in town are pensioners - not all mind you - but more than half. The XB and TC are the most popular here in BFD, there are only a few XAs lurking about. It occurs to me that they are seriously running the risk of alienating more people than they could attract with the Sheeples.

The new xD if damned sweet looking though, and if I didn't have the Bronco (and quite frankly like it more than a Scion) I would seriously look at getting one of these, If only for the fact that their marketing ploy is unique and very cutting edge - plus, I'm not a Sheeple.

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."
-- Homer Simpson

I'm working on getting my Bronco set to pass PA inspection so I can start driving it again, and I keep running into various ridiculously retarded hack job inflicted upon my rig. Wires cut just inside the firewall and left dangling, red wire used for ground wires, 10 feet of speaker wire electrical taped together. Holy freakin' crap, what was this guy bored? I bet it was Cletus here doin' the ol' uncle bob routine on my Bronco. Dude, that's why they sell wire loom sleeves; go to the auto parts store once in a while will ya?

This type of behavior isn't an automotive phenomenon either, the last house I lived in on the left coast, someone had slapped a bunch of mud (joint compound) on the walls when they finished the attic and never sanded it. The primed and painted it instead, so all of the corners had this iced-cake ripple effect going on that was impossible to sand down since it had been painted over.

Temptation

I can certainly understand why people do things this way - it's easy. Since the belief is becoming more and more prevalent that the easy way is the best way, the junk tends to bubble to the surface more often. Quickly fading seem to be the days of high quality products being produced simply as a matter of doing business, and that doing a good job wasn't a commodity to be charged extra for.

I don't care about any of that. It's simple - do it right the first time. There shouldn't be any question.

Ubiquity of the Amateur

No more pervasive is this trend than in the web development world. Where tools and templates can be downloaded for free or purchased for very little money; where any Tom, Dick or Harry can be deluded into thinking they can do it themselves and it will be just as good as a professional job. In fact, it would be pretty easy to make a case for it quickly become the norm, rather than the exception. Very few (if any) other industries are capable of delivering such power into the hands of the muggles as the web industry - nor does any other industry seem so desperately interested in doing so. As automobiles get more and more complex, it gets harder and harder for anyone do anything to their own vehicle other than wash it.

The other thing that makes this such an easy switch to the dark side is the fact that you can easily hide all the rubbish from the client. If someone is paying to create a website, they probably have no idea what goes on in the background - so any would-be developer can download someones junk from Google and hack into to an application and declare it viable and charge money for it. keeping with the comparison to the automotive industry, in most states the mechanic is required to keep the defective parts on hand and be able to produce the busted pieces if asked. In Oregon - if the shop fails to do so, you are not required to pay for the repair until they can or do produce the parts. What are you going to do with this fancy new online store?

Okay, here in this 150 lines of code is where.....

or maybe

Check out this awesome class I wrote to handle the blah blah blah...

Not likely.

These type of duct-tape laden practices just screw everyone else in the process, and waste time to try and circumvent and fix. I for one could do without it. On the web and in my damned Bronco.

There has been a lot of talk lately about what you learned about software while not in college, or what you learned about software in college and  what life skills best have benefited your software the most, with other articles, blog posts and ideas I have been kicking around for a while now - it makes me wonder, how do you rate your digital self?

As web designers, software developers or just plain computer geeks, all the fruits of our labor are ethereal in nature, not easily lending themselves to have any tangible, solid output. Site designers are a bit more tangible, but how do you take a piece of software of a computer?

Fame & Glory

Does it matter to you if anyone else knows who you are? I have thought about this quite a lot, probably more than I should - but that's a perspective thing. It dawned on me the other day that I have been designing and developing websites and interactive applications since before RIAs where a glimmer in anyones acronym-glittered eye. I started in Director about 1996 and was making a living designing and developing multimedia projects in Flash 2 years later. In fact, it was the fact that I bought Flash 3 with my own cash to figure out how to use it, that ultimately landed me some gigs and a full time job at Zydigo Technologies.

Since that day, I have been busting my arse designing, developing and creating strange, cool, boring, long, short and immense projects. I started because I loved what I could create, the sense of accomplishment, the level of work involved, and because I was learning at an exponential rate - all of this combined was (and still is) extremely satisfying.

I have websites being hosted on 2 continents, and in several states - I am by no means a one man wreaking machine - but I am proud of my accomplishments and I hide none of the work I have done. After 11 years or so, I find myself intrigued by the MVPs and big names of development, and let my mind wander to what it might be like to be some sort of development celebrity. Why? I've a successful career, I consider the fact that I am the father of two wonderful boys and married to a beautiful loving woman foremost of the things that are important to me. So what is it that would make me give a damn about the fact that people don't want to look to me as a source of knowledge or at my designs for a source of inspiration?

In part, it deals with recognition of hard work, a sense that the work is admired, appreciated, and has an impact. Everyone needs to have a certain amount of praise for what they do, without it, it's pretty easy to feel it doesn't matter. Another part is competition; competition with your peers and coworkers can be very instrumental in creating innovative and ground breaking work. Look at Picasso and Braque, they all but worked together while creating many very unique, brilliant and innovative works of art. Without one or the other, Cubism would have evolved quite differently.

The digital yardstick

Measuring how you rate yourself is probably the most difficult part of attaining satisfaction in your career. Do you have a stable support and development community of peers who are able to provide consistent, valid and sometimes painful feedback on your work? I consider myself lucky in the fact that my wife is an excellent designer, but has no desire to venture into the web realm - so I get a completely different perspective on the sites and projects I develop. It may not always feel lucky - but I value her input. I trust that it is honest - regardless of whether or not it's positive or negative in nature. On the flip side, I live and work in somewhat of a creative vacuum. The town is very small, and as a corporate designer - the scope/latitude I have tends to be somewhat truncated to the scope of a Brand. That's not to say I don't have creative freedom, that would not be true - but not everyone is Nike, and therefore not everyone gets to do really cool Flash sites for everything.

In order to have a balanced scale, you must have a balanced community. In order to continue to create innovative, or just plain good designs or applications you can't just surround yourself with like thinkers - you will stunt your growth and wind up being 45 and single like Scott Baio.

Creating Balance

Not working in a design firm or agency, gaining access to a wide variety of skilled developers and experienced designers and art directors may not be easy, so User Groups are a great source for feedback and input. When I lived in Portland I tried to regularly attend DevGroup NW meetings. But I was also extremely lucky in that I had a great group of coworkers and friends who were both creative and opinionated - not always a great combination, but in this case I was truly blessed.

There are also online communities that are willing to give design feedback, such as were-here.com forums, among many others. Not to mentions sites dedicated to providing great designs and awards; the Webby Awards, W3C Sites, and Dark-Eye. These are by no means the only sites on the web for this, but the point is that you need to diversify to keep your edge. There's some great info on Scott Berkun's site about sustaining creativity.

Be realistic

Not everyone can be David Carson or work for Second Story, or even a Microsoft MVP. That doesn't mean your work s without merit or influence. I have gone through bouts of being very hard on myself and the only I managed to do is make myself feel like crap, and lost creativity, momentum and desire to work - once you do that it takes a lot longer to get it back than it did to extinguish the flame.

It's taken me a while to get to this point though, and I do have lapses where I think how cool it would be if I were known far and wide as the greatest Flash designer to walk the face of the earth, but when it comes down to it, I don't really care - if I am happy with what I am doing, and the folks I am working for/with are happy; that's what makes it a good design or well developed application.

We met some friends today at Docksider's Cafe along the Kinzua Reservoir for dinner and antagonizing the fish and ducks around the marina. What a riot! I have never seen such chaos of scraps of bread, chips and even dog food in my life. 13 puppies don't go to these lengths to get their food as these animals - and I tell you what; some of these fish are huge!

Carp vs. Ducks

Several of the Carp were absolutely massive, in the 6 in or greater diameter range to be exact. Then of course is the fact that there are hundreds of them. They get all agitated and start slapping into each other, and create a moving mass of fish. It is indeed a sight to behold. Then come the ducks. You could hear Flight of the Valkyrie in the background as the hordes of feathered demons descend upon the scene.

There are easily as many ducks as fish, some small, small large - old and young. At times the water was so thick with fish that the ducks were scampering over the top of them, walking right on top of them actually. I guess the ducks were hungry too.

Quite a few times I grabbed a fish, and more often then not it didn't give two squirts - but then one would get spooked and freak out the rest, and all of sudden half the water in the Reservoir was airborne! I didn't dare go after the ducks, since I like my fingers.

If you're in the area of the Kinzua Marina, check it out.