Recently i’ve come across a few videos that have challenged the way i think about information and learning. Well worth a watch for those who haven’t seen them already.
In many ways it somehow feels ironic that i’m blogging about these considering the subject matter, but still i think they’re great. If my understanding is correct they are the brainchild of Michael Wesch, a professor at Kansas State University.
Hats off to you Michael!
Having recently graduated for Rose Bruford College with a degree in Stage Management I now have a full time job working for a video company based in London. Over the course of the next few weeks Andy Hicks (a fellow Rose Bruford Graduate, and now video technician) and i will be reminiscing on the journey we have taken over the last three years. This will form a series of posts on our respective blogs that we are calling ‘Retrospect’
We hope that they will become an informative read for current and future students of not just Rose Bruford but those training in the arts. As well as a great way to document our progress so far and the route it has taken.
Each post we’ll pick a subject that we think will be of interest and/or relevance and will each be posting our take on this subject. As the series develops you will be able to get a good cop, bad cop or good cop, good cop (depending on the subject!) account of that time frame by reading the corresponding posts on each site.
As you will begin to realise Andy and I have both come from a fairly similar place, and undertaken the same course. We have taken pretty different paths to get to where we are today, but now both hold jobs with London based video companies and are facing the same prospects as graduates trying to make it in a competitive working world.
Everything has been a bit crazy in the world of Richard P for the last couple of days which has meant I’ve been unable to spend as much time playing with my website as i would like to. I’ve hit a bit of a lull (although i think this is the calm before the storm, every Christie Roadster S+ 20k in Europe will have been tested, processed and sent out onto jobs by the end of the weekend) so I’m taking the opportunity to get back into the blog by updating the things that I’ve found interest in, but not mentioned.
Firstly, how could i call myself an Apple user without getting excited by the impending release of Leopard. The web is flooded with speculation and early reviews, so i feel it would be pointless to add my 2 cents at this point, although you can guarantee i will be letting you all know my thoughts when my pre-ordered copy arrives tomorrow. For more apple related reading, my favorite Apple blogs are appleinsider and tuaw.
Next, Gmail (or should i now say googlemail ?) gets IMAP. It’s being rolled out slowly over the course of the next couple of days, i find it no coincidence that the key players in the techblogging scene seem to have all had their upgrades. I’m still not there yet, but will be documenting the process of using Gmail IMAP with my hermes, so more to come on this one.
Finally, not much of a story on this one. But i’ve upgraded the graphics card in my workstation at work so i can now drive two apple cinema displays. Its this not a picture that makes you smile ? Perhaps i’m a bit too geeky!
I rolled out of work around 7 tonight having spent extra time fiddling with some new samples i downloaded over the weekend. As i trundled around the corner i could see a fantastic red sunset in the distance. Having previously spent time chasing sunsets and sunrises i knew that by the time i got to anywhere that would provide something close to a good position I’d be staring into the darkeness.
I pulled my camera out anyway, but was disappointed with the results. Left you can see what (i think) is the best of a bad bunch. With fading light, and no tripod the long exposure’s made the telegraph pole ghost a bit but i’ll pretend that it’s intentional for now.
For those who like playing with their cameras, does anyone have any tips on making the most of what nature offers despite the urban chaos of London ?
Having posted my photos of the burning truck on Friday, i was asked if i would submit them to firefightingnews.com Here are the results. A nice suprise!
Following a long session in All Bar One yesterday, here are the photos
You may or may not have heard what Radiohead have done regarding the release of their new album. I headed over to the Radiohead site this morning to see what all the fuss was about and decided to buy the album. For the uninitiated, they’re basically offering it on a ‘pay what you like basis’. Had i wanted to i could have clicked the button and got the album for free. Yet, by going direct to the artist’s site for the download and knowing that there won’t be any record label types getting their sticky hands on my money i was more than happy to part with my hard earned cash. I think this is a great idea and hope it makes a much needed impact on the way that music is being sold.
Incidentally, the record is (in my opinion) fantastic. Some classic Radiohead melodies in there and a collection of songs that i’m looking forward to getting to know. I’ve only listened to it once to far, but don’t feel disappointed in my latest purchase at all!
For a good while now I’ve owned a windows mobile device. A QTEK v1605 to be precise, or at least thats how Vodafone brands it. I know the chassis as a HTC Hermes, and there are revisions of this hardware appearing under different names on the Orange and T-Mobile networks too.
All in all, i find it to be quite a good handset. It’s been a reliable device for my email and messaging requirements. It’s not however my intention to review this handset, significant amounts of data can be found on it here at the very brilliant XDAdeveloperWiki and it would be pointless to cover such well trodden ground.
The thoughts i want to share today are on my service provider. Over the last few weeks i’ve experienced a few software errors, it kept reseting its time zone to east cost of America for starters! Additionally a couple of the keys on the flip out keyboard were beginning to stick too. Earlier this week i rang customer services at Vodafone to register these issues and they offered to send out a packet for a 5 day repair. Alternatively if i were to make it to one of there high street branches i would be offered the same service with the addition of a courtesy phone too.
Although to an extent this is exactly the kind of service i expect considering the money i pay for both my service and for insurance. Yet I have previously had mixed experiences with different providers and have been pleasantly surprised with Vodafone’s hassle free aproach and results.
Hurrah!
This morning on the way to work there were massive traffic tailbacks due to a huge fire near the River Road turn off on the A13. Check out the photos 
If you balance your computing between OS X and Windows enviroments then you’ll definitely be familiar with the thumbs.db and .ds_store files that litter the jump drives and transfered folders you share between the two computers. I’ve recently come across a solution on the tech-blog Lifehacker (well worth a read if you dont already!) Rather than plagerise their work i’ll just point you in the right direction