OSCR
Final Cut Pro Certification
21 06 08 17:04
I passed the Final Cut Pro certification exam yesterday! Yaay! To pass, you need a score of 80 or better. I took the training, and at the end of the training about half of us went ahead and took the test. I was nervous because the test costs $150, which I know limell’ (OSCR’s director) was willing to shell out for us, but I would have had a hard time telling her I needed to take it again. I would have probably paid for myself the second time, anyway, or at least offered to, but I still would have been embarassed.
Regardless of the certification test outcome, the training was great fun, partly because I continued to sit with Melanie and Catherine all week. In four days, we pretty much blazed through Diana’s entire book. Diana was an incredible instructor. If you want or need Final Cut Pro certification, I would recommend trying really hard to attend one of her own trainings.
Finally, I want to post a couple photos from my front yard. Enjoy!
Regardless of the certification test outcome, the training was great fun, partly because I continued to sit with Melanie and Catherine all week. In four days, we pretty much blazed through Diana’s entire book. Diana was an incredible instructor. If you want or need Final Cut Pro certification, I would recommend trying really hard to attend one of her own trainings.
Finally, I want to post a couple photos from my front yard. Enjoy!
Final Cut Pro Training
18 06 08 08:35
I am at a training all week. Mah co-worker and fwiend Patti arranged a Final Cut Pro training with Diana Weynand in one of OSCRs computer labs. That’s where I’m hanging all week, Tuesday through Friday, so basically this training is my work week.
I was a little lost at first, because I thought the Final Cut Pro training had something to do with circumcision. I half expected to arrive and find a room full of Rabbis and screaming babies. I was mistaken, however. Final Cut Pro is a video editing application published by Apple.
The first day was GREAT! It started slow, but we are learning all of the key commands as we go along, so by the end we will be Final Cut Pro keyboard jock geek experts! Yay! I can’t wait to use my newfound Final Cut Pro suerhero skills on the job... saving humanity from certain destruction... or, something like that. Here’s a pic of me at the trining with Catherine and Melanie:
I was a little lost at first, because I thought the Final Cut Pro training had something to do with circumcision. I half expected to arrive and find a room full of Rabbis and screaming babies. I was mistaken, however. Final Cut Pro is a video editing application published by Apple.
The first day was GREAT! It started slow, but we are learning all of the key commands as we go along, so by the end we will be Final Cut Pro keyboard jock geek experts! Yay! I can’t wait to use my newfound Final Cut Pro suerhero skills on the job... saving humanity from certain destruction... or, something like that. Here’s a pic of me at the trining with Catherine and Melanie:
A Day in the Server Room
23 05 08 10:42
Looks like I am going to spend my day in OSCR's server room!
I have been operating a pilot test Podcast Producer server for a few weeks now: exploring features, customizing workflows, streaming video, and giggling gleefully every time I send it video or audio and see it post flawlessly to blog pages and iTunesU test accounts. Michael Griffith from the College of Medicine (CoM) came and played on it with me one morning, and we customized a workflow for the College of Medicine so he could upload video and have it automatically post to a CoM blog.
Finally, I decided it was time to change the server's name to something other than 'temp34,' so I put in the request and a few days later - voilà! Podcast Producer services stopped functioning. LOL. Sooo... I decided it is time to rebuild it and send the server I was using back to Apple (it was on loaner). So, that'll be my work day today. Right now I am waiting for the OS to load up on the box onto which I am installing. Yippeee!
It's exciting, though. The U of A has not been on the podcasting bandwagon nearly enough for a University of it's stature. Stuart Glogoff from Learning Technology Services, down the hall from me, realized this some time ago. I became more aware of it following my training at NAB. So, since I have Podcast Producer server knowledge, I've joined up with Stuart and we will be starting a pilot podcasting service next semester. Faculty Fellows through the Dean of Students office, and the College of Medicine will be participating. So, we have clients, we have the technology, we have a support team, and now all we need to do is articulate our deliverables, train the participating faculty, and we'll be on our way! OK, that makes it sound too easy, but I'm super excited about it.
Podcast
I have been operating a pilot test Podcast Producer server for a few weeks now: exploring features, customizing workflows, streaming video, and giggling gleefully every time I send it video or audio and see it post flawlessly to blog pages and iTunesU test accounts. Michael Griffith from the College of Medicine (CoM) came and played on it with me one morning, and we customized a workflow for the College of Medicine so he could upload video and have it automatically post to a CoM blog.
Finally, I decided it was time to change the server's name to something other than 'temp34,' so I put in the request and a few days later - voilà! Podcast Producer services stopped functioning. LOL. Sooo... I decided it is time to rebuild it and send the server I was using back to Apple (it was on loaner). So, that'll be my work day today. Right now I am waiting for the OS to load up on the box onto which I am installing. Yippeee!
It's exciting, though. The U of A has not been on the podcasting bandwagon nearly enough for a University of it's stature. Stuart Glogoff from Learning Technology Services, down the hall from me, realized this some time ago. I became more aware of it following my training at NAB. So, since I have Podcast Producer server knowledge, I've joined up with Stuart and we will be starting a pilot podcasting service next semester. Faculty Fellows through the Dean of Students office, and the College of Medicine will be participating. So, we have clients, we have the technology, we have a support team, and now all we need to do is articulate our deliverables, train the participating faculty, and we'll be on our way! OK, that makes it sound too easy, but I'm super excited about it.
Podcast
NABshow in Las Vegas
13 04 08 14:36
The Office of Student Computing Resources has sent me off to Las Vegas to attend the National Association of Broadcasters Show, which is a huge training and exhibition conference for people and companies involved in broadcasting of all kinds. I am attending a 'Podcasting Summit,' which is a series of workshops designed to teach people how to podcast. It's been great training for me. I know a lot of the information they are covering, but I have also filled in a LOT of gaps. I also have a broader perspective about the importance and role of podcasting in communications. Podcasting, if it doesn't directly replace broadcasting, will provide important models for delivering 'pull' content to people. In other words, broadcast has been dying out because someone at a radio or TV station decides what will be displayed to their audience and on what schedule. Podcasting allows people to pull the content they want off a server and save it for viewing when they want. Which would you prefer? Most would prefer the choice involved in deciding what content they will watch and when. Our habits are already confirming this reality.
I have a radio in my car with an iPod interface. When I drove to work, what do I listen to? Some creepy, homophobic morning radio show on the local hard rock station or my iPod? (I like listening to hard or alternative rock in the car, but the radio shows that play this content have the most idiotic, biggest asshole radio show hosts imagineable!) Well... I ALWAYS choose my iPod. It has NPR podcasts on it every morning for me to listen to, and once I have listened to NPR I can listen to the music of my choice. This is why more and more people are listening to media content. Radio stations should take note and be afraid! Like it or not, radio is dying because consumers have more pull options available to them than ever before.Tech
Same is true for video. Podcast can also deliver video. Yaay! Maybe this spells the end of crap TV, too!
It is safe to assume from my ramblings that I am enjoying the conference and am learning and thinking a lot. I'm actually excited to get back to work and start collaborating with my work friends on implementing all kinds of new ideas I am learning about...
Carl came with me. In the evenings we have been going out for fun in Las Vegas! Last night, we went to the Wynn hotel to see 'Le Réve,' a technologically awesome acrobatic show underwater. It was wild! It defies description, actually. We ate at an amazing Italian seafood restaurant before the show. Expensive but sooo yummy!
This morning we went to downtown Las Vegas to Fremont Street. Here is a panoramic photo of Carl, and where we were from Google Maps:
View Larger Map
I have a radio in my car with an iPod interface. When I drove to work, what do I listen to? Some creepy, homophobic morning radio show on the local hard rock station or my iPod? (I like listening to hard or alternative rock in the car, but the radio shows that play this content have the most idiotic, biggest asshole radio show hosts imagineable!) Well... I ALWAYS choose my iPod. It has NPR podcasts on it every morning for me to listen to, and once I have listened to NPR I can listen to the music of my choice. This is why more and more people are listening to media content. Radio stations should take note and be afraid! Like it or not, radio is dying because consumers have more pull options available to them than ever before.Tech
Same is true for video. Podcast can also deliver video. Yaay! Maybe this spells the end of crap TV, too!
It is safe to assume from my ramblings that I am enjoying the conference and am learning and thinking a lot. I'm actually excited to get back to work and start collaborating with my work friends on implementing all kinds of new ideas I am learning about...
Carl came with me. In the evenings we have been going out for fun in Las Vegas! Last night, we went to the Wynn hotel to see 'Le Réve,' a technologically awesome acrobatic show underwater. It was wild! It defies description, actually. We ate at an amazing Italian seafood restaurant before the show. Expensive but sooo yummy!
This morning we went to downtown Las Vegas to Fremont Street. Here is a panoramic photo of Carl, and where we were from Google Maps:
View Larger Map
Dreams
26 08 07 20:59
So much has happened in the past few weeks: Staff Days at OSCR, the beginning of classes, a weekend vacation in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, a pool party with Carl's friends, and rafting on the Salt River in Phoenix yesterday with BOTOP... but I have limited time to write as I have more homework to prepare for this week, so I just want to mention something about my dreams that I am noticing.
I used to almost never have dreams... I have always had more lucid dreams than most people I know, but I almost never was able to remember my nighttime dreams.
That has changed since my accident. I thought at first that it was because I didn't sleep well after the accident. I now sleep extremely well, though. In fact, I can sleep more than 8 hours and still crave more, which is also a new development.
My dreams are more vivid than ever before too. Last night I had a dream that I was in a chorus and could not remember my part, and in my dream I could hear the music in vivid detail, so I decided to just follow along instead of trying to read the part.
One of the best things, though, was a couple weeks ago I took control of a dream for the first time. I was looking over a precipice, I knew it was in New Mexico but didn't know where I was. Then I looked down and realized I had stepped off of the cliff. For a moment I panicked, but then I realized I was in a dream and I could do whatever I wanted, so I gently lowered myself to the ground far below, looking at the changing scenery as I descended. I woke before I reached the ground.
I used to almost never have dreams... I have always had more lucid dreams than most people I know, but I almost never was able to remember my nighttime dreams.
That has changed since my accident. I thought at first that it was because I didn't sleep well after the accident. I now sleep extremely well, though. In fact, I can sleep more than 8 hours and still crave more, which is also a new development.
My dreams are more vivid than ever before too. Last night I had a dream that I was in a chorus and could not remember my part, and in my dream I could hear the music in vivid detail, so I decided to just follow along instead of trying to read the part.
One of the best things, though, was a couple weeks ago I took control of a dream for the first time. I was looking over a precipice, I knew it was in New Mexico but didn't know where I was. Then I looked down and realized I had stepped off of the cliff. For a moment I panicked, but then I realized I was in a dream and I could do whatever I wanted, so I gently lowered myself to the ground far below, looking at the changing scenery as I descended. I woke before I reached the ground.
A day in the Office of Student Computing Resources
12 07 07 18:31
My new job is fun! Basically, I get paid to play. Granted, I'm paid to play doing things most people can't do as well as we do, but fun is fun, and I get paid to have fun!
I had the 'task' of playing with a new iPod nano / Belkin TuneTalk microphone combination and writing up simple procedures and instructions for people who check them out, to simplify their process of making a recording and converting it to a podcast-able mp3 file.
I helped an art student print out her large format canvas prints on our 44" wide printer.
I attended a staff meeting where I found out what a great bunch of talented people I work with, and the kinds of projects they are working on, where Gary (front row, white shirt, red hands) captured and assembled these photos:
...and finally I mounted limell's (photo center, black shirt, yellow hands) spiffy cool 30" Studio Display monitor on a mounting bracket so she can lower it to an ergonomically acceptable height (translated: she's short). We had to call in Bernard (back row, red shirt, orange hands) and Lisa (middle row, striped shirt, green hands) to help, as the monitor was so darn heavy and the mounting bracket screws were so hard to turn!
OSCR is fun!
I had the 'task' of playing with a new iPod nano / Belkin TuneTalk microphone combination and writing up simple procedures and instructions for people who check them out, to simplify their process of making a recording and converting it to a podcast-able mp3 file.
I helped an art student print out her large format canvas prints on our 44" wide printer.
I attended a staff meeting where I found out what a great bunch of talented people I work with, and the kinds of projects they are working on, where Gary (front row, white shirt, red hands) captured and assembled these photos:
...and finally I mounted limell's (photo center, black shirt, yellow hands) spiffy cool 30" Studio Display monitor on a mounting bracket so she can lower it to an ergonomically acceptable height (translated: she's short). We had to call in Bernard (back row, red shirt, orange hands) and Lisa (middle row, striped shirt, green hands) to help, as the monitor was so darn heavy and the mounting bracket screws were so hard to turn!
OSCR is fun!
Last day of first week at OSCR
22 06 07 06:15
Wow. I am in love with my new job.
Those of you who know me well know about the problems I had in my previous position with the College of Education. I will not dwell on them here. What I will say is that I truly loved working with people throughout the COE, and apparently the feeling was mutual given recent awards.
Well, my whole world has changed. The Office of Student Computing Resources has hired me as Support Systems Analyst, Senior. I will be transcoding video, printing on a large format printer, answering questions about the campus wireless network, managing a video streaming server, training walk-in clients, and presenting workshops.
My primary duties are the following:
• OSCR contact for campus wireless issues
• Provide technical administration for large format-printer in the Multimedia Learning Lab
• Technical consultation for OSCR multimedia clients
• Hardware, OS, and admin of "foster's" QTSS server / VR Annex fileserver
• Hardware, OS, and admin of CALA fileserver
• Hardware, OS, and App admin of Anystream transcoding service
• Hardware, OS, and admin of HD streaming server
Sounds like fun, eh? Well, even if it doesn't sound like fun to you it's great fun for me! I'm finally doing the kind of creative work I was doing at the College of Santa Fe Contemporary Music Program! One of my colleagues in the College of Education grumbled about my capabilities, but hey, OSCR tested me before hiring me, so they have reason to believe in my abilities here. In addition, my resume and qualifications speak for themselves, as do all of my former clients both in Santa Fe and the College of Education! Finally, I will be able to put my skills to excellent use.
The most exciting thing about my new job, though, is the philosophy behind it. They actually have an internal mission statement in addition to their external mission statement. This internal mission statement is to (this may not be 100% accurate, it's from memory...) "mutually support, inspire, and educate the team." Every indication so far demonstrates that they take these mission statements seriously. They also follow the Fish philosophy. If my new coworkers' attitudes are an indicator, it works.
I only wish I could share the energy and excitement of my new position with my former coworkers in the College of Education. It was a "toxic energy dump" over there. One coworker actually used to lecture me on the need to not be too helpful to people or I would be "inviting trouble!" Advice I ignored. On the contrary, I tried to be as helpful as possible. What happened was my skills were a gift to the entire college, people appreciated me, and I was rewarded with job satisfaction and positive reinforcement on a daily, nay, hourly basis. This is how I survived in the College of Education despite working with a coworker who could not view me as an equal. Sigh. Oh well. Enough of that.
I love it here. This is going to be a fun year.
Below is a photo of me with some of my new coworkers at a Freshman orientation fair, photo taken by Mark...
Those of you who know me well know about the problems I had in my previous position with the College of Education. I will not dwell on them here. What I will say is that I truly loved working with people throughout the COE, and apparently the feeling was mutual given recent awards.
Well, my whole world has changed. The Office of Student Computing Resources has hired me as Support Systems Analyst, Senior. I will be transcoding video, printing on a large format printer, answering questions about the campus wireless network, managing a video streaming server, training walk-in clients, and presenting workshops.
My primary duties are the following:
• OSCR contact for campus wireless issues
• Provide technical administration for large format-printer in the Multimedia Learning Lab
• Technical consultation for OSCR multimedia clients
• Hardware, OS, and admin of "foster's" QTSS server / VR Annex fileserver
• Hardware, OS, and admin of CALA fileserver
• Hardware, OS, and App admin of Anystream transcoding service
• Hardware, OS, and admin of HD streaming server
Sounds like fun, eh? Well, even if it doesn't sound like fun to you it's great fun for me! I'm finally doing the kind of creative work I was doing at the College of Santa Fe Contemporary Music Program! One of my colleagues in the College of Education grumbled about my capabilities, but hey, OSCR tested me before hiring me, so they have reason to believe in my abilities here. In addition, my resume and qualifications speak for themselves, as do all of my former clients both in Santa Fe and the College of Education! Finally, I will be able to put my skills to excellent use.
The most exciting thing about my new job, though, is the philosophy behind it. They actually have an internal mission statement in addition to their external mission statement. This internal mission statement is to (this may not be 100% accurate, it's from memory...) "mutually support, inspire, and educate the team." Every indication so far demonstrates that they take these mission statements seriously. They also follow the Fish philosophy. If my new coworkers' attitudes are an indicator, it works.
I only wish I could share the energy and excitement of my new position with my former coworkers in the College of Education. It was a "toxic energy dump" over there. One coworker actually used to lecture me on the need to not be too helpful to people or I would be "inviting trouble!" Advice I ignored. On the contrary, I tried to be as helpful as possible. What happened was my skills were a gift to the entire college, people appreciated me, and I was rewarded with job satisfaction and positive reinforcement on a daily, nay, hourly basis. This is how I survived in the College of Education despite working with a coworker who could not view me as an equal. Sigh. Oh well. Enough of that.
I love it here. This is going to be a fun year.
Below is a photo of me with some of my new coworkers at a Freshman orientation fair, photo taken by Mark...