Trials and Tribulations

Well, I presume I should begin this post by noting that things could be worse. I’ve been awfully busy with school, work, and car problems (does anyone know of a good place to get a new exhaust system from the cat. converter back?). I suppose such is life. With any bit of luck, in publishing this post, I will be allowed some feedback to help me deal with some of the problems that I am experiencing thus far…

First off, I would like to mention the iMovie project. Some of the problems that have been exposed: 1. I am, in fact, doing the majority of my filming on a digital camera (actually it’s the one that Dr. Reid mentions: here). I was taken back by how stunning all of the video looks! But, as I was told, the sound quality was nothing to write home about. I, then, decided to take Dr. Reid’s advice and hook up my external microphone to the digital camera—this would enhance my sound quality, right? One problem: when I hook the microphone up to the camera –the camera won’t record video. It’s incredibly peculiar. The screen, where one would normally preview the video, literally turns black (I wonder if it still records, and I just won’t be able to preview… I’ll have to check that out). This became very frustrating. I truly don’t think that the sound quality from the camera itself is bad at all; the only issue is that, again, like I’ve been told, it picks up every miniscule sound (even wind). Maybe I’ll just have to do all the filming and do a voice-over? 2. The second problem that I am experiencing has to do with transferring the data into iMovie. At first, the content uploaded right into the MAC (with a regular USB cable). But, when I saved all of the content onto my Flash Drive and proceeded to open it again—it was gone (luckily I had also saved the video on my PC). As of right now, here’s where I stand: I have to film two scenes over again—as they are less then mediocre—and then I have to edit it all together in iMovie. The editing part shouldn’t be hard, as I have done something similar before. I just hope it is easier to manage this time around.

Secondly, and most irritatingly, is the Downtown Cortland project. As everyone who has read any of my preceding posts would know that we are having one massive problem. We (Katie and I) can’t figure out a way to insert our blogs onto the main page of this website: Cortland Downtown Partnership. Evidently there is a way. Apparently some people know how to do this. Unfortunately those people are not Katie and I. Let me also note that I have been talking to Lloyd Purdy almost everyday—I’m sure he’s tired of hearing from me (not really—he’s a good man). This is where we stand as of right now. I recommended, to Lloyd, that we might just want to create two more Blogger.com accounts and put links to them on his main page. This way, the blogs would be up and running. But, as I was leaving class the other day—Dr. Reid mentioned that I should go over to Winchell Hall (the campus technology building) and ask them. Katie was nice enough to call them this morning and see if there was anything they could do to help us (any news with this Kate?). This is where we stand as of right now. Oh, and also, Sarah mentioned that her husband, Jed, might be able to help also. I had emailed him a couple of weeks back, and he said that he had a very hectic schedule but I could email him any questions. I think I might just do this… Thank you Sarah, and Jed, as this is a very kind gesture. I already have some posts written that I will publish onto the site as soon as it’s up and running. If anyone would like to read any of these earlier than this, just email me and I will send them to you. I have already sent them to Lloyd and he told me that he was very happy with them.

As for the wiki: I must confess that I have been a little less lively on this aspect of the class—while, I do plan on editing/writing as soon as I am finished with this post. Some classmates have left me some comments asking on what I write when I edit the wiki, and how I get into it. Let me answer that here. I have to admit that when I first started writing on the wiki I was only making small edits. After I had “corrected” or changed a group of different entries, I had built up enough confidence to work on my own pages. I have done most of my work on the iTunes U, and iTunes, etc. pages. But, now that I understand that I am able to write on anything… I might try to do some “fun” pages (the NJ Nets, Hunter S. Thompson, etc.). I think the wiki is awesome. And, I have even started to receive emails from other wikipedians from Wikipedia.org—some are pleasant, and others, well, a little less agreeable. But, this is the fun part of it. I think it’s a very handy tool, and I know that it can be used for more than just fun (as I have been using it). My recommendation, for those who are struggling with what to write on the wiki would be: to create a wiki page on something you are passionate about—you will be able to understand it better, and enjoy it more; making the rest of the entries easier to generate… I think. I know I didn’t, in truth, take pleasure in the class wiki until after I had edited some of the articles on Wikipedia.org.

As I end this post it would be wrong for me to not mention Lily, my pet hedgehog. The good news is that we got her a bigger “home”. We also “pimped” her house—by adding a wheel, tube, and wooden mansion (for her to sleep in). You can’t tell me that she doesn’t have it good…Haha. Cheers.