June has disappeared

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and I haven't posted in a while. This is mainly because I'm tired of rambling on about all of my technology woes.

A few new tech complaints to add to my list.... why the eff are iBook power cords $100? Grrrrr...

I've turned to vlogging to distract myself. Check out my channel here

K bye!

Focus, man

I've signed onto SO many different projects right now that I'm suffering from that "Don't know what to do first!" condition. I know there's lots to do, and that I have very little time to do it, but I honestly don't know where to start.

For one, my room is a mess, and so is my virtual room The iBook's full again, files littered everywhere. Even my Hackintosh is getting messy.

My mind is in a similar state. I have one project for UN1TE (maybe two? I have a feeling someone will be asking me to do another), a couple vids for a local deejay, a music video (?) for a local musician, and my "for fun" vlog project, which I started today (see my youtube page)

So, what do I want to do? Anything BUT edit video. And I think my Hackintosh headaches are closely related to this.


Good news, though - my work for Dance Manitoba is COMPLETE =)

Mmmmm, toasty

Amazingly, Toast works to convert MTS to MOV! I'm back at a high point!

Priorities, priorities:
- burn OGG (again) - need CD-Rs ASAP. Trying to do this on the Hackintosh... Wait... Does Toast do this too? INDEED IT DOES!! I think I'm in love <3 It even lets me customize the fades. My head is light with the joy.
- work on vids for upcoming concert
- work on vids for UN1TE
- fix Ethernet problem
- sleep

I am fo sho the coolest person on the planet. I worked on my computer on a Saturday night. But now Dot makes me happy, and that's kind of important after spending $1000 on a computer.

Muchos gracias to my cousin Ken, who made this all possible. Especially by telling me about Toast.

Stuff like this makes me want to cry

... Unexpected Quit with Panasonic AVCHD HDC-SD9

I thought I was dealing with normal AVCHD issues, but I was sadly mistaken. I started following this blog to figure out how to use Final Cut Express with my HDC-SD9 (Job).

This downturn comes after a roller coaster of a day. I've been hard at work finding and installing kexts on my Hackintosh (Dot), and finally found success with the video card (the resolution was way off, DVD Player wouldn't start, and FCE wouldn't install). I was lacking the Quartz Extreme codec. Now I've got a beautiful Mac(ish) to play with.

I've decided to figure out the network card problem another day - apparently I need an Attansic L1 Ethernet kext (of which I have several versions, none that work). I may just buy a different network card. For now, I'm content downloading files onto my iBook (Cornelius) and transfering them onto an external hard drive.

Strangely, USB devices won't mount unless I restart the computer after plugging them in. And the front USB ports don't work at all. Again, something I'll look into later. One reason I'm so loathe to work on this is that the Insanely Mac Forums appear to be down.

I was super excited to get FCE on Dot. But apparently now it will take a WHOLE LOT MORE tinkering for me to get AVCHD support. I've already downloaded the Perian Quicktime plugin, but it wasn't enough.

Dot lives!

Yesterday I got Dot (my new Hackintosh computer) up and running. Hooray! I'm still struggling with the NIC and widescreen display, but everything else appears to be working. Thank goodness for Kalyway.

I've come across problems burning off the CDs for Dance Manitoba. Nero's alphabetization of the files is different than iTunes (which I planned to print song lists off of). So a file with the name "### second run" comes BEFORE "###" (the first run). It's a small thing, but it's just made my life that much more complicated. I'd already burned at least 30 CDs before I realized this... What a waste.

I've also become interested in latte art, and my ventures into that side of the web have led me to realize that I know very little about coffee. I know more than the average person, but not enough to call myself a coffee snob. I don't particularly want to be called a coffee snob, but I want the knowledge of a coffee snob.

Here are a few sites that I'm going to read more in the future:
Abstract Gourmet
Coffee Snobs
Coffee Universe
Coffee Enthusiast
espressolab

There are so many more sites, so little time... ahhhhhhhhh...
Back to kext research =P

The news of life

Where to begin?

First, the dance news:
Went to the School of Contemporary Dancers today to audition for the Junior Professional Program. Discovered two things. 1: Not taking ballet for a year has taken its toll on me. 2: The JPP is a little too pricey for me at this time.

The coffee:
Had a cappucino (not decaf - I've been breaking the rules a bit lately) from the Fyxx on Albert. Those things are tiny! But I suppose that their size is more comparable to the traditional cappucino. It's Starbucks that tends to supersize things.
Also, bought a decaf coffee from Tim's. Guh-ross, watery. But it didn't make me ill like the regular stuff does, so hooray!

The tech:
Found a way to burn OGG files (the format all of my audio is in for Dance Manitoba) using Windows XP (my mom's computer). Very relieved - I was afraid that I'd have to re-export from all of my project files, or convert all the files to WAV or something. It's all thanks to my cousin Ken, who deserves to be mentioned in the blog for his assistance in all my computer issues lately (which have been many)
Got my new monitor from FutureShop. It's so pretty - I've got it hooked up to my laptop.

I think I've covered most of the relevant news. Life has slowed down a bit, but it's every bit as full of learning as during the school year. I love it!