Apparently I'm a snake.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
MovieLens
I remembered that I heard years ago about software which takes your movie preferences and compares them to many other people's and makes recommendations from it. It's supposedly surprisingly accurate. And I found MovieLens.org, which seems to be that. So I'm trying it out.
Apparently I'm a snake.
Apparently I'm a snake.
Edit video file
I have a video file (330MB MPG) which needs 40 seconds cut off the end. And I think it can be smaller without image quality compromise. But it's corrupted somehow, and my QuickTime-based Apple editing apps won't open it (even though it will play in Mplayer). Can somebody help?
Quotes, power
Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity for experience.
-- James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791
When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
-- Thomas Paine
We have, I fear, confused power with greatness.
-- Stewart L. Udall, commencement address, Dartmouth College, June 13, 1965
-- James Boswell, Life of Samuel Johnson, 1791
When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
-- Thomas Paine
We have, I fear, confused power with greatness.
-- Stewart L. Udall, commencement address, Dartmouth College, June 13, 1965
Red articles
Two cool articles, one and two, about RED and its founder.
"I had been thinking about this project for a long time," Jannard says. "As a camera fanatic and a product builder, this was something I seemed destined to do." When businesspeople talk destiny, it can sound like bullshit. But at Oakley, Jannard not only ran the company, he personally shot one of its two TV spots and all of its print ads from 1975 to 1995. He owns more than 1,000 cameras, both still and motion picture, several dating back almost a century. "I have a Bolex, Aaton, Arriflex, Eyemo, Filmo, Mitchell, Photosonic, Beaulieu, Keystone—just about every movie camera you can think of."
People like this are interesting, Jannard and Steve Jobs and any number of prominent personalities: who accomplish great things despite, or because, money is a secondary consideration. Or tertiary, or not even considered except as a means to a greater end.
"Even so, traditionalists cling to film's reliability. Film is tangible. Hard drives crash; files get corrupted. "You put film in a can and stick it on a shelf, and it costs $1,000 a year to store," says Stephen Lighthill, who teaches cinematography at the American Film Institute. "With a project that starts as data, you have it on a hard drive, which has to be nursed and upgraded. It's an electronic, mechanical device that can't be left unplugged." Preserving a 4K digital master of a feature film would cost $12,000 a year, according to a report by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."
Whu? A hard disk can't be unplugged? $12,000 a year? That has to be total BS. You back it up on a couple of different media in a couple of different places, and you're done. If you wish, you make a physical master print on film also. Simple.
There are some interesting points about film. Did you know that each (big, expensive) projection copy of a film has to be taken in to be cleaned/restored after a few dozen screenings? Incredible.
What form digital projectors will take in the future is interesting though. It'll be hard to make them so they won't be outdated very soon.
But I find it interesting to think about how clumsy and expensive it is to distribute the huge film canisters. Today I can download HD movies to my Apple TV... as fast as I can watch them! And that is essentially the same resolution as the "2K" digital projectors they use in some theaters. So even though they may want a bit bigger resolution, they wouldn't even need a special pipeline to get movies delivered fully digitally, only an ordinary commercial Internet connection, and some security measures.
This is cool: Brits are planning use of the economical nature of digital distribution to get more UK-made out to the public. Much as I like Hollywood movies, it's excellent that both digital production and distribution will allow for a much lower entry level and thus much more choice for movie audiences in the future.
"I had been thinking about this project for a long time," Jannard says. "As a camera fanatic and a product builder, this was something I seemed destined to do." When businesspeople talk destiny, it can sound like bullshit. But at Oakley, Jannard not only ran the company, he personally shot one of its two TV spots and all of its print ads from 1975 to 1995. He owns more than 1,000 cameras, both still and motion picture, several dating back almost a century. "I have a Bolex, Aaton, Arriflex, Eyemo, Filmo, Mitchell, Photosonic, Beaulieu, Keystone—just about every movie camera you can think of."
People like this are interesting, Jannard and Steve Jobs and any number of prominent personalities: who accomplish great things despite, or because, money is a secondary consideration. Or tertiary, or not even considered except as a means to a greater end.
"Even so, traditionalists cling to film's reliability. Film is tangible. Hard drives crash; files get corrupted. "You put film in a can and stick it on a shelf, and it costs $1,000 a year to store," says Stephen Lighthill, who teaches cinematography at the American Film Institute. "With a project that starts as data, you have it on a hard drive, which has to be nursed and upgraded. It's an electronic, mechanical device that can't be left unplugged." Preserving a 4K digital master of a feature film would cost $12,000 a year, according to a report by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."
Whu? A hard disk can't be unplugged? $12,000 a year? That has to be total BS. You back it up on a couple of different media in a couple of different places, and you're done. If you wish, you make a physical master print on film also. Simple.
There are some interesting points about film. Did you know that each (big, expensive) projection copy of a film has to be taken in to be cleaned/restored after a few dozen screenings? Incredible.
What form digital projectors will take in the future is interesting though. It'll be hard to make them so they won't be outdated very soon.
But I find it interesting to think about how clumsy and expensive it is to distribute the huge film canisters. Today I can download HD movies to my Apple TV... as fast as I can watch them! And that is essentially the same resolution as the "2K" digital projectors they use in some theaters. So even though they may want a bit bigger resolution, they wouldn't even need a special pipeline to get movies delivered fully digitally, only an ordinary commercial Internet connection, and some security measures.
This is cool: Brits are planning use of the economical nature of digital distribution to get more UK-made out to the public. Much as I like Hollywood movies, it's excellent that both digital production and distribution will allow for a much lower entry level and thus much more choice for movie audiences in the future.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Camera comparison
This is a fantastic idea: a Quick-Comparison page for image quality between cameras. Well done to Imaging-Resource.
(The page does not work for me in Safari, but it does in Firefox.)
I find the target setup with the wine bottles to be particularly helpful.
(The page does not work for me in Safari, but it does in Firefox.)
I find the target setup with the wine bottles to be particularly helpful.
Kate bush: Nocturn
Amateur music video based on Kate Bush's song Nocturn.
The album "Aerial"* is not easy to get into, which seems to fit Kate fine. But one of my favorites is Nocturn. It's a very long one, though, and gets better as it goes on, I think.
I'm a big fan of Kate from back in the seventies.
She has said that her own favorite music is the stuff it took her a while to get into. Fair enough, some art is worth some work. But some of my own favorite stuff I did like immediately too. And the thing is, if you don't like something immediately, why would you want to put in all that work just on the off chance that it grows on you? I think an artist does well to meet the audience half way.
* Dictionary: aerial (âr'ē-əl, ā-îr'ē-əl)
adj.
Of, in, or caused by the air.
Existing or living in the air.
Reaching high into the air; lofty.
Suggestive of air, as in lightness; airy.
Unsubstantial; imaginary.
The album "Aerial"* is not easy to get into, which seems to fit Kate fine. But one of my favorites is Nocturn. It's a very long one, though, and gets better as it goes on, I think.
I'm a big fan of Kate from back in the seventies.
She has said that her own favorite music is the stuff it took her a while to get into. Fair enough, some art is worth some work. But some of my own favorite stuff I did like immediately too. And the thing is, if you don't like something immediately, why would you want to put in all that work just on the off chance that it grows on you? I think an artist does well to meet the audience half way.
* Dictionary: aerial (âr'ē-əl, ā-îr'ē-əl)
adj.
Of, in, or caused by the air.
Existing or living in the air.
Reaching high into the air; lofty.
Suggestive of air, as in lightness; airy.
Unsubstantial; imaginary.
Red Epic camera (Updated)
Update again: Mike has a couple of good links.
I find it interesting that there's no "design" at all about the Red products. They are stark and hard and utilitarian, but just from being so well made, they become beautiful after all.
------
Update: I thought this was the "DSLR-killer" they'd promised. It's not. (They have a lot of clout, sure, but I will still wait to get excited until we actually see this thing.)
Update: Reichman has a nice overview. And so has wikipedia. (It seems from wiki that the Epic/Scarlet is the "DSLR-killer" after all. Very confusing.)
--
When Leica announced the S2 system, I said "I must admit I didn't see this coming!" Well, you can take this to the second degree with the Red Epic still/video camera announcement. They have a lot of work to do yet before it'll be for sale, but one thing shocks me: it'll have sensors up to 6x18 centimeters! An 18 centimeter long sensor! The biggest (and very expensive) one we have right now is less than 5cms, and I really didn't think that would ever be trumped significantly.
RED seem to want to be original in everything, for example the Epic brochure is not a PDF file, it's one hugely tall JPG. Odd. :-)
I like the look of their lenses. Yum.
They have plans of a radical 3D system:
I am amazed at how this upstart company can make these amazing developments when big Japanese companies with decades of experience are getting mowed down in the market.
What I want to know is, who needs to shoot video at 261 megapixels!? That's over 100 times HD resolution!
One thing I like is that these future RED cameras promise to deliver on something I've long said was the final frontier for digital cameras: high dynamic range. I hope to see the day soon when the constant attention you need to apply to avoid burned out highlights etc (when you can avoid it) is no longer necessary.
I find it interesting that there's no "design" at all about the Red products. They are stark and hard and utilitarian, but just from being so well made, they become beautiful after all.
------
Update: I thought this was the "DSLR-killer" they'd promised. It's not. (They have a lot of clout, sure, but I will still wait to get excited until we actually see this thing.)
Update: Reichman has a nice overview. And so has wikipedia. (It seems from wiki that the Epic/Scarlet is the "DSLR-killer" after all. Very confusing.)
--
When Leica announced the S2 system, I said "I must admit I didn't see this coming!" Well, you can take this to the second degree with the Red Epic still/video camera announcement. They have a lot of work to do yet before it'll be for sale, but one thing shocks me: it'll have sensors up to 6x18 centimeters! An 18 centimeter long sensor! The biggest (and very expensive) one we have right now is less than 5cms, and I really didn't think that would ever be trumped significantly.
RED seem to want to be original in everything, for example the Epic brochure is not a PDF file, it's one hugely tall JPG. Odd. :-)
I like the look of their lenses. Yum.
They have plans of a radical 3D system:
I am amazed at how this upstart company can make these amazing developments when big Japanese companies with decades of experience are getting mowed down in the market.
What I want to know is, who needs to shoot video at 261 megapixels!? That's over 100 times HD resolution!
One thing I like is that these future RED cameras promise to deliver on something I've long said was the final frontier for digital cameras: high dynamic range. I hope to see the day soon when the constant attention you need to apply to avoid burned out highlights etc (when you can avoid it) is no longer necessary.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
First photos of other planets
[Thanks to Justin.]
They believe they have photographed, for the first time, planets around other stars.
They believe they have photographed, for the first time, planets around other stars.
Fake paper announces end of war
[Thanks to Ray.]
Fake paper announces end of war.
This has to be harsh medicine for all the poor souls who got the paper and believed it. But hopefully a reminder of how much we dislike being at war, unless we have stock in Haliburton.
Video here.
Update: this is hysterical: a British blog has the headline "New York Times spoof gives city a taste of a socialist America"!
"Socialist". Heh.
Here's a site for the fake edition. There are also other interesting headlines, like "Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge" and "USA Patriot Act Repealed".
USA Patriot Act Repealed
By SYBIL LUDINGTON
Published: July 4th, 2009
Eight years after being enacted, and three years after being reauthorized, the controversial USA Patriot Act was repealed by Congress by a vote of 99 to 1 in the Senate and 520 to 18 in the House.
No fanfare greeted the repeal in either house. Absent were the 40-minute speeches and foam-core charts predicting Armageddon. The act was repealed with a simple vote cast late in the day by a Congress ashamed of what it had done and what the Act had meant for Americans.
Only one senator voted against the "Patriot" act in 2001. Oh how it would be to live in a sane world.
... Damn, this paper and site does not pull any punches. Look at this ad:
And here's an interesting fake apology by the NYT.
Sadly, when you click on the Arts Section, you get a 404 page! LOL. Too bad, I'd have been curious as to what the Yes Men would consider modern renaissance art.
Fake paper announces end of war.
This has to be harsh medicine for all the poor souls who got the paper and believed it. But hopefully a reminder of how much we dislike being at war, unless we have stock in Haliburton.
Video here.
Update: this is hysterical: a British blog has the headline "New York Times spoof gives city a taste of a socialist America"!
"Socialist". Heh.
Here's a site for the fake edition. There are also other interesting headlines, like "Court Indicts Bush on High Treason Charge" and "USA Patriot Act Repealed".
USA Patriot Act Repealed
By SYBIL LUDINGTON
Published: July 4th, 2009
Eight years after being enacted, and three years after being reauthorized, the controversial USA Patriot Act was repealed by Congress by a vote of 99 to 1 in the Senate and 520 to 18 in the House.
No fanfare greeted the repeal in either house. Absent were the 40-minute speeches and foam-core charts predicting Armageddon. The act was repealed with a simple vote cast late in the day by a Congress ashamed of what it had done and what the Act had meant for Americans.
Only one senator voted against the "Patriot" act in 2001. Oh how it would be to live in a sane world.
... Damn, this paper and site does not pull any punches. Look at this ad:
And here's an interesting fake apology by the NYT.
Sadly, when you click on the Arts Section, you get a 404 page! LOL. Too bad, I'd have been curious as to what the Yes Men would consider modern renaissance art.
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