June 30, 2009

Dear Affiliate:

We regret to inform you that the North Carolina, Rhode Island, California and Hawaii state legislatures have or are about to pass unconstitutional tax nexus and collection laws in an attempt to force Internet retailers to collect and remit sales tax on all sales to residents of these states.

These legislative measures purport to establish a state tax nexus on the basis of contracts with local advertising affiliates, even when none exists under U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Overstock.com, Inc. (”Overstock”) has no tax nexus in any state other than Utah.

Due to the passage or eminent passage of these unconstitutional laws, Overstock regretfully must discontinue its relationships with all of its advertising affiliates in these states.

Accordingly, it is with reluctance that Overstock hereby gives notice of termination of your participation in Overstock’s Affiliate Program.

Any money owed to you, based on your advertising services prior to termination, will be paid in the normal course of business.

Overstock regrets that it has been put in this position. In the future should these laws be vetoed, declared unconstitutional, or repealed, we will cheerfully resume our former business relationship.

Respectfully,

Jonathan E. Johnson III
President
Overstock.com, Inc.

Affiliates that receive these removal letters should send a copy of the text directly to your representatives and ask them why they did nothing to protect your business from financial loss.

Find your Assembly person and Senator here.

Waste products that are accepted include: Monitors, CRT Screens, Plasma Screens, Televisions, LCD Screens, Laptops, Printers, Copiers, Faxes, Scanners, Computer Towers, Stereo Systems, Mice/Trackballs, Cell Phones, Speakers, Telephones, Uninterruptable Power Supplies, VCRs, DVD Players, Servers, Server Racks, Plotters and Power Cords/Cables/Strips.

Recycle San Diego is an approved collector and recycler of electronic waste. Check here for the next eWaste event. The map displays their Kearny Mesa address.

This photo was taken at the El Cortez Hotel in the seventies and I have no idea what happened to the other photos that were taken on that day. I am on the left. Check out that ‘fro! I was on assignment to cover Comic-Con for a local San Diego newspaper.

The Comic-Con International is now held at the San Diego Convention Center. There is little resemblance between me in this historical photo and me thirty plus years later.

The pose with the unidentified attendee was staged to reflect her portrayal of a Vulcan. The hands are in the live long and prosper position with the fingers split apart. At the top of the photo note the funky dot matrix printed banner (held up with masking tape) that reads: REGISTRAR.

Lots of current photos can be viewewd at the Flickr group pool.

NSFW Profanity Warning!

Leading the Children’s Earth Parade at the 2009 in , the Director of the California Department of Conservation, , takes a moment to shoot a video of actor/environmentalist and me.

Earlier this month KPBS public television hosted a show to help support Public Broadcasting. It’s one of those events that they interrupt every so often to ask you to join as a member. I was channel surfing and serendipitously landed on their presentation of the historic Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967. It was amazing to see and hear these performances. You get to see Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T and the MGs and others in their prime. It’s the best footage of 60’s that I have ever seen. If you love , what are you waiting for? This is a must see. Buy this disc!

Booker T and the MGs
1. Red Beans And Rice
2. Green Onions

The Mar-Keys
3.Philly Dog
4.Grab This Thing
5.Last Night

Arthur Conley
6.In The Midnight Hour
7.Sweet Soul Music

Eddie Floyd
8. Raise Your Hand

Sam and Dave
9. You Don’t Know Like I Know
10. Soothe Me
11. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby
12. Hold On! I’m Comin’

Otis Redding
13.Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)
14. My Girl
15. Shake
16. Satisfaction
17. Try A Little Tenderness

With more than 60 million sold worldwide, the Honda 50 (now Super Cub) is the best selling powered vehicle of all time. The Honda 50 is still produced today, 50 years after its inception. They’re cheap to buy - about $1,400 US new - and you’ll find them in 160 countries around the world. As great as the Cub is, you can’t get new ones in America anymore. Honda quit selling them here in the 1980s, when the bike was called the Passport.

The song “Little Honda”, about the Honda 50, was written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love of The Beach Boys.

Go!
I’m gonna wake you up early cause i’m gonna take a ride with you.
We’re goin’ down to the honda shop, i’ll tell you what we’re gonna do.
Put on a ragged sweatshirt, i’ll take you where you want me to.

First gear, it’s all right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Second gear, i’ll lean right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Third gear, hang on tight (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Faster, it’s all right.

It’s not a big motorcycle,
Just a groovy little motorbike.
It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys,
That two-wheeled bike.
We’ll ride on out of town
To anyplace i know you like.

First gear, it’s all right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Second gear, i’ll lean right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Third gear, hang on tight (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Faster, it’s all right.

It climbs the hills like a matchless,
Cause my honda’ built really light.
When i go in to the turns
Better hang on tight.
I’d better turn on the lights
So we can ride my honda tonight.

First gear, it’s all right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Second gear, ill lean right (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Third gear, hang on tight (honda, honda, go faster, faster)
Faster, it’s all right.

When I was a teenager, I had a to get me around town. Back then, California law allowed a driver with a learning permit to legally ride a motorcycle solo. The driving test at that time for a motorcycle endorsement for your permit or license was to do a figure eight in the DMV parking lot. That was easy. After I passed the written test for the motorcycle, I received a motorcycle endorsement to my permit. When I got my license (the day I turned 16) I could have a passenger ride along with me on the Honda motorcycle (or motorbike - they weren’t called scooters at that time). I still have that motorcycle endorsement on my license even though it’s been a few years since I’ve ridden one. Nonetheless, I’ve had the opportunity to ride a variety of much more powerful motorcycles over the years. My favorite was a 650 Triumph, back in the days before the helmet requirement, but the one I had the most fun with was that Honda 50.

UPDATE April 2009: World’s Most Popular Motorcycle Returns to America! Sym, a former Honda subsidiary based in Taiwan is selling the 100-mpg Symba which sports the Cub’s timeless step-through design but updates the bike with a smoother transmission, improved suspension and other features. The 101-cc engine produces 6.7 horsepower. The motorcycle also gets a semi-automatic four-speed transmission and will carry a $2,600 price tag.

Click here to view gals and guys

Vote now for your favorites!

Winners will be announced Tuesday, December 16th, 2008.

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I’ve been tossing pennies into this jar for over 10 years. It weighs approximately 40 pounds so I’m estimating it’s worth around $75.00 USD.

When the pennies get a little closer to the top of the jar, I’m thinking about cashing it in for a good meal. How would you spend it?

For those of you here to view the social media case studies presentation, you can just watch the video. For those of you who like to watch the Special Features on DVDs, continue reading for the behind the scenes story of the recording, encoding and displaying the video that I shot in a conference room on the 8th floor of the Bank of America Building.

This might be the longest single recorded video using a that is currently being displayed on the Web!

My primary purpose for attending the event was to watch and listen to the presentation (and do a little networking). Shooting events (mostly still photography) over the years has taught me that I will miss much of what’s being presented because I am focusing on tracking the speaker and framing the shot. I mention this fact because in this video, the framing is somewhat neglected, however the viewer can still see and hear the majority of the content that was presented.

My list of tools for recording the presentation consisted of only two pieces of equipment, a Flip Mino camcorder and a . The Flip is an inexpensive pocket-sized camcorder weighing 6 ounces and the Gorillapod is a very lightweight (less than 1 ounce) miniature tripod. I set up the camcorder beside me on the conference table, turned it on and basically let it record with some occasional adjustments to the mini-tripod and the camcorder’s limited 2x digital zoom. It’s probably a good practice to avoid using the zoom for distance if possible, as there is a significant reduction in video quality. The tripod gave me a little height and some stability. My neighbor at the table was working on his laptop during the presentation and the resulting inadvertent vibration of the table from that shows up as some camcorder shake during playback.

As the presentation went past the one hour mark, I was amazed that the Flip was still recording as the technical specs state that the 2GB of on-board flash memory records only up to sixty minutes of video. Thirty minutes later - at the ninety minute mark - I had a 1.7GB video recording of the entire presentation. I suspect that when you record multiple videos, the meta information files take up enough space to limit recording time to sixty minutes, but in the case of one long continuous video, it will go to the ninety minute mark as evidenced by the video above.

There are a couple of additional points to know about the Flip. It likes a lot of light for video recording and its audio capabilities are somewhat limited with the built-in, omni-directional microphone. Others before me have asked San Francisco based manufacturer Pure Digital Technologies to add an audio input to accept an external mic, but so far, those requests have gone unheeded. Special Note: This video was shot just a few day before the brand new higher 1280×720 pixel resolution Flip MinoHD (no mic input) was released to the public.

I had this large raw 90 minute, 680×480 pixel resolution, AVI formatted, 1.7GB video without a clear direction of how to proceed. I have worked on much smaller clips using tools like Windows Movie Maker, Quicktime Pro, and Adobe Premiere, but this file was another order of magnitude. I knew that it needed encoding, a boost of the audio track and an online hosting service that would accept and display a file that large. I asked several people for suggestions and I did get some feedback, but the person who actually stepped up to the plate to help with the video was impresario Rob Lewis, the Executive Producer of the forthcoming web series Making Jenn2.0. Rob’s new show is about the life and times and drama of a social media consultant struggling to find balance between her online personas and her ever-present reality. Based on the real life of Jenn Van Grove, look for a release date of the pilot episode sometime in December.

Rob offered to render the file for me and find a site to upload it to. I just needed a way to get the raw file to him. I tried uploading it to his ftp server, but it returned a “file too large” error message (no surprise there), so I just burned it to a DVD and snail-mailed it to him. After he received the disc, he took the file into a consumer grade editing program, and outputted a more compressed 745MB MP4 file. He then uploaded the entire file to the which then took a few more hours to convert it over to an FLV formatted file. There wasn’t any editing or color correction or any other post production work done to this video.

The embedded video displays the first five minutes of the presentation. Longer videos require the Veoh Web Player to watch in full-length, so to watch the full ninety minute length version, you must first download and install the software. To do that simply click on the Watch the Full Video button to be redirected to an installation page to run the Veoh Web Player installer to watch the video immediately. Sorry fellow Mac users, the Veoh Web Player only runs on Windows XP and Vista. On the Mac, a longer video requires that you first download the video and then watch it later. Complain to Veoh.

Basically, for under $200 in equipment with no bells and whistles, you can unobtrusively capture an hour and a half presentation that can be uploaded to a free hosting service where thousands of viewers can watch it.

Credits:
Speaker Becky Carroll
Camera Steve Eisenberg
Encoding & Distribution Rob Lewis
SMBSD is organized by Holly Matson

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• Weighing only 3.3 ounces, MinoHD is the world’s smallest
• Features a super-slim, super-sleek design that fits into any pocket or purse
• Simple user interface features one-touch recording and digital zoom, making HD video easier and more fun than ever
• Holds 60 minutes of HD-quality video on 4 GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required
• Convenient flip-out USB arm plugs directly into your computer to launch built-in FlipShare software
• Internal Li-ion battery recharges through built-in USB arm while you’re plugged into your computer
• Produces incredible HD 720p (1280 x 720 resolution at 30 frames per second; 16:9 widescreen) video
• Records high-quality MP4 files that can be easily dragged and dropped into iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto
• Watch videos instantly on TV with included connector cable
• Instant playback, pause, fast forward, rewind, zoom , and delete functions

Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder

Nominations close Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 pm PST so nominate now and start campaigning!

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