Starving Artists Pictures

Hiatus

2011-10-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

It's so strange how I can be so gung ho and then get so bogged down with "life" that I completely neglect my blog. It's weird because I continue to consider myself a writer despite the fact that I can't really call myself that at all. I feel like I have been doing anything and everything in order to survive. But surviving simply isn't cutting it.

So where have I been? Working mostly. I have been learning new trades, practicing my Spanish with native speakers and wondering when I will ever find time again to write more than a paragraph. I have no idea when that will be.

In other news, and this is just how crazy my life can be, YouTube made me a "partner" during my biggest creative dry spell ever. I find this funny too. What can I say? My life is, if nothing else, full of interesting ironies. So there's that too.

Anyway, I promise that I'll try harder to be more interesting. I had this feeling that if I didn't freaking write "something" here that I would never get around to it. So...yeah...baby steps I guess. Also the story of my life. See you guys on the flip side.

What Are You Doing?

2011-08-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

This was an inspiring video if for no other reason than because of his passion and belief that you can make a living doing whatever you want. Is it true? Can you do whatever you want and still get paid? According to Gary Vaynerchuk you can. Watch this video. It's inspiring.

Are We That Lazy?

2011-08-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

There were some interesting debates recently among the Google Plus boards about whether or not Google Plus was on the rise or nearing the end of its beta fascination and hitting a major lull in activity. The idea was written by Paul Tassi in Forbes magazine that argued that since he wasn't seeing very much activity in his stream that the conclusion was that his experience was a reflection of the entire population of Google Plus users. This created an uproar of comments responding to the contrary - sort of proving that there actually was an active community. Mr. Tassi quickly responded with a surprise rebuttal of his own which you can read here: The Rise of the Google Plus Faithful where he argued that if one must try harder to be interesting then it clearly wasn't a social media tool that was ready for mass adoption because the reality was this: people are lazy. He didn't use these words, exactly, but that is in essence what he was saying. And the truth is that I can't disagree.

I have had friends ask me why I would even give up Facebook for Google. They ask because they wonder why I could be fascinated with anything that would remotely look like it took work. The funny thing is that I would encounter the same scenario over and over again from people that were sincerely confused. Why give up on a social media website that doesn't require us to put any effort into it? Why indeed? It's not hard to post thoughtlessly - just to occupy space on the internet. That's easy. I could write, "I am pooping." The reality is that, even if I used to write similar posts whether true or not was contributing a kind of internet sewage that served almost no purpose except to remind people that I was here. But is that what I want my legacy to be? Do I want people to know that I somehow lack the imagination to contribute nothing else but passing thoughts and frustrations? For me, the answer is no. That is not what I want my legacy to be.

You see, I believe that we are not common. I believe that we have something to say and something to contribute that can be conversational, yes. But I believe that there is something to trying harder. The proof of trying harder is using this as a model for understanding what it means to be successful. The most successful people are the ones that understand that our contributions to not just the world, but those immediately around us are the direct result of our desire to pour ourselves into what is around us. It's true in relationships, it's true with entrepreneurs and it's true in the social media. The most successful people are the ones that understand the idea that if we don't give we will never receive.

Is this a scary thought? Of course it is! It's scary because there is a sedintary part of us that wants to experience life with as little effort as possible. We take the stimulus that is around us. We lurk. We watch television and movies simply because doing something else would require effort. Not long ago I equated my participation on Facebook kind of like the equivalent of watching television. It was passive in the sense that whatever I may have posted (at times) took no more effort from me than it does for a person to take a dump. "I am pooping." That really wasn't me being interesting. That was me being lazy. So the question that I posed in the title of "Are We That Lazy" is very much rhetorical indeed. We know the answer because Paul Tassi is right! But what is doesn't mean that it always should be. That's a thought that keeps me going. I exist to create. But what I create must take thought or I am wasting everyone's time.

Be interesting. BE INTERESTING. BE INTERESTING!

Is there any hope?

2011-08-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

So it's probably not a huge secret that I've been doing a lot of "soul searching" lately. I'm not sure we shouldn't be doing this periodically just to keep ourselves sharp. Anyway...

So there are a couple of quick thoughts that I wanted to share as it pertains to the world (and how the world continues to relate to the internet). One is that news travels extremely fast and I was surprised how quickly social networks report news. If anyone has been paying attention. The world is a messed up place. Riots in London - remind me to avoid London. And the Economy.

The one thing that I would like to remind us all is that it's important to never give up on hope. But hope alone means nothing...because it costs us nothing. What we should always remember in the midst of everything bad that happens is that there's always hope. But hope by itself means nothing because it must cost something for us to change the world. It begins with us. So my question to you is: if you can do one thing to give someone else "hope," what would it be?

What Motivates Us?

2011-08-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

I think this video essentially outlines this joke that my business partner and I have about the issue of money. We often joke about how much I hate money. It isn't that I hate making money in order to sustain myself, but what motivates me certainly isn't the money. It's the desire for purpose combined with the need to express that purpose. Check out this video and discover some interesting facts about humans and the need to transcend chasing a carrot. There may be hope for us yet - all it takes is a little effort from us to get there.

Creativity Plus

2011-08-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm on the edge of a revolution. The thing about a revolution is that it's often a small group of people that end up making such a frenzied and passionate noise that the rest of the world cannot ignore it. But like the beginning of all revolutions that same group of frenzied and passionate people are also considered all manner of nuisance to those that don't quite get it.

Some of my friends are still confused as to why I dumped Facebook entirely. I continue to receive the entire gamut of notes and requests via Twitter, text and even an occasional snipe from a Facebook friend who would log onto Google Plus to make a snide remark and disappear back into the blue biosphere of Facebook (I can only assume). When I left I could give you a long list of reasons why it was necessary for me to quit Facebook. Again, it's not a mandate for everyone. But the bottom line for me amounted to not feeling satisfied with my online experience combined with a sense of social media fatigue. I was trying too hard to be social. And in the end...it's just a website, right? Right?

I guess I'm surprised that some have taken my departure personally. Let me be clear, some, but not all. Some respect this choice even if they think I'm a little over zealous. At first I thought that maybe I'm just placing too much of allegiance to Google the way that some may blindly evangelize about their faith or their computer...or whatever. But then I came across this post from Tom Anderson that reiterated my new mantra of being interesting. Thoughts from my friend on myspace.

I want to inspire as much as I want to be inspired. I want to create as well as celebrate what others have created. And based upon what Tom Anderson wrote, it seems that I'm not the only one who sees things this way. And maybe this is what happens when you give a bunch of crazy people a forum to voice their creativity. If everyone begins to share in this mantra of being interesting. People begin to censor themselves - not because they are afraid to express themselves, but because they want to express themselves perfectly.

I want what I have to say to resonate a little longer than it used to just as much as I want to have what others have to say resonate within me the way that Tom's thoughts did just after I read them. Maybe sometimes these things all happen just so that we begin this revolution understanding one thing: this is not a place to leave our ideas. This is meant to be a place (at least for me) where ideas springboard into bigger and better things outside of a social media forum - the way that it is meant to be. In the end that's the difference. Be interesting. BE INTERESTING. BE INTERESTING!

404 Error

2011-07-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

Nosh: 404 from Firespotter Labs on Vimeo.

If you were searching for me on Facebook (and I have no idea why you would). This is what you might find...a brilliant little video from the guys from Firespotter Labs. Have a great weekend everybody!

Happy Friday (It's The End of the World As We Know It)

2011-07-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I used to spend hours thinking about the end of me. I would think about things like where I would go after I died, etc. I know. It's morbid. But I have to say that I owe some of this to my Evangelical upbringing that grows more complicated when you start to really delve into other ideas and how those idea apply to a reasonable person as they traverse this thing called life. However that's neither here nor there. What keeps me going these days is the idea that I really don't know. And what I do know is very small in comparison with ideas such as the ever expanding (or contracting) universe. Check out this video from Rocket Boom. It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Google Minus

2011-07-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I just finished reading a Google Minus article by Tech Crunch that was talking about how Google plus was already losing interest from its users. Which is an interesting thought and probably proof of how fast and fickle we are as Social Media users. Is it true that in less than a month people suddenly could care less? Probably. Of course they care less! I could have told you that the minute after I left Facebook! People need to be impressed by what they see for them to even consider change - people don't change for change sake! They need to be compelled by the same Jesus walk on water miracle juice that can only be found in a big tent revival. And that's not something you'll see by reading random posts on the internet, at least I hope not.

All of this had me thinking about my recent mantra - be interesting. BE INTERESTING. BE INTERESTING. That's a tall order and something that I'm not sure everyone can do. Being interesting takes thought. It takes effort and, for some people, it takes everything that is inside them to resist talking about how they're updating their status while sitting on the toilet. This is weird because in the new era of social media networks the weirdo is the one that goes counter culture and doesn't plug into the most popular social network like Facebook and write pedestrian comments on an hourly basis. And this is strange because up until four years ago there was no Facebook.

So if the slow down of users is due to a lack of user enthusiasm, should this be a surprise? What is Google + anyway? It's a social network. It was my theory, recently, that people are starting to experience social media fatigue. The entire reason I left Facebook was because I no longer wanted to be plugged in and checking everyone's status every time I logged on to my computer. I no longer wanted to update anything - unless I was being interesting or put more time into my posts than a few seconds to think up some "clever" post. But this brings me to my point. We as a society are starting to operate under the assumption that any social network is going to somehow magically change the way people view the world just by its existence whether it be Google +, Facebook or whatever. And, if you think about how no one was doing this just a few short years ago, makes the notion of a website taking us all hostage pretty silly. I mean, if we're going to be enthralled by something new it's not going to happen by posting the same things you would have posted on Facebook. No. Facebook is Facebook. Google + must be different. So the mantra shouldn't be what it isn't, but what it is...

Be interesting. Be different. But in order to do that. We have to think different.

Novacut Advocacy

2011-07-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

Novacut is really close to getting funded through the Kickstarter campaign. I found this video last night and am glad that they are finding advocates in the filmmaking community that really believe in the revolutionary idea of cooperative filmmaking. Check out this video and don't forget to donate (if you can) to making films on a global scale.

Just a little humor to start your day

2011-07-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've had a few conversations lately that sounded like this video. The end of this video is kind of creepy in that Borg assimilation sort of way, but the thought of being able to use all of the stuff I already use was the entire reason I like Google + better than Facebook. But just know that I already know that Google + is not for everyone...but apparently, at least according to this video, if you don't choose Google +, you will be assimilated.

Saying Goodbye to Facebook (for now)

2011-07-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm an early adopter. I don't think it matters what it is. Maybe it's because I'm all about the bright shiny object. But there's just something exciting about being on the precipice of technology as it moves forward. I like to think it means that I'm a trailblazer, but I really fear that makes me more of a casual annoyance to you than "friend."

When I first adopted Facebook as a way to reconnect with friends and family, I thought that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I was all in. I have to admit that I loved all of it. I think most of this enthusiasm was related to the idea that Facebook could do no wrong. But over the past year I started to notice that there was a diminishing return when it came to my participation on Facebook. At first I thought that his was just something I was imagining and the information slow down was more because of a general lack of enthusiasm, but then I realized that it wasn't as much me as it was Facebook.

So there I was spending more time on Facebook, but engagement with my fellow users had actually gone down. And the reason had less to do with me and more to do with the fact that Facebook was changing the way that the average Facebook user used Facebook. Users who knew how to use Facebook were affected as much as the casual users because the casual user did not know (or want to know) how to change settings in order to view and interact with friends by creating lists etc. Over time this meant that the average user was going to interact with a list that was based upon what Facebook thought they wanted and not who they actually wanted to interact with. Why is this important? It's important for the same reason that people aren't enthusiastic to embrace new social media networks such as Google +. Nobody wants to learn new things if they don't have to. And as long as they were already heavily invested into Facebook they were/are living under certain presumptions such as the fact that they have a fair understanding on how to use Facebook from the ground up. This might be an incorrect assumption, but again, the average user doesn't care about how to be better...they just want what they want. Period.

Now I'm not trying to be insulting. Yes I am aware that there are users that know how to use lists. But the majority don't. That's just a fact. Not only do they not know, but they do not care. And it's the majority that we as users are interested in interacting with because we are essentially casual part time users ourselves. Casual part time users spending far too much time on one social network. But all of this brings me to this: I came across this post on Google Plus from Tom from Myspace.

https://plus.google.com/112063946124358686266/posts/8U9q99Ws1ic

Tom Anderson's analysis made me feel better about leaving Facebook altogether. This isn't what he was advocating by the way. But I was feeling like I had reached a point of disconnect when it came to Facebook. The truth was that I wasn't connecting anymore and that meant that I needed to deactivate and unplug. So yesterday...after being very vocal about my dissatisfaction with the way that Facebook worked or rather wasn't working for me anymore, I unplugged quietly. Nobody noticed. Nobody cared. And really, so what?

I was ultimately okay with being in a minority that left. Ultimately, this meant that I could go back to doing all the things I used to do before Facebook. Like spend time on my blogs, write for Circle Six, edit videos, etc. In the end it wasn't Facebook, it was about me and my need to exercise my right to leave.

4K on a Budget

2011-07-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

This is a brilliant little technique for shooting 4K with your DSLR camera from the guys over at Neumann Films. You need to know a little bit about how to use After Effects, but if you know how to overlay frames on a bigger (4K) template, it's really kind of interesting to think about how much cooler your shots might look with a little compositing. Definitely also try to check out their website here for other tutorials on how you can support these filmmakers: http://neumannfilms.com

Tweeter Karma

2011-07-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a user management system for Twitter, check out Tweeter Karma. Click on the link and read on.

Novacut

2011-07-24T20:11:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of the more exciting "open source" projects that I've seen in a while. What is Novacut? Novacut is a free "Professional" editing suite for Linux users. Why should you support open source editing? Well for a couple of reasons. This project, other than being ambitious, is trying to start a global community of film making from the ground up and eventually to the cloud and into infinity. This means that the potential for projects to truly reach a global scale makes it possible for those of us on the outside looking in to get our projects finished. Because we all know how annoying it can be when you're waiting to see a work in progress. With cloud based editing - that long wait to see how things are going can potentially become a thing of the past.

Novacut is currently on the Kickstarter phase and looking for people to help fund this project. However, you can also check out what some parts of the NLE will look like by visiting the Novacut blog. In any case watch this video!

Delivering Happiness

2011-07-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Finished reading an excellent book on the art of customer service and finding an identity as a company called "Delivering Happiness." It's one of those books that isn't particularly well written or slick, but it doesn't have to be. It definitely made the art of doing business more than just being about "money." Although you get the sense that if you focus on others rather than on yourself that the dollars just might follow. It certainly reshaped the way I thought about my entire business model or more accurately the lack thereof. Stay tuned, though...you know its never too late for a comeback.

My Friend Erick

2011-07-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I miss the most about living in Southern California is the music scene. If you have ever gone to the Sunset strip, then you know what I mean. So many of my memories growing up were going to see bands on the Strip and around Hollywood: this includes bands like Extreme, Counting Crows, and others. One of the regular players on the strip back in the day was my friend Erick. Recently he got to perform again after an absence from the scene while creating his new album. Anyway, check out this funny cover of Ke$ha's Tik Tok.

Orland + Humidity = Icky

2011-07-17T19:32:00.000-07:00

Just updating because I'm committed to writing more than I have in recent years. I'm currently working in Orlando, FL and I have to say that the humidity is crazy. It's not just crazy it's like a Sauna. No, not like a Sauna...Orlando, FL is a sauna. Yes, it has Disney World. But clearly it's not exactly the happiest I've ever been and I've been to a lot of places.

Top Travel Destinations so far in no particular order: Vail, CO, Nashville, TN, and San Diego, CA. Bottom of the list: Orlando, FL. But that's okay. I'm here to work. So there's that.

Off to Orlando, FL

2011-07-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

Taking a little break before heading off to bed. Heading to Orlando in the morning for work. It's my first trip to Florida. I guess that means that I get to scratch one more state off my list. I think I only have 10 states left before I've seen them all. If you going go anywhere in the states where would you go and why? I think I still need to do everything to the right of Texas and north of Kansas and then there's Oklahoma and only two things come out of Oklahoma. :-)

New Google + News Site

2011-07-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a link for you guys (and according to latest statistics one girl) who are on Google + here: Google + News. It has some interesting updates on the latest for that site. You can download the app in the Chrome Web Store too. Until tomorrow...

Android Apps

2011-07-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

So I was reading through PC Magazine's list of Cool Android Apps and was kind of disappointed after trying one out only find out that it was just MAC and PC compatible. An Android app that wasn't Linux native? Sometimes Android makes me feel like I'm a perpetual Beta user. Oh well - maybe it's good enough that I get Netflix on my phone, right? Now how long before they support streaming to Linux?

Seth Green G+ Humor

2011-07-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

As I was sorting through my Google + Stream I came across this Seth Green and Google + clip on the Jimmy Fallon show. Watch it. I found myself doing all of the same things he joked about in this clip.

After a little while on the + I really did start to understand how strange and obsessive this whole social network thing became for me while on Facebook. I have to give major points to Facebook for creating an environment that is so compelling that I had to check in ALL day. If you read my article on Google + you know why I'm actually advocating something that helps me move out of obsession and writing again. So there's that.

4G Phones

2011-07-13T23:25:00.001-07:00

I was reading this article suggesting that cell phone owners don't even know the difference between 3 and 4G. This, in my experience, is true. I have an EVO 4G and in my area, 4G is a myth.

AMD Bulldozer

2011-07-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

So as someone that makes a fair amount of money as a video editor, I have to walk that line of performance versus cost versus just plain wanting the best that the market has to offer. I found some good information on this website talking about the new AMD Bulldozer that is slated to come out in the next quarter. So far the early tests look promising and rumors are that the processor has been overclocked to over 5 GHz. The thing that I've always liked about AMD was their cost performance ratio - or bang for the buck. I'm currently running an AMD 1055T overclocked at 3.7 GHz. It's a good processor and is currently clocked as fast as the fastest AMD six core. But holy smoke, 5 Ghz? I want it.

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - Blu-Ray Drives

2011-07-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model SH-B123L LightScribe Support - Blu-Ray Drives

Now this looks like a steal of a deal. Swap this out on your pc and now you can watch Blu-rays for 60 dollars? Hmmm...hurry up pay checks. Hurry up!