The Digital Dojo

Visiting with Cheryl Colan

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:50:20 PDT

Here's our first video for VideobloggingWeek 2009. We visited our friend Cheryl Colan in Phoenix, AZ. She and Gary let us park our vlog bus in front of thier house and treated us to a wonderful breakfast with their friend Wendy (who made some great pancakes). We stayed up late Friday night and most of the morning Saturday talking about videoblogging and teaching. Cheryl showed us boxee, which is something I had been wanting to take a look at. Thanks a bunch Cheryl! I wish we could have stayed longer. What a fun way to finish up our five week RV trip across the United States.

BTW, this is first time with new iMovie09 template. What do you think?

Internet Archive page with OGG, MPEG and Flash video formats is here: http://archive.org/details/Apperceptions-VisitingCherylColan597-2

SHVH this weekend - Rain or Shine!

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:58:51 PDT

We're still on for the Super Happy Vlog House. There's plenty of warm indoor spaces where people can collaborate and meet up with other great folks. You can get some great rain shots in the gardens and bamboo forests. Those who have the right kind of shoes can still head out to the river preserve for a media walk.

Here's a video showing what the rain will bring:

Super Happy Vlog House next weekend Saturday, Feb 7, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 23:04:02 PST

Flickr slideshow of pictures from past Super Happy Vlog Houses.

What's a vlog house? It's a place where people geek out over audio & video, software, poetry, music, story-telling, television, web sites, new media and technology in general. We get together to share and learn, to have fun, to take a walk, get things done and break bread.

Our third Super Happy Vlog House is set for the weekend of February 7, 2009. Official time is from 2pm - 11pm Saturday, but folks are welcome to camp over Friday or Saturday. We have some extra rooms, beds, couches, floor space, RV parking and tent space. Rooms and camping space is limited, so please RSVP in the comments or send an email to markus dot sandy at gmail dot com.

UPDATE: out-doors campers please note that current weather forecasts are for rain Thursday, Friday and possibly into the weekend.

While the event is very free form, we do have a few activities planned. These include:

* Welcome: 2pm-2:15 - Welcome to old friends and new comers. Introductions. Orientation.

* Session: Planning for your next social media site. Saturday 2:15pm-4pm. This session is aimed at people who are starting a new Drupal project, whether it be your first or not. More than a demo of media-related modules, this is a facilitated group discussion around best practices, tools and services for building a new-media based web site or social network. Topics include: design considerations, platform features and choices, hosting services, out-sourcing, DIY, team-building, project planning, estimating resource requirements and costs. This session is intended for content creators and project managers, as well as developers. The emphasis is on project planning.

* Worldwide Videoblogging Video Conference. Saturday 3pm-5pm. Topics include: new media trends in 2009, sheer curation and public access television. Come say hello to vloggers around the world and join in on the often lively conversations with other creatives, geeks, amatures and pros.

* Media Walk in the Ventura Nature Preserve. Saturday, 4pm-6pm. Let's see if we can capture one of those famous Ojai Pink Moments. This is a easy to moderate walk. There is one small hill. The nature preserve is 1 block from the digital dojo. Bring your walking shoes and camera. Note: current weather prediction is for rain on Thurs/Fri and possibly into the weekend. So bring your all weather gear too :)

* Interview Challenge:Saturday, 4pm-6pm. Let's take the NMI Interview Challenge - see http://newmediainterchange.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/new-media-challenge-002-interview/ may be best option if it's raining to hard to go outside :) Improve your interviewing skills. Tell a story and post it to the web. Learn how to 'mic' someone with a remote Lavaliere. Use a shotgun mic. Shot the video,

* Video Sharing and Screenings - Saturday, 8pm-10pm, Share your favorite new vlogs and sites. Special premier of Andrew Davis' new Internet Archive mashup and music videos. Have you made or found something you'd like to share? Please bring your favorite urls, thumb drives or DVDs.

* Help clinic and open lab - Saturday, 2pm-11pm - Come and talk or work with others. Get and give help. Join a Q&A session. Bring your laptop, camera, recorders, etc and some friendly person will help you get where you want to go. Want to set up a blog, vlog or podcast? Need some help sweetening that audio? Want to become a better photographer? Need help with web compression? Need Drupal, WordPress or Blogger help? Youtube, Archive,org, blip,tv, Vimeo? Got something cool to show and tell? Come and hang out with us while we help each other out. Free wifi available. Play with our cameras and gadgets or show off yours. If you're new to all this, this is a great place to drop in and find out what's going on.

* Pot-luck Dinner - Saturday 6pm-8pm - Bring something if you can, but don't worry if you can't. BYOB.

* Self-Organizing Workshops and Discussions - We have several rooms and outdoor areas where people can organize around topics of interest. Whiteboards, large display monitors, LCD projector & screen, and PA equipment available for workshop use.

Please come and join us. Stay all day or just an hour. Stop by and say hi or stay the weekend. RSVP's are great for helping us plan, so leave a comment or sign up on the wiki. This is a free event. Dinner is potluck; bring something or toss a few coins in the kitty if you can. BYOB. Lots of water, coffee, tea and fresh squeezed orange juice available.

Date: Saturday, Feb 7, 2009
Time: 2pm-11pm
Location: 963 W El Roblar Drive, Meiners Oaks (Ojai), California, 93023
(directions and map here)
(upcoming.org and ical here)
(wiki here)

Notes:
Dog friendly environment.
Pool, spa and showers available for general use.
Mature content and frank discussions are common and may not be suitable for all ages.
Alcohol and caffeinated beverages may be available to adults.

SHVH - Ojai, CA - Feb. 7th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Onaroll) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:00:32 PST

Feb. 7th + OjaiDigitalDojo = SuperHappyVlogHouse

Lets find our mojo together. Everyone is invited to this laid-back, over-friendly, often serendipitous meetup of vloggers. Open agenda: share vids, discuss projects, ask questions, make merry. Info and sign-up on the wiki (password to the wiki is: sh1vh). Newbies welcome.

http://superhappyvloghouse.pbwiki.com/OjaiDigitalDojo

Dan Musick of Nordoff High and OUSD speaks about Ojai PEG Access

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:31:51 PST

Dan Musick of Nordoff High School and the Ojai Unified School District outlines a plan to the Ojai city Council for housing and managing Ojai's Channel 10 as part of a Media Arts Academy at Nordoff and other schools. Recorded Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008. Great news!

Santa Barbara Drupal Meetup

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:55:16 PST

We had a nice Drupal meetup in Santa Barbara tonight. A few of us started out at the Goleta Sushi House and then moseyed over to the Java Station, both on Hollister Ave. Attendees included chris (christefano), lee, jason, joe, felicia, joe (artlung), jim, owen (grugnog2) and myself (markus). Topics included introductions, current projects and interests, wysiwyg editing, drupal 5 vs drupal 6 and finding drupal developers. A fun time and free wi-fi were had by all :)

Drupal Warhol image by morton.dk

Update: Here's a short video of some highlights.

Free Podcasting Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:37:52 PDT

Welcome to new Carpenteria resident Jason who requested a podcasting workshop. Let's have some fun talking about video and audio podcasting basics. For a change of pace, this time we'll be emphasizing audio, keeping in mind that much of what we share will apply to video as well. Jason's also into Drupal and so we'll say a few words about building your own podcasting site with tools like Drupal. Bring your laptop and microphone or camera if you have one. Mac, Windows and Linux friendly. Everyone is welcome, please leave a comment if you plan to attend.

Thursday, October 9th, 2008, 2pm-4pm at the Ojai Digital Dojo.

Topics:

* Free and open source software and services. Commercial products.
* Capturing, converting and compressing audio. Using Audacity. Garageband.
* Finding and using media players. Playlists and multiple files.
* Hosting at the Internet Archive and others. Free and paid services.
* Blogs, sites, urls, feeds and aggregators. Feedburner, Drupal and more.
* Promoting your podcast. iTunes, Ourmedia and other services.

* Q&A session

Map and directions

French Bleu Cheese Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:48:38 PST

I made this French Bleu Cheese Chicken recipe last night. It was absolutely delicious.

Much is happening at the Digital Dojo these days. The garden is kickin out some rad vegies and fruits. I picked some beautiful black berries for the meal and lots of herbs and tomatoes for the citronette-based salad. The plums are delightful right now and apricots coming soon. Lots of cucumbers and zucchini. We are already trading with the neighbors.

Here's a video from About.com (who knew?) for the chicken (I used chicken broth because that was all we had):

I had to mess with the embed to get it to fit, but i love having found this video recipe.

Videoblogging Course Next Weekend in Santa Barabara

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:16:08 PDT

Video Blogging 101
with Markus Sandy

Saturday, April 19
10 am-12:30 pm

The Santa Barbara Channels
414 East Carrillo Street

Create your own videoblog, and promote you and your production on the Web. The workshop covers video compression and publishing for the Internet, video hosting services, posting video to a blog, cool videoblogging tips, RSS feeds, aggregators, social networking, and rights and responsibilities.

$10 members/$20 nonmembers
Limited to first 20 participants who pay!
RSVP to lisa@sbchannels.tv

The Santa Barbara Channels
414 E Carrillo St
Santa Barbara, California 93101
805-963-3893 (voice)
805-962-3703 (fax)
www.sbchannels.tv
info@sbchannels.tv

Super Happy Vlog House II

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:56:29 PST

Lan just iChatted and said that a group of OC'ers had gotten together recently and been thinking how great it would be to have another Super Happy Vlog House here at the Dojo. Nuff said. It's set for the weekend of Feb 16th. Feel free to come by anytime that weekend from Fri-Sun. Come and make video or spiff up your vlog. Beginners to advanced. Photography and podcasting/audio buffs too, plus geeks and nerds of all kinds. Rooms and couches are available, plus camping and RV spots. All are welcome. Pot luck. Free, but please RSVP so we can plan. Pool, spa, bbq, firepit, bathrooms, wireless, kitchen, large meeting room with projector.

Update: I made some minor changes on the wiki to reflect this year's date. Have at it and make it your own.

Update #2: While a Super Happy Vlog House is generally a fairly unstructured event, we do have some planned activities for those that are interested. Here is a general outline of some times and events for Saturday, Feb 16th:

8am-10am: coffee, breakfast, pre-day organizing

10am-12am: workshop: intro to videoblogging

12pm-2pm: photo/video walk in ventura river preserve, lunch, discussions

2pm-4pm: workshop: setting up your own videoblog show, content, tools, audience, statistics and more

4pm-6pm: siesta, work on a video, take a swim in the pool or spa, drinks, snacks, music, one-on-one time

6pm-7pm: potluck dinner/bbq, open source music

7pm-9pm: special live, mixed video and music performance and discussion

9pm-11pm: vlog screenings and discussions

11pm-9am: whatever, it's a sleep over (or work on a video all night), roasting marshmallows, stuff like that.

9am sunday: coffee and breakfast

Digital Dojo Ojai in Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia Coral) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:47:59 PST

Click to Play

We treated ourselves to a new camera for the holiday season. Here are some scenes from around the dojo, just before the rains started last week.

LA Drupal Camp

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:43:15 PDT

It's official! We're organizing a Drupal Camp for LA. The dates are set for September 8-9 and I'm told that AOL will be hosting the event! Too cool. Check out LADrupal.org for more info. Also, check out this great post on organizing a camp by our lead organizer Chrystal Willams. Now we need a logo too. Here's one I found on Flickr by thinkhive.

More Drupal: if you're into Drupal and love independent media, please check out tools.ourmedia.org and join in on all the fun.

Biker Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Alicia Coral) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:29:37 PDT

We're really looking forward to Super Happy VLOG House. A number of people are expected, and we're getting excited! Although we encourage everyone to stay for the whole event, part-timers are welcome. One group we're always happy to see is a merry band of bikers (that's road bikers, people, as in bicycles) who regularly stop here at the Ojai Digital Dojo, as a sort of half-way point on their frequent centinniels. Yes, that's 100 miles, people! Perhaps they'll give interviews!

Super Happy Vlog House

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 15:33:36 PST

March 31st - April 1st, 2007. A vlogothon! 24 hours of videoblogging! All are welcome. Time to get that next videoblogging project started. Or finished! Come, work, learn, teach and play with other vloggers at the Ojai Digital Dojo. Find out all about it on the wiki. Just add your own name and ideas. It's free! Need help? Contact us directly at (805)640-7447 or email us. Or just leave a comment here on this vlog.

Ok, so it seems that every time I try to type the name of this event, I type the word supper instead of super. I just guess that means will have to have some good eats too! :)

Mexican Breakfast - Made With Love

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 04:13:20 PST

Click the pic to view the vid.

Alicia made me a great breakfast the other morning. One of the most important ingrediants is love.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: alicia, ojai, digitaldojo, apperceptions, breakfast, love

A Brief Visit

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 08:43:29 PST

Click the pic to view the vid.

Do you pay attention to animal signs? Lately, there have been a number of sign involving birds of prey. The other day my wife an i were relaxing in the dojo when suddenly a friend dropped by for a minute. It's always good to have the proper tools handy and ready to go. I can't tell how long it seemed to take to reach the few inches to my camera...

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: apperceptions, digitaldojo, falcon, animal sign. ojai

Node101::Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 19:20:43 PST

Click the pic to view the vid.

Just across the border is the Mexican state of Baja California Norte. South of that is another one of Mexico's 31 states: Baja California Sur. Just south of that border is the town of Guerrero Negro. There are hugh salt processing facilites there. And ecoturism with the whales January-March. There were lots of Internet Cafes, as they call them down there. There is often no coffee and no wireless. These guys were nice enough to let me hookup my laptop. The place was defintely a Node. Lots of folks stop by and use the half dozen computers. There is a great feeling about the place. Lots of laughter. It's simple and bare, but there is a warmth that comes from the people there. No one spoke english, but I was able to show them the Spanish version of freevlog and they got all excited. I left them with a small donation towards small shop. It's hard to imagine how they keep the place running at 16 pesos / hour (that's less than $1.50/hour), but they do. I asked the guy who was running the place what motivated him. Luckily someone who could translate had just walked in. The next morning, I met a guy from Canada there checking his email. It was a great place. And you can get the best food all up and down the street! I love Baja.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: digitaldojo, node101

Mexico Maddness

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:11:01 PST

Click the pic to view the vid.

We made back home at last! It feels so good here. I needed this. Been too long. Ju know?

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

ACM Western Region Conference 2006

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 18:14:07 PDT

Click the pic to view the vid

We're looking forward to helping podcast and videoblog this weekend's upcoming conference for the Alliance for Community Media in San Jose. Dave, JD, Ann Theis and I are leading a videoblogging workshop on Saturday afternoon and the whole Outhink team is volunteering to help record the action at the event.? Looks like this is going to be both an interesting and fun event.

Techonrati tag: acmwest2006

Vlog Teach-in Wrap-up for Node 101 Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:07:30 PDT

Click the pic to view the vid.

Here's a little video that Dorothy Littlejohn of People2PeopleTV shot, using my Sanyo Xacti C5 camera, at the end of the Santa Barbara Vlog Teach-in she organized for Node101 Weekend. Click the pic to view the vid.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Tags: digitaldojo, santabarbara, node101weekend, apperceptions, node101

Node 101 Weekend - Vlog Teach-in - Santa Barbara

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 22:45:33 PDT

Thanks to Dorothy Littlejohn of People2PeopleTV for coordinating this Node101 and Digital Dojo Sponsored workshop. Thanks to the participants who made it such fun. Here's a short video we made using my little Sanyo Xacti C5 and a T-Mobile cel phone. Music is excerpted from "Wow!," by Russ Garcia, his Orchestra and Chorus via SpacePop via BasicHip via Oddio OverPlay. Click the pic to view the vid.

Tags: node101weekend

Vlogger Jailed!

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 23:08:05 PDT

Gena from Out on the Stoop sums it up well ...

Josh is being held for refusing to release the un-aired tapes he shot at a protest meeting. According to the SF Chronicle article, he could be in the slammer for up to a year.

Tell somebody and have them tell somebody else. This young man has no business being in jail, prison, detention or being a guest of the current administration.

He does need $15,0000 to mount an appeal. If you are able, go ahead and bust open the piggy bank. Send whatever you can. There is a link on his blog for donations.

Josh Wolf's July 19th Video Post

If you are an American, you know that this is wrong. If you are not an American I'm telling you this is not our way. You can't force someone to give up his property, especially under these conditions.

If you want to find out what the fuss is about check out http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/01/MNGVQK97AK4.DTL

I'm not asking you to agree or disagree with Josh's decision or the Feds. I'm asking that you inform yourself of this situation and then do what you believe to be the right thing. Another way to help is to visit the Free Josh Wolf wiki to help build support for Josh.

Technorati Tag: joshwolf

Workshop This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 04 May 2006 18:12:39 PDT

A few people have asked about having a workshop this Saturday from 1-3pm on "Podcasting and Videoblogging Feeds and Subscriptions". This workshop will be geared towards explaining how to set-up and use "rich media" RSS feeds with your video and audio pod casts. This discussion is suitable for both beginners and more experienced internet users. We will demo several free and useful products and services.

Topics include:

* What is podcasting?
* What are feeds and subscriptions?
* How do I use them?
* How do I publish my own feeds?
* How do I create my own subscribe buttons?
* How do I make these work with my iPod?
* What are the costs? (answer: you can do it for free!)
* Free players and aggregators (iTunes, Fireant.tv, etc)
* Free services (Feedburner, iTunes, MeFeedia, etc.)

Bring your laptop if you have one. Don't have a blog or podcast? or a computer or camera? That's ok. We have some you can use here and we're happy to help you get started creating your own media. Our workshops are free and open to anyone. We generally potluck afterwards for an hour or two and help each other out with specific issues.

See the sidebar for directions to the Digital Dojo. Please leave a comment if you plan to attend.

Apple Store Grove

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 06 May 2006 08:40:48 PDT

Here is the video we made tonight during a presentation at the Grove Apple Store in Los Angeles, California.

Videoblogging Week 2006 - Post #6 - What Is A Node?

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 10:48:05 PDT

We're talking Node101 of course. A bunch of folks in a workshop decided to make a video with some of their own answers. Then we edited them together. Here's the result (it was our first time using FCP). If you're interested in creating video and putting it on a blog, come to one of our free workshops.

Here's the hi-res version. Click the pic for the lo-res one.

Thanks to Richard, Alicia, Roger for contributing. Thanks to Ionia for leading the workshop.