The Digital Dojo

The Digital Dojo has gone mobile and is now traveling in Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sun, 3 Mar 2013 15:17:00 -0800

We've sold the old dojo in Ojai and we're now on the road in the mobile Digital Dojo.

Follow our adventures on the Internet Archive, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.

http://facebook.com/apperceptions

http://twitter.com/apperceptions

http://www.youtube.com/user/apperceptions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/apperceive

http://archive.org/search.php?query=apperceptions

CYA!

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice and Video for SHVH

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:44:00 -0800

One of the things I love about living at the Ojai Digital Dojo is the abundance of orange trees, oranges and, best of all, tasty, fresh squeezed orange juice. I picked a huge bag to squeeze for tomorrow's Super Happy Vlog House. Here's a fun picture of Amanda and our oranges by Lan Bui from a past SHVH.

I think it would make a great painting for one of those old fashioned orange crate labels.

Super Happy Vlog House 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:29:00 -0800

See earlier posts for more information about this free and open event.

Activities start at 10am and go on into the evening. There is aschedule for those who like structure, but this is an "open space" event and you are free to self-organize activities related to video and blogging. Participate, collaborate or just hang out.

Want to make a weekend of it? Please do! People are welcome to come up Friday or stay over Saturday. First come, first serve on rooms, couches, the RV or camping space (it's nice weather, but a bit chilly at night at this time of the year). Please RSVP is you want to one of our guest rooms.

The event is hosted at the Ojai Digital Dojo at 963 W El Roblar Drive, Ojai, CA 93023 in the town of Meiners Oaks. Activities start at 10am.

Here's a map:

View Larger Map

Get away to Ojai for a SHVH weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:05:00 -0800

Wondering how to sneak off to Ojai for a fun time at the Super Happy Vlog House? Don't sneak! Bring your partner with you. What? They say they get enough tech during the work week? We can digg that, but have they considered all the other cool things there are to do in Ojai? Here's a short list of things to do:

The Ojai Arcade - Lots of shops and restaurants.
Ojai Spas - Perhaps a day of pampering is in order for your non-geek partner.
Hiking - There are some great trails in Ojai. One is right down the block and goes into the Ventura River Preserve. Horse back riding available.
This week's events: www.ojaievents.com
Arts Center: Renaissance Do Wop
Visit Lake Casitas - boat rentals, water park
Visit the beach at Carpinteria - very scenic drive past the lake, just 20 min away
Golf at either Soule Park or the Ojai Valley Inn
Ojai Museum, art galleries and local artist studios.
Ojai Playhouse runs feature films and a Sunday indie films series. Movies. Films.

Your friends or family are welcome to meet up with you at the Ojai Digital Dojo and join us for meals. We have a few guest rooms available or check out one of our nice local Ojai hotels/motels, such as the Emerald Iguana.

node101, ojai, shvh,vlog, digitaldojo apperceptions, super happy vlog house, videoblogging

SHVH is Dog Friendly

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:46:00 -0800

As long as your dog is friendly too and doesn't chase our chickens! :)

We have large spaces where they can run and play.

SHVH Update for Saturday Jan 22, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:45:00 -0800

Here's an update of schedule and activies for this Saturday's Super Happy Vlog House.

This is an open and free event where we learn, share and play with web video, blogs and the like. Come and geek out for the day at the beautiful Ojai Digital Dojo with others who are passionate about making video. All levels are welcome, beginners to experts.

There are both scheduled and unstructured activities. Feel free to come for the whole day or just the parts that interest you and fit into your schedule. Drop-in's are welcome.

Likely Activities (it's up to you what we do):

8am - Jim Joseph's coffee and morning geek talk. Jim makes the best coffee. Truly.
9am - Alicia's Ojai Guest House breakfast for those who stay over Friday night or come early on Saturday. Fresh eggs from our chickens. UPDATE: belgium waffles!
10am - Welcome and introductions. Self organize the day's activities.
11am - What's new with HTML5 video? Lots of fun examples.
Noon - Pot luck lunch and BBQ, hot dogs (beef or vegie), sausages, burgers.
1pm - How to add fun video-related features to your web pages using HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery.
2pm - Meet the vloggers. Jim Joseph, Chris Ritke and Tyler Suchmann. Chris will be sharing his experiences making the Ojai Artists Video and Jim will be leading a demonstration around ball room dancing music. UPDATE: Social media pioneer Douglas E. Welch said he's ~~hoping~~ coming up with another member of the New Media Interchange to join us!
3pm - Internet Archive Cleanup Day - A tour of the Internet Archive, new features and a call to action.
3:30pm ~~4pm~~ - Vlog walk. Join us for a video walk and visit with local vlogger friends like artist Uta Ritke, plus a stop for a snack or tasty beverage in Meiners Oaks.
5pm - Dinner, pot luck. Tri-tip, chicken, pulled pork, fried rice, beans, salad.
6pm - Open video and web clinic. Get help with your projects; collaborate with others. Edit and post that cool video you shot today.
7pm - Next to Heaven: vlog screenings. Whiskey and cigars, ports and chocolate.

This is a free event. We'll organize some sort of pot luck lunch and dinner; please bring something or toss a few bucks into the kitty if you can. This is an adult friendly event with wine, beer and frank discussions. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult.

For additional information, please leave a comment, email markus.sandy@gmail.com or call 805-798-0436.

Overnighters are welcome. First come, first serve on rooms, beds, couches and the RV. Pleanty of room for camping if that is your style and weather permits.

Rain or shine.

DIY: Digital Publishing and Ballroom Dancing at SHVH this Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:47:00 -0800

Great news! Jim Joseph has agreed to lead a discussion on digital publishing a book (which involves videos too, so very super happy vlog related). DIY!!!

Also, Jim has offered to teach us some basics about ball room dance music.

How does that related to video? Well, in lots of ways. Some may wish to just capture the fun and create content. Some folks may find tips and tricks that boost your audio skills and know-how. Some will realize that making video is itself a dance and, as such, general principles of movement apply.

This is a free event. Come for this or for the whole day. Jim's session will be at 2pm, Sat, Jan 22, 2011.

If you are interested in attending, please leave a comment/rsvp.

Space is limited to about a dozen people (for this one session only).

Super Happy Vlog House

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:08:00 -0800

Our friend Jim Joseph is in town and asked about hosting a Super Happy Vlog House. Jim is an author and restauranteur who has recently published a book on ball room dancing.

For those who recall, Jim organized our last SHVH and it was a blast.

So let's geek out together on video for a day. Learn and share tricks, tips and techniques about video and the web. All are welcome, beginners and advanced. Folks are welcome to drop in anytime Saturday, January 22nd. The fun formally starts at 10am, but the structure is open to whatever people want to do.

Here's a short list of topics I'd like to touch on. We will have one session in the morning and two in the afternoon.

10am - What's new with video in web browsers. The <video> tag, video formats, compression and more.
11am - Open web video clinic. No question is too small or too big. Bring your laptop and camera or play with ours. Get help or help others.
12 noon - pot luck lunch and BBQ
1pm - How to add fun video-related features to your web pages using Javascript and jQuery.
2pm - DIY digital-publishing videos and books about ballroom dancing - Jim Joseph.
3pm - Internet Archive Cleanup Day - Jan 1, 2012 - a brief discussion about this project and how you can help make the video world a better place.

This is a free event. We'll organize some sort of pot luck lunch around noon; please bring something or toss a few bucks into the kitty if you can. This is an adult friendly event with wine, beer and frank discussions. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult.

For additional information, please leave a comment, email markus.sandy@gmail.com or call 805-798-0436.

Overnighters are welcome. First come, first serve on rooms, beds, couches and the RV. Pleanty of room for camping if that is your style and weather permits.

Rain or shine.

Weekly Website Clinic back to Fall Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:27:00 -0800

Our free Wednesday night Drupal clinics are now from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Free wi-fi, coffee, tea and help with your Drupal, WordPress, jQuery, GNU/Linux, Cloud Computing and Videoblogging related questions. Drop-ins are welcome, but it's always great if you can give us a heads up via a comment or send a direct tweet to @digitaldojo or @apperceptions.

Exceptions:

October 13, 2010 - on the road to San Francisco, no meeting
December 15, 2010 - openmedia LA eatup, no meeting.

Good ol Boys Alive and Well in the Ojai

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:27:00 -0700

Alternate title: Sexism and Scapegoating for Managers

On a regular basis, the meter reader from the Meiners Oaks Water District pounds on our door and incites household panic by claiming that we have a leak. On more than one occasion, I have called plumbers and leak detectors to help resolve the problem only to find out that there is no leak. This happened last month again, but this time there was a new twist: we received a water bill for $7500.

I have a very nice veggie garden, but it doesn't drink that much thank you.

To make a long and painful story short, we eventually determined the reading was in error and reported our findings to MO Water. When we called to inform them they simply said "yes, we know". Someone there had eventually caught the error and even mailed me a hand-written, but unsigned, note with an apology and the corrected amount.

This was, of course, after we hired two different plumbers to come out and find the leak, or the lack there of.

This insanity seemed behind us until last Friday, when a newly hired meter reader person came barreling down my driveway in his little truck to claim we had a leak.

At that moment, I decided it was time to ask the management at MO Water for some help.

Mike Hollebrands is listed as 'Genral Manager' on their website. I made an appointment to meet with him to discuss finding ways to reduce the number of misreads and help his staff work in a less reactive and more professional manner.

Mike immediately apologized for the recent billing error and said it was the fault of "the girls in the front office".

I pointed out that the error was clearly made by the person who read the meter and came to our door to bawl us out. I also pointed out what bad form it is for a manager to blame it on their staff and how doubly inappropriate it is to say "the girls".

Mike went on to clarify and explain that it was "the girls" job to double check the figures reported by the meter reader, who Mike referred to as "the gentleman" and "the guy".

Nice! I'm betting the note was sent by one of the women in the front office, who actually did catch the error. Thank you.

I left feeling like I had just met one of the Ojai's "good ol boys".

Blaming "the girls" is unacceptable.

It's sexist.

It's past time to change.

I'm calling out to my brother workers and managers everywhere to at least stop the sexism.

We'll work on the scapegoating after that.

Drupal meeting 20 October, Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 05:58:00 -0700

Pia is organizing a meetup:

Hi Everyone,

Things have been hectic on my end, but I would like to have a meeting next Wednesday, 20 October, at 6:30pm at my house. Wednesday because I have been told that Tuesday conflicts with some other activities for some people.

This time, instead of talking about pros and cons and whys of Drupal, I would like to either deal with a real issue someone has, or create an actual View, with perhaps two displays, a page and a block for instance. My intent with the group is to have actual demonstrations, actual "how-tos" and problem solving meetings. So if you have something specific you would like to solve/demo/see done, please let me know.

There is a chance that my grand daughter to be might arrive before Wednesday, if so, I will let everyone know and I will have to reschedule because I will then be in San Diego :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Pia

Drupal workgroup forming in Santa Barbara

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 09:22:00 -0700

I recently attended a productive meet-up in Santa Barbara hosted and organized by Pia Oliver. This group is aimed at solving everyday issues with Drupal that members encounter. Several of the members have expressed that they enjoy the UCSB meetups and LADrupalCamps, but feel a need from something more concrete and can be applied to their day-to-day tasks with Drupal.

The 7 or 8 group members are of all skill levels, but generally new to Drupal. Some were brand new to Drupal and websites, some have design backgrounds, some had already installed Drupal on their laptops, running as localhosts using MAMP or the Acquia stack. See the discussion at GDO post for more background on the group.

There seems to be an initial interest in learning cck and views. Here are some links to DrupalCon videos that relate. A good starting point for both modules is the 'Tracking Events Results with CCK and Views' from Boston Drupalcon 2008. This describes a system used to track fishing tournament results, across multiple events.

CckDemystified
TrackingEventResultsWithCckAndViews
CckMashupOhTheThingsYouCanDo
ViewsTheKeyToTheDrupalCastle
ViewsDemystified-Part1
ViewsDemystified-Part2
ViewsExamplesUsingArgumentsAndRelationships
JqueryViewsAndViewThemeing
MakingDatesAndCalendarsRock

The next SB Drupal workgroup meeting is Tuesday, 9/28, 6:30-8:30p, downtown, Cota St, directly across from Jr. High School. Bring questions, get/give help.

For more information, please contact Pia via her contact page.

Extended Hours for Summer Digital Dojo Clinics

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:07:00 -0700

Our free Wednesday night Drupal clinics are now from 6pm to 10pm. Free wi-fi, coffee, tea and help with your Drupal, WordPress and Video questions. Drop-ins are welcome.

Video Compression Saturday in Santa Barbara

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 02:38:00 -0700

I'm teaching a video compression workshop at the Santa Barbara PEG Access Stations 17 & 21. Here is a link to the notes.

Cheshire & the Possum

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:04:00 -0700

Cheshire & the Possum
Originally uploaded by msandy

This cat has adopted me in the past few days. He seems to get along with most of the other animals (well, except bitch-cat Nibby, of course).

Here is a little surprise we found outside the Dojo.

Wed July 21st Drupal Clinic at the Digital Dojo

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 21:22:00 -0700

We're still recovering from all the fun last week and plan to host this week's clinic poolside at the Ojai Digital Dojo.

Time: 7pm - 9pm PST
Date: Every Wednesday
Location: Varies, but usually at people's homes, pizza parlors or the Ojai Digital Dojo.

Everyone is welcome at these drop-in clinics. If you have questions about Drupal, jQuery, mySQL, PHP, Apache, GNU/Linux and web site building in general, this is a great place to get some 1-on-1 time with someone who can help you find the answers. If you're an 'expert', stop on by and help someone out.

Free water, ice, oranges, coffee and tea. Pizza, burgers, mexican food and organic market just a few blocks down the street.

This week's Drupal Clinic will be in Santa Monica

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:30:00 -0700

Our good friends Jay and Ryanne of RyanIsHungry and ShowInABox are traveling to Thailand for a videoblogging project. They are the folks who got us started with Drupal back when Ourmedia.org was Drupal 4.6. Since then, they have been using Drupal for several projects, including Homestead.com, which is an ArrayShift distribution, which provides the basis for a 'clone' of the well-known StackOverflow Question & Answer site. They would like some help with (1) video, (2) notifications and (3) theming the site.

Always fun and motivating, they are planning to stop in Los-Angeles this week on their way eastward and so what a better excuse than to take the clinic on the road down to, where they are staying with videoblogger friends Steve & Zadi who just moved to Santa Monica. Also, West LA and Santa Monica are my old stomping grounds as a young boy and teen and so I'm always delighted to find an excuse to visit there.

So the agenda is set: arrayshift enhancements. For the moment, we are planning to meet at the Coffee Connection.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 @ 7pm-9p
Coffee Connection
3838 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 391-1380
westsidecoffeeconnection.com
Yelp Reviews
Yelp/Google Map

Ventura Drupal Clinic Wednesdays @ 7pm

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Wed, 7 Jul 2010 09:40:00 -0700

The Drupal Clinic is now every Wednesday night! Meeting locations vary from people's homes to local pizza joints. Bring your Drupal and general web-site questions. Newbies welcome. Experts are welcome to come and answer questions for others.

This week's Ventura Drupal Help Clinic will be at Papa Lennon's pizza in Meiners Oaks.

515 W El Roblar Drive, 93024
http://papalennons.com
Wed July 7, 2010 @ 7pm-9pm.
Drop by with your Drupal and website related questions.
Look for us in the outdoor patio.
Google Map for Papa Lennon's

Alicia Coral,
http://ojaidojo.com
805-640-7248

Markus Sandy,
http://apperceive.com
805-798-0436

Flickr Photos from DrupalQue

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 6 Jul 2010 11:30:00 -0700

Thanks mainly to @aliciacoral and @critke for photos! :)

Vegas Vegan Option for Saturday DrupalQue

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:38:00 -0700

I've asked Brian Shae Sveniker to cater our workshop this Saturday. Of course, we want the usual options for a 'Que' or 'Cue' as some refer to BBQ's. That is, burgers and dogs. But I asked Brian to host because he's a creative chef and he's a vegan. I figured he'd come up with something interesting as an alternative to the usual faire. Many of our Drupal friends are vegetarians and vegans, so we thought we'd do something special for them.

Well, it looks like Brian's going to really knock our socks off!

He's planning to make something called a 'Vegas Vegan' which sounds like a great dish. He described it to me and I was immediately hungry for it :) Here's some pics from a wonderful article at quarrygirl. They graiously licences there content cc-by-nc-sa and so we can share some of it here. Enjoy until the real thing.

Please let us know if you want the Vegas Vegan option when you reserve your spot in the workshop. Also, each workshop participant may invite one guest to lunch (see the workshop posting).

Drupal Clinic in Ojai, Ventura, Wednesday evening, June, 23rd, 2010, 7pm-9pm

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:25:00 -0700

This week's Ventura clinic (aka workgroup/studygroup) will be at

Ojai Digital Dojo
963 W. El Roblar Drive
Ojai, California 93023
http://ojaidigitaldojo.net

Google map:
http://tinyurl.com/ojaidigitaldojo

Wednesday, June, 23rd, 2010, 7pm-9pm

This is actually what is known as 'Meiners Oaks' area of the Ojai Valley.

Free wi-fi, coffee, tea, kitchen access if you want to brown bag it. We can also send out for Pizza. There are organic market, burgers, Mexican food, etc within a few blocks if you want to pick something up.

No presentations on Wednesdays, just a small group of folks helping each other with Drupal questions.

Aimed mainly at newbies, but open to anyone with questions or anyone willing to help others find answers to their questions.

Flickr photo licensed cc-by-nc-nd thanks to deadstar

It's summer and time for a DrupalQue

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:06:00 -0700

UPDATE: we have about 4 seats open for this small workshop. Please contact Markus Sandy @ 805-798-0436, or skype msandy for reservations. This workshop is suitable for beginning level Drupal users who have some experience with using Drupal and building websites.

UPDATE 2: Local chef Brian Shae Sveniker has graciously agreed to cater this event. This means that we can offer a gourmet vegan alternative to the usual BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs, which of course we'll also have on hand. Watch for a post on his great menu. Please note the date change from the original posting.

The vloggers are having a VloggerCue, so what the heck! Let's have a DrupalQue. :)

A DrupalQue is two slices of lean Drupal learning, wrapped around a Bar-B-Que. So let's all queue up for some Drupal learning fun on Saturday, June 26th. It's lean, because each session is about one a specific aspect of Drupal.

For our first Que, we'll be giving a brief introduction to using the Views module in the morning session. The afternoon session will be about theming views.

These sessions are aimed at people who want help getting up to speed on specific topics, The first session is aimed at beginners and assumes no specific prerequisites, but you should know what Views is basically for and have a goal in mind for using it. The second session, builds off of the first and assumes a basic understanding of CSS and HTML in addition to a basic understanding of Drupal views, types, displays, settings and uses as explained in the first session. Note that we will not be covering the use of too many views plugins unless specific requests received in time to add that plugin information to the session handouts. Sessions are designed to encourage participant questions on specific uses.

Here is an outline for each session:

Morning Session - Introduction to Using Drupal Views
Example views. Finding and using existing views.
Creating views.
View types. View displays. View and Basic settings.
Page, block, feed and attachment settings.
Fields. Sorting criteria.
Arguments, filters and relationships.
Additional display and style plugins.

Afternoon Session - Theming Views
Blocks, pages, feeds and attachments.
CSS styles common to various views display styles.
How CSS and HTML change with view setting changes.
Theming information and theme template files.
Quick theming aids and tools.
Brief tour: Using Skinr, panels and 960 grid-based themes.

Watermelon photo licensed cc-by-nc-sa by jliba

Please note:

THESE ARE SMALL GROUP WORKSHOPS WITH GENERALLY NO MORE THAN 8 PARTICIPANTS. SPACE IS LIMITED.

YOU MUST HAVE A CONFIRMED RESERVATION TO ATTEND SESSIONS.

PREFERENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO PEOPLE WHO ARE AT THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL AND CAN ATTEND BOTH WORKSHOPS.

WALK-INS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT THESE WORKSHOPS (please come to one of our open Wed night events instead).

PARTICIPANTS SHOULD HAVE A WI-FI EQUIPPED LAPTOP OR NET-BOOK COMPUTER TO USE DURING WORKSHOP (we may be able to provide a limited number of workstations for participant use if prior arrangements are made).

The first session is from 10:00am - noon. Lunch/BBQ/Swim is from noon - 1pm. The afternoon session is from 1-3pm.

At the same time. there will also be a meeting of the unofficial Drupal widows and orphans group. This group has nothing to do with style sheets and intends to join in on the bar-b-que, but otherwise intends to just relax, hang around the pool, take nature walks, visit Ojai shops, swim, get a massage or partake of the treats and libations offered at the Ojai Dojo Guest House next door while session participants geek out. Dog friendly. Less so for kids.

Notes:

Swimming is at your own risk. Clothing is optional. Minors must be supervised by an adult guardian with the understanding that this is an adult oriented event with alcohol present (e.g., we might all have a beer with lunch, jump in the spa and start telling racy Drupal stories).

Smoking is allowed outside on the decks. Please do not smoke in the Dojo, house or offices. Please watch your butts :)

Please feel free to bring food and beverages, especially if you have special needs. Sharing is encouraged. Kitchen available.

Please park on the street outside the gate. Dog friendly with both open and gated areas

Please be respectful of neighboring orchards and ask before picking. There's plenty, but not all ours.

Certified massage therapists available with prior arrangement (for your partner foo! you get Drupal!)

Overnight lodging or camping available. Campers must supply their own gear or make prior arrangements.

Drupal Workgroup and Clinic Starting up in Ventura

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:05:00 -0700

We're starting a Drupal Study Group in Ventura. Last night was the first meeting at Chief's Pizza in Ventura.

At first, I thought it would be more convenient for folks if we tried to hold meetings closer to the main parts of town or nearer to the freeways. To my surprise, the first meeting was attended by people from Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, as well as Ventura and the location did not really seem to help or matter to people.

It was a small group, but we quickly ate up the 2 hour meeting time discussing and working on solutions to specific questions that we had about our day to day use of Drupal. We pretty much just opened our laptops, moved some benches to make for better viewing and jumped in on specific questions. Here is a summary of our main discussion points.

* Installing multiple Drupal sites under OSX, using MAMP. This turned out not to be a discussion of Drupal multi-sites,but more about simple Drupal configuration issues in settings.php. Also mentioned how etc/hosts and Apache configuration files can make this easier.

* Discussion of specific theming challenges associated with the Nice Menus module. In particular, we discussed how certain CSS selectors effected menus made from <ul> and <li> elements. Also discussed related id's css classes and selectors, such as .menuparent and #block-nice_menus-1

* Turning on built in web developer tools in Safari to examine Nice Menu html and CSS.

* CSS selector weighting and matching and how it applies to Drupal theming, especially sub-menus.

* Discussed use of jQuery Cycle plugin and corresponding Views Cycle module with Views in order to create a 'slider' like one that a participant had seen on an existing site.

The participants made it clear that what they want is basic help. They feel that Drupal Camps and regional meetups are great fun, but that many of the discussions and presentations are either way over their heads or not something they can directly apply to their own Drupal sites at this time. They appreciate those events, but are also looking for something more basic and practical.

We plan to hold bi-weekly meetings of a 'clinic' nature; one where you come in and get help on specific questions and work on your own projects and exercises.

One thing I noticed is that the Pizza parlor was a nice place to meet, but not an ideal working and learning environment like the Dojo is. Wifi, no sports/TV's, more space, projector, etc all make for a nicer workspace. Also, it looks like being in central Ventura is not that big of a convenience and that Ojai is not that far out of the way for many.

So we plan to hold future work group, or clinic if you prefer, meetings in people's homes or at the Ojai Digital Dojo (which is part of our home). In the spirit of the Drupal Dojo, we will open our homes and dojos to small groups who wish to improve their Drupal skills. I've emailed one of the Drupal Dojo organizers and they are supportive of our goals. We plan to post future event notices in the Drupal Dojo group and here on the Ojai Digital Dojo blog.

Image from Drupal Dojo group at groups.drupal.org

All are welcome, but these clinics are aimed at addressing specific questions, with an emphasis on helping 'beginners'. Please leave a comment or send us an email to let us know you are coming.

For Digital Dojo located events, directions are in the sidebar (be sure you come to the 963 West El Roblar address, not the mailing address on Ojai Ave). Also, If folks are hungry, there are pizza, burgers, BBQ and several Mexican food takeout, plus an organic market within a few blocks of the Digital Dojo and people are free to come by during the 6-7pm hour to work on their own or eat pot luck. Pizza can be delivered. Kitchen facilities are available. We have filtered water, teas, coffees and various jucies and sodas. You are always welcome to squeeze all the fresh orange juice you like.

There is no cost for these workgroup meetings, although it would be nice if you chip in a few bucks towards any food or drinks if you can't contribute to pot luck.

For more information or to set up your own private digital dojo learning session, please contact Markus Sandy at 805-798-0436 or via markus.sandy@gmail.com.

We will also be announcing some Drupal learning events coming this summer. The first will be a Views intro and theming class on June 19th. Stay tuned for more info.

Video Compression

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 02:34:00 -0700

10:00 - Introductions, tags, overview, off topics/parking lot
10:10 - Survey, concepts, images, sites, resources, videos, tools
10:20 - Explore files, resources, show & tell
10:30 - Demo - capture - video from flip
10:40 - Demo - compress - mpeg stream clip
10:50 - Demo - upload - flickr
11:00 - Q & A I
11:10 - Break
11:20 - Demo - mac or windows compress
11:30 - Demo - vimeo upload
11:40 - Q & A II
11:50 - Clinic - capture
12:00 - Clinic - compress
12:10 - Clinic - uploads
12:20 - Summary, More Resources, Q & A
12:30 - Done! go make a video!

Introduction

Best practices
know your targets. e.g., iphone, YouTube, desktop, appletv, etc
target a format?
compress to target
save upload time
best quality for the moment
avoid queues
presets
increase understanding and remove mystery
inter/intra and relation compression to editing
learn about free tools for win, mac and linux

Ask people to intro with three tags (mine are video compression, videoblogging and drupal based media web sites)

Survey
======
How many: Mac, Apple, Linux
Experience:
Hi Def?
Video Camera Type: DV, HDV, Still, pocket, flip, phone
Who has a blog or vlog?
Who has an account on YouTube, Blip, others?
Who actively uploads?
Who is a compression expert?
left or right brained

related, but off- topics
========================
video streaming
audio compression
audacity
content data networks
creative commons
subtitles
animation
video editing
adv audio & video capture

Putting the You in YouTube
with Markus Sandy

Saturday, July 24
10 am-12:30 pm

The Santa Barbara Channels
7000 Hollister Ave. Goleta
(805) 571-1721

Course description

More and more people turn to the Internet searching for entertainment and news, and your videos can be what they find. This seminar covers the basics of compressing and preparing your videos for uploading to the web. Find out the best format and file size, and workflow strategies for using different content delivery services. Video sharing websites besides YouTube, such as Blip.tv, Flickr, and Vimeo, will be looked at and discussed as well.

from YouTube
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=77268
If you already have a digital camcorder (one that captures in Digital8, MiniDV, HDV, or any of the DVD formats), then you're ready to start shooting your masterpiece. Your camcorder will need some kind of direct connection to your computer, either to the USB or FireWire ports or by inserting the DVD you've recorded. Once you've downloaded the video from the camera, you can upload it to YouTube or bring it into an editing program to play with it some more.

If you have an analog camcorder (one that uses VHS, VHS-C, SVHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 tape), you can still get your videos onto YouTube. It will require an extra step and some additional equipment, though, since these camcorders are not usually equipped with computer connections. You'll need to digitize the video with a converter box, which will convert the analog signal from the camcorder to a digital signal that the computer can understand. After the video has been digitized, you can manipulate it further or upload it.

from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_compression

Video compression refers to reducing the quantity of data used to represent digital video images, and is a combination of spatial image compression and temporal motion compensation.

compressed video can effectively reduce the bandwidth required to transmit video via terrestrial broadcast, via cable TV, or via satellite TV services.

Most video compression is lossy — it operates on the premise that much of the data present before compression is not necessary for achieving good perceptual quality. For example, DVDs use a video coding standard called MPEG-2 that can compress around two hours of video data by 15 to 30 times, while still producing a picture quality that is generally considered high-quality for standard-definition video. Video compression is a tradeoff between disk space, video quality, and the cost of hardware required to decompress the video in a reasonable time. However, if the video is over-compressed in a lossy manner, visible (and sometimes distracting) artifacts can appear.

The programming provider has control over the amount of video compression applied to their video programming before it is sent to their distribution system. DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and HD DVDs have video compression applied during their mastering process, though Blu-ray and HD DVD have enough disc capacity that most compression applied in these formats is light, when compared to such examples as most video streamed on the internet, or taken on a cellphone.

Since interframe compression copies data from one frame to another, if the original frame is simply cut out (or lost in transmission), the following frames cannot be reconstructed properly. Some video formats, such as DV, compress each frame independently using intraframe compression. Making 'cuts' in intraframe-compressed video is almost as easy as editing uncompressed video — one finds the beginning and ending of each frame, and simply copies bit-for-bit each frame that one wants to keep, and discards the frames one doesn't want.

It is possible to build a computer-based video editor that spots problems caused when I frames are edited out while other frames need them. This has allowed newer formats like HDV to be used for editing. However, this process demands a lot more computing power than editing intraframe compressed video with the same picture quality.

=====

from http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/video4.htm

Now that you know the basic concepts and terminology behind video compression, we can talk about various formats and codecs, and which one is right for you. First off, we need to point out what the difference between a Codec and a Format is. Codec stands for Compressor/Decompressor, meaning it is something which can both encode and decode something, in this case video. When we talk about video format in this context, we're talking about how that information is stored on disks. Formats include things like AVI and Quicktime. Codecs include things like MJPEG, Sorenson, Cinepak, and DivX. Some Codecs are also formats (or have specific formats attached to them), such as MPEG and ASF.

A format does not necessarily mean anything about the video quality, it only dictates the underlying structure of a file. I always scratch my head when people say things like "I like AVIs better than MPEGs because they're smaller," which is a statement that makes absolutely no sense. I've had an AVI file that's 26GB large, orders of magnitude larger than most MPEG files. The fact is that formats like AVI and Quicktime have little to nothing to do with the underlying Codec, except that the limitations of a format must be adhered to in the codec. For instance, AVI does not support bidirectional-predicate frames, therefore the MPEG4 implementation that Microsoft made for AVI/ASF is incomplete as it does not implement this essential feature of the MPEG specification.

http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech3/

how capture video? camera (firewire or usb, hdmi?), webcam, screen capture, video input (e.g., tv, dvd) via converter box, stitching images together to make normal, time-lapse or stop motion, download stock or public domain footage, graphics and special effects

slides
======
dilbert
standards
mac & windows dialog box with codecs
Which one do I pick - I'M SO CONFUSED! - Sorenson Squeeze 4.5 Format & Compression Settings (too many of 'em)
kent bye's H.264 Video Compression Settings

software
========
mac: %I, imovie, quicktime pro, fce, fcp/compressor, avid
pc: movie maker?, premier, pinnacle, avid, roxio, sony vegas, ms expression encoder 4 (windows media encoder)
linux: ffmpeg and many others

handbrake - HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multi-platform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows.

mpeg stream - closed source - MPEG Streamclip is a powerful free video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows. It can play many movie files, not only MPEGs; it can convert MPEG files between muxed/demuxed formats for authoring; it can encode movies to many formats, including iPod; it can cut, trim and join movies. MPEG Streamclip can also download videos from YouTube and Google by entering the page URL

ffmpeg - FFmpeg is a complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video. It includes libavcodec - the leading audio/video codec library

vlc - The cross-platform open-source multimedia framework, player and server

flip share -
snapz pro x -
I Show U -
windows media encoder -
windows media maker -

Show and tell
=============
* canopus video capture device
* HD cards and reader
* external firewire drive
* usb flash drive
* firewire, hdm, dvi, vga, usb cables
* xacti and charger

Group Exercises
===============

Who has a video to capture? Who can help?
Who has a video to compress? Who can help?
Who needs to set up an account? Who has an account?

References
----------

glossaries
http://www.manifest-tech.com/links/video_terms.htm
http://www.discount-security-cameras.net/video-compression-glossary.aspx
http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/glossary/g/vidcompression.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_codecs

articles/snaps
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/expert/digitalvideo.mspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_formats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_editing_software

flip and others, kodak Zi8
http://www.theflip.com/
http://store.kodak.com/store/ekconsus/en_US/pd/Zi8_Pocket_Video_Camera/productID.156585800

http://www.squared5.com/
http://handbrake.fr/
http://www.ffmpeg.org/
http://www.theora.org/

http://www.mirocommunity.org/
http://www.getmiro.com/
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

YouTube - Getting Started: File formats
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55744

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_formats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_codecs

Compression Guidelines
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/help/compression
YouTube: see below

articles/tutorials/videos
=========================
Compressor Settings for Vimeo/YouTube HD http://vimeo.com/3552513
YouTube High Definition http://www.squidoo.com/youtubehd
How to Make YouTube Videos Look Great http://www.squidoo.com/youtuberight
Web Video Compression and Codecs http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=_13PCNDO-pE
How To Compress Video http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=cBm8wandPew
Video compression for Mac http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=5BnX-2tYoDw

Tips and Encoding Settings for Long Duration Screencasts http://groups.drupal.org/node/2424

A&E's Technical Guides to All Things Audio and Video (v3) http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech3/

Best video compression settings for You Tube http://www.robbmontgomery.com/2007/10/best-video-compression-settings-for-you-tube/

10 Reasons Why Blip.tv is Better Than YouTube for Uploading & Sharing Videos on the Web http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/12/10-reasons-why-bliptv-is-better-than.html

10 Interesting Things You Can Do with YouTube or Google Videos http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/07/10-interesting-things-you-can-do-with.html

How-to produce an online video Show: Export & compress. The blip.tv Learning Center. http://blip.tv/learning/export/

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker

Vimeo - TUTORIAL: From miniDV to Vimeo in High Quality
http://www.vimeo.com/forums/topic:4038

*** this has links to many tutorials for lots of software
Vimeo - TUTORIALS: Vimeo HD exporting guides from many editors
http://vimeo.com/forums/topic:3671

YouTube - Learn More: File format / editing tips for Apple users
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=165543

YouTube - Learn More: Optimizing your video uploads
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=132460

YouTube - 4K Video!?!?
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-bigger-than-1080p-4k-video-comes.html

YouTube - 10 minute limit
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=71673

Wikipedia - AviSynth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AviSynth

YouTube - processing time
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=71674

Wikipedia - Deinterlacing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinterlacing

Yahoo! Videoblogging Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/videoblogging

Izzy Video 066 – Compression
http://www.izzyvideo.com/videos/compression

Izzy Video 140 – Turbocharge Your Compression!
http://www.izzyvideo.com/videos/izzy-video-140-turbocharge-your-compression

Glossary/Topics
===============
aspect ratios - 4:3 , 16:9 - letterbox
importance of external drives
two pass compression
workflow: compression time can be 10:1
Common Dimensions (and aspect ratios)
720x480 DV NTSC
320x240 ipod 1-3
new dimension on iPod4
standard YouTube sizes (with & w/o frame)
640x480
480x264 - iPhone
HD: 960x720, 1280x1080, 1440x1080
show picture showing relative sizes, also standard web pages sizes (960 - 220), fullscreen
total bit rate (apple finder)
channels - 1 for mono, 2 for stereo
filter
encoder
ftp
batch
ins and outs
MPEG
mp3
ogg
ISO
HD
SD
HDV
HDTV
ACHA
DIVIX
AVI
quicktime
archive.org - the Internet Archive
video editor - person or software
real video
Microsoft Windows Media
H.264
Video hosting provider
Content delivery network
AAC
preset
Sony Vegas
Miro
de-interlace
interlaced video
ffmpeg
brakepad
mpeg streamclip
vlc
key frames
any word or phrase found on a export dialog field
video hosting services - youtube, dailymotion, blip.tv. archive.org, vimeo, flickr,
Sorenson Squeeze - commercial - pros and cons
FOSS - Free and Open Source
Canon V20
Sony VTR17
Sony Cybershot
Flip ???
Mac iSight intenral (web cam) or external
daily motion
internet archive
blip.tv
understanding DV and other popular capture formats
preprocessing video for editing
facebook and twitter videos
qik
iphone
appletv and boxee and others
progressive scan
anamorphic
cropping
aspect ratio
letterbox
bit rate
digital video
spatial image compression
temporal motion compression
for internet, we care about file size and quality
smaller size => more compression => more cpu needed to uncompress
time vs space
bandwidth
mobile video
do the math:
sd 30fps x => 1 hour of uncompressed SD is xxx GB
hd 30fps or 24.9fps (check)
film 24fps x
29.97 fps, 25 fps, 23.976 fps, 15 fps
inter vs intra frame compression
intra not good for editing
keyframes
data rate
bits per second
pits per frame
mpeg1/2/4, VP8, avi, flv, wmv, mov. m4v
aac audio
workflow
demo deinterlace TV capture video
time lapse?
compressing for the big screen?

Summary
======

* lots of options
* can be intimidating
* no one size fits all solution
* but a few sizes often suffice
* workflow and consistency is your friend
* best practices too
* log it! science!

Free Web Video Clinics
Ojai Digital Dojo
http://ojaidigitaldojo.net
markus.sandy@gmail.com
805-798-0436
Wednesdays 6-10pm
Some Saturdays, see vlog.

Ojai Cleanup Day - Saturday Sept 19, 2009 - 9am-Noon

noreply@blogger.com (Markus Sandy) — Fri, 4 Sep 2009 13:16:00 -0700

Click image for full size poster.
I used the button below to request information on a local coatal cleanup action that I could join and guess what? There's one right here in Ojai! This place is so hip. But you knew that already. The CCC organizer in Simi sent me this really cool poster. Come and join in the cleanup. Millions of pounds of garbage have been cleaned from our waterways in the past few years, DURING A THREE HOUR VOLUNTEER EFFORT ONE DAY EACH YEAR. You rawk people!!!

Saturday Sept 19, 2009 - 9am-Noon

Meet at the ROTARY COMMUNITY PARK PARKING LOT (next to the old Ford dealerships).
part of California Coastal Cleanup Day