Listen to me rant about being torn between multiple artistic and digital majors in college. Given that Film Making and Photography are both media related and technological, I feel my blog readers may have some ideas.

The music in this video is done by Kevin MacLeod. The song playing in the clip of my sister and I is “Always Be” by Jimmy Eat World. No copyright infringement intended.

What are your personal thoughts or suggestions regarding my situation? Any comments are much appreciated.

In this video response to AlwaysRanting’s video, I state all the things I wish I could happen. In the spirit of fantasizing, please submit comments or videos with your response to the statement “I wish that…” as well. I won’t be embedding this video as it is not technology related, though a link can be found below. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–Jha20QQ78

The music in this video is done by Kevin MacLeod.

What do you wish?

The longest running show in broadcast history and my favorite show on television, Guiding Light, was cancelled on April Fools Day of 2009. On September 18, 2009, the show I’ve been watching since I was seven years old with my mother and grandmother aired its last episode. Watch as I speak about what Guiding Light taught us over the years and as I showcase my favorite scenes. After broadcasting for 72 years, Guiding Light’s record length may never be matched again by any other television show. This video is the least I could do to honor the show, the actors and crew members in the only way I know how.

I’m embedding this video regardless of the fact that it is not technology related because Guiding Light made media history. Media is one of my strongest interests and part of what this blog is all about. With the 10 minute limit, I tried my best to show the world what a wonderful show Guiding Light was. It will be sorely missed.

I do not own the rights to any of these video clips. They are all property of Proctor & Gamble Productions, CBS-TV, and TeleNext. The instrumental music is done by Kevin MacLeod. The Guiding Light theme song is also property of Proctor & Gamble Productions, CBS-TV, and TeleNext. The theme song can be purchased in iTunes by the artist “The Young and the Beautiful”. No copyright infringement is intended with this video.

In my recent video uploads, entitled “the ‘it’s only rock & roll’ opinion videos”, I describe that in iTunes 8 users were able to press the green plus button on the iTunes window and it would cause the window to form into a mini player mode, containing only the song name, a play, fast forward and rewind button. iTunes 9 does not allow the same feature when you press the green plus button. I have discovered, however, the two methods you can use to achieve the “mini player” mode in the new iTunes 9.

The first method, which I find easiest, is to press the green plus button on the iTunes window while holding down the “Option” key on your keyboard. The second method involves users selecting View > “Switch to Mini Player” while in iTunes. To return to full sized iTunes 9, click the green plus button while in mini player mode.

Enjoy your convenient listening!

Watch this two part video series as I recap the events of Apple’s recent 09/09/09 music event entitled “It’s Only Rock and Roll”. Also, listen to my opinions on the updates and new iPod releases, features and price points.

Part 1:

Part 2:

For exclusive tech content by me, you can follow me on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/alwaysg5

The music in this video is done by Kevin MacLeod.

What was your reaction to this recent Apple event, the new iPods and iTunes 9? Share in the comments!

UPDATE: The way to view iTunes 9 in the Mini Player version that I speak of in this video is depicted in this post.

Yesterday evening, I spent an hour of my Friday night before heading out to kick back and install my $10 copy of Snow Leopard from Apple’s Up-to-Date Program. At such a cheap price and with my 13″ unibody MacBook Pro, one would think that this would be an enjoyable experience. Especially for a tech enthusiast like myself. My night, however, was filled with stress and uncertainty due to a minor complication that took place during the installation process. Here’s hoping that my story will save another user from the same anxiety that my installation caused me.

I inserted the Snow Leopard CD, as usual, and followed the instructions given on screen to upgrade my 10.5 Leopard system to 10.6 Snow Leopard. Installation began and I was given the estimation of about 45 minutes until completion. I let my MacBook Pro do its thing as I went into the other room to organize some things. When I returned 15 minutes later, the screen was black yet I could still hear the Snow Leopard CD spinning inside my laptop’s optical drive. Having put my full faith in Snow Leopard and choosing not to back up my hard drive before the upgrade, I began to panic, wondering if something had gone wrong and my data was in jeopardy.

Thanks to the wonderful technology that is my iPod Touch, I quickly did a search on Google regarding the situation, using the keywords “snow leopard installation black screen”. I came up with multiple hits on Mac related forums of many other Intel Mac laptop users having the same issue. A reason was not depicted, but a solution was described.

Though it was not visible to me, there was still information on the screen. The forum thread that I read at MacRumors suggested I hold a flashlight close to my blackened MacBook Pro LCD and see if I could spot the cursor or some writing. I decided to give it a shot. And as stupid as I felt holding a flashlight within inches of my MacBook Pro’s screen, I did see that the installation was continuing to take place behind the black screen. Again, I have yet to find a reason online or personally, but after being able to see the installation continuing, I decided to just let it continue to work as needed until the installation was complete. About a half an hour later, the installation was complete and my MacBook Pro automatically restarted and led me straight to my usual desktop. No files were lost, as I had feared they might be, and all was right with the world.

Though I cannot give a reason as to why the screen of many Mac laptops go black during a Snow Leopard installation, I can offer a solution and proof that it works. Should this happen to you, use your nearest flash light to see that the installation is continuing behind the darkened screen. Do not turn off your computer and more importantly, do not panic. Your computer will be safe and sound in no time.

Have you made the upgrade to Snow Leopard yet? How was your experience with the installation? Share in the comments section below.

Watch as I unbox an original black and white GameBoy just for the sake of unboxing an older tech item.

The music in this video is done by Kevin MacLeod.

Thanks for watching! Did you ever own an original GameBoy? What other handheld consoles have you used for gaming? Are you a Nintendo fan? Respond in the comments!

Watch as I unbox, set up and give my first impressions of the Garmin nuvi 350 GPS system.

Thanks for watching! Music in this video is done by Kevin MacLeod.

What GPS system are you using?

In less than 5 minutes, watch as I recap my viewers on the past month of my life (August 2009). Listen for what’s up with moving into college and what new tech gadgets I’m looking into or have already purchased!

Thanks for watching! The music in this video is done by Kevin MacLeod.

What have all of you been up to in the past month?

When it comes to online forums, I’m quite picky. I don’t join or participate in many unless they meet a few requirements. They must have consistent, interesting content. The forum must also have a large or at least growing membership that I know I can have intelligent or interesting discussions with regardless of their age. The subject matter of the forum must be clearly defined.

Given this criteria, I’m happy to say that I have found a new forum that I am really enjoying posting on. David DiFranco, most commonly known for his YouTube nickname “thecreativeone”, has just jumped on the forum bandwagon and launched a new site entitled, Forum Bytes. The site has been up for about a weekend and in that time has generated some interesting topics and gained over 430 members.

Forum Bytes is dedicated to discussing technology, the media we create with technology and general social media that we connect ourselves to using technology. There are dedicated forums for both Mac and PC users, creative professionals, Nintendo and other gaming company fans, music, movies, television, Twitter and Facebook. In other words, this forum allows users to discuss all of my interests that when summed together I cannot find a word to define it. I’m sure you all understand the type of feel and topics I’m referring to though. This forum will allow people like me who throughly enjoy pop culture, new media and technology to discuss such topics.

Due to the fact that the forum is being run by David DiFranco, I’m positive that as time goes on, the forum will only gain more features and become even more of an interesting place to be. The forum has amazing amounts of potential, and the more users brought to the site, the more discussion can take place. That is exactly why I am encouraging you to take a look at ForumBytes.com. Registration is free and the forum is run using the highly customizable phpBB software. I haven’t seen a forum with this kind of potential to be user based, instead of falling into the corporate, conformist bunch of forums in a long time. So, bottom line: have a look. And keep an eye out for me over on the forums under the username “alwaysg5″.

What are some other forums you frequent?