May 6, 2009 by admin.

As some of you know I am the proud owner of a new indie feature film. I worked my ass off and dumped every dime I have into my little film. I finished it, and to top that off, I even got a distribution deal. So I contacted a couple of places to dub my final movie to HDcamSR, the format requested by my distributor.

 Not sure about pricing or procedure I made the stupid decision to join www.creativecow.com and post a question in their forums. I had been receiving their little magazine for free each month and it seemed to be legit.

Well, what I found out was that the Creative Cow forums are actually a sort of misfits club. All the unemployed geeks we made fun of in high school and college float around the forums waiting to pounce on anyone new. I posted my questions and some background info. Here is the first reply:

Hey Joe,

Just to be clear; you are neither doing a dubbing nor a transfer of your film. You are doing a full on HD online with cross conversion from 59.94 to HD-CAM SR 29.97 + down and cross conversions to SD NTSC & PAL.

Honestly, $4,700 is too cheap once you start legalising and QC - that guy must have seen you coming.

Pack away your film and your dreams and get a proper hobby - angling should be nice and relaxing

If you do end up using a cheap/no budget solution, make sure NOT to pay “the ferryman” until you’ve reached the other side - in your case, that is once the distribution company has cleared (QC’ed) your tapes for distribution. One more thing, if your “facility” is hiring in the HD-CAM SR - get them to run you two or three masters out, so you have a safety in your own cupboard.

Good Luck!!!

All the Best
Mads
London, UK

Wait a minute… did this brit douche-bag just tell me to “get a new hobby”? Does he think Americans make movies as a hobby? Does he think movies shot as a “hobby” get distribution? I thought maybe I misunderstood. Who asked him? I’m an American and anything a Brit knows is last years tech. They should spend more time wondering why prince charles is married to a man. If England sank into the ocean the world would be a better place. The next guy wrote:

 Hi Joe -
I would like to commend your distributors for keeping a PROFESSIONAL HI END standard for their film distribution.  As Mads said “this is not a hobby”.  We do this to make a decent living, to pay for things like medical insurance, and a car, and to feed our families.  THIS IS NOT YOUTUBE (and if it was, most of us would not participate on this forum).  A Sony SRW-5500 with options is $130,000.  Most of the people on all of these forums cannot afford this VTR, but this is the “top of the line” VTR, used by HI END professionals.  You know - like guys that shoot with Panavision cameras (and super hi end HD cameras as well).  We LIKE the fact that it is expensive, so that we can “be above and beyond” the Youtube generation that works with Sony PD150 cameras, and the like.

And just remember, when you buy your Red Scarlet for $3000, a higher standard will be created, and it will ALWAYS BE THIS WAY, because when the amateurs “catch up” to the pros, new higher standards are created, so that a professional market can exist.

And I don’t like your attitude.  Films are made to make money. 

bob Zelin

 You should see the homo that wrote this… he looks like the witch from Wizard of Oz. He must have thought I was someone else or he is having his period. What an asshole to write something like that when ha has never seen my movie or met me. He is a liar too, because he once wrote that he pioneered the use of SATA drives in non-linear editing. Dozens of people (including me) were using SATA drives striped for editing for almost a year before his “pioneering” started.

These posts were made within minutes of my question being submitted. They are just sitting around unemployed and they are pissed off. They hate the world and the fact that people are smarter now than ever before. They wish the old days would come back. The days when nobody knew anything and guys like “bob Zelin” (SIC) were the mysterious geniouses. But those days are over. Even high school kids in media class know more than these fops.

The lesson here? www.CREATIVECOW.com should be called www.BUCKETOFASSHOLES.com . They are all there in a giant circle jerk hoping to meet each other at a public bathroom someday. They are rude and useless as well as washed up morons.
 

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April 27, 2009 by admin.

I have always felt that Lenscrafters should have just owned up to their poor customer service. While this is less than a perfect resolution it does show that their intent is to keep customers happy. Below you will see the actual apology issued by “Greg” the manager at the Fort Myers store.

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In case you cannot read it:  

4/21/09

Mr. Lenders,

I am sorry for the confusion regarding your coupon. Enclosed is a refund check in the amount of $50.00 We hope you will continue to allows to serve your eyewear & eyecare needs!

 Greg

 So, I am not sure why it is written that way.  Maybe “Greg” was told what to write VIA a telephone conversation where the “allow us”  became “allows”?  Either way, well done LensCrafters, you made a good choice and kept a good customer.

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April 15, 2009 by admin.

Adding insult to injury, Lencrafters store manager “Greg” called me today. Those people must be trained at lying. This time a brand new lie was presented to me. The best way to cover-up the terrible way stores are run is to lie about it.

The first thing I noticed at the start of our conversation was the unapologetic manner and tone to “Greg’s” voice. As you can read in the story below, the Lenscrafters people had sent me a coupon “good with other offers”. It did not list any exclusions other than, I quote:

“Additional $50 off bonus savings. Original minimum purchase of $50 required. Coupon must be presented at the time of purchase. Limit one coupon per customer. Not valid on previous purchases, contact lenses, nonprescription sunglasses or accessories. No cash value. Void where prohibited. See store for details. Offer expires May 30, 2009.”

So, when “Greg” told me that the coupon was “not valid on lens replacements”, I was surprised. 

So, I guess they are using the “See store for details” to invalidate their coupon when you arrive. Because “Greg” told me that my coupon was not valid on replacement lenses, and not because his employee “Seth” had led me astray on when I could present the coupon.

So, here is the list of lies that were spewed from Lenscrafters so far:

“Receive an extra $50 off good with other offers”  Lenscrafters the lying eyeglass chain

“ Don’t worry, I will take the coupon when you come back.” Seth the lying store employee

“The coupon is not valid on lens replacements.” - Greg the lying store manager

 Three strikes and you’re out! Lenscrafters uses the old “bait and switch” method of advertising with a new slant. They issue coupons that they will not honor. I won’t ever shop there again, and I hope that everyone that reads this goes into their nearest Lenscrafters and tells them that liers never prosper. Of course I hope that if you are reading this, you will never ever patronize Lenscrafters or try and use one of their coupons.

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March 8, 2009 by admin.

If you like watching movies, you probably have numerous movies. I have over 500 DVDs personally. For holidays and my birthday friends and family often gift me with movies. I watch and rewatch the movies in my collection. Although my system has a 5-disc player I would rather have all my movies in a central player system. I have owned lots of different player systems. Juke-boxes that hold hundreds of DVDs and albums to organize my collection.

Recently I have discovered the “Media Tank”. Manufactured by different companies Media Tanks use internal and external hard disc drives to store audio & video. These Media Tanks then display a menu of movies and music they contain for playback at your liesure. The screens are sortable and allow you to put your media files in easy to find folders.

These Media Tanks are sometimes called home media centers or media servers range from around $150 to as high as $500. In my case I was interested in archiving my extensive DVD collection. But DVDs come with menus and simply copying the main movie to a hard drive will lose the menus and special features. But I have found  “work-around” that will function to keep the entire menu and special features of each DVD. It is not all-together fully legal since it uses a program that has been litigated out of existence. Well, you can still find the program called “DVD Shrink” on Limewire. Not every DVD will convert, but I find most will.

The Media Tanks have the ability to play .ISO backups of DVDs created by DVD Shrink. These .ISO files are around 4 Gigs in size and maintain all the features of the original DVD.

Captions, alternate endings, picture angles and multiple languages all can be accessed from the .ISO file just as they would have on the original DVD.

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February 24, 2009 by admin.

A while back I stumbled upon the Magicjack device and I was in awe. I thought “these guys are going to take over the world of VOIP”. At the very least I thought they would get insanely rich and become a household  word.

Let me begin at the beginning. The ad on the Internet said that I could use Magicjack with my broadband connection and any PC to make and receive calls. The concept was cool. I could carry Magicjack around in my pocket and plug it into any broadband PC taking my “land-line” anywhere I went. No per minute charges, no monthly bills or taxes. If I was at home, Magicjack would plug in to my home PC and when someone called my Magicjack provided phone number it would ring and I could answer. Then if I wanted to make outbound call I could just unplug it and take it with me.

Then if I went somewhere else that also had a broadband connected PC I would just plug it in, with the same convenient results. My calls would come to me anywhere and I could dial out for free as well. If someone called me in-between destinations, Magicjack’s voicemail would take my message and I would get voicemail when I plugged Magicjack back in.

The features looked really really good. They even had a way to make emergency 911 work. The price was amazing. $39.95 for the device and one year of free service. I opted for the extended 5-year plan at an additional $59.95 (locking in the low price).

So, you may ask… why write a review? Why not just write “buy a Magicjack right now and start saving”.  Well, actually I can’t get mine to work properly. Sounds stupid right? Not only did I buy this gizmo that I can’t make work, but I bought 5 years of additional service. Here’s how the deal went for me: I ordered the  Magicjack online with my credit card and it arrived in a few weeks. I plugged it in and like “magic” it loaded the software. Then I was asked to select my new Magicjack phone number. What? My area code is not available? That means people calling my new Magicjack phone number would have to call long distance! THAT SUCKS!

OK, well, the Magicjack is guaranteed so if I decide not to keep it they will refund my money. So I try it any way. I think to myself, where would be a good place to have a fake “satellite office”? Miami is the biggest city near me and some of my in-laws live in Miami. Having a Miami number would let them call me for free and it would make me seem like one of those big “Miami based” production companies. Maybe it would increase my out-of-town business. I can add it t my website and business cards for that “big time” look. But wait! I could get a number in Los Angeles or Hollywood! I could have a New York number and it would seem I was a huge multi-city company. All good ideas. I’ll start with Miami and add the others later, I thought…

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February 19, 2009 by admin.

Right now, outside somewhere in your car may be a device to track you. Anyone can buy a GPS tracker at many retail stores including Sams Club, Best Buy or maybe even Walmart. The device, usually hidden in your trunk or glove-box, is small and hard to detect. The GPS tracking systems work a few different ways. Some disclose your location in real time on a map like Google’s Latitude, while others record all your activities to a flash drive for retrieval later.  They can record your speed, location, how long you spend at any location and the time/date you were there… all for less than $75.

 Simply not wanting anyone to know where you are is not an admission of guilt. You may be worried about people using the information to start a lawsuit against you. You could be implicated simply by coincidence. Maybe you do stuff that LOOKS questionable. Maybe the cops  would think tracking you would be a good idea and they put one of those gizmos in your car. You will probably be cleared right? No chance of a mistake.

OK, well, “probably” may be a good enough when ordering a drive-thru lunch, but in a life and death situation I like ABSOLUTELY much better.

From what I’ve seen on the Internet and on TV,  I am not ABSOLUTELY sure nobody will make a mistake and shoot me by accident. So, painting a nice big GPS target on my car and lifestyle would be increasing my chances of becoming part of the “Big Brother” future.

 I do what everyone should do. I turn off my car GPS when I’m not using it and I turn off my phone GPS in the same manner. It’s bad enough they have the ability to track me with my toll transponder, ATM and credit card usage. But hidden GPS trackers that ANYONE can buy for $50-$75  in a retail store are a great way to falsely implicate innocent people as well as spy on anyone for many reasons.

Examples: Your business competitors may want to know which customers you are calling on. Your best friend’s wife may want to find  a good witness against her husband in an upcoming divorce (that should be fun). There may be a grow house next to your home and YOU may have taken one too many trips to Lowes for light-bulbs, starting a police investigation (explain that to your kids!).  Your cousin may want to get you bumped out of Uncle Tim’s will by showing him you never go to church on Sunday.

There are a million reasons you should not want anyone tracking you. If you are doing anything even marginally outside of the law (like speeding, picking the wrong friends or spending more than you report on your tax return) you have billionsof reasons why nobody should track your every move.

 Besides turning all your self-tracking devices off there is one other device you can purchase to make SURE you are not a victim of covert GPS surveillance. That’s the GPS jammer and it only costs $33.  The device shown to the right is small and portable. It jams all GPS within 10 to 45 feet. In other words, devices in your car. This means nearby drivers will probably not be effected. The bad news is that they are legal to own but probably not legal to use. I don’t think buying one and keeping it “on” all the time would make sense, but, having one when you feel a possible legal exposure could prove valuable. For someone that has their intuition activated this device could mean a good night’s sleep. For Spiderman he calls it his “Spidey-sense”. In the movie he says his “Spidey-sense is tingling”. So when you feel that happening and you are worried the cards are stacked against you, a small investment in a device like a GPS jammer could make all the difference between implicating yourself and saving your neck. I know everyone does not need one. Heck, most people probably don’t care that they are being tracked. But I don’t write about every day stuff, just new and tricky technology for people with trendy lifestyles.

Buy the  $33 personal GPS jammer you can carry with you anywhere by clicking here.

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February 11, 2009 by admin.

Have you ever wanted your laptop online when you were away from WIFI or a hot-spot? If you’re like me you don’t need it often, but when you do, it sure would be nice. I found a cool gizmo. The modem dongle! What is so cool about this? Well first of all, you don’t have to sign up for anything to use it. You just yank your SIM card out of your phone, stick it in the dongle and put it into your laptop’s USB port. Then you’re online. But wait, it does use your minutes, so unless you have an unlimited plan, be careful. I use my wife’s Metro PCS phone SIM card because she has an unlimited plan.

It’s great, no commitment like the “air-cards” or other devices, no extra bill. My brother-in-law has one of those 3G air-cards and it costs him an extra bill each month. With that are extra taxes too.

This one is just $50 and then nothing per month with a contract of ZERO months. Great for the occasional user and when you are on vacation. (you don’t want to answer calls then anyway). It comes with software and everything you need.

I only use it once in a great while, like at the airport where they have WIFI that robs you blind, makes you grab your ankles and squeal like a piggie. I HATE the airport WIFI. It is sooo freakin unreasonable. They make you sign up for an annual plan like you live at the airport. Sure there are some people that fly as part of their job, but they usually have the aircard or other method. The airport KNOWS that we techie types can’t last without our PC for very long. Sitting there looking at unhappy people and rotten little rugrats while we drink our $7.50 coffee requires that we flip open a laptop.

 Anyway, enjoy! it’s another great cool toy!

NOTE: CHECK WITH YOUR PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER BEFORE PURCHASING

Click HERE to buy this gizmo online.

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February 2, 2009 by admin.

In my never ending quest for backups of backups on a never ending array of external drives I invested in what seemed like just the ticket. It was a 4 bay external RAID system with full RAID features. That means a lot to video and computer artists. We use LOTS of drive space. In my most recent film there were 4.5 terabytes of footage. Not gigabytes, but TERAbytes.  Working with the footage in real time requires a fast drive or at least 4 drives striped as RAID O(zero). In the case of four exactly the same drives striped as RAID O (zero) the drives would each multiply their actual speed. The four 7200 RPM drives would be 4 times faster because the RAID makes them look like one big drive to the computer.

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