Being Intentional

Merlin Mann over at 43 Folders posted a 3-part series relating to being intentional with our time and our focus. He talks about the hard work of a creative life, and how no one but you can carve out whatever blocks of time are needed to make the creativity and work happen.

I was in the process of re-blocking my time anyway when I read this article. It really helped spur me on to making more effective use of what I considered personal time, but which is also the only time I have available for moving life goals ahead (as well as family, rest, recreation, etc.).

I have been using a program called Things as my Getting Things Done (GTD) tool of choice. It is still in the beta/development cycle, but is a good tool. Wanting a little more automation and control, I have been testing a program called OmniFocus. Not sure yet if I will switch.

Have Fun!

-Ed

In for a Penny….

Hi.

Instead of Ed Ramsey Online I probably should be calling this the Ed-Moves-from-Vista-to-Mac-and-What-He-Discovers blog. In reality, I am more of a technology-oriented person anyway. I enjoy the spiritual/heartfelt side of life, and try to tie the technology and spiritual sides of me together, but when push comes to shove, the love-of-technology side tends to be more dominant.

I started blogging last Thanksgiving when my life was changing in a significant way. I have been opening up to loved-ones more, and I have been getting more in touch with myself in a way that has brought peace and simplicity into my life and feelings. I am more connected with others, more connected with myself, and more able to handle stress and pressure without reacting in any kind of a negative way.

But, when I blog, it tends to be about the technology milestones I encounter along the way. Ok. Well, here?s another one .

I have fully entered the digital video world ! And, it is amazing what can be done with simple equipment and simple software. This is my third camcorder. The first was given to me, and used VHS technology. It was big, didn?t take great video, and the battery lasted ten minutes (figuratively speaking). I stopped taking it to family events because the expectations never equaled the reality.

My second camcorder used 8mm and was better in every way. The only problem was that there wasn?t anything I could do with the film other than copy segments to a large vhs tape to send out to family. Very time consuming, and the quality wasn?t great. The pain factor became greater than the reward, so I stopped using that one also.

My team at work (Business Integration Web Services Technology) is teaching a 50-week series of courses on IT Architecture, SOA, Database Design, Modern Web Technologies, etc… and I wanted to tape the classes for those who couldn?t attend or for new hires. The company has a GL1 DV camera and we used that for the first class. I purchased a shotgun mic for better sound, and Final Cut Express to process the footage. The tape turned out ok, and after using the Flip4Mac pro codec from inside Compressor 3 which came with Logic Studio, I obtained a pretty good Windows Media file for playing over the web. And, I also got the bug .

I had some trouble playing the tape back on the company?s camera, and decided to get my own. I found a pretty good price ($100 less than anywhere else) on Amazon, and had my camera in time for the next class. I used HDV this time and had excellent picture quality. The only trouble with HDV as opposed to DV is the compression times are multiplied from 3+ hours to 15+ hours for a 90-minute video (with sound and titles). Wow! I also had to work through projector interlacing issues (found that setting the projector to 60 Hz or 120 Hz helped).

After a few classes at HD I went back to SD .

Family stuff, on the other hand, works great in HDV, as the lengths are much shorter.

And, I can?t imagine doing any of this on a PC. Other than the long render times for video compression, I have found my macbook pro to be more capable than any desktop I have ever had (including the fastest vista box available early last year, which I still have). Until I got to video, I have never ?dogged-down? the laptop (even with multi-track logic sessions). And, even with video, I can still fully edit and render full-motion HD video on the laptop in realtime without any problems. The only lag comes when I compress for the web; then it takes forever. I see a dual-quad Mac Pro in my future ?. My vista box can barely keep up with MPEG2 recording from a TV card, and pro tools used to kick its rear on a regular basis. Not so, on the mac.

Oops. Not trying to make this a mac vs pc blog. Just pointing out my experiences. Remember, I have been using pc?s since CP/M, and beta tested windows .9x (creating my own PIFs) for Microsoft a large number of years ago, and I have used and supported every version since. I still remember a few of the 8080 opcodes (and still have my programmers guide), up through 80286 (when I stopped coding in assembler). So I can complain about family without being mean .

One of the really cool things about Final Cut is that it has been used for major work. Cold Mountain was done in Final Cut Pro start to finish. There is a great book about how Walter Murch, the editor for Cold Mountain, pulled it off titled “Behind the Seen”. It is a very cool read, and makes me feel a part of something special when I use the software.

I am just amazed at how much Apple has gotten right recently. There a few problems here and there (I can?t seem to export clip lists from Final Cut Express to keep a tape database), and they only recently fixed some firewire problems that have hurt musicians (and there still might be some noise in the drivers), etc…

But, for the most part, it is the most creative environment my wife and I have ever been on.

You know the old saying, in for a penny, in for a pound. It looks like I am in…

Have Fun!

-Ed

Now I’m Just Being Logical

Hi.

I have been in the process of moving over to a Mac. And, actually, it has been as much a philosophical move as a physical and practical move. I find that, other than the learning curve, my world is simplifying. What took several programs and interfaces on my Vista machines, now just takes one or two. And, yesterday, I made the biggest switch. I moved from Pro Tools (which I was starting to get good at) to Logic Studio and a Duet Apogee for use on my MacBook Pro.

Yes, there is a learning curve, and yes, it is going to take some time, but already I am more relaxed and comfortable with the audio interface. And, I can also play my iTunes through my Mackie monitors, where with the Pro Tools interface I couldn’t. (Yes, this is a simple, trivial thing, but it is really quite illustrative of the whole Vista/Mac process. Things in the Mac just seem to be wired to work the way I want to work, where in Vista/XP/Windows it sometimes required clunkiness or brute force).

I do believe, if I had listened to my heart a little more closely last year, or several years ago, I would have already made the switch. When people say that audio and video work better on a Mac, they are not kidding. I knew that from my experience on a Mac II CX a dozen years ago for powerpoint graphics presentations. But I wasn’t paying attention.

I think the lure of inexpensive hardware, and the accumulated knowledge base of years of windows use mentally locked me in to a groove that I couldn’t see, and couldn’t move out of. A lot like the “Matrix” and having the world pulled over my eyes, or “Not Being Present” as Eckhart Tolle talks about in “A New Earth”, I was just unconscious to the alternatives.

My wife is excited that she gets to sell my Pro Tools books and Mbox2 ☺.

BTW, Dave Lebolt, the general manager of Digidesign, posted a very good article on their user community board regarding the problems with the new version of Pro Tools for Leopard. It is well written, accounts for all the issues I was concerned about, and shows their commitment to their user base. Anyone using Pro Tools on a Mac should give it a read. Here is the link: http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1259137&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=186&fpart=1#1259137

Have Fun!

-Ed

Now on a Mac!

Hello and Happy Easter!

I am now on a Mac.

It might seem an obvious progression to those around me, but since I have used CP/M and MS/DOS and Windows (since versions 0.9), I am pretty knowledgeable about Digital Research and Microsoft products. Then one day, I had just had it with Vista. I have had to reload my two workhorse machines four times in the year since I started using Vista (these are big, powerful machines built for Vista). Driver problems, update problems, after two or three months things would start to slow down, then slow way down. Just being used.

More later…

-Ed

The Jacksonville Tangerine Festival

Hi.

This Saturday was the third annual Jacksonville Tangerine Festival held at Memorial Park.

I brought my new recorder and did a few interviews with some of the exhibitors.  You can hear the podcast at the Tangerine Festival Podcast.  A great time was had by all (including me)!

Have Fun!

-Ed

My first Podcast!

Hi.

Well, I put up my first test podcast tonight.  The music is great, even if the podcast itself is just a short test.  Give a listen !

Hello World. This is a test podcast, with great music –)

Have Fun!

-Ed

Field Recording using the M-Audio MicroTrack II

Well, in addition to being a proud Pro Tools MBox 2 owner (and learning to become a user as well , I now have an M-Audio MicroTrack II for field recording.

                                     

I put a 4-GB compact flash card in it and get 21/2 hours of 44.1/16-bit stereo recording on internal battery.  If I need more than that, I have a small APC Mobile Power Pack  that easily brings my record time up to 61/2 hours (the limit of my 4-GB compact flash) and beyond.

I’m going to be using this setup for the Tangerine Festival this weekend, and will be using it for all of my podcast interviews in the future.

More later.

Have Fun!

-Ed

Back to it after the Holidays

Hi.

Starting a new endeavor takes a lot of courage, and it is easy to lose our way.  Expressing myself in a blog, and podcast, has been something I have wanted to do for a while now.  But it is not without doubts.  I work as a mid-level professional, and maintain a professional demeanor in my employment.  I also am artistic, and love self-expression and the creative world.

Balancing self-disclosing creativity with button-down professionalism is a little intimidating, and I think I was a little overwhelmed after the holidays about how I could pull it off, and just stopped.

Well, I think I have a direction I would like to move in.  I am starting to interview folks and will turn those into podcasts.  Some technical, some community and some spiritual.  For example, my son is producing a festival this weekend called the “Tangerine Festival” and I will provide roaming interviews to be put on his site as a simple podcast.  That should be fun.

In other fronts, I will be commenting on technology and technical topics, and will be working with my wife on spiritual topics.

As I said in my trailer and in the notes on this site, we are all on a journey.  One year my wife put on a Habitat for Humanity fundraiser.  Her theme for that fundraiser was “When you help someone up the hill, you reach the top yourself.”

Need some help ?

Have Fun!

-Ed

I just joined twitter

Just a quick note to say that on the strength of making the Susan Reynolds connection I joined twitter (edramseyonline).  If any of you are already on twitter, let me know.

Have Fun!

-Ed

Christmas Vacation Time (and Boobs on Ice)

Yesterday I started my Christmas vacation time.  I will be out of the office for 18 days, which is, I believe, the most time I have ever taken off (except for cancer surgery and recovery).  My family started arriving last night and some will arrive today and tomorrow.  Great times.

I hope each of you will experience the love of friends and family this holiday season.

I was reading Cliff Ravenscraft’s Podcast Answerman’s RSS feed today (http://cliffravenscraft.com/043-podcast-answer-man-new-media-peas-and-boobs-on-ice/) and he was discussing Susan Reynold’s recent discovery of breast cancer, and the online community support for her.  It is a great story.  She is having her surgery today.  Prayers.

I finally got Pro Tools LE to install correctly on my AMD Vista workstation.  I downgraded to Vista Business and installed Pro Tools before installing any patches.  That seemed to work.  I also installed Beyond TV and got it working.  The only reason I would consider going back to Vista Ultimate would be to snag the DVD codecs so Media Player would handle DVDs.  I am using Roxio’s CinePlayer, but it is not as refined as Media Player.  I would use Media Center, except that it won’t let me save recordings for use on my iPod or laptop due to DRM issues.

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday.

Have Fun!

-Ed