i was just asked if a "game that has copy protection can be installed on multiple machines".
let me try and explain everything that is wrong in that short little sentence:
1. we spend a LOT of money protecting our games to keep the average consumer from making copies and installing on multiple machines.
2. per my blog name, i'm in manufacturing. i handle the PHYSICAL build of product; i have nothing to do with the code on the disc or how it works.
3. OF COURSE YOU CAN'T FUCKING INSTALL A FUCKING COPY PROTECTED GAME ON MUTLTIPLE FUCKING MACHINES MACHINES SINCE THE DISC IS FUCKING REQUIRED IN THE FUCKING DRIVE TO FUCKING WORK.
have a nice three day weekend
5/17/2009
was just asked by someone in sales about the packaging configuration of a title (how many units in a box that gets shipped to retail).
two things about this question; first, EVERY console title is packed the same way, 12 units to a box. second, there is a set up sheet that sales sends to their accounts so that the accounts set up packaging configuration on their end and that they order correctly. the person who asked is the person who APPROVES these set up sheets.
am i taking crazy pills? you set something up, you send to your accounts, you approve back to us saying "A-OK" and then you have to ask if the work you did was accurate?
the seventh seal has been broken people, the end is nigh
two things about this question; first, EVERY console title is packed the same way, 12 units to a box. second, there is a set up sheet that sales sends to their accounts so that the accounts set up packaging configuration on their end and that they order correctly. the person who asked is the person who APPROVES these set up sheets.
am i taking crazy pills? you set something up, you send to your accounts, you approve back to us saying "A-OK" and then you have to ask if the work you did was accurate?
the seventh seal has been broken people, the end is nigh
5/15/2009
Douglas Spotted Eagle's HDV: What You Need to Know
In mid-2006, VASST published the second edition of Douglas Spotted Eagle's HDV: What You Need to Know (this time subtitled The Complete Guide), and it's a landmark release for anyone with HDV ambitions. As one of the principals of VASST and Sundance Media Group, Spotted Eagle has provided not only hands-on live training in HDV and other digital video production and post technologies around the world, but he has also produced some of the leading DVD-based training tools in the market, and developed several key workflow-enhancement plug-ins. Although most closely identified with their Sony Vegas training and workflow products, VASST's, well, vast array of current training titles run the gamut of popular NLEs. The Absolute Training series alone includes a seven-volume set of DVDs designed to educate users in the intermediate-to-advanced use of Apple's Final Cut Studio and the assortment of tools therein.
The Complete Guide greets an HDV world that's similarly multifaceted, with HDV cameras at multiple price points and varied feature sets populating the landscape; prosumer NLEs from Adobe, Apple, Avid, Grass Valley, and Sony embracing the format; and all kinds of accessories that have been designed with HDV in mind. Spotted Eagle meets that market with a book that is in fact three books in one: targeted technology overview, buyer's guide, and--most importantly--focused field guide for DV producers making the jump to HDV.
Essential to the positioning of the book is that it assumes you've worked professionally with DV in the past, and want to hit the ground running with HDV, making immediate adjustments to your shooting style and production and postproduction workflows as needed to accommodate the differences between the two formats, and to take immediate advantage of HDV, even if your ultimate delivery medium is SD DVD.
One of the key advantages of HDV acquisition, even for videographers who are delivering in DVD or another SD format, is that when you work with HDV in post, you have a lot more wiggle room in an HD image to reframe or tighten a shot without encountering unwelcome pixelation. Along these lines, we can imagine Spotted Eagle's book as a wide-angle HDV image that's ultimately zoomed in post for a shot that's equally crisp and clear, but much tighter in focus.
Spotted Eagle begins the book with an examination of what HDV is, explaining how LongGOP MPEG-2 compression works, and a discussion of the differences between the two HDV formats and interlaced and progressive video. He also touches on more math-intensive issues like pixel aspect ratios and the necessity of pixel shift in 1440x1080 images. But no matter how technical the topics get, Spotted Eagle keeps the explanations clear and digestible, and the tone appropriately light. He even gives the reader advanced warning every time he's about to throw in a little unavoidable math.
The buyer's guide section of the book kicks in next, with a run-down of the various cameras on the market as of this book's mid-2006 publication date and some significant feature comparisons between the different cameras. Even though a number of new cameras (Canon's XH A1 and G1, Sony's V1U and FX7, and JVC's HD110 and HD200, to name a few) were introduced at IBC or thereabouts this year, the book doesn't suffer from their absence. Most of the issues that define an HDV camera purchaser's decision tree (1080i60 vs. 720p24; audio input support and level controls; lens issues such as filter size, focal length, manufacturer, maximum aperture, and interchangeability) were already on the table when this book was written, and those distinctions are well-examined.
The book does a good job of describing the cameras and the differences between them, and the tone remains balanced and objective throughout. But where it makes the leap from useful buyer's guide to indispensable field guide is in its discussion of how to shoot HDV effectively and how that's accomplished with each of the cameras, right down to the correct settings to use. He provides terrific tips on framing 16:9 shots; he also warns against taking too lightly the increased detail that HDV allows, in that it's more likely to expose a cheap or worn set that might not have been noticed with lower-resolution DV. He also speaks directly to the limitations of highly compressed video in high-motion scenes, and recommends using stabilizing devices or increasing the shutter speed, and avoiding "whipping" the camera around at all times. (This is a recurring theme in the book.)
As useful as this kind of instruction is, readers will appreciate the "Standard Operating Procedures" for cameras and "NLE Workflow" sections the most for their unexpected wealth of specificity and detail. Spotted Eagle gets right down to business with each camera, describing not only its features, but how to make them work, how to modify settings, and what all the settings should be. Sometimes this takes the form of explaining, for example, what Black Stretch is on the Sony Z1U and how it can be used to increase detail in dark or black areas. Or it may mean going into custom settings for advanced looks in the JVC HD100 like, "Bleach By-Pass: Master Black -6, Black Compress 3, CineLike Off, Color Matrix and Gamma at Standard, Level Max, Color Gain-8, R Gain and R Rot. -2, G Gain 1, 24p or 30p." This might sound like too much information if you're not a JVC shooter or aren't familiar with the effect he's discussing, but if you are a JVC user with a yen for film effects (and that describes a lot of EventDV readers), it's exactly what you want to read in a book about HDV, and probably didn't expect you would find in a book that's ostensibly designed to cover the topic so broadly.
The same goes for the "NLE Workflow" section, which describes briefly, but with just the right sort of detail, how to ingest HDV into your system, whether you're using Premiere Pro, Vegas, Final Cut, Liquid, EDIUS, or Xpress Pro, what settings you'll need on your PC or Mac and in your NLE, and how to work with the video once it's in there. Spotted Eagle also gives plenty of coverage to the issue of using intermediate codecs as opposed to editing HDV in native LongGOP MPEG-2, and explains how to convert to intermediate codecs in each tool, as well as the usefulness of faster third-party conversion tools like CineForm's AspectHD and workflow enhancement software like VASST's GearShift plug-in for Vegas.
Any book that purports to tell you all you need to know about HDV would be remiss if it didn't discuss the technologies and techniques used to create a "film look" in the digital format, and any review of this book would be remiss if it didn't mention how well Spotted Eagle explores that issue. Right away he makes it clear that there's much more to making digital video look like film than shooting in 24p. However real the technical differences between interlaced frame modes and "true progressive" shooting modes may be, they're largely imperceptible to the naked eye. Furthermore, he points out that as much as the indie film community (and, I'd add, some advocates of "cinematic" wedding and event video) are championing 24p, big-budget Hollywood is taking pains to distance itself from it.
But the "Film Looks & 24p" chapter isn't primarily an anti-24p polemic. The meat of it is a brief tutorial on all the other things involved in producing a credible film look besides shooting in 24p, such as filters for film-like diffusion; shutter speeds; and techniques for getting a shallower, more film-like depth of field. Essential reading for any HDV adopter with filmic leanings.
HDV: What You Need to Know, The Complete Guide closes with a quick look at Blu-ray (and an even quicker look at HD DVD) as the next-generation technologies for those who deliver on DVD. The book is nearly six months old as I write this and it's ironic that with all the swirling hype surrounding Blu-ray and HD DVD in that time, the book hardly seems dated in that respect. Not much has really happened with these technologies at all in terms of real market impact. They may be growing up in public, but their market isn't maturing any faster because of it.
A year from now, the HD delivery landscape will look significantly different. If 2005 and 2006 were the years of HD acquisition's initial explosion into the prosumer mainstream, thanks to HDV, 2007 and 2008 should bring about the same sort of shift for HD video delivery as Blu-ray and/or HD DVD take center stage, and seasoned HDV videographers will be ready to make the most of it. Those with Douglas Spotted Eagle's Complete Guide in hand are well on their way already.
HDV: What You Need To Know, The Complete Guide (2nd. Ed.) is available from amazon
The Complete Guide greets an HDV world that's similarly multifaceted, with HDV cameras at multiple price points and varied feature sets populating the landscape; prosumer NLEs from Adobe, Apple, Avid, Grass Valley, and Sony embracing the format; and all kinds of accessories that have been designed with HDV in mind. Spotted Eagle meets that market with a book that is in fact three books in one: targeted technology overview, buyer's guide, and--most importantly--focused field guide for DV producers making the jump to HDV.
Essential to the positioning of the book is that it assumes you've worked professionally with DV in the past, and want to hit the ground running with HDV, making immediate adjustments to your shooting style and production and postproduction workflows as needed to accommodate the differences between the two formats, and to take immediate advantage of HDV, even if your ultimate delivery medium is SD DVD.
One of the key advantages of HDV acquisition, even for videographers who are delivering in DVD or another SD format, is that when you work with HDV in post, you have a lot more wiggle room in an HD image to reframe or tighten a shot without encountering unwelcome pixelation. Along these lines, we can imagine Spotted Eagle's book as a wide-angle HDV image that's ultimately zoomed in post for a shot that's equally crisp and clear, but much tighter in focus.
Spotted Eagle begins the book with an examination of what HDV is, explaining how LongGOP MPEG-2 compression works, and a discussion of the differences between the two HDV formats and interlaced and progressive video. He also touches on more math-intensive issues like pixel aspect ratios and the necessity of pixel shift in 1440x1080 images. But no matter how technical the topics get, Spotted Eagle keeps the explanations clear and digestible, and the tone appropriately light. He even gives the reader advanced warning every time he's about to throw in a little unavoidable math.
The buyer's guide section of the book kicks in next, with a run-down of the various cameras on the market as of this book's mid-2006 publication date and some significant feature comparisons between the different cameras. Even though a number of new cameras (Canon's XH A1 and G1, Sony's V1U and FX7, and JVC's HD110 and HD200, to name a few) were introduced at IBC or thereabouts this year, the book doesn't suffer from their absence. Most of the issues that define an HDV camera purchaser's decision tree (1080i60 vs. 720p24; audio input support and level controls; lens issues such as filter size, focal length, manufacturer, maximum aperture, and interchangeability) were already on the table when this book was written, and those distinctions are well-examined.
The book does a good job of describing the cameras and the differences between them, and the tone remains balanced and objective throughout. But where it makes the leap from useful buyer's guide to indispensable field guide is in its discussion of how to shoot HDV effectively and how that's accomplished with each of the cameras, right down to the correct settings to use. He provides terrific tips on framing 16:9 shots; he also warns against taking too lightly the increased detail that HDV allows, in that it's more likely to expose a cheap or worn set that might not have been noticed with lower-resolution DV. He also speaks directly to the limitations of highly compressed video in high-motion scenes, and recommends using stabilizing devices or increasing the shutter speed, and avoiding "whipping" the camera around at all times. (This is a recurring theme in the book.)
As useful as this kind of instruction is, readers will appreciate the "Standard Operating Procedures" for cameras and "NLE Workflow" sections the most for their unexpected wealth of specificity and detail. Spotted Eagle gets right down to business with each camera, describing not only its features, but how to make them work, how to modify settings, and what all the settings should be. Sometimes this takes the form of explaining, for example, what Black Stretch is on the Sony Z1U and how it can be used to increase detail in dark or black areas. Or it may mean going into custom settings for advanced looks in the JVC HD100 like, "Bleach By-Pass: Master Black -6, Black Compress 3, CineLike Off, Color Matrix and Gamma at Standard, Level Max, Color Gain-8, R Gain and R Rot. -2, G Gain 1, 24p or 30p." This might sound like too much information if you're not a JVC shooter or aren't familiar with the effect he's discussing, but if you are a JVC user with a yen for film effects (and that describes a lot of EventDV readers), it's exactly what you want to read in a book about HDV, and probably didn't expect you would find in a book that's ostensibly designed to cover the topic so broadly.
The same goes for the "NLE Workflow" section, which describes briefly, but with just the right sort of detail, how to ingest HDV into your system, whether you're using Premiere Pro, Vegas, Final Cut, Liquid, EDIUS, or Xpress Pro, what settings you'll need on your PC or Mac and in your NLE, and how to work with the video once it's in there. Spotted Eagle also gives plenty of coverage to the issue of using intermediate codecs as opposed to editing HDV in native LongGOP MPEG-2, and explains how to convert to intermediate codecs in each tool, as well as the usefulness of faster third-party conversion tools like CineForm's AspectHD and workflow enhancement software like VASST's GearShift plug-in for Vegas.
Any book that purports to tell you all you need to know about HDV would be remiss if it didn't discuss the technologies and techniques used to create a "film look" in the digital format, and any review of this book would be remiss if it didn't mention how well Spotted Eagle explores that issue. Right away he makes it clear that there's much more to making digital video look like film than shooting in 24p. However real the technical differences between interlaced frame modes and "true progressive" shooting modes may be, they're largely imperceptible to the naked eye. Furthermore, he points out that as much as the indie film community (and, I'd add, some advocates of "cinematic" wedding and event video) are championing 24p, big-budget Hollywood is taking pains to distance itself from it.
But the "Film Looks & 24p" chapter isn't primarily an anti-24p polemic. The meat of it is a brief tutorial on all the other things involved in producing a credible film look besides shooting in 24p, such as filters for film-like diffusion; shutter speeds; and techniques for getting a shallower, more film-like depth of field. Essential reading for any HDV adopter with filmic leanings.
HDV: What You Need to Know, The Complete Guide closes with a quick look at Blu-ray (and an even quicker look at HD DVD) as the next-generation technologies for those who deliver on DVD. The book is nearly six months old as I write this and it's ironic that with all the swirling hype surrounding Blu-ray and HD DVD in that time, the book hardly seems dated in that respect. Not much has really happened with these technologies at all in terms of real market impact. They may be growing up in public, but their market isn't maturing any faster because of it.
A year from now, the HD delivery landscape will look significantly different. If 2005 and 2006 were the years of HD acquisition's initial explosion into the prosumer mainstream, thanks to HDV, 2007 and 2008 should bring about the same sort of shift for HD video delivery as Blu-ray and/or HD DVD take center stage, and seasoned HDV videographers will be ready to make the most of it. Those with Douglas Spotted Eagle's Complete Guide in hand are well on their way already.
HDV: What You Need To Know, The Complete Guide (2nd. Ed.) is available from amazon
5/13/2009
The Rules of Bureaucracy
1. Preserve thyself.
2. It is easier to fix the blame than to fix the problem.
3. A penny saved is an oversight.
4. Information deteriorates upward.
5. The first 90% of the task takes 90% of the time; the last 10% takes the other 90%.
6. Experience is what you get just after you need it.
7. For any given large, complex, hard-to-understand, expensive problem, there exists at least one short, simple, easy, cheap wrong answer.
8. Anything that can be changed will be, until time runs out.
9. To err is human; to shrug is civil service.
10. There's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it over.
2. It is easier to fix the blame than to fix the problem.
3. A penny saved is an oversight.
4. Information deteriorates upward.
5. The first 90% of the task takes 90% of the time; the last 10% takes the other 90%.
6. Experience is what you get just after you need it.
7. For any given large, complex, hard-to-understand, expensive problem, there exists at least one short, simple, easy, cheap wrong answer.
8. Anything that can be changed will be, until time runs out.
9. To err is human; to shrug is civil service.
10. There's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it over.
5/02/2009
salewoman in Arizona
A saleswoman was driving toward home in Northern Arizona when she saw an Indian woman hitchhiking. Since the trip had been long and quiet, she stopped the car and the Indian woman got in. After a bit of small talk, the Indian woman noticed a brown bag on the front seat.
"What's in the bag?" she asked.
"It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband," said the saleswoman.
The Indian woman was silent for a while and then said, "Good trade."
"What's in the bag?" she asked.
"It's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband," said the saleswoman.
The Indian woman was silent for a while and then said, "Good trade."
4/23/2009
Guru brands £484bn U.S. aid 'half a Viagra'
THE world's second-richest man has dismissed Barack Obama's $787billion stimulus as just 'half a tablet of Viagra and a bunch of candy'.
Warren Buffett warned the U.S. President's first rescue package - worth £484billion - 'doesn't have really quite the wallop'.
The investment guru believes a second, more potent stimulus could be needed to jumpstart the world's biggest economy. His warning will increase the pressure on Mr Obama, who is not convinced of the need for a further bail-out.
Mr Buffett, who supported Mr Obama in last year's election, said the U.S. is showing little sign of returning to growth. Americans suffered 'a shock to the system' following the financial chaos of last autumn.
Although there were signs that the economy was starting to recover, Mr Buffett predicted that U.S. unemployment, which is already at a 26-year high of 9.5 per cent, could peak at 11 per cent this year.
Known as the 'Sage of Omaha', Mr Buffett, 79, has amassed a £23billion fortune as one of the world's most successful investors. In 2002 he warned complicated investments known as derivatives, which were at the heart of last September's banking meltdown, were 'financial weapons of mass destruction'. buying sildenafil online north carolina
Warren Buffett warned the U.S. President's first rescue package - worth £484billion - 'doesn't have really quite the wallop'.
The investment guru believes a second, more potent stimulus could be needed to jumpstart the world's biggest economy. His warning will increase the pressure on Mr Obama, who is not convinced of the need for a further bail-out.
Mr Buffett, who supported Mr Obama in last year's election, said the U.S. is showing little sign of returning to growth. Americans suffered 'a shock to the system' following the financial chaos of last autumn.
Although there were signs that the economy was starting to recover, Mr Buffett predicted that U.S. unemployment, which is already at a 26-year high of 9.5 per cent, could peak at 11 per cent this year.
Known as the 'Sage of Omaha', Mr Buffett, 79, has amassed a £23billion fortune as one of the world's most successful investors. In 2002 he warned complicated investments known as derivatives, which were at the heart of last September's banking meltdown, were 'financial weapons of mass destruction'. buying sildenafil online north carolina
4/22/2009
wow, it's been a long time coming for an update. some background on the last few months. things have been exceptionally busy and i've been trying to not take idiocy to heart as much. well, really the busy thing; i haven't had time to post.
but here i am with what has to be some of the stupidest commenst to date.
in order to understand some of these, some background will need to be given. when a new game comes out, we have to supply "set up" info to our accounts so that their receiving can receive the product correctly. this set up includes; weight, dimensions of individual units and also case pack dimensions. simple enough.
simple, meet club accounts**. club accounts, meet simple. you kids play good together and no fighting.
unfortunately, club accounts HATE simple. i mean, simple must have taken club accounts milk money, stole his bike, fucked his sister or something cause club accounts and simple are like open wounds and whiskey.
so this one club account, that shall remain nameless, wants us to ship their games in "keeper" cases. these are the long plastic cases that you see at the best buys of the world. the ones that the cashier needs to open before you leave the store. ok, no problem. we'll do the work for your stocking clerks cause we know you hire what are essentially the menatlly handicapped.
but wait, we want more! we designed a nifty shipping carton/tray thing in which you put six units into, close and ship. that way our floor monkeys only have to tear the top off and put the box out on our tables. ok i says. it's an extra expense that we have to eat but hell, happy customers make for fatty profit.
now HERE is where it gets fun. we had the boxes made to their design and dimensions. we've bought the boxes. we've bought the keepers. now they chase us to no end to get the deminsions of the nifty shipping/tray.
i don't know your fucking dimensions nor do i want to. YOU supplied them to ME and now your threatening to cancel orders if WE don't get YOU the dimensions THAT you supplied to ME?
go fuck yourself and your 300 piece nation wide order.
more to come as i vent.
**club accounts - these are the "big box" stores that typically require a membership. you know the ones, you go in and but a gross of toilet paper to save 1/2 a penny on a roll. or hey! that 5 gallan can of refried beans just saved me three cents an ounce!
but here i am with what has to be some of the stupidest commenst to date.
in order to understand some of these, some background will need to be given. when a new game comes out, we have to supply "set up" info to our accounts so that their receiving can receive the product correctly. this set up includes; weight, dimensions of individual units and also case pack dimensions. simple enough.
simple, meet club accounts**. club accounts, meet simple. you kids play good together and no fighting.
unfortunately, club accounts HATE simple. i mean, simple must have taken club accounts milk money, stole his bike, fucked his sister or something cause club accounts and simple are like open wounds and whiskey.
so this one club account, that shall remain nameless, wants us to ship their games in "keeper" cases. these are the long plastic cases that you see at the best buys of the world. the ones that the cashier needs to open before you leave the store. ok, no problem. we'll do the work for your stocking clerks cause we know you hire what are essentially the menatlly handicapped.
but wait, we want more! we designed a nifty shipping carton/tray thing in which you put six units into, close and ship. that way our floor monkeys only have to tear the top off and put the box out on our tables. ok i says. it's an extra expense that we have to eat but hell, happy customers make for fatty profit.
now HERE is where it gets fun. we had the boxes made to their design and dimensions. we've bought the boxes. we've bought the keepers. now they chase us to no end to get the deminsions of the nifty shipping/tray.
i don't know your fucking dimensions nor do i want to. YOU supplied them to ME and now your threatening to cancel orders if WE don't get YOU the dimensions THAT you supplied to ME?
go fuck yourself and your 300 piece nation wide order.
more to come as i vent.
**club accounts - these are the "big box" stores that typically require a membership. you know the ones, you go in and but a gross of toilet paper to save 1/2 a penny on a roll. or hey! that 5 gallan can of refried beans just saved me three cents an ounce!
4/01/2009
a question overheard, not directed towards me
in all honesty, had this been asked of me, i really could not tell you how i may have responded. some options that spring to mind:
* "you're shitting me, right?"
* i instantly and permanently become stupider
* stared blankly until that half second when no one else is looking and just shoved them out the third story window. it'd be akin to putting down old yeller
* taking their hand, walking them slowly to a conference room, asking them to wait while i go gather HR, their boss and an independent witness; asking them to repeat the question once more.
so what's this question?
"um, are fed ex and ups the same company?"
* "you're shitting me, right?"
* i instantly and permanently become stupider
* stared blankly until that half second when no one else is looking and just shoved them out the third story window. it'd be akin to putting down old yeller
* taking their hand, walking them slowly to a conference room, asking them to wait while i go gather HR, their boss and an independent witness; asking them to repeat the question once more.
so what's this question?
"um, are fed ex and ups the same company?"
3/10/2009
please leave me alone.
go away, please. not only do i not need your input for something that i have done at this company for 4.5 years and in this business for 10+ years, i find all of your comments to be asinine and a complete and utter waste of my time and resources
in closing, it would serve the company far more if you would focus on why print is late then help in planning cd manufacturing and pack out, two things that by your own admission, the last time you had anything to do with was during the 16 bit era of gaming. times have changed; media has converted from cartridges to discs; lead times are shorter; capacities are different; gaming is now high profile, no longer a niche market. in today’s age, we consider vendors to be partners and we treat them as such; whining will get you nowhere.
not only do i find your input ludicrous, i find it tedious and your personal hygiene quite disgusting and you have an “atrocious ignorance of personal space” (thanks E.A.B.)
in closing, it would serve the company far more if you would focus on why print is late then help in planning cd manufacturing and pack out, two things that by your own admission, the last time you had anything to do with was during the 16 bit era of gaming. times have changed; media has converted from cartridges to discs; lead times are shorter; capacities are different; gaming is now high profile, no longer a niche market. in today’s age, we consider vendors to be partners and we treat them as such; whining will get you nowhere.
not only do i find your input ludicrous, i find it tedious and your personal hygiene quite disgusting and you have an “atrocious ignorance of personal space” (thanks E.A.B.)
3/06/2009
"Are you a moron in a cage?"
"NO!"
"Moron on the loose! Moron on the loose!"
I was approached with a sheet that I had made that has the dimensions of a product, 7.5 L x 5.5 W x 0.5 H. In the other hand, was an actual PS2 game. Foir those of you not into gaming, it is the same size/shape as a DVD case so you have a visual.
With these things in hand, they are set on my desk, the person looks at me and asks "can you help me figure out which is which?"
I get a ruler and point out that the longest number is 7.5, Long = Length. I point out that the middle number of 5.5 is how wide it is, Wide = Width. Then I point out how deep it is, 0.5.
"OH! Height is the same as Depth?"
Depends on how you look at it moron but those numbers should be self explanatory.
I may throw the Pi symbol on there as a fourth dmension, simply to watch the struggle manifest itself between the brow.
"NO!"
"Moron on the loose! Moron on the loose!"
I was approached with a sheet that I had made that has the dimensions of a product, 7.5 L x 5.5 W x 0.5 H. In the other hand, was an actual PS2 game. Foir those of you not into gaming, it is the same size/shape as a DVD case so you have a visual.
With these things in hand, they are set on my desk, the person looks at me and asks "can you help me figure out which is which?"
I get a ruler and point out that the longest number is 7.5, Long = Length. I point out that the middle number of 5.5 is how wide it is, Wide = Width. Then I point out how deep it is, 0.5.
"OH! Height is the same as Depth?"
Depends on how you look at it moron but those numbers should be self explanatory.
I may throw the Pi symbol on there as a fourth dmension, simply to watch the struggle manifest itself between the brow.
2/22/2009
The American college town
If a friend should ever ask for a book that epitomizes the best that geography can offer, I recommend Blake Gumprechts new volume as a near-perfect candidate. In The American College Town he takes a landscape familiar to every reader of this journal and makes us see it afresh. He dissects its complexity with astonishing thoroughness, using a rich mix of archival material, personal observation, and field interviews. He offers deep case studies, but remembers the need for broader context. Finally, he assembles the total package with spirited, clean prose, some of the best academic writing I have ever seen.
The American College Town is a beautifully designed and well-conceived book. Sandwiched between an introduction that defines the subject and a conclusion about its future are eight thematic chapters. These range in length between 29 and 44 pages, and each illustrates a characteristic of such towns with focus on a particular community. In order these are: the campus as public space (Norman, Oklahoma), fraternity rows and other distinctive residential areas (Ithaca, New York), campus business districts (Manhattan, Kansas), progressive political attitudes (Davis, California), alternative life styles (Athens, Georgia), sports culture (Auburn, Alabama), high-tech centers (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and town-gown tensions (Newark, Delaware). Each chapter is organized historically and illustrated by 10 or so well-chosen photographs and reference maps. The author, one soon learns, is as skilled with camera and mapping software as he is with words.
College towns are a classic example of voluntary culture areas, those created by people who migrate to wherever they think they will find likeminded souls. As such, we might have expected scholarly work on this subject before 2008. Gumprecht blames the neglect on academic farsightedness and the natural human tendency to overlook what is all around us (p. xvii), but I hope this books success will inspire parallel probes into the many other self-sorted places, from retirement centers to the Pacific Northwests ecotopia.
Extensive work underlies this book. One gets an initial feel for this by paging through 64 pages of endnotes and reading that personal interviews numbered over 200. It is clearer still when reading astonishingly detailed accounts of, say, the evolution of Manhattans Aggieville business district or Daviss political culture and realizing that these were assembled from primary materials such as city hall minutes, old Sanborn maps, nineteenth-century diaries, and on-the-spot interviews. Most telling of all, perhaps, is the authors sad confession that this book ultimately sapped so much time and energy that it hastened the collapse of his marriage.
Even readers who have spent decades in college towns can glean much from Gumprechts work. The first chapter, for example, is an interesting exercise in definition. If one selects American cities where university students constitute 20% or more of the total population and, of these, eliminates big cities and suburbs, the result is about 300 college towns. He notes how these entities are rare in other countries (where urban universities are the rule), explains why they are so numerous here (state as opposed to federal control, a scattered population, religious sponsorship, and local boosterism), and identifies six subtypes. He also relates how many of the phenomenons characteristic traits emerged only after an enrollment surge in the late 1940s.
The thematic chapters are uniformly rich. The University of Oklahoma, with its wooded groves, formal gardens, and public auditoria is a perfect demonstration of the open, verdant nature of most American campuses. Their contrast with cloistered, inward-looking universities in Europe is stark. One learns that fraternities at Ithaca were outgrowths of literary societies and at Manhattan that Aggieville bars were scarce until the 1960s when women were first allowed to enter them freely. Documentation of progressive political initiatives at Davis and the music and art scenes at Athens is interesting, too, including a contradictory reluctance in these increasingly middle-class towns to promote social justice and provide affordable housing. Such conflict between alternative and corporate culture reaches a peak in the Ann Arbor discussion on that towns love-hate relationship with pharmaceutical companies and military contractors.
Unlike any other professors I know, Gumprecht has worked previously as a newspaper reporter, sportswriter, librarian, and music executive. This experience flows into the book. His arguments for five of the chapters also have been honed through previous publication in scholarly journals. All this has helped him to achieve balance between detail and overview, history and the present scene, scholarship and storytelling. In fact, I see self-indulgence in only two places: the preface where he nostalgically recalls his drifter days in Lawrence, Kansas, and the Athens chapter where he obviously identifies with the six artisans he profiles. If I were his editor, I would have shortened these discussions.
A related problem comes from a compulsion to be thorough. Even though this book is a pleasure to read at 348 pages, I think it would have been even better cut by a third. With a little less detail on Shug Jordans coaching career at Auburn, Ann Arbors industries, and Newarks landlords, we would still have a clear picture of the uniqueness of college towns. The bonus might have been Gumprechts dream to interest a trade publisher in the project and to create one of the few geographers books ever to capture the attention of the elusive general public.
The American College Town is a beautifully designed and well-conceived book. Sandwiched between an introduction that defines the subject and a conclusion about its future are eight thematic chapters. These range in length between 29 and 44 pages, and each illustrates a characteristic of such towns with focus on a particular community. In order these are: the campus as public space (Norman, Oklahoma), fraternity rows and other distinctive residential areas (Ithaca, New York), campus business districts (Manhattan, Kansas), progressive political attitudes (Davis, California), alternative life styles (Athens, Georgia), sports culture (Auburn, Alabama), high-tech centers (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and town-gown tensions (Newark, Delaware). Each chapter is organized historically and illustrated by 10 or so well-chosen photographs and reference maps. The author, one soon learns, is as skilled with camera and mapping software as he is with words.
College towns are a classic example of voluntary culture areas, those created by people who migrate to wherever they think they will find likeminded souls. As such, we might have expected scholarly work on this subject before 2008. Gumprecht blames the neglect on academic farsightedness and the natural human tendency to overlook what is all around us (p. xvii), but I hope this books success will inspire parallel probes into the many other self-sorted places, from retirement centers to the Pacific Northwests ecotopia.
Extensive work underlies this book. One gets an initial feel for this by paging through 64 pages of endnotes and reading that personal interviews numbered over 200. It is clearer still when reading astonishingly detailed accounts of, say, the evolution of Manhattans Aggieville business district or Daviss political culture and realizing that these were assembled from primary materials such as city hall minutes, old Sanborn maps, nineteenth-century diaries, and on-the-spot interviews. Most telling of all, perhaps, is the authors sad confession that this book ultimately sapped so much time and energy that it hastened the collapse of his marriage.
Even readers who have spent decades in college towns can glean much from Gumprechts work. The first chapter, for example, is an interesting exercise in definition. If one selects American cities where university students constitute 20% or more of the total population and, of these, eliminates big cities and suburbs, the result is about 300 college towns. He notes how these entities are rare in other countries (where urban universities are the rule), explains why they are so numerous here (state as opposed to federal control, a scattered population, religious sponsorship, and local boosterism), and identifies six subtypes. He also relates how many of the phenomenons characteristic traits emerged only after an enrollment surge in the late 1940s.
The thematic chapters are uniformly rich. The University of Oklahoma, with its wooded groves, formal gardens, and public auditoria is a perfect demonstration of the open, verdant nature of most American campuses. Their contrast with cloistered, inward-looking universities in Europe is stark. One learns that fraternities at Ithaca were outgrowths of literary societies and at Manhattan that Aggieville bars were scarce until the 1960s when women were first allowed to enter them freely. Documentation of progressive political initiatives at Davis and the music and art scenes at Athens is interesting, too, including a contradictory reluctance in these increasingly middle-class towns to promote social justice and provide affordable housing. Such conflict between alternative and corporate culture reaches a peak in the Ann Arbor discussion on that towns love-hate relationship with pharmaceutical companies and military contractors.
Unlike any other professors I know, Gumprecht has worked previously as a newspaper reporter, sportswriter, librarian, and music executive. This experience flows into the book. His arguments for five of the chapters also have been honed through previous publication in scholarly journals. All this has helped him to achieve balance between detail and overview, history and the present scene, scholarship and storytelling. In fact, I see self-indulgence in only two places: the preface where he nostalgically recalls his drifter days in Lawrence, Kansas, and the Athens chapter where he obviously identifies with the six artisans he profiles. If I were his editor, I would have shortened these discussions.
A related problem comes from a compulsion to be thorough. Even though this book is a pleasure to read at 348 pages, I think it would have been even better cut by a third. With a little less detail on Shug Jordans coaching career at Auburn, Ann Arbors industries, and Newarks landlords, we would still have a clear picture of the uniqueness of college towns. The bonus might have been Gumprechts dream to interest a trade publisher in the project and to create one of the few geographers books ever to capture the attention of the elusive general public.
1/17/2009
Senior Golf Rule Modifications
Modifications to the Rules of Golf - For Seniors Only!
Rule 1.a.5
A ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and placed on the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or rolled into the rough with no penalty. The senior should not be penalized for tall grass which groundskeepers failed to mow.
Rule 2.d.6 (b)
A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed not to have hit the tree. This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific game. The senior player must estimate the distance the ball would have traveled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there.
Rule 3.b.3 (g)
There shall be no such thing as a lost ball; the missing ball is on or near the course and will eventually be found and pocketed by someone else, making
it a stolen ball. The player is not to compound the felony by charging himself or herself with a penalty.
Rule 4.c.7 (h)
If a putt passes over a hole without dropping, it is deemed to have dropped. The law of gravity supercedes the Rules of Golf.
Rule 5.
Putts that stop close enough to the cup that they could be blown in, may be blown in. This does not apply to balls more than three inches from the
hole. No one wants to make a travesty of the game.
Rule 6.a.9 (k)
There is no penalty for so-called "out of bounds." If penny-pinching golf course owners bought sufficient land, this would not occur. The senior golfer deserves an apology, not a penalty.
Rule 7.g.15 (z)
There is no penalty for a ball in a water hazard, as golf balls should float. Senior golfers should not be penalized for manufacturers' shortcomings.
Rule 8.k.9(s)
Advertisements claim that golf scores can be improved by purchasing new golf equipment. Since this is financially impracticable for many senior golfers, one-half stroke per hole may be subtracted for using old equipment.
Rule 1.a.5
A ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and placed on the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or rolled into the rough with no penalty. The senior should not be penalized for tall grass which groundskeepers failed to mow.
Rule 2.d.6 (b)
A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed not to have hit the tree. This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific game. The senior player must estimate the distance the ball would have traveled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there.
Rule 3.b.3 (g)
There shall be no such thing as a lost ball; the missing ball is on or near the course and will eventually be found and pocketed by someone else, making
it a stolen ball. The player is not to compound the felony by charging himself or herself with a penalty.
Rule 4.c.7 (h)
If a putt passes over a hole without dropping, it is deemed to have dropped. The law of gravity supercedes the Rules of Golf.
Rule 5.
Putts that stop close enough to the cup that they could be blown in, may be blown in. This does not apply to balls more than three inches from the
hole. No one wants to make a travesty of the game.
Rule 6.a.9 (k)
There is no penalty for so-called "out of bounds." If penny-pinching golf course owners bought sufficient land, this would not occur. The senior golfer deserves an apology, not a penalty.
Rule 7.g.15 (z)
There is no penalty for a ball in a water hazard, as golf balls should float. Senior golfers should not be penalized for manufacturers' shortcomings.
Rule 8.k.9(s)
Advertisements claim that golf scores can be improved by purchasing new golf equipment. Since this is financially impracticable for many senior golfers, one-half stroke per hole may be subtracted for using old equipment.
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