SwimFinsSF

Messanging Observations

I’ve been using the new iChat for a few days now and for the most part I’m loving it… However it has made me think more about how I use instant messaging and how I communicate with people…

I’ve found the voice part very impressive – the quality is outstanding and having a full duplex conversation rather than walkie talkie style conversations is very nice.. Talking with people a long ways away (like on the other coast) does show a noticeable lag so you have to be more deliberate about your conversations… its not the telephone but its gettin there …

The video is more problematic but I attribute that as much to my small DSL pipe that i’m talking to as anything – that and the fact that the person I’ve tried to use it with the most is also in NYC.. Kinda harsh circumstances to be throwin at the poor thing…

However I’ve also discovered that I there is still a very important place for good old fashioned text IMs… I’m a huge IM junkey – ask anyone.. I use it for work, for family, and for friends.. I find it a very nice way to communicate that is very inobtrusive to what i’m doing.. Someone can say somethign to me and i’ll get to it when its most convenient.. That may be immediately or it might be a little later when i’m done with a thought or a conversation… Everyone who IMs me knows not to be offended if I don’t respond right away – just means I’m busy – if its important they’ll call..

The voice and video part of the new iChat doesn’t allow for that – people can’t leave a message for you to respond to – you have to react immediately similar to a telephone… That doesn’t mean they wont have their uses – when i’m having a detailed conversation with someone I often pick up the phone and call cuz typing that much is irritating. Now i can just click the talk button.. Or if I wanna check in on someone in my family the video part will be way cool…

They all have their place and i’m gonna enjoy trying them – but in this case I think the new technology just enhances the old – doesn’t replace it… There’s still a place for old IMs

“Good morning”

“Hey – what was that bug number?”

“You ready to drive home?”

“Wanna go to a movie tonight?”

“What was your flight number?”

Just some thoughts…

Conference observations

Spend the day at the Developer’s Conference today and had a couple of observations:

– Our new iSight and the new iChat AV? Very cool… The Audio Quality is VERY good and full duplex – just like a phone.. Did notice some noticable lags when talking to Clayton in NYC but with people close by it was FANTASTIC… Gotta figure out where to put my mic and speakers so people can hear me and not hear the ratta tat tat of my keyboard..

– Some of the geeks need to learn manners ( and I consider myself a geek so that wasn’t a slam – kinda like a gay boy callin another a fag! 😉 )… Its one thing to cheer during a presentation but to hiss when you don’t like something is really damn rude… People worked hard on this stuff – if you don’t like it suck it up and then give constructive feedback that they can use to improve things.. The silly thing (and this is where I get super geeky) was that it was a bunch of MPW fans in the back booing the new Project Builder… C’mon people… get a grip.. and some manners..

– The new Moscone is very nice… Very well set up for a conference like this… Big tree up the center is… well.. umm… interesting…

– Final Cut Pro session on the first day was in a TINY room and was packed to the hilt… I LOVE that… Granted it was largely the demo we gave for the 4 at 4 shows – but they still seemed to love it…

– Food needs some work… First of all – get over the ‘geek food’ thing.. I know this show is known for Jolt Cola, Gummy Bears, and other such crap.. But some of us don’t want to spend a week eatin that shit.. I showed up and saw tables full of krispy kreems and cringed… And there wasn’t much – even of that…

– I FLIPPIN LOVE that they’re havin it in San Francisco this year… Makes SO much more sense.. And San Jose is SUCH a drag..

Ok.. Thats it… Just yammerin… and playin with iChat..

See… SUCH a geek! :):)

Word Association

I say … and you think … ?

1. Tumbler:: Gymnast
2. Recital :: Violin
3. Reform:: Skool
4. Nipple:: Piercing
5. Jackal:: Hyena
6. Mailtruck:: Mailman
7. Merchendise:: Retail
8. Comma:: Colon
9. Erotica:: Madonna
10. Ferment:: Wine

(From Unconscious Mutterings)

FCP 4.0 Launch

So the big launch event for Final Cut Pro 4.0 happens tomorrow around the country… There will be people in Apple Retail Stores all over the place showing off the product and there will be real boxes on the shelves… Big HEAVY boxes on the shelves! :):)… So if you’re curious what I’ve been doing for the past year go check it out… If you’ve seen me in that time you’ll be able to see why I’ve looked like my head was about to explode! :):)

Some Geek Stuff

Pace   سلام   שלום   Hasîtî   शान्ति   Barış   和平   Мир

One of the things I do for a living is to make Final Cut Pro/Express work in multiple languages. This involves both the engineering work required to translate the User Interface of the Application into languages such as German, Japanese, and French as well as the work required to let people use the application in their native language regardless of the language of the application. For example, even if the application is running with an English user interface, a user who speaks Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, or Korean should be able to use Final Cut and enter text in their native language for movie titles, file names, or whereever.

To make this happen I implemented support for Unicode Text in the application. I won’t go into details of what unicode is or how it works – if you want to know more check out this page. But as part of this I’ve been trying to get my blog supporting international text too and I’ve FINALLY got it working…

The entry below is a cool page I found here that demonstrats functional unicode text… If your browser is showing garbage below then it isn’t unicode savvy.. I’d be curious to know who is seeing garbage and who is seeing what looks like arrabic or hebrew text…

Nuff geek stuff… for now… ;)…
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Design Attempt #2

Ok… So i did a little clean up… This one mostly on my own… Still haven’t fixed up the colors the way I want ’em but that I DO need kevin’s help… Fixed up the banner though.. Playin with photoshop – gotta love it..

Anyway – made up 4 banners for up there… Check out the ones below and let me know which one is your favorite.. (Click on each one to make it larger)…