Sept 2010 newsletter
Spring has sprung and the days are getting longer and warmer. This months newsletter is a little late being closer to the end rather than the beginning of September, possibly I have been distracted by the change of weather.
There is not as much in the way of stories this time but will next month which I expect will come to you by about the middle of November.
In the mean time, enjoy the warmth in body and soul.
Paul Perry
Technological Futurism
Recently I attended a business seminar for small business persons and the last speaker of the day was a futurist from the USA. Yes you can make a business out of telling the future.
In 1 hour he really only scratched the surface of technology yet to come, but even for me it was a bit of a shock. How about the goggles developed for competitive swimmers which shows them their heart rate and Twitter messages from their coaches during a race?
And did you realise that the typical computer of today is about as intelligent as a mouse brain? But hold onto your hats because that is very quickly changing and at a rapidly increasing rate.
Media Recovery is Part Detective Work
Over some years now I have been trying to track down some films made by a gentleman in the 1940s which depict among other things some of my own family history. The filmmaker has since passed on and unfortunately his films were apparently much later destroyed in a flood. Although I knew he made a video copy of the films I had also not been able to access that.
In matters such as these though it pays to persist. Just recently I was in conversation with another person who's family was also depicted in these films. Whilst discussing my own fathers films of a later era I suddenly realised he was referring to much earlier film. It turned out that he had a video copy of the films I was looking for. I now have that video in my hands soon to be transferred and on its way to restoration.
It certainly pays to keep your eyes out. I had just not considered that another copy might exist. You never can be sure what may turn up elsewhere.
Video Camcorder Format Options
The method of recording video and sound has changed considerably since video camcorders first appeared. And even more so in the last 10 years or so of digital camcorders. I am often asked what format I would recommend and my answer really has to be "that depends".
Personally I still prefer to use actual tape in a cassette, partly because once captured to the computer for editing the original can be stored away for future access. It may take time to make that capture compared to later formats, but I see that as a small negative.
One recording format that briefly was pretty popular and is still around is a smaller version of the standard DVD disc. Great if you only want something you can then play in the home DVD player, not much good if you want to get that into a computer to edit.
The latest idea is called AVCHD, which is a high definition medium recorded basically to a plug in memory card. Great for quick download to the computer, but because the information is much more highly compressed you need a more powerful computer to handle the data being whizzed around inside.
The best way to find these answers is to keep asking knowledgeable people (and I have to say not necessarily a salesman) and if in doubt search your question in Google.
Humour
"There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old there is no respect for age - I missed it coming and going." J B Priestly.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions and comments on this newsletter and suggestions of what you would like me to cover in future issues.