Reminders…

Hey Fun Seekers!

Sorry for the minimal posts this week – it has been extremely busy. Plus, the continued operating system upgrade and consequent software registration headaches have put me waaaaay behind the 8 Ball.

I mean, the Finale (notation program) registration Nazis and a string quartet transcription alone have occupied far more than their fair share of my time.

That, plus some other cool things that are brewing that I’ll tell you about next week, have reminded me of two valuable life lessons.

So here’s what you can take away from my experience:

#1. Serial Numbers and Registrations.

Right now, before you do anything else today…

- Make a list of all your purchased software and their subsequent registrations and/or serial numbers AND associated user names / passwords / emails. Put them all on one big document, and print it out and store a PDF of it on your computer AND an external hard drive.

- Assemble in one safe, memorable spot, all the software installer disks (CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.).

- Organize all downloaded installers (.dmg, .pkg, .mpkg, etc…) on an external hard drive

- Backup your system often!

I didn’t do all this, and I’ve paid a price. I haven’t totally lost anything, but I got lucky a few times by searching through old emails and stumbling across old sticky notes. Whew! Plus, I’ve could have saved a TON of time!

#2. Do EVERYTHING Well, All the Time!

Put your heart, soul and absolute best foot forward in everything you do and create. Your reputation and bank account will eventually thank you…

I’ll elaborate on that more next week…

Pro Tools 8 is NOT my Friend

Yesterday I started the now-seemingly-endless task of upgrading our Stage laptops to both Leopard and Pro Tools 8.

OK, back story…

We’re still rockin’ 3 Apple Powerbooks (yes, G4 PowerPC chips…) to use Pro Tools on our 2 North Point stages – East and West, with the third used as a spare/backup.

FYI – In each Auditorium we run Pro Tools for loop / programming playback and click track, fed through a Digi 002 Rack. We route loops and any other percussive programming through outputs 1&2 as a stereo pair, Click and any recorded verbal count-off’s as a mono track through output 3, and the remaining outputs only occasionally get used for alternate programming (strings, tracks, etc…).

The Powerbooks have been nearly flawless for at least two years now, so what better time than the present to mess around with them?!

Well, this was the week, since our two drummers this week could bring their own laptops (Ashley Appling and Brandon Coker).

So yesterday, I started the journey of first installing the new Leopard operating system and Pro Tools 8 – all on outdated, now discontinued computers.

NOT FUN!!!

Thank the Lord for the Digi Users Conference – an online forum of Pro Tools users that has been a life saver on more than one occasion!

Bottom line is that at 10:30 PM last night, I finally got one machine to successfully install and open Pro Tools 8.

And boy, was I disappointed.

I’m not digging the General User Interface (GUI) – it’s really dark with an abundance of black and grey, with lots of neon greens and oranges as lettering.

The volume lines are microscopic, the colored lettering on the black backgrounds is fatiguing, and the grey edit window would give eternal optimist Dolly Parton a severe case of Seasonal Affective Disorder!!

And that’s just what I noticed in the first 2 minutes…

Anyhoo – we’ll see how it goes… ( IF I can ever finish the other two machines!)

No Laptop Day!

Yesterday I celebrated “No Laptop Day“. I didn’t even take it out of my bag.

I haven’t done that since, well, ever! Refreshing.

(The iPhone, however, helped this digital junky through the day…)

Now on to answer those 30+ emails…

When’s the last time YOU had a day “away”.

…

Apple vs. Microsoft – CEO Hoedown – err, Showdown…

Nope, I think hoedown will be more accurate. LADIES: Before you tune out, hold on – this is some funny stuff!

I’ve been giddy all day. All I’ve been able to think of is a collection of YouTube videos Jennie and I watched last night that has completely, and utterly shattered any last bastion of hope for Microsoft. Yep, you heard me right – the software mega-giant Microsoft.

Are you running Windows right now? Bummer…

But, don’t take my word for it. Let’s hear from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. First, before you’re confused, Bill Gates has semi-retired to do charity stuff. Great for him. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how much Apple stock you own), Bill left this crazy psychopath in charge. Here’s Mr. Ballmer at a recent conference….

Yeah, you heard him right. Half way through he shouts “give it up for me!” Ahhh, the art of subtlety.

Next, let’s study Mr. Ballmer’s unique choice of anti-perspirant…

Yes, that shirt is available in 3 sizes: damp, moist, and extra soggy. Nice.

Mr. Ballmer now goes on to abandon those beloved “Developers, developers, developers, developers” for a new crowd – one that puts money in his pocket without him doing a thing (oh, like exercising and dieting).

Poor, poor developers…

Now, Mr. Ballmer, what was your reaction to Apple’s iPhone? (from January 2007)

Hmmm. Well, Mr. Baldmer – sorry, Ballmer, Apple has sold over 4,000,000 iPhones in the first 200 days. That’s 20,000 iPhones sold PER DAY! As of mid-December, 2007, iPhone’s 27% market share of smart-phones had already overtaken ALL Windows Mobile devices. ALL of ‘em!!! And that was before Christmas!

This is turning into an episode of Scooby Doo! “I would have ruled the world if it wasn’t for that pesky Steve Jobs and his fruit computer!“.

Speaking of Apple‘s CEO Steve Jobs, I wonder what he’s got to say about Microsoft – circa mid ’90′s, or whenever this hairstyle was in en vogue…

Steve, what do you think about Microsoft’s taste?

Well I guess that pretty much sums it up!

How much taste do YOU have?

Movie Rentals on all your gadgets and HD TV (thanks Apple!)

So I’m a big Apple freak. I love my Mac Book Pro, iPhone, Air Port Extreme, still have my old iPod, love their software, yada yada yada. 

Long story short. Apple announced today that you can now RENT movies via iTunes. You know how you can rent a handful of movies through your cable or satellite? Yeah, well raise that handful to THOUSANDS of movies. And you can watch them within a minute of purchase. And you can swap them over to your iPod or iPhone to go. Check it out… 

Introducing iTunes Movie Rentals
Available today with the free download of iTunes 7.6, iTunes Movie Rentals allows customers to rent movies for as little as $2.99 and watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods, iPhone and Apple TV. Featuring movies from all the major movie studios—20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema—iTunes Movie Rentals is expected to offer more than 1,000 movie titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles featuring stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Movies can be rented directly from a widescreen TV using Apple TV. 

 

AND with Apple TV you can do all THIS stuff on your High Def TV:

 Apple announces new software for Apple TV; lowers price to $229
Available as a free automatic download later this month, the new software announced today lets movie fans rent movies on the iTunes Store directly from their widescreen TV. With iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV—and with no computer required—customers can effortlessly rent movies just by clicking a button on their remote. By the end of February, they’ll be able to choose from a catalog of more than 1,000 titles, including over 100 titles in stunning high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. DVD-quality iTunes Movie Rentals cost just $2.99 for library titles and $3.99 for new releases. High-definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at $3.99 and new releases at $4.99.  

 

Man, I hope you realize how cool that is! I mean, that is a HUGE step towards the way we will rent and watch movies in the future.  

Have YOU sold your Blockbuster stock yet?