Radified News for January, 2001
01.30.01 - Review on personal firewalls here. They like this one the best (Tiny). Comes with support for all flavors of Windows. Free for home users here. Link goes to download.com. I've tried BlackIce Defender, but it prevented my home LAN from working .. even tho it's not supposed to affect NetBEUI. Currently using ZoneAlarm (download here) freebie. I like it.
01.21.01 - Went to USC last night to catch screening of last semester's 546-level films. Four 12-minute movies projected on *big* screen at Norris theater. We arrived late (LA traffic sux) & missed the first. Gala-dressed girl outside, seemingly guarding tables of wine bottles, warned us, "Standing room only."
She wasn't kidding. Theater was packed. Groups huddled near each lobby entrance, holding open rear doors .. to get a peek at the much publicized (hyped?) films. On the walk (run) from parking lot, we noticed flyers posted all over campus.
Wendy pushed her way past the crowds. Once inside (dark), she crawled over bodies. I followed, trying not to step on anyone. Every aisle filled w/ students sitting on red-carpet floor. Fire Marshall woulda had a tizzy.
We arrived just as 2nd film began. Plopped down in aisle as people continued climbing over us. Almost made me spill my beer. =) Many dressed in suits & elegant dresses.
Each 16mm film = 12-mins, color, w/ sync-sound dialogue. Afterwards, outside, everybody mentioned being impressed. I was, especially with the last one - Virus Man. Wendy is working on 546 project (titled Echo) this semester (Editor). Test-shoot today. Pix from test-shoot posted at Film's site here.
01.19.01 - Installed new motherboard (CUSL2) in Wendy's PC today .. and two new hard drives .. one SCSI & one ATA. Amazing how cheap disk space has become. $150 buys 45 gigs. A video-editor's dream. Even prices of SCSI drives have come way down.
Installed WinME & Win2K dual-boot. WinME for video-editing (dedicated). Win2K for everything else. No serious probs - just time consuming. Hoping this install to last 18 months. Installed latest MS patches, & a few basic apps. Many programs still need to be installed. Final act after everything is done is image both boot drives (& celebrate).
Wendy's will be spending more time editing video this semester. Last semester was all 16mm film - no DV. She eats disk space like there's no tomorrow. Her old mobo & hard drive weren't on the approved list for her editing card. The new ones are.
01.18.01 - Here in sunny SoCal, everybody is talking about rolling black-outs. Most of my friends are running out and buying back-up power supplies. We've had a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) for a couple of years now. I heard APC made the best. Here's a review on the Back-UPS Pro .. altho I'd recommend the non-Pro version to save money. We have an APC 650.
We're happy with ours. Comes with a big, honking battery (heavy). Here's a price check for the Back-UPS 600. These things are usually best to get from your local CompUSA or Best Buy cuz the shipping charges are so steep (~$25). I have dealt with APC support. They are excellent. I did something stupid with mine and they shipped me a new unit for free, and paid all shipping. They come with a 2-year warranty. Heard horror stories about some cheap brands.
01.12.01 - Posted an article on listening to Internet music via MP3 streaming. Still WIP (work in progress).
Wendy's first Avid class today - 3 hours. Her 546 Editing prof is teaching the (hands-on) class. Free to students. Will co$t next semester. Total of seven 3-hour classes .. 21 hours of instruction. Prof says, "Don't know how we're gonna cover everything." Lots of material. She's excited about learning the Avid.
Tomorrow she's going to a seminar (USC) to learn a program called MovieMagic .. software designed to help a Producer or Asst Director with scheduling & budget.
01.11.01 - Saw Traffic today. Directed by Stephen Soderbergh. Surprisingly good. Had no expectations going in, but came out impressed. Liked how they used sepia for everything that takes place in Mexico. Excellent at showing how far-reaching the drug problem is. Easy to recommend.
My b-day today! Had planned to spend the day at Disneyland (big kid that I am), but it rained. Had to cancel. Instead, b-day sushi for lunch (at Hapi in Laguna). The sushi guy asked how old I was .. 25 or 26? Gave him a big tip. =) Then to the movie. Afterwards, to Oyster's in Corona Del Mar for snacks, where they brought out cake w/ candle.
Got cool presents, including Camelback hip pack, weighted gloves (1-2lb ea) .. to work my arms when running the beach. Sony Discman ear-plugs (to listen to music while running the beach) .. a few other goodies. Several people said they wanted to get me Geritol, but the store was out. Smart alecks.
01.08.01 - Wendy's first day of classes today .. beginning her 2nd year of grad school (started with the Spring semester, Y2K). These are the juicy classes she's wanted to take for so long. First year of graduate Film school consists entirely of mandatory classes .. with a grueling schedule. USC wants to make sure that students are serious about cinema before they let them take the cool classes.
Today she has Intermediate Directing, a class she's wanted to take forever. Prof teaching the class (J_Kagan) is a legend. Upperclassmen say it worth waiting a semester just to get in his class. There are two other Int Directing classes - both of which focus on the cinematography aspects of directing (camera placement, lighting, etc). Kagan's focuses on working with actors.
She also has a class called 546 Editing (Avid), and another named Visual Expression, which everybody raves about. Saw lots of smiles today. Very excited about this semester. She can't wait to see who will be in her class. Valerie cut and highlighted her hair this morning .. to start the 2nd year of classes. No telling when she'd get another chance.
Updated the SCSI guide, which is now 11 smaller pages, instead of 8 bigger ones. Never expected it to get this big. Lots of people going SCSI.
01.04.01 - Posted a dozen photos from recent 16mm shoot here. Also polished & updated the Ghost guide. This was my first Radified guide, which originally came from pasting together a bunch of emails to friends, trying to figure it out. Updated it with latest info, and worked on improving readability.
01.01.01 - Love the date. No hangover - thanks to ol' Polmy, but Wendy threw-up shortly after going to bed (~2:30). I warned her not to eat all that (sweet, buttery) b-day cake. Had a small group of friends over to ring in the new year. Mom & Sid stopped by on their way to another party. Sidney talked shop about building his own PC.
The kids came home about 3AM, and played Counterstrike until 5 .. Jahmar & Evan. Lani hates the games. Both Wendy & I stopped drinking coffee about a couple weeks ago. She had a headache for a week. That's kind of our New Years resolution.
12.31.00 - Happy New Year everybody! Pls don't drink & drive. It's not worth it. Call a cab. Rack down on a friend's couch. Get a hotel. But if you're not driving, Ars has a great drink guide here (2 pages worth). Tonight I'll be drinking (sipping) Belvedere Polish vodka. Made by a man named Polmos Zyrardow .. you figure ol' Polmy knows a thing or two about making vodka? I heard the Poles invented vodka.
Belvedere, which mean beautiful to see, is made from 100% Polish rye, distilled four times, from a 500-year old secret recipe. Talk about seeing beautifully .. the bottle itself is prolly the most beautiful I've ever seen. Drank half the bottle last New Years eve (Y2K). Will try to finish tonight. Less chance of hangover from the good stuff.
12.29.00 - Grades are in!
Linkage to -> News for December, 2000
Linkage to -> News for February, 2001