so I thought I'd make a post. This one isn't about anything in particular I suppose, just some interesting goodness!
I've been regularly (once a week) listening to a podcast called The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. I added a link on the menu to the right there. They've always got something interesting to talk about - news items, some kind of interview, and then at the end they have a challenge and a good skeptical quote. In my recent years I've grown a much more scientific and skeptical mind - no doubt because of people I've mentioned here before: Scott Adams, Penn and Teller, and Carl Sagan to name a few. The Skeptics's Guide is a great way to keep up with recent events and ideas related to that sort of thing.
On a completely different note, Blender 2.44 came out a few weeks ago and added a great new type of texture that does sub-surface scattering. It allows, among other things, the ability to make very realistic looking snow - an awesome notion because much of Omnivore takes place in Antarctica.
On a somewhat slightly different note, my macbook pro now triple boots! I have Mac OS, Windows, and now Ubuntu Studio all working. Ubuntu Studio is great - I've never had such an easy time getting into Linux, and I'm loving it. I can do nearly everything I do in Mac OS, and with free software! Speaking of free software, a great site for anyone to check out is osalt. This is exactly the kind of website I've looked for in past years. I've always wanted to know what open source software I can use instead of the commercial stuff, and now I don't have to do tons of searching google results to find it.
That's it for now, and I know I've said in the past that I'm going to post more often, but I'm going to say it again: I'm going to post more often! I'm getting used to it anyway, because I started a work blog. I read in a game development magazine about a guy who started a work blog, and it really makes sense. I take the last 10-15 minutes of every day to go over what I did, and I write it down in a private blog. Not only will it make me better at estimating time spent on projects, but it kind of gives me my own "watchdog," because I won't want to write down that I didn't do anything on a particular day. Also, I can finally answer questions like, "when did I do that?" or "did I do that?" So far it's worked beautifully - I recommend it to everyone.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
What a Day!
None other than the Dalai Lama himself was on campus for a couple days this week, so my job has been revolving around that. He did a huge talk to over 5000 people that was videotaped and streamed - and you can even watch it right now! I ended up watching it on the big TV in the lobby where my office is so I could relax with my laptop.
The huge news for me, however, happened on the next day. He gave a talk to the Tibetan community of western Massachusetts, which was quite large (about 1000 people, and lots of kids). I had to be at work at 6 AM to do the audio checkout in the building before the FBI did their sweep. We had this really cool microphone that attaches to your ear and comes around to your mouth with a very tiny piece. You almost can't see it.
I should mention that the security around the Dalai Lama is nothing short of incredible. I don't think I've ever really seen the FBI doing their jobs in real life, and I have to say that a lot of what you see in movies is pretty close. They had their ear pieces and black suits, and came in black vehicles to the scene.
So, the best part of the whole day was that I was able to put the mic on the Dalai Lama! He comes in, surrounded by FBI and security, and instead of going into a little special room they had set up so he could meditate and have tea before talking, he goes straight out onto stage. I was kind of following behind holding up the mic and being like, "ummm, wait, I have to put this on." This FBI agent says to me, "Stick with me, bro," and so I did. I walk out on stage under the lights with the whole crew, and the agent gives me the ok. I walked up to the Dalai Lama in front of everyone and put the mic on his ear. He takes the transmitter unit, and I almost didn't get a chance to turn it on, but then he said thank you and I turned to go off stage.
It was great! And, one of the best parts about it is that it's all on video! Since he walked right out on stage and I put the mic on there, the video cameras were rolling and the whole thing was taped. I'm going to get the video as soon as I can and put it on the web so you can see me putting a mic on probably the most world-famous person I've ever seen in real life.
Maybe it's not that exciting to others, but it was quite a day for me :-D
The huge news for me, however, happened on the next day. He gave a talk to the Tibetan community of western Massachusetts, which was quite large (about 1000 people, and lots of kids). I had to be at work at 6 AM to do the audio checkout in the building before the FBI did their sweep. We had this really cool microphone that attaches to your ear and comes around to your mouth with a very tiny piece. You almost can't see it.
I should mention that the security around the Dalai Lama is nothing short of incredible. I don't think I've ever really seen the FBI doing their jobs in real life, and I have to say that a lot of what you see in movies is pretty close. They had their ear pieces and black suits, and came in black vehicles to the scene.
So, the best part of the whole day was that I was able to put the mic on the Dalai Lama! He comes in, surrounded by FBI and security, and instead of going into a little special room they had set up so he could meditate and have tea before talking, he goes straight out onto stage. I was kind of following behind holding up the mic and being like, "ummm, wait, I have to put this on." This FBI agent says to me, "Stick with me, bro," and so I did. I walk out on stage under the lights with the whole crew, and the agent gives me the ok. I walked up to the Dalai Lama in front of everyone and put the mic on his ear. He takes the transmitter unit, and I almost didn't get a chance to turn it on, but then he said thank you and I turned to go off stage.
It was great! And, one of the best parts about it is that it's all on video! Since he walked right out on stage and I put the mic on there, the video cameras were rolling and the whole thing was taped. I'm going to get the video as soon as I can and put it on the web so you can see me putting a mic on probably the most world-famous person I've ever seen in real life.
Maybe it's not that exciting to others, but it was quite a day for me :-D
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