StumbleUpon

So I was reading this post here (Thanks Matt for the Buzz list) and thought it would be cool to check into one of the online services he mentioned. StumbleUpon. I've been playing with this for the last day or so, and I am addicted. Essentially, StumbleUpon lets you classify your interests and then allows you to see websites...blogs...etc, that correspond to your interests. I have been sitting here all morning clicking the "StumbleUpon" button and seeing all sorts of amazing websites, blogs, art and tech stuff. Very cool. In the long run, it may even bring me some traffic to my blog, so it is win, win.

If you want to check it out, head over to the StumbleUpon website or click the StumbleUpon link in my left navigation bar. This will take you to my personal page on StumbleUpon.

Joost TV

I want to thank Terry Storch for blessing me with a "friend invite" to try out the new online TV service called Joost.

I've been playing around for the last couple of days with it and it's pretty cool. I have had a few glitches with overall speed, but not too bad. you definitely would need a fast service to take advantage of it. The video and audio quality are surprisingly good for streaming. I also love the channel options. there is a ton of music stuff which I love. And the National Geographic stuff is amazing as always. Of course my favorite...(and my son's favorite)...is the Soccer channel.

Anyway, if you have a chance to check it out, it's pretty cool!

Upgrades?...Nope!

If you read this, you know what's going on. Took the hard drive down and they transfered everything over to the new drive. Got the new drive home and...nothing. The Mac isn't reading it. I believe they formatted the drive incorrectly. Oh well, we will try again tomorrow.

Upgrades!!!

So, I won't be online all weekend. The Mac is getting an upgrade. I have a pretty stock Macbook, so it has the original 60gig drive. I am upgrading to a 160gig drive. Excellent! I was seriously running out of space. We have a server at church that allows me to archive things there, but there is so much I like to have at my fingertips at all times. It was hard to decide what I could keep on the Mac and what I could keep on the server. Well, I don't have to worry about it anymore. I guess I could say God is good, but that sounds a little self serving. i mean it is just a laptop...right?

Good Equipment Rocks!

I have to begin by saying that our Church leadership has always seen the importance of doing things well and having the correct tools to get the job done.

A couple of weeks ago, our church invested into our future with some new audio equipment. We purchased a new Digital console by Digidesign. I've had the privilege of being able to work in and audio related field for most of my life so this was a big deal for me. It is amazing what happens when you have the right tools. The minute we turned the console on, just having the new equipment in place changed the sound of our room dramatically. We had less sharp edges in the sound, there was no flubby bass and the noise floor dropped considerably. we didn't have bad equipment before, but this new piece has changed everything. Of course with such a clean signal path, we found some new issues that we hadn't heard before. There was a distortion in my vocal path. We eventually changed mics and that fixed it. Somewhere along the way, the mic I was using started crapping out and we couldn't hear it before. At least not with this clarity. You don't even have to get me started with how easy it is to setup for specific events now. We have presets for morning communion, weddings, memorials, our midweek worship services and our weekend services. We have snapshots for certain team members,vocalists and players. Our in-ears always sound the same! Any of our FOH guys can walk in and setup for whatever circumstance they are in. We used to have to set and reset, zero out, patch, re-patch and on and on. I met with one of our ministry heads about an upcoming Easter play we did last year and we are doing again. I was able to describe with glee how the console will be ready for the event and it won't mess up anything for the weekend. Being able to have a dress rehearsal on Thursday for the play, then on Saturday and Sunday have practice and services and then go right back Sunday night with the first performance of the play without messing up or re-patching anything is a DREAM!

Anyway, I am a tech guy, so these blogs will appear every once in a while.




I'm so happy!!!

I love Toys

Being the tech freak that I am, I get excited about strange things. Like when there is a new announcement from Digidesign that they are going to help improve my life as a user of their software. Or I have to replace cables at FOH, cause the video inputs are getting scratchy (a trip to Guitar Center...love it.). Or my favorite...The new, wrapped in plastic, MIX Magazine master directory arrives in the mail. Hallelujah! It's like Christmas all year.

Anyway, why am I rambling. Well we (the church I am a Pastor at) have purchased new equipment for our audio team. We are upgrading our FOH console to digital and jumping in with both feet. We are very excited (I can hear all the TRF techs screaming in glee as I write about this). Today, I began receiving the pieces of equipment via the local UPS. Mind you, I only received one, but they are coming. I told my wife we had received something today and she kind of chuckled when I told her, it was just the power conditioner. Essentially it is a high tech surge protector. I know, I haven't even received the good stuff yet, but I received something. Of course I already know what is in the box and I know it's only one of about 15 boxes that are to arrive, but I had to open it. I just had to look at it. Then the decision, where do i put it? Do I just leave it in my office? But, then when I receive the other boxes (and some will be large), I wont have enough room in my office. Maybe I put it in the sound booth? No, then I'll have boxes piling up and if they all don't show up this week, we will have crap all over the Worship Center for the weekend. Maybe I put them in a closet/storage area? Heck no, I have to be able to see them. So, office it is.

I bet it will be kind of humorous as I receive all these larger boxes and my small 10'x12' office is loaded to the ceiling with stuff. No way! It will be awesome. It can be my own little candy store, and yes, I am a kid!