Elderhostel becomes Exploritas

Boston Globe once again writes about a website without linking to the website. Still lame.

Elderhostel looks to the younger set - The Boston Globe:

"In an effort to attract new clients in a tough economy, Elderhostel, the popular program founded in 1975 to help senior citizens travel on the cheap, is changing its name to Exploritas, lowering its minimum age requirement to 21, and trying to revamp its image - causing some consternation along the way.

Some of the Boston-based company’s older clients are not happy about the name change, which becomes official Thursday, nor are they shy about expressing their feelings on Exploritas’s new social networking site. Others are unhappy about the lowering of the minimum age. When Elderhostel was created, people 60 and older could join. In 1993 the minimum age was dropped to 55."

Find Elderhostel/Exploritas on the web.

The Exploritas Connection social networking site.

LIPDUB - I Gotta Feeling

via [ Epic Fu ]

Bakery Window Ennis, Co. Clare Ireland

Bakery Window Ennis, Co. Clare Ireland, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Driving in Ireland

Driving a Nissan Micra. I'm glad the car is so small because there's not much room on the roads.

Measuring Viewer Engagement on Blip.tv

Measuring Viewer Engagement on Blip.tv, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Blip.tv now has engagement tools built in so you can see how long your viewers watch your videos.

This is very interesting because you can see exactly where you loose viewers. This will help you produce more engaging content.

In this example 50% of viewers stay with the video almost the whole way. They drop off when Adam and I say thanks for watching and then roll the final credits.

Video: Kodak Zi8 Entry Level Mic Tests
getseen.ning.com/profiles/blogs/kodak-zi8-entry-level-mic

Eliot School Tools

Eliot School Tools, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Tall Brickman

Tall Brickman, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Kodak Zi8 Entry Level Mic Tests

Testing the mic in jack on the Kodak Zi8 with: 

- Audio Technica ATM 10A 

- Azden SGM-2X 

- Audio Technica ATR-35S.

Thanks Adam Weiss.

Buy these products on amazon.com.

Join the discussion at the site for my book, Get Seen.

Formats available: YouTube, Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Tags: kodak zi8, audio technica atm 10a, azden sgm-2x, audio technica atr-35s

China’s Knockoff Electric Carmakers

In Shandong Province, renegade carmakers are churning out tiny electric cars in garages and small factories. And demand is on the rise.

Primary Election Day in Boston

Light turnout this morning.

Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

No Bikes at Jamaica Pond

No Bikes at Jamaica Pond, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Election Day in Boston

I was #43 to vote this morning. Light turnout.

150 Feet

Fun fact: you're not allowed to put signs within 150 feet of the entrance to a polling location.

I reported on this back in 2004.

Universal Hub has more.

Original, videoblog post from 2004.

Michael Capuano Calls For Boycott of Hyatt

Open Media Boston reports on yesterday's rally protesing the Hyatt firings, Speakers Call for Boycott of the Hotel Chain: Rep. Michael Capuano is quoted as saying:

"Every single politician from school committee to President should not stay at a Hyatt hotel anywhere in the country. Tourism's important. This is important. There's a lot of people that will be impacted. But I can't tell you how strongly I feel about this. And you do too. I pray to god that Hyatt Corporation comes knocking on my door next week. It'll be a closed door meeting if they do - I don't think they will - but it'd be fun. But I tell you I'm a former mayor. Over in Somerville. And you know, there's a couple of hotels over there. Not a Hyatt, thank god. But I'll tell you, sometimes they have to be inspected by the fire department. Sometimes they have to be inspected by the health department. And that's good because we need safe clean hotels. This hotel better be safe and clean."

Strong words. What do you think?

Senatorial?

Chuck and Lori Live Streamed their Wedding and Paused to Twitter

#chucknlori Wedding Photo, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

My good friends Chuck and Lori live streamed their wedding yesterday on Livestream at http://chucknlori.com/

At one point in the ceremony the program caled for "reflection and tweeting." That's when Check and Lori took photos of each other and posted them to TwitPic with their iPhones.

Lori:

Totally getting married! http://twitpic.com/ict7e

Chuck:

Pants status: Married http://twitpic.com/ict8e

When I saw the photos on my iPhone, I shared them on flickr.

I was watching the ceremony from my mom's and chatting with other guests. You could follow the twitter hastag #chucknlori to see what people were saying on twitter.

I'm so happy that they shared the ceremony online.

Congratulations!

It's Yard Sale Day in Jamaica Plain Today

Yard Sale Day - Photo Op, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Everyone of having yard sales.

Well, not everyone, but a lot of people are.

15 At-Large Boston City Council Candidates and Their Websites

Felix G. Arroyo: FelixArroyo.com

Doug Bennett: BennettForBoston.com

John Connolly: ConnollyForCouncil.com

Ego Ezedi: VoteForEzedi.com

Robert Fortes: FortesForBoston.com

Tomás Gonzalez: VoteTomas.com

Tito Jackson: TitoJacksonForBoston.com

Andrew Kenneally: AndrewKenneally.com

Steve Murphy: www.Steve-Murphy.com

Hiep Nguyen: NguyenForCouncil.com

Ayanna Pressley: AyannaPressley.com

Sean Ryan: RyanForBoston.com

Jean-Claude Sanon: www.JeanClaudeSanon2009.com

Bill Trabucco: www.BillTrabucco.com

Scotland Willis: www.ScotlandWillis.com

Vote for the best at Blue Mass Group.

Harpoon Leviathan Quad Brisket

Harpoon Leviathan Quad Brisket, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

This recipe is pretty simple. Brisket, onions, mushrooms, carrots, Harpoon Leviathan Quad (or another cool beer), onion soup mix, and ketchup. You make it the day before, slice it, then reheat it.

The Best Chocolate Chip Mandelbrot

Sheryl Julian wrote a article for the Boston Globe called Mandelbrot is a perfect treat for Rosh Hashana. I love these cookies and have always wanted to be able to make them.

After reading her article I decided to follow her recipe that she got from Debra Nussbaum wo got the recipe from Sandy Brenner.

Here's the recipe: Chocolate-chip cinnamon mandelbrot

Here's are my Julie and Julia Steps:

Spread batter in pan:


Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture:


Let cool after baking:


Place on sides, in baking pan:


Looks good:


After baking a second time:

John Tobin Comedy Show and Roast 09/16/09

John Tobin Comedy Show and Roast 09/16/09, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Watch: Video Highlights

John Tobin Comedy Show and Roast highlights featuring Tony V, Patty Ross, Jim Lauletta. Also appearing, Kate Plunkett Tobin, Rob Consalvo, Marian Walsh, Kevin Honan, Tim Murray, Andrea J. Cabral, Mike Ross, Tom Menino, Paul McMurtry, John Connolly, Tommy Doherty, Bobby Allen, Joe Plunkett, Michael Plunkett, Matt O'Malley, Ahawn Murphy, and John Tobin.

Steve Garfield's Video Highlights

I used Blip.tv's playlist function to put together a player with selected videos. One problem with using a blog to display videos is that over time, you older videos get lost in the archives. With blip.tv playlists, you can select a group of videos, and feature them on your blog or website.

You can press the FF button to go to the next video.

I'm working to configure the player to show the playlist on the right hand side. It's just a configuration setting I need to learn.

Are some of these videos new to you?

Update:

Thanks to Mike Moon for explaining how to configure hte player.

> At Blip, Dashboard, Players.
> Add a new player. Add whatever buttons etc. Save it.
> Now go back to the list of players and you'll see the Embed at the bottom.
> Click on embed, select Playlist, select your playlist and copy the embedded
> code. Paste away in WordPress or where ever.

Awesome Clouds at Sunset over BU

BU, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

President Obama-Wan Kenobi

President Obama-Wan Kenobi, originally uploaded by Official Star Wars Blog. (Image Courtesy Getty)

Menino's top policy aide has been deleting emails

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino's top policy aide Michael J. Kineavy has been deleting emails for five years.

Here's what he did:

Kineavy has been “double-deleting,’’ or dragging e-mail into his trash folder and then emptying that folder every day, before the city’s computer system made an automatic backup at midnight.

Oh oh.

On the good side, the Mayor hasn't been deleting his emails because he doesn't use email.

D'oh!
via [ Boston.com ]

'Michael Jackson's This Is It': The Full Trailer

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

via [ MTV ]

I called this on 6/27.

I Feel Like I Just Got MacWrite and MacPaint for Music

CNN Twitterville Story Page: Ads Make Stories Disappear

CNN Twitterville Story Page, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

I was reading a nice story on CNN.com about Shel Israel's Twitterville.

Then I went to click on a story headline on the sidebar at CNN.com, but a Verisign ad popped up, and then I couldn't get to the story.

Or so I thought.



Oh silly me. The 7 1/2" tall Verisign ad only pushed the side bar content below the fold so I couldn't see the story links anymore.

When I went to take a screenshot for you, a new ad showed up from Samsung.



Same thing.

This is not cool.

iPhoto '09 Does Not Edit Video

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The iPod nano description on the Apple.com site says, "On a Mac, you can browse and edit your videos in iPhoto, too.

Well, not really. If you control click on a video from within iPhoto '09, a Quicktime X window pops up. The only thing you can do with Quicktime X and video is trim off the ends. Cut, Copy and Paste is not included with Quicktime X.

You can still get those features, but you need to install Quicktime 7 Pro off the Mac OS X Snow Leopard install disks.

I hope this gets resolved in an update to Quicktime.

iPod nano: Poor Design and Missing Features

iPod nano picture taken with an iPhone 3GS

Mobile post sent by stevegarfield using Utterli.  Replies.  mp3

I just got a chance to take a look at the new iPod nano that shoots video.

Initially I was excited to see such a beautiful device that was able to shoot video and expected it to become a contender in the pocket video recorder market.

Sadly, it doesn't measure up.

Here are the bad points:

1. The camera is on the bottom

I don't know why they designed it this way, but the camera is on the opposite side of the scroll wheel, on the bottom, when held in portrait mode.

So if you are shooting a video in portrait mode, your hand is in the way.

2. The camera is on the bottom

When you sit the iPod nano on the table, so that it stays still, the camera is on the bottom and you get a great shot of the surface that you are sitting it on, like a table.

Try to stand it on it's head, so the camera is on top, the iPod nano tips over because a switch is protruding from the top.

3. The camera is on the bottom

OK, so you decide to hold the camera in landscape mode. When holding it, your hands cover the lens because, as I said before, the camera is on the bottom behind the scroll wheel.

4. It's not a stil camera

You can't take photos.

5. Quality doesn't seem to match even the original Flip

My friends Liz Gannes and Chris Albrecht at NewTeeVee shot this video to compare the Flip to the iPod Nano.

You decide:

Remix Röyksopp’s ‘Tricky Tricky’

This is so interesting to me. You can see all the parts that go into making the song.

via [ Soundcloud ]

Listen to some electronic music for free

Some of the music is available for free/paid download.

On each track you can click over to the hosting site, SoundCloud, and check out the license to see if you can use the music in your own projects.

This is great!

From [ Synthtopia ]

Boston Art Commission presents Public Art Walk Boston but only provides PDF's

This is a great idea, a map of 100 pieces of public art in Boston.



Here's the announcement and info page: Boston Art Commission :: Public Art Walk :: Boston:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino & the Boston Art Commission welcome you to the City of Boston’s first edition of Public Art Walks, featuring both historic and contemporary art installations throughout the neighborhoods of Boston. This walk includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, the Financial District and the North End.

The only problem is that all the information is contained in downloadable PDF files.

It would be nice if there were text based web pages that people could use to browse the locations.

MAP
• full version (19MB)
www.publicartboston.com/PDF/BAC_PublicArtWalk-1_Full.pdf

• printable version (12MB)
www.publicartboston.com/PDF/BAC_PublicArtWalk-1_Print.pdf

Oprah Feeling / I Gotta Feeling Live at Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff Party

Black Eyed Peas perform a special live version of I Gotta Feeling for Oprah while a flash mob of synchronized dancers groove on Michigan Avenue downtown Chicago, IL USA. The performance was at Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff Party on September 8, 2009.

Boston.com article about iPhone MBTA Apps doesn't name them, much less link to them.

Here's the Globe article that talks about iPhone Apps but fails to mention their names:

State transportation officials said the decision to open up transportation schedules to computer software developers has already paid off with the creation of two iPhone applications that could help people trying to catch a train or a bus.

One app - a computer program that runs on iPhones - shows the user where the closest Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station is located, while another indicates when the next train or bus is coming.

A third app could be useful for people planning a trip to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. It shows users the current Registry wait times, said Colin Durrant, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Transportation.

Here are four iPhone MBTA Apps:

MassTransit by Sparkfish Creative

iTransit Buddy - MBTA RAil by Blue Technology Solutions LLC

theNextTrain MBTA by theNextTrain

to a T by Wonderland Development

Update:

HopStop is free.


Google Maps on iPhone

Also, the Google Maps App on the iPhone is great at showing train schedules.

I Was a City Coucillor One Day - Tom Menino vs Sam Yoon

Behind the Scenes: Powered Mic Test with Kodak Zi8

Adam Weiss and I streamed this video live during a recording session where we tested powered microphones on the Kodak Zi8.

We get going at 4:28

You won't be able to hear the microphones since they were plugged into the Kodak Zi8. I'll be posting those videos in a while. Stay tuned. Follow me on twitter @stevegarfield for updates.

[Video Slide Show] Burritup 09-09-09

Shooting video for Digital Marketing World

On twitter: Marketing Profs

The Script - If You See Kay

What Time Is It?

Boston Media Makers 090609

Boston Media Makers 090609, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Oh Snap! It's Violet at Boston Media Makers.

Watch her video where she interviews Emily, Joeseph and me!

More Photos.

Dan Ronken writes a great post about the meeting, Attraction Trumps Promotion - Having a Blast with Boston Media Makers.

This was the most fun I've had at a 'networking' (that's not even the right word, felt more like a gathering of friends) meeting I've ever attended. Our 'three minute' introduction consisted not of sales pitches , but was more about sharing valuable information or asking for advice.

Members of the group were then sending 'real time messages' via Twitter to their extended networks which has an immediate effect of reaching an audience of potentially thousands of people in a matter of seconds. I already knew that blogging generates business, but this is real time communication I'm talking about here. I want to emphasis, this is NOT about sales pitches, it's about connecting with, and helping people.

Girls on Dock - Kodak Zi8 720p 60 fps Viddler test

Girls on Dock - Kodak Zi8 720p 60 fps Vimeo test

Girls on Dock - Kodak Zi8 720p 60 fps test from stevegarfield on Vimeo.

Testing out an HD video embed with Vimeo

Imprisoned Journalists: We Were Violently Dragged Back to North Korea

It's very interesting to see how the headline writers present this story.

Violently Dragged to North Korea

Soldiers Dragged Them Back to North Korea

Freed journalists regret entering North Korea

Words Matter.

Mashable: Imprisoned Journalists: We Were Violently Dragged to North Korea, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Mashable: Imprisoned Journalists: We Were Violently Dragged to North Korea



Bloomberg: U.S. Journalists Say Soldiers Dragged Them Back to North Korea



guardian.co.uk: Freed journalists regret entering North Korea

Hi. How are you doing?

Gravity Summit Video Highlights

[Slideshow] Gravity Summit at Harvard

Gravity Summit photo set on flickr.

Gravity Summit photos tagged #gravsum sorted by most interesting.

Gravity Summit website.