Blog Hardware Update

Posted on | July 21, 2010 | 26 Comments

by Smitty

At The Other McCain, our relentless struggle for world conquest has always been distracted by shiny things that can improve our blog-fu.

You may already know that this blog is hosted by Silver Logic, who may be worth considering if you’re escaping the Blogger ghetto (NTTAWWT).

For a reasonable price, I scored a HDC-TM55. The simplicity of the features, the zoom, the stabilization, and the ability to do some basic editing on-camera make this a worthy blogging component.

Right now I’m chilling on the windward side of Hawaii at an old shipmate’s place on He’eia Pond.

View Larger Map
Looking East across the bay at the air station about 4 nautical miles away, I was able to capture a fighter aircraft landing at the air station. The clip itself isn’t interesting at all. What I think is notable is being able to go for a moving target at some range without a tripod, and then having some onboard editing capability to shave off the even less interesting bits. My netbook (see below) just doesn’t have the guts to do any editing at all, at least with Avidemux under Windows 7. Possibly it’s the OS or the editor, but I think that the hardware just isn’t what you want for even casual editing.

This blog post is composed on an a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 using Emacs, as I’m just a trifle nutter that way. Yeah, the data plan costs a bit, but, if you want to blog live events like Beck’s Restoring Honor or the 9/12 March on DC, you sort of have to be packin’ the gear.

And I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about video editing, so anyone with suggestions about tutorials or software under ‘Doze or Linux to try (NTTAWW Mac, I just don’t have one), feel free to light up the comments.

Category: Uncategorized

Comments

26 Responses to “Blog Hardware Update”

Red
July 21st, 2010 @ 12:22 pm

I”m sorry stewardess. I don’t speak ‘nerd’. You’re always welcome whenever you’re in my neck of ‘the ghetto’.
Red
July 21st, 2010 @ 8:22 am

I”m sorry stewardess. I don’t speak ‘nerd’. You’re always welcome whenever you’re in my neck of ‘the ghetto’.
The War Planner
July 21st, 2010 @ 1:12 pm

Smitty,

Mo bettah you geevum da kine, bro.

Used to hang out there when I went to UH for Summer school. (And back many,many times.) Prettiest place on/near the North Shore.

Almost scored a PCS to PACAF as well. If that happened, I would stayed in for 20 and lived The Island Slows for another decade.

You should explain to the folks how there’s really three Oahus: the Wai Ki Ki edition, the Windward/North shore edition, and the Leeward side.
The War Planner
July 21st, 2010 @ 9:12 am

Smitty,

Mo bettah you geevum da kine, bro.

Used to hang out there when I went to UH for Summer school. (And back many,many times.) Prettiest place on/near the North Shore.

Almost scored a PCS to PACAF as well. If that happened, I would stayed in for 20 and lived The Island Slows for another decade.

You should explain to the folks how there’s really three Oahus: the Wai Ki Ki edition, the Windward/North shore edition, and the Leeward side.
steveegg
July 21st, 2010 @ 2:38 pm

There’s a reason why I have always steered clear of netbooks – you cannot do jack or squat with them. The Intel Atom is a seriously crippled processor (single-core, almost no cache, which puts it on par with 2nd-gen Pentium 4s).

For just a “bit more” weight and size, a real notebook (an Asus with an Intel i3 and 4 GB RAM here) works wonders. Of course, once I plug in my Bluetooth adapter to allow me to use my semi-smartphone as a modem, I can’t fit it in my case.
steveegg
July 21st, 2010 @ 10:38 am

There’s a reason why I have always steered clear of netbooks – you cannot do jack or squat with them. The Intel Atom is a seriously crippled processor (single-core, almost no cache, which puts it on par with 2nd-gen Pentium 4s).

For just a “bit more” weight and size, a real notebook (an Asus with an Intel i3 and 4 GB RAM here) works wonders. Of course, once I plug in my Bluetooth adapter to allow me to use my semi-smartphone as a modem, I can’t fit it in my case.
Robert Stacy McCain
July 21st, 2010 @ 2:41 pm

This just goes to show what a hopelessly decent co-blogger I’ve got. Smitty vacations in Hawaii and, instead of “Waikiki Thong Bikini Video Review” we get . . . fighter jets.

An Officer and a Gentleman. Sigh.
Robert Stacy McCain
July 21st, 2010 @ 10:41 am

This just goes to show what a hopelessly decent co-blogger I’ve got. Smitty vacations in Hawaii and, instead of “Waikiki Thong Bikini Video Review” we get . . . fighter jets.

An Officer and a Gentleman. Sigh.
proof
July 21st, 2010 @ 3:33 pm

Hard to find good help, isn’t it, Stacy?
proof
July 21st, 2010 @ 11:33 am

Hard to find good help, isn’t it, Stacy?
Lonely Conservative
July 21st, 2010 @ 3:41 pm

Smitty must have a day job!
Lonely Conservative
July 21st, 2010 @ 11:41 am

Smitty must have a day job!
Lipton T. Bagg
July 21st, 2010 @ 3:51 pm

Stacy:

Give Smitty some props, inasmuch as “Decidedly Decent” is better than 99.9 of the Progressive Blogosphere.

Being one who fluently speaks “geek”, I fail to see why you would cripple an already paraplegic hardware platform with an OS and tools with the same condition. I get the Linux vs. WinTel thing and have VNC on suitable hardware platforms so I can have my geek and eat from the trough of normalcy as well.

Some Mini 10s have the 1GB memory soldiered in, newer ones allow mem upgrades. Know that even the older model MoBo will handle a 2GB chip. (Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home! Leave it for a qualified member of “The Dark Side”).

Smitty, why not set up a dual-boot with Windows? Thereby giving you access to an editor with taste, errr, features?

Remaining hobbled with Emacs is tantamount to remaining in the wheelchair after the hip spica cast come off. Or worse yet, like voting Democrat…

-LTB
(Likes neither Emacs, wheelchairs nor Democrats)
Lipton T. Bagg
July 21st, 2010 @ 11:51 am

Stacy:

Give Smitty some props, inasmuch as “Decidedly Decent” is better than 99.9 of the Progressive Blogosphere.

Being one who fluently speaks “geek”, I fail to see why you would cripple an already paraplegic hardware platform with an OS and tools with the same condition. I get the Linux vs. WinTel thing and have VNC on suitable hardware platforms so I can have my geek and eat from the trough of normalcy as well.

Some Mini 10s have the 1GB memory soldiered in, newer ones allow mem upgrades. Know that even the older model MoBo will handle a 2GB chip. (Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home! Leave it for a qualified member of “The Dark Side”).

Smitty, why not set up a dual-boot with Windows? Thereby giving you access to an editor with taste, errr, features?

Remaining hobbled with Emacs is tantamount to remaining in the wheelchair after the hip spica cast come off. Or worse yet, like voting Democrat…

-LTB
(Likes neither Emacs, wheelchairs nor Democrats)
Stogie
July 21st, 2010 @ 4:13 pm

I am learning to make YouTube videos myself, and need to find a good video camera. Smitty’s new camera sure makes clear and impressive images.

Thanks for that, Smitty.
Stogie
July 21st, 2010 @ 12:13 pm

I am learning to make YouTube videos myself, and need to find a good video camera. Smitty’s new camera sure makes clear and impressive images.

Thanks for that, Smitty.
smitty
July 21st, 2010 @ 4:18 pm

@LTB,
I speak enough vi to get around, but am a wholly converted emacs zealot. To compare emacs users to Democratic party voters is a scurrilous thing to do, sir. You may haze yourself at your own discretion.

Also, @Stacy, I’m a hopeless romantic and monogamist. And I’m on vacation with my wife. So competing with a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit video using this camera would neither suit my temperment nor my survival.
smitty
July 21st, 2010 @ 12:18 pm

@LTB,
I speak enough vi to get around, but am a wholly converted emacs zealot. To compare emacs users to Democratic party voters is a scurrilous thing to do, sir. You may haze yourself at your own discretion.

Also, @Stacy, I’m a hopeless romantic and monogamist. And I’m on vacation with my wife. So competing with a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit video using this camera would neither suit my temperment nor my survival.
smitty
July 21st, 2010 @ 5:47 pm

@Stogie,
It certainly has quite a bit going for it.
For strictly YouTube purposes, it may be overkill.
I do have some music projects in mind, which I used to bolster my case with the wife for making the purchase.
smitty
July 21st, 2010 @ 1:47 pm

@Stogie,
It certainly has quite a bit going for it.
For strictly YouTube purposes, it may be overkill.
I do have some music projects in mind, which I used to bolster my case with the wife for making the purchase.
Thomas L. Knapp
July 21st, 2010 @ 8:06 pm

Running Windows on a netbook is like filling the bed of your truck with river mud right before a road race.

I notice that Avidemux is available for Linux. You might want to check out Jolicloud, a netbook-optimized riff on Ubuntu; it might even have an automatic web-install for Avidemux. It completely revitalized an old netbook I have that choked even on Windows XP (900MHz Celeron, 1Gb Asus EEE PC 700).
Thomas L. Knapp
July 21st, 2010 @ 4:06 pm

Running Windows on a netbook is like filling the bed of your truck with river mud right before a road race.

I notice that Avidemux is available for Linux. You might want to check out Jolicloud, a netbook-optimized riff on Ubuntu; it might even have an automatic web-install for Avidemux. It completely revitalized an old netbook I have that choked even on Windows XP (900MHz Celeron, 1Gb Asus EEE PC 700).
Lipton T. Bagg
July 21st, 2010 @ 11:51 pm

@smitty:
“You may haze yourself at your own discretion.”

Not required Sir, as Ms. T. Bagg regularly takes care of such details. But I appreciate you extending the offer.

-LTB
Lipton T. Bagg
July 21st, 2010 @ 7:51 pm

@smitty:
“You may haze yourself at your own discretion.”

Not required Sir, as Ms. T. Bagg regularly takes care of such details. But I appreciate you extending the offer.

-LTB
theblogprof
July 22nd, 2010 @ 9:18 pm

Hey! I like my blogger ghetto!
theblogprof
July 22nd, 2010 @ 5:18 pm

Hey! I like my blogger ghetto!