resfest LA 2005 volunteer

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over the last week, i was a resfest 2005 volunteer at the los angeles egyptian theatre. for a few days and a few hours, i got to see inside a film festival, wander the various theaters, and get a feel for the management of the sales, will-call, and preparation for this unique electronic visual jaunt. the res media group personal are on to chicago for the final leg of the north american tour.

since the festival is digital, all a city really needs is a digital theatre and a input device, be it a tape, hard drive array, or satellite receiving station. the majority of images were HD, but some where at SD resolution. the star of the show was the new technology exhibits from panasonic and canon. resfest not only exhibited the latest in motion capture, motion graphics, animation, avant-garde cinema, and documentary, but previewed for the first time affordable high quality 720p and 1080p motion video capture. what used to cost $125,000 yesterday will be under $10,000 tomorrow. stay tuned.

interesting tech protocols

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technology advances, but not as fast as some would want. it used to be called web time, but since humans still build it, it still takes two years of software or hardware development to get something out the door for a fair price. take the introduction of the zigbee protocol. i first heard of zigbee in 2003, but only one company has commercialized the technology well, control 4. take LED LCD backlights. imagine driving a color display beyond the limited NTSC color gamut, but still only once company has product, sony qualia 005, but they too announced today that the qualia line is disappearing.

this Christmas season, i expect to see samsung, sharp, NEC, and other LCD display manufactures to latch on to high color gamut LED backlights, instead of a florescent light, or in a hybrid grid. zigbee any day now will be in the eaton electrical home heartbeat.

in a final note, tripp lite has finally released a product that works natively in mac OS X. ever since mac OS X jaguar, apple has provided system level USB uninterruptible power supply (UPS) support. only APC had products, but now tripp lite announced the SMART1000LCD for a great price and 1000VA.

next two weeks

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on the mac front, look for some exciting times. this week opens the largest mac gathering in europe called apple expo 2005. oracle open world 2005 exhibits opens this week. DEMOfall 2005 opens this week too. these shows and investor meetings have typically produced many new advancement in the history of technology.

sprint launched their ION system many years ago, while start-ups charge ahead with new software advancements. i think google picasa premiered at DEMO, but i may be wrong. look to cloak media to cover the relevant topics after these shows close.

8 year legacy

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it was after labor day 2004, that the presidential campaign began in ernest. people tuned in to hear the candidates espouse their positions on north korea, iraq, climate change, nuclear proliferation, and other global issues. now, a year later, we have the same tired president of five years ago.

i wonder if history will look back on this era and highlight the major foci of this generation. first we had 9/11, followed by the iraq occupation, followed by abu ghraib, and today katrina. this is my country’s legacy and heritage that will most likely outlive us all.

los angeles power problems

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someone shorted out the city of los angeles (LA). millions of customers of the LA department of water and power lost power at 12:30 PM on 12 september 2005, and half the city continued to be electricity free for most of the afternoon. it was a massive power surge that took out the city of los angeles.

this is a cold test of the vulnerability of LA to any type of attack. in a scenario of radiological or biological strike, a blackout event draws people out of their homes and business into the street to find out what happened. in a few short minutes the toxic agent is released, and since a bulk of the community is outdoors, gets an exposure. fortunately, it was not an attack, but shear incompetence. still, it is a terrible test that LADWP failed miserably, that a crossed wire could cripple a city for over three hours, and for some ten hours!

Cloak Media Portal Launch

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:
Ismael Rosales
PO BOX 16002
NORTH HOLLYWOOD CA 91615-6002
Cloak Media
http://www.cloakmedia.com/

Cloak Media Portal Launch

LOS ANGELES-September 8, 2005-Cloak Media introduces a web portal site dedicated to the coming solid state high definition entertainment and electronic news gathering workflows and toolsets. The site’s focus is on how Apple solutions like Final Cut Pro, Mac OS X Client, QuickTime, and Mac OS X Server meld into the new era, as video tape is eliminated and replaced by flash memory devices and video ingested to storage area networks (SAN).

Cloak Media news topics include the comparison of iSCSI SAN to fibre channel SAN, IBC 2005 Panasonic announcement of a prototype AG-HVX200 DVCPRO HD camcorder, next generation gigabit SAN via internet protocols (IP storage), Intel processors inside the Mac, and the software a media architect will use to transform information and broadcasting.

As computer platforms move into the living room, into palm sized devices, and into wireless devices, the production pipelines must become more effective, and demonstrate reductions in system administration. Use Cloak Media portal to manage the ebbing information technology maelstrom.

Pricing and Availability
The Cloak Media website, at www.cloakmedia.com is available immediately free of charge.

For Information: http://www.cloakmedia.com/

national tragedy

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the worse case scenario sometimes happens. in any disaster plan, always the question has to be asked: not that is the least likely outcome or least costly outcome, but what will hurt the most and how can we prepare for complete tragedy? the situation in the gulf coast region of the USA is a national scar and appalling.

in a recent press stop, while the president toured the area, the crude oil pipelines and mississippi river shipping lanes are 80% up and running, while people die of dehydration and starvation in the streets of new orleans. where is the berlin air drop? i see shadows of the fall of Bagdad, when the oil ministry was protected, while looters raided the city and burned it down.

now new orleans is baghdad! where was the planning for the worst case, that is now reality?

nemetschek and autodesk

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i am a nemetschek vectorworks customer, and for the longest time have been waiting for the nemetschek companies to start sharing their technology portfolio.

one compelling reason autodesk is a strong industry leader, is they leverage their entire software library and sister companies. autodesk acquired both discreet logic, maker of 3DS max and combustion, along with revit technology corporation and their revit application. when they exhibit, at the american institute of architects or other tradeshows, they show all their applications and a great workflow moving though the entire product suite. i hope nemetschek follows this trend, using allplan, vectorworks, and cinema 4D to make a fantastic suite than can compete with any autodesk offering.

i am interested in taking cinema 4D and vectorworks combined to generate human scale animations and presentations. i talked with maxon at the siggraph 2005 exhibition, and was told that each business arm of nemetschek operated independently, so much duplication of effort instead of collaboration. so autodesk rules the day with a great suite, and maxon, nemetschek north america, and nemetschek AG wither on the vine.

end of privacy

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we have no place to hide. the company (VNU) that owns nielson media research and other information gathering systems last month bought IMS health for 7 billion dollars.

IMS health collect data from pharmacies on what drugs people order and consume. now a more complete profile of buying trends will be developed to track your habits. this information will be supplied to the government and to the highest bidder. we are living in a “total information awareness” world. do we like it?

http://www.eff.org/Privacy/TIA/
http://www.epic.org/privacy/profiling/tia/

cruise with the devil

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in our country of many travel opportunities, often people enjoy a cruise on a luxury ship. if only they knew that most cruise lines do not pay a single cent in taxes, pay there employees in the neighborhood of $1.00 a day, and overall conditions are akin to a third world nation. take a listen to a recent interview on KPCC with kristoffer garin about his new book:

Devils on the Deep Blue Sea