Tucker's Tuesday Technology & Tertiary Trollings

Oh God, not Another Social Media Blog Post!

Originally Posted on rAVepubs.com January 24th, 2012

 

Guru, Sage, most exalted wizard!  Trust me I have been called worse, just ask my first wife <rimshot>.   At the risk of sounding terribly coquettish- I have had these names tagged to me at one point or another usually by some act of willful spitefulness.  To be clear,  I do not cotton to being called such names and if you ever hear me use these terms about me or anyone else run don’t walk, away as fast as you can.  

What I am is a social media enthusiast and I know you should be too.   Yes, I know you think you have heard it all before but this time I want you to listen.  Yes, listen for this blog post is simply an invitation to hear some truly inspirational individuals tell you why. 

AV Nation and rAVe Pubs have a new show, ‘AV Social’.  Social as in a the ole 50’s bobby sock Ice Cream social, or the AV industry version - Social as in single malt scotch sippin. The hosts and panelists are all AV people (and a few celebrities)  who share a passion for the industry and the great things that come of using online social communities to generate new jobs, support your clientele and develop business relationships you may never have had the opportunity or chance to make otherwise.

If you are a fan of AV Nation (and good heavens why would you not be!) the story of its origin may be familiar.  It all  started as a conversation on Google + between some  AV folks making contacts on the newest platform on the block.  Tim Albright  posted the statement -I’ have always wanted to do a show on the AV industry, how about you?’  Do you recall the old 1940’s musicals  where Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (bear with me Millennials) decided they needed  to put on a show and one says ‘We can use my Dad’s Garage!’.  AV Nation came about just like that; Tim had access to a good recording setup and the rest of us had ideas and lots of opinions and so a show was born. 

Why does this matter to you? 

Because it is about community not just, but sometimes, photos of my fabulous sushi lunch. Community includes not just your associates, team members and clients but the collective online AV industry.   These conversations with AV folks from around the street and across the country and the globe build relationships where you and your company can grow.  

If you know anyone who is an installer and spends time on Twitter then you have undoubtedly seen ‘#avtweeps’ at the end of many messages.  AVTweeps is a group that began to chat on twitter regularly about products, support issues, helpful resources as well as lunch, the game and anything else we thought interesting. The group was given its moniker by the irrepressible Johnny Mota, a designer, programmer, social enthusiast and regular contributor to the growing conversations.  What started out as a small group now numbers well over a thousand and includes major manufactures, trade periodicals  and trade organizations- we even have a prominent presence at trade shows like Infocomm and CEDIA .  If you are not joining in the conversation, or at least monitoring the posts or the monthly#avchat, you are missing out on great opportunities. 

The inaugural ‘AV Social’ show features a special guest who, I think, exemplifies just how powerful and constructive social media is for our industry.   

I am not a marketing type.  I do not have a degree in communications or design, nor have I studied advertising- (unless you consider reading ‘From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor’  or ‘The Clue Train Manifesto’ as  an education in these disciplines).  What I do have is a desire to help others and show the company I work for in the best, but honest, light.  Through my work in building a social plan and framework  from the ground up for a major AV  manufacture I found and helped resolve issues and concerns for clients both famous and reclusive by hearing their ‘cries into the wind’ on social. Most of these cries are an attempt to get the attention of the company an individual presumes to be at the center of an issue.  

This is how I met one Cindy Gallop.  Ms Gallop posted an aggrieved message on the night of the Grammy’s a few years back mentioning how my companies “tower of power” - as she called it- was on the fritz and was preventing her from watching the show.   Because I keep a set of keyword searches open and running on Tweetdeck I picked up on her message within minutes of her posting.  The main concern was to find a way to fix Cindy’s  issue immediately and barring that set the wheels in motion to get her dealer in the loop quickly. 

Only later, after several conversations and following her twitter account did I realize that Ms Gallop is quite famous - even infamous.  She is a world expert in marketing and company branding giving talks on the subject of social media, cultural influence and advertising around the globe and is a TED icon.  Cindy is what we like to affectionately call an influencer, that is a central person whose opinion is respected and attended to by others.  This is not why I jumped to help her when the system she spent a good deal of money caused her consternation but our conversations turned to a relationship that continued long after I departed the manufacturer.  

How important is having a social media presence?  Important enough that Ms. Gallop agreed wholeheartedly to join us on our little start up of a show for the full hour - even when I provided several built in escape hatches for her into the show-  based on a relationship started in a twitter conversation.

Take a listen to the show when it posts Wednesday January 25th  and find out why we are such evangelists about turning customers into clients.

 

 

Dell Computer News Aggregation - Whoopsie

 

A few days ago I re-posted John Huntington's intriguing post about the persistent bad audio grounding issues on the Dell computers - specifically Laptops. 

It would appear that Dell has a blog and news aggregator site which is very interesting.  Unfortunately the site does not seem to have a very good content filter.  As you can see at the bottom of this screen capture my post showed up in its feed.  

Now if Dell contacts me, or better yet the real authority and the original author of the article, John, that would be something. 

Hey Dell, are you listening or simply regurgitating?  

(Do not even get me started on how irked my Dell XPS makes me... the computer has sucked wind from the day I got it).  

You can find the RSS feed here

Dell Computer - Serious Audio Grounding Issue

My friend John Huntington of Controlgeek.net  just posted a video of Dell computer's serious, and I mean serious, audio grounding issue.  

 

Yet another Dell Laptop Audio Grounding Problem from John Huntington on Vime

 

See John's post at Controlgeek.net for more info.  And by the way, if you are not reading John's Blog on a regualr basis you are sorely missing out.   Go now and subscribe to him.

 

Updated: 1/28/12

I just found out that the above post was in preparation for a more expansive article on whether the vinyl graphics (which many live show now use to hide speakers and advertise for the sponsor) have any adverse effect on the sound.

You can see that post here: http://www.controlgeek.net/blog/2012/1/27/do-graphic-vinyl-banners-affect-sound-transmission.html

 

 

 

This is Not a CES post, Not a CES Post

Originally posted on on Ravepubs, January 19th, 2012

 

This is not a post about CES, No, not at all.  But as you brought it up - just a few thoughts

CES is huge, I mean really huge.  You may think that Infocomm or CEDIA is large but neither one of these have left our dear friend Richard Fregosa curled up in tiny trembling ball on the plush carpet of the LG booth. Actually this did not happen, nor do I suspect Mr Fregrosa exhibits any
public displays of trembling- ever.  It is I who would suffer the ‘who put my knees on backwards today’ walk from canvasing the infinity that is CES.  And yes, I would wind up a puddle on the LG carpet, a booth babe nervously poking at me to see if I was still breathing. Just reading RF’s twitter posts and blog missives for CEPro have me holed up in the corner of my office with the first heat rash symptoms of a  trade show specific agoraphobia.  

When a show can be compared to the infinite universe you know for sure that it is just too damn big.  Watching the Twit.tv folks record iPad Today live walking around the ‘iLounge’ section of the show and twice realize that they had left the section only after someone pointed it out to them -just made me happy it was them not me.

You might argue that the show obviously needs to be as large as it is, just look at all the booths they filled and all the attendees. Phil Swann of TV Predictions.com summed up my feelings when he tweeted:

“@SwanniOnHD: Hard to believe the stuff u see on the #CES2012 floor; much should have been left on the cutting room floor”

Then there is the Gizmodo post by Mat Honan . Gizmodo lives and breaths this stuff so it is worth noting when he says:

“Then it's time for a meeting, so I scuttle out through a maze of ocular and aural assaults, past booth after booth of headset-wearing pitchmen doing their best Billy Mays. Deep in the middle of the din, I meet yet another PR person whom I'll never see again in my life, and settle in for a demo of another product I already know I'm not going to write about.”

With too much space to fill we find ourselves swallowed up in detritus and ephemera.

We, as a culture, are fervently fond our ability to spread out, to take up space. Our homes are a testament to this early pioneer spirit of owning our own spread.  It is also a testament to an entire economy which fuels innumerable bloated shows  full of stuff to fill our abodes with.

In my last post “Knit One, Purl Two”  I touched on the opportunities and advantages of going small - how compression can generate new and exciting ideas. Limitations are liberating, forcing new solutions and even revisiting older ones that we should not have abandoned, Like moderate homes with porches.

I own a fairly modest home, a 1901 colonial which, with the finished attic, is about 1900 square feet.  This is, in reality much too much space.  In reality I only use about half the space for actual living, the rest just accommodates stuff - mostly items I do not need and could be put to better use.  The house was purchased as it fit my other priorities of being near mass transit and within walking distance of a local deli/grocery store/ bara porch, this and the small patch of green in the back.  Given my druthers I would have preferred a smaller house on the same lot with less house  more grass and more porch.  So yes size does matter, just not how we have been taught.  

Recently my wife and I performed the annual post X-mas purge of toys, clothes and other miscellaneous items from the house. Each time we do this, (and we do it at least twice a year which is two times too few for me), I am appalled at the sheer volume of items we have accumulated which we have no real need for.  I think part of the issue is that we actually have the space to keep all this flotsam and jetsam. My parents, most likely subconsciously, purchase too many things for the kids because we can fit it. While anecdotal, when we lived in an apartment the items the grandparents brought in were far less and smaller.

I KNOW it will draw guffaws and hackles but  there is much to said for houses that concentrate on function rather than flash.  I am particularly fascinated with the work of Lugi Colani’s Rotor House concept design or perhaps something along the lines of Normal Projects Origami apartment.  The attraction here is beautiful design with emphasis on natural light and economy of space by creating multifunction without appearing industrial.  While the homes are in the vein of Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie homes these homes far more than ranch homes redux, the point is more environmental rather than ornamental.  

There is a larger social effect beyond taking up less space. In a time before ubiquitous air conditioning folks would spend a great deal of time on their porches and stoops - knowing their neighbors and keeping an eye the general welfare of the area. Even today, communities where people use their porches on a regular basis tend to have  lower crime rates.  These communities also generate less trash and are greener in general in particular, if not completely, because there is less space to accumulate random stuff. The trend may be bad for the folks from ‘American Pickers’ and CES exhibitors but not our industry.

In the cloud based future there is less need to have and store a physical medium, for example our playback and storage devices are small and mostly portable.  The trend is for more personal listening (headphones and headphone amps were everywhere at the show, every online magazine commented on just how pervasive the units were).  Even when a more traditional listening experience is desired the new compact speaker systems are comparable with their larger space hogging brethren -(taking into account economy of scales).   

This would, of course, mean a shift in just what and how home media and automation items are created and sold.  Homeowners will be more interested in controls and media delivery that lives and moves from personal device to the home and back again.  Interoperability, quick replacement transition and customization will be the hallmarks of a new mass market controls.

We may feel a bit pressured by this coming small world but the trends of global urbanization and explosion of multifunction products that incorporate a video monitor, storage, Internet connectivity and control in one box show an inevitable path.. This years CES dichotomy of too much floor space and compact offerings are the rune stones. But then again we were not talking about CES, were we?

DIY Show - I'm a LumberJock and That's Okay!

My AV Nation Podcast "The DIY show" is up- Episode 2 'I'm a Lumberjock & that's Okay!" 

Anthony Zotti, Jonathan Danforth,Michael Francis, andRJ of DIY Light Animation. Episode 2 of the DIY show: Jonathan takes over the helm as host and we discuss Michael’s first Christmas light show, RJ’s great forum, 3D printing, what makes a DIYer and our favorite resources for information and inspiration.

 

 Click the image to access the show

Do you like it? Hate it ? let us know (hey, wanna be on? just contact me and we will make room at the table!"

Dance Yer Pants Off!

It's Friday!  So Dance your Pants off  - Any way you can and in your own Style.  Keep it -Your - Real

 

 

These are my two boys ( who I have since dubbed Rooster, green hat, and Gonzo, Red Hat) working the song  Fire Burning by Sean Kingston this past summer.  

The video Acutally got me Banned in Germany! 

 

Father Time! */shakes fist in air/*

 

 

So this happened.

 

Essentially this is the generic Lipitor
 

• “Livalo (pitavastatin) belongs to a group of medicines called HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, or "statins." Livalo reduces levels of "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL) and triglycerides in the blood, while increasing levels of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL).
• Livalo is used to treat high cholesterol in adults. Lowering your cholesterol may help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries, conditions that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease.”

And with it  the last remnants of my youth have drifted away like a silk scarf  in the wind.

I had not been to the doctor in a bit, (yeah I know- typical male),  and being told I had high cholesterol was a bit of a surprise.  I am not a terrible eater but alas I do have my foibles and get way too little exercise.

In fact I was more paranoid that I would be facing a more terrible prospect of colon cancer.  I am not generally paranoid about my health but as it had been much too long between checkups I envisioned some serious malfunctions being present inside me.  We have all heard the stories of a person discovering that they have only months to live after a long overdue checkup. Indeed I have been feeling off lately with an upset stomach (and bathroom issues to boot) and restless sleep.  In general  my sleep is a delft imitation a rock- and after my last bout with insomnia I was on a heightened sense of alert.

Somewhere I read (if it is on the Internet then it’s true, no?) that these could be symptoms related to prostrate cancer and so the seed was planted.  Yet I did not move on getting this checked out sooner. Why? More on the whole prostate exam thing in another post, I am still gauging my emotions. 

To be honest, I was too damn busy.  This and part of me knew that a certain amount of unreasonable paranoia had crept into my brain.   Being  a skeptic at heart I wrangle with what feelings of intuition are culturally fed poppy cock and what is simple attentiveness to my own body and surroundings.  Like many I work long hours at a job, wolfing down my lunch at my desk, then a couple of more on personal projects after the kids have settled into bed and the wife is watching her reality shows. Most of this sitting down.

I used to exercise all the time.  Heck when we lived in Manhattan and Park Slope my transportation more often than not consisted of my well worn in-line skates.  If it was above 40 degrees- I was on my skates making time on the streets of NYC.  Then we moved to the suburbs.  The Ramones line come to mind

“Nothing to do and no where to go”

Good grief people - I may have a nice backyard (small as it is) but there really is nothing to do here that does not require a membership or ten minutes in the car (more sitting) minimum to get there.  To be honest I was a bit discouraged by the lack of outdoor social activity but I had a saving grace:

When I worked as the manager of technical support at Crestron Electronics my job required that I be on my feet, prowling the floor for techs in need or anything that would delay the call queue.   This meant hours standing and wearing a path in the carpet as I moved from one cubicle cluster to another.   Then I was given a real desk job writing copy and building social communities and my arteries never looked back.  

My doctor states that there are no side effects for me to to worried about.  Now this makes me worried about my doctor.   Really Doc! - no side effects... wait what?  You do realize that this is a Statin  don’t you?!  No joke  the warnings include:

• In rare cases, Livalo can cause a condition that results in the breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue, leading to kidney failure. Call your doctor right away if you have unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness especially if you also have fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine.

• Avoid drinking alcohol. It can raise triglyceride levels and may increase your risk of liver damage   (Emphasis mine )

‘Avoid Alcohol’ !   Hell people, despite what Dr. Keith Ablow says I am an AV guy, beer, whiskey and gin are mama’s milk.  

This has me more determined than ever to work toward getting off these meds.  I have three months to accomplish the task and bring by bad level to under 130. (i am at 140 now).  

I have begun to find that I am closer in age to my dad than I have ever been before. How’d that happen?

 

 

Are You Going Dark tomorrow to protest SOPA/ PIPA?

Are You Going Dark tomorrow to protest SOPA/ PIPA?

   image from: http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/stop-sopa-code-go-dark/

A simple piece of code is helping the entire web (from major sites to even the humblest of Tumblrs) go dark in solidarity. The code, called STOP SOPA, replaces any site’s landing page with a black screen. Using your mouse a flashlight uncovers a message explaining the need to kill SOPA and a link to anti-SOPA site AmericanCensorship.org.

 

http://mashable.com/2012/01/17/stop-sopa-code-go-dark/

Knit One, Purl Two

Originally published on rAVe Pubs December 16th, 2011

 

"If you want to destroy this sweater - Just pull this thread as I walk away...”

- Weezer

Go ahead 'n' pull, you might get what you want or a surprise worth waiting for, depending on yourpoint of view. With the music business  still in disarray and profits bleeding out like a moonshine still at the wrong end of a ATF shotgun, the pundits have declared, yet again, Rock’s demise.

A recent article on CNN discussed the rise of (pop) Country Music sales and radio play as other genres are waning, which *of course* was accompanied buy the hackles of "Rock/ Rap is Dead/Dying.”

There is no denying that modern country music has been on the rise for some time. Hell, NYC has had at least two successful country radio stations.  I have nothing against country music -- well, I do have a lot against country pop, more on that below.  I am a fan of the true roots hillbillies like Hank Williams, the current alt rock decedents of Hank -  Lucero and the rockabilly revivalist Reverend Horton Heat. Unless you want to get caught up in a day long discussion of music history and Situationist aesthetics don’t even hint at asking  me about my Jan Dek fetish.

I do not dislike pop music because it is so prevalent but because it is too easy to like. Top 40 songs are genetically engineered to draw you in and crash your mind on to the rocks of  the island of the Sirens. These songs do not ‘stimulate the little grey cells’ - as Hercule Poirot would say- rather they lull them into a catatonic state suppressing the desire for challenging compositions.  Admit it, you have caught yourself humming along with the muzak in elevator.... and if alone, enjoyed it.  Oh yes you have, and  I’ll bet a dollar bill that you tapped your foot, too.   

It is undeniable that mainstream rock and rap sales have been in decline recently, but  I would not go so far as to start dusting off and updating the obituaries.  These genres have been pushed into smaller spaces - off into the anterooms.  I find this to be an opportunity.

Unlike many I am quite comfortable in small space, the constraints actually promote more creativity by forcing new angles of thought on how to get around them (more about this in my next post).  I could emulate William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch Story telling or Jan Dek’s (I told you I am obsessed) musical interpretations and smash the boundaries à la the 1984 commercial.  Yet, even these follow strict rules and delineation -- just not the ones we have been previously accustomed to.  

Smaller spaces or musical communities can generate more heat - (canned heat?) - confined as they are, once things get cooking.  Underground or regional collectives who have been pushed to the out-lands can grow in what seems a blur and wind up creating  some remarkable sounds and genre bending without the need to seek a more global acceptance.  These tight collectives can also be incestuous and regrettably, (or thankfully depending on how macabre your persuasions are) produce the musical equivalent of the Blue Fugates.  

A well known Alternative/ Punk pioneer often stated that he professionally looked forward to Republican administrations as it stirred up the emotions of the bands and fans (who would often go on to form their own bands).  The message?  Constrictions, or the appearance of, can generate incredible bursts of creativity.  It also generates an exponential explosion of distinct sub-genres.  This would seem counter-intuitive at first unless you have an appreciation for Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail and the theory of "a thousand true fans." 

The Long Tail upturns a few of the ‘standard models’ of business by showing that a good deal of money can be made in producing not just a few select items, but an entire swath of niche market items, each with their own community of dedicated clientele.

The theory of a thousand true fans postulates - Just how many fans paying (x) amount to you per year would you need to survive and produce your art.  Many independent artists are experimenting with some form of this Kevin Kelly-promoted idea, from Radiohead to Thomas Dolby (have you see his new performances, wow, just wow) to the newUnderground Rap movement.  Think about this for a moment: if you were able to garner a thousand fans who paid you $75 dollars a year, or $75,000, would this be enough?  $75 sound like too much? How about $40 a year, plus concerts/appearance fees. Would this be enough to give you the freedom to create content and access and live comfortably?

While the old school business models may be struggling with a smaller real estate footprint, some are finding opportunity.  Just look at what Louis CK did by providing  a $5 DRM-free product and wound up earning $200k in less than seven days.


My sweater may be undone, but  I still have a stitch in time to create.  Knit one, Purl Two.

 

 

Best. Damn. Music. Show. Ever. Period!

Originally from my Tumblr blog 'Tucker's Tertiary' 

If you are interested in Indie music (or alternative, Punk, proto-punk or what ever other tag you declare your music), I highly recommend listening to The Big Take Over Magazine’s Radio Show this week and next!

Actually you should listen every week and subscribe to the best music magazine ever, yes ever, created. The magazine has been dedicated to the indie music scene for over 30 years with great writing, interviews and reviews of bands you only see there first.

Back to the shows - it is Jack Rabid’s (the publisher of BTO) year in review shows - in two Parts! How could I have missed so much good music?!

The Magazine - http://www.bigtakeover.com
The Radio Show - http://www.breakthruradio.com/#/post/?blog=21&post=1081

 

Some X-Mas Music (better than you think) \m/

Putting out the presents with a little different X-mas music.  "ENOUGH with the #@$%ing Lite FM songs!  Thousands of songs from the Mississippi blues to shred metal and all they can play are the same 20 songs!?  Sheesh.   

Here, cleanse your pallet on these 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forget the Zombies, LinkedIn Snowmen are on the Loose

 LinkedIn gets cute with a winter solstice themed profile "connection"

 If you are a regular user of LinkedIn you have no doubt seen the little box to the right which shows you how many people have  viewed your profile in the last 15 days.  The box also invites you to click on it and see who.  This, of course, is a clever way to entice you into purchasing an upgrade package, which then allows you to see everyone who has tapped your profile -( the 'free' version provides a handy graph and a list of five or six people.  Often this is masked as 'Someone who hires people like you for big, we mean BIG salaries.  Upgrade NOW or lose out in being Rich beyond your wildest dreams!" 

Well, every so often, LinkedIn gets cute in this game.  Today I was told that Snow E. Mann - an independent Snow removal  management  expert - viewed my profile.  Clicking the link brought up a very nice holiday greeting.  

Still think LinkedIn is just a stuffy resume site? 

 

 

I Say a Dirty Word - Redux- A Plan Into Action

  - Ruminations on a Maker Faire Virgin starting a DIY Podcast 
   (from My AV Nation podcast blog)

 

Hello, my name is George and I am Maker Virgin.   Hello George!

I have spent more of my life as an audio visual installer/ programmer and professional live event person than I have not; yet I am intensely interested in the folks who spend months of their personal time creating ‘extreme Christmas lights’ and the Raymond Scott  like creations of Circuit Benders.

(No, this is not me) 

 I have to admit that my first exposure to the  electronics DIY community was a mix of emotions, it intrigued me but I was of the opinion that it was amateur hour stuff - like the folks at bars on New Years eve. The Christmas lights were cute and sometimes impressive, but I had “real work” to do. 

My opinion reflected that of many in the home  AV business - a look down the nose dismissive shrug - and frankly many took the attitude that the DIY market was either a simple annoyance or a place to find new work fixing/ replacing a failed attempt.   

What I (and many of my associates) failed to see was the quality of work, the dedication and sophisticated ability to create ‘a product’ from building the circuits to synchronizing the sequences.  Many of us missed the rise of the Maker movement - Just how could have we done that?  Well ProSound News did not .

 

When I worked as a technical support manager for a major Manufacturer of home automation systems I found many of the techs were, in fact, huge DIY/ Maker folks- and why wouldn’t they be?  Nearly all AV techs entered the industry because they loved to get their hands on these amazing systems. We love to solder, design and program - we did it prior to our official employment, why would we stop now?

Some would argue that we as a group had access to some of the most advanced home AV and automation gear in the industry and would therefore stop playing with toys.   Ahh but there is a great and natural pleasure with crafting something with your own hands.  The satisfaction of building from the ground up a system that operates how you KNOW it should be and doing things that no other product on the market does, well there is no matching that feeling. 

I wrote a blog post for RAVE Publications on this subject entitled ‘I Say a Dirty Word’ advocating for a more aggressive outreach from the ‘Professional’ community. The response was amazing - a few detractors spoke up but overall the Pro community said ‘yes, yes, yes and yes again’.  

Here we found the genesis for the DIY show on AVNation.tv.  The first episode is posted and you have generated more hits for the show in a single week than any other show we have produced so far.  I am awe struck at the positive reactions from folks at DIYLightAnimation  and Do It Yourself Christmas.com  and at Maker Magazine .  We hope to have fine folks from these forums on the next show, scheduled to post on January 11 (and then second Wednesday of each month afterwards. ). 

We want your voice too!  Are you interested in being a panelist on the DIY show?  contact me here or on the show page!

Best Musical Find of 2011- Charles Bradley

~From my Tumblr Blog~

 

Charles Bradley - ‘The Screaming Eagle of Soul’ - and his band the Extraordinaires, Best Musical Find of 2011

I posted this on the Audyssey’s Facebook site in response to a question about the best find of the year. Up until two weeks ago I would not have even known Charles Bradley’s name (i most likely would have thought someone meant to say former NBA player and odd ball personality Charles Barkley or band Narls Barkley ).

Charles Bradley’s performance on WNYC’s local music show ‘SoundCheck’ featured an interview and live performance with the man and his voice. It is just stunning. Breathtakingly so.

Forget that kid who backhanded Micheal Buble. CB is the real deal.

Take my advise - cue up this video, and crank it loud (yes, to 11 wise guy). If you have crappy speakers get a good pair of cans on your head, (I highly recommend Sony MDR-V6’s), and prepare to weep with joy.

Yeah, it’s that damn good.

Next: Go and Buy his album. He may very well blow out his voice before the end of next year - enjoy it while you can. The original Sound Check interview can be heard here.

 

Fast Company No Like Me - Rejects Remote Comments

I rather despise moderated comments, especially on major sites like Fast Company.  I do understand the reasoning though, I mean it IS the wild n' wolly Internet. True, I am a bit Sybil on this.  

Fast Company has an article on the new remote, comparing the histoical content provider (Dish, Cable, etc) supplied units with the new gleaming consumer app driven tablets and smartphones. Granted I did refer to an old post of my that touches on this subject, exepct mine rejects the newy for the old and makes reference to weighted gain knobs as influenced by Miss September 1963.  

This or the comments monitor does not like to counter all the corporate market quotes. 

Alas - here is my commet, for the record. 

I must take a, somewhat,  contrarian view to this article.  While there is a certain allure to the simplified remote and the titanium encased tablet am I alone in feeling that the iPad is well, soul-less in comparison? I am troubled by the frictionless gloss of icons, I miss the tactile feel of a physical interface.  

Perhaps it is simple nostalgia but I long for the clickty-clack-clunk of an 8-track tape, the solid mechanical ka-chunk of open reel tape decks, and the tactile feel and response of weighted gain knobs. I am not sure just why I love these knobs so much, the sheer pleasure of them in my hand – they just feel right, perfectly balanced in my fingers and against my palm. something the smartphones and tablets just do not recreate.

Do not trust the device manufactures to come up with a dramatic method or control experience. Despite claims by the very same that it is the content providers ( Dish, Cable, etc) who are restricting new interfaces by churning out millions of ‘clunky’ remotes into the hands of users - (who have become ‘accustomed’ to it via muscle memory) - no real alternatives have come out.  Does everyone forget the disaster of the Sony Commander? No wonder we stick with tactile response devices provide.  

http://tuckerstuesday.typepad.com/tuckerstuesday/2010/10/8-bit-nostalgia-and-miss-september-63s-influence-on-tactile-controls-.html

 

Huge Mars Water Deposits Found - Davey Martin Being Sought for Questioning

Gizmodo reports  that the European Space Agency's Mars Express Spacecraft has found what appears to be a huge reservoir of water :

"Phlegra Montes mountain range, in a region where radar probing indicates large volumes of water ice are hiding below. This could be a source of water for future missons"

This is astonishing news that has serious implications to our understanding of where life could be, has been or might be supported in the future (i.e. Human colonization).   Not that we should be surprised; this has been predicted, almost to a T in a science fiction story.

If you have been following the Science Channel's  "Prophets of Science Fiction" series you are well acquainted with plethora of predictions made by science fiction writers.  One writer in particular, Arthur C. Clarke,  author of  the story -The Sentinel - which became the  movie 2001, actually invented the communications satellite. 

But we weren't talking about satellites, no, we were looking at the (most probable) discovery of a large body of water just below the surface of  Martian mountain range. The author who predicted this is not yet one of the fine writers featured on the Science Channel show, it was one Chris Gall and the story  is one of my boys favorites, (along with 'Theo and the Blue Note and a reprint of a 1900's version of  'Twas the Night Before Christmas' -(yeah, we read it all year round))

 There's NOTHING to do on MARS" (by Chris Gall)  is the tale of one Davey Martin who, with his family, have sought out the quiet and isolation of Mars.  Davey's parents are content but the Boy is bored with no friends but his trusty dog and no beaches to swim in.  In addition both the Martins and the Marians have no water to bathe in, that is until Davey and  his dog polaris climb  a very unique looking mountain and unleash a bottled up ocean.  

 

Yup,  this gorgeously illustrated kids picture book predicted just how Martian water would be found. Pretty much. 

 I am thinking of starting a petition to the Science Channel demanding this book/author be included in next seasons offerings.   

I also suggest that you check out Mr. Gall's site - I am digging his other works and have a few more books added to "The kids just need these under the tree' list. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is Bobby Valentine Mo Berg Reborn?

Is Bobby Valentine Mo Berg Reborn?

As you may know Bobby Valentine, former NY Mets manager and one of the kookier baseball personalities, is being considered for the manager position with the Boston Red Sox.

Listening to the Michael Kay show interview Al Liter about Bobby V’s possible career move and how Al thought of him as ‘entirely different level of baseball knowledge’ and waxed rhapsodic about Valentine’s intelligence. Suddenly I had the craziest thought - a connection equal in impact to the discovery of a (time traveler?!) using a cell phone in a 1920’s Charlie Chaplin film

Then the thought struck me- Is Bobby V the reincarnation of Moe Berg?

If you are unfamiliar with Mo Berg, he is one of the odder individuals to play the game. A backup catcher who never hit over .234 for his career yet was part of many international all star games rubbing elbows with the likes of Babe Ruth. Why? Mo Spoke Japanese, Russian, German and a host of other languages as well as having a scientific background and an uncanny understanding of the game of baseball. (Starting to sound familiar?). Moe Berg was also the subject of a book and PBS NOVA show entitled - “The Catcher was a Spy”…

It’s about the fate of the free world my friend; the fate of the free wolrd!

 

HR 3261 Will Give You Cancer

An open tumblr letter to my local Congressional representatives.

Nita Lowey, Eliot Engle, Chuck Schumer

I am posting here to voice my opposition to HR 3261. This bill appears to have been written by the corporations (not the individual senators) with the sole purpose of stifling creativity and innovations.

while I understand the underlying motivations for the bill, SOPA is akin to fixing a cut on one’s finger by chopping off the hand.

I will be watching my representatives vote on this very carefully.

STOP HR 3261 contact your Congressionanl representitive and tell them to stop it! 

 

 

Occupy - show the real power of Social Media

Want to see the real power of social media ?  See the live multichannel streaming coverage from the Occupy Wall street protesters.  

Love em or hate em there is a real show of power with their 'leaderless' movement with how they are getting the word out with social media.   ( I wrote more on what I think is going on with the Rhyme and Reason  here -- http://tumblr.com/ZwGBZyATEg5Y

In addition to an army of bloggers who understand how SEO and re- messaging works.  The older white collective that makes up the Tea Party may have an understanding (and love from) the traditional media (read broadcast TV) but the #occupy folks have the new media crown. 

 

the video feed is embeded here: 

 

I Say A Dirty Word

DIY is Your Friend   -(originally published on Ravepubs.com)

 

Now that the noise and overstimulating barrage of products, specifications, digital signage and  the after effects of copious  adult beverages has diminished- I  want to propose what may seem a counter intuitive idea. Blasphemy even. 

 

The DIY home control fan is your best bet for future client growth. Yes I said that out loud. 

 

A few weeks ago AV nations’ podcast AVweekdiscussed how the retrofit market has grown by 23%  over the last year. This is pure economic necessity where new build homes  are becoming rarer than a Javan Rhinoceros, with less new build work coming in you need to find jobs to keep the trucks rolling. In an economy that has flirted with death spirals it is the enthusiasts who will shell out hard cash for such toys.

 

Admittedly, many of us in the install world have viewed DIY’ers  with the same forced tolerance we give a girlfriends yipping little dog. (yeah, I wouldn't allow the damn thing into the bedroom if I could help it either). 

 

For years the press has been abuzz declaring the industry is on the precipice of mass market acceptance, proclaiming that now is the time where integrated home control will be viewed as necessary as indoor plumbing. Perhaps my home sits in an aberration of the space time continuum because it is not happening here. Maybe where you live?  Thought not.

 

Who will drive the push to demand a touch panel in every kitchen? The DIY revolutionists. This push is similar to the early days of radio. When broadcast radio started in the early part of the 20th century most radio receivers were built by hobbyists from purchased plans or kits- it was not until the mid 1920’s that ready built receivers were sold in stores. Who, I dare ask you, started the home computer market?  Some us are old enough to remember being able to buy a home computer only via a build it yourself kit, through the mail only. 

 

The custom install business once was based on a top down supply chain - Manufacturers heard from dealers about a need for a product and added it to an already existing eco-system, usually proprietary and partnered with other proprietary third party manufactures. The standard consumer or ‘pro-sumer’ products lived in their own world and ‘never the twain’ met’. 

 

Now clients are bringing off the shelf products to dealers and asking them to incorporate it into a larger system.  Arguments about audio quality, durability and multi purpose use are pushed aside.  In effect the high and ‘low’ end products are meeting in the middle.  Case in point  the iPod.  Many manufactures of high end products resisted integrating the device arguing that their level of clientele wanted, nay, demanded a higher quality sound source.  Can you name an integration company that does not offer an iPod / mp3 interface?  Where again are the product decisions being made from now? 

 

But then again you and me are DIY’ers, are we not?  I would aim to guess that most of you reading this got your start by installing an off the shelf product then tinkering with it to make it work ‘right’.  

 

Lutron has been selling to the DIY client for over a decade with products available at the Home Depot, Lowe’s and other electronic box stores.  This campaign of using the main company brand has not diminished its commercial  or custom residential market-share. At this years CEDIA the company introduced a a battery powered shade that is available as a consumer installed and CE model that can connect to a larger home automation system.  The units, beyond a bit of extra hardware are exactly the same.  

 

There are issues in reaching out to the DIY community and some  in the group will be unwilling to listen and some will react as if attacked, but if handled properly it can reap the great reward of lifelong clients. To engage the community one has to check their professional ego at the door and remember that you are sharing knowledge not teaching. 

 

How do you find the people who could be come potential clients in this community? 

 

Think about the guy who designs, builds and programs synchronized Christmas lights for their home. I am sure you must have a ton of them in your area, go ahead and reach out to them.  I know, this can seem like the joke about the dog who chases cars - what are you going to do once you catch it?  The Idea is to get them into your shop and into the idea that ‘pro’ gear is something that they want and can afford as well.   

 

How do you entice and work with this community without it interfering and congesting your showroom during business hours?  

 

How about some seminars on the essentials of control with classes such as How Serial works or expanded programming techniques ( what is an variable array, how Boolean logic works) and wiring techniques for proper outdoor use (like how and what to use for an outdoor splice). how about loaning out some work space to the class members for building and checking  their holiday systems?

 

When the conversation comes to  the home I have had success in with discussing these topics:

 

Reliability - especially when connecting to security / fire systems

 

Partner comfort - we all know that at least one partner in the home is a technophobe or has become frustrated with using  a constantly updated DIY system. Why not sell the one system to the non tech in the house that will rarely change or go down. (thereby giving the DIY guy more time to tweak his other projects in peace)

 

Insuring that the system allows for some changes or add-ons to be accomplished by homeowner. Having the ability to change presets, some macros and backgrounds fills the need to feel ‘in control’ for many. Yes, this means some more programming, but I am at loss as to why you would not have this available already.  Do you really make any profit by sending a tech over to a client's home to change one preset channel? ( I used to have a default settings stored in the program, just in case the client managed to get themselves into a corner). 

 

Service contracts -  Yup, I will save your butt when you muck something up for a small fee each month. 

 

Now before you get yourselves in as froth, I am not saying you should teach these folks how to take your job. No sir.  I am suggesting a grass roots community building by teaching and supporting a safer and more educated client base. These folks can be drawn into your shop during non business hours, once a month, where you can show off some of the solutions your company provides. 

 

Tsunamis are more often than not deceptive in the appearance - not appearing as 20-foot tall waves but a powerful and sudden rush. Are you ready to ride the wave?

 

AV Week Episode 10 - "Oh Canada"

we mock our northern neighbors, take one for team ,  have serious moment -(ha' who we kiddin?) #avtweeps

 

Episode 10 of AV Week brings new blood with Adrian Boyd, Matt Scott returns as our international correspondent, and George Tucker joins us.

We talk about AV Week, the InfoComm industry celebration of all things AV. Cheryl Regan from ICIA gives us some tips and ideas on how to promote the industry where you live.

Crestron has killed a long beloved product; we mourn the passing of the Adagio line. How would you like a control system you can control with your brain? We’ll explain. Also, George explains how to build your very own satellite. Plus, we have the next big market for you integrators… senior citizens.

http://www.avnation.tv/avweek-episode-10-oh-canada/

The Greatest Game on Earth

From my Tumblr Blog: http://tuckerstertiary.tumblr.com/

The Greatest Game on Earth

Hockey season is upon but unless you are of an extreme northern clime or in one of the rare ‘hockey towns’ you most likely had not noticed.

The game gets short shrift from many, if it gets any attention at all, despite the drama and unrelenting action three twenty minute periods provide.

I do not come from a hockey family. If we watched sports at all it was the ubiquitous NFL or college basketball, neither of which really drew me to the television or had me checking the sports pages for the latest standings.

I remember the exact moment that the game became more than just something we played when on a frozen pond -(remember when ponds used to freeze over every winter?). I was given the gift of a 13” black and white television as reward for - finally- doing well in school. (Ninth grade was a turning point for me both academic and personal). The TV while in my room had some very strict rules attached to it. It was not be be turned on until my homework was done and would be taken away if my grades fell below a B average. It was just after finishing some geometry problems that I walked over (remember remotes were not a standard item back then) and flipped on the TV only to find it was on channel 9 (WOR-TV) with the New York Islanders battling the Buffalo Sabers early in the second period.

The broadcast was a revelation, even squinting into the tiny colorless screen it was like meeting the love of your life from across a crowded room on a chance glance into her eyes. I must have stood there through the rest of the game because only when it ended did I notice that the clock read 10 pm. I will admit that I did not entirely understand all the rules just then and often lost track of just what was going on but it fascinated me like no other sport. Why am I so enamoured? The action is continuous - it flowed where other sports seem to drag, it is fast and yes aggressive.

Hockey does have some road blocks to gaining a more populist following -

It starts the official season in the midst of Baseball playoffs, the start of Basketball and a critical time of the early football season. The airwaves are congested with sports news and hockey’s third or fourth tier status slides it further to the periphery.

The season is just too damn long. Even for die hard hockey fans the 80 game per team season stretching into late May and mid June boarders on ridiculous. Honestly I would love an October to March season, but the team owners will never agree to a loss of home games.

It is violent. Sure other sports have contact as a main component of the game but hockey is only behind Rugby and Boxing in the degree to which violence is essential to the game. The echos of late 70’s hockey as exemplified by the movie Slapshot! still defines the sport, not entirely unjustly so, for many. The reputation for fighting was so pervasive in the early 80’s that many found truth in the joke ‘ it was an exciting night, I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out”. The league has made a good deal of effort to reduce excessive fighting by officially shunning enforcers ( players whose only role is to be able to skate passably and target other players).

Hockey’s sub tier status can also be a part of its allure, this small semi secret club where fans recognize each other and will commiserate with that nod or a four hour discussion on the merits of one goalies style of play over another. We even have a secret handshake, no really.

Like all other sports it is the drama and personal story lines that drive the emotional connection to each game - I have a favored team, the New York Rangers -(my Islanders fandom is viewed by my friends as a folly of youthful indulgence. Something to rib me about but not hold over my head. Heck, I have friend who has season tickets to both the Rangers and Islanders)- it is the game itself that I am truly fascinated with

I wept openly when Ray Bourque finally won the Cup.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Ray Bourque- a quick summary. Bourque was a franchise player, a rarity these days, who was associated with the Boston Bruins nearly as much as the City of Boston itself. Passion and dedication showed every time he stepped out onto the ice. This was not just a personal quest, it was a promise to the city, to the fans. Despite Bourque’s, and the teams, best efforts over his 20 year career a championship did not come to the city.

It was with a heavy heart and high hopes that the team and fans released Bourque to play for the Colorado Avalanche a team with extraordinary chances to win. The Avalanche wooed him to play just one more year. It actually took two.

 

 

Watch the video. It shows the presentation of the cup and is as strong stuff as there is in sports. Again if you are unfamiliar with hockey, some things to note. The Cup is given to the captain of the winning team who skates with it first, a tradition nearly unbroken in the modern game. Not here, not this time. Joe Sakic, the captain, nearly yanks the cup out of the commissioner’s hands before the official photo-so eager was he to get it to Bourque. Listen to the crowd roar as #77 gets the cup- this is not just for the city, the man but for the game. again, I wept openly at this as I did with the 94 win with the Rangers, but that my friends is something I cannot begin to describe - the emotions are too great.

This is why I watch.

And if that does not do it for you, we also have Don Cherry one of the most colorful, and may I say snazziest dressers in all of sports.

 

Witness Baby! Witness!

AV Evangalism  - Witness Baby! Witness!

 

My fellow RavePubs blogger and all around dynamo Dawn Meade (aka AV Dawn) just published a great call to arms in evangelism for the AV industry.

Read it here

Evangelism contains within it a need for the delft skill of engaging those who want to learn, resisting the desire to teach those who do not care and, most difficult of all, leading the misinformed to see the folly of their own premises.

AV is a grand wide pleasure dome from the DIY to the toys of a Sultan. You can preach to me the lifelong benefits of a Plasma but if this is not my budget no amount of preaching will help. Now, tell me how to make the best of what I can and I will see that the work to do so, in the end is equal to a step or two up. I may need to go though the process but in the end it is gentle evangelicalism that will ring in my ears.

Can I get a Witness!?

*Originally posted on my Tumblr Blog 

The Unspeakable Seems to Have A Voice

A few days ago I posted a provocative  post, entitled "I say a Dirty Word", on Gary Kayye's  RavePubs blog to the custom install professionals to embrace the DIY community as  best bet toward future growth. 

Well it seems that even the pro stalwart PRO Sound News has some similar thoughts by posting a series of videos from the NYC Makers Faire

 

You can see a bunch more videos from the show here

 

White Spaces - RF beyond the Aesthetics

 

White Spaces,  Sounds like something your Art History professor would use to describe ‘the   power’ of an unpainted space on a Jackson Pollock.  

In fact White Spaces is the name for a contentiously battled over area of RF (Radio Frequency Spectrum) and yes it effects you and your AV business.

Until just a few years ago television stations broadcast their signals via three separate signals, one each for Picture, Color information and Sound. These three signals would be recombined inside the circuitry of your TV  to produce the complete picture.  These three RF spikes, creating mountains and valleys could be clearly seen on an off air oscilloscope.  The valleys and spaces between the channel signals is where many wireless devices would ‘sit’.  In large metropolitan areas where every possible channel was used, such spaces were invaluable.  When it came to wireless microphones, this was doubly so.  

Then came digital television.  This beast, not to be confused with HDTV -(the former can carry the latter but it may not always be the case), generates one signal with all the information.  Great! you might think - with two less signals to worry about there will be more room for other lower powered RF devices, right?

Um, No.  

While there is now only one signal it takes up a wide swath of space in a continuous signal. Bummer no? Yet there is a bright hope here.  The FCC mandated that all analog broadcasts (the three spikes) were to have ceased broadcast by June 26th, 2009. The plan is to sell off all the remaining ‘empty’ space to facilitate new communications technologies and less the RF congestion that now plagues wireless.  

Great, Right?!, Maybe.

Manufactures and audio industry folks have been raising a ruckus to insure that a defined space is available for the use of itinerant wireless devices such as microphones and intercom systems - such as those used at live events.  Sadly it took a small skirmish but it appears things have been finally worked out.

I learned about the true value of the analog television signals on  February 26, 1993, the day the World Trade Center was bombed.  One of my responsibilities as a rental tech was to test and calibrate wireless mic systems going out on jobs.  One of the tools we used ( and actually still have) was an off air oscilloscope or IFR, to insure that the IFR was itself calibrated we would tune it to a TV channel’s Picture RF spike.  Once we knew that the RF spike from. say channel four was reading accurate - we could then be confident that our mic signal was accurate and tune it accordingly.  On that February day I was still only just becoming comfortable with the operation of the IFR.  

As usual I brought up the Television channel to see that the unit was operating  as expected when it happened, the spikes - all three dipped then disappeared.  I checked a few more channels and they too were gone.  “Oh no”, I thought, “i have broken a $10k piece of test gear”.  With a mild sense of panic and depression I told the service manager of my actions.  He was a bit irked with me to say the least and stormed to my test bench.  He found the same thing I did until he brought up NY channel two, he then brought up the audio - which is where we heard the news that the WTC had experienced an explosion that had shut down the transmitter atop tower one. (Channel 2 still used the antenna atop the Empire State Building).  That is when we looked  out the office window which had a direct view of the WTC, to see smoke billowing up. I recall this event every time I look at a oscilloscope and it is the mental image I have of when I think of what the analog transmission shut down must have looked like.

Now that I am back in the event staging / live events world I have an renewed interest in just how the new landscape of RF should be handled and lucky for me the good people at AV Nation have a great podcast special on just this topic. The special broadcast includes Sennheiser's Eric Reese  and Kent Margraves with host Michael Drainer discussing  the FCC laws and tips to get your wireless to work flawlessly.  I highly recommend it to anyone who works with audio for live events, this is great stuff.

 

 

A Truly Useful Engine

Originally posted to Rave Pubs on  August 18, 2011 

Now you're back in line

Going not quite quite as far

But in half the time

 

- Jumping Someone Else's Train, The Cure

 

Perspective can change everything; running straight line the countryside is truly bucolic, but when the train jerks ‘round a turn you find that the rolling hills hide a shanty town.  Which side of thetracks your business is living on can be a fluid line. One month you are in the middle of richly appointed houses with green lawns and blooming gardens, the next morning it is in a freight yard of dinged cars and grimy out buildings.   

 

How could this happen?  Perhaps you rode the line too far without checking; all lines end somewhere and these places look nothing like they do on Sodor.  Anyone who has ‘ridden the rails’ will tell you that the first rules -(after keep away from the bulls)- are to keep an eye on where the train is heading and to be wary of junctions.  

 

Are you still riding the same tracks only because you are unsure of what  throwing the switch yourself will mean? The economy is volatile as all get out and experts predict years more of slow climbs up and lurching dips and stops; it is pretty scary and it is tempting to simply put one’s head down and keep on the current line. 

 

Fear is the initial response of first time riders of the NYC subway system, a peculiar reputation which has persisted.  Contrary to popular belief, the subways are not a caravan of absolute acerbic strangers and look nothing like (well, not since the early 90s) the way they are depicted in the Kurt Russel vehicle ‘Escape From New York’.  If you ride the subway with anything resembling a regular schedule you start to notice familiar faces, a recurring cast.  In many ways these folks come to feel a bit like family, only ten times removed.  Riding on a daily basis begins to become like a micro reality show, one witnesses the rise and fall and rise of peoples lives and situation.  The cycles play out as a change in style, the new loves pressed tight taking the morning train together for the first time or the late night tear smeared mascara. It is a daily one-act play drawn out over the station stops. 

 

Shakespeare à la the third rail.

 

I have recently had the opportunity to ride the subway again after over ten years of commuting with a car over a bridge and through the woods. 

 

I lived and worked in NYC for just under 20 years mostly traveling  the east-side lines of the 4, 5, 6 and for a short stint, the F outta of Park Slope. Even so, as with all things in the city, a week's ride can involve some time on nearly any line.  

 

Muscle memory is a funny thing, while it had been too many years since I last rode, without really thinking about it I made my way to the 42nd street shuttle and across town to catch the Q to Long Island City. What awoke me from the autopilot path I was on was the fact that when I rode the trains (all those years ago), the Q did not exist.  I was lost momentarily and had to check the station map, twice, before I was confident that this was where I got on again.  My body took me there but my brain was still on the old tracks.

 

I found myself looking for a familiar face, a strong desire to bump into an old acquaintance who had been too long living on the Island of Lost Friends. I wanted stability and a known frame of reference. It just felt weird and I had that panic of the unknown and my shoes felt glued to the floor. (I actually let a Q train come and go before finally screwing up my courage). Traveling the first few stops was, admittedly, a bit disquieting - but once we hit 57th and Lex, I found the train’s  rhythm and made its frequency a harmonic of my own. 

 

Sometimes you just gotta throw the switch, move to the new tracks. You never know, you might just find that this is the train you were looking for all along. 

Tinker, Tech’er, Solder, Sine via RAVE Pubs

This post orginally appeared on Gary Kayye's RavePub Site on August 2nd, 2011 

 

Are you useless?  I am and proudly so and I think you could do with being so too.

I’ll let that sink in for a moment before we proceed -- you should strive to be useless and leading by example, encourage your staff to be the same.

 Useless adjective       \'yüs-l?s\

              1.    Not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome

In reality useless is usually based on a simple frame of reference, or in the colloquial -- one man’s   
garbage is another man’s treasure. For an install company, tinkering is a useless endeavor, a wasteful process of learning as you go and where results are not always what one expected. Having a staff of useless tinkerers is not just terrible for your business, much worse; it is the best thing that can happen to it.

Do you remember back to when you were six or seven years old and the concept of chemistry or at least the idea that a mad scientist could hold such power with a simple set of beakers and surgical tubing held so much sway? Back then, you mixed shampoo with wood chips, hair gel, milk and orange juice half waiting for the, mostly inert, mixture to start moving of its own volition. These experiments were mostly harmless but if you were like me the ‘failures’ never dulled the excitement of the possibilities -- ‘if I could just find the right ratios!’ <cue cute-evil laugh>. Then again you could have had a mom like mine who occasionally would provide me with bottles marked ‘ingredient X’ - <Vinegar> and ‘Mystery Powder Y’ - <Baking Soda>.  That particular experiment had me wide eyed and standing atop a three-legged stool as the resulting reaction covered the floor of my room. Did I mention that I also became really good with a mop?

I want to see your staff doing more of the above. No, not the mop - the wild-eyed fascination of deconstructivism. Wasteful, you might say. Absolutely devastating to project deadlines and company profits one might argue. Horse Hockey! I say. (With apologies to Sherman T. Potter)

The process of tinkering provides lessons in how stuff works, it is demonstrative and practical, and there is great value in opening a box and figuring out just how they did that. An even greater benefit can come from forceful misapplication-creating wondrous new functions or in letting the genie out.

I am a big fan of something called Circuit Bending which is the process of opening up consumer electronics - mostly kids’ toys - and modifying the circuit boards to create new sounds. The cult community of circuit bending is part heath kit hacker, part pyromaniac musician and part serious electronics debugger. Modifying a toy is not nearly as simple as it might appear -- these units’ electronics are often undocumented; the process of figuring out just where to connect jumpers requires patience and research. It also requires a willingness to fail.

Failure is constructive.

Are you allowing your staff to fail?  

If you still think that I am full of it just take a look at what 3M™ does. 3M has a long standing policy (since the 1920’s!) of allowing employees - regardless of project schedules - to dedicate up to 15 percent of their paid work hours on personal projects. What possible benefits could a policy which wreaks havoc on deadlines and product to market schedules have?  Not much really -- just the development of whole new markets in adhesives, recording mediums and of course the ubiquitous Post-it-Notes ®.

What untapped solution are you missing out of by holding your staff back?  Where would we be without the invention the iPad typewriter?  For me it would be a sad, sad world.

 

 

Sammy's Fish Box, One Families Adventure

 

If you live in the NYC metropolitan area and have cable you have most likely had the ads for the City Island restaurant Sammy’s fishbox  pop up.  The ads have a wedding testimonial quality which feature a customer, wireless mic in hand, describe how great the food and atmosphere is.

 

(the TV ad in question)

For some reason my Six year old - I call him Rooster- is fascinated with the ads, (and the numerous other ads of City Island restaurants shot in a similar manner.  He is always asking if we can go.

A few weekends ago, after a morning at the pool club, my wife innocently asks Rooster and Gonzo -(my Four year old)- if they would like to go out for lunch.  Ro immediately answers, ‘Yes to Sammy’s FishBox, the foods great”.  My wife looked at me, I looked at her and said - ‘why not’?

City Island is actually very close to our house, surprising as neither us had ever been there.

It was clear that whoever, or whatever, owned Sammy’s also owned about Six other restaurants in the area. 

The inside is just as the Ad depicts but huge!

I will note that the Yelp and Foursquare comments describing the wait staff as ‘well versed in ignoring you for long stretches’ is apparently true.  While we waited for someone, anyone, to take our order we shot the following.  

 

(apologies for the orientation flip- I am left handed and still grab the phone as I see it best, evidently my fair Droid phone does not accomdate me)

Truly I do not have much to say about the food except  that, Yes it is all that you would expect given the ads

Yes, we had a hoot.

 

 

Indiana State Fair Collapse -An insiders look at the Tragedy

If you have been following the dramatic reports on the Indiana state fair tragedy you must be asking yourself the same questions I have;  how could this happen and what can we do to make sure it does not happen again?

 

While the official cause has not been released yet, my friend and sometime associate, John Huntington has been analysing the tragedy on his blog - Controlgeek.net.  John is no ordinary blogger, having spent over 20 years as a stage hand, lighting tech, teacher and author his in-industry perspective holds more weight than the taking head newscasters.   

John, in addition to being an electronics geek is also a weather nerd who has studied meteorology and joined severe weather scientists and ‘tornado chasers’ documenting  extreme weather outbreaks all across the Midwest.

John’s post

Indiana State Fair Collapse--State Fair Management Has Blood On Its Hands

is a through examination of the available evidence including numerous audience videos, industry professionals and lots of meteorological radar shots and reports of just how other events in the region responded to the warnings.

In light of the sixth victim dying today I urge you to read the post to get an insiders look at just what may have happened.   

To quote from his opening paragraph:

the fact that the show was not stopped when the fair site came under a severe thunderstorm warning is inexcusable, regardless of what else happened. Keep in mind that a warning means severe weather has been observed or is imminent, and a severe thunderstorm is defined as, ". . .a thunderstorm producing hail that is at least quarter size, 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/or wind gusts to 58 mph or greater, and/or a tornado"  Even if the stage remained standing, would you want to be in an outdoor concert in those conditions?  Why didn't they just hold the show for 1/2 an hour and send people to shelter?  Why the hell were the four follow spot operators (one of whom died) up in the roof trussing when a storm like that was approaching?

He also goes on to say that if the investigation finds any negligence or where corners were cut then “heads should roll”.

A fund started for the follow spot operator -Nathan Byrd- ( a single father of two) who was killed when his truss section collapsed.  You can donate here. http://splnetwork.com/iatse-local-sets-fund-nathan-byrds-orphaned-children

 

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AV Week the AV Nation Podcast

Tim Albright has tapped a vein with the creation of his Podcast "AV Week" part of the AV Nation community.

First episode of AVWeek:

A chat interview between AV insiders and commentators about all things Audio Visual. With Linda Frembes, yours truly and Michael Drainer Episode #0000 Infocomm - Favorite Infocomm products , HDMI HDCP lssues, The Best AV Apps, Audio Manufacturers OCA alliance,The return of the video wall and Kramer only company offering InfoComm classes.

The show can be found here:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/avweek

http://www.albrightav.com/podcasts/