Words to Lyrics Ben Ho's observations from the cloud

19 November 2009

This Christmas

Filed under: I Wonder — Ben @ 10:34 am

In the lead-up to this Christmas, I am bringing back the act of writing Christmas cards, and sending them through the post. I have about 20 or so cards that I need to write, and I thought I’d tell you about one of the recipients of a card.

Christmas is a time where everyone can celebrate close to the end of the year. (Let’s not get into the religious debate). It’s a time to get together with family and friends, perhaps with some that they have not seen for many months. Because of this, my cards are going to people who I know, but have not associated with that much this year.

For one particular person, it is slightly different. During the projects we have worked on in the past few years, things have not gone terribly smoothly. There have been arguments, and conflicts. This person has loathed everything that I have done, almost to the point where it is very discouraging. An example of this is when I gave good wishes before exams. This person has spoken out against my actions, which interestingly led to someone else siding with me in what I have done.

I’m sending a Christmas card to this person, because I think that there is no place for conflicts during this time. I believe there is a saying which goes “Love thy neighbour”. This is a belief that is important for many, and should be upheld during Christmas.

I challenge you to send a Christmas card to someone whom you have not had good relations with this year. Maybe it is someone who doesn’t like you, the boss that fired you, or someone who you haven’t spoken to online or offline for a long time.

13 November 2009

Staying together after the HSC

Filed under: Forward Thinking — Tags: , — Ben @ 3:55 pm

Now that the HSC is over, it’s going to be interesting to see how we all keep in touch. Nowadays it is much easier with the internet and various social networks like Facebook. But I thought I’d suggest a few other networks you might consider.

1. Dopplr (www.dopplr.com)

Screen shot 2009-11-12 at 10.56.30 AM

Dopplr is a travel social network (primarily for business travellers, but still very fun to use) that allows you to share your travel plans with other people. You are able to see where your friends are travelling, and Dopplr will also let you know of any ‘coincidences’, that is, when you and a friend are in the same city at the same time. The Social Atlas has listings of places to stay, see and eat in many cities around the world. As with many Web 2.o applications today, Dopplr links to other social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, which receive updates on when you start and finish trips.

Here is a link to my public profile to see what outsiders will see. I’ve linked my profile to my Flickr photos as well.

A note about ‘friending’: Dopplr uses a two-way friending system. When you share trips with someone else, their trips will not automatically show up on your home page. The other person has to click ‘share trips’ for you too. So make sure you tell your friends to share trips with you.

(click more to see more…)


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9 November 2009

Skins Skined: Setting and Environment

Filed under: Series — Tags: , — Ben @ 8:49 pm

This is the start of a long series of posts about the application of situations in the TV show Skins to normal life. Today, I discuss the impetus of everything I will write about, the environment of Skins.

Skins focuses on a group of coming-of-age teenagers (16-18). Each generation lasts two series, with the characters of that series written out after the end of the second series. We are now half-way through the second generation.

16 to 18 year olds generally begin to taste the freedom of life. So it seems natural for them to experiment with the wonders that have been unavailable to them, such as drugs, alcohol, sex, clubbing, etc… Add to that the frivolity and the diversity of Bristol, and there is half the recipe of what drives Skins.

The other half, is the mix of characters. Let’s take a look at Effy, who we’ve seen across the two generations. When we first see her in Series 1 (Ep. 8) she is already into the drinking, smoking and dangerous behaviour. By the time we get to Series 3, this earns her “queen bee” status (more on this later). She is seen as the one who wants to break the rules (supported by the rather interesting introduction by the teachers in Ep. 1) and rather ‘smart’.

Effy’s ‘best friend’ is Pandora. In Series 3, she wants to experiment with drugs and alcohol, and does so with interesting effects. By placing a ‘smart’ person next to a not so ‘smart’ person, well you understand.

Next time, I’ll discuss the ‘gang’ and the subculture of the ‘queen bee’.

6 November 2009

Photo Processes: Camera to Computer

Filed under: Tech — Ben @ 10:05 pm

This is the second post about my photo processes. The first one was about where I put my photos. This post is about the work flow from camera to computer.

There are many different methods of getting photos from the camera to the computer, and then to libraries and backup systems. I’m based on the Mac, so this will be slightly different to that on a Windows based computer.

When I finish a shoot, I import all the photos into Aperture. It provides a lot of powerful tools to organise, tag and edit photos. The editing is quite basic, compared to Photoshop. I don’t own Photoshop yet.

Now, before I continue, I’d like to outline my philosophies for choice of software. If the operating system has a functionality that I need to use, I adapt my work flow to the constraints of that program.

All my photos are sorted (filed to delete, keep, export etc.) in Aperture. If there are any photos I want to export to Flickr, I use a plugin to do so. If the photos are “personal”, then the final collection of photos is moved into iPhoto. If the photos are of a concert, or “non-personal” they are exported as JPEGs onto an external hard drive, and the full Aperture project exported onto a separate external hard drive.

My Aperture library is not backed up by Time Machine, my iPhoto library is backed up.

The memory cards are erased by Disk Utility, and used with the next project.

This work flow will change when I get new hardware, which includes a custom built Linux based file server. Currently it works quite well for me, and I haven’t had too many problems with lost data, because I know where everything is at any time.

4 November 2009

Normal Service

Filed under: Forward Thinking — Ben @ 8:53 pm

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, I have finished my HSC exams. It is a great relief.

As such, normal service will resume as soon as possible. There’s another post about my photo work flow, and plans for next year.

One thing, all posts regarding post-HSC stuff will be embargoed until November 13, in respect to those who sit the last exams (French Extension, Textiles, and IT (VET)).

Thank you for continuing to read my blog.

BH

PS: I promise to be more reliable than CityRail.

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