Geo tag test
This is to test the android apo
Twitter is a global short messaging system that allows people to post what they are doing 140 characters at a time. For the moment it is a relatively new phenomenon therefore it’s not too hard to keep track of the conversations going on.
They are also geo logged. As you’re watching people’s messages you can see China say that they’re getting ready for the night ahead whilst in Europe people are going out to lunch. In the US people are complaining about having to wake up early in order to catch their planes, go for walks or in certain cases go to bed.
It’s amusing and it’s reminiscent of ten years ago when I spent 13hrs in a chatroom at a time when spending ten minutes online was expensive. it’s cyclical. One thing is popular, then is replaced by something else before becoming popular again.
One difference this time is the technology used. Google maps show where in the world people are tweeting from whilst the twitter site simply shows what people have written. It’s amusing to watch the world and what people are doing in it.
Europeanism “is a term that encapsulates the norms and values that Europeans have in common, and which transcend national or state identity.” Source As an Italian Brit living in Switzerland the notion that Great Britain wants to leave the European Union makes very little sense. In the article Britain’s Dangerous Urge to Go It Alone we see the usual points being discussed. Articles should be written from the emigrant point of view every so often. Articles should be written about Brits who have chosen to live and work in Europe.
Yet the E.U. is an extraordinary achievement, a voluntary union of nations whose histories include some of the bloodiest wars ever waged. However flawed the bloc, it has replaced blood feuds with a single market, shared values, free travel and labor mobility.
Brexiters believe that Europe is an imperial project rather than a social one. They believe that Germany wants to dictate how every other country acts. They believe that the European Union has taken away their voice. Those people are indoctrinated by Murdoch’s media empire to think a certain way. As long as Murdoch indoctrinates the British to see themselves as unique, as outside of Europe they will fight for Brexit.
Imagine if the mainstream media in England behaved like that of France, French Switzerland (I make the distinction because I do not understand German well enough to follow the news as the majority of Switzerland perceive it) and other nations. Imagine that the British press wrote about the good things that Europe is achieving. The most prominent one for me is the roaming agreement. Europeans, including the Brits have cheap roaming. As a person in Switzerland I get the same roaming deals as if I was in North Africa. Do Brits really want the same privilege as we have in Switzerland?
_a loss of faith in mainstream politicians and experts, a nostalgia for a past when nations decided their own fates and kept foreigners out._
That nostalgia is misplaced. Remember that Byron, Shelley and many other English personalities of the 19th century travelled to Switzerland, Italy France and other nations. They lived as Europeans before that identity was defined. We also live in the age of motorways, cheap airlines and free movement.
The nostalgia also ignores that society has made big strides. We no longer live within 6km of where we were born. We live in the age of tarmaced roads, cars and motorbikes.
Great Britain and her desire to leave the European Union go against my common sense. Europeans are more connected than ever and yet some individuals want to undo all of the good work. The League of Nations was one experiment that failed to bring peace. The United Nations is a great idea in practice but slow to adapt to a modern context. The European Union, from my point of view is a success. 28 countries are working together to cope with modern challenges.
Mainstream media spend a lot of time telling us about immigration, about people coming to specific European countries but very few of them look at emigration. Few articles look at the emigration of retirees from England to Southern Spain to enjoy a more pleasant climate. Few articles look at the number of British people living and working in Switzerland. Few articles look at the number of British people everywhere. Look at Asmallworld, Glocals, Couchsurfing and many more of these travelling and expat communities. Without the free movement of people for their studies, their professional lives and their sporting passions such online communities would fail to exist as there would be no need.
From what I see the young, liberal democrats, labour, Scotland, Wales and women want to stay in the European Union according to the Economist’s brexit poll. I hope that the South decides to Remain. For now they are equally happy to remain in the European Union as they are to leave. Let’s hope they choose remain. It’s a shame that the graph does not show the opinion of British Europeans. I am certain that a majority of people enjoying the freedoms that the European Union provides them with would be pro-remain.
As I write this I’m playing with the new macbook air and already i-ve twittered and seesmiced from it. The keyboard is fine and the user interface is good. The only idiotic thing is the mouse button is far too small. I don-t see the point of such a thin slither of a mouse.  Now how many people are envious of me testing a macbook air? Now to test the multicontrols :-) update: Can’t test the multicontrols. Haven’t put any pics on so can’t test that feature. What a shame. update 2: The multifinger image manipulation is really fun. Everyone should try it. Turn it. Flip it. zoom in, edit, move over a little, more manipulation. I like it. Wait for the tech on some of the higher spec machines though. It’s got some nice technology.Â
When I first wanted to become a camera operator cameras could cost more than one hundred thousand francs a piece and a simple edit suite would cost more than seventy thousand francs per edit suite. This was a setup with a player and a recorder. Producing content for broadcast was expensive. These days automation and the changing face of broadcasting allow anyone with a creative idea to get out there and do it.
For context imagine that from the moment I wanted to do camera work to the moment I was able to edit that material I had to wait for several years. As I had no access to edit suites I would read books by Eisenstein and others and I would prepare a paper edit. I would have a list of shots and build sequences in my imagination. This changed with the coming of the Miro DC30+ and Adobe Premiere. The first time I edited someone thing alone I spent a day for a two minute video. I had to learn to use the technology after all. This was fun.
I bring up this topic because Sky News and Sky sports are making camera operators and other skilled technicians redundant. Why have three or four camera operators when you can sit one person at a console who can control each camera remotely. When I was at France Télévision a few years ago I saw such a system. On the one hand it means fewer jobs for camera operators and on the other it means less indoor work.
I bring up this topic because both the United Kingdom and the United States are having “We hate foreigners” movements. Fifty two percent of British citizens who voted this time voted against the rights and freedoms of Europeans. They voted this way because there is a narrative in Anglo-Saxon media that foreigners steal jobs, that they are willing to work for much less money and that this is undercutting the demand for their skills and expertise. That narrative is wrong in a global economy where automation and more efficient work flows are being implemented.
The changes are part of a move for Sky news and sports into a new shared studio space. Though the studio already uses robotic camera technology, the new Ross Overdrive system means fewer staff will be needed to record shows for both Sky News and Sky Sports. Source
Two years ago I worked on a job that would theoretically lead to redundancies. I worked as a video archivist and media asset manager. When I started the job there were over three thousand tapes and at first I digitised and catalogued all the special envoy footage. We went from having hundreds of tapes on shelves to everything being instantly accessible via a media asset management system. In theory by digitising this material we have removed the need for physical jobs. We have eliminated the need for someone to walk around the archives, the need for a videotape operator, duplication and more. In effect the time from which a request for footage was made to the time that footage was ready for the client to download could take seconds or minutes rather than days.
As the material on those tapes was digitised the tapes could be moved for storage and the space that they had taken up can be re-allocated as office space for when the team expands.
Migration is people’s favourite excuse for unemployment but we live in the 21st century. Any boring menial task can be done by robots. Have you been to the data storage floor in CERN? A robot fetches the data tapes and transfers them for scientists to access and process upon request. Automated cars and buses are being tested, even in Sion.
I usually go to the shops once a day and I have three choices. I can use the checkout reader as I walk and shop, I can use the self checkout machine or I can go to a cash register and let a “specialist” do the work. I usually choose the first two options. My shopping is usually small, enough for a day or two. I hate having to sit at a desk for hours at a time. With self checkout registers shop staff have more diversity. One day they might be sitting at a cash register and the next day they might be standing and helping people with self checkout machines. In theory these machines threaten livelihoods but in practice I believe that they allow us to have a more friendly rapport with those working in the shop. We are learning from them. We are equal and in society where people feel that there is a growing divide between groups of people this is levelling the landscape.
For a few weeks recently we had a lot of rain and I used that time to watch videos made by youtubers and I thought about how lucky they are compared to me. I questioned whether instead of becoming a blogger I would have become a vlogger, and if I had what would the topic have been. What I envy of youtubers is that they can buy a cheap camera for three or four hundred francs of use their mobile phone and create video content. Macs and PCs now come with video editing software therefore the cost of entry for making youtube videos is low. Distribution is simplified and revenue generation is easy to implement although it does take hard work to generate a comfortable income.
I have worked as a live camera operator for conferences, virtual press conferences and other live events and the assignments are the most fun are those where you are providing mobile coverage of events rather than static coverage. Conferences are a perfect place to bring in automation. With one robot camera operator, one colour grader, one sound technician and one vision mixer you can provide event coverage. Camera operators are free to get material of breakout sessions, team work and more. At a sports event camera operators are free to get more fans reacting to the event. It is always fun to watch fans have a good time. Automation frees people up to find interesting and dynamic projects to work on instead. That’s why we went to university, to expand our skills and competence, to have a broader range of tasks and competencies.
The three common forms of climbing are Rock, climbing, via ferrata and bouldering. Rock climbing is an excellent and amusing sport that requires living in the right place, having the right equipment and knowing the right people. I enjoy the sport but have not found a group to go with. Via Ferrata as I love to call it is Rock climbing for tourists. The equipments and routes are set out and prepared so that those with the correct experience, head for heights and equipments can explore the landscape in an interesting and dynamic fashion. The last of these is bouldering. Bouldering is a form of climbing without ropes. In the wild it requires finding a bit of rock and studying the rock to find a route.
On Sunday I noticed on Facebook that a new indoor climbing place was opening in Gland. Totem Escalade is an indoor bouldering place where you can practice climbing indoors. As autumn and winter approach this is welcome. It is based by the bowling in Gland, next to where a night club used to be. It has a central structure off which are four climbing surfaces with coloured paper to mark the grade of the climbs. As you progress you can attempt harder and harder routes.
Bouldering is physically demanding and develops upper body strength. You need to use your arms, fingers and back muscles to hold on and make progress along the route you have chosen. As you try a number of routes a number of times so your strength will begin to fade. After two hours of enjoyment my hand muscles were done. I can still feel them as I write this blog post.
I love that a climbing wall is so close to Nyon. For years I have been looking for this. Now that I know about this climbing wall I will be a frequent visitor. I want to improve my technique and I want to increase my strength so that for the next via ferrata season I will be that much more comfortable.
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I’m currently testing Geo Tags on a Palm Pre Plus as well. So far it’s not working.