zipboingwow

Blodget Blog

2006-08-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

Blodget Blog

Today I set up a new Wordpress blog on my new blodget.net website. So far so good. I evn have posting from Flickr and audio enclcosures working.

Magnolia

2006-08-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Magnolia
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

This is the first painting I've done with Painter 8 using my own custom oil brush. I like the look. I also used the round camelhair brush. On the left I was using the clone color, but it looked too photographic. So, from the center to the right I sampled various colors and hand painted sections of stems and branches. It looks more natura that way.

I started the painting by brushing in the background blue with a large brush. It ended up looking like water instead of sky, but it's kind of interesting. I also uploaded a detail of the painting to Flickr so you can see the brush strokes. After I painted the sky I worked from left to right and roughed in the flowers and some of the branches. Then I switched to the camelhair brush to paint the branches and add some detail to the flowers.

RockYou Slideshows

2006-07-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

| View | Add Favorite

RockYou offers free Flash based slideshows with transitions and captions. The sample above uses photos I took at Pacific City on the Oregon coast. I first resized the images down to 520 x 390 and then uploaded them one at a time to RockYou. They then give you the code to embed on your own blog or web page.

Rhododendron

2006-07-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

Rhododendron
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

I'm continuing to experiment with Painter. I did this little 5 x 7 inch oil painting to try some new brushes. I used a Van Gogh Artist brush to start and then used a number of Impasto brushes and finished up with a Round Camelhair Oil brush. I took the reference photo in the rhododendron gardens in Eugene, Oregon.

iSight Test 2

2006-07-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

iSight Test 2

This is the same sample video clip as in the previous post, but this one is stored on YouTube.com. I wanted to see the difference in the video playback interface of the two services.

Vimeo Test

2006-07-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

iSight Test on Vimeo

Today I discoverd Vimeo.com which is another video storage and sharing web service. In addition to letting you embed the video on your own web page or blog this one let's you download either the original mpeg-4 file or the flv. I tried downloading the flv file and uploading it to our Breeze server and it worked. Here's a link to the file on Breeze - http://breeze.chemeketa.edu/p61749394/

Hellodeo

2006-07-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

This little video was made at Hellodeo.com. It's a new free web service for recording and playing back video on the Web. I used my MacBook on a wireless nerwork to record this short sample piece. After you make the recording, they give you a snippet of code which you can copy and paste into your blog or web page. Couldn't be easier.

Forrest Painting

2006-07-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Forrest
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

This week I installed Painter 8 on my new MacBook. This is my first trial painting based on a digital photo I took at the Basket Slough wildlife preserve near Rickreall, Oregon. I used a couple of "Oil" brushes on this 12 by 16 inch image. It took me two hours to complete it. As I compare it to my other paintings done in Painter 5, I find I really prefer the custom brushes I made in version 5. I'll have to do a lot of experimentation to duplicate those brushes in this new version since I can't figure out how to import the older version brushes.

I printed this image on my Epson 1280 on Epson Velvet Matt Heavyweight paper. I looks very rich, but too soft. Most of the brush strokes blend too much with the underlying paint.

Flickr Photos on Slide

2006-07-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

I'm trying Slide.com again, this time on my MacBook. I like the way you can create a slideshow from a Flickr RSS feed.

Gliffy Web Illustration

2006-07-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

Create drawings, flowcharts, floorplans and other illustrations with Gliffy which is a draw program that works in a web browser. People can collaborate on the same drawing and drawings can be embedded on web pages, blogs, and wikis. The program is a Flash application so nothing is downloaded and run from your computer. You can also save drawings and each drawing has four differtent versions at various sizes.

Flowers

2006-06-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today I experimented with using flash fill to photograph backyard flowers. I then used iPhoto to make a slideshow and exported it as a movie and uploaded it to Jumpcut.

Xacti C5 Test

2006-04-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

If the video does not display properly
click here to upgrade to Flash 8
This is a brief test to see if we can upload an mp4 file recorded with our new Sanyo Xacti C5 camcorder that records directly to a SD card.

Jumpcut Video Storage

2006-04-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Jumpcut is a free web service for storing and sharing your video. This one is different because it gives you online video editing in your browser. You can upload files up to 50 Mb. they give you the code to embed your videos on your won blog or webpage. The quality seems to be quite good even when you choose the Fullscreen mode.

Kaboodle

2006-04-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Want to save a list and share it with friends, family, or the world? Kaboodle is a new free web service that let's you do just that. This one has a slightly different twist on the usual social bookmarking services like Furl or Delicious in that it automatically grabs an image and description from the web page of interest and then lets you add your notes and tags. You can add a Kaboodle button to your browser's toolbar (IE or Firefox). A free account lets you add as many lists as you want and you can invite people to add to the list (group lists), comment on list items, and rate (vote on) items. You can also add a badge to your blog or webpage. (See below).

Photography

www.kaboodle.com

BubbleShare Slideshows

2006-04-08T14:21:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a new web service called BubbleShare. It's free and is currently in beta. You can upload your photos and share them with friends and family. You can also make slideshows. I like the way you can add audio to each slide. Below is a sample.

This album is powered by
BubbleShare - Add to my blog

vMix - First Test

2006-03-29T16:41:00.000-08:00

vMix - First Test
I uploaded my first video to vMix and it worked. It is a QuickTime movie and vMix converted it to a Flash video. They let (encourage) you to embed the video on your own web pages, so below is a sample.

Videos by vMix Member:
JimBlodget

VMix Video and Slideshows

2006-03-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

VMix is a new free web service for storing and displaying your videos and slideshows. Below is a sample slideshow I just made. It's all done online in a web interface. the service is in beta. So far you can't use your own mp3 file for the audio in the slideshow.

Videos by vMix Member:
JimBlodget

View of the House that Nobody Sees

2006-03-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

View of the House that Nobody Sees
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

I made a 20 foot pole out of PVC pipe, strapped a mini tripod to one end, attached a small digital camera, set the self-timer, raised the pole and took the picture. Getting the proper exposure and focus was tricky because the camera sets those when the shutter release is pressed, not when the picture is taken. So, I had to point to a similar subject at ground level,press the shutter and quickly raise the pole. Eight seconds is barely enough time to stop the pole from swaying and position the camera.

Odeo.com Free Recording on the Web

2006-02-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

All I can say is Wow! You've got to check out Odeo.com. It's a free web service designed for recording and sharing audio on the Web. You can send email invitations to friends and family or you can copy and paste code into your blog to embed a player like you see below. They even give you the direct link to the mp3 file so you can podcast it or link directly to it.

Zipboingwow Peanut Butter Wiki

2005-11-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

Check out the wiki I set up at http://zipboingwow.pbwiki.com/. This is my first attempt at setting up a wiki. It was extremely easy and the editing while not exactly WYSIWYG was fairly simple and straightforward. I've been using it keep notes of resources I've explored on the weekends.

Supersite on Suprglu.com

2005-11-13T18:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend I created a new website on suprglu.com. It's an aggregate site which pulls together all my various RSS fed web presences so you can see everything in one place. I like the way it organizes everything by date. in fact, this would be a good way to pull all student blogs together into one master blog for a class. I spent quite a lot of time customizing the style sheet for this new site. It uses standard CSS. This is the first time I've really dug in to hand coding a style sheet and I learned a lot about creating custom graphics and about setting fonts and link decorations.

New Slideshow

2005-11-13T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample of a scrolling slideshow I just made at slide.com. I uploaded the full res versions of each image so you can zoom in quite a bit. You can add tags to the slideshow and each image in it so people can search by keywords.

ThinkFree

2005-10-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

... ...

Check out ThinkFree. It's a free Office Suite offering Word, Excel, and Powerpoint over the web using a Java applet.

RssFwd : RSS to Email

2005-09-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a way to forward any RSS feed to your email account. Any time a new entry is posted on a blog, for instance, you'll be sent an email message with the full entry including pictures and links. Cool.

RSSFWD.com

WINKsite: Mobile Community

2005-09-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

WINKsite: Mobile Community
This is a free service which lets you create a mobile community. Anyone with a web enabled phone or PDA can read your announcments, blog, field notes, and use your links and syndicated feeds and can participate in a forum. This may proved to be a great way to offer a mobile online course. See my example at http://winksite.com/jimblodget/zipboingwow.

Geotagging Photos on Flickr

2005-09-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

I discovered a way to place photos on a Google Map. This same service also lets you map sounds and videos. But wait, that's not all! You also get RSS feeds so your friends can track all your new geaotagged media.

Once you're there you can also search for other geotagged items in the area.

One Good Link Leads to Another

2005-09-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

The Technology Source Archives This link was emailed to me by my good friend Lucy MacDonald. It's an archive of articles published from 1997 to 2003 written to "assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organizations". It's an excellent resource. I searched the archive for "RSS" and found an article by Mary Harrisch called "RSS:The Next Killer App For Education". As I read her article (from August 2003) I followed a link to her university's technology support web page and from there to a site, DV Spot, which provides reviews of camcorders. As it happens, Lucy is looking to buy a camcorder. So, I emailed her back the link to the reviews and the universe comes full circle.

How to Subscribe to a Podcast

2005-09-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

Here's another movie on Clipshack.com. This one is a brief tutorial showing you how to subscribe to a podcast in iTunes. I used SnapZ to make the screen capture movie. I like the way it can follow the cursor.

Video from Clipshack.com

2005-08-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample video clip I uploaded to Clipshack.com. This is a free service that lets you upload movie files and converts them to Flash.

Freevlog: Tutorial

2005-08-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Freevlog: Tutorial
A step-by-step guide for setting up a videoblog and it's free.
Also, this entry was created using the BlogThis extension in Firefox. All you have to do is control click on a web page and choose BlogThis, type in your thoughts, click the publish button and bingo you have a blog entry.

Oregon Spring

2005-08-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a sample video blog entry. I'm trying the free storage services of archive.org and ourmedia.org. You can store media files of up to 10 Mb each and publish them on your own blog.

Click here to view movie.

Zipboingwow Show #10

2005-07-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

A Walk on the Beach

This week we take a walk on the Oregon coast. On June 14th, 2005 I recorded the sound of the waves as I walked on the beach about 5 miles south of Yachats, Oregon. Part of the time I sat on some rocks near a small cove. You can hear the waves coming in and crashing at my feet. Later I walked over to a small twin waterfall and then back over to the water's edge. This 21 minute segment is unedited.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw10_7-16-05.mp3 (10 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Photos in Blogger

2005-07-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that blogger.com now allows you to post pictures to their server for free. You can use up to 300 Mb of space for your photos. The images are downsized to a predetermined dimension to save space. I took this photo of my barn with my little Polaroid digital camera (3 Mpx).

Shoe Sketch

2005-04-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is my first serious attempt at drawing a sketch on my Zodiac handheld computer. I'm using the Mobi-Systems Paint program which supports up to 16-bit color. This drawing is 1000 x 750 pixels. One problem I encountered is that at that size I can only see and work on less than a quarter of the whole image at a time. I have to scroll over to complete objects or lines. That's why the lines on the floor are not in perspective. Also, the range of colors is limited. I created a small color palette in the lower righthand corner so I could use the eyedropper tool to pick a color. I used the pencil tool to sketch the outlines and the spray can tool to fill in the colors. Sometimes I used the pencil to create solid areas of color. The lines on the floor and wall were done with the spray can. I started with a digital photo and increased the brightness and contrast until it looked like tracing paper. I then drew on top of the washed out image and erased out left over tones. I eliminated a second pair of shoes which were to the left.

bird.jpg

2005-04-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today I bought a small Polaroid 3070 digital camera for $75 at Walgreens. I wasn't expecting much, but it has turned out to be just what I needed. I was looking for a small camera with a SD card. I wanted to take a picture, pop the SD card out and slip it into my Zodiac PDA and use the picture as a starting point for a sketch. The camera doesn't have a macro setting so I used a magnifying glass to take a closeup picture of a bird on a piece of mail that arrived today. I used Mobi-paint to turn the photo into a sketch.

Grape Hyacinths

2005-03-25T19:52:00.000-08:00

Grape Hyacinths
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

Today was the first day of Spring Break without a lot of wind and rain. I ventured out into the backyard to take some pictures of blossems and flowers.

Escher on a PDA

2005-03-23T21:03:00.000-08:00

This one reminds me a bit of the work of M.C. Escher. It has some of the same hyperbolic spaces that he liked to experiment with. Again I used the polygon tool in Mobi-Paint on my Zodiac PDA.

Spring Break

2005-03-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of Spring Break and I'm experimenting with the Paint program on my Zodiac handheld. It has a polygon feature. Here the number of sides is set to 30 and the conncetion steps is 14. I created six or seven shapes varying the colors of red, blue, and white.

Sketch from Photo

2005-03-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

Sketch from Photo
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

In this experiment I imported a digital photo into the paint program on my Zodiac PDA. I increased the brightness and contast so I could just see the outlines of the shapes of the picture. Then I painted in color and lines with the airbrush and pencil tools. I then increased the contrast slightly to give it more punch. This is one way I could sketch on location and not worry about the accuracy of my drawing. I can just capture the shape and colors.

Sketching on Location

2005-03-05T16:44:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in my livingroom using my Zodiac PDA to see if I can make a quick sketch and post it on my blog. I first made a drawing using a Paint program and then "Sent" it to my email program and now I'm typing a message and sending it to my iUpload blog as an email attachment. This may turn out to be a good way to keep a mobile sketchbook.

Zipboingwow Show #9

2005-01-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

Ragtime Piano

This week we travel back in time more than 30 years to hear me play some ragtime piano. I made these recordings on May 25, 1973. I was single then and for a short time I played piano in a bar in Dallas, Oregon. One day while practising I used an audiocassette recorder so I could listen to my performance. These are unedited recordings including bad timing, wrong notes and all.
Show Notes

Download the file: zbw9_1-15-05.mp3 (6.8 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Zipboingwow Show #8

2005-01-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

South Falls Walk

This week we walk the canyon trail behind South Falls at Silver Falls State Park near Silverton, Oregon. The falls are full and the water roars over the top and crashes to the canyon floor 177 feet below. This is my favorite binaural recording. Listen for the subtle details such as how the water falls in sheets and the individual drops as they hit my head. I approach closer and closer until I am directly behind the falls. I turn and face the full power or the water, and then I turn and walk back the way I came. Use headphones to get the full experience.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw8_1-9-05.mp3 (2.3 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Zipboingwow Show #7

2005-01-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

Ankeny Overflight

This week's recording was made at the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge just south of Salem, Oregon on November 23, 2002. I made it in one continuous 20 minute stretch. As I stood there one flock of water birds after another flew over me. I turned and focused on them with the stereo cone mic as I would a video camera. Between groups you can hear blackbirds and songbirds and near the end a hawk flew in and landed in a nearby tree. This is a great recording to listen to on headphones just before going to bed. It's very relaxing.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw7_1-1-05.mp3 (8.5 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Automatic posting pictures to blog

2004-12-31T12:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's an exciting test. I'm typing this message on my PDA which is a Tapwave Zodiac 2 using a Targus Universal Wireless Keyboard. I've attached a picture which I took at a 4th of July parade in Pacific City, Oregon. I'm send this email wirelessly using Bluetooth to my iBook which is connected to the Internet. The email is addressed to my Flickr account and my Flickr account is set up to automatically send the post and picture to my Blogger.com account. So it should show up in two places - my Flickr website and my blog on Blogger.com.

Zipboingwow Christmas Show

2004-12-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

This week's show is all Christmas music. I played each piece on my Roland U-20 in my home recording studio. I recorded the music a few years ago to audiocassette. Today's show was recorded from the cassette in stereo. Feel free to use the music in any way you like.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw6_12-23-04.mp3 (3.6 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

MIDI versions of these songs are available on our 2001 Christmas Card

Zipboingwow Show #5

2004-12-19T01:27:00.000-08:00

Notepad and Theremini

Featured this week are two programs on a Palm PDA - Notepad which is a sequencing program that records up to 4 tracks and Theremini which is a live MIDI instrument. Sounds are produced by touching the screen with the stylus. The PDA is connected to a Roland Sound Canvas which can produce hundreds of instruments and sound effects.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw5_12-18-04.mp3 (7.7 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Zipboingwow Show #4

2004-12-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

This week I experimented with making binaural field recordings using my new invention - the stereo hat microphone. The mics are positioned on either side of the hat under the band. I first walked out to the chicken house to get a stereo recording of the roosters. The next day I drove downtown and used the same setup to make a recording walking around Salem's Riverfront Carousel. Both recordings have good stereo separation. Be sure to listen using headphones to get the full binaural effect.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw4_12-11-04.mp3 (3.2 Mb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Zipboingwow Show #3

2004-12-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

My Dad came up to visit us for a week at Thanksgiving. He traveled by train and I made this recording at the Salem station as he was about to leave. I was facing the tracks and stood less than 10 feet away as the train arrived.The mics were clipped to the front of my heavy padded jacket and we stood in the midst of a small crowd waiting to catch the train.

The engine is so loud that the recording becomes way over modulated, but it's fun to listen on headphones and hear the train screech though your head from left to right.

Show Notes

Download the file: zbw3_12-3-04.mp3 (868Kb, 64 Kbps, 22Khz).

Zipboingwow Show #2

2004-11-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

This week we explore NotePad and Theremini Palm PDA MIDI sequencing and instrumental software, musical selections include 12th Street Rag and Artillery March, and a natural sound recording of songbirds at Ankeny Wildlife Reserve.

Show Notes

Download the mp3 file.

Jim

Zipboingwow Show #1

2004-11-19T10:45:00.000-08:00

This first show is an experiment in portability. I recorded it walking to work in the morning. All my equipment is battery powered and fits in my jacket pockets except for a small mixer which I had in my backpack. Music was played from a small mp3 player.

Click here to stream the mp3 file or for further information.

Or download the file zbw1_11-19-04.mp3 (5.3Mb)

Jim

Going to Work MP3 test

2004-11-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

Here's one for you voyeurs out there. I made a 12 minute recording of my drive to work. I used a Sony Minidisc recorder in my shirt pocket with a $30 RadioShack stereo clip-on mic. I positioned the microphones over my ears by clipping them to the frames of my glasses. This makes a binaural stereo recording which sounds very close to what I heard at the time. The recorder was set to automatic gain.

You can listen to a Flash streaming version or download the mp3 file (5.5Mb).

Chemeketa Podcast 1

2004-10-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a little sample of a podcast I produced at work on a Windows computer in my office. I used Audacity an open source audio editing program to make a multitrack recording and iTunes to convert the WAV file to a MP3 file. The finished file is 978K, four minutes in length, 32kbps, 22.050 kHz, Mono. You can subscribe to my RSS feed at feedburner.com. Feedburner now builds in the enclosure tag in the XML for users of Blogger.com. Look for the RSS 2.0 icon at the bottom of my sidebar. Here's a direct link to the MP3 file:

Chemeketa Podcast

Lunar Eclipse

2004-10-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight in the Pacific Northwest we experienced a total eclipse of the moon. It started just after sundown (around 6:30 pm). Totality occurred about 7:30. I took this picture with my Sony DSC-P10 5 megapixel digital camera. The second one is from the NASA website for comparison.

Podcasting

2004-10-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

The latest thing is putting audio in your blog. This post is a test to see if I can distribute audio. I've enclosed an mp3 file in this message. If you use iPodder, you can subscribe to my RSS feed and listen to my mp3 file. Here's a link directly to the file as well.

Mac TV theme music

For more information about Podcasting see engadget's article.

Loan Calculator

2004-10-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

I got to working with Flash today and created a loan payment calculator. The formula was a challenge to write in ActionScript. The tricky part was rounding off to the nearest cent. You can see the result at:

Loan calculator

2004-09-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

I discovered that you can use Hello in Internet Explorer to send a picture of a web page to your blog. Let's see if it becomes a link to the website.

Deepwood Garden

2004-09-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Deepwood Garden
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

This picture was posted using Flickr which is a photo sharing web service. This is very cool. I just emailed the picture as an attachment to my Flickr account. Then I clicked on Blog This on the picture's page and it was posted here. Click on the picture and it will take you to my Flickr picture web page.

Water Garden

2004-09-18T16:27:00.000-07:00

Water Garden
Originally uploaded by jimblodget.

This digital painting is based on a digital photo I took at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, Oregon. I did the painting on my iBook with a Wacom tablet and pressure sensitive pen in Painter 5.0.

2004-09-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

Yachats, Oregon just North of the Adobe Hotel on the 804 trail 9/8/04

Welcome

2004-09-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

All right! I now have a blog. Some might call it the "BLODG" blog. I wonder how I can insert a picture?