Jacob F. Roecker's Blog, page 5
April 13, 2012
LinuxTycoon Review
That’s right! Likely not to become game of the year, but certain to become a cult favorite, Linux Tycoon is the game where you’re in charge of releasing your own linux distribution. Created by the famous Bryan Lunduke, this game is quality (even at its beta stage).
The game retails for only $4 and will soon be available for the iOS. As usual with anything from Bryan Lunduke it your purchase enables multiple formats and is DRM free, which means when you buy it for your home, you buy it for all your systems.
What’s the best way to review something with an 8 bit graphic interface? Well, why not watch someone play it for 17 minutes?
If you’re ready to see what it’s like to “go negative in the freedom dimension” this is the only game where you can do it. Go ahead and take a step into the dark side.
April 9, 2012
Life After DVDs, Cable, & Satellite Subscriptions
April 8, 2012
PhotoShoot
How do you update your photos? Normally I just take the pictures, clean them up a bit, and send them off to the internet. I generally don't delete those that are overly blurry or potential repeats because I believe those photos still tell a part of the story. What do you think?
April 4, 2012
Music and the Spoken Word Podcast
This upcoming year I'm projected to spend a lot of time away from home and the normal routines that I've enjoyed over the years. One of the things I've enjoyed doing on Sunday mornings is listening to hymns while I eat my breakfast and get ready. To satisfy this fix I've tuned my computer into yldsr.com and been able to listen to the audio stream of some fantastic interpretations of hymns.
It's highly likely that during my travels the internet will be slow and spotty, which means streaming online radio is likely to be difficult. So I decided to find out if I could get the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's program, Music and the Spoken Word as a podcast. After searching the BYUTV website and coming up empty, I opted for the Official MO-TAB website and again came up with nothing. Persistent I decided to use the "Contact" address provided for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and ask why such a lovely broadcast had not yet been made available on the internet. The reply to my inquiry came today:
Hello:
I'm sorry, but right now there isn't a way to download the programs for podcasting. Because the Choir sings many copyrighted songs and they do not pay the licensing fees (the stations pay them) for the rights to use those songs, the programs cannot be archived for on demand viewing or listening. They are for broadcast only. However, the Choir is working on changing this policy, soon! (I hope really soon!)
…
-D
In my reply I suggested that I'd check back with her in a year or so. Her reply was "It should be way sooner than that."
So, this isn't much of a news blog. In all truth I never intended to publish the email. I only happened to have a few minutes this evening as I was listening to the kids fall asleep. Truth be told this is is more MY blog than anything else, but I guess I get to break the news that The Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Music and the Spoken Word" program will very likely be a podcast before next year at this time. To some it may seem an obvious and overdue step in their distribution model, but I'll leave the critics to the comments. I think I'll just be grateful that such a professional production can be available in a format that's easy for me to consume.
Thank you to all the wonderful staff and volunteers who make it possible.
-Jacob
Oh, and for those of you who question the validity of this post because of this post, I'd have you note that my post about a Tom Petty song being added to the Children's Songbook was categorized as "Sarcasm" and this one is not.
April 3, 2012
Great Wolf Lodge Observation
Recently the family took a trip to Grapevine Texas and visited the Great Wolf Lodge. It was a great place to have a vacation for our family. Our kids range in the ages of pre-teen to two years old and there was plenty to do for everyone. At the end of each day everyone fell fast asleep worn out from all of the fun. I would easily recommend this to friends and family looking for someplace to go for a reasonable price that offers activities for the whole family.
I do have one rant though that I'd like to share. The "Blue Slide" as we called it has a section where an automatic camera takes your photo. If you remember the approximate time you went down you can go down the hallway to see if you'd like to purchase your photo. The older two kids and I did a run just so we could see the photo. We excitedly rand down the hall and found the kiosk where the lady showed us the photo. Because of the camera angle the photograph was mostly water covering most of ourselves and our faces. The kiosk showed several examples of completed photo frames etc, none of which were appealing considering the quality of photograph.
"Well," I said. "I'll pay you a couple of bucks to send it to me and let me post it on facebook." To this she politely replied that she couldn't. Now people let's get real for a minute.
You've installed the camera.
You've taken my picture.
I've seen my picture.
And you want to sell me my picture in a frame or as a printout? It's 2012! My photo albums are on my desktop photo software, my blog, or on facebook! How hard is it to watermark it with Great Wolf Lodge and post it to my wall tagging me in the photo? If you did that, then you'd get all the free advertising for being on my wall ('cause I'm that popular) and I'd still pay you a couple of dollars for posting the picture!
Yeah, GWL has a lot of really good points about it, but like any corporate run business there are a few rough edges. Still if this is my biggest complaint, can you imagine how awesome the place really is? I'm pretty good at complaining and this is what I came up with…. Sounds to me like these people (generally) know what they're doing.
March 31, 2012
Tangled Strikes Again
I've had a bit of fun with photo editing recently…
I'm not sure if this violates some copyright laws, but I am sure that if it does I'll be hearing from Disney soon.
March 18, 2012
January 24, 2012
Jake’s Film Notes
Why Film?
Film is a media format you are used to consuming. It will help you better understand what it is you’re watching if you learn how it’s created.
Film is a great way to preserve family history (especially with sound).
Film production is a marketable skill for employment as many small businesses and large companies will find needs to have videos made.
Young Men: Can be used for cinematography merit badge.
Young Women: Can be used as a YW value project
Types of projects to consider producing:
Time Lapse
Family Car Ride
Time Lapse Perseids Meteor Shower 2010
Geminid Meteor Shower
Stop Motion
BYUI-This is why I don’t get any studying done
Lego Stop Motion
Monologue
Ask a Ninja
Stuffed Animals
Bearlys Out for Dinner
Sock Puppets
Buck the Norm- Jacob Bateman
Music Video
Lindsey Stirling
The Piano Guys
Pomplamoose
Montage
Dian wedding
Rainey’s Birth Day (mixed montage)
3D/CG
Big Buck Bunny
Created With Blender
Download
Tutorials
Foley artist on a silent film
(Royalty Free Silent Films Below)
Photography Basics
Composition Basics
Frame Rates (what do I record with)
Film Basics:
Editing Basics
Software:
Sony Vegas (tutorials)
iMovie (tutorials)
Final Cut Pro X (tutorials)
Open Shot -linux- (tutorials)
Editing Tricks and Techniques
Ninja Vanish
Layers/Multiple People
Resources
Royalty Free Silent Films:
Cops- Buster Keaton
The Pawn Shop- Charlie Chaplin
The General- Buster Keaton (download with easy youtube video downloader)
Music
Kevin MacLeod- Royalty Free
Ronald Jenkees- Citation Required
Jake's Film Notes
Why Film?
Film is a media format you are used to consuming. It will help you better understand what it is you're watching if you learn how it's created.
Film is a great way to preserve family history (especially with sound).
Film production is a marketable skill for employment as many small businesses and large companies will find needs to have videos made.
Young Men: Can be used for cinematography merit badge.
Young Women: Can be used as a YW value project
Types of projects to consider producing:
Time Lapse
Family Car Ride
Time Lapse Perseids Meteor Shower 2010
Geminid Meteor Shower
Stop Motion
BYUI-This is why I don't get any studying done
Lego Stop Motion
Monologue
Ask a Ninja
Stuffed Animals
Bearlys Out for Dinner
Sock Puppets
Buck the Norm- Jacob Bateman
Music Video
Lindsey Stirling
The Piano Guys
Pomplamoose
Montage
Dian wedding
Rainey's Birth Day (mixed montage)
3D/CG
Big Buck Bunny
Created With Blender
Download
Tutorials
Foley artist on a silent film
(Royalty Free Silent Films Below)
Photography Basics
Composition Basics
Frame Rates (what do I record with)
Film Basics:
Editing Basics
Software:
Sony Vegas (tutorials)
iMovie (tutorials)
Final Cut Pro X (tutorials)
Open Shot -linux- (tutorials)
Editing Tricks and Techniques
Ninja Vanish
Layers/Multiple People
Resources
Royalty Free Silent Films:
Cops- Buster Keaton
The Pawn Shop- Charlie Chaplin
The General- Buster Keaton (download with easy youtube video downloader)
Music
Kevin MacLeod- Royalty Free
Ronald Jenkees- Citation Required
