Jay Gaulard Blog

Bull’s Bridge River Rapids in Kent, CT

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

As promised, I am posting some (well all) of the videos we took the other day when we were in Kent, CT.

I would say there are eight videos in all. I am posting them as I upload them, but as you might guess, YouTube takes a while to upload, especially when the videos range from 30MB - 130MB. In the videos, the cool part is how much water is going down the river. We have had a bunch of rain, so that really took its toll. Also, the weather was great, so there was some company during our hike.

Enjoy the videos.

Sony Handycam DCR-SR42 Hard Disk Camcorder

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

Well, I did it. I took the plunge. I ordered my video camera.

Since I am trying to get into doing some video for this blog, Laura decided to give me a very generous Circuit City gift card for Christmas. She didn’t know exactly which camera I wanted, so she let me pick it out. Fortunately, I did know which one I wanted, so I picked it out and ordered it yesterday. I received a shipping notification today, so I should get it soon.

Here are the specs:

Hard disk drive camcorder: Capture powerful sound and sharp images direct to a 30GB hard disk drive with the DCR-SR42 Handycam® camcorder.

1/6″ Advanced HAD™ CCD: This 680k pixel (gross) imaging device provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution) and sharp still images.

Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar® lens: Carl Zeiss lenses have an advanced optical multi-layer coating for increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation and perfect renditions of subtle tones.

2.5″ touch-panel SwivelScreen™: The high-resolution LCD screen rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles that provide sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback.

Zoom: The 40x optical zoom brings the action close with minimized distortion, while the digital zoom can be increased up to an amazing 2000x before or after shooting.

Digital still memory mode: Capture still images up to 640 x 480 resolution directly onto the internal 30GB hard disk drive or Memory Stick Duo™ Media for easy transfer to PCs for emailing, printing or sharing with other compatible Memory Stick® media compatible devices.

Handycam station: Simply place the camcorder on the supplied Handycam Station cradle to provide quick connections to a TV for viewing or a PC for editing and sharing. Placing the camcorder on this station also charges the battery, so your camcorder is always ready to go.

On-screen zoom and record buttons: The DCR-SR42 features zoom and record buttons on the frame of the LCD screen, which offers more flexibility when holding the camcorder in overhead or low-angle shots.

DVDirect compatibility: The DVDirect system allows you to easily transfer to a stand-alone DVD burner via USB 2.0.

Low-light mode: The Super NightShot Infrared System allows you to capture natural-looking video, even when shooting in low light.

Image stabilization: Super SteadyShot® uses motion sensors to ensure a smooth and steady picture.

Smart Protection: A unique shock absorber protects the hard disk drive from physical damage if the unit is dropped. When the 3G Sensor detects a drop (loss of gravity) the power to the hard disk drive is turned off in order to prevent damage. During this time the DCR-SR42 remains powered on and recording video to the built-in buffer. Once the unit has recovered from the drop the buffer is then recorded to the Hard Disk Drive.

USB 2.0 interface: Connect your Handycam and transfer images to your PC fast, or use it as a convenient storage device for storing and transporting your videos and pictures.

How cool is that? This camera is probably $500 less expensive than the ones just five years ago, but much better. I am going to attempt to take some nice video and edit them to post on YouTube. Then you are going to get some wild tree planting videos come Spring.

Where are the YouTube Videos - Google Ads?

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

I woke up this morning to see that there were no YouTube video ads (or videos, for that matter) being displayed in this blog. I checked my other blog, to see if they were displaying on that one. Nope. I then check Paul’s blog. Nothing there.

I can see the YouTube link, but no videos. Something going on?

YouTube, Culture, Yahoo! and Neutrality

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

High-quality YouTube videos coming soon

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, speaking at the NewTeeVee Live conference today, confirmed that high-quality YouTube video streams are coming soon.

Does Internet kill or promote culture?

This article by Jeffrey Barlow of Pacific University discusses the impact of the internet on modern cultures. Using 2 differing texts, he discusses how the internet positively and negatively effects the way we act in society.

Yahoo! Says the Future Will be Modeled on Facebook

The future of both email and start pages is in social networking, according to Yahoo, but what’s really at issue here are two concepts that Yahoo execs didn’t name explicitly, but which will be familiar to most of the readers here. RSS and Attention Data.

Once thought dead, ‘Net neutrality roars back to center stage

Network neutrality has lost some steam, but the boilers have returned to full pressure after two senators ask Congress for an investigation. AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast have only themselves to blame.

Hulu Launches! Should YouTube Be Worried?

While it may not live up to its billing as a “YouTube killer,” Hulu is as different as a web video service could possibly be from the market leader.

True Knowledge, Facebook, Google and YouTube

Friday, November 9th, 2007

True Knowledge Launches Natural Language Search Engine

Cambridge, UK based True Knowledge released its natural language search engine into private beta yesterday. Like the much-anticipated Powerset, the company aims to give appropriate answers to natural language queries, even if key query terms are not included in the data being indexed. Current search engines are unable to return appropriate results

Is Facebook Eyeing an Acquisition in China?

A report in a Chinese newspaper today indicates that Facebook may be looking to acquire social networking site Zhanzuo.com. A very rough translation using Google Translate indicates that Zhanzuo has turned down an offer in the $85-100 million range.

Google Only Ahead Of Microsoft In Search: Ballmer

Whilst spruiking the release of Windows Live in Tokyo Thursday, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer told reporters that Google wasn’t ahead of Microsoft in any way online except with search.

YouTube Enhances Video Flagging System

YouTube has announced they have improved their video flagging system. If you ever watch a video that might raise a concern, you can click on a “Flag” link below the video (when on a video page) that will enable you to report the video to a human editor at YouTube.

Just Sell Digg Already, Jay :: Says TechCrunch

Michaeal Arrington gives Advice to Digg: One thing that has become a certainly in our little tech world - a few months can’t go by without rumors surfacing that a sale of Digg is imminent. CEO Jay Adelson and cofounder Kevin Rose are in a perpetual rumor cycle. The problem is, they seem to be the ones at fault for the rumors. The reason?