New Laptop

I got a new laptop for Christmas from my parents!

It's a Toshiba Satellite P500 Series. 

Not your typical run of the mill laptops!

This baby is huge and powerful, built for multimedia and entertainment! 

It has an 18.4" wide screen, multi-touch keyboard,

It has beautiful Harman/Kardon stereo speakers, and my music and videos sound great coming out of them!

It's got a built in Webcam & Microphone so I can skype with my friends and family and upload straight to YouTube!

It is Eco friendly!  It has built in energy-saving modes; 104 key US LED back-lit keyboard.

This laptop is great for multitasking using different programs at the same time.  I can be working in Photoshop CS5, Illustrator, InDesign, and also have multiple browser windows up, and be listening to iTunes all at the same time without it slowing down or getting glitchy.

Processor*

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P7450

Operating System*

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)*

Graphics Engine*

NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 230M

Graphics Memory*

2798MB total: 1GB DDR3 discrete memory + up to 1774MB shared memory w/ATI HyperMemory™ technology

Memory*

4GB DDR2 800MHz memory

Hard Drive*

320GB HDD (7200rpm)

Optical Drive*

DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive

 

I did debate for a while over whether I should get another MAC or switch over to a PC. I used a MAC G4 PowerBook all through college and up till now. After my MAC crashed last summer, I finally realized it was time for an upgrade. I got a new hard-drive for it but then the disk drive stopped working, and it is very outdated (MAC OS X version 10.4.11).

For what I wanted to be able to do and the software I wanted to use, the perfect computer for me would have been a: $3,000 MAC or $1,000 PC

Another factor is my computer wiz boyfriend is extremely familiar with PC's and doesn't know much about MACs.

There were some other perks too...He had a spare 15" monitor (only compatible with a PC) he could give me so I could set up dual monitors; I could easily connect to his Secure Networks so we can share downloaded music, tv shows, photos & movies with each other.

So, due to cost, and other perks, I went with PC this time, and I'm very happy with what I got! 

 

dual screens

 

Life in a Day - Update

Over 4 THOUSAND HOURS of footage has been submitted
from 192 countries!
Over 80,000 clips were reviewed!
All condensed into a 90-minute film
that gives an honest and inspiring glimpse of our world.

Wow!

So, I found out that my footage was not selected to be a part of the finished film.   :(

The finished film is going to be incredible though!

I'm looking forward to the January 2011 Premier at the Sundance Film Festival.  On July 24, 2011 it will be released in theaters,  then I'll finally get to experience this historic film on the big screen! 
(It got picked up by National Geographic Films!)

I can't wait!

Life in a Day - Closing Date!

The submission period is over now and the YouTube community has calmed.  Good luck to Kevin Macdonald for directing this soon to be masterpiece!  If any of my footage makes the cut then that would be great.  If not, then I'm still pleased that I got to participate in this world-wide event!

Editing Editing Editing

I've finished editing, compressing, rendering, and uploading my videos.  I've uploaded my 5 Life in a Day videos onto my personal YouTube channel, then linked them to my web portfolio YouTube channel.

Life In A Day Update

It's been a busy couple of days for me, so I am just now finishing Uploading all my footage filmed on July 24. 

I only have access to iMovie on my laptop, so that is what I'm using to edit.  I really like iMovie though. :)

I had soooo much footage that it took almost 2 hours to download all my videos onto my computer, import all the video files into iMovie, and save.

Tomorrow I will start editing it all.  And by the 29th I'll submit it.  The deadline is July 31.

When I'm finished and I've submitted the video to Life In A Day, I'll also put it up on my Youtube account.

FILMING DAY

"It's Life in a Day day, the day you've been waiting for!"  lol

So let the filming begin!

Life In A Day

ONE WORLD * 24 HOURS * 6 BILLION PERSPECTIVES

Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create a user-generated feature film, shot in a single day, by you. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.

The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and will be available right here on YouTube. If your footage makes it into the finished film, you’ll be credited as a co-director and you could be one of 20 contributors brought to Sundance to celebrate with Kevin Macdonald.

Life in a Day

Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create a user-generated feature film shot in a single day. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into a feature film, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.   


On July 24, Follow the steps below to take part: 
Step One
FILM YOUR DAY
Film a moment, or the moments, that make up your day, or the day of someone you know. Whether mundane or extraordinary, serious or playful, you can shoot multiple videos or just one. You might record a sunrise, your commute to work, your family meal, an afternoon prayer.
You decide.

Step Two
ANSWER KEVIN’S QUESTIONS
If you wish, you can shoot an additional video answering one or all of these questions to help complete Kevin’s vision for the film.

• What do you love?
• What do you fear?
• What makes you laugh?
• What’s in your pocket? Is there a story behind any of the objects?

Step Three
UPLOAD YOUR VIDEOS
Upload your videos between July 24 and July 31 by clicking on the “Submit” tab, which will appear on the Life in a Day channel on July 24, and following the instructions.

I'm Moving....

I'm moving!

Hehe, I'm moving across town that is.

I'm still in good ol' Bloomington-Normal, IL!

Now I live in a house (not an apartment!) and I have a new roommate who I JUST LOVE!!!!!

I'm near the Miller Park area which is great!  

I enjoy photographing in that area and now I'm so close I can walk!

And, btw, still job hunting.

LivingEnzyme

This website belongs to a very good friend of mine. http://livingenzyme.webs.com/

He is writing a zombie novel entitled "Entity" and posting his chapters online every few weeks.
I have been helping him by reviewing his chapters and sending him my notes.

Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Category: Entity - Book 1 - The Awakening - Prologue
Check it out!!!

****************************************

My friend is an avid reader and is Vietnamese and uses a JetBook to download Vietnamese ebooks of all kinds of genre.

Here is an excerpt from his website:
 
"If you are here because you're looking for Vietnamese ebooks that work correctly on the kindle, nook, and other popular brands, click this link to read about it."
 

"I have been playing around with different formats to see which could show the Vietnamese characters best on my reader. Txt format really is the best to show the unicode characters. That's why I have turned all these ebooks into txt format. I suppose I could convert them into html, but that's too much of a hassle. Anyone wants to do this you're more than welcome to. If you want to read them on your computer, you need to have windows 7 notepad. XP doesn't seem to be able to show all the characters correctly. And I have no idea what vista would do since I never tried it on vista. I'll let you know. I'll upload vietnamese ebooks as I extract them into unicode txt format."

Follow my links to his website to read more!

Still Job Hunting.....

The Great Job Search Continues!

It's been exactly 8 months now being unemployed.

I've had to get a roommate to make ends meet, and I am living very frugally.

  The 'bad economy' still isn't letting up....  :(

It's hard trying to find a good job in my field where I can work full time and earn a living.
I want to stay in the Bloomington, IL area and I refuse to work another min. wage job that has nothing to do with my degree!!!!

(Thank Goodness for Unemployment Benefits)

Duct Tape Roses

 

This is so creative!  I had to share it.  

I actually made my boyfriend a Duct Tape rose for Valentines day!  

He loved it!