Skype to the rescue
Posted by Aaron in Technology on January 13th, 2010
The power went out in our building a few days ago. This would no’t have been a big deal but it was on the day of a big event that was going to be teleconferenced to some remote participants. When the power came back, our phone system was fried and not working. Panic ensued.
We discussed a number of different options. We could use a cell-phone conferencing feature, but we judged them to have inadequate sound quality to pick up the conversation in a large conference room. We could purchase a new phone and run a long telephone line to our fax line, the one direct outside line that was working (because it was bypassing our internal PBX system). But that was still judged to have too many risks (using a new phone during an event).
Happy New Year: 2010
Posted by Aaron in Uncategorized on January 1st, 2010
Happy New Year everyone! Blessings to you this year.
(Photo is originally from 2009 Fourth of July celebration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.)
Decade in Review
Posted by Aaron in Infographics on December 31st, 2009
Wow, you’ve got to see this. Phillip Niemeyer does an “Op-Chart” for the New York Times in which he illustrates the decade with 120 icons, arranged by year and theme.
NYTimes Year in Review
The above is just a sample — click through to see the entire chart.
Hong Kong
Posted by Aaron in Asia, Photography on December 23rd, 2009
From the Hong Kong fish market and harbor at Sai Kung:
Professional quality audio for $350
Posted by Aaron in Technology on December 16th, 2009
A few months ago I put together a package of audio equipment for recording our live events at the office. The problem was that we were previously letting our great events go unrecorded, meaning those who couldn’t make it would miss out on our great programming. In addition, when the conference room really filled up, the audience sometimes had difficulty in hearing more soft-spoken presenters. So we needed both sound recording and sound reinforcement. And we needed it on a budget, because we are a nonprofit with a modest budget.
Early Recordings
So here’s what we did. At first, we purchased an Olympus DS-30 digital voice recorder (~$100). The Olympus has a great microphone in it with a bunch of different recording settings. We chose the high quality (HQ) mono — we didn’t need stereo for what were going to be voice recordings. (I just learned that the Olympus can be programmed to turn on and start recording at preset times. Very handy, and I’ll show you why in a subsequent post.)
Eliminating Distractions with Directional Microphones
We used the recorder as-is very successfully for about a year. But the Olympus has an omnidirectional microphone, meaning it would pick up sound from anywhere in the room. That means lot’s of distracting noises were picked up — coughing, paper rustling, doors shutting, etc. So we upgraded to some directional microphones, which accept sound only from one direction. When they are pointed at a presenter, they pick up his or her voice well but they reject sound that comes from “off axis” (meaning sound from the side or behind a microphone).
Two Talibans
The New York Times published this article by Scott Shane about a month ago, but I think it continues to be relevant now, as Obama just announced his new/revised Afghanistan policy of the “surge” (which another commentator mentioned is the war strategy formerly known as “escalation”.)
The article essentially lays out how there are two different groups called “Taliban” that the U.S. is fighting in Afghanistan, with quite different motivations and constituencies:
At the core of the tangle are the two Taliban movements, Afghan and Pakistani. They share an ideology and a dominant Pashtun ethnicity, but they have such different histories, structures and goals that the common name may be more misleading than illuminating, some regional specialists say.
Beautiful Autumn
Posted by Aaron in Photography on November 10th, 2009
It is autumn now, my favorite time of the year. Here’s a picture of the leaves changing in our neighborhood:
Bourbon Coffee in DC
Posted by Aaron in Uncategorized on September 18th, 2009
I’m sipping a delicious latte at Bourbon Coffee in the Foggy Bottom area of downtown Washington. The barista did an amazing job and I wish I had a camera with me to take a picture of the latte art that I am now consuming. It makes this former Seattlite’s heart — and mouth — feel at home.
In Washington state
Posted by Aaron in Photography on August 7th, 2009
Along the beach in Washington
Pictures from our trip to Washington state.
Just finished: Chinese Lessons
Just finished reading John Pomfret’s Chinese Lessons. Suggested by my dad, it’s a wonderful book for those interested in how China is changing and has changed over the past three decades. Pomfret recounts the stories of his Chinese classmates when he was an exchange student at one of China’s top universities in the early 1980s. Stories of the Cultural Revolution can shatter the heart but also provide insight into the character of the Chinese people today. Pomfret, who was one of the first Americans to enter China after it normalized relations in 1979 and was among the first to be kicked out in 1989 for witnessing the Tiananmen incident firsthand, then travels back to China for a class reunion to catch up with his classmates and observes how the last 20 years have changed China and them.
Maybe now I’ll have time for some National Geographic magazine reading. The last issue I’ve finished is probably April.