Hey Dan

With workshops over and faire about to start, my brain has once again wondered to making movies. Two of the guys in my office are also amateur film makers. One of them has just started and of course wants to buy a camera. Now, to defend his desire to buy a camera before he has finished a script, if you have a camera you can shoot. If you can shoot you can at anytime make a movie. Everything else is secondary. The other film geek and I brought in our cameras, so he could get an idea of what to look for.

We spent our lunch hour playing with cameras and talking about focal length, depth of field, the importance of conflict in a story, opening scenes and editing. So now I am really going nuts to film stuff. What is stopping me? Well let us talk about that.

Everyone that makes a movie finds that you enjoy some parts more then others. Me personally I like writing, story boarding and camera work. I do not like editing and directing. You also discover that it takes an army to make even a simple film. Just shooting a scene takes someone thinking about outside sounds, level light, focus of the camera, any movement of the camera, any movement of the actors, anything that is showing up in the frame that should not be there, quality of the sound you want, and someone should actually be looking at the actors. There is plenty of room for people to do something they like. Whether it be thinking in f stops and focus pulls or editing, you need that person to make a movie.

This is why it is time to jump back in and dust off the keyboard and power up the camera. What to help? Do you have a story? We could shoot it.

Posted by Dan at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

"Former first lady aligns with hardline right-wingers to slam Grand Theft Auto. New York senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton has launched an attack on violent videogames, singling out Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto titles as a "major threat" to morality."

The term "morality" can be used either

1. descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or,
   
   • some other group, such as a religion, or
   
   
   • accepted by an individual for her own behavior or


2. normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

I am not breaking the law. My religion does not forbid me from doing this. My behavior does not offend my friends or family. What morality am I threatening?

Movies, games, music, books and art are easy targets for censorship. Everyone who would censor an idea or group starts by claiming its art is immoral. People will buy a product they feel is immoral. Therefore, in order to censor an idea call it's art immoral.

A game cannot threaten morality any more then a book or song. An action can be right or wrong. Any person who has played GTA knows that actions portrayed in the game are wrong. You could say the same thing about most movies, books, music and renaissance paintings or plays. The bible includes descriptions of most of the actions in GTA and some action you could not put in a video game.

Stop talking about morality as if it was something that needs protection. What you really want say is "I want you to think my way." Although, to say that would be immoral.

Posted by Dan at 03:46 PM | Permalink

“I was raised in the wild by lesbian wolves.” – Anonymous

A male friend of mine, who claims to be able to speak girl, said this over the weekend in a conversation about male-female communications. It was priceless. Other notable quotes from the weekend are:

“I have never been a drug dealer. I do not know what to say.” – Student in Inprov class
“Please add your butt to the list of things not to talk about around me.” – Me to the director

Posted by Dan at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The key to being successful is investment. Investing the resources to be good at something pays off in great rewards. I am surrounded by people who have natural talent and the opportunity to be successful. Most of them would fear competing with me for a job or promotion. This because I have always worked hard at learning everything I could.

In the last year, I have gotten out of the habit. I have stopped buy books on any computer subject I came across and reading them. In the last 6 months I not spent a single non work hour working on getting better at what I do.

This point was brought home to me while listening to one of the people I work with talk about how he got successful. He dedicated one hour for every 8 hours of paid work time to improving his skill set. He also saved one hour of salary each week for the same purpose. I would not want to compete with him for a job.

One hour a day, that is 5 hours a week. That is a single collage class or an hour of reading a night. One hour of salary a week, enough to buy a book a week or a class a quarter. Most of us could do that. Even if you could not afford the money, you can put in the time.

My goal is to resolve to get back into this habit.

Posted by Dan at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There is a type of law called private relief bills. These laws are passed by Congress and apply to a single person or cooperation. Using a private relief bills, Congresses can pass a law that says you personally do not have to pay taxes this year. This type of law is normally used to for Congress to intervene in a personal case such as an immigration case of importance.

Over the last 48 hours Congress has passed a private relief bill to keep a person on life support. I am not going to argue the morals of right to die or vanity of Congress getting involved in the one right to die case in the country that is getting media attention. What I will say is that if Congress really cared about this subject, why use a private relief bill instead of making a public law.

If it is life you are trying to protect life, how about fixing Medicare. They are trying to save tens of thousands of lives. The real issues in this case are personal. I pray none of the people who a hanging “stop killing” signs on court houses have to make this decision. Only because I would not wish that on anyone.

Posted by Dan at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last night I came home and went into the office to check email. When I turned on the computer the screen of my monitor was all white. The contrast was going. It was time for a new monitor. Being that the last time I bought a monitor was 6 years ago, I had a very nice 17” CRT. So K and I pop’d down to our local Best Buy to look at new monitors. I found a 19 flat screen CRT for the same price I paid for my 17” non-flat screen.

First, let me say, I really like my new monitor. It is very nice. It can handle much higher resolutions then my 17 could. I played WoW for a little while last night, just to ‘test’ the new monitor. It was a night and day kind of difference.

Inflation is about 3%. That means things I bought last year for a $1 will cost me $1.03 this year. The monitor I just bought cost the same as the one I bought 6 years ago. At the same time this one is much better then that one. What happened to inflation?

I know something about economics. The raw materials that went into both products are about the same. The labor to build both monitors was done in china, so it did not get cheaper. With the exchange rate at an all low, what cost $1.20 6 years ago now cost $1.80. (thank you sky rocketing budget deficit) So the question remains…. What happened to inflation?

17” monitor in 1999…. $170.00
With 3% Inflation…. $197.07
Higher exchange rate… $295.60
19” monitor in 2005 … $180.00

Posted by Dan at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

If you keep up with online games you know that the Matrix Online has gone into open beta. For those of you who do not, Matrix Online is a massive multi-player online role playing game based on the world of the Matrix movies. So to recap, this game is a computer build world where avatars of your self live and work. As long as you pay the monthly fee you can spend your time working and fighting other people who are playing. Am I the only person for whom the irony of this is overwhelming?

Now if someone hacks the game and exploits this to do anything they want…

Posted by Dan at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When asked, I say heydan is a blog or Web log. It is an online journal. The things I write here are public. Being public anyone can read ‘how my day is going’ or what I am outraged about currently. You as a reader have open access to my published work.

With the popularity and press awareness of blogging a number of questions have become important. First, do I have the same rights as a traditional publisher? These rights include the right to protect the confidentiality of a source. Say I publish an anonymous quote of the day that becomes an issue in a civil suit. Can I be subpoenaed for this information?

This week a California judge ruled that Apple Computers will be allowed to subpoena the names of sources that provided three blogs with information.

Second, is heydan a creditable source of information? I do not mean am I a liar, I mean can you use what I write in as a source document? If I wrote about an event such as the day gunman drove by the office shooting at the Richardson police as they went, am I a creditable source. How would it be different if I was writing for the New York Times?

As a first hand account of my life, I would say I am creditable source. Even so, I have a bias. Every source does. Heydan is bias and so is the New York Times. Blogs are a great source of primary source material. Like asking people on the street question, great way to understand likes and dislikes, but a bad way to learn about economics.

I really think blogging will change the world, maybe not for the better.

Posted by Dan at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sometimes it just sucks being me. This has been a very hard week. I will refine from the whole story. We will just leave it at; my current level of screw-up is high. What I will tell you about is what it is like investing in someone else who does not succeed.

I am an instructor. I have the coolest job on the weekends. I teach people to do improvisational acting. Live with out a net, you and an audience going where ever your brain takes you. It is half was between teaching people to sky dive and group therapy.

Sometimes people need a little extra help. They may go on to be great at this. So, you invest a little more time in helping them. In a number of ways you invest more of yourself in hopping they get it. When they succeed, I cheer as loud as anyone because I know they came farther and braved more then people who were naturally good at this.

The down side is sometimes they do not succeed. Sometimes they make the decision that this is not for them. When this happens, part of me is lost. I know it is stupid.

Sunday morning, my boss handed me a note. It was from someone whom I had given extra effort. They still had a great deal to learn and I thought they would get it. In the end, they made the decision that was right for them. The note was a thank you for trying to help.

This is not the first note. They are always well written and very kind. I save them in a box in my office. To date, I never been able to read them more then once.

I know this has a lot to do with my ego. I know that I did not fail them. Knowing and feeling are different. Sometimes it sucks to be me…

Posted by Dan at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

New debate over zoos... wait no it is the same debate

Your dog is not happy being a house pet. He wants to jump on other dogs and sniff crotches. The fact you do not do this to him, worries him. You should start. Oh and not letting him poo anywhere he wants is un-natural and leads to urinary tract infections.

Your child wants to play with his friends all the time. He wants to hit other kids with sticks and though rocks. Not letting him do this causes him to display depression and reduces his exercise level. Feeding him in this state only leads over weight and type 2 diabetes.

We think of animal in a very stupid ways. Your cat is still a predator with claws and teeth that wants to kill and eat things. Zoo animals are still the same animals they were in the wild, with the same needs. A tiger sitting in a cage in a zoo needs to hunt as much as a tiger in Nepal need to. It is not the cage that causes zoo animals to get bored, it is that fact that we are not letting them eat the antelope across the way.

The truth is that what causes this type of behavior is that we are not entertaining the animals in zoos. Tigers, Polar Bears, and Elephants all require enormous amounts of space. Animals kept in even reasonably spacious exhibits can develop repetitive behavior. The key to solving this problem is keep the animals mind occupied. They should give the animal new things to deal with and new things to over come. If you saw a keeper feeding straw to an elephant, you would think the keeper was being mean. Straw has little food value. In the wild, 4 months a year that is what they eat. They have to travel 40 miles a day to find enough food to survive. That is the truth about the wild. If you really care about occupying their minds, you have to be willing to miss-treat them.

With the advent of television every child knows what an elephant looks like. They are pink or blue and live in the same land as Winnie the Poo. Banning Zoos in favor of Animal Planet would raise children that thought wild life was like the crocodile hunter. Trust me we do not want that.

Stop and think about it. It is about quality of life. If I dropped you on a desert island with predators that wanted to eat you, would you feel abused? This is what the wild is like. As humans, we like to think of it is the Jungle Book with all the singing and dancing animals. At the same time we tend to think a zoo cage is horrid. Do you live in an apartment?

What animals want is the same as you. To live a fun life where they get to face challenges and succeed. Giving zoo animals things to do will take letting go of our idealistic image of animals. We have to be ok with watching a monkey struggle to get enough food out of a feeder. Because in the wild that is what like is like. Anything else will lead to bored animals.

People like PETA and other have contempt prior to investigation of this issue. They view any interaction between people and animals as people abusing animals. At one time most zoo elephants were working elephants. Meaning that handlers would us them to do work. The practice is dangerous for both the keeper and the elephant. Due to the outcry of abuse, few elephants in zoos are handled anymore. This has lead to bored elephants.

We can not be both kind and good stewards all the time. Just like as parents you can not always be kind to your children.

Posted by Dan at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In a little over a week K and I will have been married for two months. Here is a small list of what I have learned so far:

• Forgetting your wedding ring in the morning is scary and I have no idea of why.
• There is a married man club, there are no dues and we have no meetings, but there is a secret handshake.
• My wife is a force of nature and forces of nature sometimes should not be questioned or explained.
• Wedding pictures are important.
• Having your wife in a class you are teaching can be scary.
• My house is very empty when K away
• Being married does not solve any problem.
• Every time you look at your wife, you see your bride. It does not matter what she is doing.
• K expects me to do everything I can to live forever. This includes eating vegitable.

Posted by Dan at 02:09 PM | Permalink

How do you feel about Bill Gates? He is one of the most polarizing personalities in America right now. Most people would tell you he is a cross between the devil and big brother. Being the richest man in the world and head of the company that make the most used product in the history of the world, he is what you call a good target. A type of cult of personality surrounds him.

Most techies have opinions about things he helped create. Most will revel in every mistake or short sighted decision at the same time loathing his dominance of the computer industry. I have even seen people attribute the way Office works as Bill Gates personally trying to ruin their lives. Now that would be ambition, to personally set a goal of ruining as many lives as people who us MS products.

Now as scary as his dictators are, his supporter are scarier. They range from people who just respect a successful person to people who believe that disagreeing will affect your career. I not talking about a walking up and telling him he is an idiot in a board meeting, they think if you say “MS could make it easier to use IE,” this statement should get you fired from the gas station in Indiana you work at.

This week the Queen of England is knighting Bill Gates. This fact, lead to the knighting of the devil debate in my office. One person actually suggested that the fact he supported the addition of Microsoft specific classes to Java should make his years of philanthropy in world health causes irrelevant. I just kept thinking… congratulation Bill for getting up every morning and trying.

Posted by Dan at 01:48 PM | Permalink