Is Twitter Down Again?

It is for me, anyhow. None of my tweets are getting through from my ThunderPig account...although I can tweet just fine from my WPIG account. Odd. 

 

I guess I should post an update while I'm here. 

 

My video coverage of the Macon County Commissioners and the Franklin Town Board of Aldermen is going well. I've been providing live video streaming of the Town Board meetings and Live Tweeting the Commissioner meetings. I may add video streaming of that, too. 

 

I've purchased a new camera to replace my aging, battered and failing Kodak Z710. The model I went with is the Kodak Z950. 

 

My initial concern about the camera is battery life. Or, to be more precise...lack thereof. The first round of photo-taking lasted just 154 shots with a fully charged Kodak KLIC-7003 Lithium ion battery installed. My Z710 would last nearly 400 photos and could shoot over an hour of video (even at 640x480 VGA resolution). Plus, it used AA batteries and I've got nearly a dozen sets of rechargeables to cycle through my other cameras, MP3 Plyers and handheld radio frequency scanner.

 

The night after I purchased the Z950, I was online looking for another set of batteries. The brand name Kodak KLIC-7003 cost $30 apiece. There was no way I could afford that, so I looked for generic equivalents and found something at Overstock. just under $6 apiece. I got two of them because I want the ability to take more than 400 photos at an event without having to be tethered to an electrical outlet. Sometime next week, I'll be getting the Kodak charger so I can either recharge it in my truck (I have AC outlets in the cab) or if I am at an event that is indoors, I can start the recharge cycle when the first Li-ion battery dies. 

I intend to keep my Z710 in service as long as it lasts. I'll be shooting video (for picture in picture use) at events when I want an extra angle of coverage when my Kodak Zi6 is covering the speaker. I'll also be using it for time lapse video this spring and summer. 

The other concern about the Z950 is video. It looks good, but drains battery life even more than photos. A short 20 minute test yesterday morning drained more than half the battery. 

I am pleased with the quality of the photos so far from the Z950. I haven't covered an event with it yet, but this coming weekend, I'll have 4 events to cover:  Friday (1), Saturday (1) and Monday (2). I'll let you know what I think after that. 

 

 

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous

Macon County Commissioners Meeting 01/11/2010

cross-posted from my political blog. I'm posting it here because I've not expressed any political opinions in this particular post. (That in itself may be a minor miracle. LOL)

The regular meeting of the Macon County Commissioners took place on January 11, 2009. This is the public portion of that meeting. Highlights of the meeting include a resolution in support of the Upper Cullasaja River Restoration Project to help them get funds from the Clean Water Trust Fund and recognition of the efforts of Bob Litten in the construction of the Macon County Veterans Memorial.

These are my notes from the January 11, 2009 regular meeting of the Macon County Board of Commissioners:

Call to order and welcome by Chairman Beale

Chairman Ronnie Beale brought the meeting to order.

Announcements

He announced that there would be a work session on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at the SCC Board Room starting at 8:30am and would work through lunch and into the afternoon until they worked through all the things in the budget and other matters.

He also announced that there would be a public hearing on certain amendments to the Subdivision Ordinance [PDF] at the January 25th, 2010, meeting, which will convene at 2:00 pm in the Commissioners Board Room.

Invocation and Pledge

Reverend Guy Duvall gave the Invocation and Ronnie Beale led those assembled in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Public Comment

The Public Comment Period saw two men address the Commissioners, the first was Pastor Greg Rogers [sp?] who spoke to an article in The Smoky Mountain News [link to article] that had caused concern among several people in the churches regarding the removal of Invocation before County Commission meetings. He praised the Commissioners for the stands they took in support of Meeting Invocation in the local media. He recited Acts 4:12 and said that he (and others) would be praying for the Commissioners by name, that they would be guided in their decision-making to do the right thing.

The other speaker was a man named Charlie Calley [sp?] who addressed the Commissioners regarding the economic situation, jobs and requesting that the Commissioners petition the state for a Doe Hunting Season in order that the deer herds might be thinned, and only the biggest bucks might successfully breed.

Chairman Beale told Mr. Calley [sp?] that the Wildlife Commission was meeting in Sylva at SCC next week [Wednesday] and that he could address them as a citizen.

Adjustments to and approval of the agenda

There was less than ten minutes of discussion regarding the agenda providing minor corrections.

New Business:

Upper Cullasaja River Restoration Resolution

The commissioners discussed the resolution to assist in obtaining money from the Trustees of the North Carolina Clean Water Trust Fund to assist in restoring the Upper Cullasaja from an impairment. Ronnie Beale read from the last paragraph of the resolution and some discussion on the issue followed, and the board voted unanimously to pass the resolution.

Chairman Ronnie Beale recognized David Wilkes, the newly elected Mayor of Highlands, who was present in the crowd observing the meeting. The Mayor indicated that he had a steep learning curve over the past few weeks.

Consent Agenda

Minutes

A few minor adjustments were suggested and approved to the minutes of the last meeting.

Budget revisions

Budget amendments 80 through 84 were discussed by the commissioners, the Finance Officer, County Manager and County Attorney.

Amendment to Animal Control Ordinance

In a similar fashion, adjustments to the Animal Control Ordinance [PDF] were discussed with input from County Manager Jack Horton and County Attorney Leslie Moxley.

Mental Health Resolution

Ronnie Beale discussed a resolution regarding approval of the purchase of real property by Smoky Mountain Mental Health in Watauga County and he brought the other members up to date on the related board he served on.

Governor’s Crime Commission Grant

Sheriff Robbie Holland came forth to discuss a request for the board to pass a resolution supporting re-applying for the Governor's Crime Commission Grant.

In the course of the discussion, he relayed some statistics that the previous year's grant had helped to obtain:

79 new drug cases were opened

207 felonies were charged

48 misdemeanor charges

25 search warrants were served

3 T3 Wires were ran (3 wiretaps)

14 people were charged on the federal level, all plead guilty and would be sentenced later this month

3 people responsible for supplying drugs into Macon County were arrested in Atlanta by Macon County Deputies sworn into Federal Service

Drugs seized

7 grams of cocaine

98 grams of crack

32 grams of meth

177 marijuana plants

4,000 grams of Marijuana

2,900 grams of dried opium

The Macon County Sheriff's Department served as the lead agency in western North Carolina for Operation Pill Crusher:

144,000 pills were collected and taken off the street to be destroyed.

The motion to support the consent agenda passed unanimously.

Board Appointments

Bob Simpson was asked to bring a name forth at the next meeting to replace Christy Dodge, who had resigned from the Franklin-Nantahala TDC (Tourism Development Board)

Ed Shatley, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, was re-appointed to another term, and Gary Drake was appointed replace Hank Ross as the representative of the Town of Highlands.

Chairman Dave Jones of the Franklin Town Board of Adjustment was re-appointed to another term.

Chariman Ronnie Beale will be joining Commissioner Bob Simpson on the Macon Program for Progress Board so that the two together might attend more meetings than just one of them could.

Bob Litten came forth to make a final report to the County Commissioners on his involvement in getting the Macon County Veterans Memorial project underway for the past three years.

He recognized some of the people he wanted to personally thank for their help over the course of the project, among whom were Evelyn Southard (Finance Director of Macon County), Leslie Moxley (County Attorney), Jack Morgan (Building Codes Administrator), Sam Greenwood (former Macon County Manager), Ronnie Beale (Chairman of the Macon County Commissioners), Charlie Leatherman (former Chairman of the Macon County Commissioners), Robbie Holland (Macon County Sheriff), Jack Horton (Macon County Commissioner), Steve Ledford and crew (Macon County Maintenance Dept), all the members of the Macon County Board of Commissioners for being such a great bunch of people to work with, the Town of Franklin, the Town of Highlands, the News Media for spreading the word about the project.

He said he had resigned his role as Chairman of the committee overseeing the project, but was still on the committee, and Neal Riendeau was the new chairman, and he introduced him to speak to the Commissioners to update them on the work of the committee.

He said the Macon County Veterans Memorial was dedicated on July 4, 2009 [see videos] and that, right now, the primary source of funds was through memorial brick sales [right-click to order a brick], which ranged from $100 to $500 apiece. Riendeau said that current projects included the design and construction of an entrance sign to the park to give it more visibility. Members of the committee are working with General Bodenheimer on the design of a full-size bronze sculpture, which is still in the design stage. The idea is to have a woman holding a folded flag in one arm clutched to her chest, with a little girl beside her holding her hand, and a little boy on the other side, holding her arm. They will be in the oval in front of the main flag pole.

Neal Riendeau reiterated what Bob Litten had said, that these men did not do this project alone, that "this was a community project for the community."

Chairman Ronnie Beale then presented Bob Litten with a plaque of appreciation that held a replica of the Macon County flag on behalf of the Macon County Commissioners and thousands of people of Macon County as a small token of their appreciation for his efforts on behalf of the veterans of Macon County.

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous

Untitled

If you don't have a fireplace, you can borrow this one... I filmed it at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin, NC. If you have the bandwidth, watch it in HD and in full screen. I doubt I will be posting anything here between now and Christmas, so I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous

Merry Christmas!!!

 

 

If you don't have a fireplace, you can borrow this one...

 

 

I filmed it at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin, NC.

 

If you have the bandwidth, watch it in HD and in full screen.

 

I doubt I will be posting anything here between now and Christmas, so I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous

webcam test

Untitled

 

 

 

I've got a couple of hours of unprocessed video from my day trip to Waterrock Knob in October, and here is an early version of a montage of video and photos I am considering. This version has no photos, but is just a sort of test of concept. 

 

I can't wait for spring so I can get out on the Parkway and get some more video, especially material for time lapses of spring thunderstorms developing.

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous

Untitled

It's been a while since I posted.

 

Here is a brief update on what has happened in the last few weeks:

 

My Kodak Z710 has been mostly out of commission, it will work if I don't use the zoom lens. Blogging has been more or less the same. It's an odd feeling when I'm out at an event taking photos or video and have people ask if I'm Thunder Pig. That is happening more often these days, as are the invites to record meetings and events, both public and private. I don't charge for the public events if the admission to get into the event is free on the theory that I can recoup my expenses by increased web traffic and click-throughs on ads. 

The last event I recorded was the forum for candidates in the NC-11 GOP primary hosted by the Young Americans for Liberty at Western Carolina University on December 7th [video].

 

I've got a new laptop and the difference between it and the old one is astounding. Of course, the old one was manufactured in 2003 and had only 512 MB of RAM and a 40 GB hard drive. The new laptop has 3 GB of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive. Editing video is going to be a lot faster than before. The new laptop will make it much easier to do live webcasts from events due to the increase in processing power.

 

The old laptop took an average of 25 minutes to render 1 minute of HD (1280x720 @ 30fps) video. I tested the new maching on 30 seconds of footage and it took 7 minutes. I'll be testing it out on a longer video today or tomorrow...which brings me to the new video editing software. 

First, a little history. From 2005 to the middle of 2007, I had no ability to edit video other than keeping videos under the 10 minute window for You Tube. No titles or anything else. This was a problem because most people speaking at events don't fit their speeches to under 10 minutes. During the stop and start of my camera (the trusty Kodak Z710 recording 320x240 @ 30 fps), I would lose about 20 seconds maximum of the action. I tried to identify a pause or applause line to minimize the loss of content. 

In the summer of 2007, I discovered One True Media [link], and began to use it to cut longer videos and to add title sequences. This video of then Lt Governor (now Governor) Beverly Perdue speaking is an example:

 

 

I was a couple hundred feet away, and the video zoom on the Z710 was very limited. 

In October 2007, at the Vance Aycock Dinner, Richard Bernier gave me some video editing software. It was MAGIX Movie Edit Pro 12. 

Now, I could do much more with my videos. Of course, the learning curve was steep. Here is an early example from the 2007 lights & Luminaries at Dillsboro, NC:

 

 

I eventually upgraded to Movie Edit Pro 15 sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. I didn't blog about it, so I'm not sure when that happened.

Over time, I got better. In March or April of 2009, I got a Kodak Zi6 HD pocket camera. That camera has been a workhorse like the Z710. 

 

 

This past week, I upgraded to a new laptop and (since I had given away the install disc to MEP 15) took the opportunity to upgrade to Movie Edit Pro 15 Plus. I also received almost 9 GB of Sound and Video Pool in a Christmas sale via the MAGIX website.

 

I've already taken the opportunity to revamp my Intro and Outro title sequences, and can't wait to put them on new video projects. 

 

I hope to be more regular in posting updates in the future.

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous

Ustream Live Test

Free video chat by Ustream

temp post city council

Precinct	Cecil Bothwell	Ryan D. Croft	J. Neal Jackson	Esther Manheimer	Carl Mumpower	Gordon Smith	Write-In	Total
	01.1_STEPHENS LEE COMMUNITY CENTER	103	12	84	89	52	119	94	553
	02.1_MONTFORD COMMUNITY CENTER	365	29	108	297	67	374	230	1,470
	03.1_ST MARKS LUTHERAN CHURCH	260	45	75	235	91	254	197	1,157
	04.1_NORTH ASHEVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER	160	52	77	253	116	196	135	989
	05.1_ST EUGENES CHURCH	181	138	175	328	262	199	248	1,531
	06.1_TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH	126	88	89	141	138	130	90	802
	07.1_KENILWORTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH	225	45	70	212	85	217	192	1,046
	08.2_SHILOH COMMUNITY CENTER	96	81	134	124	122	117	83	757
	08.3_FAITH TABERNACLE CHRISTIAN CENTER	96	32	104	94	66	92	47	531
	09.1_MURPHY-OAKLEY COMMUNITY CENTER	139	114	128	181	158	177	95	992
	10.1_W C REID RECREATION CENTER	79	22	82	65	55	101	65	469
	11.1_ASHEVILLE SENIOR OPPORTUNITY CENTER	105	18	58	71	40	98	55	445
	12.1_HALL FLETCHER SCHOOL	170	35	52	127	63	180	107	734
	13.1_GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH	156	46	52	124	99	167	100	744
	14.2_ASHEVILLE PRE-SCHOOL	128	53	92	125	104	137	70	709
	Precinct	Cecil Bothwell	Ryan D. Croft	J. Neal Jackson	Esther Manheimer	Carl Mumpower	Gordon Smith	Write-In	Total
	14.3_ELIADA HOME - PAUL AMOS REC CENTER	33	17	32	29	51	42	17	221
	15.1_VANCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	182	87	107	201	149	230	121	1,077
	16.2_WEST ASHEVILLE LIBRARY	191	115	108	176	177	237	156	1,160
	17.1_BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE	152	49	53	176	97	161	112	800
	18.2_TC ROBERSON HIGH SCHOOL	124	174	188	248	300	136	149	1,319
	19.1_SKYLAND FIRE DEPARTMENT	23	40	45	59	80	21	19	287
	20.1_ASHEVILLE APOSTOLIC CHURCH	70	21	28	59	46	62	44	330
	21.1_HAW CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL	135	134	153	225	205	170	154	1,176
	22.2_IRA B JONES SCHOOL AUDITORIUM	221	126	160	347	244	270	196	1,564
	23.3_EVERGREEN CHARTER SCHOOL	81	85	93	127	153	94	74	707
	24.1_CROSSROADS ASSEMBLY	56	109	120	92	153	65	56	651
	25.1_CHARLES C BELL SCHOOL	100	109	130	146	205	125	80	895
	26.1_ASHEVILLE SCHOOL ATHLETIC CENTER	68	36	55	80	85	79	62	465
	28.1_COVENANT REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN	192	37	63	199	89	213	127	920
	29.2_NEW HOPE PRESBYTERIAN	138	159	162	249	265	149	132	1,254
	Precinct	Cecil Bothwell	Ryan D. Croft	J. Neal Jackson	Esther Manheimer	Carl Mumpower	Gordon Smith	Write-In	Total
	43.2_HAZEL 2 - JOHNSTON SCHOOL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	44.1_LOWER HOMINY 1 - OAK FOREST PRESBYTERIAN	33	46	47	66	85	45	34	356
	45.1_ENKA MIDDLE SCHOOL	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	3
	54.2_LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY	1	6	8	5	9	6	0	35
	55.1_LIMESTONE 2 - GLEN ARDEN SCHOOL	2	1	1	2	4	2	4	16
	62.1_RICEVILLE 2 - GRASSY BRANCH BAPTIST	7	3	9	12	9	8	5	53
	71.1_WOODLAND HILLS - BAPTIST CHURCH	6	6	5	10	10	9	4	50
	ONE STOP	1693	355	528	1590	815	1618	1266	7,865
	ABSENTEE BY MAIL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	PROVISIONAL	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TRANSFER	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	4
	Total:	5,899	2,525	3,476	6,567	4,749	6,301	4,620	34,137

In Memoriam: My Kodak Z710

 

 

The camera you see above is the dead carcass of my old friend, my Kodak Z710. This camera has been a workhorse, recording just over 18,000 images and videos (some videos over an hour long) since I bought it to replace a Z710 that had greatly impressed me with it's stamina and rock-steady dependable performance. 

I've had it since 2007 and it will be (already has been) missed.

 

I have not yet decided what to replace it with. The Kodak Z1015 IS is certainly at the top of a very short list. I am also considering making the jump to an entry level DSLR camera, but even the entry level cameras are either too expensive, or there are too many negative reviews of them that have scared me off choosing them. If you know of one that is good for under $300 and has the ability to leave the shutter open as long as I want (for long exposures), and is VERY dependable and rugged, drop me a line.

With my KOdak Z710's, I've recorded images like those below...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I guess you can tell that I got better over time taking photos with this camera, but I give the majority of the credit to the camera itself. I'll miss you, Kodak Z710...you've been a dependable friend.

Posted via web from bobbycoggins's posterous