MrPstudios

Some of you might know that I've started a YouTube channel called MrPstudios. It's all about the art lessons I teach in my classroom. My students all seemed to enjoy the hands-on activities so much that I decided to make it more accessible to them, so...

www.youtube.com/mrpstudios

...was born. I really enjoy what I do, I can't believe I have been so fortunate to have an opportunity to share my enthusiasm for art with such a great group of students.




After shooting a vid of the art instruction for the week, I do some light editing and upload it straight to the channel.
Students are tuning in on their time off--a time that they are free to do anything they wish and they are chosing art!!! To date, 14 videos have generated nearly 800 views in the space of a few months...that's huge considering my students' age range from 5-8 years old!!!
These stats have given me a renewed sense of purpose. People ARE watching! And that makes me want to continue to generate more fun and informative content for them to see.
I also think that parents are allowing it because they understand the positive role art education can have in their children's life.

-- Posted From My iRod

Can a person really afford to switch mobile os platforms?

Most of the mobile phones on the market today are really coming into their own. Previously, once I decided to get a smart phone, the iPhone was really the only option. Most other mobile operating systems were two or three years behind what Apple had accomplished. Apple's phone and os were so polished and so well thought out that everything else seemed clumsy and stale. But now, Android has made nice progress over the past few years. Microsoft's doing some exciting things on the software side of things, and the hardware is starting to look down right sexy...well, for a phone anyway. A couple I got my eye on now is the HTC One, Motorola Razr, and the new Nokia Lumia 900. They are all really nice and full-featured mobile phones. The hardware is on par with what Apple has put out, and the os for each are comparatively just as polished and buttery smooth. Case in point, my cousin had a YouTube vid he wanted to show me of a guy who tests guns. He set up a shooting range where he puts each gun through it's paces. Well, my cousin has the Samsung GS II and was able to pull up the guy's channel from pocket to playing in a matter of seconds; something my iPhone couldn't have done any better.




I like the phones. I like the os. So what's keeping me from taking the plunge? Apps apps apps...that's really the name of the game now-a-days. Over the years, I've purchased a number of apps from Apple's app store. All of which, in one way or another, help to make my life easier and more enjoyable. Do I really want to start all over on a new platform? I will admit that I only use about a dozen or so third party apps on an everyday basis, but I do have several that I've downloaded for specific purposes; ones that only come in handy three of four times a month, but without them I'd have to figure out some type of cumbersome, and time consuming workaround.
What could help me make the decision to switch...I can think of two ways:
1) I can get myself an iPad with 32gb and 3G.
This way I wouldn't feel like I've lost anything. I'd still be able to use any of my Apple app store purchases at any time I choose. As it stands now, I do have an iPad 2, but it's only 16gb and there's no 3G connectivity. A wifi only iPad 2 with the limited amount of space is something I didn't have the foresight enough to think could be a problem down the road. Since I did already own an iPhone 4 with 32gb I didn't think the extra money I'd be spending on the iPad was worth it. To me--size difference aside--they would have been the exact same device. But an iPad with all the bells and whistles would indeed allow me to both have my cake and eat it too!
2) Gift card to the new app store.
As I mentioned earlier, there are about 12 or so apps that I use on a daily basis. Most others are games and such that I use occasionally, only when it suites me. If I were to also receive an in-app store credit with my new phone purchase, I'd have to give that some serious consideration. Most apps that are available in Apple's app store are also available (or soon will be) on other platforms as well. But instead of having me rebuild my collection from the ground up, give me an 'app springboard' to get me started. I think that would go a long way towards having the same core functionality from day one with the new platform as I did with the old one. I'm not talking some outrageous amount...somewhere around $25-$30 should give me enough latitude to purchase the apps I use regularly, keeping me from having to find that workaround.

Although, the competition has succeeded in producing viable options, they are going to be hard pressed to get me, and people like me out of their walled garden.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

1st Upload to YouTube: iPhone Credit Card Stand

As I sat here editing another art education video for YouTube, I got to thinking about my very first upload. No, it had nothing to do with art...it was around a time when I was extremely excited about my new phone...iPhone 3G!!! Like most guys, I had always been interested in consumer electronics, but no other product had taken and held my attention like the products that were (and still are) coming out of Cupertino, CA. It had taken over my thoughts so completely that all of my artistic creativity and ingenuity centered around my new, candy bar styled, pocket computer...which leads me to the subject of this post. On October 25, 2009, I posted a DIY video, detailing how to create an iPhone stand from a single credit card. The idea stemmed from a need to prop my phone up against 'something' while I consumed digital media. Simply holding it got old real fast, and honestly, wasn't feasible because of the sheer volume of material I managed to get through. Disappointed after a quick search of ready-made solutions that were already on the market, I decided to design my own. My focus was on a functional stand that was durable and readily available--it had to be so ultra portable that you could forget you had it on you. I settled on credit cards because it offered the kind of unobtrusive portability that I was looking for...after all, most people carry several of them around every day in wallets and handbags. Only thing left to do at that point was to transform the card into a functional stand that could be stored and reused when needed. It works quite well, and not just with iPhones, but with most candy bar type devices. To this day, I'm still getting positive comments from random viewers. How did I do it? See the vid below. -- Posted From My iPad

Gamer: Hardcore to Casual

Speaking as a husband and a father, it's hard to classify myself as a hardcore gamer anymore. There used to be a time when I would sit down with a new title and complete it in one night. I had a room specifically set up for gaming and gaming alone. I used to have an extensive collection of titles to choose from, and across several different systems. But as I got older and my life got fuller, I found myself spending less and less time gaming.

The first thing to go was my handhelds. While I can't say that my family obligations are directly responsible for this (Apple and the iPhone had a big part in this decision too) I found that I simply didn't need to carry them along as much as I used to. And even when I did bring them, I barely had time to play. I became more involved in the planning and navigating when going on long trips, so I didn't have that leisure time to fill anymore. I ended up giving away my handhelds and the library of games to kids that I thought would get more use out of them. Now, if there is a free moment, I usually reach for my iPhone and pick from the assortment of titles I have collected over the past few years...Street Fighter IV, Gun Bros., Words with Friends, Rolando, Tetris, Monopoly, just to name a few of my favorites. N.O.V.A. with the gyro controls was an instant hit with me as well. If you ever see a guy out somewhere spinning around in a swivel chair looking at his iPhone, chances are it's probably me!!!






Console gaming, however, is a different story. I don't think I'll ever be able to just get rid of my consoles, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to spend as much time with them as I have in the past. Case in point, I have had Halo: Reach since launch day, but it has taken me until just recently to complete the storyline, and I can count on one hand how many times I've been online in matchmaking! In fact, that is what spawned this article. Halo is, in my opinion, the best fps out there...it's the sole reason I bought an Xbox, switching from the PS2, and later upgrading to the Xbox 360. There is no way it should have taken me months to do anything...other than (maybe) earn all of the achievements. As it stands now, I have yet to purchase the DLC map packs!!

It's really not easy to say who's at fault, because I have a very supportive wife. No matter what hobby I decided to get into, she has always supported what I was interested in...matter of fact, one of our favorite past times was playing the New Super Mario Bros. on our DS. Their was a head-to-head mode where we would battle each other for stars...first person to reach a pre-determined amount of stars would win. But watch out, because you could make your opponent cough up a star if you bounced on their head or shot them with a fireball...it was intense!!!

(I REALLY MISS THAT TIME)

And my daughter is rarely fussy. She's a generally happy baby...only crying when she's hungry, sleepy, or needs changing. She is just as content playing in her crib as she is in our arms, and that is a very rare trait to have in a one year old. Truth be told, I could sit her in the baby swing and have her watch me play...video games look just like cartoons...I'd probably be able to get in several uninterrupted hours a day!

Well...is it me? Have I changed? I'd like to still consider myself a hardcore gamer, but my gaming habits don't warrant the title. Sure, there will always be those couple of games to come out every year that pull me back into gaming. The few that I'm most excited about right now are Modern Warfare 2, the remake of the first Halo (of course), and the latest installment of Ratchet and Clank, All for One. However, I do think that my priorities may have shifted or that I may have matured a bit. Evidence of this is fairly clear when I go online and hear the conversations of the next generation of gamers.






I have nothing in common with them at all!!! Is this normal...is it the gaming circle of life?


Rod

My Beautiful Baby Girl

I have reached the end of a very special and eventful day. Exactly 1 year ago today my daughter was born. It has been a great ride, good times and hard times, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. This is the reason I work so hard...Happy Birthday Khloe.




- Posted from my iPad

iOS Compatibility Issues

Tech is nice when it works. But when it doesn't it can be a headache! Here recently I purchased an iPad 2 and I've been very happy with it. It has done just about everything I've asked it to...well, until now. I had a very simple task to perform (or so I thought) and I reached for my iPad to help me through it.

If you don't know, I'm an art teacher and I got the bright idea to record some instructional videos to show in the classroom as well as post online. Seems simple so far, right? I have a Sony Webbie HD that I used to record some video. I transferred it to my school-board-issued laptop and began showing them in class without incident. However, getting that same video on the iPad in order to edit, and upload it to YouTube has been an uphill battle, and once I think I have it figured out, another problem presented itself.

So how do I get the video off the Webbie? After searching and asking everyone I thought could help, I found out about a Camera Kit that Apple put out.





Basically it's two separate adaptors that plugs into the 30-pin dock at the bottom of the iPad. One adaptor has a USB plug at the other end, allowing you to plug in a camera via the USB cable that (presumably) came with the camera. The other, more or less, is a SD card reader. It has a slot at the other end to pop in your secured digital memory card...assuming that your camera uses SD cards. After working with these two add-ons for a while, I was able to successfully transfer the video files into my iPad. Problem solved right? Well, that one was...I now had a whole new problem. For some reason, iMovie didn't recognize any of the videos I shot with the Webbie!!! Photos work just fine, but even though the videos showed up in my 'imported' album, I was still unable to get them to show up in the iMovie app.





So how do I edit a video clip and publish it to YouTube from my iPad if the video file is not compatible? I haven't a clue. My videos are still locked away. I need another option. Someone told me I can just use my iPhone 4 to shoot the video, then use the Camera Kit to transfer the video file to the iPad for editing/uploading. That could work--using the USB adaptor and the USB/charging cable that came with the phone, the iPad recognized the iPhone as just another camera and I was able to get editable videos on my iPad. But then how would I get that same video from the phone to my laptop to show during class? Going through iTunes is much too indirect, when compared to the ease of dragging-and-dropping that my Webbie offers.

As I see it, I have two options...1) Find an easier way to transfer videos from my iPhone to my laptop or 2) Find another pocket camcorder that offers both, the convenience of drag-and-drop for school, and a compatible file format for editing/uploading on my iPad 2.

Any suggestions?

Update: Apple seems to have solved this problem with an update for iMovie. Now it would seem they have added support for video recorded from other devices. So, thanks...that was the perfect solution.

At the end of the day...Customer Service has my vote.

I have, just recently, been confronted with two problems where I needed some customer service assistance.

Problem one: I bought a brand new 40" flat screen tv and the accompanying wall mount for our master bedroom. Got home and none of the bolts in the wall mount kit fit the back of my tv. I called back to the store and while they were good about me bring it back for a refund, they had no idea how this happened nor could they offer up any suggestions to keep it from happening again. Basically, I would have to purchase each and every brand of wall mounts they had and test the bolts individually. Does this seem like a plausible solution to you? It didn't to me either. Is it too much to ask to have two products, that's advertised to work together, actually do just that? Whose fault is it? This is one of those situations where it's hard to point the finger at any one person...the tv manufacturer, the wall mount manufacturer, or the store who carried them both? Either way you look at it, it's the consumer, namely me, that ended up with the short end of the stick. And my call to customer service got me nowhere. I had to look up the size of the bolts myself and buy them separately.

Problem two: My wife's new iPhone started malfunctioning. The left side of the touch screen display went all 'non-responsive' on her. Well, I made an appointment at our local Apple retail store. After a brief description of the problem, and some one-on-one time playing with one of the new iMacs, they came back with a replacement display screen. No fuss, no headaches...we walked in with a problem and walked out without it.



At the end of the day, you want what you purchase to function as advertised, but we all know that things can go wrong. Question is, when it happens to you, is there going to be someone there to help out, or are you going to have to DIY!!!


-- Posted From My iRod