Apple Final Cut 'Pro' X FAQ's translated into English

Final Cut Pro X FAQ's - Apple's response, my translation 

Final Cut Pro X is a breakthrough in nonlinear video editing. The
application has impressed many pro editors, and it has also generated a lot of discussion in the pro video community. We know people have
questions about the new features in Final Cut Pro X and how it compares with previous versions of Final Cut Pro. Here are the answers to the most common questions we've heard.

Final Cut Pro was a breakthrough in nonlinear video editing. The new
application has not impressed many pro editors, and it has also generated a lot of hatred in the pro video community. We know people have complaints about the new features in Final Cut Pro X and how it compares with previous versions of Final Cut Pro. Here are the answers to the most common complaints we've had.

Import

Can I import projects from Final Cut Pro 7 into Final Cut Pro X?

Final Cut Pro X includes an all-new project architecture structured around a trackless timeline and connected clips. In addition, Final Cut Pro X features new and redesigned audio effects, video effects, and color grading tools. Because of these changes, there is no way to "translate" or bring in old projects without changing or losing data. But if you're already working with Final Cut Pro 7, you can continue to do so after installing Final Cut Pro X, and Final Cut Pro 7 will work with Mac OS X Lion. You can also import your media files from previous versions into Final Cut Pro X.

Final Cut Pro X includes an all-new project architecture structured
around a weird timeline and 'connected' clips. In addition, Final Cut Pro X features new audio effects, video effects, and color grading tools. This won't change because we are too lazy to make the software "translate" or bring in old projects without changing or losing data. But if you're already working with Final Cut Pro 7 (now discontinued), you can continue to do so after installing Final Cut Pro X, and Final Cut Pro 7 will work with Mac OS X Lion (though most likely not the next OS after Lion). You can also import your media files from previous versions into Final Cut Pro X as well as AVID or Adobe Premiere.

Can I import my video directly into Final Cut Pro X as I could in Final Cut Pro 7?

Yes. Final Cut Pro X allows you to import video from a wide range of
devices, including many AVCHD-based cameras and DSLR cameras. You can find a list of supported cameras here http://help.apple.com/finalcutpro/cameras/en/. The list will grow as we continue to test and qualify new cameras.

Yes. Final Cut Pro X allows you to import video from a wide range of
devices, excluding most tape based cameras. The list will grow as we
continue to test and qualify new cameras. This list will also remove
cameras later on, like we do with photography, when they become too old, typically a few years after the cameras release.

Some camera manufacturers will need to update their import plug-ins to
work with the new 64-bit architecture of Final Cut Pro, and we are working with them to provide these updates as quickly as possible. Until then, you can use your camera manufacturer's import software to convert video for Final Cut Pro X.

Some camera manufacturers are unlikely to update their import
plug-ins to work with our new architecture of Final Cut Pro, and we are trying to persuade them to provide these updates. Until then, you can use your camera manufacturer's import software (if they support the Mac) to convert video for Final Cut Pro X. Once again this excludes most legacy cameras.

For example, Sony offers an XDCAM Transfer application that allows you to convert XDCAM video without transcoding so it can be imported into Final Cut Pro X. You can find more information here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4724. If you are working with RED cameras, you can use the free RED software REDCINE-X, designed to transcode RED RAW video to ProRes for use in Final Cut Pro X:
https://www.red.com/support/all/downloads.

For example, Sony offers an XDCAM Transfer application that allows
you to convert XDCAM video without transcoding so it can be imported into Final Cut Pro X. You can find more information here:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/short-and-suite/premiere-pro-cs55-resources-for-professional-editors/. If you are working with RED cameras, http://community.avid.com/media/p/411158.aspx. Though if you want to
export the final to tape this is not available.

Editing

Can I edit my tape-based workflow with Final Cut Pro X?

Yes, in a limited manner. Final Cut Pro X is designed for modern
file-based workflows and does not include all the tape capture and output features that were built into Final Cut Pro 7. Final Cut Pro X does support FireWire import for DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, DVCPRO HD, and HDV. In addition, companies like AJA and Blackmagic offer free deck control software that allows you to capture from tape and output to tape.

NO, find a 3rd party solution, Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid would
do.

Does Final Cut Pro X support multicam editing?

Not yet, but it will. Multicam editing is an important and popular
feature, and we will provide great multicam support in the next major
release. Until then, Final Cut Pro X offers some basic support with
automatic clip synchronization, which allows you to sync multiple video and audio clips using audio waveforms, creating a Compound Clip that can be used for simple multicam workflows.

No, we will make you buy the new OS to get these features.

Does Final Cut Pro X support external monitors?

Yes. If you have a second computer monitor connected to your Mac, Final Cut Pro X gives you options to display the interface across multiple monitors. For example, you can place a single window — such as the Viewer or the Event Browser — on the second monitor, while leaving the other windows on your primary monitor. Like previous versions, Final Cut Pro X relies on third-party devices to support external video monitoring. We've been working with third-party developers in our beta program to create drivers for Final Cut Pro X, and AJA has already posted beta drivers for its popular Kona card: http://www.aja.com/support/konaNEW/kona-3g.php.

Only as an extended desktop.

Can I save different versions of my project?

Yes. Final Cut Pro X automatically saves your project during the editing process, so you never lose your work. If you want to save a version of your project, with or without duplicate media, select it in the Project Library and choose File > Duplicate Project.

Yea, but in a very Apple way.

Are keyboard shortcuts in Final Cut Pro X different from those in Final Cut Pro 7?

Many keyboard shortcuts for navigation, start/end marking, and tools are the same in Final Cut Pro X and Final Cut Pro 7. Some keyboard shortcuts have changed to support new features. Final Cut Pro X offers powerful keyboard customization, and you can view and modify keyboard shortcuts at any time by choosing Final Cut Pro > Commands > Customize.

Yes, and we were too lazy to make it easy to change back to what you
are used to, customise it yourself.

Can I use my third-party plug-ins in Final Cut Pro X?

You'll be able to use them as soon as they are updated. Because Final Cut Pro X has a modern 64-bit architecture, third-party plug-ins must be 64-bit too. Final Cut Pro X already supports 64-bit Audio Units plug-ins. For motion graphics, third-party developers can build effects, titles, transitions, and generators as templates in Motion 5 for use directly in Final Cut Pro X. Developers can also build 64-bit FxPlug 2 plug-ins for Motion 5, and integrate those plug-ins into templates that can be used in Final Cut Pro X. These templates, together with any associated FxPlug 2 plug-ins, will work in Final Cut Pro X even if Motion is not installed on the computer.

Maybe, if the 3rd part companies don't just switch to Adobe Premiere
and Avid. Because Final Cut Pro X has been re-written, third-party
plug-ins must be re-written too. Final Cut Pro X already supports some
Audio Units plug-ins. For motion graphics, third-party developers can
re-build effects, titles, transitions, and generators as new templates in Motion 5 for use directly in Final Cut Pro X. Developers can also build new FxPlug 2 plug-ins for Motion 5, and try to make those plug-ins into templates that can be used in Final Cut Pro X. These templates, together with any associated FxPlug 2 plug-ins, will work in Final Cut Pro X even if Motion is not installed on the computer.

Media Management

Can I specify a scratch disk location?

Yes. When you import media, you can specify the Event and the drive where you'd like to put it. You can also specify where you'd like to put your project. In Final Cut Pro X, a project and its rendered media always travel together in the same folder, so it's easy to move projects between different hard drives and computers.

Yes. But with less options. All the media and processing files is on
one drive/folder eliminating the option to use multiple drives to spread the load.

Can I share projects with other editors?

Yes. You have several options for sharing projects. You can hand over just the project file, and the recipient can reconnect the project to his or her own copies of the Event. Or you can send the complete project and Event as a package to another editor. Final Cut Pro X includes options for duplicating, moving, and consolidating projects and associated media to streamline sharing between editors.

Yes. You have several options for sharing projects. You can give
them your computer. Or you can send the complete project as a package to another editor. Final Cut Pro X includes options for duplicating, moving, and consolidating projects and associated media though we deter sharing between editors.

Can I store media in locations other than my system drive?

Yes. Turning off the "Copy files to Final Cut Events folder" option leaves the imported files where they are currently located. You can also move the project and associated media at any point during the editing process by dragging the project to another mounted hard drive within the Project Library.

Yes by disabling the default consumer option "Copy files to Final
Cut Events folder" this leaves the imported files where you put them. You can also move the project and associated media at any point during the editing process by dragging the whole project to another mounted hard drive but only within the Project Library.

Can I hide Events that I am not working on?

Yes. You can hide Events in Final Cut Pro X by moving them out of the
Final Cut Events folder. In the Finder, navigate to the
/Users/username/Movies folder and create a new folder. Then move the
Events you are not using out of the Final Cut Events folder and into your new folder. The moved Events will no longer appear in Final Cut Pro X. If your Events are located on an external drive, you can move the Events to a new folder on that drive, or you can simply unmount the drive.

Yes, but it's not built into the software. That's what the OS is
for, move all the files to a place where Final Cut Pro X can't find them and Final Cut Pro X won't be able to find them.


Export

Can Final Cut Pro X export XML?

Not yet, but we know how important XML export is to our developers and our users, and we expect to add this functionality to Final Cut Pro X. We will release a set of APIs in the next few weeks so that third-party developers can access the next-generation XML in Final Cut Pro X.

No, we did not know how important XML export is to our developers
and our users, we might add this functionality to Final Cut Pro X. This also will probably only be if you buy the new OS too. Text files are tricky you know.

Does Final Cut Pro X support OMF, AAF, and EDLs?

Not yet. When the APIs for XML export are available, third-party
developers will be able to create tools to support OMF, AAF, EDL, and
other exchange formats. We have already worked with Automatic Duck to
allow you to export OMF and AAF from Final Cut Pro X using Automatic Duck Pro Export FCP 5.0. More information is available on the Automatic Duck website: http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/.

No. When the APIs for XML export are available, third-party
developers will be able to create tools to support OMF, AAF, EDL, and
other exchange formats. Again this will require 3rd party software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Avid and will only work in Final Cut Pro X if you buy the new OS.

Can I send my project to a sound editing application such as Pro Tools?

Yes; you can export your project in OMF or AAF format using Automatic Duck Pro Export FCP 5.0. More information is available on the Automatic Duck website: http://automaticduck.com/products/pefcp/.

Yes you can export your project in OMF or AAF format using a $500
3rd party plug-in.

Does Final Cut Pro X allow you to assign audio tracks for export?

Not yet. An update this summer will allow you to use metadata tags to
categorize your audio clips by type and export them directly from Final Cut Pro X.

No. Again only possible if you wait and buy the new OS too.

Can I customize my export settings?

Yes. Compressor 4, available from the Mac App Store for $49.99, allows you to create a wide variety of custom export settings that you can use in Final Cut Pro X. The most popular export options and formats, including ProRes and H.264, are already built into Final Cut Pro X.

Yes. If you buy the new Compressor 4, available from the Mac App
Store for $49.99, this allows you to create a wide variety of custom
export settings that you can use in Final Cut Pro X. Or you can export at full quality and use FREE 3rd party software or Adobe Premiere Pro / Avid to do this.

Purchase

Can I purchase a volume license?

Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4 Commercial and Education
Volume Licensing will be available soon via the Apple Online Store for
quantities of 20 or more. After purchasing, customers will receive
redemption codes they can use to download the applications from the Mac App Store.

We didn't think multiple Pro users would want this, will add as soon
as we work out how much we think you will pay.

Explore the key features in Final Cut Pro X that give pro editors the
quality, speed, and precision they're looking for >>

Don't read the discussion groups or reviews on the app store.

The unanswered questions answered.

Refunds

Can I get a refund?

Yes, if the support person says no tell them others have and ask them why the are discriminating against you.

Professional

Does this mean you are quitting the professional software market?

Yes. As with the laptops we have realised that general consumers feel
magical if they think they are using professional software. So we are
changing all the hardware and software to include the letters PRO. This does not mean they are professional, far from it, but we think we can use this in conjunction with our brain washed sales staff to shift more software.

Dam that forum addiction.

Sorry been neglecting blogger because of my new found love of forums.

For me forums were the web 2.0 before web 2.0, social media before facebook and a way of following other people before twitter.

It was Duke Nukem that got me addicted to forums. I spent a few years making levels for Duke Nukem 3D  and was checking the company that made the game's website. 3D Realms. They had quite a good website for the time with stuff like webcams, staff info, fan art and the forum. After checking the site for updates and info on the new Quake powered Duke Nukem Forever I eventually joined the forum. This was before anyone knew the game was going to go into development hell. I was already pushing the DN3D editor to it's limits and wanted to get ready for the new game and more powerful tools.

As the news on the new game dropped off the forum turned into an active place discussing the advances on games technology and an active 'anything goes' section. It was a real shame when 3D Realms had to give up on the game and killed the forum, it killed a great community.

Anyway I took it as an excuse to have a break from forums and threw myself into this new facebook thing. Facebook is not the same as a good vibrant forum though. I poked my head into a few forums like the The British Mac Forum's lovely The PussyCat Club forum and even set up a forum for John Watts of Fischer-Z.

But I was really looking for somewhere were I could talk about my first love, technology.

Then someone at work pointed me to a new forum set up recently called geekschat.net

Looking through the list of topics I instantly knew that this was the place I had been looking for.

It was not long before amusicsite was the top poster and it seems the perfect place for the type of rubbish I write, that always amazes me how many people enjoy reading. It's still low on registered users but it seems to be attracting more and more guests.With the 3D Realms forum I spent years just reading it before joining. I believe it was something posted on one of the topics that I just had to reply to which got me to register. So I'm fairly confident that the site will grow and become a vibrant place one day.

Why I didn't vote

Let me first start by saying I fully support the right to vote and if I lived in a country where there was no democracy I would fight for the right to vote.

But nothing is as simple as just vote to change things. For example there are countries in the world that have votes every few years but the government never changes because opposition groups are hidden from the general public. This can be done many ways.

Controlling the media.

Always a popular one no matter how democratic your country is. In the worst case this would be state owned media with only one side to every story and no mention of an alternative view or system. This obviously keeps the population ignorant and hopefully unquestioning off all the facts.

Though full on control off everything is not the only way. There are many more subtle ways in a country with a free and open media. One would be to abuse the knowledge that you have in government to leak information about the opposition while gagging information that might hurt you. Even a subtle change of the national TV station to use your governments party colours can have a surprising effect.

Suppressing the opposition.

Again a popular way of staying in power. In the worst case this would be diapering key figures that start get a popular alternative party going. Along with this can be killing people at meetings and making people scared to talk openly about alternatives.

There are the less violent ways to. Like making it expensive or technically hard to get a party on the ballot card or to easy so there is the government and dozens of alternatives splitting the protest votes. Maybe using laws like prisoners can't vote to lock up ethic groups, tribes or people likely to vote against you in key seats.

Needless to say you can always lie about the vote result or might be able to pay off the opposition party to let you stay in power.

Others.

Welcome to our country. Some governments have stayed in power by issuing passports and offering duel nationality so supporters in neighboring countries can vote.

Misinformation is always good. One day you say someone in the opposition may have done something really bad. Set up a small investigation and some time later release a low key note saying they did not do anything wrong. Most people will remember the crime they were accused off and many will never realise it was false from the start.

Closely linked to the 'We had an inquiry'. It's very easy to have an inquiry, though they may know what the outcome will be before doing any inquiring, if they even bother doing any.

...

So to say democracy is all about the right to vote is so wrong.

Democracy is about the right to change along with the right to a fair government.

So you might be thinking our country is not some small 3rd world despot. Those problems don't exist here.

Well I think your wrong.

There are plenty of examples here in the UK.

Intimidation of anti capitalist groups and meetings, I would not even put it passed our recent governments helping disappear a few people you have never heard off. Though more likely in jail rather than the grave.

WMD. Need I say more about the best use of misinformation by any government. BBC branding is often either red or blue depending on who is in power, especially for news. Then you have the recent AV vote, a perfect chance for the Tories to use their marketing might to get their message across and make the yes campaign look idiots. Then again if they wanted a yes vote and the rest didn't, I'm willing to bet the vote would have been a mirror of what we had.

But there is one thing I really hate about politics which is very unlikely to change. It's the party system.

Here you vote for your MP, whoever wins in whatever area you have been grouped into gets a point for their party. The party with the most points gets to set up as governments and their hand picked leader get to be the countries head, although the party can change that person on a whim.

So if you take politics seriously you are often presented a dilemma.

Do you vote for the countries leader, the party they stand for and their chosen MP for your area?

Do you vote for the party who's ideology best matches your and take their leader and local MP?

Alternatively you vote for the best person to represent your views locally regardless of what party or leader they have.

Now you might be lucky and have three ticks for the same party, local MP and leader. Though there is likely to be a point in your life where you may consider voting tactically to keep out a party or voting for a party or leader you hate because they have by far the best MP for your area.

The media like to over simplify the whole thing but to make a good informed decision means knowing a lot of information. Who are the individual councillors standing in your area, what is their agenda and will they work well with your MP? Who are your local MP choices, what are their agenda both local and national and how much weight do they have in their party or the government? What are the parties likely to do? What type of cabinet is the leader likely select and how will they lead the country if something unexpected happens?

All that has to be put into perspective of how others around you might vote.

They had the cheek to say the alternative vote system was too complex!

The 'AV' vote to me is the classic example of how they have created a system that perfectly pulled the wool over everyones eyes and created a system of limited choice that everyone accepts.

The nation was given the choice of 'first past the post' or the 'alternative vote' or 'first winner of 50% of all votes'. The term alternative instant makes it sound less attractive. Also it made it sound like the only alternative even though the main alternative mentioned for all my life has been 'proportional representation'. If our vote really counted there would have been real choice and debate on all forms of voting systems including..

Dictatorship
Separated local and national management
Communism
Abolishment of local boundaries and voting just for the party
Abolishment of parties and voting for individuals who cooperate to do the best for the country.

You know hours of debate and tv shows on prime time comparing the strengths and weakness of different systems from the really bad to the quite good. We seem quite good at that for choosing who will be in our pop charts or the next fake celebrity.

I would favour the removal of the party system and run the country more like a company. Set up a few hundred key jobs and each five years you vote people into those positions. Obviously with the option to remove really bad performers anytime.

This would free up you local MP just to be your representative on local issues and work as the go between of local government and national government.

A very radical change and would obviously need a lot of debate and would need to be set up right to work.

Though I don't expect much debate of looking at big changes like this being given space in the corporate media even as much as wacky ideas like green issues or zero polluting cars.

With a better system I would pay attention and vote but with the current system I believe all votes are wasted votes for changes between current or alternative with very little difference between them.

https://picasaweb.google.com/amusicsite/April2011

Why I love the train and hate the plane.

Traveling to Europe recently I went out by train to Gent via Brussels then on to Köln where I flew back to England.

Going out I took an early train from Brighton to London arriving as the sun was coming up. The station at both ends has good shops that are open all the time the station is open. They are near shops that stops them inflating the prices too much and gives you a good choice of options.

The Eurostar checkin recommends you get their 30 minutes before your train should leave but could easily still get the train if you arrive with 5-10mins before departure. I got there a bit earlier, after about 10 minutes of queuing was through the gate, security and plenty of time to grab a coffee to take on board the train. Shortly after grabbing the coffee the gates opened and was shortly on the train.

A nice pleasant journey to Brussels where you can get up, walk around go to the bar / restaurant or as I chose stay put and drunk my coffee and read the paper.

Arrive in Brussels and a short walk to the correct platform and I was on a train to Gent. Arrived there feeling refreshed and in a good mood.

Then coming home....

Well to get to the airport you have to get on a train anyway. This takes you to the airport amusement park. Miles form anywhere you are a captive consumer. Barely any choice, overpriced goods. You are recommended to get there 2 hours before the flight, get there later than 30 minutes before the flight and you may not be let on the plane. If they let you through the boarding and security you would probably have to run quite some distance to get to the plane.

Typically you have to queue to check in, get through to security, at security, at passport control, to board the plane and to get a seat on the plane. Then more delays getting off the plane, hike to baggage claim and potentially a long wait for you bag. Then most likely a train to finish the journey.

To avoid one of these delays I decided to just take a carry in bag. Unfortunately unknown to me these no longer need to be weighed at check-in so I queued there for no reason, like the person in front of me, to be told I could have gone straight to boarding/security area by the nice German lady spitting the words out like we were all crazy.

Having not flown for a while I was not sure if the stupid no liquids rule still applied. There was noting about it in the printed ticket I has. Did not mention it on the DO NOT TAKE THESE ITEMS ON THE PLANE signs. Apparently it does then. I had a drink with me and was given the option of throw away, go outside and drink or give it to someone in the airport if anyone was seeing me off. Bin it was then which seemed a bit wasteful. When explaining that anything that he could turn upside down and would pour out is a liquid and not allowed in units of over 100ml. Then asked to check my tooth paste. Which I believe is a paste and not a liquid! Along with not being able to pop out for a smoke on the long wait until you actually get to sit down on the plane, other annoyances include having to watch the safety demonstration, keeping seatbelts on all the time (recommended) being interrupted by someone trying to flog you stuff you were not allowed to bring on three plane yourself and being told not to use electronic devices at take off and landing.

So if I get it right you must not use your phone because it could crash the plane but you are allowed them on the plane.

You are not allowed to take onboard your own liquids because the could be used to crash the plane but are allowed to buy overpriced replacements once on the plane.

Finally you are obviously more likely to need to know what to do in the event of surviving a plane crash than a train crash.

I and now wrapping up on the nice train trip back to the south coast and have cone to three conclusion that flying is like taking part in a survival game show, where as international trains are like relaxing and watching cinema.

In future I may just travel to paces I can get to by train...

Supermoon = Superlow tides

The Chinese in Africa.

A tricky one this. Is the huge investment in Africa by the Chinese a good thing for Africa?

Let's start with what little I know. Firstly the Chinese will happily invest in any country, human rights issues are not even considered. Then there is the type of investment. Which mainly seems to be, build the infrastructure to ship natural resources out of Africa and Chinese products back into Africa.

Though it seems the infrastructure in many places is the bare minimal needed. Often built and run by the Chinese with only low paid jobs for the African nationals. There are sometimes big local companies set up with the local government. Presumably to give the impression that it's a local business. Then again it's not going to be hard to let corruption and miss-management of funds run the company into the ground. Then you can come in and buy the company, install a Chinese workforce for all the skilled jobs and you now own a huge company that is more than likely a monopoly.

Obviously you give the local government their cut with tax and sweeteners. After all having the same dictator or 'only option' elected leader in power for a long time allows you to do long term planning. Like invest in a railway to get to the mine. Invest in the mine to improve investment. Take control of the mine to improve profitability. Invest in the railway to meet maintenance costs. Buy the railway to make it profitable.

Within a decade or two you can help set up a national monopoly and privatize it while making it look like you are just trying to help. Then you can ship all the resources you like back to resource poor China to make all those cheap products. To then ship these products all over the world, including Africa. For there comes another drawback to the Chinese deal. The more Chinese you have working in these new industries, the more services run by Chinese you have. Shops, doctors, banks and entertainment run by the Chinese for the Chinese. Some of these can even under cut the locals with Chinese food or cloths shipped in from China.

Just like the west did for the last couple of centuries the Chinese seem to be taking and giving very little back. Yes you may get some perks like better roads or a mobile phone network. Also the local government will get more money but this is unlikely to filter down to the poor. Along with this you have jobs being replaced by technology and foreigners.

The only real advantage is that better roads, phone networks, internet connection or any other kind of communication infrastructure helps the local start up business. Good communication is important to business and any good business person can utilize good communications to make money and grow.

I guess the question is are more people disadvantaged by the Chinese or are more people better off?

Wrong advert for a tsunami

While the Japanese tsunami was unfolding I was watching live TV from Japan on http://www.ustream.tv/

Every time I dropped in to watch it the above advert was playing followed by images of the awesome destructive power of water.

To go from happy fluffy kids playing around in water to images of water destroying buildings and washing away thousands of lives seemed quite disturbing.

Definitely did not make me want to rush out and book a holiday.

I think in hindsight it may not have been the best advert for the time and content. 

Don't ask!

If you don't ask you don't get.
If you do ask you don't get.

Why the no-fly zone is the wrong move.

Hello. It's the 21st century.

Let's have a look first at the no fly option.

1 Will take ages to set up.
2 Will be controversial.
3 May not stop the problem.
4 Very, very expensive.
5 Decisions and enquiries will all be secretive.

Basically your looking at planes permanent flying over the country, refueling planes flying about. Ships and massive movement of people.

Now here is my high tech option.

Step one.

Satellite. Probably already been done anyway.

Get a snapshot of the country. Eliminate all the areas where there are definitely no airplanes or helicopters.

Step two.

Droids. Probably also already done.
Send in high altitude drones to monitor the active areas. Locate and track airborne vehicles.

Step three.
Open source.
Open the droid feeds. Tell the whole world what they have, where they are and how often they have been used since surveillance started. Broadcast live(ish) feeds of the big threats. So if they are used the world knows.

Obviously you may be saying they will shot down the droids. Maybe but they are relatively cheap and no humans will die. It will show they have something to hide if they do start shooting. There is always the option that they may not shot. Maybe their technology will not be as agile as the droids. Maybe they will think the publicity would be bad. Maybe they will flee realizing the game is up.

Step 4
Missiles.
Hands up if you have seen on tv someone explaining how we have missiles that can be flown for many kilometers and hit a car in a field.

We have some very smart weapons. Unfortunately often with dumb humans controlling them.

You plan out the best way to target and destroy the aircraft. Be it from planes, ships or another continent.

Announce when you will do it. Noon on a clear day would be best.

Keep the droids monitoring the situation in case of hostages being amassed around crafts. Leaflet the areas making sure everyone knows the times and places.

If everyone does the sensible thing of getting the hell out of the area. You blow them all up.

If they gather round the crafts to protect them. Well then they can't be used. So double win.

Step 5
Compensation
After the trouble has settled down. You use the money you saved to pay the (hopefully) new government for their loss.

Which does not have to be used for military purchases.

Can't quite see the Yanks or Brits governments going for this though and you know the French and Russian governments will object.

It may have flaws, but it's got to be worth a shot as a cheap option.

Videos I've previously posted to Facebook. Pt2

Music



























Toys



Content pulled by stupid companies.

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Say Hey (I Love You)
Butthole Surfers - Summer in the City

Stupid fun















Movies





Others







Not embedable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hgTLQBKe4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8EEWWi3ABk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpMMjz4yQPM

http://www.youtube.com/chromefastball

The aliens are stealing Brighton's beach huts!

The other day, while walking along the seafront, I noticed there was a missing beach hut.

A few days later another one. Strange

And again, a few days later on...

Next a whole row of them went!

Then EVEN MORE!!! What is going on!

I started to notice there was a flickering light on the front which moved each time the huts went.

I tell you ALIENS are stealing our beach huts in some twisted experiment!

Look here they have taken down the wall too and left a cryptic message!!!

Run to the hills!!!

Egypt.

Well I know a lot has been written about the Egypt situation. I say situation because no one seems to know what to call it. A crisis seems to severe, a revolution maybe to presumptuous and troubles seems to negative.

What we currently have is the overwhelming majority of the country is crying out for a change. The President Hosni.Mubarak came into power about the same time as we got Margret Thatcher, since then we have changed leader four times. That's with both Thatcher and Tony Blair serving two and a half terms. Both of them had lost popular support because people get bored of the same views and opinions all the time, even bored of the same face. Also if you look at them at the start and end of their terms you can see they both aged beyond the length of their terms. Running a country is hard work and stressful. Maybe less so in a dictatorship where you don't have to win public opinion or fight elections.

But the power does get to them. The more power you have the more people will think 'if something happens to them, I could have that power'. So you have to watch your back and fight off the paranoia. This power and paranoia seem to make leaders think that the country will crumble and fall if they were to go. I think that's all Hollywood, just like in every gritty film where a few city blocks get a power cut is followed by looting and rioting. When in fact when New York had days without power, people piled into the streets sofas in hand and partied, got to know their neighbors and got on with their lives. Obviously if this was permanent power loss it might have been different over time. As long as people know it will get back to normal or even better in the future, then they can put up with quite a bit.
But keep telling people lies and giving them no hope. Well then you have a right to watch your back.
Back to Mubarak. His crime is not staying in power so long. His crime seems to be giving the people living there no hope that thing will get better, lining his own pockets while some of 'his people' are starving and stopping anyone getting big enough to oppose him.

Even now he had declared he will step down, providing he actually intends to, its not for months because he doesn't want to leave a power vacuum.

What power vacuum?

So what do our leaders actually do? They don't directly collect tax or spend it, they don't police our streets or teach our children. At most they could be the person who makes the rules, or changes them most likely, but even that its generally a body of people who turn their ideas into something that might work. But their main role seems to be to stop anyone else taking their place and meeting up with other leaders.

So in the awful worst case situation where everyone who assumes the role of leader instantly drops down dead leaving you with no leader. The country can still function quite well. Tax can still be collected by tax collectors and spent as before on schools, social services and policing the system. Lawyers and courts can still apply the current law.

A few months of no government is not going to turn your country into a anarchistic state overnight. In fact you will probably find the people will PARTY as long as they know sometime will step in and 'run the country' again.

So in Egypt Mubarak stated he will go sometime in the future hoping the crowds would die off and the call for change would become murmurings again. Though the people know if they return to their homes and back to their daily lives, it would be oh so easy for Mubarak to pay people to 'disappear' a few people. Or even quite a lot of people. So a few days after the announcement of his departure and after time for it to sink in. With no more violence after the obvious paid thugs that stirred it up earlier and the international condemnation that came with it. People are starting to think safety in numbers. Get him out before he can exact his revenge and even more people than before the announcement are piling into the city centres. If you are going to go. Go now.

But there is a few other problems that is sopping the rest of the 'Western world' calling it a glorious revolution. Firstly there is the great Muslim threat. The fear that the Muslims will gain control and turn the country into a different kind of dictatorship. One 'The West' will not be on friendly terms with. While it is unlikely anyone will be able to set up another dictatorship after this show of strength. Whoever takes control need to make life better for the people or they will be kicked out too. So it's likely that they will get democracy and probably quite a few different governments and bias over the coming decades.

In the immediate future the rest of the world leaders don't want the world to see that a country can be run without a leader. They don't want their own people thinking about things like that.

There could be elections in a month. Weeks even if the whole world did everything it could to help. The problem is the rest of the world wants to work out who to back and see who is the best candidate for them. Dig up a bit of dirt on the opposition. Basically work out how to stop the Muslims getting control. Think about what the worlds reaction would be if this was North Korea and the people were calling for a change with the army refusing to stop them. Would 6 months be fine?

But it's not really even a Muslim thing. It's control and power. As old as the history of Egypt. It is almost the center of the world. People and goods travel through Egypt and in the past few decades it has also played its role as an Israeli prison guard helping keep the Palestinians in the worlds largest detention camp.

Almost certainly one of the first and most populist moves the next government could do would be to tear down the walls between Palestine and Egypt and let trade flourish there. A more hardline government might even cut the 20% of fuel Egypt supplies Israel.

With Palestine and Egypt friends Israel would find it much harder to do offensive maneuvers inside their territories. Along with the fact Israel seems to be having trouble holding together a government, a free Egypt could equal a weak Israel. Which could happen as power already seems to be heading east.

The whole world could once again be changed by Egypt and Egyptian history gets another chapter in the worlds history books.

I must visit one day.

Videos I've previously posted to Facebook.

Misc.

POP


Badgers



Rymdreglage - 8-bit trip


pivot head bang fad entry


Google Chrome Speed Tests


God I hate this Vodafone advert!




Music.

Nina Simone Feeling Good



The Wonder Stuff - Don't Let Me Down, Gently



Pump Up the Volume Soundtrack Me and the Devil Blues Cowboy Junkies



Free - All Right Now [totp]

Facebook Pt1 16 July 2007 - 16 October 2010

First post..

at work
16 July 2007 at 21:29

First FB addiction
Scrabulous

Notable moments.

is enjoying the sun in The Gambia
13 December 2007 at 12:15

is heading off to Real World
04 January 2008 at 00:12

Facebook has been asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its website by the makers of Scrabble.
Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
17 January 2008 at 00:28·

"What a great idea" on On May 15th 2008, everybody needs to go out and panic buy CARROTS.'s Wall.

is playing with his new iPhone .
26 July 2008 at 21:14

is at beachdown.
24 August 2008 at 19:44

XamXam on Amazon :)
Amazon.co.uk: Hamham: MP3 Downloads: XamXam
09 December 2008 at 00:30

is trying to work out how Facebook became so popular!
08 February 2009 at 10:46

reasonablyclever.com
Wasting your working day since 1995. LEGO Mini-Mizer, Buy-Me-Mizer, Brick House Webcomic, and so much more!'
17 May 2009 at 01:09

I'm in Berlin helping the Germans celebrate loosing a wall.
09 November 2009 at 12:15

Start of 2010 seems to be when I started posting too much….

I now have my nice new Full HD 2ms computer monitor. Yipeeeeeee :D
27 February 2010 at 10:31

Today is the day..,,,
02 March 2010 at 13:12

ENGLAND!!!!!
03 March 2010 at 19:33
Samara Deen EGYPT!!!!!!!!!!!!! X
03 March 2010 at 23:44

Today I got sent a job by an agency. Just like the job I'm leaving. No. Wait. It is for the job I'm leaving.
Have made a note of the agency and added it to my idiots list.
22 March 2010 at 14:52

I love today :D
01 April 2010 at 15:49

Happy 5th Birthday YouTube. Can you believe it's only a toddler!
17 May 2010 at 10:58

Bye bye iPhone...Well hello HCT Desire.
In post, getting it tomorrow :)
HTC - Products - HTC Desire - Overview
17 May 2010 at 14:37

Heartbroken again.
27 June 2010 at 19:09

I think a stroll through Notting Hill Carnival today.
29 August 2010 at 08:50

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.
11 September 2010 at 13:18

Can't sleep. Going to try counting miners
14 October 2010 at 00:43

150,000+ video views now!
And no it's not me pressing refresh ;)
www.youtube.com
Music Videos brought to you by aMUSICsite.co.uk Best music from Brighton and The Gambia, and more...
15 October 2010 at 13:13

Has new headphones.
I can hear clearly now :)
16 October 2010 at 16:06

Pt2 Coming Soon.

Words

Words, words, words.

They are mainly a tool for communication. But like everything else we have, we like to play around with these tools.

Along with grammar we can arrange them in standard structures, using the smallest set of rules to be able to articulate anything.

We have adapted these to be able to speak, write and often mime these words. New ones are added, meanings can change and some rarely get used.

We use these to organise our thoughts, share ideas, entertain and resolve conflict. It empowers us to collaborate with people over vast distances on land and in time.

They can have natural rhythm.
They can be set to music.
They can be used in games.
They can be twisted, distorted, used out of context, humorous, spiteful, diverse, repetitive, monotonous, insightful, enlightening, long winded, poetic, tender, constructive and destructive or any combination.

Their are Things you'll not does m8 : as it could well b ta thang witch pissess men of. :p But we can still understand. And if tolerant will get the gist of even the worst written text. If we find it interesting.

With many different words in many different languages and an equal amount of ways of expressing them. Some words mean different things in different languages or different regions where the same language is spoken. Others are as diverse as you can imagine.

Words are triggers for your imagination.

You are what you read.

Defined by your words.

Hope you enjoyed.

My words.

Bye.

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What people don't say about adverts

My attempt.

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Book extract No 1

The first ships came a very long time ago, in astronomical terms not long after the solar system formed. These were ships who's task it was to map, study and observe the system. They sent streams of data out into the galaxy preparing for the next stage.

By the time the data had been received processed and acted upon the solar system was starting to settle down.

When the fleet of ships in the second wave reached the system the data coming from the original ships had provided all the data needed to fairly accurately predict the whole life of this young system.

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The problem with smart phones and apps

We are well and truly in the computer era now. An ever growing number of people now have phones which are more powerful than the standard desktop computer of say 10 years ago. Maybe not quite in raw horse power, but certainly in the things it can do and how quickly it can do them.

But it has radically changed how we use computerized phones to. This is because copyright holders, publishers and website owners have learnt a thing or two over the early internet/ computer years. The two things that spearheaded the internet Adobe's pdf format and the browser were a mixed blessing for some... Even though the thing they hate is what helped make them popular, its the ability to copy and paste.

Although there are tricks to disable it in browsers and pdfs, most don't use these tools because they are easy to circumvent and people don't like them. Although in the new ecosystem of phones and apps copy & paste is not quite as easy. So quite a lot of the information on these phones is nicely locked away making it hard to copy that phone number into a text or email, impossible to quote something from that 'social' app or that app from your favorite website or publication.

The ironic thing is most of this information is still available in the browser where you can copy it, it's only in the dedicated branded app that you can't.

I guess it's driven by some ego maniac who wants to protect their intellectual property or an over xellos marketing department believing it will make more 'hits' or advert views.

But people like to share and you often don't want to share the whole thing. Imagine if every time you wanted to post a Shakespeare quote you could only post a link to the book and say look at page 143 line 8. Well apps are trying to do the same giving you the easy option to share the whole thing (along with the adverts) but not to easily pull out that relevant single line.

Now I know it's not a big thing, but in a world where the new currency is advertising and patents it could get worse.

Freedom for data, always...

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Reboot

http://www.youtube.com/user/bjbox

It's all mine again...

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Cultural Jamming

It's a well known fact that every picture in an advert is touched up on a computer these days, back when I was learning photoshop I decided to do the opposite and deconstruct an advert.

It taught me a lot about the tricks they used and was much fun. Above is the CK advert I abused with the original on the right. 

Script idea I'll never develop No 1

Some unspecified time in the not to distant future the first affordable robotic humanoid is released to the world.

One happy person in deep south America's outback opens his robot and shows it round the house and yard.

It's taught simple tasks and set a schedule via remote computer interface.

While doing a bit of shooting in the back yard an idea occurs to the guy.
Soon he is teaching the robot to strip and reassemble guns, reload and eventually fire at targets. All with lethal speed and accuracy.

A bit of research on the web, a hack or two for the robot to bypass the security features... Then you have the robot building simple bombs, gathering the resources needed for that too.

Robot goes AWOL for a worrisome week then one morning wakes to find a shed full of bombs.

Next lesson. How to make all those bombs safe and dispose of them. Next day all taken care of.

Next up is to load just about every conceivable weapon design and where to source the raw materials into it's database. Export a copy and upload it to the dark net.

Finally the robot is stripped of all it's identification both hardware and software.

Now it is ready to be sent on it's mission to kill the minorities that person has a hatred for and anyone who gets in its way...

FIN

Open source idea, feel free to use and abuse...

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CES 2011

Well the tech year stars of with the trade show CES where all the new products that will be tempting us to part with our cash over the coming year.

This year, like last year is the year of the tablet. Last year was all about the iPad which went on to sell well.

But it looks like Apple have not learnt their lesson from the PC wars, or are stubbornly sticking to their current plan. With the desktop market they were a leader, innovator and only sold high end hardware. This did them well in a fragmented market but when all the competition choose Windows they struggled and almost bankrupted the company.

In both the phone and tablet market it looks like they are following the same pattern. They are defining the phone and tablet space with Android learning from their innovations. Though with their restrictions, high prices and ever increasing problems with the new devices along with the fact most of their competitors are switching to Android, could Apple once again run out of steam?

The chances are high, like Microsoft their partner in crime in the desktop wars, both companies make most of their money from a continuous upgrade cycle. Give your customer a product that will do everything they want for the next 10 years and you will be out of business.
Apple knows this only to well. That's why they always have the 'it would be perfect if it had...' factor. Always save something back for the next version. This is an ever decreasing success though, the more you add to sell the next version the harder it gets to find the next big thing to get people to upgrade.

Microsoft classically had this problem with Windows XP. Yes it was a pig when it came out but after a few service packs it became good enough for most people. There were many flaws they could fix in the new versions but people had found work arounds or got used to its flaws. The only thing that kept Windows as No1 was the hardware upgrade cycle along with almost all new computers coming with the latest version of Windows. This ensured Microsoft revenue from every new computer sold with Windows on it.

This decade seems to be the beginning of the stabilization of the computer hardware market. With the current trends of multi core processors, solid state hard drives, low power consumption and falling prices its hard to imagine that these two companies (Apple and Microsoft) can keep finding new hooks to make the faithful buy each and every new version.

By the end of this decade we could well have affordable, durable and powerful computers with all the software you could need that would be just as good at fulfilling our needs as the computers made a hundred years later.

It looks like Android devices could massively out sell Apples devices this year which could lead to Apple once again be heading for that 5%-10% of the market selling to the high end of the market, while 90%+ of people are using Android devices. It also seems likely that these new phones and tablets, along with the fact that as these 'mobile' devices will get more powerful, they could start replacing the need for 'desktop' computers for a large number of people. It seems likely that desktop sales will fall off and you will be able to do a lot from your little touch screen interface using cloud computing to process heavy duty tasks that can't be done efficiently on the hardware in your hand. Need that bigger screen? This will be either handled with a dock that can transform your mobile touch device into a hub where you can connect keyboard, mouse and peripherals like storage and big screens. Maybe with an extra processing boost. Alternatively a wireless link to your tv or other screen could allow you to display your devices screen in glorious high quality for those more precise tasks or for the advantages of the bigger screen. These things are not science fiction, they are the latest developments on show this year.

At the top of this game seems to be Google. They are the people behind Android, which is an operating system currently mainly used on mobile phones. But is now coming out on 7-10in tablets and its only a short hop from there to replacing the desktop which is just a larger screen, keyboard, mouse and more power. But this is not Googles only tool. They also have the Chrome browser, your gateway to the internet and the default Android browser. Also they have the online services like gmail, Google docs and are heavily promoting online replacements for software you run on the desktop.

Android and Google have become the No 1 threat to both Apple and Microsoft. Probably a bigger threat to MS as Android could totally replace Windows as the dominant OS with MS becoming like Oracle/ Sun and IBM mainly selling to big business. While Apple could once again remain the biggest alternative choice and keep selling to the dedicated fans.

The loss of desktop sales will hurt both companies though, as it is a large chuck of their revenues. Apple mainly made iPods, iPhones and iPads to sell more desktop computers. So far it has worked. But for how much longer?

There was a great description of Microsoft after it's disappointing showcase of what it has for this year. It went something like this...

Microsoft is a company where Windows and their MS Office software make up 114% of their income and all their other departments like xbox and online services loose them money.

If the demand for Windows PC's running MS Office software falls they don't have a working plan B.

Apple on the other hand have iTunes the app store and hardware sales to spread their income stream.

So the year of the tablet could also be the year of Android and possibly the beginning of the end of windows as they have failed to get an OS working on these new devices.

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2011 may be my year of blogging.

Well it's been four and a half years since I signed up to blogger.
In that time I have stared three blogs and this will be my 30 th post.

Its or should that be it's, I never can remember which is which.. Anyway its not that I have neglected my blog its more a case that my blog is a smaller more concise record than the rubbish I have posted over the last few years on chat rooms then forums and now on social networks. Take Facebook, how easy is it to find something you posted 6 months ago (assuming you are a heavy user like me). Forums taught me many years ago that if you post thousands of stuff on any platform it gets incredibly hard to find that thing you posted a few hundred posts ago.

So this is my quiet park bench where I spend a bit of time writing something that hopefully in many years time will take me back to this moment in time and remind me what I was doing, enjoying or making an impression on me.

But I am tempted to spend a year dedicated to getting more of that crazy stuff out of my head and in the public space.

After all the world could end next year.