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Sunday, July 23, 2017

Another special birthday (CTS231 and LIM338)

It's also my Aunt's birthday end of the month!!  I love her dearly and miss living far away from her.

Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder
Joy! Crafts butterfly die
Spellbinders "Leaves" die

Sketch used:

  1. I love the textured panel! Great take on the sketch!

  2. Beautiful card, Riette. The colours are so elegant. Love the paper (I assume it's pattern paper) you used to die cut the leaves and butterfly. The swirly embossing backs them perfectly. Thank you for joining us this week at Less is More.

  3. Great use of the sketch, using the leaves was a fun idea! I love the earthy color tones and your use of patterned paper for the die cuts. Adds a lot of interest to a CAS design! Thanks for joining us at Less is More!

  4. What a fab design! The texture is fantastic and adds so much visual interest. Loving the neutral colour palette too. Thanks so much for playing along with us at Less is More :)

  5. I love everything about this card!


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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Image Mechanics NEW for 2010

As this year comes to a close, we at Image Mechanics are gearing up for the new year. We've updated our business, added new digital gear for both still and motion capture, a new location vehicle, new services including studio rental, added new key personnel to begin 2010.

Beginning immediately we now offer the Hasselblad H3DII-50, with 50 mega pixels and one of the largests sensor in the business, twice the size of the DSLR sensors. The coolest thing about the Hassy digital is that is has a Hassy on the front end, the new H3 series body. Together with an impeccable array of lenses, this camera will allow you to have fun, and make beautiful pictures, Merry Xmas (and Happy Holidays). Along with Canon, Leaf and Phase One we offer a complete line of digital gear to fulfill your shooting needs.

Add to that our new RED One Digital Cinema camera, it's the camera everyone is talking about, it is the future. At 24FPS (it actually shoots from 1FPS to 120FPS), you can shoot beautiful cinematic footage and pull gorgeous still frames that can be printed beautifully well over 20X30. That means stills can be pulled for magazine print covers advertising, and more. If you did not know this, RED has been used to film a few of the latests feature movies, Knowing, The Informant, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Avatar, Labor Pains, Gamer, and too many to list. Fact is the RED is becoming a camera for both cinematic and still work, in part due to it's RAW file workflow. Call Von 213.258.5274 (RED / 5D MKII guru) at IM, he will get your motion project up and going.

IM has also introduced a host of new services including studio and strobe equipment rental. As a SPECIAL, we are offering our slightly smaller than 1000 sq ft studio with a lite strobe package for $400 per 10 hour day.

With the giant shift in how advertising images are being delivered now and in the future, we have reorganized our business to fit that model. Our feet are firmly planted in digital capture just as before, but we plant them in a forward direction toward motion, from production through to workflow. We have acquired talent to help you our clients achieve their objective, and stay with or ahead of the technological curve.

Please feel free to comment and contribute, we welcome your input.

Image Mechanics / VT

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Big Foot Carts

For those of you that are capture techs for still or motion, you will at some point need a place for your computer (laptop or tower), monitors, hard drives, battery backup, power strip, and so on. On location you can use a table (thats lame), but if you are professional and table will not cut it, and you'll need a cart to both be organized and mobile. I've tried many carts over the years, and it is a personal decision, as a cart for my needs may not be a cart to fit your needs. There are the carts by Magliner, Remin's HD 500 and the more custom carts by Backstage, Filmtools and Bigfoot Mobile Carts.

I recently tested a custom built Bigfoot cart, and I'm addicted to it, this cart is the Cadillac of carts. It is a beautiful piece of equipment, and is very functional. Doug Solis at BigFoot can custom make a cart to your personal specifications. The unit I tested was built to house a Mac Pro on it's lower slide out tray, and can handle rack 2U drives and RAIDs as well as a rack mount UPS. It's outfitted with a side arm that holds perfectly a 15" or 17" MacBook Pro in the right position, and solid top platform for monitor and a flip up side door (on the other side) that holds most everything else. If it gets a bit hot inside with all your gear humming away, just pop off the sides for complete cool ventilation.

One of the BIG deals about this cart are the BIG WHEELS. They glide over rough surfaces without jarring your precious computers and hard drives. Bigfoot also sits tall, so you will need a tall directors chair to comfortably work your keyboard. So whether you're on a still photo shoot or a feature film, you will be looking good and organized with this awesome custom cart.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

The Future of Print Advertising..."The Sky is Falling"

This week while I listened to NPR radio, I heard the news that Conde Nast was closing Gourmet, Cooki, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride magazines. Other magazines closed this year were Nickelodeon, Travel and Leisure Golf, Blender, Teen, PC Magazine, Men's Vogue, Home, Cosmo Girl, Playgirl and at least 7 others. This is a trend that is only getting worse. Along with the magazines, many newspapers are on the chopping block. So what does this mean, as photographers we need to start making changes in how we do business, and now.

Not many are looking at this seriously, but this I feel is a end game scenario in the making. I've already prepared myself for the future, rebranding myself in a new technology, digital motion. This is no different than the change that began over 12 years ago when digital began to over take film for the still photographers, and we know how that turned out.

The future has so many technological advances and I am totally excited what with the smart paper, digital out of home advertising (DOOH), and motion advertising. Stop, hear the silence, now start to begin your journey toward motion advertising.

Here are some solutions for the future. The following courtesy of Alexx Henry,

I demo'ed the RED in vertical orientation at the Image Mechanics, Collision Conference in August. Here is a practical application, and a glimpse into the future of how you as a still photographer will work with this new technology. The sky has just opened up.

A lot of traditional digital still capture firms are investing in RED and Canon 5D Mark 2 because they see it coming. Just this past week, I was contacted by a very well know car shooter to bring RED in on his first commercial shoot. Not only will this technology open the door for new types of still work, it will move you up the ladder into the directors chair for commercials, even features.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

RED Epic is almost here, and fall is heating up

It's seems I've been asleep at the wheel, and while I dozed, the RED Epic (5K digital cinema camera) was unleashed at IBC in Amsterdam last month. Below are some tasty photos of the Epic, and along with that some even tastier images of Kate Beckinsale made with the Epic 5K sensor in a RED One body for Esquire Magazine, by Greg Williams. If you remember Greg Williams was the first shooter to have RED still images (of beautiful Megan Fox) published in a print magazine, and Esquire no less (June 2009 issue). These current images of Ms. Beckinsale, will be in the November issue of Esquire, fall is heating up. Here is the link to "The Sexiest Woman Alive Video"

So nice, I had to do it twice.

Oh, that leaves me with the Epic itself, here are some photos taken at IBC, last month.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

New 5D Mark 2 accessories from Element Technica

I've been a bit busy lately, which is a good thing, but I managed to get a sneak peek of the new gear from Element Technica for the Canon 5D Mark 2. The items picture below are the new bridge plate and dovetail. I was at the DV Expo yesterday and I must say the other companies have nothing this solid.

Friday, September 4, 2009

The Eizo 232W, GREAT MONITOR!!!!

If you've worked with me over the years you know I only use Eizo's CG 211. The Eizo's have been very reliable for color accuracy for print campaigns and catalog work. Just recently did I have the chance to work with their new broadcast model, the 232W.
In working with the Eizo CG 232W monitor for the Image Mechanic Collision Conference. My demo featured shooting the RED, in vertical orientation. That said, you want to view your project the same way. The 232 unfortunately does not rotate to full portrait position, so I had to remove the stand and replace with a LCD VESA monitor bracket in order to achieve a vertical view.

The first thing I do is to calibrate and profile the monitor. Because the 232W uses hardware calibration, colors are adjusted within the monitor itself, and there is no loss of displayable colors (as opposed to software only calibration which only manipulates the computers video cards color output). The 232W comes with ColorNavigator software, and along with a device like Eye One Photo, you can accurately calibrate one or more monitors. The RED with an Element Technica Breakout box, has SDI outputs. The 232W, along with DVI, also has SDI inputs. Once I dialed in my color temp for the RED, I was able to see the results on the Eizo. This is the kind of thing not normally viewed (with other monitor brands). Looking at the model, we viewed the same color correct image on the Eizo. It was amazing to said the least. If you had this on set, and in the edit bay, your projects would be color beautiful from front to back.

Eizo's are not inexpensive, but I feel they are worth the money, and it is both easy to work with and accurate, what more can you ask for.

Monday, August 31, 2009

RED In The Vertical Position

This past weekend I took part in a conference at LA Film School. The event was called Collision Conference, where still and motion converge. The event hosted by Images Mechanics featured a host of renowned speakers and lecturers from the still and motion world. Ted from RED, Shane Hurlbut, Vincent Laforet, Rodney Charters, Liam Finn, Alexx Henry, Frank Rohmer, Michael Britt and Illya Friedman.

The conference featured two cameras, the RED One and the Canon 5D Mark2. There were vendors from Red Rock Micro, Zeiss, Canon, Bogen, Ikan, Samy's Camera and more.

Demo's were held twice daily featuring the Canon 5D and the RED shot in vertical orientation (sideways). The reason behind this way of shooting is so a photographer can shoot for vertical ads and signage. Many of the new ads for automotive, cosmetics, movies, and just about everything else are using this format, and now with motion. I gave the RED in vertical demo, using the RED modified to sit vertically. Fairly straight forward, but I went off the path when I showed how I finished the edit in Photoshop.

Here a shoot that took 5 minute shot and finish magazine ad.

View large version HERE,

Friday, August 28, 2009

WOW!! Entertainment Weekly to have 1st video in a magazine

Photographers and filmmakers will have new territory to shoot for, the new video ads appearing in magazines and books. This new technology is about to explode, and it all starts appearing on September 18, 2009 in Entertainment Weekly. So get out your REDs and your Canon 5D Marks 2's, Final Cut, Photoshop, and lets get busy. Oh you don't do motion? Better learn FAST!!!

Read on below:

From Digital Journal.Com:

Entertainment Weekly magazine is going high tech with a video-chip ad in the September 18 issue. The video will feature CBS's new fall TV season and Pepsi Max.

The revolutionary issue will only be sent to a few thousand who subscribe in New York City and Los Angeles. If you live elsewhere or want to buy a special copy at the newsstand you're out of luck.
The magazine is using Americhip for their technology. Each battery powered microchip can carry up to 40 minutes of video.
The video screen can be recharged with a tiny USB cord after the battery runs out. The average battery life is 65 to 70 minute
video video

More info from the Wall Street Journal.

Editing content from Canon 5D Mark 2 and RED in Photoshop

What a day, what a day!!! I'm so lucky that I know brilliant people. While at Image Mechanics today, I learned that I could actually edit footage in Photoshop, can you believe it? Now I'm in love. PS has the tools I'm used to, and it can handle the content I throw at it. I will wait until the Collision Conference to reveal the info, but my friends, it's simply amazing.

I worked on two clips from RED, started in RED Alert, and ended in PS. I give much props to Michael Britt of Image Mechanics for his tireless efforts at the computer, tweaking and twisting until finally an image was born. He passed the knowledge onto me, and it's up for grabs at the Collision Conference. Below is but a sample (a position only piece), so let your imagination go wild. The REAL final will be shown at the conference.

I was taken aback at the images produced by the RED, it was as if I had discovered a brand new camera. So sharp, so kick ass, I'm in love again.

If you happen to notice that gray card on the cart, it's not there for show, it's my way of delivering clean neutral color to my clients. It's the only fast way to do 1st color for digital capture.

OK, so if that's not enough, I have the new Eizo 232W, in vertical orientation, calibrated, and profiled, tis awesome. I'll be showing you how to do this at the conference.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Demo at the Collision Conference

The Collision Conference hosted by Image Mechanics is this Saturday and Sunday at LA Film School. Ted Schilowitz will be one of the key speakers along with other notables in the filmmaking and still world. I will be demonstrating the RED in vertical orientation for those seeking to shoot vertical for some of the new vertical motion ads.

Plus I'll have Eizo's new CG 232W monitor on display, I will also demo how easy and accurate this monitor is to software calibrate and profile on set. The 232W is a perfect viewing devise for the RED, and my guess is that it will be the de facto color reference monitor in the very near future (no more calibrating by eye).

The RED Tech In Action

Today I worked with the Cortez Brothers Production Company on a commercial for Nestles directed and shot by Anton Klima.

The set up you see is are two MacBook Pro's and a Mac Pro, three Dell monitors and a AJA converter which can take a signal from the RED via SDI, convert it, send it to a MAC running Final Cut (log and capture), and in turn the Mac can display both real time "Live" video, but also record and playback each take on the fly. The second MacBook Pro was dedicated to ingestion of the RED footage via R3D Data manager and first pass color correction, and the Mac Pro was on set editing station.

The playback process takes HDMI to DVI cable plus HDMI to HDMI and SDI cables to complete the set up, but in the end, you have a complete video village able to record and playback on one monitor, display "live" capture on another monitor and even print files from still frame grab through Final Cut via Canon printer.

Jason Durdon a editor and computer whiz at Cortez Brothers was the idea man, and I helped. There are a few tech problems to keep on top of, but it is stable and will aid in your commercial, feature or TV shoots.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

RED a Different Orientation

I've been asked by many still photographers what is the option of shooting RED vertically. Up to now there have been few solutions and fewer tests. Today while at Images Mechanic in Santa Monica California, Michael Britt and his team tested one possible solution. While there are a few companies making products to shoot vertically with the RED, there is little product availablility when you may need it. Which leaves you with doing it yourself.

After a hardware store run, a little surgery, a bit of trial and error, some RED spare parts, the Image Mechanics team, built a beautiful vertical shooting solution with minimum gear.

Next came the fun of reconfiguring the RED EVF, LCD, and RED cradle to make it possible to monitor the image vertically and easily manipulate the RED's camera menus and buttons.

A model was being prepped in makeup while the RED was set up, and once the MU was complete we began our test. I have to say the only thing that was truly needed was a start/stop control for the RED. Due to the new config the camera's record buttons are in tight not so easy to get to places. Other than that it was as easy as shooting in the horizontal position.

As you can see in the photos above, we shoot this green screen, and I'll keep you informed with regards to shooting and keying out for green screen in post.

Thanks to the team at Image Mechanics, Michael, Greg, Pip and Jimmy for a great job and a important test for those wanting to shoot vertical.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Collision Conference - Image Mechanics Expo

As I mentioned in my last post 30 minutes ago, RED demos are only just beginning.

A first ever conference of learning for the still photographer aimed at motion, and in particular with the RED and Canon 5D MK 2 cameras is at hand. I believe this is something you can not ignore, this is the future, this is the way our business with be conducted in the future.

The two day conference will showcase the RED and Canon 5D MK2 along with a host of camera and shooting accessories. This is a mini expo just for us still photographers, and I'm totally excited. They have key speakers from Ted Schilowitz of RED, directors Shane Hurlbut, Vincent Laforet, Rodney Charters (he's a one man run and gun with RED), photographer Alexx Henry, Frank Rohmer FCP editing instructor of Lynda.Com, and many others.

This will be a full on "HOW-TO" with demos by respected professionals.

The event will be held at the Los Angeles Film School, located at 6363 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA on Saturday and Sunday August 29th and 30th 2009. Conference passes are available immediately from for $200 per day or $350 for a two-day pass.

For more information on the , click here, Collision Conference

Pier 59 Hosted a RED Demo

On Thursday of this past week, Pier 59 Studio (Santa Monica) hosted a RED demo. The demo was co-hosted with B2 Pro.

One of their main studios was filled with photographers, studio mangers, reps and photo assistants eager to learn more about this new capture device. The demo with two RED camera packages displayed two ways in which to shoot RED, vertical and horizontal orientations. A brief overview of RED set up and workflow was featured, followed by Q and A from the crowd.

It was good to see that photographers are slowly moving toward motion. This is one of the first demos of it's kind, but surely not the last. Look for more and more still capture firms and studios offering RED in the coming months.

Michael Cioni of LightIron Digital on shooting resolutions for RED

I had the pleasure of working and learning from Michael Cioni of LightIron Digital. He is a valuable resource to the RED community as he has overseen post on hundreds of RED projects.

If you every wondered which resolution is best for your project, here is a breakdown in layman's terms courtesy of Michael.

So here's the skinny-

4K2:1 is no longer an ideal shooting format. My recommendation is not to use it because there is no 2:1 delivery format. 1-2 years ago, 2:1 made more sense because QuadHD wasn't available and 2:1 and was necessary for some early system integration (like real-time Scratch playback). Though I like 2:1 as an aesthtic aspect ratio, it makes for difficult conversions to 1:78 and 1:85.

In my opinion, 4K 16:9 should pretty much only be used for theatrical releases (actual 2K and up). If a RED project goes to HD, you probably want to stick with 4KHD, or QUAD HD. QuadHD is a great format because it is exactly 4x bigger (200%) than 1080p HD. 4K16:9 is actually a bit bigger than QuadHD. When you scale down 4K16:9 to HD, you do not have whole numbers (because you can't divide 4096 by 1920) without remainders. However, if you take Quad HD (3840 by 1920) you get "2" - a whole number with no remainders.

That means you get all sorts of advantages with QuadHD:

• Slightly smaller file sizes
• Faster renders to 1080 (upto 33% faster than 4K16:9)
• Better use of the Proxy Movies in 1080p
• Sharper images at 1080

YES, it is true. When you down sample 4K 16:9 to 1080 or 2k, you get those remainders - those are actually square pixels of one aspect ratio being crammed into another aspect ratio. That means you do not have what is called a "pixel-for-pixel" downsample. When you use QuadHD, you literally eliminate half of the vertical and horizontal pixels, but there is no sub-sapling applied since the numbers are even remainders. This is a great way to do conversions - which is made easy by the fact Red shoots Wavelets (which love to be divisible by 2). That's why you get all those quick and easy 4K, 2K, 1K and 1/2K QT movies so easily - it's literally just doing the division on the fly by 2. The only problem is, when in 4K16:9, the division is not so good with 1920x1080. Where as in Quad HD, you are perfect. The result is a SHARPER image in 1080p from QuadHD vs. 4K16:9. Though it is not a whole lot sharper, it can make a difference for visual effects compositing, rotoscoping and keying. It also makes a difference in very busy wide shots or perhaps shots that suffer from tricky focus situations.

Overall, if you are not doing a 2K or 4K master, there is little to no benefit to shooting 4K 16:9. Period. The only thing I would look out for is that QuadHD is going to push into your lenses a TINY bit- making a 50mm act more like a 55mm. That may be a deal killer for some DPs, but the overall image quality, speed and mobility of the images may be a better trade-off.

A good week for learning

It's been a minute since my last post, but a lot has been happening behind the scenes.

As I mentioned on a previous post, I had used the Canon 5D MK 2 for a clients welcome video for the web. While this was easy to set up and use, it was not so easy to color correct. I'm a big fan of the perfect skin tones in both still and motion work, and when things are off, it really take away from the image or movie. To date I've seen a lot of footage that did not look real to me, while clean color can be achieved, it can be a long process in some cases.

Since the 5D does not shoot RAW motion, you don't have the advantage of using a RAW processing software to make changes and clean up your image without destruction, with RED, it is such an easy process. Using RED Alert is similar to using C1 Pro for still work. You first make sure you have a gray card in your image (and make sure it's in the key light source and not shaded), then bringing that info into RA, you place your square pointer on the gray and click on the WB (white balance tab). Your image will instantly shift to neutral, and all of your RGB values will be very close in value. From that point on, do not touch or move your color temp or tint sliders, those are set!

Now you can get creative because your image is neutral.

I've also been learning FCP (Final Cut Pro). For those new to it, there is a large learning curve, but there are many places with free tutorials. YouTube, Creative Cow, and Lynda.Com all have video tutorials on how to edit your project start to finish.

My one wish it that FCP had tools for color correction like those found in Photoshop. I had a background I wanted to clean up as pure white without globally effecting the entire image. While this is possible it has to be done one frame at a time, and let's see, at 30fps for a 2 min pieces that's three thousand six hundred frames. Well, that's not my idea of fun. Hopefully future releases of FCP will give us tools to help gray (white) balance an image easier.

In the mean time, if you are shooting a project with the 5D, light as well and as clean as you can. Shoot a gray card, under each light temp change, and keep it simple.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Canon 5D MKII in use

Over the past few days, I've had the opportunity to work with the Canon 5D Mark 2. I chose to use it, because the form factor of the camera was small, and the project was light. I used it in two different situations, first a welcome video for a new clients web site, and the other run and gun interviews in various locations.

The welcome video was in a controlled environment, and the 5D along with a Beachtek DXA-5D and shot gun mic was the gear used. It's very easy to use the video option on the 5D, pretty straight forward, and the results are very good. I edited the footage with FCP, and all went well. This was shot using tungsten lighting.

The run and gun interviews were a bit more problematic. I did not have one subject I had two or three, and the focus became an issue. While for most of the interviews, I used the AF-ON button to focus, but for other shots, I found I had to manually focus, and without a larger monitor, it's very difficult. Also in a controlled environment I did not have a problem with the length of a take, if I did, I could just do another take, but with interviews, if it ran over 12 minutes, the camera would stop recording without notice, leaving me with gaps in the interview.

For lighting I used the Lite Panels Micro Pro. This is a very cool device, but again, it has limitations. It runs on 6 AA batteries, and there is no battery level indicator to let you know you are running low, it just slowly dims, and the color temp changes. There is a option for AC adapter, but the rental house did not have one. The light throw is not far and the angle of light spread is not that wide, so you need to be close to your subject, and they need to be close together, but it is light in weight, and convenient.

There is no histogram on the 5D in video mode, as on a RED, and you pretty much judge your exposure by the on camera LCD. Not shooting RAW is a bummer, but the images look pretty good. I'll post more as I finish my editing.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

RED L.A. User Group

RED L.A. Users Group hosts a monthly gathering of RED devotees and practitioners. The event held at Kappa Studios in Burbank is a great place to learn, network, and chow down.

This month the venue was packed as always with members from all departments in the television, film and the still industry. As you make my way past the buffet, you will more than likely see a familiar face, chat for a minute before moving on. The great thing about the RED society it that it is evolving, and pulling in new artists and technicians into a digital workflow.

Each month new products, software, and workflows are introduced and discussed by professionals in this field. As a RED Tech I was particularly interested in IRIDAS SpeedGrade OnSet, presented by Clark Graff. Besides having a wonderful discussion regarding on set data and color management, Clark shared his experience with this new system which is both Mac and Windows platform. The discussion went into the use of hardware/software calibrated monitors such as those by Eizo which is the starting point for a controlled system. I think the days of calibrating by eye are on their way out. In the digital still industry, monitors are hardware calibrated daily to allow you to view what is REAL, verses what is not. The use of an 18% gray card as a reference (in KEY light) is the next step to keeping control of your color workflow on set. The ability to neutralize your picture (no color cast), is quick and simple, and can help your colorist nail the look fast and with more accuracy. With tools like IRIDAS SpeedGrade OnSet, DP's and photographers can see from the beginning what their project with look like on screen. Technology is changing everything.

Clark also had shared the room with Ricardo Reyes of Tekram. Together they showed and discuss storage solutions for on set data management. Products such as CineRAID and Areca systems.

KinoFlo was present with Tom Jacobs demonstrating the BarFly Diva and Vista lighting systems.

PF-Plate is a new alternative accessory for RED One. It's an option for the mini to standard BNC and XLR cables, plus a handy HDMI outlet. With this accessory you can mount a small mic right on camera for scratch sound without the clumsy and bulky wires and cables.

Andrew Wilding screened his first short shot with RED, Piano Man in the Member's Showcase area. After which Andrew fielded questions regarding the prep, shooting and post production of his film.

Besides the buffet, my favorite area at this event is always the RED Owner's Circle. This is to me a place to discuss everything from new gear and accessories, techniques in workflow, trouble shooting tips. Owners, renters, and first time users are always welcome, and the discussions here help each of us on set. This month Scott Snare, the group moderator, treated the crowd to his new set of RED Pro Primes, and the new RED 18-85mm. I just had one question, where is my 18-85mm? Backorder is a bitch.

Please feel free to share or comment.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Element Technica

I was over speaking with Hector Ortega founder of Element Technica, and he informed me that ET has new accessories for the Canon 5D MKII planned in the very near future. If you don't know of ET, please check out their site. They are the after market accessory hero for the RED camera. If you plan to purchase a camera (RED of otherwise), check their site as you will want to outfit your rig with some of their gear.

Canon 5D MKII

Last night I attended an event at Birns and Sawyer, featuring the Canon 5D Mark II. The attendance was substantial given the 5D's new popularity with both filmmakers and still photographers.

The evening featured Tim Smith Mgr. Pro Product Support of Canon USA.

Vincent Laforet, a professional photographer that has transitioned from still to motion. His film Reverie, was the first 1080p short photographed with the Canon 5DMKII.

Dir Jason Ensler (Chuck, Kath and Kim) and Byron Shah (E.R., Kath and Kim) treated the crowd to a short they produced exclusively for the event. Their team used three cameras, the RED One, Canon 5D MKII, and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH 1 to shoot their test short.

Q and A followed the screening, and as always the attendees ate, drank and networked. As always Birns and Sawyer serves up tasty treats to it those in attendance.

As a RED owner, I was impressed with both the Panasonic and Canon cameras, I see why they are being used a "B" roll cameras to support RED on many film and broadcast productions.

If you are interested in attending events at Birns, get on their email list,, and come discover, learn, and as they say, "meet greet and eat the best catering this side of La Brea".

Monday, July 27, 2009

Cool Picture

A moment of clarity

Today was the final day of a 7 day immersive training on the RED One Digital Camera.
The class was attended by directors, RED rental house owners, DP's, and editors from London, Canada, Hong Kong, Dubai, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Italy, India, and the US, including 3 from New York.

The general take on RED (public view), is you can pick it up like a video camera, and shoot away, that's not true. This is not your momma's video camera. REDucation is the cure for misinformation, and misguided use of shooting on RED. REDucation went through all phases of RED, shooting, testing it's limits and capabilities, and the editing process.

Ted Schilowitz of RED was co-instructor along with Michael Cioni of LightIron Digital. Michael has edited over 200 RED projects, and knows more than anyone to date on how best to shoot RED.

Even though I've been involved with digital these past 11 years, I had to adopt a new set of skills to work with RED. If you don't shoot RED properly, or ingest the footage into the workflow in the right manner, you will not realize good results. I say this because a lot of still rental houses and still capture boutiques are now positioned to offer RED, without knowing how to work with it. Most of these studios and digital rental services have popped up in the past two months, because RED has become popular. The infrastructure in most cases is not there, and you end up with firms with little to no knowledge or real time experience, peddling RED to their client base. This scenario will backfire, causing clients to botch jobs, or at the very least spend excess money to try and correct mistakes made on set.

With most all usual suspects now providing RED service, not one attended REDucation. It takes time to fully know this camera, lots of testing and handling the data.

I've attended every RED event and function since moving to Los Angeles (including RED Boot Camps), to date, no one from the still photo industry has ever attended. How can you master something, if you don't study, and seek knowledge.

To the credit of those that attended REDucation, my hat is off to you. Some traveled over 10,000 miles to enhance their skill set, to better understand a new tool, and how best to work with it.

My 2 cents.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated.

p.s. the photo above is a still frame from the RED!!!

Motion One Sheet Ad Posters

More and more advertising is moving away from motionless images to motion images. Here is an example of a Motion One Sheet ad for television and movie advertisement.

This example was shot with RED Digital Cinema camera.

This campaign was shot by Alexx Henry, for Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

REDucation Day 6, The Last Day

A great deal learned today in regards to grading. The REDucation class was treated to a 2 plus hour demo, of how a colorist do their jobs. Eliot Miilbourn of Digital Vision showed his workflow to color a movie with Film Master. If you have a talent with Photoshop, you may have talent as a colorist.

RED to come Scarlet

Saturday, July 25, 2009

REDucation Day 5, The Post Man Rings

After yesterdays announcement of Final Cut 7, plus the testing of REDs new RED Rocket, we still had one the best days of learning. Michael Cioni (The Post Man) of LIGHTIRON Digital is a whiz at dissecting the post workflow, and delivering it in such a way, you get it. We covered in detail, Clipfinder, Final Cut Pro, Color, RED Alert, and Avid. We follow the content all the way through the post chain, and my head is spinning. It will still take a minute to digest all the data, and of course, I'll have to use these application on a constant basis, to keep what I've learned.

The cool thing is we shoot, then process the content and view it in 2K (Sony 4K projector) on a large screen. This is the best way to learn the process, instant gratification.

I bet you did not know that Ted Schilowitz (Leader of the Rebellion) is also a good instructor, he's not, he's a great instructor, and very passionate about RED. TED along with Michael, and guest appearances from industry leaders, have made REDucation #001 a success. Now being the first one, it has it's bugs, a few bumps in the road, but even those were handled smoothly.

RED on a Still Shoot

Friday, July 24, 2009

REDucation Day 4, The Start of Post

As the songs goes, Fly me to the Moon, let me play among the the others this new tool is amazing. On the fly (or on the RED Rocket), this new device allows you to playback full 4K, as it de-bayers on the fly, in real time, wow. Installed in a Mac Pro or Windows machine, it will make mince meat out of what once was a laborious task. In other words RED Rocket we love you.

REDucation has entered it's second phase.
The nitty gritty post production REDucation, where the rubber meets the road. All your hard work, blood, sweat and tears will be for not, without the talent of an editor that has the skill-set to unfold your beautiful RED content, into an equally beautiful finished project. I have to say, both Micahel Cioni, and Ted from RED, do a great job at delivering information, clear cut, and honest. It's value anyway you slice it.

I have to apologize, the past two days I did not post, I was too tired, and got home late from the REducation classes.

That said, both day 3 and the REDucation Community were a success. If you had a chance to attend Community Day, you know what I mean. The support for RED by outside vendors, is staggering. This camera system is the future, and I say this to all still photographers, please start the learning process.

Today Apple announced Final Cut 7, and it's got RED written all over it.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

REDucation Day 2

Day two of the RED Tech segment of REDucation, , and the students were presented with myriad of tools for the tech. From monitors, ingestion software, tech cart configurations, RED Tech and DP/AC relationships, color correction and much more.

The assignments carried out by the students on Monday, were viewed and discussed today. The assignments varied, covering just about every possible shooting scenario, under varying conditions. For me this was truly enlightening. This is world class film (I mean RED Digital) school. This program is structured so everyone learns, no man left behind.

Some of the tools discussed today were Sony CineSlate, iSlate, FilmSlate, monitors like the Dell S2209W the prefect low priced monitor that also gives you menu display via HDMI.

The day ran a full 10 hours, and no one wanted to leave, the energy is high, and the staff was very willing to answer questions to the end.

Being a technology geek, I love the gear, so many REDs, and the Sony 4K Projector, along with DVS Real-Time 4K Playback with full debayer, wow.

Monday, July 20, 2009

REDucation Day 1

yours truly assisting students

Well, this was a very informative day. REDucation hosted students from all over the world. The class size at REDucation is 40, and students came from India, London, Dubai, Italy, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and all over the US.

It was a day filled with presentations (both visual and verbal), lectures, Q and A, hands on RED, and shooting assignments.

Ted Schilowitz (RED Digital Cinema) and Michael Cioni (formally with Plaster City) are the main teachers, with Mauricio Gutierrez, Casey Green, Steve Freebairn and myself (Von Thomas) as teaching assistants. The event hosted by HD Expo Creatasphere, and produced by Jeff Seckendorf, is held at the Los Angeles Center Studios, in Downtown LA.

I have to say, collectively we have a awesome crew, the skill level, the first hand knowledge and experience, the willingness to share, makes this learning event, above and beyond a benchmark for our new digital cinema learning frontier.

You may be able to get a picture with RED, but with training like this, your vision as a story teller, will literally leap off the screen.

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Duh, Girls

I feel a little self conscious whining about the day when people are getting hit by huge storms and tornadoes in Oklahoma City and Saint Louis, but guess I will anyway.  The day was chilly, windy, slightly rainy, and I haven’t ridden for months!  As a result, I have the sore shoulders from hunching against the constant wind and drizzle, and a sore rear end from my saddle!

Even Panama makes a comment about the day by sticking his tongue out!

PanamaWe had gathered a bunch of younger cows… so they were rather stupid about the last bit, acting like they hadn’t a clue which way to go.  That cost us some time, unsure of the trail down the Big Grey Ridge, wandering around the wrong side of the knob, crossing the creek unnecessarily, and almost running back near the Drift Fence.

Big Grey RidgeDuh, girls.

But after 8 hours of riding… Brandon counted them through the gate… and we do it all over again tomorrow!

Counting thru the Gate

Duh, Girls — 5 Comments

  1. Beautiful scenery ,cows and horses… nice and green too…. hope weather improves – there – here and everywhere….

    • Good eye, Kris! That’s Punch, Tess’ horse… big Rooster needs a break now and again… Punch is MUCH smaller!

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Places We'll Be

We will be staying at Lutheran Junior Seminary in Morogoro Tanzania.
Check out the website for the seminary here!

In addition to traveling around Tanzania to different villages, we will be going to a wildlife refuge to see some game! Learn a little bit more about Mikumi National Park!


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Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Value of Duke Football

As a Duke alum, this judge's ruling is embarrassing but I can't find fault with it.

If you want proof that Steve Spurrier is one of the best coaches around, forget the national championship at Florida. Since 1965, only one coach has had a winning record at Duke and Spurrier was that one.

Closer to home, it is nice to see JoePa listed as one of the coaches that transcends the game.

1 comment:

Jim Chen said...

For reasons that will be self-evident, I've blogged in response to this item in three places:

1. The Cardinal Lawyer

2. Danzig U.S.A.

3. MoneyLaw

Thanks for pointing out what the rest of us know: Duke football is an embarrassment to the sport. ;-)


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Monday, April 29, 2013

Flip Flop Faith

Matt. 16:21 ¶ From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Matt. 16:22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.”

Peter had just confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, the very son of God.  This was a very powerful statement and up until this time Jesus had been praying that the disciples would begin to fully understand who he was and his mission.  Once this powerful confession was given, Jesus felt that he could reveal the next stage of his work with the disciples.  First, they had to know that he was the Messiah, and now they had to know what was coming.  There would be difficult days ahead.

They would have to go to Jerusalem where he would undergo great suffering.  A contingent of individuals were already in Jerusalem who would make his life extremely difficult.  The elders, men who were the rich supporters of the religious work in town.  They would be disgusted by Jesus and his message and they would help supply necessary funds to get rid of him!  Next would be the chief priests.  These men were accustomed to having power as a result of their position.  Jesus and his new kingdom language threatened the positions that they had carved out for themselves.  They would never give up their power for a man such as Jesus.  Better to be rid of him than to have him create chaos with their system.  And finally the scribes would make him suffer.  These were the conceited scholars who thought that they could discern better than anyone else what the scriptures had to say.  How dare an "unschooled" man like Jesus come and talk to them as if he knew more than they did!  And the result would be that these men would connive together to have Jesus put to death.

But Jesus also knew that he would be victorious over death and the grave.  He told the disciples that even if all these things were done to him -- he would raise again on the third day.

Peter had just declared that Jesus was the Messiah.  He was the son of God!  Jesus trusted him enough to reveal to him the difficulties of what lie ahead, and then Peter declares, "God forbid it, Lord!  This must never happen to you."  What happened to his faith?  How could he have been so sure about who Jesus was, but then unwilling to believe the prophetic words and declare Jesus' statement as untrue!

No -- this devotional has nothing to do with first-century footwear!  Instead it has to do with where we stand in our faith.

Peter often comes across as a pretty emotional guy.  There is emotion in his statements about Jesus being the Messiah and about the fact that this wasn't going to happen to him!  But maybe it was because of his emotions that he would flip flop around in his faith.  He may have been declaring the truth when he said Jesus was the Messiah, but did he really believe it?  By the time Jesus was telling him about the suffering he would experience, his emotions again took over and he said No!  But if Peter truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah, wouldn't he have simply accepted what Jesus said and tried to understand God's purposes in all of this?

Do our emotions sometimes result in flip-flopping faith?  In the heat and passion of the moment during worship or prayer we may be willing to submit and confess our faith to God.  What happens next is that we head out into life and are confronted with things that seem so unfair and we shout out "no!"  It's easy to condemn Peter for his flip-flop faith and yet we may need to realize that we tend to do the same thing.

Unfortunately our emotions do tend to get the better of us and at times they work to derail our faith.  These emotions can be good or bad.  In Peter we see a variety of emotions.  Sometimes he's excited, then he's angry, or maybe he's even scared.  However, after his experience at Pentecost we seem to see a different Peter.  Is it possible that when we allow our lives to come under the submission of the power of the Holy Spirit, God can even out our emotional responses?  He doesn't remove our personalities or the unique people he has created us to be, but by being empowered by the Spirit we can live a life of faith that does not need to flip flop on a regular basis.

I'm afraid we see too much flip-flopping religion these days.  Or, maybe I'm even more afraid that the world sees this type of religion and wonders what in the world is wrong with those Christians!  Maybe it's because we continue to allow our emotions to rule the day and refuse to allow ourselves to come under submission to the leadership of the Holy Spirit in all things.  Peter did finally come to this place and Jesus was able to build his church upon him -- upon the Rock.  What might he be able to do with us today if we would come to a place of complete and total submission to him?

Lord, may the Spirit lead my life every single day.   Amen.

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NMSP’s decision on forced marriage not accepted by perpetrator

October 25, 2016

On April 21, 2016, Mg Ko Lay, a young man from Ka Lot Thot Village, Mudon Township, Mon State, had forcefully pressured his girlfriend to marry him without her consent. The case was brought to the New Mon State Party (NMSP) representatives; however, the 24-year-old man said in a press conference in early October 2016 that he was not satisfied with the NMSP’s decision on the case.

At 4 pm on April 21, Mg Ko Lay, together with 9 friends, forcefully took and engaged in a sexual act without his 17-year-old girlfriends’ consent at a rubber plantation in Mae Ta Ro Village. After this incident, Mg Ko Lay took the young girl to his aunt’s house in Shwe La Inn Village, Kyar Inn Seik Kyi Township, Karen State.

On April 22, the parents of Mi Ma Lay, the victim, visited the Ka Lot Thot Village Headman and said that they would agree to the marriage off their daughter; however, if their daughter does not agree to the marriage, they want their daughter back. They also said that they will not report the case to authorities. After a short discussion, the village headman signed a mutual consent contract with them.

“On April 4, the village headman, the parents of Mg Ko Lay and Mi Ma Lay and their relatives went to where Mg Ko Lay and Mi Ma Lay live. But, on the way, the village headman changed his mind and turned back without giving any reason. The relatives and parents continued their trip to Shwe La Inn Village,” said U Tun Nyo, the uncle of Mg Ko Lay.

“After the girl left the house with his parents, four Mon soldiers from Inn Gua (NMSP) Military Base suddenly appeared and came into the house. After, they arrested Mg Ko Lay,” continued U Tun Nyo.

Mg Ko Lay’s parents went to Inn Gua Base and had a discussion with Nai Mya Mon, the District Chairman of the NMSP. The parents explained that they had had an agreement with the village headman on the marriage; however, Nai Mya Mon did not accept the reason and intimidated them by saying that they would be arrested if they reported the case to any department of the Myanmar Government.

“Both parties had an agreement, which was made in the presence of the village headman. So the problem must be solved. If the village headmans’ decision is not acknowledged, then who can we rely on? We’re treated like an orphanage,” said U Aung Khine, a Ka Lot Thot villager.

Daw Ngwe Taung, the mother of Mg Ko Lay, said that she is a widow and had no money to pay the compensation to the NMSP as they requested for her to see her son. Therefore, she has had to return to work without having a chance to see her son.

“Whenever I went to Inn Gua Base to meet with my son, he was hand and foot cuffed. He has been in handcuffs since his arrest. If my son is found guilty, he must be punished in accordance with the laws,” said Daw Ngwe Taung. Daw Ngwe Taung requested the NMSP to release her son from being handcuffed; however, the party replied that her son would be relieved of the cuffs after the family has paid a compensation of 20 million Kyat.

“According to the NMSP, Mg Ko Lay will be relieved from his cuffs only after paying the insurance premium fee of 20 million Kyat to Inn Gua Base. But the defendant’s family doesn’t have any plantations in Kyar Inn Seik Kyi in order to pay the fee. They have plantations in Mudon Township but Inn Gua Base doesn’t acknowledge the property in Mudon,” said U Tun Nyo.

On August 28, the Special District Office of the NMSP came to a decision that Mg Ko Lay is guilty of the charges as he forcefully married an under-aged girl; his friends are also found guilty as they were involved in the event. Mg Ko Lay will be imprisoned for 5 years and has to pay  fee of 4 million Kayt to Mi Ma Lay. His friends will be imprisoned for 1 year.

“If the case was reported to the Myanmar government, the young boy would not receive such a long sentence.” said a Ka Lot Thot resident, U Aung Khine.

Mg Ko Lay’s parents have not been satisfied with the decision made by the NMSP and reported the case to the Mon State Government on July 31, claiming that Ka Lot Thot Village is a place under the authority of the (Mon State) Government and the case should be decided and judged by the (Mon State) Government.

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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Indian Court Bars Jain Practice of Santhara As Suicide

In India, the Rajasthan High Court, acting on a public interest petition, held that Santhara, a traditional Jain practice of starving oneself to death to attain salvation (background), is suicide under the Indian Penal Code. Thus Sec. 306 outlawing abeting of suicide and Section 309 outlawing attempted suicide apply. The court said in part:
The respondents failed to establish that Santhara is an essential religious practice without which the following of Jain religion is not permissible.
According to the Calcutta Telegraph, the activist who filed the suit says: "... Santhara is a way devised by the family to get rid of the economic burden of caring for its elderly." Jain organizations say they will appeal the decision.


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The Hola Mexico Film Festival returns for its fourth installment at the Ricardo Montalban Theater, its home since 2011. The festival is a showcase of modern Mexican cinema that aims to give audiences a taste of what life in Mexico really is. “Mexico is not what is seen on current television networks or select news reports,” says festival director Samuel Douek. Telenovela fans, take note!

The festival kicks off with a red carpet screening of Días De Gracia (Days of Grace) by Dir. Everardo Gout on Wednesday, May 23rd. The film was a hit at Cannes and will make its USA debut at Hola.

Screenings of feature-length and documentary films continue through the week until closing night on Wednesday, May 30th including a screening of Cristiana (For Greater Glory) starring Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole, Ruben Blades and Eduardo Verástegui.

Other films in the festival include ¡De Panzazo! (Barely Passing), a documentary that takes a critical look at Mexico’s education system, El Trompetista (The Trumpet Player) a short film about a trumpet player who suffers a terrible accident, and La Otra Familia (The Other Family), a story about a child left in the care of a gay couple while his mother is in rehab (I think I just heard a million abuelas let out a collective “ave Maria purisima”).

This year’s festival also marks the first exhibition of short films and a children’s matinee program, Hola Niños.

And what’s a festival without celebrities?! Stars such as Gout, Demian Bichir, Dulce Maria, Kate Del Castillo, Pedro Pablo Ybarra, and others will make an appearance.

Check out the full schedule here. Ticket prices range from $8 – $100 depending on how many films you want to watch.


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local eats Articles

November 14, 2013

NYC Eats: Calexico is Coming to Park Slope

October 2, 2013

How the Government Shutdown is Affecting You (and UOENO it)

September 24, 2013

NYC Street Food Awards "The Vendys" Expands to Chicago

September 20, 2013

RE Taste Test: Rating the Latin Flavors at Brooklyn Cupcake

September 11, 2013

Local Eats: Argentine/Italian Rustic Pizza and Empanada Bar 'Shelter Pizza'

July 31, 2013

CHI: 5411 Empanadas Food Truck Gets a Storefront, YUM

July 31, 2013

Local Eats: Miami's Maracuyá Serves Up Fried Plantain Sandwich, The Yoyo

June 11, 2013

Local Eats: Not Your Mama's Empanadas

May 22, 2013

Local Eats: In More No Bread News, Pincho Factory Serving Pastelito Burger in Miami

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Rating: No reviews yet
Downloads: 3521
Released: Apr 4, 2010
Updated: Apr 4, 2010 by avianwaves
Dev status: Stable Help Icon

Recommended Download

Application ReRemindSetup.CAB
application, 114K, uploaded Apr 4, 2010 - 3521 downloads

Release Notes

- Added new notification: "Unread MMS" <- Default is enabled, so be sure to go into Config if you don't want this.
- Config now supports sound and vibration preview (see the "menu" button).
- Added hack to work around bug in Windows Phone 6.5 regarding the lack of an audible notification for "all day" appointments with a reminder set. Limitations: Only WAV files are supported (use the standard Sounds and Notifications setting to set it), AutoSnooze will not work (the replay of the notification two minutes after the first notification), and Windows Mobile 6.1 is not supported (has the bug too, but due to differences in the way the notification system sets values in the registry, my fix will only work for 6.5). See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=469186

Reviews for this release

No reviews yet for this release.


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Ubiquitous Platforms

Nathalie Baracaldo photo Bryant Chen photo Robert Engel photoHeiko Ludwig photo Mohamed Mohamed photoSamir Tata photo

Ubiquitous Platforms - overview

The Ubiquitous Platforms group at IBM Research - Almaden works at the intersection of compute platforms and AI workloads.

This includes making advanced compute platforms enterprise-ready and suitable for novel workloads. We want to enable a seemless compute platform from IOT devices and edge systems to Cloud environments to in-house enterprise compute environments. We also think about how to write, deploy and manage applications that can stretch throughout these ubiquitous compute environments. An important theme is dealing with the scale of a globally networked compute environments and to enable advanced applications such as AI to leverage it.

AI systems, in particular learned systems at training and inference time also pose novel demands on compute infrastructure and present new risks. We are working on adversarial machine learning, identifying threats to the training and deployment of learned systems and develop corresponding defense strategies. In some cases we can use platform properies and mechanisms such as assured data provenance as defense mechanism.

Our topics include:

  • Persistence for container and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) environments
  • SLA and quality-of-service for Cloud, in-house and IOT platforms
  • IOT sensor platforms
  • Developing edge-to-cloud applications
  • Reliable generation and use of provenance information
  • Adversarial machine learning

We are working closely with external partners in open source projects such as CloudFoundry and Ubiquity as well as academic partners in different forms, from conferences to internships to joint research.


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Rhabdomyolysis results from any condition that causes significant muscle damage. These include:

Risk Factors

Factors that may increase your chance of muscle damage include:

  • Extreme exertion, such as running a marathon
  • Heat stroke
  • Use of some prescription drugs
  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Severe seizures or convulsions

The most common symptoms include:

  • Dark urine—brown or red in color
  • Muscle pain
  • Muscle weakness

Other symptoms include:

  • Muscle swelling
  • Back pain
  • Nausea and vomiting

In severe cases, rhabdomyolysis may result in:

  • Kidney damage or failure
  • Multi-organ failure
  • Abnormal heartbeat, also known as arrhythmia
Anatomy of the Kidney
Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.

You will be asked about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done.

Your bodily fluids may be tested. This can be done with:

  • Urine tests
  • Blood tests

The activity of your muscles and heart may be tested. This can be done with:

Treatment may include:

Giving large amounts of fluid is the main treatment. Fluids are usually given by IV. Hydration helps to quickly flush myoglobin out of the kidneys to restore their function.

Bicarbonate may be used to minimize myoglobin's toxic effects.

Dialysis is a procedure that uses a machine to filter blood when the kidneys are not functioning. The clean blood is then returned to your body.

To reduce your chance of muscle damage and rhabdomyolysis:

  • Drink plenty of fluids when:
    • Exercising
    • Sitting or working in hot, humid weather
  • Drink alcohol in moderation—this is 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women
  • Avoid illicit drugs

Revision Information


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Philosophy and Background

P1020396Mission Statement – My mission is to support people on their path to a basic, essential, and enduring state of joyful well being. I believe making healthy lifestyle changes and building up resilience should be fun.  My aim is to help people find more calm, clarity and connection to their own internal guidance.


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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Why Shopping Independent Stores This Holiday Season Should Be On Your To-Do-List

written by: Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle, Forbes Contributor
Did you know that on average, 48 percent of each purchase at local independent businesses was recirculated locally, compared to less than 14 percent of purchases at chain stores? This data, shared by the American Independent Business Alliancealong with countless other reasons are why it’s so important to support your local LOCM +1.38% businesses this holiday season and always.
"Shopping should be an enjoyable experience with interactions that leave us feeling good versus feeling like we have to do a chore. I find that’s far more likely to happen when I’m patronizing local independent businesses, plus I also find independent merchants usually beat the chains or the online mega retailers when you add up the key factors. These include product quality and durability, getting expert advice without having to waste time doing my own research and ease of return if an exchange is needed, as well as price. I think the discount chains have brainwashed America into valuing cheapness above all, but the best value isn’t always – or even usually – the cheapest product or vendor,” shares Co-Director of the American Independent Business Alliance Jeff Milchen.
Expanding on this is Ellen Divita, Director of Community Development in DeKalb, Illinois, which is home to Northern Illinois University.
"Keeping purchases close to home helps communities in countless ways, and consumers need to recognize this as they make their purchase decisions. Local shopping – whether at small or larger stores – impact community economics, and too often purchases are being made online nowadays. Browsing the shelves of your local store is an experience which cannot be replaced by shopping on-line, even if cheaper and quicker,” Divita states.
Additionally, Divita shares that DeKalb recently lost a major retailer and as a result, they’d like to attract independent merchants to make up for this loss while also bringing value to their community.
"We intend to work with our businesses to focus on customer service and build the customer experience. We are hopeful to attract an independent book seller as a key downtown revitalization strategy yet know this will be a challenge,” Divita further states.
Advantages to Shopping Local
With internet shopping at our fingertips and big box stores always competing to one-up the other when it comes to offering consumers deals, independent merchants and other small businesses too often get lost in the dust. This trend, however, doesn’t have to continue and thanks to movements that include Small Business Saturday – which takes place the Saturday following Thanksgiving – and the increasingly popular Shop Small message that is shared year round, consumers are becoming more in-tune with the value of shopping local.
"More and more people are recognizing how important it is for their local economy and quality of life to patronize local businesses that support their community. That includes not only job creation and taxes, but support for local charities, events and more,” Milchen of the American Independent Business Alliance states.
To expand on this, consider why shopping local impacts your immediate community beyond economics. For starters, independent businesses help bring character and charm to communities – as well as help communities stand out and become more exciting, more enjoyable and more memorable than others. This ultimately leads to strong economic growth and long-term vitality, as well as helps bring new residents and jobs into the community.

Consider your own firsthand experience, as well. It’s likely fair to say that you’ve experienced towns worth visiting and towns only worth driving through simply based on the unique small shops that exist within them. Collectively, these small businesses help shape and create the community in which they reside – as well as bring together residents and out of town visitors alike.

If charm isn’t reason enough to get you shopping local, consider the value that small, local businesses bring to your local employment options. Independent businesses help increase employment rates, as well become the customers to local accountants, lawyers, printers, marketing agencies and more. The domino effect is simply too good to ignore – yet unfortunately, too many consumers do.

Online or at big box stores, remember that every time you spend even a dollar, you are impacting your local economy, vitality and overall livelihood. The schools, public services, parks and recreation and so much more are all impacted by local businesses, as well, and again, impacted by your choice to support your community at large… or not. So this holiday season – and even beyond – consider where you want to spend your dollars and how it will impact the big picture of your hometown.

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Monday, November 24, 2014

Need Some Holiday Inspiration? Here Are Some Campaign Ideas From Top Retailers

By Alicia Fiorletta, Senior Editor, Retail TouchPoints

It’s always interesting to see the different approaches retailers take to their holiday marketing and promotions. Sure, there may be the standard Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, but retailers are thinking outside of traditional promotional calendars and tactics in order to stand out.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve made a point to track all the different announcements from retailers outlining their holiday sales and campaigns. As I hoped, they cover a broad scope, touching on everything from sweepstakes and giveaways, to doorbusters, events and experiential marketing campaigns.

Since we’re somewhat early on in the holiday game, there’s still time for retailers to take a look at their peers and see how they can revise and refine their marketing strategies. While you won’t be able to complete a chain-wide beacon deployment by Black Friday, here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing and even thinking about next year!

Encourage shoppers to discover new things: Last year, we covered Barnes & Noble’s inaugural Discovery Weekend, which was developed to “bring the spirit of fun and discovery to the holiday shopping experience and help customers find the perfect gifts for the people they care most about,” said Mary Amicucci, VP of Adult Trade and Children’s Books at Barnes & Noble, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. Due to its success, the retailer held the event again this year! Throughout the weekend, Barnes & Noble will provide family-friendly events, interactive activities, complimentary story times, and book signings and appearances from authors and celebrity personalities. Additionally, the retailer will hold a series of contests, including the #BNSweaterContest, which encourages consumers to wear their most outrageous holiday attire and post pictures to social media. Winners will receive a series of must-have gifts for the holidays and Barnes & Noble gift cards.

Although these are two very different approaches, they both encourage consumers to further engage with the Barnes & Noble brand. While Discovery Weekend drives in-store traffic and creates highly immersive and fun shopping experiences, the #BNSweaterContest encourages shoppers to interact on social. Taking a multichannel approach like this is key, especially as more consumers use their mobile devices in stores.

Establish new partnerships: Connecting and building relationships with similar or like-minded brands can be valuable for expanding your consumer base and generating buzz. This year, Target has established a partnership with TOMS to release a collection of unique apparel, footwear and even home goods for the holidays. TOMS is a really hot brand now, and has been recognized for its charitable business model. Because of this partnership, Target has a very positive association with the brand, which improves consumers’ overall perception of the retailer.

Macy’s is thinking bigger with its holiday partnerships. The retailer has introduced the Holiday Arcade, which is a series of in-store gifting shops offering a variety of different products for different types of consumers. The Holiday Arcade gifting shops have been rolled out in six locations across several cities, including New York City and Chicago. Macy’s generated partnerships with Build-A-Bear Workshop, Paddington Bear and Curious George, among other brands, to roll out the Arcade. Because this store concept is limited time, it creates a sense of excitement for shoppers, which encourages them to visit participating stores before the products are gone!

Embrace charity and good will: After all, contributing to the overall good of mankind is what the holidays are about after all! Retailers can build customer loyalty and improve sentiment by partnering with charities or holding special events and campaigns for local or even national organizations. For example, Macy’s is inviting customers to participate in its annual Believe campaign, which has raised more than $8.7 million to Make-A-Wish.

From November 7 to December 24, customers can visit their local Macy’s store to drop stamped letters addressed to “Santa at the North Pole,” into special Santa Mail letterboxes. Now, consumers can even visit to create and send their letters to Santa. For each letter collected in-store and online, Macy’s will donate $1, up to $1 million, to Make-A-Wish, helping to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.
  Have some fun: Yes, it’s really that easy! Look at how Kohl’s and Disney Interactive are getting families to participate in some holiday fun. Up to 4,000 adults and children submitted videos of themselves singing the theme from Frozen, “Let it Go.” The videos were submitted on the Disney web site and through the Disney Applause app for iOS and Android devices. Americans can select their favorite singers, who will then be included as a part of Kohl’s holiday commercial, which will air during the American Music Awards on November 23.

In a way, the campaign approach is not directly associated with Kohl’s as a brand or retailer. But a variety of Frozen products are sold in the retailer’s stores, and Disney is most likely a great partner for the retailer. In fact, Kohl’s even is encouraging shoppers to share their favorite “Frozen finds” on social media using the hash tag #FrozenFunAtKohls. This was a great way for Kohl’s to be included in a nationwide campaign that generated a lot of buzz and participation. Although your retail business may not have the same bandwidth or reach as Kohl’s or Disney, this example confirms that your campaigns don’t always have to focus on getting customers to make a purchase.

As we venture further into the holiday season, I’m sure more fun campaigns and tactics will emerge.

Are there any interesting approaches you’ve seen so far? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Written By: Peter Pishko, VP of Operations

My apologies to Andy Williams; No, not that time, by the time you’re reading this post everything is set and you’re off and running in the great holiday race. Shelves are stocked, everything is decorated and business is booming. I am writing about the next most wonderful time of the year: Physical Inventory.  The key to a successful Physical Inventory (PI) is organization. I have some organizational steps that have proven successful in my past and continue help our customers today.

Start the old fashion way with pen paper and a calendar.

Select the dates that you will be performing your physical inventory count.  Make these dates known now so you are not besieged with vacation/time off requests for that week. Make it a blackout period no one is off. It is very important to have the support of your staff in getting this task accomplished successfully. Taking into account your dates, set some guidelines for your purchasing and receiving areas. You should cut off merchandise delivery for a period of time prior to your PI (I used to cut off two weeks before my count date). A full PI is best scheduled during a period of time when your stock levels are at a low point, obviously less to count and more room for organization of merchandise.  If merchandise is received during this period set it aside and do not enter it into your system until after you have completed your counts.
Ensure that you have allocated adequate staff for the task at hand. The physical count should be performed by teams of two, a caller and a recorder. The actual purpose of these individuals has changed from the days of pencil and paper tallies to having teams give credibility to the actual count in terms of checks and balances. It speeds the scanning process along as well (if you are using scanners) and as the count progresses a second count can be completed. It is easier to verify the electronic count with teams of two and expedite recovery after the count is completed.

Draw a map of your store. I use graph paper but this can be done in excel or using various CAD (computer aided design) programs, which is a critical tool for successful preparation for a PI. You probably already have maps of your store(s) that are used for planning layouts, displays etc.  Be sure to include all window displays, warehouses, storage closets, back office spaces,  offsite storage and any place you can possible have stored inventory. The idea of a having a map is to make sure you have gone through all of these locations thoroughly and that everything is counted. Check absolutely everywhere; in cabinets under cabinets on top of shelving units. I have found merchandise in old display units in storage, on top of and under all warehouse shelving (it’s good to check these odd locations where you have found merchandise after the PI has been completed; hidden merchandise is a Loss Prevention issue).  Desk drawers, closets, the rest rooms, I used to check drop ceilings as well. I found a stack of denim in the ceiling once (I’m sure it was just misplaced!). Verify that each of these locations has been checked before your inventory using your map for reference.

Label the map so each of your fixtures, every shelf, hang bar, t-stand and merchandise peg have a number and letter. A corresponding spreadsheet should be created listing each location and fixture; this spreadsheet and map will be used the day of your physical inventory to verify a physical count has been entered and verified by your team. I used to highlight the map to verify that an area has been counted and then check it off on the spreadsheet. Starting with Yellow for first count and then blue, green would mean that an area was finished.  Count your fixture in numerical order not randomly; this is a time for order!

Nothing can hold up a physical inventory like merchandise without tags or incorrect tags. It is important to have your staff verify that all merchandise has a bar code label prior to your count. Set up an area in your stock room for your team to place merchandise so it can be properly labeled before your PI and have it retagged. Faded or torn tags should be reprinted so that everything is counted properly.

 If you are scanning tags verify that your scanner can read your barcodes. I once attempted a physical and none of my tags scanned and I did not check prior to the team arriving and so I had to reschedule. It was an expensive mistake I will never make again.

Pre-counting merchandise can save you a lot of time. Have a plan for difficult to count items; counting bath beads by hand is not the most efficient way; use a scale.  Chocolates, coffee, soaps and those small items at the POS should be pre-counted.

(Now all of this is simply preparation for entering the counts into your software system and that process will differ based upon the software you’re running.  I am not getting into that process in this post.)

 Remember this is not something that happens every day and it should be made into a special event. I always brought in food throughout the day and held a contest for the team member who found the most items with missing tags etc. The point is that it is a time for cleaning up and getting on to the next page.  Spring cleaning and setting order is actually happening after the holidays at the begging of the New Year for most of you because you are setting the tone for the New Year. Embrace Physical Inventory; it’s the most wonderful thing.

Happy Holidays!

Monday, November 17, 2014

Why I Can’t Stop Thinking About Rebecca Minkoff’s Connected Store

Written by

Alicia head shot
I can’t seem to contain my excitement after seeing the new Rebecca Minkoff flagship in SoHo, New York City yesterday.

For those of you who or are unfamiliar with the New York City area, Greene Street — where the Rebecca Minkoff store is located — is basically the Mecca of fashion. Luxury names, such as Jill Stuart, Jack Spade, Tiffany & Co. and Stella McCartney are dispersed along the block. Startup darlings, including Warby Parker and Piperlime also have flagships nearby.

But let’s get to the fun part of the story, shall we? Upon entering the flagship I was taken aback by an enormous display showing b-roll footage of Rebecca Minkoff videos and fashion shows. A representative eventually greeted me and proceeded to walk me through the connected retail experience, which starts at the front display and ends in the fitting room.

Let me tell you: I’m not usually one to get super excited over these types of experiences. We’ve seen so many “potential use cases” and “hypotheticals” that after a while they tend to be underwhelming. You can only hear “there are no retailers implementing this” so many times. But there it was! The connected store in the flesh!

I felt like a young child on her first day of school: Excited but suspicious. Would this meet my expectations or fall short?

We started out going through the interactive display experience. When you tap the screen, the b-roll footage moves to the back and you can sift through lookbooks and product pages. When you find an item you like, you select your size and press “add to my fitting room.”

When you’re done digitally browsing, you enter your mobile phone number so you can be alerted when your fitting room is ready. Feeling thirsty? That’s fine, because you can order a glass of champagne, water, coffee or tea through the digital interface so you can rehydrate while you wait.

After you walk into your fitting room, the interactive mirror turns on. Thanks to RFID technology, the mirror recognizes all the items you’re trying on, and provides product recommendations straight from Rebecca Minkoff herself. You can adjust the lighting in the room to reflect the environment you’ll be in. For example, if you’re going to a black tie event, you can dim the lighting a bit. If you’re looking for a dress for a daytime wedding, you can make the lighting brighter. Goodbye, ugly florescent lighting that I so dread!

What I personally loved about this part of the experience is that we saw a benefit to RFID that is not often discussed. Typically, RFID is included in conversations regarding inventory accuracy and supply chain management. This time, it played a key role in engaging the shopper, and showed retailers another reason to invest in the technology.

Now, back to the shopping experience. Should you need a new size for an item you try on, or are interested in taking a recommended product for a test run, don’t fret! You just tap on a button on the interactive mirror to alert a store associate that you need some assistance.

At the end of the shopping experience, you can either purchase your items or save them to your digital shopping bag. All items browsed, added to cart and purchased are saved to your Rebecca Minkoff mobile app.

Throughout the entire demo, there was not a single technology glitch. Everything ran swiftly and smoothly, and definitely made me sad that I had to head back to the office and couldn’t shop anymore!

Apparently, this is the first store implementing this type of experience, but Rebecca Minkoff will be implementing this connected store concept in a west coast location very soon. Be on the lookout for what’s to come from Rebecca Minkoff and the folks at eBay Inc., because I’m sure they’ll be making more moves very soon!

It’s safe to say, the future of retail is officially here and it definitely is going to make my life easier!

To view the original article please visit:

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The 2014 Ultimate Holiday Shopping Guide

Once the turkey settles, holiday shopping season officially begins. This year, shoppers can expect more than 40,000 deals between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and retailers are expecting November and December sales to top $616.9 billion.

The following infographic examines what consumers and retailers can expect during the first few days of the 2014 Holiday Shopping Season, beginning with Thanksgiving and running through #GivingTuesday.

Click to enlarge

To view the original article visit:


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» News Archives

Maintanance or however you spell it

Im gonna be working on the site so if something happins or if you guys see something dont freak out im just playing and fixing little bugs and such.

posted by Nina The Kitsune @ March 20th, 2010, 8:31 pm  -  0 Comments

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If I Didn’t Play WoW…

This is sure as hell what I’d be doing! Sorry for the non-WoW post, but some things are just worth watching. If this is real, then mad props to these guys.  Gotta watch the video below!

  1. Revvy says:

    Fricken Ninjas!

  2. Jambien Silkerkin says:

    These are true descendants of Altaïr. (Assassin’s Creed)

  3. Cloud says:

    Too awesome for words lol
    Batman and Robin in training? They just can’t afford the gadgets yet!

  4. Colin says:

    This is actually called “parkour” or “free running.”

  5. Biobiljetten says:

    Thats just epic win:) i once thought about doing that but I realised i would just kill myself

  6. Quinnzel says:

    Parkour? You can juggle both. I’m living proof of that.

  7. Fredbob says:

    Parkour ftw!

  8. Angelo says:

    Go for it all i do is play WoW and Free run. It takes alot of confidence ,no fear, and no hesitation and thats it. And a crap load of whole body strenght

  9. Jambien Silkerkin says:

    They are going to have bad knees when they are 40! They are Badass nonetheless.

  10. Incrusiable says:

    mmhmm khor theese are free runners playing the sport of parkour

  11. Khor says:

    Never heard of parkour before you guys mentioned it! Glad to know what it is called now!

  12. LoL says:

    No cops wud catch those

  13. RetForever says:

    this is another awesome parkour vid, good camera work and everything:

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My Experiences as an “MMO Girl” (Part 2)

My nearly six-month experiment came to a close earlier this month when I officially retired “Chichi” and restored Kijimuna to his former glory.  For those of you that may have missed the original article; back in January I wrote a piece about my attempt to see what gaming is like through the eyes of a female. Having spoken with several girls I know in Final Fantasy XIV, I decided to quietly moonlight as a female character for six months to see just how different, if at all, I would be treated.

If you read my original article, you’ll learn that aside from people being just generally nicer, my initial experience was not all that different. Back in January, I wrote that I had not encountered any harassment or sexisim, etc. So, now, six months later has that changed? Well, the answer is both yes and no.

In the months since my original article, I finally consented to joining a free company (guild). I decided to pick one of the largest on the server. From my personal experiences, larger MMO guilds tend to be busy and impersonal. People come and go all the time. I didn’t want to become close to anyone or have to lie about my identity, so a large guild would allow me to simply be another face in the crowd. This worked well for quite some time. Then, one day I volunteered to join some members on a trial (big monster battle). This event marked the first time since I started playing a female character that I was “hit on”…

As I stood there, healing my companions, a member of our party made a semi off-color comment about how well Chichi was able to “handle her staff” and would I like to see if I could “handle his”. This was quickly dealt with as Chichi informed him that if he presented his staff to her, she would snap it in half and sheathe the two pieces in a very uncomfortable place. This person later apologized to me in private for his behavior.

A few weeks later, another person seemed to become infatuated with Chichi. He followed me around and volunteered to help me with whatever I was doing. At one point, he even offered to pay for a private house so Chichi could have her own dwelling. For those who do not played FFXIV, let me tell you this is a VERY generous offer. Housing is scant and expensive on nearly every server in the game. I politely declined the offer.

As my time playing as Chichi drew to a close, I found myself realizing that I was going to miss her. Chichi had come to grow on me. The character was simply adorable. I entertained the thought of just continuing to play her, but I also missed playing as Kijimuna, a character I created almost 7 yeas ago. So that I wouldn’t have to completely say goodbye, I came to a compromise. I hired a new in-game “retainer” or virtual companion and named/modeled it after Chichi. So now, even though Chichi is no more – a part of her still exists in the world of Eorzea.

So, after six months of playing a female character incognito, what are my thoughts?

Well, overall – even though I never actually presented myself as a female, acted flirty or feminine, the majority of players did seem to treat me nicer that they did when I would play a male. As I originally observed, many players were more patient and helpful. Aside from one sexual remark by a single individual, I was never objectified or harassed.  Perhaps this was because I never did come out and claim to be a woman. I really can’t say. But based on this experiment, albeit unscientific as it was, I was relieved to see that players perceived to be female are not the subject of sexual harassment day in and day out.  I’m not claiming that women gamers tend to to cry wolf about such topics, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be quite as bad as one might think by simply hanging out on twitter for five minutes.

When dealing with other players in any multiplayer environment, it’s always wise to remember the wisdom of Rufus from Bill and Ted’s Excellent adventure… regardless of who you are or who you are dealing with, “Be excellent to each other”.

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