Social Bundle Website

We recently just launched Social Bundle to help small and medium businesses build out their social presence online.  The program is simple – it costs less than a cell phone and we will build a custom Facebook Page / public profile, a personalized Twitter account and monitor both of them for you.

We focus on the core Facebook offering; we believe this is the basis for any good social media campaign.  We build a solid page and tweak it to match your business goals.  From there, we can build custom content tabs, integrate with your existing website, blog, etc.  We do all of the work for you.

Who uses us?

• Tony Oliva
• Rudy Maxa
• TubeClockDB.com

Learn more here: http://www.SocialBundle.com

http://www.vimeo.com/9913073

This video was shot between 10:30PM and 1:30AM starting on 3/3/2010 from the Minneapolis Grain Exchanging looking east. Shots were taken at 10 second intervals and the final playback speed is 30fps.  A Sigma 50mm 1:1.4 was used at about f/2.8 allowing for 1/40th second exposures.  The frames were rendered in to a high quality H264 video and uploaded to Vimeo.

I just found a great new application in the Android Marketplace: My Tracks (QR Code Below)  Essentially, it takes your Android phone and converts it to a GPS data logger.  You can use it to analyze your running patterns or you can simply export the raw data to Google Docs, Google Maps, Twitter & Email (via Google Maps) or simply export the raw data as a KML or GPX file.  For this experiment, I used the GPX export option.  I took my usual hour long walk and used My Tracks to record my path.

The application itself is intuitive.  Simply open the application and wait for a GPS signal.  Once it is established, hit the record button and then put the phone to sleep.  It will keep recording data as a background process while you take your walk, run, flight, etc.  When you’re done, simply re-enter the application and hit stop.  You should probably give the track file a useful name.  After a few uses, it will be hard to tell “track23.gpx” from “track17.gpx.”  From there, you can export the data using the methods described above.  We want to save the track as a GPX file an import it to Google Earth.

In Finder (or Explore for you Windows folks…) open your Android device and grab the GPX file.  Drag it to the 3d view of Google Earth and voila – your track is open.  Use the following tools below to control the animation:

This control offers basic Play functionality.  It is visible above the Layers panel when you have a PATH selected in the Places panel.  Long story short – just click play.

The control below is visible in the top left portion of the 3D view.  You can use it to select a given point in time as well as to crop the start/stop points of a path.

The control below is visible at the bottom left portion of the 3D view.  It is used to start/stop/loop/save animations.  (This does NOT save video clips.  More on that later)

Lastly, the settings used in the animation are as follows (click to enlarge)

RESULTS:

http://www.vimeo.com/8831559

Other Notes:

• The animation was captured with iShowU HD.  I love this program and think it is one of the best OS X screen capture programs on the market.  The video was captured as an intermediate file format and re compressed using Quick Time Pro.  From there, it was uploaded to Vimeo as a 720P HD video file.
• Turning off 3d Buildings seems to speed things up…but it looks boring
• Turn off other interesting layers that Google Earth has on by default.  They just become a distraction in the final video
• When importing the data, have it stick the data points to the ground for best results
• The data points are jagged.  I haven’t found a good way to smooth them out but decreasing the sample frequency or increasing your speed should help.
• Downtown areas do not work well for GPS accuracy

Get My Tracks:

Just a warning to all considering getting the Nexus One.  According to the T Mobile sales rep I spoke with today (1/09/2010) Google is blocking Visual Voicemail on the Nexus.

I purchased the unlocked Nexus One this past week and signed up for the Simply Everything Plus plan which includes VVM as a standard feature.  Everything on the phone works except for the visual voicemail.  I downloaded the application, tried several times and had no luck.  I gave up and went to the nearest T Mobile store for help.  The employee who was helping me was very kind and we tried calling the T Mobiles customer support and technical support several times and no one had a resolution.  It was only after about 45 minutes that she was transferred to Google support that we had an answer.  According to the rep, Google is blocking VVM on the Nexus one and suggests that I switch to Google Voice.  No F#$%king Way.

I am inclined to believe the employee helping me.  When the Google support person told her that, she turned white and verified that she heard him correctly.  Not only was this news to me, this was apparently news to everyone at T Mobile as well.  It is possible that she was mistaken and if I find out more information, I will gladly correct this post.  As it stands right now, I am still w/o VVM and it doesn’t appear that I will ever have it.

I don’t like Google having all of my personal information.  They have my contacts and calendar, a different company handles my email and T Mobile now handles my voice (after another bad Sprint experience.)  No one company should handle all of my information and that is why I am not using Google Voice.  I have an account and it seems like a great service, I just don’t like that Google is handling it.

If you find a workaround, please post it below so I can update this post!

Text from error messages:

Not Activated: You do not have access to Visual Voicemail. Please upgrade your account.

Visual Voicemail: Visual Voicemail is available with this phone as part of your data plan for no additional charge.  Click below to enable Visual Voicemail on your account.

Change Service Result: Your purchase cannot be completed at this time. Please visit My t-mobile.com or call 611 to purchase this value bundle.

It is not possible to opt out of your contract because of a material change and keep your service.

Background:

I am 22 months in to a 24 month contract.  Sprint made a material change on Jan 1 2010 to my account and on principal alone, I wanted to terminate my contract.  In the contract that Sprint and I agreed to, I gave them the right to change the contract and they granted me the right to exit the contract for a material change.

Sprint made a material change to my account and I want to exit my contract.   I am not looking to change service providers nor am I looking to terminate my service.  I simply want to go month-to-month/non-contract and stay with Sprint.  According to three reps I talked to (1 online, 2 over the phone) – the only way to get out of my contact is to terminate the service or switch to a new carrier.  They are forcing me to go to the competition.

Let me reiterate that:  Sprint is not allowing users to stay on their network who disagree with material changes to their contract.  I want to stay with Sprint but they won’t let me!  If I want out of the contract, they are forcing me to leave.  They won’t simply prematurely terminate the contract and keep me as a customer.

I’ve paid every bill on time and have great credit.   You would think they would want to keep my service.  And all of this because of 2x $0.20 fees.  Someone is missing the big picture.  You know, someone could just wave 40 cents in fees and keep me in contract….

01/05/2010 06:53:44PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “How are you doing Brian?”
01/05/2010 06:53:52PM    Stuckey: “Im great, thank you”
01/05/2010 06:53:56PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “You’re welcome.”
01/05/2010 06:53:58PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “May I please have the reason you are chatting with us today?”
01/05/2010 06:54:09PM    Stuckey: “I have less than ********** months left of a ********** month contract. The regulatory fee is a material change to my original contract and I would like to switch to a month-to-month plan and keep my service.”
01/05/2010 06:55:22PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “One moment please.”
01/05/2010 06:55:31PM    Stuckey: “Sure thing.”
01/05/2010 06:57:17PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “I apologize but you are not able to go to a month to month basis since your contract is still effective.”
01/05/2010 06:57:35PM    Stuckey: “Right, but this isn’t the contract that I originally agreed to”
01/05/2010 06:57:54PM    Stuckey: “By allowing Sprint to change the contract, I was granted the right to exit for material changes”
01/05/2010 06:58:08PM    Stuckey: “I don’t want to cancel my service, only go month-to-month”
01/05/2010 06:59:21PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “That is correct and you cancel your service if you would like. You may call Account services to discuss that issue with them since they handle cancellations and contracts. The number is **********-**********-**********, option ********** and **********.”
01/05/2010 06:59:41PM    Stuckey: “I’m not looking to cancel”
01/05/2010 07:00:01PM    Stuckey: “Just to terminate the contract and become a monthly paying customer”
01/05/2010 07:00:11PM    Stuckey: “There are less than ********** months left”
01/05/2010 07:00:42PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “I understand that but they maybe able to cancel your contract since there is a change in it. But then they would still keep your service active. Account services handles that.”
01/05/2010 07:01:06PM    Stuckey: “Got it – Can they see these call notes?”
01/05/2010 07:01:25PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “They sure can see your account notes.”
01/05/2010 07:01:36PM    Stuckey: “Okay, I will give them a call. Thank you”
01/05/2010 07:01:46PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “You’re welcome.”
01/05/2010 07:01:49PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “May I please ask if you have any further questions for me?”
01/05/2010 07:02:02PM    Stuckey: “No more questions”
01/05/2010 07:02:07PM    Agent (Ahmed H.): “Thank You for choosing Sprint as your wireless provider. We appreciate your business. Have a great day.”
01/05/2010 07:02:30PM    Session Ended

See also:

http://consumerist.com/2009/12/30-day-window-to-cancel-sprint-without-penalty-starts-tomorrow.html

I love taking photographs at night in the winter. I don’t the the process as much as the results. The cold dry air yields incredibly sharp results and when it is really cold out, the water vapor form building leaves a thick lingering streak in the sky. The video below was filmed on January 3rd using a Sigma 50mm 1.4 and a Canon 5D Mark II.

http://www.vimeo.com/8528240

As far as the video capture goes, I opted to film a 30 FPS and speed up the video in Premiere. (The other method is to use an intervalometer and combine the photos in post.)  This method works great when the source footage is short (less than 10 minutes long) and generally gives smoother results.  The only downside is that you generate significantly more footage than you will use and it takes a long time to process in post.  All of the source clips in this film are played at 5x to 50x their real time speed.

If you are interested in using the source footage, you may be able to find it on iStockPhoto or you may contact me directly.

This is a video I produced on 10/31/2009.  It was a dreary fall afternoon and I wanted to capture the blah-feeling of the day.  Watch it here or head on over to Vimeo to add it to a group, comment, etc.. Most of the clips that are in this video will be available for purchase from iStockphoto.com It generally takes 1~2 months from the time I submit footage until it is published on their site but things seem to be speeding up.

http://www.vimeo.com/7377284

The total duration of this film is about 2:30.  I have removed the music that was originally in the video so it is currently MOS.  If you know of any Creative Commons songs that would work, please let me know!

A few days a go I took a photograph that I am particularly proud of.  It was taken on Sunday October 25 at about 7PM and only minor retouching has been done to remove dust and a few hot pixels.

Photographs of the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis, MN, taken at around 10 PM at night.  Click the link below for more photos.

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