Cheap portable hard drive!

Ok, this was just too crazy not to post. Buy.com has a 320GB portable hard drive for $79, with free shipping. Here's the link. I plan to buy 1 of them for myself, too. Go! Buy them! They make good presents--for yourself or others.

Thanksgiving Hours

Happy early Thanksgiving. We're closing at 6pm this Wednsday, and we'll be closed this Thursday and Friday so we can go home and fill up on food. But we'll be back Saturday 12-5, and Sunday we'll resume our regularly scheduled hours. You can also always check our hours online.

A little chilly

They're going to be working on the air handlers in this part of the building this weekend (starting today at 3pm), so I'm told it might get a little cold down this way tonight and tomorrow. There's nothing we can do about the temperature, so if you get chilly, you might want to grab a laptop from Rosengarten and work in a warmer part of the building until the heat comes back on.

iWeb Demo Today

Today from noon - 1pm, we will be holding a free workshop on how to use Apple's iWeb software, which is available in the Digital Media Lab, and comes free with every Macintosh computer.

iWeb makes it easy to create a website that’s stunningly beautiful — and totally you. Start with an Apple-designed theme, then customize it with your own text, photos, movies, and podcasts until it’s exactly what you want. And switch themes with a click anytime.

Apple's own Mike Wolk will be teaching the workshop in the Seminar Room in the Weigle Information Commons. See you there!

Tin Eye

Tin Eye is an image-based search engine. The way it works is you submit an image (via upload or by entering a URL) and TinEye returns other versions of that same image that it finds on the web. I've used successfully this in 3 ways.

1) I've used it to find higher resolution versions of an image I only have a thumbnail of. This is especially helpful when you're making a poster or a print of some sort and you need something with a higher image quality.

2) I've used it to find full versions of images when all I have is a cropped version. For example, I want a picture of a $100 bill, but all I have is a crop of George Washington's face.

3) I have an single image that I know is from a set of similar photos. If TinEye can find a page with the image I already have, often it will be a page that also shows the other photos from the same set.

Give it a try. It's still in beta, and it does require you to register for free before you can use it, but it currently indexes over a billion (that's Billion with a 'B') images. So check it out at http://www.tineye.com

A Poster Printing Fable

Joan woke up this morning and decided to come to the Vitale Digital Media Lab in Van Pelt Library to print a poster for her Urban Studies presentation. She got to the lab at 9:15am, just a few minutes after it opened. But when she arrived, Joan discovered that the poster printer queue was already full for the day! In fact, the lab consultant on duty told her that people had been waiting in line outside Van Pelt at 8:20am--ten minutes before the building even opened--so that they could be assured one of the day's 7 lucky poster printing slots, and even THEN, the lab consultant had to turn away 3 people who'd been waiting since before the lab was open. So Joan went home unhappy, wondering how she'd ever get her poster printed in time without having to spend $120 at Kinkos or Campus Copy.

The moral of this story is The Early Bird Prints the Poster. We open at 9am on weekdays and 12noon on Saturday and Sunday.

Disclaimer: The preceding story is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Ok, that was a dumb fable, but no joke; they really were lined up outside at 8:20AM. Get here EARLY.

CS4 Trial Downloads Available

Exciting news! Adobe has finally made the free 30-day trial versions of their CS4 software (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) available on their website for you to download onto your laptop or home computer. If you don't already have one, you'll need to register for a free Adobe account, but that's a small price to pay for a fully functioning copy of Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended!

You can download the trial versions at http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

Indesign CS3 has arrived!

InDesign CS3 is finally up and running on the machines in the Digital Media Lab! Our licenses arrived today, and we got it installed this afternoon. Sorry again for the delay, but we're glad it's finally available for everyone who needs it.

Embedding Video

So you want to put a video on your website...

YouTube
Well, the easiest way is to upload it to YouTube and then embed it that video onto your website. The benefits of this are:

1) It's free!

2) You aren't paying for any of the bandwidth. So even if a million people visit your website and watch your video, YouTube is paying for the bandwidth instead of you.

3) YouTube gives you the HTML code you need to paste into your webpage, so you don't even have to know how to write HTML to embed your video successfully.

4)You're likely to get more viewers because other people will stumble across your video on YouTube, whereas if you just store the video on your own web server, you have to do all the advertising yourself to make sure people find it.

The problem with services like YouTube is that you don't get much control over the quality or compression of your video. You're also bound by their artificial time and size limits (for example, YouTube limits you to 10-minute videos. If you have a longer one, you need to break it into 10-minute chunks).

If you're using iMovie 08, there's a built-in upload-to-YouTube option. Otherwise, YouTube offers advice on its website at http://help.youtube.com/support/youtube/

Vimeo
Vimeo ( http://www.vimeo.com ) is still fairly new, and not as familiar, but it offers some distinct advantages over YouTube. Along with the benefits listed above, Vimeo has:

1) Better quality video (including support for HD video!) Check out one person's Vimeo/YouTube comparison at http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/2008/04/02/vimeo-vs-youtube-quality/

2) No specific length limitation (although there is still a 500MB per week upload limit)

3) A for-fee service with even more features (see http://www.vimeo.com/plus )

Vimeo offers advice on how best to compress your video for upload at http://www.vimeo.com/help/compression and has a short video on how to upload at http://www.vimeo.com/339189

DIY
For maximum control over your video, you'll want to store the video on your own web server. If you're a student group, you probably already have a web space you can use. Otherwise, you can usually purchase a domain name, storage space, and bandwidth quite cheaply from a web hosting service (just Google it or ask for a recommendation from a computer-saavy friend.) The following advice applies only to people who have access to a web server and the ability to edit or upload webpages to it. If you aren't sure whether you have this access, check with the local service provider (LSP) for your home school, department, or organization.

We recommend using the FLV (Flash Video) file format (which is what YouTube uses) for your video, which gives a good balance between file size and video quality, and ensures it'll be playable on almost everybody's computer, since just about everyone has Flash installed on their machine.

In the lab, you can do this from within iMovie or Quicktime Pro. Open existing video file in Quicktime Pro or open your iMovie project on one of the machines in the lab and export as FLV it at Medium Quality using the "Expert Settings" option, since it will give you a smaller file size, which is friendlier to your viewers, who won't have to wait as long to watch your video and won't have to worry about having a fast enough connection to the internet.

(Note: If you're doing this on your own Mac, you may need to install the free Perian plugin ( http://perian.org ) which enables QuickTime Pro support for FLV along with some additional audio/video file formats.)

Watch the video to make sure it's a high enough quality. If not, export it again, this time with "high" quality.

Next, you'll need a FLV player for your website. Fortunately, there's an excellent player created by Jeroen Wijering, who generously makes it available free of charge for non-commercial use. You can download from his site at http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?item=JW_FLV_Player You can then upload the player along with your FLV video to your own website.

Jeroen has also provided a setup wizard ( http://www.jeroenwijering.com/?page=wizard ) which gives you the HTML code you'll need to paste into your webpage. And he has a list at http://code.jeroenwijering.com/trac/wiki/FlashVars which explains all of the variables you can set to customize the viewer to your needs.

If you need help at any step along the way, just stop into the lab and ask for help!

And the winner is...

Nick Salvatore! For submitting the only Halloween picture this year! As promised, Nick wins the smug sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing he's better than everyone else. If anyone else still wants to submit a photo of themselves all Halloweened up, just send it to us, and I'll be glad to post it!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Be sure to stop by the lab today for a piece of Halloween Candy!

8GB USB Flash Drive cheap!

People often come into the lab with tiny little USB keys/flash drives/etc. By "tiny" I mean 256MB or 512MB. That's not even as much data as a CD holds! I don't think they even make them that small anymore. Time to upgrade, people!

Way back in February, I posted an item about a 4GB USB flash drive for only $17. Well guess what. Now the 8GB flash drive is the same price--with free shipping! 8GB is almost 2 DVD's worth of data, more than enough to hold thousands of photos or MP3s. It'll even hold a decent amount of video. I just ordered one for myself. Check it out at Buy.com. The 4GB is now only $12, but you don't get as much bang for your buck as you do with the 8GB.

Headphones

To the person who posted this very sweet "missed connection" on Craigslist:

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/mis/883047250.html

Although you don't mention the name of the lab consultant in question, all of the age-appropriate lab consultants are already married. However, we are all very flattered, and you may buy any of us coffee anytime you like.

Halloween Costume Photoshop Contest

It's the most wonderful time of the year... Halloween! What's that you say? You don't have a costume to wear?? Well guess what. You can do it all on Photoshop instead--ask a lab consultant and we'll even show you how. Grab a photo of yourself, open it up in Photoshop, and give yourself a costume, like the ones I did below. Email them to us at vitaledigitalmedialab@gmail.com and we'll judge them and post them in time for Halloween. What's the prize if you win, you ask? The smug sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing you're better than everyone else (but then, you already feel that way, don't you?)

I Want My InDesign!

Apologies to InDesign users. We've been working since the beginning of the school year to have ID up and running for you, but there's an issue with licensing that's slowed things down. I don't understand the intricacies of the situation, but part of the problem is that we're in the middle of Adobe's transition to their new CS4 software suite, which has apparently made the version we've been using (CS3) harder to come by. Who knows--maybe that means we'll end up with InDesign CS4 instead. In the meantime, we'll keep you updated if we hear anything new.

How to Do Everything with Second Life

Today's featured book is How to do Everything with Second Life, by Richard Mansfield. It's available for you to read in the Digital Media Lab; just ask the lab consultant on duty. You can even sit and use Second Life right here in the lab while you peruse the book.

Synopsis

Filled with hundreds of hands-on tutorials, tips, and techniques, this is the thorough, in-depth reference that every Second Life resident needs. Learn how to create a unique avatar and then explore, build, socialize--and even earn real money. Inside, you'll find exclusive coverage of all the menus, features, and utilities. Whether you're a newbie or an old hand, this book will help you get the most out of Second Life.

• Understand all the user interface features
• Build hidden rooms, custom teleporters, secret sliding panels, and more
• Shop for cool stuff and find the best values
• Master the Maps, Inventory, Appearance, and Search dialogs
• Start scripting with help from step-by-step tutorials
• Control lag and find lost items using Preferences and the hidden Client menu
• Visit exotic lands, travel in time, and enjoy roleplay
• Create beautiful objects using expert texturing techniques
• Earn money in ways that best suit your talents
• Find land bargains, a bit of privacy, a great house, and lasting friendships

Second Life workshop today at noon

Hey guys. There's still lots of room in today's Second Life workshop. It's a hands-on tour for beginners. Sign up (or not, whatever) at http://wic.library.upenn.edu/workshops/#SL

Dreamweaver CS3 for Dummies

Today's featured book is Dreamweaver CS3 for Dummies by Janine Warner. We're big fans of the Dummies books here at the Vitale Digital Media Lab. They're great for beginners, as well as for more experienced users who need a refresher, or who need a complicated topic explained in a simple manner. Our books don't circulate outside the lab, but you can use them while you're here.

Do you want to create a sophisticated Web site that's easy to develop and maintain? Whether you're a beginner or an experienced Web developer, this friendly guide shows you how to utilize Dreamweaver's newest enhancements to build and manage state-of-the-art, professional Web sites quickly and easily.

• Set up your site and create new pages

• Work with text, graphics, and links

• Define and apply styles using CSS

• Add audio, video, and Flash® files to your site

• Use Dreamweaver'sdatabase features

Photoshop CS3 Extended for 3D and Video

Today's featured book is Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for 3D and Video, by Chad Perkins. Ask the lab consultant on duty if you'd like to use it. Our books don't circulate outside the lab, but you're welcome to use it while you're here.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended can do things that Photoshop has never done before, such as importing and editing video, and animating any object in a file. Here is the first book to provide a comprehensive look at the new features for 3D animation and video in Photoshop Extended. Author Chad Perkins, an established video presenter and classroom instructor on Photoshop, video, and 3D, brings the creative potential of these new features into focus. This book is a valuable resource for Photoshop users who want to learn about video and 3D using their favorite application, as well as video producers and 3D artists who want to incorporate Photoshop into their work or use it more effectively.

• Learn to move, rotate, and scale 3D objects within Photoshop Extended
• Understand and work with lighting and camera angles
• Create special effects like glowing silhouettes and drop shadows on 3D objects
• Use layer masks with 3D objects for special effects
• Modify textures applied to 3D objects seamlessly within Photoshop
• Edit bump maps and patterns for more realistic 3D objects
• Import, edit, compress, and export video (with audio!)
• Use Photoshop to animate images.

Radiohead Remix

Our own Ned Eisenberg (aka Bloody Noses) has a high-ranked entry in the RadioHead remix contest. Please check his remix out and vote for him (he's already been voted for on all the machines in the lab, but you can vote from your own machine, or another workstation on campus). Listen and vote at http://radioheadremix.com/remix/?id=134