Ken Villines 1.0 » observations

NAB Vegas Vacation (Part 1)

Ken Villines — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:26:06 +0000

The last month has been really non-stop for me. I had to get ready for our Vegas Vacation/NAB, and the week before I spent at work trying to make sure all my code fixes were checked in (C++). A lot of long hours to make sure I was covered. I thought I was all set with everything but that is never what really happens. Only in a perfect world do you checkin code and never have bugs reported against your stuff. I came back this week to a couple 14 hour days of fixing problems and debugging. The vacation was better so I will talk about that.

The vacation started off well enough. I went to Apple’s – “The Production Value of HD” event held at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel – Rivoli Ballroom. Apple went through all the features of the new FCP HD 5.0. After the showcase was a nice social gathering with food and drink supplied by Apple. It was a nice little get together.

Later that evening, Avid had their “Worldwide User Event” at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas. The Event was less of a product showcase and more of a social event to meet other people in the Industry that use Avid products. I really enjoyed myself and met a lot of new faces. I also saw other people I have worked with in the past. A lot of free drinks… The food was just o.k.

Later that evening everyone met at the Round Bar (still Hard Rock). A lot of talking and meeting people that knew other people that I know. Very small world we live in.

It is ironic that Apple and Avid had their pre-show events on the same day. They dueled all week at the show with their show booths right next to each other. I think Apple is winning the war from what I witnessed during NAB.

I have to get back to finishing a couple things….To be continued

The New US Map

Ken Villines — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 17:05:51 +0000

The Bitter Aftertaste
Election Reinforces U.S. Religious Divide
Moral Values: A Decisive Issue?

Lemmings Everywhere

Ken Villines — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 19:28:11 +0000

I never realized how many people just follow the crowd. I never realized how many people don’t like to make their own decisions. They would rather follow the person in front of them. This is simply an observation I have made from watching my fellow daily commuters take the train into Boston.

Commuters board the train and follow the person in front of them into a car that is practically full. People start jamming themselves into seats and never think twice to check how full another car is. I understand when the whole train is full but when other cars are half empty it is completely ridiculous not to think about being comfortable, personal space, or your fellow commuter.

To prove this point, I got up and moved two cars down today when the �Unconscious Migration� happened. I sat in comfort with another person in a three seater. There were also several three seaters that only contained one person. I would say that out of seven cars three were packed and the others were sparsely populated. The conductor even told people that there was ample seating two cars down.

Another observation of these same individuals is that they will enter a 200 person car that only has 10 people on it and sit down right next to you. What is that all about? Talk about an invasion of personal space. I get up and move to an empty seat. When the train is full I don�t care but when it is empty it is just creepy.