February 04, 2005
bad engineering
the last couple of weeks i have been recording a lot.
or, rather, trying to.
problem #1 was the sensecam. it just didnt like me. so it is on its way back to england and i should have another one (or this one repaired) in the next week.
i have 1 days worth of pictures from it, though it didn't really do what it should have. i need to write a php file that will allow you to see all the images from that folder. thats on the table for this weekend hopefully - depends on how long the blog is down.
problem #2. this one was much larger. my powerbook was acting up. i would slide it into my bag to film a movie and *zoink*. out like a light. not asleep. not on. not on to the point it would reset my system clock. thats some bad news.
the failure rate for making movies was going through the floor. i usually can hit at about 70% success rate. meaning i get the file. sometimes the system dies, sometimes the camera gets fudtzy and loses connection. but i would say i get about 70% of what im trying to get. sadly, i usually lose it when im moving, which is far and away the most interesting stuff.
i went to the apple store today to see what they could tell me.
long story short, turns out it was the firewire cord for the isight.
note to everyone:
1. apples firewire cords blow. out of the two i have owned, this is the second that has gone bad on me.
2. thanks to some wise engineering, when that wire cuts out, the camera doesnt skip frames. it doesnt disconnect. it doesnt even crash the app using the cam. it doesnt put the computer to sleep. no, it cuts all power to the machine. all power. wiping the time/date and everything.
who was the ad wizard that came up with that campaign?
but, that said, im back in business. lets make some movies this weekend.
