Glass on, Glass off

Frame rates [ 60hz vs 120hz vs 240hz refresh rates, "judder", interpolation, 3:2 pulldown, etc ]. They contribute in part to “the soap opera effect”, derived from the fact that long before digital displays, soap operas were shot on Betamax video in studios rather than with 35mm film due to the prohibitive cost of material and editing. You could slot in the video tapes (called rushes) and another smaller cassette cartridge for audio (called a DAT), and lo and behold, you have a suite shot at a TV series setup. TVs were  mostly CRTs (cathode ray tube) with a curved surface for the dispersion effect.

Digital can always be recycled and reproduced, but not analog film. You would only have the negative of a photograph to manipulate and print from, not the photo suite software we are so accustomed to. A photograph [from film] is seamless and has no dots or pixels. Motion in a 35mm movie is comfortably smooth at 24-32 frames per second.

Let’s look at the physiological/psychological reasons behind the Soap Opera effect. As humans have analog eyes, we possess “persistence of vision”. We don’t have shutters that are either mechanical (film) or electronic (video, either analog or digital). To demonstrate this phenomenon, turn on an electric fan. When stationary, individual blades are visible. Turned on, they become a blur and disappear altogether, when in motion.

Traditional film, shot at 24-32 frames/second has a shutter speed of 1/48th second (this varies by film stock, aperture and other complicated variables). At this rate, fast motion becomes a blur on film (known appropriately, as “motion blur”). You can see that on a single frame of film shot of a fast-moving object like a runner or cyclist. Our eyes accept a long series of still images, projected rapidly in sequence, as motion. We accept the motion blur as perfectly normal phenomena.

Electronic images, especially those which are digitally captured, have much higher shutter speeds, resulting in such effects as "super slo-mo" up to 5000 frames per second, which eliminates motion blur so we can see what's happening by slowing down the world with clear images.

When we have the content shot at high frame rates, played on a TV on a fixed refresh speed, we encounter a surreal effect. Varying types of reactions come from viewers, one of which is vertigo. Some respond that the “fakeness” of colour makes breezy plants look artificially generated, while others love the detail in a sci-fi movie.

The “soap opera effect” is caused by fast refresh rates [TV] and high shutter speeds [shoot equipment] and interpolation by the electronics [player]. Suddenly, we see what we couldn’t before – and can’t with our own eyes. That’s why things don’t look “real”, or look “too real”. It becomes painfully obvious because we grew up in a soaps versus film era, that we prefer motion blur – in a slower refresh rate of say 60hz, shot in the “normal” frame rate of 24fps. This makes our reality more acceptable because it better matches what our eyes see.

Modern movie production, however, use this phenomenon to good effect. In Terminator, for example, battle scenes in movies become hyper-real when nothing goes soft with motion blur, where action is in high speed, jarringly hard-edged, and super sharp, from sparks to bullets and laser pulses. We accept this “suspension of reality” because sci-fi does not have a visual benchmark that we can call normal.

Ouch, my eyes hurt!

Love and human emotional scenes carry more expressive elements than pixels can evoke. Ironically, here is when the Soap Opera effect becomes disturbing for some of us. The scenery distracts us from the focus on lovers, protagonists, or central characters who are attempting to get you to rivet your attention on their conversation, the nuances by their eyes, lips and expressions. Instead, the fireplace becomes a light show, the bricks are so close, the reflection of his gold teeth beg for attention. When a character makes a sudden move, we feel a headache. Too much of that, and we feel like throwing up.

Soon, we will experience these issues on flexible organic glass as common as walls. Already Samsung is scaling up its manufacturing plant to hyper-AmoLED standards, planning mold size to exceed 8 metres per panel width. If content and display synchronize, they might pull off one of the greatest magic tricks ever – invisible walls.

But if content does not meet the expectations of display technology, we could all be throwing up!

• Symptoms:

Uneasy feeling, hard to breathe. Feel like throwing up. Slight dizziness. Vision looking blue/grey. One side of body no feeling.

• Action:

Sit down – on floor or carpet – not on chair [ cos one can fall down instantly on blackout ]

Try to keep head on same level as heart…eg lean on pillow/sofa/partner’s lap

Sip water [not drink, sip!] – If breathing doesn’t improve, [this is the acid test], go to next stage immediately

•  Emergency SOP:

Lie on the floor, on your side in foetal position [who the hell cares about what you are wearing]

Cough like hell!

DO NOT STOP till you see red instead of blue

Keep going for 15 – 30 secs [even if you have pain on one side of your body, keep going]

If there’s no change, call the ambulance [any services with a defib unit]

If you feel better, don’t get up yet, till all symptoms above are gone

This procedure has saved me a few times [i am serious here].

Heart attack is NOT an instant episode, there are signs before it happens. Listen to your body.

 Disclaimer:

I will not be held responsible if some person is trying to snuff you with a pillow, or your drink has been doped, or you lean too far forward out the balcony.

NOTES: Under NO circumstances should you try to throw up. If you do, you will choke in your own vomit!

• Need that contact
• Could help my cause
• May lead to another of like mind
• Has a good team in place
• Has good VC contacts
• We share similar business communities
• Has a good mentor which I need
• Could provide help to that team
• Can offer outsource support
• Perhaps they will take me in as co-founder
• M&A will make us stronger
• Possibility to share an office
• May get invites to parties

It matters more how one uses that contact to effect, than just having the contact for show.

You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
- Plato

In a recent negotiation over licensing a lab-related project by a VC and edu-learning service company, the preso played out, then discussions with researchers followed by a demo made standard fare. Q&A yielded very positive response by the client, with the VC confirming arrangements using a JV vehicle to keep research connected to the product. He would revert with the relevant termsheet to finalise within a week. He gave me a firm handshake with a keen look when our eyes met.

Fast forward 2 days. I get a call from the university labour relations office.

I was appalled to be told the VC sneaked behind my back and went direct to the university, whining that we did not revert to him in time, the conditions were not clear, and he had doubts over delivery timelines, yadda yadda, and hence, he would like to license the technology direct from the university for a small fee, full exclusivity in every country, with royalties not exceeding 10%.

I did a check on the client company and discovered they were running low on funds from their previous round, and were close to the “valley of death” if another round was not on the cards. They wanted exclusive rights and wished to pay the patenting fees for every country they would target, in exchange for less royalties after the first $x of sales.

Me meerkat ears perked up. A company seeking an innovative angle to bump up its valuation prior to another funding round, claiming off patent fees as expenses, and reducing its targets by pegging a minimum $x of sales revenue on a nett basis. This opportunity would have been flagship for the VC.

The lab had spent close to 5 years on the project, more than $200k in research time, and had delivered a 100% working prototype 100% improved from its predecessor. It was a perfect fit to the business model of education and online interaction, with a play value wrap on top. Perfect for Hasbro.

Are we seeing the end of trust as we know it?

clear on sunny days, cloudy at times, with strong gusts occasionally

misty cool, yet noisy and stormy on some nights so scary

on deathly quiet days, peace turns to boring

feats of extraordinary aerobatics seem to be a nice distraction

once a week, torrents flow by, removing some of us accidentally

splashes of colours play out as we unite to feed

a feast for sore eyes

those bubble blowing contests to express our needs are futile

or not, we cannot know, or even if we are heard

tsunamis seem designed to refresh our thinking on who we depend on

collapsing and death traps unpredict a normally boring existence

if not for the community of unique fish like us who are aliens

and yet are migrants now resident

there is no normal, while we have needs sold to us by

bubbles of discontent only, delivered by the clueless among us

some worth comparing, rest not investing

all the pain is temporary, as a matter of time is

only what we make of it

who we make from it

how we make it for

all else is a matter of fish food

sand and rocks

On March 11, 2011, the east coast of Honshu became the epicentre of an underwater earthquake, transmitting the force westwards. The city of Sendai looked a major washout after a 8.9 richter hit, the biggest in 140 years globally, and 1,200 years in the history of Japan. This adjustment of the earth’s tectonic plates took just 5mins. Reported dead and missing total 1,014 but I am of the opinion the numbers are greater than that. My guess is around 3 times more, once the body count begins.

Sendai bears the brunt of Japanese tsunami

New Zealand’s 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch on February 21st 2011 with a death toll of 166. In contrast, Indonesia’s 9.3 magnitude 8 minute quake in 2004 claimed more than 183,000 lives, mostly in Bandah Aceh. Over the next 48 hours, 51 aftershocks rocked Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, and Maldives with major repercussions on Sri Lanka, Thailand and India. Total dead exceeded 283,000.

In September of 2009, more than 1,000 people lost their lives in Padang from a 7.6 richter quake, followed by a 6.8 a day later.

On 26 December 2004, my tears flowed freely, as I watched the death toll rise from 1,500 to 6,000. I begged God to offer this humble simpleton a glimpse of His reason or motivation for this unnatural sacrifice of innocents. With heart and mind, I prayed and fasted 2 days looking for a sign or whisper. “Please, dear Lord, please share a small piece of your infinite wisdom with this undeserving speck of dust. A tiny clue will enlighten me, so I can try to understand why all this pain, suffering and despair is happening…”.  I heard 3 words: compassion. sacrifice. forgiveness. Nothing more. Only the drone of TV and radio broadcasts updating body counts in the affected countries. Interrupted by more tears. More questions. Deep grief. An empty sadness.

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami is more than a science lesson

Who had friends on holiday? Anyone knew who had returned? Why are there so many women and children on the death list? Is this the start? Or the end? Perhaps the start of the end? Is 2012 a possibility?

I have come to accept that humanity can only be measured in those 3 words I had heard, from a deep voice planted in my head, while I was cradling my 2 year old son in my lap as he fell asleep. Each community slackens in virtue when the economy prospers, and people forget God, and why we should aspire to a higher being. We get complacent and focus on amassing wealth and material gain. We ignore the pleas of the innocent. We take advantage of others for our own gain, psychologically or materially. We forget generosity, neighbourliness, consideration, and place ourselves ahead of more deserving others. We hide our hearts behind masks of corporate social responsibility by contributing cash, not our efforts, nor our precious time. We break our promises.

When greed is left unchecked, and festers within society masked by rules and regulations, many are tempted to utilize their brilliance for self gain. When regulations are enforced, it is often to someone’s convenience, or to a society’s gain. Seldom are statutes erected without repercussions to others left in the gaps. While its original intent may have been to “protect the innocent”, the sword cuts both ways.

Every time that occurs, science dictates that action equals reaction, and the theory of relativity kicks in. Often, collateral damage occurs, but argued as affecting the minority, easily resolved by special acts or waivers…which often are too difficult to support, or which consumes too many resources to be deemed practical. Too little, too late.

Some surmise that the tsunami of depression crashed onto the American economy in 2009, shifting the power to the East. Other theories decry the inactive citizenry, foolish and accepting of a non-reality, a pseudo-depiction of the American Way, careless and carefree, oblivious to voices calling for conservation, values, an honest audit of freedom not defined by consumption and spending.

” Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t “

Erica Jong

Many have accused the Japanese economy of falling into disrepair, into a despair of the people, one affecting the traditional values of its conservative Zen-based societal roots. Perhaps, that demise can be lifted by exposure to events which evoke compassion, to actionable sacrifice from the heart, and the ultimate forgiveness of a generation, and with that, a return to traditional values.

” Every one of us gets what we are born with. It is what we do with that, who we become, who we touch, what we contribute every single day, that gives meaning to our lives “

Scientists have a logical explanation for all of this. Every few hundred years, the earth goes through corrective adjustments by way of its tectonic plates. This century will see minor corrections, a shadow of its former agenda, when countries were formed and weather changes decommissioned entire species. This time round, plate shifts and weather changes are considered mild. It is not global warming.

Perhaps, it is just our perception that the value of life has gone up.

What are you doing every minute with your life to make the world more valuable by your presence?

UPDATE

Almost 2 months have passed, and the death toll continues to escalate. TEPCO’s Fukushima debacle has now exceeded Chernobyl’s disaster benchmark to become the worst nuclear disaster todate. No longer just the body count from an earthquake, mankind has to now pay the price of playing with nuclear power, and Japan is not alone.

Highly contaminated seawater loaded with Cesium 137 and Iodine 131 are being absorbed by sea life as it pours out of northern Japan. Geographically wind-driven, tide and ocean currents like the North Atlantic Drift head toward California and Alaska. Fish and lobsters migrate large distances without stopping. Krill and shellfish are carried by underwater currents. They are, in turn, eaten by other inhabitants of the ocean, and re-transported.

Seafood, once considered the safer alternative to genetically modified cops and farm bred animals, are now on the non-edible list. “What’s In My Fish” is a movement championed by my friend Gordon, since 2009, where he begs us to question what we are consuming from the sea, and whilst I believe it was intended as a cause toward saving aquatic environments as consumers demand more from the ocean, it highlights how wasteful commercialism really is.

Radioactive substances do not “go away”. They were picked for their long shelf lives of 30 years or more. Seeping to the water table, well water, and even into plants and crops, particles are also carried by insects which fly and swarm at the whim of the wind. As pollinators, these insects carry particles over long distances termed vectors, and deposit them on plants, edible or ornamental.

Even when they die, these radioactive particles continue to emit radiation, which when consumed, alters the molecular makeup of your cells, causing cancer. This mutation will genetically carry forward to your offspring, as well as expose them to your affected presence. While Iodine 131 may breakdown in 8-16 days, Cesium will take centuries to become harmless…and only if we can account for where all of it has gone to.

I guess we shall have to be much more aware of our environment now, and watch what we eat!

“If I were in your shoes, I know what I would do.”

I cannot agree more.

Having been steeped in marketing more than 29 years, through PR, advertising and events spaces, my getting technical sales certification in Websphere and Red Hat in 2010, I can safely say that dealing with people is the greatest challenge every marketer faces.

Managing expectations is an art, not a science.

From the get go, it’s a brief, perceived from the client end. In the middle, it’s a matter of opinion how successful [or unsuccessful] a campaign has been. Even with the metrics and key performance indicators in place, interpretation is subjective. Right at the end, post mortem can be a matter of who pays the bills, and who is politically motivated to support the findings…from that, comes the next campaign budget.

Now you know why creative directors and bosses are present at the pitch and the post mortems. Who wants to be about justifying egos? Deliverables however, are a different anomaly. The way it is perceived [as truth] will pave the way for the engineering of the next planned campaign, project or campaign. The intelligence available alters the trend of the plan, and the opinions expressed are not always taken in full context of its intent. When groupthink kicks in, the baggage gets unpacked, and all the skeletons of the past pour out.

Decisions are emotional, 99% of the time. Empathy has to consider all the mitigating factors. However, by the time one repacks all the luggage and fits the skeletons back, another major ego-buster appears…WIFM.

That’s politics.

Buddhism is a proponent of empathy, in fact, so is every religion. But the folks at the client decision-making rostrum cannot empathise with the advice unless WIFM is factored in. Marketers have to deal with the trends, and expected results as an emotional unknown, while corporations hire marketers as if they were scientists, fully knowledgeable of the outcome, based on a known formula for success.

That’s folly.

Self defence is preservation of power [perceived or otherwise], and no one wants to buy a ticket to nowhere, or Siberia. Agreeing to disagree in a subtle way, gives space for forward thinkers to hedge bets on the humanity of achieving profitability or mindshare without the conscience it brings. When we acknowledge that a plan is achievable, we must admit it could fall short, or exceed, expectations. Acknowledging that takes a lot of courage, which not everyone is prepared to exercise. Do you notice why disclaimers exist? Do you see opportunities in either of the 2 statements:

“All factors in place, we will consider management advice to make changes to the campaign. Mind you, some of the variables are unknown, so the results will be skewed, but we will know where we stand from there, and make it better.”

“Knowing how the market reacts, we expect the following campaign to succeed with room for another support programme. No issues at all with adding management considerations. We are certain it will fly.”

Sales pitches are promises, just like election campaigns. No one wants to sound wimpy. No one wants to be held to task if something doesn’t come out as expected. The next time you hear “If I were in your shoes, I know what I would do”, you could say this, “I would love for that to happen, but by the time you take on my responsibilities, you wouldn’t be me. “

That’s smart.

At CatalystConnector.com, we manage more than 27,000 members from across Asia. It is never easy to say “yes” to everyone, and pleasing people with business leads means matching them with others who may not share similar opinions. Even when we think we have succeeded, we may not have. Even when they believe they have created a deal, they may have killed it. The art of expectation management is rooted in empathy, because there are always other ways to come back to the negotiation table, unless you deliberately burn it.

Feel like kicking the door? Scratching the cat? Submerging yourself  into the pool of despair? 3 reboots later, and dripping buckets of sweat? No inspiration from scratching the hair off your scalp? Feel a bout of dandruff coming on?

Try this:

1. Scream into your pillow
2. Get a nice cold beer from the fridge
3. Put on some rock music
4. Grab a bag of crisps
5. Get ready for 15mins of simple tweaking

Solution is here:

Drink the beer!

Windows 7

Vista

INSTALL THE DRIVERS BY LAUNCHING THE EXE FROM THE APPROPRIATE [WIN7 OR VISTA] FOLDERS

CHECK THE AUDIO DEVICES TAB TO DISPLAY IF THE DEVICE IS ACTUALLY LISTED AND [CONFIGURE] IS NOT GREYED OUT. Access the speaker icon from the tray:

Right click “speaker” icon from bottom right of your screen. Select audio devices. Playback tab should show C-Media CM106 Sound Device as working. Select Recording tab to see Microphone same status. Select Configure button below left [likely this is greyed out]

GO TO CONTROL PANEL AND TURN OFF THE HDA MODEM DEVICE FROM DEVICE MANAGER, OR DELETE IT – this sucker takes up Com3 which is required for your headset mic input to work.

Start–>Control panel–>Sound and Audio devices or Hardware and Sound. On the Sound or audio tab, set the default playback device to your main soundcard [eg CM106]. Your installed audio device should show up. Confirm that the device is active from control panel. Go to phone and modem options\ modems – remove HDA modem [this is only for dialup purposes. If you need to keep this, go to Device Manager and disable it, so you can reactivate it the next time you need it.

You can break out the bag of crisps now.

I hope this helps, because it took me a whole day to get all this info worked out!

“It’s a dream job…once in a lifetime…”, we croon with hopeful enthusiasm. Two months down the road, after we have had this dream job, we whine and whimper no end, to the very people we were celebrating with, when we got it in the first place.

Simple enough, we competed with hundreds to get an interview, rejoiced when we were shortlisted to the three, and celebrated when we signed the appointment letter. Our resumes sing praises about our illustrious performance in previous employs, and promises our undying loyalty to the tasks that lay ahead. No mountain high enough, no task menial enough for our egos to handle. Wasn’t that what we said?

What has changed?

Expectations. Those of the ME genre, the US attitude, with the THEM policies, which we decided NOW we don’t seem to agree with, after several weeks.

Funny how that works out, isn’t it?

The short answers, my kids, are:

• Don’t do it for the money - if you do, thank God for the opportunity
• Find out what the job really is about - if you haven’t, it was the wrong one to apply for
• You were given a shot at it, now perform as promised - sure, no one guaranteed a wonderful, appreciative boss, but hey, he’s got a family to feed, too
• Rise to the occasion - the hero either gets honored, or beat down, but that comes with the job, and it is a matter of time that either karma kicks in, or your contributions get spotted, but till then, shoulders to the plough
• You may get talent spotted - and really get to live your dream job all over again
• Your employees come to your rescue - and you realize it was all worth the pain

It isn’t really about why you don’t like something,  but about learning to live with it, accepting no one is perfect, but being grateful for the opportunity to learn about what you do like. Appreciation of ones lot is a great leap from being constantly disappointed with what you think… you don’t have. The constant whining will not help make things better. Instead, you will notice less friends, more depressed families, and a rapidly aging reflection of a lesser self in the mirror.

We have a LOT to be grateful for. Remember that.

In 1990, I owned one of the early models of the Apple Macintosh Portable, all 1024Kb of RAM, 16Mhz processor and 1.44 diskette drive in wonderful 9.8″ monochrome which weighed in like 7Kg. [lead acid battery - yeah, as in car type] which had NO hard disk and cost USD 6,000.

Everything worked. Word, Stuffit, Diagnostics, even Pagemaker, and I would happily lug it around in a nice big polyester nylon case. 

These days, I have a slim MSI 640x with 4GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD4330 Graphics at 2.2Kg, costing one sixth of the price, and the OS still has bugs in it.  What’s wrong with this picture? You decide!

THE SOLUTION to the WindowzUpdate error is rooted to the fact you DO NOT have enough permission to install updates [duhhh!] . Creds to data engineer Stossman:

Re: Windows update fails WindowsUpdate_80070005

Here is the solution, it’s relatively simple and more importantly, it works!

1.	Disable Windows Update

a.	Click on start

b.	Click on all programs

c.	Click on accessories

d.	Click on Run

e.	Type services.msc and press ok

f.	Right click on "Windows Update"

g.	Click on stop (Windows Update is now disabled)

2.	Rename Software Distribution folder

a.	Navigate to: C:/Windows/

b.	Find the folder named: “SoftwareDistribution”

c.	Rename that folder to something like “SoftwareDistribution.old”

d.	Create a new folder called “SoftwareDistribution”

3.	Enable Windows Update

a.	Click on start

b.	Click on all programs

c.	Click on accessories

d.	Click on Run

e.	Type services.msc and press ok

f.	Right click on windows update

g.	Click on start

If you are unable to find Software Distribution Folder, follow these

steps before #2 above.

1.	From the explorer window press the Alt key to view the file menu.

2.	Click Tools

3.	Select Folder Options

4.	Select the View tab

5.	Select “Show hidden files and folders”

6.	Remove the selection from “Hide protected operating system files”

7.	Click OK

Restart your PC and you should be good to go!

Have fun people. It is serious business after all, as my living depends on it. I hope yours does, as well!