Happenings

Tuesday I got a street cleaning ticket. :7

I found out Wednesday but also had a small stroke of good luck - someone left a little carved table on the corner for the taking. It's just the size I need for my room. (The one I have is too big and gets in the way. I have the knee bruises to prove it.) There was also an ugly broken chair and a lampshade. People in San Francisco leave things they no longer want out on the street for anyone to take. The table needs some love but the size and design are perfect, and it is really light weight, so I decided to store it in my car until things are cleared out enough in my room so I can work on it and make it shine. I'll sand it and stain it, should be pretty and fit well with the room.

I found out from Dr. McDougall that I'll need a webcam for the class so I did a lot of research on the internet to find Mac-compatible webcams. It seems the ones that give great quality are expensive and most aren't Mac-compatible anyways. I read so many forums about it I got the drift of the idea that I could use a mini DV camcorder that connects with a firewire and then end up with high quality video and autofocus which would help for filming the group. I didn't want to invest in a mini dv camcorder but I also didn't want dingy video either.

So I was basically a bit thrown but still searching and eventually what happened is I came across a website called dealmac.com which lists great deals on Mac electronics every day. I saw there was a mini DV camcorder for only $135 but the sale expired today and I wanted to search some more for a decent webcam.

It seems there really isn't a decent webcam for Mac because the iSight (or something) was discontinued by Apple because of some mercury danger standards. A lot of forums talked about using Logitech webcams for Mac (they're advertised only as PC and are great quality for PC) but some of them also said a lot of the features that work well for a PC won't work at all for a Mac. The native-working Mac webcams seem to be limited and don't have as good image quality. There was also a Unibrain camera, which would run on a firewire and would give decent quality video but I figured if I was going to spend $140 or so for the Unibrain I might as well get the mini DV camcorder from dealmac, and then I'd have a digital camcorder also. And finally Logitech just announced last month they'll be releasing a webcam just for Mac. It should be great, just what I'm looking for only for high quality video calls with Skype you need an Intel Core Duo and I have a Solo, and the Logitech Mac webcam price range is still up there competing with the actual mini DV camcorder. So if I got that one (it might not even be out yet) I don't think I'd even get the high quality video for Skype because of my processor.

Can you tell I spent the whole day researching webcams?

Anyway, I decided to go ahead and get the mini DV camcorder and arranged to pick it up at the Circuit City in San Rafael, because although shipping was free, I didn't want to worry about a package left outside the gate if it wouldn't fit under it. I bought it today so I got the $15 off discount (yay!) I thought I'd enjoy the ride out there and collected some CDs for the car (all my CDs are in my room because I hardly use my car any more because my work's downtown). I get to my car with all my CDs and my stereo has been stolen again! All the doors are unlocked. At least they didn't break the window this time. That cast a shadow over me, despite getting the great deal on the camcorder.

I also bought the firewire, a memory card, some mini DV tapes, and then when I got home I realized I needed something else because I only have one firewire port on the back of my Mini Mac and the computer itself was using it. So I got a 6-port firewire hub and just finished trying everything out with Skype. I don't have anyone to call and really test it out but so far the video is awesome quality and everything looks like it will work smoothly. Hooray!!

I guess I just now have to find out if I'll need a microphone or if the camera's mic will work. Mini Macs don't come with a built-in mic.

Also, the room needs work. I'm going to try to use my own room to have a group here and we'll work with Dr. McDougall until everything's ready and we have a better place for the class. I have some redecorating ideas.

- Replace my beloved bed with a futon, so people can sit.
- Donate some stuff
- Finish painting along trim
- General tidy up

Also, I want to finish the heart mosaic table and the new engraved table, but that's not a rush.

I'm glad I have the "webcam" part basically figured out.

Tomorrow the mic. And start on the room.

EDIT: I forgot to mention two things:

1. No, I did not forget to lock my car doors. I have a Honda Accord and the door locks suck. Someone broke in. (While driving over the windy Golden Gate Bridge sans music, I noticed a nice little wheeze coming from the passenger door's window. Hmpht.)

2. My laptop is too old to support DSL which is why hosting the group at my own humble quarters has become more attractive. Not to mention more time for developing the course structure.