Disqus - Latest Comments for lonseidman

Re: “Rolling Shutter” Plagues Nikon’s D300s Video

lonseidman — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:00:03 -0000

I haven't experienced that yet. I will say I took some great shots at a
birthday party yesterday. Looks like film. The D300s is really starting to
grow on me.

Re: “Rolling Shutter” Plagues Nikon’s D300s Video

lonseidman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:43:07 -0000

It's not just pans that are a problem -- it's also fast moving objects too. I'll play with it a bit more this week and post some additional samples so people can make a better judgement.

Re: REVIEW: Canon HFS10 / HFS100 High Definition Camcorder

lonseidman — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:35:01 -0000

I think you might be out of luck with the G4.. Most of the AVCHD video
editing software requires an Intel based Mac due to the tremendous amount of
compression that takes place.

Re: blip.tv: the next generation

lonseidman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:50:59 -0000

Great new tools! We've always been very impressed with how great the Blip.tv toolset has been for our brand new startup. Keep it up!

localonlinenews.tv

Re: REVIEW: JVC Everio GZ-HD300

lonseidman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:38:18 -0000

"I do take issue with JVC's 1080/60p badging on the product tag. They are just saying their DSP and software can supporting de-interlacing to this progressive scan rate."

Thanks you agree with my point which was what I wrote about. The badging leads some to believe that it is a 1080p camera which it is not. It records at 1080i just like everything else on the market in that product space.

And for the record there are better cameras out there. Canon's older HF100, which can be found for about the same price, is a lot more flexible in its manual controls and includes the external audio port.

Re: REVIEW: JVC Everio GZ-HD300

lonseidman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:58:17 -0000

I stand by my review. If you took the time to read it (which you clearly
did not) I stated the camera records video at 1080i which it does. I also
stated that the marketing materials for the camcorder may lead some to
believe that the camera records video at 1080p. It does not.

It is not true that all televisions upconvert to progressive format. In
fact my older Panasonic CRT is a 1080i device. Not 1080p. Not 720p.
Regardless, the point is irrelevant - the camera's recording format is what
I questioned, not what some television might do with the video.

Don't come on my site with insulting commentary when you don't take the time
to actually read what's written. Thanks.

-Lon

Re: REVIEW: JVC Everio GZ-HD300

lonseidman — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:09:14 -0000

You definitely can't go wrong paying a little bit extra for better quality. The lack of manual controls on this thing really reduces the quality of image that can come out of it.

I am a huge fan of the Canon cameras. I was sent a new HFS10 which I will be reviewing over the weekend. It is outstanding, can't wait to play with it more tonight.

Re: Announcing Atlas

lonseidman — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:54:43 -0000

I've been following your work for some time after first hearing you on one of Leo Laporte's podcasts awhile back. 280 slides is a work of art and I've been chomping at the bit for you to put together an IDE that gives us mortals an easy way to build powerful apps. I am really looking forward to playing with this later on this summer..

Will there be a mechanism to connect with MySQL databases?

Re: The “Biblically Fast” Electric Car Needs a Practical Refueling Solution

lonseidman — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:36:09 -0000

What I like about GM's approach to the Volt is that the underlying eFlex
platform will make its way into other vehicles. We do see some of the same
strategy with Toyota's hybrid technologies (in fact even licensing the
technology to Nissan), but fuel savings and efficiencies of the Toyotoa
system decline as the size of the vehicle increases.

GM will need to move quickly to get the cost down on this technology..
$30-40k for what's effectively a compact sedan is certainly going to leave
it in the realm of the early adopter geeks like me. I just hope these
declining gas prices will not equal a decline in interest for the platform.

Re: The “Biblically Fast” Electric Car Needs a Practical Refueling Solution

lonseidman — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:07:47 -0000

It is kind of ironic the gas powered vehicle died because of it's electrical component :).

I will say that I am very excited about the prospect of owning an electric car. In fact I'd be out at the car dealer tomorrow if there were fully electric vehicles available for sale here in Connecticut. But that's me, a guy that lives on the cutting edge of technology who adopts new things even if it requires a little shoehorning every once and awhile. I suspect that you, like me, are not a typical consumer.

Here's my concern: the industry has not done much of anything to address what led to the failure of the EV-1. If electric cars ever have a chance of replacing internal combustion powered vehicles there has to be zero sacrifice on the part of the consumer to adopt them. While you and I would change our habits to be behind the wheel of one of these vehicles, the mass market wants convenience.

As of now I have absolutely zero options for charging an electric vehicle outside my home or office. I suppose I could find friends along the way willing to let me drain some of their power, but that's certainly no way to drive adoption of alternative fueled vehicles. And I just don't see an incentive for business and property owners to give away free electricity in their parking lots. Energy rates here in CT are off the charts and are crippling businesses - they simply cannot afford to give it away, even with a tax incentive.

So we're left with a classic chicken and egg scenario, one that just continues to repeat. Agassi's plan is the first one I've seen in a long time that is practical and works with existing infrastructure. The only burden would be on the vehicle's manufacturer who would need to design a battery mechanism to allow for a safe and easy swap at a service station.

The economics of Agassi's model are also more realistic. It's not relying on the government or business owners to give away free electricity. Under Agassi's model the electricity is paid for with a built-in profit incentive to small business owners to provide the charged batteries to customers. They make a small investment on the front end for equipment and can immediately begin fueling cars. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than converting a few of their pumps to offer hydrogen, and the growth potential is enormous.

I look at it this way: Agassi's model solves the "physics problem" by providing an electric fueling solution that can be nationwide in a year or two. There's simply no alternative that can solve this problem faster. The remaining concerns with potential monopolies and other regulatory issues are "people problems" that people can solve.

Re: The “Biblically Fast” Electric Car Needs a Practical Refueling Solution

lonseidman — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:40:03 -0000

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am a huge fan of Tesla and what you are doing, but frustrated by what I see as a lack of an effort by the auto industry as a whole to find a solution to this fueling problem. It's what ultimately "killed the electric car" that GM introduced ten years ago, and will likely determine the fate of the next generation electrics being developed and marketed amidst falling gasoline prices.

People want these cars but don't want to spend a bunch of money on a vehicle that will limit their travel options. Just about every car on the market has a nearly limitless range not only because there's a gas station around every corner, but also because it only takes 5 or 10 minutes to refuel and get back on the road. Who wants to get stuck somewhere for an hour because they had a few unplanned errands to make?

Sure, most weeks I only drive my car 30-50 miles per day, but there are times where I need to go farther. I just can't afford to own a car that requires me to buy or rent a second one to go longer distances.

What Shai Agassi is putting together is something that truly works to address the fueling problem in a very practical way. Pulling into a service station and quickly swapping out a discharged battery for a charged one is so brilliantly simple I don't know why electric manufacturers aren't flocking to this model in droves. It would require relatively little infrastructure investment if the car was designed to allow this fast battery swap. Such a design will also help thousands of small family owned service stations diversify their businesses and break away from the stranglehold of Big oil.

Short of that, I think what GM is working on with the Volt is a good start. They smartly recognized the fueling problem is the major barrier for nationwide adoption and have created a car that gives most of the electric benefits (for the first forty miles) without the range and convenience limitations of cars without a backup power source.

Re: Obama Responds to the RNC’s Nasty Tone

lonseidman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:15:10 -0000

You're welcome!

Re: CrossLoop: A free and very easy to configure screen sharing app

lonseidman — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:18:53 -0000

Constantin,

Thank you for the recommendation! I will try and review teamviewer the next time I have an opportunity to use a desktop sharing app.

-Lon

Re: CrossLoop: A free and very easy to configure screen sharing app

lonseidman — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:36:42 -0000

You are quite welcome. I needed to walk somebody through a rather complex process this afternoon and this was a huge lifesaver. Keep up the great work, can't wait for a Mac client!

Re: Blogging Gear for Denver

lonseidman — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:36:27 -0000

I'm just lucky I have a very understanding wife.

Re: iPhone 3G is a Great Revision of an Already Great Product | LonSeidman.com

lonseidman — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:18:40 -0000

You sound like a Verizon rep :).

I switched from a Blackberry last June and for my line of work it's significantly more useful. The web browsing and PDF capabilities have yet to be matched on any handheld device, period.

Re: Barack Obama's 75,000 strong rally | LonSeidman.com

lonseidman — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:09:53 -0000

Test comment!

Re: The Tesla Electric Roadster | LonSeidman.com

lonseidman — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:14:41 -0000

test