Laurence (Larry) Shaw, my older brother, has had tremendous success with his toy invention, Astrojax. He's in NY at the International Yoyo Open 2009...
The Future of the Yo-Yo Debuts at IYYO 2009
Astrojax(R) will be making its first official appearance at a major yo-yo event in the United States this weekend at the International Yo-Yo Open at South Street Seaport, New York City, on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009. The IYYO attracts top yo-yo talent from across the nation. Four of the continent's most creative Astrojax players will be demonstrating Astrojax from 12:40 pm to 12:55 pm on the main stage.
Astrojax consists of three centrally-weighted balls on a string and play involves creating a variety of orbits. While yo-yo play is generally limited to two dimensions because of the spinning of the disk, the possibilities produced by a three-ball geometry takes play into the third dimension. Astrojax has won a number of toy awards and was the first modern toy taken into outer space by NASA.
As the featured performers show, Astrojax play is as much about creativity as technical virtuosity. * Chris Marshall uses Astrojax as a means of musical self-expression. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxnothwtgoQ) * Jason Simard plays in a flowing, meditative, improvisational style. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uxISJtBWqU) * Will Kerzic is the world's most inventive "jaxer". ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lluV9vs9VbI) * Claudia Yvette brings fun, humor and a rock-and-roll energy to her play. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv_PRrVlzfc) The players will be introduced by Larry Shaw, the inventor of Astrojax.
For more information contact Jim Marielli/USAstrojax.com
2009-08-05
2009-04-24
The Corner of Street and Avenue
Seattle city streets slick and shiny
Faces of every shape
Some shapely some misshapen
Thin mist thickens into gray rain
Signals change
Heels in her hand, flats on her feet
She crosses to glassy offices
Blue buses rumble shudder hiss and disgorge
Pedestrian lives wait for a signal 3, 2, 1
A mute parade
An occasional bright umbrella
Backpacks, bundles and bags of every description
Above in the overcast crows pigeons gulls
Shoes stroll stride and limp
Standing sitting moving straight
Between busy square blocks and blurred crosswalks
Waiting for the signal to change
Signals change.
===================
DanShaw.com
Seattle city streets slick and shiny
Faces of every shape
Some shapely some misshapen
Thin mist thickens into gray rain
Signals change
Heels in her hand, flats on her feet
She crosses to glassy offices
Blue buses rumble shudder hiss and disgorge
Pedestrian lives wait for a signal 3, 2, 1
A mute parade
An occasional bright umbrella
Backpacks, bundles and bags of every description
Above in the overcast crows pigeons gulls
Shoes stroll stride and limp
Standing sitting moving straight
Between busy square blocks and blurred crosswalks
Waiting for the signal to change
Signals change.
===================
DanShaw.com
2009-04-20
Choosing a website name
By DanShaw.com
Your website, or domain name, is vital to the success of your business. How do you choose the most effective name possible? Here are the rules I go by. You must weigh and balance all the rules, since there are always exceptions and trade-offs.
Your website name becomes your business name.
Never write or say your business name without adding the “.com”. Reinforce the website address at every opportunity. If you have a storefront, your .com address should be on the sign outside the shop.
Your web address is your own .com.
“.com” is the default type of domain name. If you get a “.biz” or “.info” or some other type of extension, people will forget and go to the .com first, and you will lose traffic. Even if you get a .org or .net, you will still need to get the “.com”, too.
Get your legal name as your domain name.
For example, DanShaw.com. If your name has already been taken, get it now even if you are not planning on using it right now. Better yet, put up a page with your contact information. Many people use the web instead of opening up a phonebook, and many people don’t even a have land-line listed in a local phone directory. Make it easy for people to contact you. You legal-name-as-domain name may be too broad for any single business, but works great if you have numerous divergent businesses and interests.
Choose a name you don’t have to spell
You (and hopefully many other people!) will be repeating your domain name many thousands of times. Choose one you don’t have to spell out.
Bad: Auctions4u.com
Bad: ClairesTyes
Bad: Gonzalos (“What did you say?” Gonsales? Gonzales?”)
Good: Auctionsforyou.com
Good: BobsTies
Choose a short name
Choose a name which is about 15 characters or less. Some people will type your name directly into their browser address bar (not to mention how many times you’ll type and write your name). Shorter names are not only easier to say and spell, they’re less subject to typos.
Choose a name without any dashes or underscores.
People are likely to forget dashes or underscores.
Bad: Collectible-Coins.com
Good: CollectibleCoins.com
Choose a name that is memorable.
You don’t want people forgetting it!
Bad: TheGoodPlumber.com (“the” is forgettable)
Good: BestDamnPlumber.com (humor is memorable)
Choose a name that describes what you do.
In most cases, choose the most descriptive name you can. Consider that your website address can be all you need. If you need more, you’ll need more room to print it, you’ll have to print it smaller, and people will need more time to read and understand it. Choose a name that doesn’t need a tag line.
Bad: PinkPanda.com: Exotic Pets
Good: exoticpets.com
Choose a new that will make people want to look you up.
For example, if you saw the name JohnDoe.com on the back of a bus, would you go seek it out? No.
Bad: JohnDoe.com (Unless your name is a household word.)
Good: DonaldTrump.com (Redirects to Trump.com.)
Good: VideosForDancers.com (“I’m a dancer who wants video, I’ll look that up.”)
Differentiate your business.
Choose a name that describes your unique offering, your ‘radical monopoly’.
Bad: RalphsAutoParts.com
Good: AntiqueFordAutoParts.com
Choose a name that is broad enough.
Bad: ValleyAvenueHaircuts.com (what if you move to another location? What if you want to sell some other product or service besides?)
Good: VelvetSalon.com
Choose a name that is narrow enough to help your search engine standings.
The more narrow your market, the easier it will be to differentiate yourself, promote just a few keywords, get ranked highly in the search engines, and identify and reach your target audience.
Bad: RalphsAutoParts.com
Good: AntiqueFordAutoParts.com
Choose a name that people will search for.
Will people type your company name into Google? Only if they already know about your company. If you expect to get business from people through search results, do your best to put keywords into your domain name.
Bad: VelvetCloud.com
Good: VelvetShoes.com
Always Use Intercaps
Intercaps make your name more readable. Intercaps help avoid conflation of terms.
Bad: danshaw.com
Good: DanShaw.com
Avoid word conflation.
Since there are no spaces in domain name, choose words that won’t be mis-read.
Bad: whorepresents.com
Bad: whoistheiragent.com (tendency to be read, “who is the iragent?”)
Good: talktomyagent.com
“www.” is not part of your domain name.
All websites are “www.”, It’s the default, there’s no need to type it into the browser address bar. It’s hard to say. It unnecessarily takes up space in print.
Brainstorming tips.
Write down all the possible relevant words and phrases you can think of and recombine them. For example, if you’re in the auction business, high bid, higher, highest, bid, winning, auction, block, gavel, lot, going once, highbid, bidhigh, winningauction, winning bidder, etc.
Should you get the singular or the plural, or both?
For example, should you get videosfordancers.com, or videofordancers.com? That depends of meaning, but also on how the name sounds, and how people will remember it. You don’t want to have to re-emphasize, to try to get people to remember, for example, “that’s ‘shows’ with an ‘S’.” You may want or need to get both if they’re both available.
Bad: spotpetfoods.com
Good: spotpetfood.com
Check to see if a domain name is available only through internic.net!
You can check to see if a domain name is currently hosted simply by typing in to the address bar in your browser.
However, to see if a domain names is already registered, check your domain name only at:
http://www.internic.net/whois.html
Do not check for domains at any other site! Checking for names at unknown sites may mean someone is watching.
Domain names registration is cheap.
Domain names are registered by the year through many resellers. One of the largest registrars is godaddy.com, though they have had some involvement in promoting porn. As of this writing, domains are about $10 per year. So if you think of a better name, you can always switch.
Take the time to find just the perfect domain name.
When you’re figured it out, you’ll know it’s perfect. You won’t have to call me to ask me what I think of the name.
Register the name for at least two years.
It’s likely that domain names that are registered for just one year are deprecated by the search leader, Google.com.
Parking domain names.
You may get any number of domain names and have them all point to the same website. This is called parking. For example, if you qualify for a .org, you will still want to get the .com name, and redirect the .com to point to the .org address.
If you’d like further advice and support, I invite you to contact me, DanShaw.com. Telephone 541-951-3394.
By DanShaw.com
Your website, or domain name, is vital to the success of your business. How do you choose the most effective name possible? Here are the rules I go by. You must weigh and balance all the rules, since there are always exceptions and trade-offs.
Your website name becomes your business name.
Never write or say your business name without adding the “.com”. Reinforce the website address at every opportunity. If you have a storefront, your .com address should be on the sign outside the shop.
Your web address is your own .com.
“.com” is the default type of domain name. If you get a “.biz” or “.info” or some other type of extension, people will forget and go to the .com first, and you will lose traffic. Even if you get a .org or .net, you will still need to get the “.com”, too.
Get your legal name as your domain name.
For example, DanShaw.com. If your name has already been taken, get it now even if you are not planning on using it right now. Better yet, put up a page with your contact information. Many people use the web instead of opening up a phonebook, and many people don’t even a have land-line listed in a local phone directory. Make it easy for people to contact you. You legal-name-as-domain name may be too broad for any single business, but works great if you have numerous divergent businesses and interests.
Choose a name you don’t have to spell
You (and hopefully many other people!) will be repeating your domain name many thousands of times. Choose one you don’t have to spell out.
Bad: Auctions4u.com
Bad: ClairesTyes
Bad: Gonzalos (“What did you say?” Gonsales? Gonzales?”)
Good: Auctionsforyou.com
Good: BobsTies
Choose a short name
Choose a name which is about 15 characters or less. Some people will type your name directly into their browser address bar (not to mention how many times you’ll type and write your name). Shorter names are not only easier to say and spell, they’re less subject to typos.
Choose a name without any dashes or underscores.
People are likely to forget dashes or underscores.
Bad: Collectible-Coins.com
Good: CollectibleCoins.com
Choose a name that is memorable.
You don’t want people forgetting it!
Bad: TheGoodPlumber.com (“the” is forgettable)
Good: BestDamnPlumber.com (humor is memorable)
Choose a name that describes what you do.
In most cases, choose the most descriptive name you can. Consider that your website address can be all you need. If you need more, you’ll need more room to print it, you’ll have to print it smaller, and people will need more time to read and understand it. Choose a name that doesn’t need a tag line.
Bad: PinkPanda.com: Exotic Pets
Good: exoticpets.com
Choose a new that will make people want to look you up.
For example, if you saw the name JohnDoe.com on the back of a bus, would you go seek it out? No.
Bad: JohnDoe.com (Unless your name is a household word.)
Good: DonaldTrump.com (Redirects to Trump.com.)
Good: VideosForDancers.com (“I’m a dancer who wants video, I’ll look that up.”)
Differentiate your business.
Choose a name that describes your unique offering, your ‘radical monopoly’.
Bad: RalphsAutoParts.com
Good: AntiqueFordAutoParts.com
Choose a name that is broad enough.
Bad: ValleyAvenueHaircuts.com (what if you move to another location? What if you want to sell some other product or service besides?)
Good: VelvetSalon.com
Choose a name that is narrow enough to help your search engine standings.
The more narrow your market, the easier it will be to differentiate yourself, promote just a few keywords, get ranked highly in the search engines, and identify and reach your target audience.
Bad: RalphsAutoParts.com
Good: AntiqueFordAutoParts.com
Choose a name that people will search for.
Will people type your company name into Google? Only if they already know about your company. If you expect to get business from people through search results, do your best to put keywords into your domain name.
Bad: VelvetCloud.com
Good: VelvetShoes.com
Always Use Intercaps
Intercaps make your name more readable. Intercaps help avoid conflation of terms.
Bad: danshaw.com
Good: DanShaw.com
Avoid word conflation.
Since there are no spaces in domain name, choose words that won’t be mis-read.
Bad: whorepresents.com
Bad: whoistheiragent.com (tendency to be read, “who is the iragent?”)
Good: talktomyagent.com
“www.” is not part of your domain name.
All websites are “www.”, It’s the default, there’s no need to type it into the browser address bar. It’s hard to say. It unnecessarily takes up space in print.
Brainstorming tips.
Write down all the possible relevant words and phrases you can think of and recombine them. For example, if you’re in the auction business, high bid, higher, highest, bid, winning, auction, block, gavel, lot, going once, highbid, bidhigh, winningauction, winning bidder, etc.
Should you get the singular or the plural, or both?
For example, should you get videosfordancers.com, or videofordancers.com? That depends of meaning, but also on how the name sounds, and how people will remember it. You don’t want to have to re-emphasize, to try to get people to remember, for example, “that’s ‘shows’ with an ‘S’.” You may want or need to get both if they’re both available.
Bad: spotpetfoods.com
Good: spotpetfood.com
Check to see if a domain name is available only through internic.net!
You can check to see if a domain name is currently hosted simply by typing in to the address bar in your browser.
However, to see if a domain names is already registered, check your domain name only at:
http://www.internic.net/whois.html
Do not check for domains at any other site! Checking for names at unknown sites may mean someone is watching.
Domain names registration is cheap.
Domain names are registered by the year through many resellers. One of the largest registrars is godaddy.com, though they have had some involvement in promoting porn. As of this writing, domains are about $10 per year. So if you think of a better name, you can always switch.
Take the time to find just the perfect domain name.
When you’re figured it out, you’ll know it’s perfect. You won’t have to call me to ask me what I think of the name.
Register the name for at least two years.
It’s likely that domain names that are registered for just one year are deprecated by the search leader, Google.com.
Parking domain names.
You may get any number of domain names and have them all point to the same website. This is called parking. For example, if you qualify for a .org, you will still want to get the .com name, and redirect the .com to point to the .org address.
If you’d like further advice and support, I invite you to contact me, DanShaw.com. Telephone 541-951-3394.
2009-04-11
Where I may have another chance
I wish I felt a greater sense of calm finality
As I lay across the railroad train tracks of truth
Chilled by the swift steady wind blowing in across the sound
I am a trespasser
I press my ear against the cold steel rail
Listening but not hearing the resonance
Of the impending rush of locomotive
The unbreakable single steel rail stretching straight to infinity
Has given me some comfort
The single steely truth
I have bent and stretched and weakened
And yet to it I fiercely cling
At every opportunity I have stepped off the road more traveled
To the less
Braving brambles risking poison oak and loss
Suffering yet reveling in the lonely
Soaking in the silence
Oh yes so often have I turned to look back
Weighing the heavy innumerable choices
Mentally unraveling the twisted thread
Did I go wrong where
In the narrow crevasse
It seemed the choice was just one or none
I know now I was not right
On the flat infinite plain
At every step a choice
I could have meandered differently and resolved to a different conclusion
Where else might I be at a happier time and place
And again and again I am forced to choose
To live with my splitting result to the limit
The horizon the sunset
Only hoping for the gift of another sunrise
And the blessing to choose anew
To pursue improvised possibility where
Perhaps anyway
The path I missed joins back again
Where I may have another chance
==========
DanShaw.com
I wish I felt a greater sense of calm finality
As I lay across the railroad train tracks of truth
Chilled by the swift steady wind blowing in across the sound
I am a trespasser
I press my ear against the cold steel rail
Listening but not hearing the resonance
Of the impending rush of locomotive
The unbreakable single steel rail stretching straight to infinity
Has given me some comfort
The single steely truth
I have bent and stretched and weakened
And yet to it I fiercely cling
At every opportunity I have stepped off the road more traveled
To the less
Braving brambles risking poison oak and loss
Suffering yet reveling in the lonely
Soaking in the silence
Oh yes so often have I turned to look back
Weighing the heavy innumerable choices
Mentally unraveling the twisted thread
Did I go wrong where
In the narrow crevasse
It seemed the choice was just one or none
I know now I was not right
On the flat infinite plain
At every step a choice
I could have meandered differently and resolved to a different conclusion
Where else might I be at a happier time and place
And again and again I am forced to choose
To live with my splitting result to the limit
The horizon the sunset
Only hoping for the gift of another sunrise
And the blessing to choose anew
To pursue improvised possibility where
Perhaps anyway
The path I missed joins back again
Where I may have another chance
==========
DanShaw.com
2009-03-30
Making your writing easy for your editor, publisher, or webmaster
Please follow these suggested guidelines for making your article easy for an editor or publisher to work with. Instructions for correcting these mistakes are provided.
Avoid all capitals
Do not use all capitals.
If you need to change text case, for example, from lower case to capitals, or from ALL CAPS to sentence case, or to “Headline” style, you can use a program such as NoteTab Light, available free from Fookes.com. Use MODIFY… TEXT CASE. Unfortunately, NoteTab’s “Capitalization” function actually capitalizes all words in the sentence, including words not usually capitalized in headlines, such as “a”, “the”, “of”, etc.
Avoid extra spaces
Do not add extra spaces, for example, double spacing between sentences.
Attach documents to emails, do not send in the email body
Send your editor the original document files as attachments; do not send them in the body of an email. Documents sent thru email often have extraneous characters, such as line breaks, that have to be removed.
Send images in their original format
Send your editor image files in their original “native” format. Do not send images in the body of a word document, or in a .pdf. Ask you editor or webmaster what format they need.
For the web, send compressed images
If you are sending images for the web, learn how to use a program such as photoshop to compress the images to 72 dots per inch (dpi). Don’t send uncompressed photos of several megabytes each unless they’re needed, they just waste storage space and download time. Photoshop has a SAVE… FOR WEB function.
Give your images (& other files) good names
You editor or webmaster will have a much easier job if you have named your images with human-friendly names. Name your images consistently; ask your editor or webmaster if they have a preference. Do not use spaces in your image names, use a dash “-“ or underscore “_” instead. Use all lower case.
Formatting paragraphs; using the REPLACE command
Format your paragraphs with the indent ruler at the top of MSWord, if at all. (You can also use FORMAT… PARAGRAPH… INDENTATION. Do not create paragraph indents using tabs, or using multiple spaces. Your editor may need to compile and make consistent materials from multiple sources. Indenting paragraphs using anything other than an indent will create additional work for your editor. If you need to replace extraneous spaces, use EDIT… REPLACE. You can use an actual “space” in the replace dialog box; it is useful to know the special characters: “^s” for space, and “^p” for paragraph (without the quote marks). If you need to see all the non-printing characters in a document, use TOOLS… OPTIONS… FORMATTING MARKS and put a check in the box for VIEW ALL. If you need to remove unneeded paragraph breaks at the ends of lines, save your document first, and work on a working version. If paragraphs are separated by two paragraph breaks, you may need to preserve these. Begin by using replace to replace “^p^p” with “###” or any other markers. Then, you can replace the single occurrences of “^p”. Finally, you’ll need to replace your markers “###” with the original “^p^p”.
Good email titles
Make sure your emails have good titles. Your editor needs to track hundreds of bits of documents. Make their job easier by titling your emails effectively. Do not send an email with a RE: some other, non-relevant subject! Title your email last, before you send it, copying and pasting the most relevant, identifying text into the title.
Please follow these suggested guidelines for making your article easy for an editor or publisher to work with. Instructions for correcting these mistakes are provided.
Avoid all capitals
Do not use all capitals.
If you need to change text case, for example, from lower case to capitals, or from ALL CAPS to sentence case, or to “Headline” style, you can use a program such as NoteTab Light, available free from Fookes.com. Use MODIFY… TEXT CASE. Unfortunately, NoteTab’s “Capitalization” function actually capitalizes all words in the sentence, including words not usually capitalized in headlines, such as “a”, “the”, “of”, etc.
Avoid extra spaces
Do not add extra spaces, for example, double spacing between sentences.
Attach documents to emails, do not send in the email body
Send your editor the original document files as attachments; do not send them in the body of an email. Documents sent thru email often have extraneous characters, such as line breaks, that have to be removed.
Send images in their original format
Send your editor image files in their original “native” format. Do not send images in the body of a word document, or in a .pdf. Ask you editor or webmaster what format they need.
For the web, send compressed images
If you are sending images for the web, learn how to use a program such as photoshop to compress the images to 72 dots per inch (dpi). Don’t send uncompressed photos of several megabytes each unless they’re needed, they just waste storage space and download time. Photoshop has a SAVE… FOR WEB function.
Give your images (& other files) good names
You editor or webmaster will have a much easier job if you have named your images with human-friendly names. Name your images consistently; ask your editor or webmaster if they have a preference. Do not use spaces in your image names, use a dash “-“ or underscore “_” instead. Use all lower case.
Formatting paragraphs; using the REPLACE command
Format your paragraphs with the indent ruler at the top of MSWord, if at all. (You can also use FORMAT… PARAGRAPH… INDENTATION. Do not create paragraph indents using tabs, or using multiple spaces. Your editor may need to compile and make consistent materials from multiple sources. Indenting paragraphs using anything other than an indent will create additional work for your editor. If you need to replace extraneous spaces, use EDIT… REPLACE. You can use an actual “space” in the replace dialog box; it is useful to know the special characters: “^s” for space, and “^p” for paragraph (without the quote marks). If you need to see all the non-printing characters in a document, use TOOLS… OPTIONS… FORMATTING MARKS and put a check in the box for VIEW ALL. If you need to remove unneeded paragraph breaks at the ends of lines, save your document first, and work on a working version. If paragraphs are separated by two paragraph breaks, you may need to preserve these. Begin by using replace to replace “^p^p” with “###” or any other markers. Then, you can replace the single occurrences of “^p”. Finally, you’ll need to replace your markers “###” with the original “^p^p”.
Good email titles
Make sure your emails have good titles. Your editor needs to track hundreds of bits of documents. Make their job easier by titling your emails effectively. Do not send an email with a RE: some other, non-relevant subject! Title your email last, before you send it, copying and pasting the most relevant, identifying text into the title.
2009-03-22
Women Seeking Men
I am just so damn cute and pretty
Looking for some new friends
Can You keep up?
Are you a sports fan?
Wanting to have fun
tired of being alone
New to the area
Want to get married?
want to hang out?
My dating experiment
I have been lucky on Craigslist
wanted: soulmate
Sweet girlie looking for the one
Worth a shot...
Come on, I dare you!
Trying this again...
Please Be Serious
Beautiful Disaster Picking up the Pieces
Why does it seem so hard?
What’s Missing?
Fun Is the Name of the Game
I have everything except you
Click Here For An Awesome Girl
Men Seeking Women
using the net to catch a fish??
Seeking Girl Who Loves Lemonade and Whose Name is a Palindrome
Shared Wife Wanted
are you submissive
please be very serious
Mountains await us...
looking for friendship & love
More like a squire than a knight...
On dating scene again
What are you looking for?
Height is for women as boobs are for men...
Naughty-ish Fun!
it’s all good
I'm a Weirdo.. Just Not the Dangerous Type...
Girls check me OUT!
I will give 100 cows for cute virgin
what's up ladies!
I Need a First Kiss
Actual ads on seattle.craigslist.org 2009-03-22
Poemed by DanShaw.com
I am just so damn cute and pretty
Looking for some new friends
Can You keep up?
Are you a sports fan?
Wanting to have fun
tired of being alone
New to the area
Want to get married?
want to hang out?
My dating experiment
I have been lucky on Craigslist
wanted: soulmate
Sweet girlie looking for the one
Worth a shot...
Come on, I dare you!
Trying this again...
Please Be Serious
Beautiful Disaster Picking up the Pieces
Why does it seem so hard?
What’s Missing?
Fun Is the Name of the Game
I have everything except you
Click Here For An Awesome Girl
Men Seeking Women
using the net to catch a fish??
Seeking Girl Who Loves Lemonade and Whose Name is a Palindrome
Shared Wife Wanted
are you submissive
please be very serious
Mountains await us...
looking for friendship & love
More like a squire than a knight...
On dating scene again
What are you looking for?
Height is for women as boobs are for men...
Naughty-ish Fun!
it’s all good
I'm a Weirdo.. Just Not the Dangerous Type...
Girls check me OUT!
I will give 100 cows for cute virgin
what's up ladies!
I Need a First Kiss
Actual ads on seattle.craigslist.org 2009-03-22
Poemed by DanShaw.com
2009-02-22
Distributed Computing Projects in Aerospace
NASA Social Networking & Collaboration: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate/
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
“SETI@home searches for possible evidence of radio transmissions from extraterrestrial intelligence using observational data from the Arecibo radio telescope.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI@home
12/4/2008 10:07:39 AM
“SETI@home, which is focused on analyzing radio-telescope data to find evidence of intelligent signals from space, hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley”
Cosmology@Home — searches for the model that best describes our universe and finds the range of physical cosmology models that agree with the available data. (Beta)
Physics & Astronomy Departments, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
http://cosmologyathome.org/
Milkyway@home — creating a highly accurate three dimensional model of the Milky Way galaxy using data gathered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Uses the BOINC.
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/
Einstein@Home searches for gravitational waves from continuous wave sources, which may include pulsars. Einstein@Home is a distributed computing project hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and running on the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) software platform.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein@home
Distributed Human Computing Projects in Aerospace
Clickworkers
NASA Mars Images:
Help identify landforms in these images from the HiRISE camera, one of the instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and call attention to interesting features in images taken from a previous orbiter.
http://clickworkers.arc.nasa.gov/hirise
Galaxy Zoo -- Classification of galaxy types from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. “We need thousands of people to inspect galaxy images and to classify them as spiral or elliptical.”
http://www.galaxyzoo.org/
Orbit@home — DHC: monitoring the impact hazard posed by near-Earth objects. (Alpha)
orbit.psi.edu/
Stardust@home — DHC: Scans/Analyzes the collection grid from a recent NASA mission to capture particles from a comet.
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
NASA Social Networking & Collaboration: http://www.nasa.gov/collaborate/
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
“SETI@home searches for possible evidence of radio transmissions from extraterrestrial intelligence using observational data from the Arecibo radio telescope.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI@home
12/4/2008 10:07:39 AM
“SETI@home, which is focused on analyzing radio-telescope data to find evidence of intelligent signals from space, hosted by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley”
Cosmology@Home — searches for the model that best describes our universe and finds the range of physical cosmology models that agree with the available data. (Beta)
Physics & Astronomy Departments, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
http://cosmologyathome.org/
Milkyway@home — creating a highly accurate three dimensional model of the Milky Way galaxy using data gathered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Uses the BOINC.
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/
Einstein@Home searches for gravitational waves from continuous wave sources, which may include pulsars. Einstein@Home is a distributed computing project hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and running on the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC) software platform.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein@home
Distributed Human Computing Projects in Aerospace
Clickworkers
NASA Mars Images:
Help identify landforms in these images from the HiRISE camera, one of the instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and call attention to interesting features in images taken from a previous orbiter.
http://clickworkers.arc.nasa.gov/hirise
Galaxy Zoo -- Classification of galaxy types from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. “We need thousands of people to inspect galaxy images and to classify them as spiral or elliptical.”
http://www.galaxyzoo.org/
Orbit@home — DHC: monitoring the impact hazard posed by near-Earth objects. (Alpha)
orbit.psi.edu/
Stardust@home — DHC: Scans/Analyzes the collection grid from a recent NASA mission to capture particles from a comet.
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
2009-02-03
Filming Conferences
DanShaw.com
Privacy
I film only the speaker; I don't film the audience without explicit instructions and permission. I request that at the beginning of the event, the Master of Ceremonies mentions that I am filming on behalf of the conference organizers (C.O.), and that I am filming the speaker not the audience. Of course, under certain circumstances, e.g., if there is a question and answer session, C.O. may request that I do film the audience. I recommend that the M.C. also request attendees turn off their cell phones each time they convene.
Unobtrusiveness
Filming will not interfere with the speaker.
Filming live events, limitations
Because the event is live, we will film as best we can under the circumstances, but, we do not get second takes, etc., so some imperfections are unavoidable due to background sounds, poor lighting, limitations on camera placement, etc. Plan a brief pause between speakers for a microphone change, and film change.
Location scouting
If at all possible, the C.O. and filmmaker should scout the location in advance, at the same time of day the shoot will take place. Where are the electrical outlets? How is the lighting? Are there windows? Is the sun shining on the speaker from behind? Are there curtains, and can they be shut? Do the lights make noise or flicker? Does the ventilation, or other equipment or activity make noise? Can doors be shut? Murphy’s Law applies here.
Giving your filmmaker good direction
Provide the filmmaker with the most detailed schedule possible, and be sure to notify the filmmaker of changes to the schedule. The filmmaker will use his best judgment to get the most useful footage possible. You can help tremendously by giving the filmmaker good direction.
If the speaker is exceeding one hour, I may ask the speaker if they want to pause briefly while I change tape.
At any time, the speaker or C.O. can request that the filming be stopped.
Arranging for special footage
If there is an opportunity to get additional footage, such as private interviews (as opposed to lectures) plan ahead and arrange for these.
“B Roll”
Think ahead to plan what kinds of additional footage you might want, such as shots of all the attendees at the banquet, brief interview with the C.O., exhibitors, etc.
Breakout sessions
If there are concurrent breakout sessions, choose which you most want to be filmed.
Still photos
Plan to have a volunteer or to hire a photographer to get still photos, for instance, of honorees.
Filming Powerpoint presentations
If a speaker is using powerpoint I may or may not film the powerpoint, depending on my judgment. Various factors include: whether or not the slides convey information not conveyed by the speaker, whether the text is sufficient size to be legible, and whether the room lighting is sufficient to see the speaker. Most often, video quality is much improved by inserting the powerpoint images in post-production, though this can be time consuming, i.e., expensive. Be sure to get the presentation on disk for future use.
Equipment
I will be using a Canon HV20 hi-definition format. I will be using available (ambient) light.
Audio
If you have arranged for a sound system, I may be able to plug directly in to your sound system, with your audio guys' permission, and background noises will be minimized.
If you don’t have a sound system, I will put a wireless microphone on the speaker.
In some urban settings, a wired microphone is preferable to wireless, since some devices may interfere with wireless transmission.
Post-production editing
Post-production, if you wish to engage me for that, will be negotiated separately.
Meals and Perks
If you will be serving meals, please arrange to feed the filmmaker, and to serve the filmmaker early, first, late, or to go, depending on circumstances. Often the filmmaker barely has time to enjoy a meal. Filming a conference is not attending and participating at a conference, so the conference itself is not a ‘perk’.
Conference Organizer retains all rights
DanShaw.com will not release any footage without express written permission of C.O.
Delivery of Master DVD’s
I will deliver a set of "raw" (unedited) master DVD's about a week after the event, for your archives, and future use. Check these DVD’s immediately for completeness and report any deficiency promptly. I retain the original master cassettes for safety.
Permission to release short segments
I would appreciate permission to release a few short film segments on my youtube.com channel, etc. I may do so at my own expense. If permission is given, we must be sure to agree in advance to specific wording of on-screen credits.
Expenses, materials
Additional expenses include cassette tape and DVD’s. Plan for about $50 per 8 hours of filming.
Expenses, Travel; & housing
Especially if you are paying the minimum, plan to cover my air and / or ground travel expenses, and housing. I will make every effort to minimize these expenses. For instance, in most cases I am perfectly happy to stay with a host in a private home, or at a Motel 6.
Payment
I will make every effort to make filming affordable for you. I generally require an absolute minimum of $200 per day, but I have a sliding scale. Since I am happy to film 8 hours (or more!) per day, you can see that these rates are very reasonable.
I require payment of half in advance, and I ask you to have the second half for me when I arrive.
Make checks payable to Dan Shaw.
Thank you
Thank you very much for considering hiring me to film your conference.
DanShaw.com
Privacy
I film only the speaker; I don't film the audience without explicit instructions and permission. I request that at the beginning of the event, the Master of Ceremonies mentions that I am filming on behalf of the conference organizers (C.O.), and that I am filming the speaker not the audience. Of course, under certain circumstances, e.g., if there is a question and answer session, C.O. may request that I do film the audience. I recommend that the M.C. also request attendees turn off their cell phones each time they convene.
Unobtrusiveness
Filming will not interfere with the speaker.
Filming live events, limitations
Because the event is live, we will film as best we can under the circumstances, but, we do not get second takes, etc., so some imperfections are unavoidable due to background sounds, poor lighting, limitations on camera placement, etc. Plan a brief pause between speakers for a microphone change, and film change.
Location scouting
If at all possible, the C.O. and filmmaker should scout the location in advance, at the same time of day the shoot will take place. Where are the electrical outlets? How is the lighting? Are there windows? Is the sun shining on the speaker from behind? Are there curtains, and can they be shut? Do the lights make noise or flicker? Does the ventilation, or other equipment or activity make noise? Can doors be shut? Murphy’s Law applies here.
Giving your filmmaker good direction
Provide the filmmaker with the most detailed schedule possible, and be sure to notify the filmmaker of changes to the schedule. The filmmaker will use his best judgment to get the most useful footage possible. You can help tremendously by giving the filmmaker good direction.
If the speaker is exceeding one hour, I may ask the speaker if they want to pause briefly while I change tape.
At any time, the speaker or C.O. can request that the filming be stopped.
Arranging for special footage
If there is an opportunity to get additional footage, such as private interviews (as opposed to lectures) plan ahead and arrange for these.
“B Roll”
Think ahead to plan what kinds of additional footage you might want, such as shots of all the attendees at the banquet, brief interview with the C.O., exhibitors, etc.
Breakout sessions
If there are concurrent breakout sessions, choose which you most want to be filmed.
Still photos
Plan to have a volunteer or to hire a photographer to get still photos, for instance, of honorees.
Filming Powerpoint presentations
If a speaker is using powerpoint I may or may not film the powerpoint, depending on my judgment. Various factors include: whether or not the slides convey information not conveyed by the speaker, whether the text is sufficient size to be legible, and whether the room lighting is sufficient to see the speaker. Most often, video quality is much improved by inserting the powerpoint images in post-production, though this can be time consuming, i.e., expensive. Be sure to get the presentation on disk for future use.
Equipment
I will be using a Canon HV20 hi-definition format. I will be using available (ambient) light.
Audio
If you have arranged for a sound system, I may be able to plug directly in to your sound system, with your audio guys' permission, and background noises will be minimized.
If you don’t have a sound system, I will put a wireless microphone on the speaker.
In some urban settings, a wired microphone is preferable to wireless, since some devices may interfere with wireless transmission.
Post-production editing
Post-production, if you wish to engage me for that, will be negotiated separately.
Meals and Perks
If you will be serving meals, please arrange to feed the filmmaker, and to serve the filmmaker early, first, late, or to go, depending on circumstances. Often the filmmaker barely has time to enjoy a meal. Filming a conference is not attending and participating at a conference, so the conference itself is not a ‘perk’.
Conference Organizer retains all rights
DanShaw.com will not release any footage without express written permission of C.O.
Delivery of Master DVD’s
I will deliver a set of "raw" (unedited) master DVD's about a week after the event, for your archives, and future use. Check these DVD’s immediately for completeness and report any deficiency promptly. I retain the original master cassettes for safety.
Permission to release short segments
I would appreciate permission to release a few short film segments on my youtube.com channel, etc. I may do so at my own expense. If permission is given, we must be sure to agree in advance to specific wording of on-screen credits.
Expenses, materials
Additional expenses include cassette tape and DVD’s. Plan for about $50 per 8 hours of filming.
Expenses, Travel; & housing
Especially if you are paying the minimum, plan to cover my air and / or ground travel expenses, and housing. I will make every effort to minimize these expenses. For instance, in most cases I am perfectly happy to stay with a host in a private home, or at a Motel 6.
Payment
I will make every effort to make filming affordable for you. I generally require an absolute minimum of $200 per day, but I have a sliding scale. Since I am happy to film 8 hours (or more!) per day, you can see that these rates are very reasonable.
I require payment of half in advance, and I ask you to have the second half for me when I arrive.
Make checks payable to Dan Shaw.
Thank you
Thank you very much for considering hiring me to film your conference.
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