Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Happy spring.

More on that later.

Man, am I frustrated. I've completed a massive update to Theo's blog, complete with multitudinous pictures and even a bunch of video, but there's one little niggling issue that keeps coming up, and I just can't post it until I figure it out. To that end, I just spent a whole bunch of time trying to find a solution, but I'm running up against dead ends.

The worst part is that I know what the problem is, I know how to fix it, I've downloaded some safe, reliable software to do it, and I have, in fact, done it, but there's a problem in that very last step that I can't figure out how to solve. What's worse is that the software I downloaded is freeware, so there's no such thing as an instruction manual, or even an FAQ. To stop now, though, would be throwing away all the work I've done so far, which I just can't do. Argh!

I give up, but only for now. I am going to make it happen. In the words of Wayne, "She will be mine; oh yes, she will be mine."

What's the problem? Well, it sounds really nerdy, and quite anal, but I'll confess to both of those things. The problem, you see, is that I have these great videos of Theo that I so desperately want to put on his blog. The problem is that our digital camera shoots in .MOV format, and You Tube doesn't like that format. Specifically, it decides to put the whole video out-of-sync. Usually, this is not much of an issue (even though I notice and it bugs me). With this particular video (and one other I shot), it is an issue, because the audio is dependent on the video; if they're out of sync, it just doesn't make sense. And they're not a little out of sync--they're way out.

I consulted the almighty You Tube help section, and found that what it wants are videos shot in .AVI or .WMV format, with MPEG-4 video encoding and MP3 audio encoding. Who knew? Who even knows what that is? Okay, I do--please reread the above about being nerdy.

Thinking and typing about my train of thought is actually making me realize what a total nerd I am. Anyway. Off I went to one of my favourite sites on the web (extraordinarily useful, and he also publishes a monthly newsletter that's so worth getting, even if you're not as much of a geek as I am), and found a free video encoder that would handle my needs. Downloaded it, installed it, and came up with the problem I'm currently dealing with. Grr.

Cool, two onomatopeias in one posting.

Moving on. Because I feel particularly defeated by technology, and because I'm too tired to think of anything really witty to write (or even sort-of witty--the well is dry, I'm afraid), it's going to be a picture posting today (which reminds me of Picture Pages--two separate links there--with Bill Cosby, but I digress).

Steph went for a walk today and was kind enough to snap some shots for me. First off, as you saw at the beginning of the blog, it wasn't exactly the greatest start to the day today. However, by the time the afternoon rolled around, it was quite nice, with no trace of the earlier snow. Of course, in the evening, it got all wind storm on us, and it's just snowed again, so whatever. They say the weather here is unpredictable, and now I know why.

Anyway. As you can see, the last vestiges of the snow are disappearing...

Someday soon...

A couple interesting shots: the edge of town...

Just out of town, looking back in...

And some interesting things we see across the fields...

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for. We realized that alas, there was no picture of the majestic three hills the town is so aptly named after. Well, you've all waited a long time for this, so here they are...

What, can't you see them? Look closely, right in the back there. Yes, those three little pre-pubescent lumps on the horizon are the legendary three hills. Wow.

Alas, I have not yet been able to watch this week's 24, but I did something much better tonight in having a long conversation with my parents on the phone, so it was worth it. I hear I'm not in for much, so that's good (with the episode, not the phone call). I'll have some sardonic comments tomorrow, perhaps.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by. Hope you're enjoying your week, and see you tomorrow.