Doors and Windows
Goals are open doors to those who pursue them, but they become only windows to those who don't.
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Blabberbox: | Random blog-like posts from pftq. |  |
Encore CS4 - Invalid MPEG Error
Been using the new Encore CS4 for a DVD the last few weeks, and just when I finished the editing and was ready to burn, the program returned an error claiming there was an invalid MPEG. This happens during the build process (creating the DVD). Took several days and many wasted discs for me to figure this out so I thought I might share.
Things to check for:
- Red frames in MPEG video. Even those exported from Premiere can end up with problems. Sometimes you just end up with a bad file and need to re-render the file.
- Bad Import. …[More]
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Ambitious Perfection
People say I am ambitious. I seek objectives; I hunger for accomplishment. But to simply call me ambitious is an understatement. I am not hungry; I am starved, ravenous. I do not seek objectives; I make them. I cannot remain satisfied without a goal, a purpose, cannot remain satisfied even if I did have a goal or purpose. I must always have results, excitement, change. I must see the world blaze about me, hear the thunder of progress roar past me. I must smell achievement at every corner. I must taste the power of drive and anxiety.
I am also a perfectionist. I attain to every niche and detail of all that I do. If it holds but a single flaw, it must be fixed, redone, or scrapped from existence. My tolerance for the world is high, just not for myself. Everything I do must meet my expectations. No. Everything I do must exceed my expectations, must breathe and echo success.
I am also a perfectionist. I attain to every niche and detail of all that I do. If it holds but a single flaw, it must be fixed, redone, or scrapped from existence. My tolerance for the world is high, just not for myself. Everything I do must meet my expectations. No. Everything I do must exceed my expectations, must breathe and echo success.
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Crackling Audio in Premiere Pro CS3
This has been a problem for as long as I remember (even in Premiere 6.5), but it’s only beginning to bug me again after CS3. Not sure if it’s because of the version or if I’m starting to use audio effects more often. In any case, I’m finding that exporting video with even slight audio enhancements (highpass, pitch, etc) often causes crackling. It doesn’t happen all the time; usually it occurs with more complicated timelines (nested sequences).
Although it may help to lower volume or lessen the effects, an easier method I’ve found is to export the audio by itself first (Export > Audio). You’ll end up with a wav file (uncompressed I believe) which you can re-import into your timeline and use. You’ll notice your wav file has no crackling; this you can use to replace your video’s audio.
It’s a bit of a hassle, but at least you don’t have to get rid of your effects or lower the volume of your video. Bit strange that it exports audio just fine but messes up when…[More]
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Increase in Phishing Emails
Been noticing an increase in phishing/scam emails the past few days (5 in last 3 days..). Thing that bothers me is they have my real email address, so not sure what that would signify. It’s also coming from a lot of major sites, so that’s something to be aware of - including hotscripts.com, cnet, amazon, ebay. Makes me worry if they have my real email - why they bother to send fake ones.
Quick way to check is to see who it’s from - the name right before .com or .net or anything like that should be the actual site. Many times, if it’s fake, it won’t be correct (though some go as far as to spoof that as well).
Another way to tell it’s a scam email is to hover your mouse over the links (don’t click though). Pretty darn obvious if the links don’t go back to the website (cnet, ebay, etc). It’s also obvious when all the links are the same - which has happened on most scam emails I get.
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Delta Shield for Cell Phones
So I was reading about this Delta Shield in the news the other day. Supposedly, cellphones emit harmful EMF radiation that can cause cancer and otherwise. That I have heard often enough, but the article here claims that the Delta Shield, a small sticker placed on the back of the phone, can reduce harmful EMF by 93%.
Makes me wonder what would have to be in that sticker to cause such an effect and whether or not it would mess with your cell phone connection (otherwise, most phones would already have this sticker attached no?). I’ve tried looking this product up on several sites already. Google doesn’t bring up any reviews or information other than the main site and some duplicate news articles.
Has anyone actually tried this item before? Scam yes, no?…[More]
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Back to Canasta
I’m starting to play Canasta again lately. For those who do not know, it is a card game - some say it’s similar to Rummy or Jin. It’s one of the few card games out there that require skill and is still fun to play… I guess you could say it’s like a Real-Time-Strategy version of a card game. Coincidentally, my test scores went up when I started playing again. :O
I mainly play on Yahoo Games right now: 2 card draw and 2 canasta-out. It’s funny how hard it is to start playing again. Just loss 4 games in a row and pretty much crashed my rating (used to be above 1900). I’ll get there eventually though. ^_^
If anyone wants to play a match, let me know. I always welcome a challenge.
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Playing Piano
Yay, I’ve gone from game design, to programming, to video editing, and now finally playing a few things. Nothing big yet, but it’s not bad. Added a new Music section to the site gallery. Let me know what you guys think and how I can improve. I’m not doing any sound editing yet, just plain keyboard piano, but maybe later I’ll look into it. Some guides would be nice if you guys have any. 
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