Recently, I was kicking off about the lack of ‘sequence mode’ on the new Nokia N8. Sequence mode, for the uninitiated, is basically a way to set the device to snap every ten, twenty or thirty seconds (depending on your preferred setting), basically allowing you to create awesome timelapse videos direct from your mobile phone.
It’s quite a fun feature that’s been present in leading Nokia handsets for several years. Alas, it is lacking in the N8.
However, to my rescue, here comes super-talented coder, Iain Wallace. Shortly after I tweeted about the disappearance of one of my favourite modes of Nokias gone by, Iain reached out and asked if I’d be a tester for an app that would do just that. I said yes (obviously) and have been messing around with ‘Lapsed’ for most of the afternoon.
This is my first take, it’s not brilliant but, expect more in the future…
The app itself isn’t open for public beta (yet) and isn’t available to download (yet). Iain’s still very much in alpha creation mode (many new dev libraries required etc) BUT, eventually, we might see something like this on the Ovi Store… Maybe.
I started writing this post nearly three weeks ago, way back when November was coming to a close and I’d just about made it to the end of National Vlog Post Month (NaVloPoMo). If you missed the explanation at the start of it all, then apologies – the general gist was to upload a new video every day, for the entire month of November. Consider this a review, if you will.
Final score? 28/30
Not bad for my first attempt, wouldn’t you say?
The two that I missed were Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd respectively. The former was my birthday and, while I did actually manage to record and upload a video in time, the quality was so frickin’ bad – I’m refusing to put it up. The latter however, was the day after my birthday and, given that the party guests only started to leave around 7ish on Sunday morning, I think I can let this one pass.
Either way, two other videos were made for the weekend in question and, if the creators don’t mind, I think I’ll submit them as entries for those days. Guest entries if you will. First, my NaVloPoMo partner in crime, Benny Crime, with his ‘Happy Birthday Whatleydude‘ entry and second, creator of all things NaVloPoMo, Rupert Howe, for this awesome ‘Whatley’s evil twin‘ video.
While Benny’s is suitably bonkers, Rupert’s definitely needs some explanation, but you’ll have to wait for another day for that I’m afraid…
In the meantime one upshot from making video every day for a month is the enforced, creative experimentation of it all.
Much has happened over the past couple of months and there is much to catch up on.
The ‘Tales from my Moleskine‘ series is only halfway through (so expect something from there to appear here next), there is a lot of random video content I still want to throw together and of course, there’s just a crap load of normal life stuff I want to share.
So watch this space, I’ll be back soon…
“Changed for good, my output has.
To what end, remains to be seen…”
It was my birthday last weekend and, as quite possibly the best birthday present I’ve ever been given, my girlfriend sprung two tickets to Paris this weekend.
However, not content with taking me to the most romantic city in the world, seeing the sights, taking in the museums and generally doing ‘the tourist thing’ – my lady also decided to check us into the coolest hotel I have ever seen.
Don’t believe me?
The future is here. The future is now. The future is Omar Sharif.
Swung by the Pink Pigeon offices to see Benny yesterday, we’re both trying to help each other out as the end of NaVloPoMo approaches fast and well, it’s always easier filming off the cuff stuff when you’ve someone else to bounce off.
Something to lighten the mood if you will.
This is us, messing about.. As usual.
Done here? Want more? Seriously… I’m still laughing at what Benny managed to pull together from the ten minutes of madness that we spent larking around leading up to the above exchange.
One key thing that was an amazing constant throughout the Lucozade Challenges was that no matter what far flung corner of the world we found ourselves in, we always had an awesome, local guide to train us and look after us.
For the last challenge, yacht-racing in the Caribbean, we had this guy, Rob Brinkworth.
An Englishman through and through, Rob took great pride in telling us about the Stars and Stripes yacht we were to race, he’d been looking after the boats themselves for years. In the short time we spent on St Maarten, Rob educated us all in the ways of the 12-metre challenge, he made us feel confident enough to handle this multi-million dollar winner of a vessel and at the same time made sure that we respected his word and his skill as a fine seafaring yachtsman.
A fantastic teacher, I remember Rob expressing to us at the end of the week how much he had really enjoyed coaching us all in the science behind sailing and reminisced about his days as an instructor educating school teachers on how to sail, preparing them for a Summer of PGL (a UK institution set up for children to take part in activity courses, such as sailing). He had rediscovered his love of sharing knowledge and, as we left St Maarten at the end of the week, I sensed that maybe there might be change in his future.
Sadly, Rob died last week.
Struck down by an aggressive illness, his life was cut short before he could put any such plans into action.
I heard the news late yesterday afternoon. Al, one of the winners from the challenge, had stayed in touch with Rob after we left. After he told me I immediately started trawling through my files… The following video is put together from all the footage I took while under his tutelage.
Rob, this is for you mate:
While waiting for the video to export, I checked through my notes to clarify a few dates and I found this entry, the last one I made before we left the Caribbean –
Moleskine entry: September 16th, 2009
Race Day
“Later at the bar that evening, Rob tells us that today’s race was kind of a big deal for him. The night before he had called a meeting between our crew, the opposing crew and the race judge. They all agreed that the race today would be ‘for real’.
You see they race these boats day in and day out and could’ve quite easily made some decisions (that wouldn’t have been obvious to us), that meant they would’ve handed us the race. Rob, having trained us all week and seen how we respected the skill and the effort that went into it, insisted that this would be the case.
He told the rest of the staff that the race was to be exactly that.
No fudging it for anyone.
“Throw everything you’ve got at us.” he told them “Try and thrash us. If you do, it’ll be their fault. If you don’t, well then.. they’re awesome. Either way, these guys will not appreciate being handed the race and will know if you do…”
Wow. What a guy. I for one am very glad he called it like that because, come the finish line, yes we came second – a very close second in fact. But boy did we earn it.”
Good luck Rob, wherever you are.
Your friends, old and new, remember you well.
This is today’s navlopomo, I know I have a couple of days MIA from the weekend, but I’ll get round to fixing that sooner or later. I have the videos, I just haven’t published them yet. I’ll be sure to link back to them when they’re backdated and up.
Operation Concrete, at its core, is a collaborative media project. It brings together the aesthetic and audio qualities of art and music around the power of the written word to provide the viewer, listener, reader, with a complete experience.
Operation Concrete is also, at its core, a fantastic experiment by good friend of mine, Rich Galbraith. I guess I’ve known Rich properly now since September last year when he was part of the team that ran the Nokia OpenLab event in Helsinki that I spoke at. Back then he was telling me about Concrete Operational, the book behind the project…
Germany Germany, a man who was free, a man who loved, now an instrument in their machine. They have turned him into the very thing he hates, what he and everyone he loved fought against, the world’s greatest celebrity, a tool in the subjugation of man.
.
But the memories of freedom and love remain, and he will fight and change the course of human history for the better, but at what end?
.
As humanity progresses and turns to face the eternal black of the universe, the questions of free will and fate, of love and peace, of the riddles of time itself will arise and Germany will be called upon. But is his will strong enough, his his mind ready to breach the void and provide us with salvation?
All of this aside, Rich is great guy and when he invited me to the launch party of the exhibition as a whole, I was over the moon. Alas, I will be out of the country that night and am unable to make it along.
However, I am in the country RIGHT NOW and fortunately enough, so is Rich. I caught up with him at lunchtime earlier today so he could tell me more – what I didn’t know, was that Rich had had the first of the limited set of project boxes made up with him…
It’s very nice… and I want one.
If you’re free this coming Thursday, November 26th. Get yourself along to Vibe Bar on Brick Lane in London’s Shoreditch from about 8pm onwards. Rich will be on hand to tell you all about the book, the bands and the art…
I started writing this post nearly three weeks ago, way back when November was coming to a close and I’d just about made it to the end of National Vlog Post Month (
whatleydude.com 