General Archives - Page 2 of 3

Chromebook Review

December 23, 2012 By Gary Leave a Comment

My much anticipated Chromebook has arrived and I am continuing to put it through it’s paces. Let me give you the summary first: I love it.

OK, now for the details. I actually bought two Chromebooks:

One for my wife that has WiFi only.
One for me that has both WiFi and 3G.

Chromebook Setup

Chromebook Picture Once I unboxed the systems, it was a matter of connecting to WiFi (and activating my 3G connection for the 3G enabled machine). Once I did that and logged in with my Google ID, everything was there. Email, GDrive, Google Apps. When you open it up, it turns on. When you close it, it turns off. Turning it on takes about 8-10 seconds. It probably takes another 5-10 seconds for it to properly connect to the WiFi service. After that, you are good to go. If it takes you longer than 5 minutes to have it running after you take it out of the box, you must have gotten interrupted!

Using the Chromebook

Well, I am actually typing this article on my new Chromebook. I will have to say that I prefer my normal keyboard, but this one isn’t bad. I can touch type just fine and I am not making a bunch of typos because the keys aren’t where I expect them to be. Overall, the keyboard is quite usable.

Bluetooth

In general, I don’t like to use touch pads for navigation. I much prefer a mouse. So, when I bought this computer, I also purchased a Bluetooth mouse. I had read in the reviews that the Chromebook included bluetooth, but it wasn’t entirely obvious whether it only included the drivers to make it work or if it also includes the bluetooth transmitter/receiver. Well, it does include the transmitter/receiver. I purchased a Dell bluetooth mouse and it works great.

Touch Pad

As I said above, I am not very found of touch pads. However, I would have to say that the touch pad on this system is one of the better touch pads I have ever used, for the following reasons:

The “click” has a very tactile feel. When you want to click, there is a very obvious, analog-type “click”. That way, you aren’t left wondering whether the computer actually picked up you click or not.
There are “gestures” that make the usage of touch pad much more usable. For instance, you can keep one finger on the touch pad and drag down with another finger and the screen scrolls. There are other gestures as well.

So, even though I have a mouse, I will still use the touch pad at times … and when I don’t want to drag my mouse around the house as I am using this machine, I won’t really mind using the touch pad.

That’s all for now. Look for more review information in part two of this review.

Running Sound on Sunday Morning

December 2, 2012 By Gary Leave a Comment

“The levels are all pre-set. Don’t touch any of them”.

Has anyone said this to you before a service? Maybe today?

If so, we know one thing for sure. It is going to be messed up. At least it will if anyone shows up for the service. Creating a mix in an empty auditorium has little bearing on how it will actually sound once the room has people in it. Anyone who has any A/V skill knows this and has experienced it. One might be able to argue that you can set up the “relative” mix ahead of time and all that needs to be done is change the “overall” volume. But human bodies are going to absorb sound of one frequency more than another. One instrument or voice may utilizing that frequency heavily and therefore, the mix is off. A much approach would be “We have it pre-set to a good starting point. I’m sure you will need to make adjustments as we go.”This is one of the more remarks that someone (who obviously isn’t a “sound person”) can say. Essentially they telling you that they got the mix to sound like they want and they don’t want you messing it up.

Sound Board Knobs

I just had an experience where I was playing guitar on stage with a group. After the service was over, several people noted that my guitar was “way too loud”. I simply said, “Not my thing … I’m just playing. I have absolutely no idea how loud it is and no control over how loud it is” (I was not using an amp. The House PA was the only amplification). So, when the Sound Guy was asked why he was running the guitar so loud, his response was that someone had “told him” that everything was preset … leave it alone.

Now, I don’t know who would have told him that … and at this point it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that as a Sound Guy, it is your responsibility to make the sound good. Whether someone else thinks they have it set or not. Again, it goes back to “playing the sound board”. You are a musician. Listen, adjust, listen, adjust, listen …

But, in the final analysis, as we all know, whether you touch the sound board or not, whether you have the mix perfect or not, there will be someone who finds the mix is not to their liking. Such is the lot of the sound guy.

Is there a “pad” in your future?

November 22, 2012 By Gary Leave a Comment

It’s happening! The world is starting to utilize cloud computing in natural, meaningful ways. Who would have thought that the instigator would be a computer without a hard drive, keyboard or mouse? Yes, I’m talking about touch pad computing … iPads, Android pads, whatever kind of pad is your personal favorite.

If you haven’t noticed, this is the next wave of computing. I’m not talking about the next consumer favorite. This is much bigger than that. Because the proliferation of touch pads will drive the next revolution: Cloud Computing. Apple has recognized this. That is why they introduced iCloud.

It only makes sense. There is a basic problem with the personal computer. It hardly ever gets backed up. According to my (not so through) research, only 1 in 200 personal computers is backed up on any kind of a regular basis (if they are outside of a data center). We all know that every hard drive ever made will eventually crash. From this, we can interpolate that 99.5% of all data stored on a personal computer will eventually be lost.

So, what if there was no “real” data storage. Where would you put your data? On the cloud! There are lots of companies out there who will gladly store your data forever for free (limited amounts for free, nominal fees for larger amounts). No need to back up. If your computer dies … your data is still in the cloud. Buy a new computer … your data is still in the cloud. It’s a great solution. I personally use DropBox for my cloud data storage and Google is announcing a new service called Google Drive where you can get 5 gb of storage for free and more than that if you want to pay a small monthly fee (it is so cheap it is ridiculous).

But, “what about a keyboard?” you say. There are a number of bluetooth keyboard options for iPads that work great. I have one integrated with the cover for my iPad. It basically turns it into a small, ultra-portable notebook. Open it up and it is on! No booting and the battery lasts forever. It is great for carrying around to committee meetings or any time you want to have a computer but don’t want to lug around a notebook. The other alternative to this is the Google Chromebook, which is a notebook form-factor (though it is very thin, sleek and light) with long batter life (like 7 hours!). I am going to get one of these newest Samsung Chromebook as soon as the 3G versions become available. I already have an iPad.

If you don’t already have one of these at your church, you will. Why not get on the bandwagon now? Try it out and see if you agree!

– The Church Tech