140 characters isn't always enough.

I have all of my DVDs backed up to XVid AVI files, and stored on a Drobo connected to my Vista Ultimate x64 machine. The two TVs in the house connect to this library using Linksys Media Extenders (one DMA2100, another DMA2200). After a while, the sheer number of videos I had started making the Extender’s UI sluggish, so I began organizing the movies alphabetically into folders. The problem with this is that its an extra step for me when importing a file, and it is very easy to forget what movies you have put in recently — so I made a “New Releases” folder and added shortcuts. Again, an extra step.

I figured this morning…why not create a simple AIR app that will list all of my AVIs, allow me to maintain the “New Releases”, and respond to a Drop event by properly storing the AVI in the right directory (e.g. d:\Movies\A\Anger Management.avi).

So, I did it in a couple of hours and was it ever fun

Here is a picture:

Next I’d like to add a special tab for TV Shows… maybe I’ll do that now.

In building this, I did find a couple problems with AIR that I’m sure will get better over time:

• No system.exec style capability. I’d wanted to be able to inspect the video files to get some metadata from them, as well as capture a screen to make the display a bit nicer. To do so I’d hoped to call a command line program that could give me that. Not really an option.
• The File class can’t create symbolic links/shortcuts… it can only detect and handle them. This means my new releases are basically copies of the file. The media extenders read shortcuts, so having symlink creation capability would be very slick.

Last year I started noticing many of my friends were using Facebook messaging more than email itself. On average I’d have several messages from friends daily on Facebook, and the facebook statuses would tell me what I didn’t hear directly.

Now I’m beginning to notice that more and more people are becoming active on Twitter and checking their Facebook profile less often. I can’t help but think that it is in our nature to babble on about what we are doing/thinking and hold impromptu conversations.

Lately, I have even personally used Twitter as a replacement for email. I’m beginning to believe that the ultimate social medium on the internet will be extremely simple and be able to be mapped back to basic, ad hoc communication performed in the real world by humans all of the time. Using Twitter where email was used previously is a great example of this. When you have a conversation over email, you are choosing who can listen in. This is akin to holding a meeting. Sure, emails get forwarded to unintended recipients but the idea here is that email = private, limited audience. When you hold a conversation over Twitter, you have an audience in mind but in the back of your mind you realize that you are broadcasting your conversation to anyone who wishes to listen.

We seem to be moving into an era of transparency, where privacy is still a big concern but we are realizing that there are things we can easily share about ourselves on a continual basis that help other people to understand more about who we are, and as such allows them to interpret your more serious statements / blog posts, etc. This transparency is making online social networking really work. Facebook allows me to stay connected to people I know, while Twitter allows me to meet new people as well as stay connected with those I do know.

I wonder what the next progression will be?

In my tradition of writing a blog post whenever possible to expose Air Canada being nasty, and in some cases down right horrible to its customers, check out this CBC story:
Tribunal finds Air Canada discriminated against disabled man

Basically they were telling this deaf and partially blind man that he needed to have an attendant (and likely the expenses incurred in having one) in order to fly. Meanwhile, people who cannot walk are happily accomadated sans attendant.

Luckily they have to pay up for their ignorance, insensitivity and stupidity.

On a side note, this is probably my last year in Air Canada’s loyalty program unless I get some major work travel. I’ve been Elite or Super Elite since 2001, often based on personal travel alone, but am officially moving to a zero loyalty stance with the airline since they have made it harder for me to use my upgrade certificates and are seriously gouging customers on regional routes (often, I can get to Europe for the same price as getting to Moncton — a 2 hour flight.)

• @duanechaos not Japan? #
• Ok, I have to stop reading twitter — fricken Fedor fight spoilers! #
• MMA is so much better to watch than boxing. #
• wow… Fedor… tidy victory. #
• woo hoo, 100 followers. only about 20,000 to go to catch up to @bitpakkit! #
• @matzeller also, VisualHub is no longer under development. in reply to matzeller #
• @snoopdogg has over 6,000 followers and is following nobody. Now that’s marketing old skool style, y’all. #
• Reading “Good To Great” by Jim Collins. So far, lots of head nodding happening here. #
• @AlanKhalfin I tried sugar in my Pho…but I think the Pho broth was marginal so I didn’t get the effect. Will try again… I wanna believe #
• @duanechaos how long in T.O.? #
• @duanechaos transit? #
• @duanechaos cramped schedule. Probably better than ship deadlines though… Ugh. #
• @yojibee geez! I thought Europe was (among other things) known for fast trains. Busses? Yuuuuck! #
• Twitter: The Life Transparent. Good? Who cares. #
• @davejohnson now that’s an idea… Let me know what your impressions in win7 are… #
• @matzeller what audio encoding settings did you try? I always go xvid with mp3 160 and that seems to be perfect for my uses… #
• Going from iphone back to Blackberry has been interesting. RIM: do we need “save?” Confirmations everywhere? Really. #
• @yojibee my mistake. Ne’er been to Norway. #
• @yojibee I learned that much this evening thanks to you #
• @MossyBlog red robin? That’s disgusting. Shame. #
• @MossyBlog I dunno… I’ve only been to red robin in Vancouver and it has a negative lasting impression. Ymmv. #
• Watching Clerks for the thousanth time I think. Bravo Mr. Smith. #

If you can’t eat it, why not make a cozy and stylish hat out of it?

Some US news outlets are reporting that General Dynamic’s “Sectera Edge” will/may be what Obama uses as his Blackberry. I just wanted to point out that its not a blackberry…

Check out the website which has a spec sheet, etc… here.

It’s a deal that had been in the making for months, but I can finally say that MixMatchMusic has acquired Duane and I’s most recent startup, Mix2r.FM. The guys over at MixMatchMusic are fanatical about making a venue for musicians to collaborate with each other, publicize themselves and monetize their work, and I am really happy to be joining forces with them to push things forward.

From MixMatchMusic’s About page:

“MixMatchMusic is the new music community created by musicians, for and about musicians. We’ve created an environment where musicians easily collaborate online and profit from their art. We’ve built tools musicians need to engage with and involve fans. And we’ve put shape to a place where fans discover new music and new musicians.”

If you are a musician or fan, please come check out the site. You can also become a fan on facebook.