Today I tested a wired lav mic with my Kodak zi8. We bought a couple for work along with a couple of microphones. One is a hand held Sony microphone and another is an Audio Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone that is clipped on. The zi8 inherently pics up a lot of background noise with its internal microphone. Actually most pocket video cameras do. This is why the availability of an external mic jack on the zi8 is so great. We’ve used my personal zi8 with a hand held mic before and that was fine. We’ve never used a lav with it before.

I ran some tests today and the immediate difference in the quality between the internal and external mic was enough to convince one of my co-workers to purchase one immediately for his zi8. I will be purchasing one for myself this weekend. I need to order other items, so I am waiting until I have my shopping list completed. I’m just surprised at how well it exceeded my expectations.

I want to do some outdoor tests tomorrow if it isn’t raining. I am hoping that I can make a quick little video and post it on YouTube to play here for those that are interested. So stay tuned!

This happens to be my first post from my Mac-mini. Yep. I finally got one. I was planning on purchasing an iMac, but we were given a good deal on a nearly new Mac-mini that we couldn’t pass up. It will absolutely serve its purpose for me (to develop on).

Because the Mac mini doesn’t come with a keyboard, mouse or monitor, I had to purchase them. I could have used a KVM switch but Josh said for me to go ahead and look for a monitor, so I did. I ended up with a 20″ that it matched my Windows machine. Score. The only issue is that the stand on the new one is taller so there is a good half of an inch in height difference. I’ll figure out a way to resolve that issue sometime in the near future.

For the mouse I went ahead and bought the Magic Mouse from Apple. We had just bought some for a few members of the team (I’m still on a PC at work, let’s not go there) so I had played with them a bit. They are quite lovely. It took a while to find the magic setting for the speed of my mouse movements. I’m quite happy with it. It wasn’t the cheapest mouse but I’m not bothered by the cost. That says a lot considering I am not keen on spending the money Josh and I work so hard for.

For the keyboard I purchased the bluetooth wireless keyboard from Apple. It’s small and it threw Josh off a bit by not having directional keys and the lack of the +9 keyboard. All was well until the next morning. The batteries that came with the keyboard were nearly dead and the keyboard kept losing connection. Not good. I put in a new set and all was well. Or at least I thought it was. Another day and a half later and I had to put in another set of batteries. This time I started researching the problem. Lo and behold, there’s a problem with the apple bluetooth wireless keyboard and the Magic Mouse. I tried all of the suggestions but to no avail. I again had to replace the batteries. That was when I decided to just get the good old wired keyboard. It’s not as convenient as the wireless but changing batteries every 1.5 days isn’t very convenient either. Neither is it economical or environmentally friendly.

So I’m using a mac. I’m still using my PC too. I think in my line of work, it’s naive to think that I should only use one OS. Things vary just enough to cause very big headaches.

I’m only using the keyboard and the mouse for the Mac though. I’ve been using Synergy to link my Windows machine and my Mac together.

So what does all this mean? Not a whole lot. It just now gives me the tools I need for the development I want to do outside of work. Or it could mean that my path to take over the world is setting into place. Muh ha ha!

Oh yeah. I bought an iTouch too. That came first though. Again, for development.