Product Review: Go Pro Hero, take one

I purchased this with some very specific projects in mind.  I will be going to Haiti in a few weeks and spending lots of time in vehicle while there. So first project was off roading in Haiti.  Also while there I was hoping to get some time lapse of some of the things we will see.  So for these applications the Go Pro is the go to.

Out of the box you really can't appreciate how small this thing is.  I think the sensor in my XH-A1 is bigger, which really left me wondering how it would do in the HD  video trials.  The underwater housing feels VERY sturdy between that and the locking mechanism I had a lot of warm fuzzies about getting this thing in the water.  I ordered the Motorsports Hero, because the mounting options seemed like they would be the most bang for the buck.

It arrived today, and in 5 minutes I had it set up for the car trip home.  I set it to take 1 picture every :30.  I ended up with almost 150 pictures.  What do you do with 150 pictures, well you import them in to Quick Time Pro as a image sequence, and make it a time lapse video, of course.

I want to stress I have had this thing out of the box all of 10 minutes prior to this test.  The first thing I noticed is the suction cup mounting is no joke, it's the real deal. I put it in my car on my windshield like a GPS. I didn't like that I couldn't see what I was shooting so I think the LCD monitor may be a necessity.
 
As you can see once every :30 is way to long between pictures, so tomorrow on my way to work I will do the same test but set it to take every :05.  Effectively giving 6 times more pictures but hopefully as better result.  I also hope to test the submersion sometime this week as well. I will hopefully post those results in the second and possibly third take of this review.  I am also looking forward to seeing how it functions like a video camera without alot of the no needed nonsense a photo camera has.

 

Facebook Win

I always hear a lot about churches and social media.  About how some do it and some do it badly.  I also hear lots of people that are of the opinion that you can't build a community on-line. For example, our senior pastor who thinks "if you're on facebook and over 30, you're a perv." 

I think that might be a bit drastic.  I would temper that with: you can't build an "effective" community "only" on-line. 

Perfect example, I am not a huge facebook fan.  I'm just not.  That said I do check it about once a month, I post on it may once every 2 months.  So I'm not super active, but I have friend-ed of most of my family coworkers and some random friends from other places. Just your below average connections. 

I found out today my grandfather passed away last night.  My grandfather was very close to me, and played a very special role in my life.  I called my immediate family and then I posted it on facebook, if for no other reason than it seemed a safe way to kinda give my coworkers a "heads up I am going to have some baggage when I come into the office tomorrow, consider yourself warned."  I went upstairs and put my kids to bed, when I came down I literally had 30 emails from friends, family, and coworkers, all saying they were sorry for my loss.

It made me realize a few things;
 1st Wow I am really well loved.
 2nd  facebook responses are perfect in this scenario.
Why?
Because, right now I am not really in the mood to talk to anyone. Flat out, I just don't want everyone calling me right this minute. I am still kinda raw.  However, seeing all these short messages are great because doesn't seem trite to me, it seem like people acknowledging that I have some stuff going on and are giving me some space to work though it.  Tomorrow, I am sure some of the same people will come up to me in the hall and give me a hug and a quick encouragement, but right now the short facebook messages are keeping me going.

So consider that when you think about how your church should handle social networking.

Until now I never looked at social media as the "right tool" for any job. I always saw it as a tool, but on the whole not worth the effort.  However, right now I do see the value.

coworkers

I have the privilege of working with some of the greatest people.  I love my line of work, but the people I work with really make it WORTH it.  Typically during staff meetings we read "you go cards" if some one is doing a great job you fill one of these out for them and it gets read to the staff.  I wanted to take an opportunity to really give props to a couple of my coworkers in a way that would never fit on one these little cards.   The names have been left to protect that innocent.

Our first Impressions coordinator is one of the most awesome people I know.  I laugh because she is so small but man her presence is the biggest in almost any room.  SHE BRINGS IT!! As a result our first impressions is awesome, and I mean awesome! It is one of the areas I think we could do a conference on that people from other churches would get a lot out of. Her team really has almost no overlap with my team and I whatsoever, but you would never know it overhearing our conversations before/after service.  I have literally joined some leaders from her team to share cake right off the plastic box because we ran out of plates, talking about the evening services like war veterans, proud of a hard days fighting.  There is literally nothing that team can't do, don't believe me, just them.  She has brought together a team that is able to BRING IT as well. It amazes me that her and the few people who work with her are able to manage so many volunteers. but beyond that they really care about their people, they are involved in their lives and as a result their people really care about everyone else. 

The other person is our worship leader.  First thing I want you to notice there is I said worship leader not leader(s).  He is by far the most talented person I have ever met, and if you don't believe me just ask him, Kidding. 

I am not sure how many other churches our size, have only 1 paid musician on staff for the weekend services, but if I had to guess it would be none.  Most churches smaller than us pay some of their musicians, or have multiple bands and/or worship leaders.  Our singers/bands are all volunteers, but you would never know that listening to them.  All of this would make it real easy for him to have a chip on his shoulder, and I would even argue a justified chip, but he couldn't be further from that. He would give you the shirt off his back if you asked for it. From the get go I wasn't sure we would ever get along, but after working together for literally years now ... well it still amazes me that we get a long. That said he has a passion for excellence that is undeniable, he gets results that are unarguable, and if I put another u word in their and this blog becomes indescribable. 

Some of you will get that later. 

The short story is he is and awesome guy and I love working with him.

Ok back to our regularly scheduled bitterness next time :-)