The iFad

The iPad2. It's "cool." I witnessed first hand the madness these caused when they were released, and the lines that they produced outside our local Apple store.
Okay, so the line wasn't outside. Okay, so the line wasn't really a line... still, it caused enough of a buzz that I was asked to grab a VO/SOT on my way back from the state house about it.
It's a nifty little thing. Cameras front and back(poor quality), touch screen, runs apps, doesn't run flash. It's missing a bunch of things it's competitors have, so Apple brands it as being "uber light weight." It's a lot like buying a Ferrari and being told it doesn't come with the seats or gas pedal... or the keys...or the engine. It looks pretty, has a lot of potential, but you need to buy the necessary things to get it running properly. Sitting next to the iPad2 was the "Dock", the wireless keyboard you can buy for it, the media card reader accessory, and the wall adapter so you can recharge it. Once you've paid for all that you're broke and then you realize you should have bought a laptop as thats what you now essentially have.
There's been talk of these making an impact on the TV news industry. To tell the truth I don't see that and I was staring the thing right in the eyes.
For one, there will be a new iThingy introduced every year making the previous years technology obsolete. The inability to invest in this device long term will be one of the deciding factors in it's ability to make an impact on an industry that needs consistency. While my Panasonic AG-HPX500 may cost 12 times as much as the iPad, it wont be obsolete next year. Nor will it be useless due to a cracked screen or dead battery within two years. That camera I'm holding is pushing 4 years old and it's rocking harder than Keith Richards did a century ago. It may only have one lens but that lens can zoom in on the tick on a dogs ass from 100 yards away, and it can do so in damn near complete darkness. Why would I need to do that? No clue. But at least you have the option, and you didn't even need to shell out another two hundred bucks to get it.

Lessons learned

Today is my birthday. It is also the one year anniversary of me starting my job at Fox44. In that year I've learned many a things but I feel the most important of those is to have a laugh.
Whether you are a staffer for some national paper waiting on El Presidente to return to his private jet, or a lonely photog stuck on the side of the interstate as the clock strikes midnight and you suddenly turn a year older. You have to find a way to laugh.
Laughing breaks up the monotony, the stress, or the horror of any job... especially news.
You can see it in most professions where people deal with...there's no other way to put it... shit. Laughing is a way to get through the times when you would otherwise snap and punch that co-worker who's been begging for an ass kicking, right in the face.
So when I realized I had turned 25 on the side of an interstate in the gray space between markets, surrounded by people I did not know, I looked for a reason to laugh. I found my laugh in the form of a reporter(go figure) from WHDH. Unhappy he had to travel all the way north to Littleton, NH to cover a bus roll-over he looked for reasons to be happy. He found it in the form of a sign on the side of the highway that read "Canada    70", indicating we were 70 miles south of Canada. This seemed to really amuse him and that made me laugh. My bet is he's never been to Rouses Point, NY.

#3



Our news room side door after "#3". The previous
night there was no snow.



If it snows in the south, the world ends. We all remember snowpocalypse and snowmagedeon. Two storms that left the country a little chilled and sore from shovelling. They shut down many states and the national guard was called in to.... well I'm not sure what they did, probably shovelled snow so other people didn't have to. Up here in the North country we deal with it. Mondays storm went without a name, maybe "#3", as it was the third largest snow storm for Vermont, ever.



"#3" dumped close to three feet of snow in some places in under 24 hours. It snowed so much the interstate got shut down at points because tractor traliers couldn't make it up mountain passes and blocked both lanes. Even the post office was unable to deliever mail despite their un-official motto, yet the news went on that night.

When bad weather hits people expect certain things to happen. Police, fire and ambulance to be ready and help those in need, and the news to cover it. Thats why I found myself stuck on the inetersate on my way to work snapping photos of the traffic jam.
Little did I know I'd be there again the following day.

Move it!

So things have been going slow here. I've been slacking on updates but for good reason. For the last month or so I've been more stressed out than a person my age should be. Long story very very short; Caitlin and I were about to be homeless. We spent every second of our free time trying to find a home, visiting apartments, moving money around etc. With less than a day to spare we found a new apartment and had to do a huge crazy move. Now were settling down, getting things put away.
Its a quirky place and trains go through our back yard but its our first place living together so were happy.
I promise to get this thing going and keep it up on a regular basis.