[Intermediate] "Up and Away" - Page 14

Well, thanks Spar again as I have to take my hat off to someone who is clearly superior in vid taking/filming. Maybe has to do with your IT background for sure.

I guess I will give windows movie maker a spin which I didn't even give a look because of the not so good reviews. Your un-biased opinion broke the ice IMO.

So I suggest everyone take a second look at his thread for a much better appreciation of his project. I did.

Cheers and Saludos

Another bit of balloon humor to help dispel the rumor that all modders are so formal and proper, hehe.
.....................

The Americans and the Japanese decided to engage in a competitive balloon race. Both teams practiced hard and long to reach their peak performance. On the big day they felt ready. The Japanese won by a mile. Afterwards, the American team was discouraged by the loss. Morale sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found, so a consulting firm was hired to investigate the problem and recommended corrective action. The consultant's finding: The Japanese team had eight people steering and one person navigating; the American team had one person steering and eight people navigating. After a year of study and millions spent analyzing the problem, the consultant firm concluded that too many people were navigating and not enough were steering on the American team. So as race day neared again the following year, the American team's management structure was completely reorganized. The new structure: four navigation managers, three area navigation managers and a new performance review system for the person steering the balloon to provide work incentive. The next year, the Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American corporation laid off the steerer for poor performance and gave the managers a bonus for discovering the problem.

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Votes are still coming in and nothing is assured! Best of luck to all and keep the faith!

Cheers and Saludos

Someone asked me a few days ago about how the rear of the mod looked like. Truth told, I could not take a decent pic in the kitchen because it was too tall, but now in the guest bedroom, it is on a much lower movable desk, and so here they are without things getting included like the stove and fridge. I took it at varying degrees of light.







So how are things with the voting still in process? Well, very tense and on an emotional roller coaster every time I refresh the tabs on Firefox which might be around 20 times a day. I also check in on the other categories to see how friends and acquaintances are doing. This of course takes a toll specially with the extra long voting time. So when the wife asked if I wanted to get off my by now, flat rear end and go out with some relatives that came down to visit the in-laws, I said "Yes, of course!"

Now, as a trivia, can you figure where we went? I will give a +rep for everyone that guesses where this is. It is about an 1 1/2 hour drive from Cancun going southward, it is more quaint and townsy, and is located on the Riviera Maya or the Mayan Riviera. It is super in fashion now and is a change from the more cosmopolitan Cancun and folks that generally visit are really happy they made the side-trip. It is also land-side from Cozumel, the island scuba diving paradise which is a 45 min. ferry ride away and which many also take as an extension of the side trip. Here are the tip pics.

The main drag/avenue/walkway called "la Quinta Avenida" or the 5th Avenue (like New York city?):



One of the unique shops that catches the eye, even mine. The things hanging are lamps made out of native gourds or pumpkins, are engraved and encrusted with vary colored cut glass and marbles and cost around $20 usd, not a bad deal for something really unique.



That's all folks and keep the votes coming for all categories. I also am very grateful for the votes received being a relative new comer here and I deeply appreciate that! Thanks a million!

Cheers and Saludos

Now that things are sort of winding down a bit, what is the next step for the Mexican mods? We still have one or two "technological" events that strangely have survived the internet. Their original purpose was to spread the "word" about the new era of tech information, communication and entertainment since the late '90s. Many areas of the world had these events but were eventually overshadowed by the ease of finding out and exploring these areas via internet or on forums such as the one here at OCN.

One of these events that has survived the tides of change has been the "Campus Party" which you can imagine where it had its origins-universities. The event was originally fostered in Spain and was THE tech event for a long time there. Around 5 years ago it spread to the Americas starting in Brazil, then to Colombia and other countries of Latin America and finally to Mexico last year.

Besides having world re-known guest speakers, it hosts different types of exposés and conferences such as those in modding, robotics and gaming. It has the fame of hosting the fastest internet connection of the country for internet surfing and gaming. Of course there is an entry fee to pay for expenses which is around $80usd for a week of entrance fees and if you want a 24 hour experience, a tent to sleep on the grounds (includes restrooms and showers). Food is the only extra expense for the attendees and it lasts 6 days. If you just want to go one day to poke your head into the event, the entrance fee for a day is around $16usd.

The main reason we attend is of course, the mod contest which is divided into an OC contest and then an aesthetic mod contest. Last year one of our members took first place (Ne(v)esis) in aesthetics and this year we are shooting for more sweetness.

Last year 3,257 people visited the Campus Part Mexico (CPM) and over 250 hours of conferences and talks were given. This year they are shooting for +6,000 attendees and more than 400 hours of exposés and interactive activities in +150 activities in +15 areas of tech interest and many more international speakers.

Yes, I know it is sort of "quaint" and probably behind its times in more developed countries but it has quickly become THE premier modding contest in the country. Remember, we don't have internet mod contests yet so these types of events spread the word around and thus the hobby. Let's see what 15 guys (and a gal) can do for modding in Mexico, he-he.

Cheers and Saludos

One must ask why so many registered for the contest but so few (less than 20%) managed to finish?!

From what another modding master told me, it boils down to: BUDGETING YOUR TIME. Of course, like all tips, there is more to it than what is obvious. From what I deduce (I am rather good at deduction or is it induction?), the first thing needed is the WILL to finish which could stem from:

-Being self assertive.
-Pride of oneself and his craftsmanship.
-A strong sense of obligation.
-A rather good sense of organization.
-A rather inflated ego (in the good sense).
-Good at placing priorities correctly.
-Willing to make a sacrifice of something else.
-Being ambitious.
-And being a "survivor".

I may have missed a few but I think the best is a combination of all of the above. Of course, "things" happen and some are a very valid excuse for bowing out, but these "things" happened to all of us over the half-year we had to finish, including a couple to me that were totally unexpected.

Suppose you had this time-line budget (you did plan something, didn't you?):

-Choosing your theme and laying it out in sketches or Sketchup (or equivalent) (50 hours).
-Choosing and Buying the hardware (20 hours).
-Making or modding the case (100-150 hours).
-Adding electricals and water cooling (50-60 hours).
-Assembly and testing (30 hours).
-Finishing up details (20 hours).
Total Estimated time: 330 hours

This can be further broken down to more specific steps which most of know or imagine.

Plenty of time in 6 months, no? It is the equivalent of just 14 WHOLE days for our project, a piece of cake! Maybe even TOO much time, hehe.

Now suppose that we are in May and we really start to worry about finishing up (not counting Oli who finished by then-smart!) and WHAM!, something unforeseen happens. We solve the problem but lost a month, now things start looking a bit shaky. Then another blip happens and we loose a couple of weeks more, and then another. Suddenly the due date is upon us and we really feel the pressure now that we are in the last month.

From here, one of several things happen:

-You take the decision to formally resign-there is not enough time to finish a project up to your standards.
-You silently fade away in what appears to be either being non-chalant about registering and don't mind what others think about you, or just plain shameful of not being able to finish and are afraid of what others might think of you. Either case is bad.
-Or you start cutting down on the additions to the mod starting from the most non-noticeable (good to have, but not too essential).

The last one is what most serious modders do/choose. Finish to show what one managed to eke out even though it is not perfect, but at least shows the most important part(s).

You start crossing out the parts that least affect you or that take up too much time due to the complexity and you keep adjusting it day-to-day in order to meet the due date. Simple? Far from it! But atleast you make the cut and even if you come in 6th, you did what a lot of others did not--FINISH! Their projects will not be seen, admired, hooted, learned from, etc. It is like in school, if you finished, you atleast got your degree even if it was full of belly flops. If you didn't, you end up flipping burgers or worse.

A lot may say that this is sort of severe, but hey, THIS IS A CONTEST! Some might insist that even so, it is just our hobby. True, but some just give a token nod do theirs and others really take theirs seriously. I still believe that those that enter are out to have fun, but also want to shake their wares and learn in the process to become better modders. Contest should bring out the best of you and I assure you, make you shoot for the sky, but not everyone likes or desires the pressure, and exposing their work to the critical eye of fellow members. To me, this is fun and keeps me occupied. I did barely finish but I atleast showed the guys back home what has to be done in order to accomplish this, so take THAT slackers and nay-sayers, hehe (kidding).

As always, this is just another take on things by yours truly, but for those that "faded out" without a word, think about it.

Cheers and Saludos

Thanks bros Iwok and Nem, we did our best and thanks to all who favored us with their valuable votes and comments. Now we know better, hehe.

Cheers and Saludos