Yay!  Now I’m using Windows Live Writer to blog my stuff from my laptop!

The last 3 days have been intense. First, the realization that my Tablet PC is underpowered for the Webcam task at hand, that of delivering streaming video the Livestream. So, lots of research and a replacement PC is in hand. I’ll call it HP junior.

Well, I’ve changed my video presentation from Livestream to WebCam 7. While I really liked the features of Livestream Studio, Procast, and Webcaster, they did not integrate easily and I continually had Adobe Flash Crashes. My findings are that if the video device that was there last, is not seen by Flash, there may be a crash. The system may have assigned a different name or whatever—not something I did. I think the system would have worked much better with a single PC and one camera. Anyway, I concluded I need stability.

I spent the better part of Thursday & Friday finding a suitable replacement package. Yesterday [Friday] afternoon, I decided on the WebCam 7 package. It allows you to see video from 4 cameras simultaneously and then select either where you want to see much larger video by going the WebCam 7 viewer.

I have issues to resolve with it. Audio when viewing [my preference id the external viewer to avoid cross-talk]. I have a support request in. Currently, the video does not show in Internet Explorer, but does in Chrome, Firefox, & Safari. Opera displays the video, but with 60Hz lines. Over time, I trust these problems will be resolved.

I’m working on a resolution to both these problems. At least, my software is no longer crashing and I’m more available to blogcast rather than having to be a control room director and fix-it technician. Although I have some issues to resolve; overall, I am pleased with the results thus for.

We have a separate Chat Room and you will be able to directly message me [hate the ads]. I may just change to Windows Messenger. There are other features yet to be revealed. Thanks for your patience and please keep watching. I see exciting things in the future of this project.

Jim

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This is just a test post.  I want to see how well Windows Live Writer works for updating my WordPress blog.  I have heard good thing so I wanted to try it myself.  I will be coming back and changing this page a bit and trying to find some focus for my blog.

Oh, here is a picture just for fun:

This is taken were I was married on my two year anniversary in Truro, Massachusetts.  That’s my puppy Fiona.

I can access and edit post using Live Writer after it has been posted.

Just testing this Live Writer of Windows in adding posts to our blog.  I think this is cool!!!

That is, I now have 2 computers that are running W7. The second one is a HP Pavilion dm3 [replacement for my underpowered Tablet PC]. It works well and easily fits into my “control box.”

OTOH, I am having problems with the combination Adobe Flash Player 10 and Livestream Studio. The latter crashes on my main laptop, yet runs on the new HP dm3 [the "remote" computer]. My planned live shots yesterday are deferred for a bit.

Albeit, slow in getting there [issues installing SP1 for Windows® Vista]. Ultimately [ pun intended], I did a clean install. There was not anything I need to keep for the computer’s current role. I wanted the upgrade experience for future computer jobs.

Well, Procaster from Livestream connects and runs on my TPC, but it is not streaming my video. Plus, the frame rate is much too low [1-3fps].

It looks like my TPC will be back in its mobile bicycling mode and I’ll have to find a faster laptop for the video streaming. It was a good try, but no cigar. Anyone have a laptop with a Dual-Core CPU for sale?

Late this afternoon, FedEx delivered my repaired Tablet PC. After dinner and a nap, I began the process of installing Windows® 7 Ultimate on my TPC which has Windows Vista Business installed. It was long enough ago that I used it that the Vista SP1 is not installed. Well, to upgrade to W7, SP1, at a minimum must be installed. This will take a while.

I also have the possibility that my TPC is underpowered to be my WebCam Server for Livestream. Their Procaster has a minimum CPU requirement of a Pentium 4 – 3Ghz or Higher / Pentium Core 2 Duo 1.4Ghz or Higher. I have an Intel Pentium Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology with the Intel® Pentium® M Processor ULV 733 (1.1GHz) and 2MB of L2 Cache. My 1.1 GHz CPU is less than the stated minimum requirement. It is a matter of testing.

My TPC is not suppose to run Vista or W7. I know it runs Vista. My research says it also runs Windows 7. I have 1.5 GB of RAM. I certainly prefer to use my TPC than to have to purchase a faster "dedicated" laptop now. The effort here is to facilitate the use of WebCams not limited by USB maximum cable length. I’ll operate within the range of the Wi-Fi 802.11DraftN standard or approximately 600 meters for this device. All this to give me enhanced coverage potential for cycling events.

Now it gets interesting…

I am writing this blog post on Windows Live Writer. I downloaded it after reading about it in Web User magazine. I never did before, as (a) I thought you could only use it with MSN blogs (I did have a blog on MSN many moons ago) and (b) I thought I’d have to download other programmes as well as this (I didn’t want windows live mail or messenger and I’d heard that the photo programme was a bit cack).

Once I was confident that it was compatible with wordpress and I didn’t have to get the full software package, I got it on my PC. And I’m liking it so far. The fact that it automatically downloads the theme of your blog when you first set the software up is a good thing, as well as being able to post your entries directly to your blog from it. Hopefully you will be able to see this blog post after all I’ve said!

All of my MotionBased Activities [472] have been migrated to Garmin Connect!  At this point, I cannot tell you when the migration began, but I know it took a long time.

Garmin Watch [monitor the migration of my activities from my MotionBased Digest to Garmin Connect as of 2:18 p.m. 11/23. NO activities remain to be migrated.

Migrated Total MB Activities Total GC Activities 452 452 475

Garmin Connect	Garmin Forums

I’m glad it is complete.

I t shipped Friday, 11/20 following repair. This is GREAT news. I can now place the "brains" into my SCEPTER WebCam setup, rid myself of the USB umbilicals that connected the WebCams to my laptop. Now, I’ll confirm the software I will use, as well as the remote desk top function between the two computers.

Yep, I’m excited!

Don Saito has published his articles for the last leg [from northern California back to San Francisco] of his tour around the USA 48 contiguous states. He arrived back in San Francisco, last Saturday, 11/14. Here are links to the final 8 days of his tour:

• Day Two Hundred Fifty-nine, Date Saturday, Novembember 14, 2009
• Day Two Hundred Fifty-eight, 091113 – Stinson Beach, CA
• Day Two Hundred Fifty-seven, 091112 – Jenner, CA
• Day Two Hundred Fifty-six, 091111 – Albion, CA
• Day Two Hundred Fifty-five, 091110 – Westport, CA
• Day Two Hundred Fifty-four, 091109 – Miranda, CA
• Day Two Hundred Fifty-two thru three, 091107-8 – Arcata, CA

Don’s final metrics:

Day Two Hundred Fifty-nine, Date Saturday, November 14, 2009
Time in Saddle: 3:38
Distance for the Day: 27.86 miles From Stinson Bch To San Francisco, CA
Accumulated Trip Distance: 12,613 miles [highlighted & colored by me]
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 32’/22’, Highest: 207’ Accumulated: 806’
Speeds: Avg: 7.6 mph, Max: 30.1 mph
Weather: 40°
Expenditures: $13

We are thankful to Don for sharing his many stories and photographs. Again, we await his book on the awesome adventure.

Thanks Don!!!

My blog articles on Don Saito

Hello all…

As I ramp up to start posting more techie talk on my blog, I thought I would give two tools a whirl to see how they compare.  Windows Live Writer vs. the WordPress application.  So far, Windows Live Writer seems good, however I’m not convinced…

OK, it seems that what I downloaded from WordPress was not an authoring tool.  So Windows Live Writer it is. 

To be continued…

obi_donkenobi said…

Hi Mike, Jim, and Mark: Thank you, all! The final entries are coming soon – hopefully today (Sat, Nov 21). It’s been one hell of a ride, and/but I’m sad/glad it’s over. Let me know if you have any questions (and that goes to everyone), and I’ll respond. With answers, even! ;~Don

November 21, 2009 9:48 AM

Well, now to keep a keen lookout for Don’s final articles…

My blog articles on Don Saito

In my last vid-short Umbrella in Motion], you saw a video from WebCam #2. This video [taken with my iPhone mounted in my OWLE Bubo, with a 37mm 2.0x Telephoto Lens] is of the AutoMate Panohead, Logitech Webcam Pro 9000, and my 64″ Golf Umbrella. This video simply shows the rotation of the 3 components.

E arlier, you saw my 64″ Golf Umbrella mounted on my AutoMate Panohead. Now, from my 2nd WebCam, here is a short clip of the panohead’s movement with the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 and the umbrella attached. Notice the single white panel. It will be easy from a distance, without looking at a computer, to see the direction of the camera’s orientation.

Video2 in this series ~ Umbrella—Outside View

The 64" Golf Umbrella that I had on order, that is. I received it after dark yesterday and then spent the better part of 3 hours modifying, fitting, and finishing it for SCEPTER.  Please note my cat still strides across the umbrella. I am very pleased with the results.

I have spent several hours taking pictures this morning and have not taken the shots I want to best show the rig with the umbrella atop. There is just too much going on in the background. Of the 4 sets I took, this shot from set #3 is the best, yet too busy.

I’ll shoot a couple of videos later. One from the on-board WebCam [the WebCam that watches the Web Cam] and one from my iPhone, using the OWLE Bubo.

I think the umbrella will give sufficient rain protection. Its design makes it practical in windy conditions. We will have to see just how far that goes. The equipment will have UV protection. Again, I am pleased with the result. One day, I’ll have to get a personal 64" Golf Umbrella.

Video1 is up ~ Umbrella in Motion

Video2 is up ~ Umbrella—Outside View

Ever since I moved to WordPress from Livejournal, for quite a few reason I always felt that something is missing in WordPress. For LJ allowed me to post from anywhere and from any device – be it is email or phone via MMS or a desktop client. Whilst on WordPress I didn’t find such features initially.

I googled a lot to find a way to post to my WordPress blog from a phone via email or MMS but didn’t find anything interesting. At that time it was possible only with a self-hosted blog.

So I tried Opera on my Nokia N72 but typing long posts into a phone browser was a tedious job with most of the advance feature inaccessible to me.

Because of all this I left with only one option to post- a PC! To post from PC I went looking for a desktop based client for WordPress like LJ has but ended up with nothing.

Other features of LJ that I wanted to be in WordPress were – embedding location of user at the time of posting a blog entry, showing current music track and mood in a post.

While rummaging for current music and current mood fields I found that these features can be implemented into WordPress blog by adding custom fields. It can be done by copying a few line of code in your blog’s CSS. Again modifying CSS needs you to have a self-hosted blog. (learn here how to do it)

Due to all these reason I found eons ago designed Live Journal to be better than WordPress. But it seems like things changed now. Few months ago I discovered that WordPress has implemented Post by email feature of free hosted blogs too. and I enabled it at the very next moment.

Just yesterday I again got an itching to search a desktop client to WordPress and stumbled upon Windows Live Writer. I found it to be a decent tool with lots of plug-in available for customization according to your requirement. In the plug-in list on the Windows Live Writer site I saw that there are more than three such plug-in to show current music track in your blog post. I downloaded two of such plug-in and found them equally useful.

Here’s a picture to show the list all plug-ins I’m using currently.

This is the first post that I’m composing from Windows Live Writer and I’m so elated to see how smoothly  things move now. And you can see that now I almost found a solution to the discrepancy between Live Journal and WordPress!

Current Music: Jack Johnson-Angel

Ich bin auf ein neues Plugin für den Windows Live Writer gestoßen. Es erlaubt u.a. die Blogkommentare zu moderieren, ohne dabei das Dashboard besuchen zu müssen. Freischalten, Löschfunktion oder als Spam einstufen – leider scheint es nicht möglich zu sein auf Kommentare direkt zu antworten.
Ob es eine sinnvolle Erweiterung ist, oder nicht, das liegt wohl an den ganz persönlichen Bedürfnissen des Bloggers. Ich gönne mir immer einige Zeit zum ausprobieren in der alltäglichen Arbeit am Computer und entscheide dann, ob es nützlich ist oder nicht.
Momentan zweifel ich noch daran, dass es auch morgen noch installiert bleibt. Ich besuche die Dashboards sowieso mindestens einmal täglich um mir die Besucherzahlen anzuschauen, nachzusehen wie viele Artikel sich bereits für den nächsten Tag in der Warteschleife befinden und was es so an Neuigkeiten auf WordPress.com gibt. Bei der Gelegenheit bietet WordPress.com die Übersicht aller freizuschaltenden Kommentare direkt auf der Startseite des Dashboards an. Einfacher geht es eigentlich nicht.
Nebenbei bekomme ich auch noch Kommentare aus der Warteschlange per Email zugeschickt und kann dort mit einen Klick auf “Freischalten” alles erledigen. All diese Funktionen machen das Plugin bei mir persönlich eigentlich überflüssig. Kein Grund es nicht trotzdem mal ein paar Tage zu testen.

Wer noch nie ein Plugin installiert hat, es ist ganz einfach. Hier kann man es runterladen, dann verschiebt man es in den Ordner für Plugins und startet den Windows Live Writer. Den Ordner findet man meistens auf Laufwerk C, Programme, Windows Live Writer.

Übrigens hat das Plugin noch andere Funktionen. Man kann beispielsweise den Blog-Titel und die Beschreibung ändern. Die Funktionen habe ich allerdings direkt deaktiviert, denn so oft ändert man den Namen seines Blogs doch nicht, dass man es im WLW können müsste?

Soon to be back in my hands. It was damaged during the ‘08 Cycle North Carolina. I should have had it handled by one of the CNC staff. No, I packed it in my baggage—WRONG! Anyway, it will now be a dedicated camera server.

I’m excited to replace USB cables with WiFi and then use the Remote Desktop function of my laptop & TPC for TPC control of Livestream Studio. I’m expecting several hundred feet standoff. I know the iPaq Bluetooth Remote AutoMate Robot control works for over a block—tested.

Of course, this is with regard to the 100K Milestone Contest [Last Update].

You may recall my cycling friend from western North Carolina rides an upright, some call it a DF [diamond frame]. It is commonly referred to as a BIcycle. Zeke rides a lot. This past weekend, it was riding of a different sorts. Zeke also rides a MOTORcycle. Zeke rode with 2,000 of his and his wife’s [Kathy's] “closest” friends as they participated in the 18th Annual Haywood County Motorcycle Parade and Toy Run.

This year Zeke says: "When final totals are in, we expect to have raised another $14,000.00 in cash and another full Salvation Army Truck load of toys bringing the 18 year old event over the $100,000.00 mark for distribution to local charities serving children."

Zeke tells the story in his blog and gives us lots of pictures. BTW, the lady [Ellen] with Zeke is not his better half, Kathy. She, is in the photograph to the right.

Congratulation to Zeke and Kathy for another successful event and the magical results of your hard work and dedication as two of the event coordinators. Enjoy your cycling, be it BIcycling or MOTORcycling.

CHEERS!

Jim

Other Zeke Articles published in this blog.

Albeit, belated! CONGRATS Don. I checked his blog constantly, but did not get his Friday the 13th post until today. I feel like I missed the parade, but this is Don’s. I hope some one or more of you got to cheer him on on Saturday afternoon. What an amazing journey.

See the linked post above and the comments. Don says he will post the final daily blogs. He also says:  "Thanks for following along! It’s been an incredible experience – an experience of a lifetime, and it was nice to have company along the way."

My blog articles on Don Saito