Wavey's World - Party Time

Wavey's World
By Paul Lara

un! It's BBF Disease!

Computers. I love 'em. They're wonderful. They have opened up a whole New World on the Internet, introduced me to a new group of people I now consider good friends, and they sure making editing my videos much easier. Wait a minute. Lemme think about that last one there. As a Toaster/Flyer owner-user-evangelist, I daily marvel at the cool stuff I can do from my desktop. I really do get a vicarious rush by showing off for my clients, and I'm usually treated with a smiling "you get to do this all day long?"

That's when things go well. However, a small, virus-laden piece of code, or a SCSI cable slightly out of kilter can turn even the easiest projects into a maddening affair. I find that in my love for 'what works best', I begin to translate that process into 'that's the only thing that works'.

Example: I needed to make a simple compilation of about 20 or 30 people explaining why they loved their jobs, and throw a super across the screen so employees wandering down the hall would see that this is another part of our Hospital Week celebration. OK. Went out with an assistant and ambushed a few dozen folks at their desks and got some good (and some unusable) comments. Head back to the office to digitize 'em with the super burned in, and slap out the video. No prob. Well, almost no prob. Seems I'm being visited by the ghost in the machine once again. Ultra SCSI drives capable of handling HQ5 video with ease now won't digitize more than a minute or so without beginning to drop frames. DAMMIT!

I begin to tear my drive case apart, and then proceed to investigate both my drives, and the Flyer's performance for the next several hours, determined to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, naturally, my video projects, now even closer to deadline, sits awaiting my action. No sir, not me. I'm gonna solve this problem if it kills me. To make a short story long, It was (I believe) a combination of heat and a corrupted FlyerFileSystem file causing my problems. But the time spent tracking it down should have been spent finishing the video, in linear mode, if need be.

But I just couldn't, because I'm a BBF Freak. You've heard of that affliction haven't you? No, not BBS. Many of us grew up on Bulletin Boards before the Internet was either comprehensible or available to us. I'm referring to B.B.F.: Bigger, Better, Faster. Admit it, haven't you seen an ad for the latest release of a piece of software, and before you've even read the reviews to see if it even DOES anything, you're already fantasizing about installing that new version on your system. Ahh, how much faster, and more efficient life will be once you get those NEW features on-board. You must have it. But, just like gamblers who're only momentarily thrilled with the winnings, I find myself only briefly excited with the new release, and realize I still have a desk full of videos to edit. Those new tools may make editing a bit faster, if everything cooperates, but for the dry-as-bones talking head presentations, it certainly doesn't make it any more enjoyable. I have been sucked completely into the marketing vortex that whispers "you don't want to be left behind, do you?" So off I go, buying more, (bigger) 32-bit (better) 200MHz (faster) hardware so I can do what? Type this article out at the same speed my fingers have always typed. Much of what I do on my computer, such as write articles and read e-mail, could get by with much less of a system than I have. But I won't be left behind; I refuse.

Now, what I really need is a chariot driver. You know, the chariot drivers in the days of the Roman Empire who would continue to whisper in the ear of Caesar, "You're only a mortal. You're only a mortal." Except my chariot driver (who hopefully knows a little about editing) could continue whispering, "Quit playing, you've got work to do." Then I could ensure that BBF Disease is not the end of my business.

Paul Lara, owner of VDO Productions, is a Flyer Phreak and jpeg junkie. He's awaiting any graphics job you may have in store at vdo@vvm.com. Do your part to lower the nation's crime rate and keep him busy.