Yes, I do Know the Way to San Jose

I get to see another part of the bay area this week with a show at the Double Tree hotel in San Jose for the 1st annual ECCE of the IEEE.

That's Silicon Valley speak for the Energy Conversion Congress & Expo hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (which is their former name, now they just use the acronym).

I'm having a great time working with Connection Solutions out of central Florida. Not only do they have nice, new gear that sets up and works the first time, they have great relations with the hotel and their clients.

We had to be on top of our game around a bunch of electrical engineers, but came through with flying colors (and sound). Plus, we got to listen to Martin Eberhard, the founder of Tesla Motors, give an amazing presentation on his thinking behind the fastest, most efficient electric car ever invented. I can't wait till the day everybody is driving one of those babies.

Shooting Yourself with a Tripod

Just got a new Flip Ultra HD and couldn't wait to try it out. Using a small tripod and tabletop, I framed up my shot to include the background items I wanted. The only problem was where would I be in the shot?

Ironically, Flip cameras don't have flip-out viewfinders that flip over allowing you to see your shot from in front of the camera (they call them Flip because of the flip-out USB connector).

As you'll see in this test video, it took me a few tries to find out where to position myself. But it was certainly worth the extra effort to get this well framed and naturally lit shot.

If you're curious enough to see the actual video, you can watch it on my profile page on the SGI Buddhist social network site.