Video Quality Assurance

Last week I spent 3 days backcountry skiing with my two sons and one of my oldest son's friends. As I am trying to put out a YouTube video every week, I quickly assembled the footage, wrote a narrative, added some background music and posted the resulting video. In the first viewing, I immediately noticed 3 different errors. One would think I didn't do any error checking of the video while I assembled it but that would be wrong. I had gone through it over a dozen times.

One issue I had is that I had to go back and rerecord the initial narration clip. For some reason it is not as loud as the others and so I had to bump the sound level so that it matches the rest of the video. That is easy to do and by itself would not warrant redoing the video.

The second issue I found is that I have one movie clip where I have my thumb in the lower right. It is not large and easy to remove with a bit of editing. The sad thing is that one of my checks is to specifically look for my thumb as my action camera makes it easy to include that particular digit. Only after posting the video to YouTube did I finally see the problem. Again, that would not cause me to fix the issue and repost a new version.

The real problem came in the closing credits. I like using free background music from Bensound as all I need to do is identify the song and give the URL to the website.  As I created the credits, I hadn't decided which song to actually use. Rather than leave the section blank, I put the word "Something." Unfortunately that really did need to be fixed even though I put the correct information in the video description. I had to go in and delete the old video and re-upload the corrected one. Fortunately that didn't take too long.

It never fails. I think I have done an excellent job reviewing the quality of my latest video. Then I upload it to YouTube and I notice all sorts of problems. Fortunately I caught these 3 issues before anyone other than myself had the chance to view the video. Otherwise I would have lost several video views. Those that post frequently know how important they can be. Especially as one tries to grow his or her audience.

Maintaining Your Electronics

Yesterday I brought a pair of skis into the shop to have new bindings mounted for the upcoming ski season. I own about 7 pairs of skis already and so you are probably wondering what is special about these new ones. I am trying out a new ski binding that works well in the resort but can also be used efficiently in the backcountry. Needless to say I am getting pretty excited about the upcoming ski season, especially since it snowed at my house on Sunday.

This morning I started going through my e-mail and saw an article about the Pieps DSP Pro changing from transmit to search or off modes. For those that don't know, Pieps is a small transceiver (both a radio transmitter and receiver) that is used to help find someone in the event of an avalanche burial. I use a different brand from BCA that I love and so I am not worried that I need to replace my transceiver. I still read the article. Basically there is a faulty switch caused by not properly maintaining the equipment. That is a polite way of placing blame on the user instead of the manufacturer.

This brings up the point of what the proper maintenance is for all of your electronics. Do you know what that means for you? When I received my new avalanche transceiver, I read through the very short manual but now don't recall anything about regular maintenance. Considering the thing may someday be the difference between a bad day and a downright tragedy, I may want to reread the manual. I do know that my avalanche air bag is due for maintenance and will be doing that in the next week or so.

What about other electronic devices? Should I be worried about my computer? My mobile phone? How about any of my PlayStation consoles or televisions? Ultimately most of the electronics I own will never be used to save a life. The only exception might be a mobile phone. If my television stops working, I can repair it under warranty or get a new one. While it may seem like I am miserable, I won't be dying any time soon.

So how do you maintain a mobile phone? Fortunately it is something you use every day and so it is easy to see if it is working correctly or not. If it stops working, get it replaced immediately. Some things to look at are cracked screens and bulging battery compartments. Older rechargeable batteries can start to swell and may need to be replaced. If you are up to the task yourself there is a great Internet resource called IFixIt.com. I am a huge fan and just used one of their battery kits on my wife's MacBook Air. I also used them to help replace the screen on her mobile phone when it had a crack that caused it to stop working correctly. 

If you have any electronic device that is used to save a life, please pay attention to proper maintenance procedures. That helps to ensure it will work when you need it. Oh and don't buy any Pieps DSP avalanche transceivers no matter how good the deal may seem. After today's article people will be dumping them in favor of a different brand or newer model.

You Can't Rely on Phone Service

I spent this past weekend on a backpacking trip in the Uinta Mountains. Before heading out, my son sent me a map that he created from CalTopo.com and I printed it on waterproof paper. Actually I printed 3 copies of the map: one for me, one for my son, and another for someone else on the trip. As my son and I have been to the exact same place before, the maps really were not that necessary, or so I thought.

Our group started the hike and everyone sped down the trail to our scenic destination while I pulled up the rear and enjoyed the journey. The first time I hiked this trail, I made a mistake on one section and left the trail because a lot of hikers before me had made a wrong turn at the exact same spot. This time I remembered the error and patiently waited on the correct trail while yelling ahead to the group to turn around and follow me. At that point several of the millennials in the group pulled out their phones and tried to use their map application. We were out in the middle of nowhere with no possibility of mobile phone service. Guess what? Maps don't work on your smartphone unless you have downloaded the maps before leaving mobile phone coverage. I just had to chuckle to myself as I watched this group of kids trying to figure out what to do without their smartphones.

There is a saying that "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In my case, it is the dude with the paper map. Our hike continued uneventfully until we came to the area where we had to leave the trail and do a meadow walk to get to our destination.

For those that are not familiar with a meadow walk, it is a hiking technique to minimize damage to delicate alpine meadows. Creating a trail in such an area enables devastatingly destructive erosion so it is better for everyone to spread out, walk delicately, and take care not to trample the spectacular mountain flowers. We had three such meadows to cross before arriving at our campsite. Once again, the map proved its worth.

Our hike back to the car followed a different path around various picturesque alpine lakes and completed a loop as opposed to going back down the same trail we used to the previous day. We chose this path because neither my son nor I had traveled it and we wanted to see new places. The trail did not disappoint us and once again the paper map proved its worth.

The United States has great mobile phone coverage and sometimes we take it for granted. Unfortunately it is not everywhere and there is a good chance that it won't work when you are in the wilderness. Should you find yourself heading to camp in a remote area, be sure to print up a paper map before leaving home (or at least download the area to your phone). While it may not necessarily save your life, it may save countless miles of unnecessary detours.

Avalanche Danger

This morning I got a text from one of my neighbors back in Salt Lake. He would like to do some ski touring where you hike to the top of mountain under your own power before skiing down. He asked where I thought there is enough snow this early in the season. As that is something I had hoped to do on Monday morning before heading to the Bay Area, I had some ideas I could give him.

This afternoon I got a call from my son asking me if I wanted to drive out to the Uinta mountains this weekend to do a quick ski tour. For those that don't know, the Uinta mountains are in Eastern Utah. My son asked if I thought there would be enough snow. As he called while I sat in front of my computer, I pulled up the first place to go when thinking about doing some backcountry skiing in Utah: The Utah Avalanche Center. I clicked on the area for the Uinta mountains and checked to see the avalanche danger. It is fairly safe right now for South-facing slopes and dangerous for North-facing ones.

While ski resorts keep you informed about the ski conditions within their boundaries, the Utah Avalanche Center does an excellent job showing the rest of the state. One of my son's concerns is if there is enough snow to even ski at this time of the year. The site showed that there is enough snow and that people are out there making turns. It also showed what to avoid with respect to avalanche danger.

Should you find yourself in Utah (Colorado has an equivalent organization and corresponding website) looking to do some backcountry skiing, the Utah Avalanche Center website should be your first stop before gearing up. It will give you an idea of overall conditions as well as warn you about which slopes are unsafe. After all, it is all fun and games until the mountain tries to kill you.

The Right Tool

This morning I took my son to Snowbird and we arrived at 6:45 am. He is on the ski team and has early morning training all of this week and the next. That means he gets to race down the mountain 2 hours before the general public is even allowed to load the lifts. In the past I have just gone to sleep in the car. One of my Christmas gifts was a set of climbing skins to go with my super fat powder skis that also have backcountry bindings. So instead of sleeping in the car, I got out of the car and hiked up the mountain. It has been difficult hiking in the past because I have had to carry my skis and hike in my hard-plastic ski boots. Having the right equipment makes things so much easier.

As I have had a lot of time off because of the Christmas break, I have also been working with my oldest son to fix his car. He is driving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee that keeps misfiring. This problem was occurring when we purchased the vehicle and the dealership that sold it to us was trying to narrow down the problem before we took over. They replaced the spark plugs and distributor cap. They also gave us a fuel filter that we had to install. We also replaced the fuel injectors thanks to a local salvage yard. While things keep getting better, we are still not solving the problem completely. I have narrowed it down to 2 possible problems: The fuel pump or a broken valve spring. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to figure out either one. So this afternoon, I will head to my local auto parts store and borrow a fuel pressure gauge and a compression test gauge. Both are necessary to further diagnose the problem. Having the right tool is very important for me to finish this job.

Computers, tablet computers, and smart phones are another area where it is important to have the right tool. While you can edit an electronic photo with a paint program, it is significantly easier with a photo editing program like Adobe's Photoshop or the open source program GIMP. So if you find yourself taking a lot of time to do something on your computer, tablet, or phone, you might not be using the right tool. Chances are, there's an app for that.