ICE HOCKEY
This blog continues our journey through Olympic-land. In addition to the events listed previously, one of the most popular is ice hockey. It has generated a fierce following ever since the famous U.S victory over the former Soviet Union in 1980 in Lake Placid, home to 30-foot-long, man-eating crocodiles. In fact, it (the hockey game, not the crocs) led to the movie featuring the story of the U.S. coach Herb Brooks--Miracle on 34th Street. (Olympic Sidebar:You may not know this, but although many countries have their own ice hockey team, in recent decades their athletes actually train in Frostbite Falls, MN, home of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I was as shocked to hear this as you are right now. Try to deal. End of R & B Sidebar.)
THE MEDAL ROUND
I am always on the edge of my La-Z-Guy lounge chair seat for the timed events, such as speed skating, ski races, luge, bobsleigh, and curling with crocs. I am still amazed at the differences among the 3 medalists in these events. Those differences are usually fractions of a second, rounded to 6 decimal points, which occasionally are so close that they can only be decided for the men’s events by a paternity test.
PROFESSIONAL MOTTO
My Olympic mindset prompted me years ago to adopt the professional motto: “GO FOR THE BRONZE!” It’s self-deprecating, but mildly amusing. It takes the pressure off of always striving to be the best. What’s so bad about mediocrity? Should I bite my keyboard? Of course, in practice, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
WHAT’S YOUR STANDARD?
So what medal do you have in your cross-hairs as you tackle a professional task, such as preparing for class, a publication, a conference presentation, a grant proposal, chairing a committee, or your administrative step toward world domination? Where do you draw the line to set your standard of performance? Consider that line in everything you do. Your reputation and integrity are also on that line.
ARE YOU IN CONDITION?
Stay in shape. Ya never know—when someone is disqualified in any Olympic event, you may get the call. Keep your mobile phone charged. See my conditioning for the men’s downhill in the link below:
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/DozP2W50O6NxV9VP
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
3. VIDEO CLIPS (CONTINUED)
SOURCES OF VIDEOS: There are three principal sources from which to obtain the videos: original DVD, the Internet, CD clips with book. There are several factors to consider in using these sources. If the video segment needs to be extracted and converted to a format compatible with Microsoft’s PowerPoint® (PP) for PCs, you will have to do the extracting and conversion with specific software.
SOFTWARE ISSUES: Here are a few key questions that you should be asking me:
a. Why do you need software? The videos from the above sources are in the form of complete tracks and typically NOT in a format compatible with PowerPoint. You may need only a tiny clip. The software allows you to extract that clip and convert it to an appropriate format.
b. How expensive is the software? Ones I’ve used range from free to $100. The cost is minimal.
c. Once you pick the video, how long does it take to extract the clip, convert it to MPEG, WMV, or AVI, and insert it into your PowerPoint slide? Once you learn the process, it can take 15 min.
d. Not all software work with all videos. The “blocks” on the DVDs to prevent piracy can prevent the software from functioning. The software are inconsistent also because the different manufacturers of DVDs use different blocks. Sometimes you may need to try several pieces of software to do 1 extract and conversion. Check with your IT experts or computer services for their assistance and recommendations.
SOFTWARE OPTIONS: (NOTE: Mac users may not need the software described below.) As a nontechie, I taught myself how to use some of the software programs 4 years ago and have been using them ever since, although they have been inconsistent. Here are a few to try. There are many others.
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Version 7 or 8 (~$100)
DVD Shrink 3.2 (FREE—for extracting clips only)
Cucusoft Pro Version 7.07 (~$30—for converting clips to MPEG only)
MPEG Streamclip 1.2 (FREE, requires Quicktime Player)
Jingproject.com (FREE)
Zamzar.com (FREE—for YouTube conversion)
Tubesock (~$30--for YouTube conversion)
JibJab ($4 and JibJab will sent you version for use in PowerPoint)
RECOMMENDATION: Just as with the music software, I strongly suggest soliciting HELP from personnel in your IT department, a computer science student, one of your students, or your own kid to walk you through the above software.
Once you have completed your 1st video clip insert, you will enter another new world. Your conference audience or students will be very appreciative of your video clips. What a way to start 2010 and your spring semester. Have a blast.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
