Author: Chris

Our Hog

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Jackie and I completed our MSF Beginners RiderCourse a week ago and got our licenses this week. Then we got this thing. It’s an 07 Honda Rebel 250cc standard with less than 400 miles* It’s a great starter bike and a blast to ride.

To get the bike home I drove it 40 miles from Swansea, IL. My first time on a public road and my first time on an interstate. Not a bad way to learn!

I’m not sure our full motivations on getting into bikes, other than both our dads being riders. I must say though, I now get why people ride!

*now over 400 miles, thankyouverymuch.

Sideways Video – A Rant on Aspect Ratio

 

Television has set the standard of common resolutions and aspect ratios for years, but not everything seems as smooth as it should. For one as we are becoming increasingly more web-centric in our distribution models why are we sticking by these ancient limitations of size and shape.  Isn’t there something inherently more flexible with the web? Let’s challenge those norms and create something new with video.

Why do we have 16:9 aspect ratio TV sets but most computer monitors are 16:10? TV and computers both migrated toward widescreen layouts around the same time, but why such a subtle difference?

Another funny think about resolutions and the web is that there is no consistency. Take a look at this chart showing common resolutions of visitors to this site:

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Some common Laptop resolutions and old school 4:3? How about netbooks?  iPhones and Blackberries add even more diversity.

I was sitting at a gas station the other night with my Flip and shot this, sideways. Why not? What I was trying to capture was better suited for a more portrait-like frame and it felt almost natural to hold the camcoorder like a small digital camera. Not to mention I can display a higher resolution video in the confines of the 450px column width on this site.

I’d like to see more creative uses of video, like this. What do you think? Is this just crazy talk?