Web Hosting and Space
Free Website Hosting
Domain...[More]
CD and DVD Burning
What discs to buy, how to best burn them, how to print on them, how to store them.
Those with interest in video editing will undoubtedly find interest in burning their works to DVD. General knowledge in burning DVDs can often be applicable to CDs and vice-versa.
Disc Brands
In general, the only two brands I trust are Taiyo Yuden and Verbatim. The two are most highly recommended, and unlike many other brands, they can be played in most DVD players. Get the DVD-R for even higher compatibility (this is because -R has been around longer).
Taiyo…[More]
Sony P200 Camera - Removing Dust Spots
The Sony P200 camera, despite being a very good camera, had a known flaw. Its design was not air-tight and dust would eventually build up on the sensor - which means you get dust spots on pictures you take. Usually these dust spots are out of focus and only come in for very bright pictures, but as they build up, they become more visible. This build up I’m talking about usually takes place over a year or two - so it would not be evident at first.
However, there is a solution for those who wish to keep using it. Through this simple tutorial at dpreview.com, you can open the camera to brush off (or spray off using compressed air from a can) the dust. From my experience though, it only buys a few more months before some dust appears again.
Then again, I usually keep the camera in my pocket so that may be a factor in it. 
College Admission Tips
Things to check when applying to colleges…
Seems kind of late for me to be talking about college admissions since most of the people I know online have already attended or are in college. Nevertheless, it’s now my turn, and yes I’m only just now applying.
The general rule of thumb I’ve found is to simply be honest and real - don’t overemphasize things that aren’t really that important but don’t sell yourself short either. However, I would presume most people who do come online are in search of more concrete tips and advice.
The below…[More]
Open Doors
Doors and Windows
Buying Gadgets and Tech
) because they're always changing. Below however are usually the sites I check to figure out what I'm buying before I buy them.Review and Information Sites
Animation and Video Resources
Tools and Resources
Aeigisub...[More]
School Resources
Useful sites for schoolwork, english, math, and more!
More than a few times I've had teachers at school who do not explain well enough or they make us memorize/study way too much. Many times, I've found other sites or links that definitely helped. I'll update this as I find more. Hopefully this helps out some of you. Feel free to share if you find any too! 
Encore CS4 - Invalid MPEG Error
Been using the new Encore CS4 for a DVD the last few weeks, and just when I finished the editing and was ready to burn, the program returned an error claiming there was an invalid MPEG. This happens during the build process (creating the DVD). Took several days and many wasted discs for me to figure this out so I thought I might share.
Things to check for:
- Red frames in MPEG video. Even those exported from Premiere can end up with problems. Sometimes you just end up with a bad file and need to re-render the file.
- Bad Import. …[More]
Ambitious Perfection
I am also a perfectionist. I attain to every niche and detail of all that I do. If it holds but a single flaw, it must be fixed, redone, or scrapped from existence. My tolerance for the world is high, just not for myself. Everything I do must meet my expectations. No. Everything I do must exceed my expectations, must breathe and echo success.
Crackling Audio in Premiere Pro CS3
This has been a problem for as long as I remember (even in Premiere 6.5), but it’s only beginning to bug me again after CS3. Not sure if it’s because of the version or if I’m starting to use audio effects more often. In any case, I’m finding that exporting video with even slight audio enhancements (highpass, pitch, etc) often causes crackling. It doesn’t happen all the time; usually it occurs with more complicated timelines (nested sequences).
Although it may help to lower volume or lessen the effects, an easier method I’ve found is to export the audio by itself first (Export > Audio). You’ll end up with a wav file (uncompressed I believe) which you can re-import into your timeline and use. You’ll notice your wav file has no crackling; this you can use to replace your video’s audio.
It’s a bit of a hassle, but at least you don’t have to get rid of your effects or lower the volume of your video. Bit strange that it exports audio just fine but messes up when…[More]
Increase in Phishing Emails
Been noticing an increase in phishing/scam emails the past few days (5 in last 3 days..). Thing that bothers me is they have my real email address, so not sure what that would signify. It’s also coming from a lot of major sites, so that’s something to be aware of - including hotscripts.com, cnet, amazon, ebay. Makes me worry if they have my real email - why they bother to send fake ones.
Quick way to check is to see who it’s from - the name right before .com or .net or anything like that should be the actual site. Many times, if it’s fake, it won’t be correct (though some go as far as to spoof that as well).
Another way to tell it’s a scam email is to hover your mouse over the links (don’t click though). Pretty darn obvious if the links don’t go back to the website (cnet, ebay, etc). It’s also obvious when all the links are the same - which has happened on most scam emails I get.