Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Jan 16, 2009 in
photography,
tools,
videos 
I was out last evening experimenting with some night photography, such as star trails and traffic trails. If anyone is familiar with the Santa Monica/West Los Angeles media district–or even if you aren’t–it’s full of older industrial factories from the turn of the last century. These are all converted now into production and post production companies, often rented cheaper and labeled as “creative space.” At any rate, it’s a great space to experiment with.
At around 8:30pm a police car drives slowly past me, and just past the intersection, they flipped around and pulled up the curb where I stood with my camera mounted on a tripod. I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong, but the enormous spotlight directed at me sure seemed unnecessary. The woman sidekick cop just kept saying “this doesn’t look good.” Thanks, how reassuring…
Read more…
Tags: camera, lapd, legal rights, los angeles, photography, police, public, santa monica
Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Jan 9, 2009 in
marketing,
tools,
web design 
[image by -nathan]
I’m been increasingly immersing myself in all types of social media in order to help grow a few businesses I’m involved with. The latest type I’ve been experimenting with is microblogging–or twitter to most of us.
Of course with nearly everything on the web, design & usability are two of the largest influences on an online reader/viewer. Check out these great Twitter backgrounds; they even have a monthly top ten contest.
Tags: backgrounds, microblogging, twitter
Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Jan 2, 2009 in
tools,
workflow 
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Here are my new year’s resolutions:
Tags: digital nomad, healthy, new years, organize, resolutions
Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Dec 15, 2008 in
tools I moved to a new neighborhod in Los Angeles in July, and my Time Warner cable Internet seemed significantly faster. Perhaps the wiring wasn’t as old as it was in my old place?
I measured it with dslreports.com, just to double check. Then, I stumbled upon this Wired article that explains cable companies are actually upgrading a lot of customers without any marketing materials attached–no 30 sec. spots or lots of banner ads–so not many people realized it.
Their plan was to offer additional speed upgrades, like 6Mbps down/1Mbps up became 12Mbps/2Mbps for the same price. An extra $10 would bring you to a 16Mbps/2Mbps tier, etc. Bad idea during a recession, guys. We appreciate you attempting to catch us up with the rest of Europe and Asia in terms of bandwidth, but don’t base your revenue on upselling anyone now.
I tested my Internet speed now and I got a 12Mbps/1Mbps, which is somewhere between tiers. My wiring in the new apartment is from the early 1960s, though. Now that I think about it, I do remember them offering to do something with my Internet last time they called. It also cost $10 a month. Now wait a second…
Tags: bandwidth, cable, comcast, internet, time warner
Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Dec 8, 2008 in
tools,
web design,
workflow 
Watch this fascinating interview by Robert Scoble of FastCompany.TV with Matt Mullenweg, founder of popular online publishing software Wordpress. An increasing number of content creators and publishers are using Wordpress, which is so much more than a blogging platform. Check out my portfolio here, which is also based on Wordpress. It looks like lots of changes are ahead…
Read more…
Tags: fast company, matt mullenweg, robert scoble, web pusblishing, wordpress
Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Oct 6, 2008 in
tools,
workflow 
Working as a producer and project manager, on of the most useful tools I just on a regular basis is Compact Caldendar. Designed by David Seah, who designs entire suites of great apps (helpers?)–goal setting, task tracking, time tracking, calendars, etc.–all centered around productivity and tools to aid our thinking processes.
I’m curious to see what others use, whether it be freelancers or salaried employees. Let me know in the comments below.
UPDATE: Here is the link to the 2009 Compact Caldendar. It’s now customizable to any year, plus other updates.
Tags: compact calendar, david seah, productivity, simplify
Posted by Kyle Wiebalk on Sep 23, 2008 in
computers,
tools I just finished watching the new Abode Creative Suite launch event. Outlining the best new features in most of the CS4 products, as usual, I’m continually amazed. Who knew so much could be introduced that actually makes the hefty upgrade price tag worthwhile?
Watch some of the Adobe CS4 feature videos here: http://tv.adobe.com
Tags: adobe, CS4, feature, new
