Freaky Frugalite » media

A Bloggie?

Rebecca — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:18:09 +0000

I saw this at Buy.com and had to chuckle. A “Bloggie“?? Is that supposed to be a cute camera just for us bloggers?

It’s kind of cute. VERY portable, since we bloggers must always have a camera with us wherever we go, ready to whip it out at Walmart to take photos of strangely-dressed shoppers, or snap that once-in-a-lifetime action photo of Johnny falling off his bike, seconds before the road rash hits… yeah, it PAYS to be PREPARED!

The Bloggie has a touchscreen. Of course, I love that. It is actually pretty high tech for a tiny camera bloggers might haul around– it has a 12.8 megapixel camera (not even my $600 DSLR has that), full HD 1080 pixel video capability, 4 GB internal memory, and a swing out USB arm to plug it into the computer for easy photo transfer. I like it. It’s on sale at Buy.com for about $170 (includes shipping). It’s about the size of an iPod or iPhone. Looks very classy. When we travel, I dislike carrying my huge Nikon camera (and so do the kids), so something like this is very appealing.

The name is hilarious. Do you think they are finally starting to recognize our needs, and marketing products for bloggers? That would be cool. It’s nice to feel marketed to. ;)

So Sick of the Mel Gibson Hype…

Rebecca — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:24:13 +0000

I guess the media has exhausted the coverage of the BP oil spill (finally) and LeBron James (good Lord, FINALLY). But now the drivel spewed out into our faces is the latest play-by-play of Mel Gibson and Wife #2. The whole thing is just a farce.

Now, I like Mel Gibson movies. I love The Patriot and Braveheart. I liked We Were Soldiers, and Gallipoli, and Hamlet. But most of his stuff is a little too violent and sometimes pervvy– I think he does best with historical dramas like The Patriot. I have seen a portion of The Passion of the Christ, but I just can’t watch that movie. It’s too… too MUCH. Too violent, too intense. It was after making that movie that Gibson says he was targeted by the media and others in Hollywood. They didn’t want the movie made, and they tried to dig up as much dirt as they could about him. Probably true. But it doesn’t help matters to be wallowing in the dirt, either. He had this golden opportunity to get his life right with God, and ditched it. And for what? A life of temporal “pleasures,” drunken rants…. so sad.

So anyway… Mel dumped his wife of 30 years with his seven kids to drool at the feet of a young Russian model. A year later, Mel and his Russian hottie hate each other, and she is accusing him of abuse while demanding $10million bucks. Is it any surprise that:

1. Gibson is an idiot?

2. The model is an opportunist?

3. Lies are spreading like crazy?

4. The media is rubbing this crap in our faces like there’s no tomorrow? HELLO, we Americans have LIVES!! We have more important things to think about and do! Um, don’t we?

Alex Jones had a GREAT video about the media and how it’s affecting us. It’s probably one of the best videos I have ever seen on this issue. It’s about time!

I seriously doubt the media will ever change their tactics. They are always dumbing everything down, trying to make us all bottom-feeders, the barbarian, lust-filled scum of the food chain. It’s high time we jacked up our boot straps, get things right with God and our neighbors, and rebuild our communities. We’ve gone so far from our moorings that it’s getting really scary now.

Fame Doesn’t Buy the Groceries :-p

Rebecca — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:40:40 +0000

I was chatting with my husband about the amazing popularity of mommy blogs. Some mommies from the mommy blogs travel allll across the United States, giving speeches about frugal living and mommy blogging. They get weekends at luxurious hotels, and spa treatments, and free cameras and other really cool stuff. It’s amazing, the power of the mommy blogger. We marveled together.

Freaky Frugalite is a mommy blog. It’s *relatively* popular. I get about 20- 30,000 hits every month here (sometimes as much as 200,00 a month), and I’ve given several interviews to media corporations, including the Associated Press, TIME magazine, and other “smaller” media corps; and I have been approached by the folks from Good Morning America and BlogHer.

And it’s really neat.

I mean, I think it’s so cool that people actually LIKE ME! People actually LIKE to read what I write! It’s a terrific feeling. (No hotel stays or free cameras, though :-p ).

But…. fame doesn’t buy the groceries. :-p

I still have Page Rank 0 here, despite loads of people visiting me, linking to me, and media bigwigs mentioning me. My New York Traveler.net blog is even bigger- I get close to 700-1,000 hits a day there, with an active readership and a LOT of new folks visiting (my posts there are very informative). And that blog only has a measly Page Rank of 2.

I’m a pro-blogger. I write because I enjoy it, but I also maintain so many blogs because I’ve made it my career while I raise my children. It’s an extremely fulfilling career– thanks to you!– and I absolutely LOVE blogging. But all this love and flowers and media attention doesn’t change the income a whole lot…. and sometimes I feel disappointed and a little desperate.

… ?? I don’t know what to do, exactly. Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to make this blogging gig a full-time career thing. That’s OK, come to think of it. I’m happy keeping things easy and relaxed. But gosh darn, you’d think with all these interviews and mentions and fireworks and wreaths of roses, I’d see an increase in some cashola! Nope. Still, Page Rank 0 and tepid sponsors. Hm.

*sigh*

So what’s next?

A Review of the Samsung SC-MX10 Camcorder

Rebecca — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:54:28 +0000

This is my first digital camcorder. I really tried to do my homework before buying one. I had a list of “needs” and a list of “wants,” and then I had my budget, which was like a wrench thrown into the list!

Needs:
Good clarity, sufficient for web videos
Good stop-and-start capability
EIS- Electronic Image Stabilizer
Easy to move data from camcorder to computer
Good audio
Good battery life (preferably a lithium battery and NOT AAs)

Wants:
Good color
Flash memory
Camera light
LCD screen

I searched online for loads of models, and visited my local BestBuy and Circuit City. I initially considered getting a miniDV camcorder (they use tiny cassettes to record the data), but I realized I’d also have to buy a supply of tapes (as well as carry them wherever I went), buy a firewire cable to transmit the data onto my computer, and buy software to enable the data to be read in my computer. What a hassle. I decided not to get a miniDV, even though these were within my budget.

I really wanted a flash memory camcorder. I love being able to eject the SD card from my Canon digital camera and popping it into my laptop reader. It makes everything so easy and I’d like the same with a camcorder. But there is a caveat for the convenience: flash camcorders lose a bit of video quality compared to the miniDV. And flash camcorders are more expensive than miniDV.

In the end, I found a clearance on a display model for the Samsung SC-MX10. It was $100 off the original price of $260! But some of my Needs and Wants I had to compromise. I’ve been using the camcorder for several weeks, and here’s what I have found:

Pros:
Flash memory (VERY easy to transfer data)
Very good LCD monitor
Good battery life
Good stop-and-start capability
Lots of settings
Very lightweight and extremely portable

Cons:
Washed-out color
Audio is so-so
No camera light
Lots of settings

I have “lots of settings” for both because the effect of the settings is very difficult to determine. For example, there are several settings for light exposure (auto, daylight, cloudy, tungsten, etc). I don’t see much difference between them. All the color is washed out to a degree, no matter what setting I use. What good is having a variety of confusing settings when the difference between them all is negligible?

To me, the flash memory capability and the outstanding battery life makes up for everything; I just wish it had more color. Here’s an example of a video on my digital camera, and another video with the Samsung. Guess which one is which?

The first video is the Samsung. The video is clearer, but the color is not as vibrant as my Canon digital camera. That’s my only complaint with the Samsung.

It is also very important to use a special “high speed” SD card for the Samsung. I used a regular, budget SD card and the video is somewhat blurry. When I switched to a Sandisk Ultra II SD card, my videos were much clearer. The reson for this is that regular SD cards write the data slower than the higher-speed SD cards. High speed SD cards are a little more expensive than the regular types, but not much more. It’s worth it, believe me.

OK, enough about my impressions, now for the stats. The Samsung SC-MX10 is very lightweight, less than 1 pound. It fits perfectly into my hands (it’s about 3″ x 5″ and 2″ thick) and has a cozy adjustable strap. It is wonderfully portable. I can tuck the camcorder and my digital camera in the same camera bag.

The Samsung comes with two batteries– a small button battery to save settings, and a lithium-ion battery. The li-on battery charges very quickly. The manual says the battery has 120-minute life, but I get up to 180. I am very pleased with the battery.

The battery is charged while in the camcorder (cable included). There are ports for firewire/USB (which I don’t use since I simply eject the SD card), a multi-cable jack (AV/S), and the port for charging the battery. The buttons are very simple– power, record, play mode. These buttons are repeated on the LCD monitor when opened, so it’s very convenient. The camera powers up very quickly; it does not, however, have a “pause” feature. The optical zoom works very well, and retains focus. I found the button for zooming a little awkward. If you press the button too hard (easy to do), the zooming jerks in (or out). I wish I could set this to zoom slow (maybe I can but I am still trying to figure out all these settings). The camcorder also has a built-in microphone (which I found to be rather low) and a built-in speaker for replaying video. It has something called EIS, which is an electronic image stabilizer. If you have shaky hands, this is good– this feature helps keep the images a little steadier and eliminates the shaky effect.

There’s a handy little button that, when pushed, will tell you in low-power mode how much battery time you have left. This is very convenient. When you power up the camera, the LCD monitor displays the battery time remaining and also– this is great– shows how many minutes you have left on your SD memory card! Love this!

So my opinion of the Samsung? I love it, I just wish the thing expressed more color. It’s well-designed, very convenient, and I got a great deal for a flash camcorder. Knowing what I know now, I would never pay the retail price of $250-$280 for it, though. This camera is perfect for computer video, like uploading to video sharing sites (which is what I use it for). I don’t think it would be well-suited for larger TVs with home-video in mind. The poor color is a major detriment.