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Hi folks, its Moses, here again, to dish out my signature opinions about technology and it’s many roles in our lives, specifically focusing on how we can minimize our clutter and confusion without sacrificing uptime/redundancy and convenience. To keep things relatable, I’m focusing on the multiple mobile devices and accessories in each of our possession, in addition to often redundant hardware. I could discuss dedicated servers and nodes and routers that help connect all the individual devices we’re relying on for so many things day to day as well, BUT let’s keep it to one part of the picture for the moment. Similarly, when Home Automation comes into the conversation, we will begin to conceptualize every utility in our home as a connectable configurable and highly efficient part of our ecosystem of hardware and software. It’s a revolutionary way to look at networks and automation; the concept of Sync has been elevated to the next level (at least that’s the idea). So I’ll try to keep this simple and point out that most reading this likely have at least one cell phone, a laptop, desktop, tablet, external hard drive, TV, game console and/or external battery pack along with cables, adapters, chargers, headphones, speakers, microphone, controllers and many other input devices like keyboards and mice. That is such a small list but already seems overwhelming! Add onto that the list of antiquated technology that is all around us. 

Now I will admit, I have not heard every single experience of this phenomena, but over the years I have seen that people have far too much technology they don’t need (for instance, old CD and DVD players, radios, CRT monitors, PC desktops from 10 years ago, tons of cables that have incompatible connections, etc.) and far too little of the technology that could really help them evolve their daily routines and focus on what’s important with support for today’s demanding expectations/standards. The products we choose to support offer the level of artistic design that makes many mundane or repetitive tasks lose some of their monotony and discomfort while opening doors to creative expression and exploration in ways we never thought possible or at least accessible for end users.

One of Apple’s missions, and one of ours too, is to help you reach your personal and professional goals, whether you’re playing, creating, exploring or recording with tools that are as intuitive as possible and designed with user-friendly features, assisting you in expressing yourself and immersing yourself in art and information through an internet of things (as we love to call it). Part of that mission involves users getting curious, joining the conversation and redefining the way they are looking to use their technology to develop the perfect ecosystem for their unique needs. Small Dog is here to open the door for you, we’re by your side the whole way, but you are the explorer and the world of possibility can be as vast as your imagination. Come by sometime and see how things have changed; it’s absolutely wild that we’ve got inductive charging for computers you wear on your wrist, people are now seriously considering using an iPad Pro instead of a MacBook, and the new iMac Pro that could be the only computer you’d ever need for almost any project. We have solar powered battery packs for hiking around trails with your phone at full charge, there are speakers that float on water, headphones that wirelessly auto pair like magic, we even have flower pots that water your plants for you on a perfectly optimized schedule and report soil health! And, add to this list, locks that can be controlled remotely, linked to security cameras, all wireless and app-based. Its quite the world we’re living in. 

Hello everyone!

Last week, my introduction was focused on backing up your SD card data during a photo shoot, or immediately afterwards. I was excited to see the response from our readers, and I hear that a lot of you are practicing this same back up method yourself. As always, we love to hear from our customers, especially if you have questions, but always welcome general feedback. It helps us come up with our next article topics.

On that note, I am going to move forward with the photography theme and talk a bit about frame rates. Very exciting stuff, you might want to get some popcorn and put on your 3D glasses, this is going to be a thrill! 😉

While frame rates only apply to videography, I think it is important these days that photographers educate themselves on video settings, considering their DSLR is most likely capable of shooting amazing footage. The 5D series has become a staple in the independent filmmaking community. With the right lens, settings, and color correction, your DSLR is capable of achieving that professional, filmic look.

One key element to pay close attention to is your frame rate. The movie standard is 24 frames per second, and I strongly recommend exploring the difference between 24, 30, and 60 frames per second. This is often abbreviated to FPS, and settings for this can be found in your DSLR menu, similar to how you’d select your still image format. If you watch frame rate comparisons on YouTube, you’ll see that 30FPS offers a bit smoother action, and you can imagine where that would be more useful. At 60FPS, you’re creating enough frames to allow for half speed playback, given fluid motion at 30FPS, with the effect of slow motion. This is a handy effect for action and sports, and is also available on your iPhone. On the newer iPhone models, you can shoot in 240FPS, which gives you insanely slow motion. I found the 8 Plus allows you to adjust your regular video settings, allowing you to record at 24FPS in 4k. This would be extremely useful for collecting footage that would be later used in a film, giving a natural match to the rest of the footage. Give it a shot (pun intended) and let us know what you think! Enjoy today’s articles, and have a nice week!

Patrick McCormack
patrickm@smalldog.com