Today is going to start off with a few thoughts about a presentation I’m working on related to machine learning. Thanks to the advent of the massive digital only online conference it looks like I’m going to be able to record the presentation ahead of time as a video file and submit it instead of delivering the talk live. I’m still planning on delivering a live talk online next month, but the other opportunity seems to allow the submission of a recorded video file. That will be a good opportunity to use my new Sony ZV-1 camera to record some highly professional looking presentation video. That camera captures way better video than my Logitech Brio webcam. Hopefully the presentation is judged by the audience based on the content of the presentation, but solid video will help keep that focus on the content instead of critiques of my ability as cinematographer or my internet bandwidth during the presentation. Watching 4 tech CEOs testify in front of Congress this week made it very clear that people do pay attention to video quality and what people have in their offices. I’m going to make sure that my video quality is better than what they managed to present. My bookshelves in the background are just full of books from my years in college. At this point, they are what they are. They are shelves full of books that represent little chapters in my educational experience. Thankfully the Sony ZV-1 camera will ensure my video quality is solid right out of the gate without a lot of effort on my part.
What I’m really curious about is if they needed one continuous video or if they wanted it edited with the slides embedded into the content. The ability to record the presentation in sections would make it a lot easier to functionally complete. Maintaining energy and focus for 5 minutes is a lot easier than trying to sustain the same presentation level energy for 30 minutes. That is something I’m going to work on this weekend and see what happens. The content is geared toward a 30 minute presentation and this video needs to be just over 20 minutes. If I’m doing my own editing and transitions between slides, then I could really do some interesting things with the video in PowerDirector 365 to ensure it is a really solid presentation. That is where my thoughts are right now and that is probably not a bad place to be this morning. My focus needs to be more geared toward producing presentations and academic papers. That is one of those things that will always be true. Every year I’m supposed to publish three academic papers in journals to keep up with my academic peers. That is a goal that I’m aware of and have fallen short of achieving. On the brighter side of things it is always possible to achieve that goal moving forward. It is never possible to achieve it retroactively so my focus needs to be on the potential of my future actions instead of dwelling on the academic consequences of my procrastination.
Apparently, I need to make a decision today about paying for a Pandora premium subscription or letting that expense lapse. I know that is the case thanks to a giant banner at the top of my Pandora instance. Over the years I have paid for the subscription on and off and I’m not entirely sure why I go one way or the other. My overarching goal of course is to remove any subscriptions from my path as they need to be really compelling to stick around. That is a strategy that a lot of people adopt to help faster savings instead of expense on a monthly basis. Maybe next month I’ll focus on listening to the well over 50 vinyl records sitting next to me in my office instead of streaming content. That is probably one way to go that will be more interesting, but it will also be a lot more work.