Tour of Honor 2018 - Iowa

As of 13-April, all three trophies are still open for Iowa.  Nice day (and a half?) ride to vacuum them up if the weather would cooperate.

2018 Tour of Honor In-State SS1K

Tour of Honor Ride Plan for Kansas 2018:

Never did get out and ride this one.   But you can still read the trip report for this Extreme in-state Saddlesore 1000 on my Honda CBR250 from 2013!

 

First College Visit for Alec

Took Alec to K-State today for his first real college visit. My, how time files. I still remember picking him up from Canterbury preschool and hustling to Cub Scout meetings or the Karate dojo.

Now we're at K-State. Alec got nervous the second he stepped out of the Honda. After a bit of a wander we found our group. I got some good notes and poked them into Google Keep to share with him. He shot photos of the key slides and contacts.

Per the previous blog post, I will have to have a sit down and catch up with him on the big three Questions from the session. Campout coming up at the end of the month; should be a good time...

Toured the architecture and Design center - all brand new, 20,000 square feet of workshop space from lathes to laser engraving; from table saws to 3D printers. I was geeked especially compared to the dusty garage at KU.  Alec was just overwhelmed.

Toured the wrong dorm complex - all suites, felt like a nursing home from the first step. Nope. Aiming to find a better solution for him - with the anticipated 78 hours a week for class and project work, plus 6 hours (and all day on game day) for marching band, he's going to have to live in the dorms all 5 years. No way to have time to shop, clean, cook and run a 100 hour a week schedule.

But, for his 4th year he can head to Milan, Prague or London among other destination design centers for an international experience in architecture and design. Brilliant!

Great campus with a real quad, excellent library and superb support staff. Very friendly and welcoming from all of the students. Very comfortable sending him there.

- will england

Three Questions

What is your interest / passion / what do like to do?

What are you good at? Are you willing to become great? Significant at it? What are you willing to do to get better at? 

What do you value? What is non-negotiable to you? 

These were the things that were brought up during the Junior tour day at K-State by the Vice President of Admissions.

How I Packed for Philmont

Hey all - getting ready to send my wife and middle son off to Philmont, so I thought I'd give an idea of how I packed my pack for Philmont.

I used a Deuter 65+10 backpack; not the best choice for heavy loads, but cheap and light.

In the backpack I had 5 dry bags (sea to summit)

• Clean clothes. About 8-10 liters.  Can also be used to wash clothes in
• 3 pair wool socks
• 3 moisture wicking t-shirts
• 3 pair Underamour mesh compression underwear
• 1 pair spare shorts
• 'Stank Bag' - dirty clothes that cannot be reworn.  This goes up in the bear bag at night.
• First Aid - red bag at the top of the pack
• Jetboil stove for morning coffee
• 8" plastic platter, TI long handled spoon and 8oz plastic cup for coffee.
• Personal care bag - toothpaste, toothbrush, body wipes, diaper pins, Starbucks via packs, etc.  This goes up the bear bag at night.
• Night bag - very small, one cotton t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts to sleep in.

I carried 5 liters of water plus 2 spare collapsible 1-liter bottles for heading into dry camps.  Two nalgenes on the side pockets of the bag, plus an Osprey 3 liter bladder in the pack.

I put my North Face Dri-Down 16 degree sleeping bag (a bit overkill) plus Klymit air mattress and Thermarest inflator in the bottom compartment of the bag in my day pack (JanSport, 8oz).

Under the sleeping bag I put one pair Keens shoes for water crossings and camp shoes.

On the outside of the pack I wrapped my REI clone of a Helinox camp chair in my hardshell fleece. 

On the outside of the pack I carabinered the Frog Toggs $20 rain suit.

In the left hip-belt pocket I carried my leatherman Wave multi-tool.

In the right hip-belt pocket I carried my Canon waterproof camera.

On me was one pair Cabelas zip off pants; one pair Costco wool socks,  one pair Underarmour, one moisture wicking t-shirt, one PFG long sleeve shirt from Columbia for sun protection, one pair fingerless gloves, and one Tru-Spec cotton boonie hat, one pair Lowa Renegade GTX mid height boots.

All clothing was treated with a soak in 5% Permethrin bug treatment before leaving.

Just a touch heavier than needed but very effective. 

In the 'brain' or top of the pack were all three Philmont section maps, a spare compass, lighter with duck tape wrapped around it, pack cover and a journal and pencil, along with my headlamp.

In my chest pockets were second breakfast, 'elevensises', tea, high tea, and snacks.  I ate constantly.  Left cargo was spare snacks.  Right cargo was cell phone. 

1989 WHS Europe Trip

29 years ago I was wandering around Europe for 21 days with a VHS camcorder.  Found the original master tape this weekend, so I digitized it and re-edited it, cleaning up some color fade and adding some transitional music to the silent bits.  Tried to keep the feel of the '16 year old with a camcorder' look...

Managing space on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active - Sprint Product Ambassadors

While your phone has 64gb of memory, it's always useful to use the tools on board to make the most of your memory. Watch and see how you can clear up large files, empty files and unnecessary files.

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

Fun Camera Tricks on the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active

With the incredible video camera on the Samsung Galaxy S8, you can do an amazing array of tricks with your photos and videos - one being a great slow-motion capture!  Click to watch!

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

Comparing the Samsung S8 Active - Sprint Product Ambassadors

So how does the Samsung Galaxy S8 compare to the rest of the premium phones on the market?  Click through to watch!

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

Samsung Galaxy S8 Active SIM and SD Card - Sprint Product Ambassadors

The Galaxy S8 Active comes with a weather sealed compartment to change your SIM card or add a Micro SD card - click to watch how to access it!

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

Samsung Galaxy S8 Unboxing - Sprint Product Ambassadors

Spring is coming, and with that the chance to get out and adventure in the wilderness - but is your phone up to the task?  While many new phones are water resistant and shock resistant, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is seriously built for the outdoors and all your adventures.  What does it look like coming out of the box?  

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

Timelapse

A 2000x compressed timelapse of my fixing dinner.  Shot on the Canon T3i as a test video for duration vs file size. 480p gives you full length video, while 720p and 1080p cut off at 12 minutes / 4GB file size.

SM West Band on Twitter

Alec and the Shawnee Mission West Band made a cameo on the SM West Sports Twitter account:

Special thanks to all our former grads who came out for Pep Band Alumni night. You guys sounded great! pic.twitter.com/ZMsg4pWAvX

— SM West (@SMWsports) January 10, 2018

Shawnee Mission West at London New Years Day Parade - 2018

That was fun - up at 5 AM to be sure to catch the 6AM parade start here at GMT -6.  YouTube livestream is down; a random commenter mentioned that Reuters was streaming it live.  Tuned in just in time on the phone to catch the band!  Screencap via AZ Screen Recorder; audio via ambient audio.



But - hey - it's a memory!  Alec is in there at about 41 seconds for a half a second or so; he's playing a sax and has earmuffs on. Left center of the screen.







Enjoy!



Happy 2018 - Will England

LG V30+ Audio and Video Recording: Steep Learning Curve - Sprint Product Ambassadors

I continue to find new tools, tips and ways to use the LG V30+ for audio and video recording.  It can record FLAC lossless compression files in full stereo at 24bit, 96khz; it can record 4K video with high def audio.  While I was learning last week I shot a few clips of the band at church - watch and listen for more!

I encourage you to put on headphones and listen to the full sound - this was in 'stealth mode' recording from my pew.  I was working in Cine mode - ignore the poor focus - and still learning.  Tips:  Pre-focus on your subject before doing the cine zoom effect.  

Another shot I took was last night from the back of the auditourium.  I set the camera to full manual mode and hosed up the white balance - got the backdrop perfect, but left the band members in black and white!  Nevertheless, remember, this is in the far back of the auditoruium, using only the stereo mics on the camera.  Post processing did include padding down the audio 2db for the music and boosting the spoken introduction by about 5db.

So, as you can see there is a *lot* of options and a lot to learn on the V30+.  It's a technophiles dream for audio and video recording.  Brilliant camera, no overheating, no timelimits that I found - I recorded over 9 gig of video last night (less than 10% of the space on the phone) in segments up to 15 minutes long and never had the phone hiccup.  

Once I learn more about how to use the manual controls this is going to be a brilliant 4K HD Cam!

-  Will England

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

LG V30+ Swipe to See Recent Activity - Sprint Product Ambassadors

Found this by accident - and it's sure a handy feature!  If you swipe down from an empty spot on your home screen, you can see all your recent activity.  You'll see things like apps, calls, websites and more.  Click to watch more on how to swipe to see what you've last done!

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

LG V30+ Lock Screen Tip - swipe for more options - Sprint Product Ambassadors

Found this cool feature on the lock screen on the LG V30+!  When you have the lock screen set to 'always on' you can swipe the icon list to find more options - including camera, flashlight, music controls and more!  Click to watch it in action and more.

The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

• LG V30+

Setting up Do not Disturb and Comfort Mode on the LG V30+ - Sprint Product Ambassadors

One of my first settings I change is setting 'Do Not Disturb' and the 'Comfort Mode' so I don't get notified all night long and the screen is less blue at night so I'm not disrupting my sleep cycle.  Watch below for how it works!

LG V30+ Camera vs Note 8 - Sprint Product Ambassadors

Both the LG V30+ and the Samsung Note 8 are flagship phones from their companies.  How does the camera stack up between the two?  Both shots were captured this morning at dawn at the same time and same location, cropped to match size - the Note 8 is at 100%, while the LG is at about 85% crop so they can be compared.

A quick look shows the Note 8 has a smoother or softer capture, while the LG is obviously sharper.  Color rendition is stronger on the LG as well.  Both were shot at ISO 50.  The Samsung was at F1.7, 1/376th shutter while the LG was open to F1.6 with a 1/120th shutter.

Zooming deep in, the Note 8 has a bit more pixelation than the LG, but overall both cameras are quite comparable.  Both phones feature dual cameras on back, one for wide angle and one for normal photos.  The V30+ offers a 16 megapixel main camera and 13 megapixel secondary camera, while the Samsung pairs two 12 megapixel cameras together.

Which is better?  They both offer great features and outstanding image quality.  The LG V30+ just edges past the Note 8 with the larger sensor and deeper color rendition in my opinion.   Which is your favorite camera?

- Will England



The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee

LG V30+ SIM and MicroSD Card Removal - Sprint Product Ambassadors

How do you expand the memory on your LG V30+? Easy! Add up to a 256GB MicroSD card. Watch for the simple process to add memory to your phone to hold more photos and videos!









The Product Ambassadors are Sprint employees from many different parts of the company that love technology. They volunteer to test out all sorts of Sprint devices and offer opinions freely to the Community. Each Product Ambassador shares their own opinions of these devices, therefore the information in this post does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sprint. The PA's do not represent the company in an official way, and should not be expected to respond to Community members in an official capacity. #sprintemployee