Bryan J Busch / re-run

When I was a kid there was a Ziggy comic that said something...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:24:30 -0500

When I was a kid there was a Ziggy comic that said something like:

The President should tell all Americans to drown themselves in the ocean. Those of us who are smart enough to ignore him can then figure out what to do next.

This plea from Texas Governor Rick Perry for people to fast “like Jesus did” is the closest I think we’ve come to the sentiment of that Ziggy comic.

The Extreme Couponing show you won’t see on TLC

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:15:33 -0500

The Extreme Couponing show you won’t see on TLC

What do you do for fun?

Mon, 16 May 2011 19:30:48 -0500

That’s the question I often ask people when I first meet them. It’s just a little suffix on the more expected question “what do you do?” but I prefer the answers I get.

“What do you do?” is the after-school equivalent of “what’s your major?” You could tell me you were a business major or a puppetry major or that you studied ornamental horticulture at a vocational technical school and I still wouldn’t know anything about you.

I work for Norcom.

It’s not that I don’t care about how people earn the money to buy dog food… I’m sure I’ll learn that sooner or later, and it might be fascinating, but it’s more likely that prompting someone to think about their day job will instead dredge up thoughts of mediocrity, bureaucracy, frustration, or at the very least, boredom. If I’m trying to meet someone, I want them to feel positively, and not just for selfish reasons.

Most people don’t like their jobs. Most people like their hobbies, and that’s what I want to hear about. I encourage you to want the same thing.

The best waiter that ever waited

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:30:37 -0500

Sometime before I hit puberty, during one of my family’s several annual trips to a square dance convention, we stayed in a hotel that had a restaurant and a small video game arcade, with both a Pole Position machine, and one for the newer Return of the Jedi video game. Pole Position was old hat to me at the time (though hats themselves were not), so I spent most of my spare time playing as much Return of the Jedi as I could.

Over the weekend, my family grew friendly with a particular waiter, because there were only so many waiters, and only so many tables, and only one place to eat. Imagine one of the younger and friendlier Jasons in your life, and that about sums up our waiter. Anyway, he also spent a lot of his free time in the arcade, and we traded high scores for a few days. I finally managed to get the #1 spot on Return of the Jedi, and during our last meal, the Jason-y waiter presented me with a trophy, homemade label and all. Nobody asked him to do that. I don’t even know where he would’ve gotten a blank trophy. Who does that?

I hope that someday I can be that awesome to a kid.

The machines are never gonna take over if they don’t learn...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 08:25:59 -0500

The machines are never gonna take over if they don’t learn how to spell.

The Squeaky Wheel

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:19:25 -0500

The Squeaky Wheel:

I had a fun time interviewing this author who wrote a book about complaining, specifically why we’re doing it badly and how to do it effectively.

That @openapple is one of the best friends a guy could hope for.

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 05:53:45 -0500

That @openapple is one of the best friends a guy could hope for.

82ºF at my house. The first summer of 2011 has come to Texas.

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:37:54 -0500

82ºF at my house. The first summer of 2011 has come to Texas.

Bastard isn’t even changing course.

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:33:15 -0500

Bastard isn’t even changing course.

The Apple Store: we go down more before 9 AM than most hookers do all day.

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:04:20 -0500

The Apple Store: we go down more before 9 AM than most hookers do all day.

I was looking forward to subscribing to the new True Blood season in iTunes, but it’s not...

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:47:11 -0500

I was looking forward to subscribing to the new True Blood season in iTunes, but it’s not there. Are they really going to make me steal it?

RT @paulandstorm: [S] Kinect looks awesome, but we’ll have to wait 3 more generations before...

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:24:27 -0500

RT @paulandstorm: [S] Kinect looks awesome, but we’ll have to wait 3 more generations before it’ll have Pret-ty Sneak-y, Sis technology.

In honor of the World Cup, I got “sport strip” band-aids for my dishwashing injury....

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:22:16 -0500

In honor of the World Cup, I got “sport strip” band-aids for my dishwashing injury. http://twitpic.com/1w6z26

RT @LynNever: Well, that was certainly a good reason to drink beer in the early afternoon. #worldcup

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:22:16 -0500

RT @LynNever: Well, that was certainly a good reason to drink beer in the early afternoon. #worldcup

“@_BMF_: @bryanjbusch please add that to your act. That one was good.” always great to get feedback!

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 16:22:16 -0500

“@_BMF_: @bryanjbusch please add that to your act. That one was good.” always great to get feedback!

If Necessity is the mother of Invention, we need to administer a paternity test for everything in...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:15:47 -0500

If Necessity is the mother of Invention, we need to administer a paternity test for everything in SkyMall.

Now that everything is archived and searchable, GMail needs a “recently read” filter.

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:47:10 -0500

Now that everything is archived and searchable, GMail needs a “recently read” filter.

Avoid Rendering in Final Cut Express, even in HD

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:35:00 -0500

I recently went through some frustrating hours of trial-and-error trying to find the right settings for making video files that you could add to a Final Cut Express project (as far as I know this also works in Final Cut Studio), and which wouldn’t need to be rendered within FCE in order to preview edits or filters.

Googling around, and looking on YouTube, I found some tips about using MPEGStreamclip, a free utility on Apple’s website (look below if you need the beta). Unfortunately, the settings offered by the other helpful people didn’t work for me. Turns out the settings are different if you’re working with high-def video.

So! If you find yourself wanting to work within FCE without rendering, and your video is HD, here are the real steps you want to follow:

Download MPEG Streamclip (if you are running Snow Leopard, you’ll probably want the beta version, which is 1.9.3b3 as of this writing).
Drag the file into MPEG Streamclip
- There’s support for batch processing, too, but do at least one by itself, first. I’d pick a short one to practice on. You can run a batch of files through the List > Batch List command. You can’t drag and drop more than one file.
File > Export to QuickTime
Use these settings:
- Compression: Apple Intermediate Codec
- Quality: 100%
- Sound: Uncompressed, Stereo, 48 KHz
- Check the box for Deinterlaced video
- Everything else is up to you
Save a preset for later.

I hope this helps.

I was annoyed that I couldn’t find any high-quality artwork for...

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:22:00 -0500

I was annoyed that I couldn’t find any high-quality artwork for this movie / film / trailer / preview / rating card / green screen image anywhere online, so I recreated it (then I cleaned up the spacing and alignment a little).

If I were a screenwriter, I’d make a poster of this and hang it on my wall for inspiration.

Web Page Elements

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 17:31:00 -0500

Every so often I like to try to give back to the community. So for those of you who are doing information design for the web, I’ve created a stencil for OmniGraffle that could give you a running start.

Using the open-source “Bitstream Vera” font set and free icons from FamFamFam, you should have most of your common web page elements covered, including headings, form elements, content management function, image placeholders, etc.

Download the .zip file if you like what you see: