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Webmaster
Forum Replies Created
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I’m preparing the system for some new technology we’re implementing, which requires that usernames stay pretty much static. Veena and myself can still change usernames. Please email Veena with your change request and she can take care of it for you.
Thanks,
Webmaster
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Sorry about that, this should be fixed now. Please feel free to email myself of Veena if anything like this ever happens again.
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So the only piece of hardware you are going to need to be careful about is mp3 players. But the best MP3 player out there is the iPod and they are competitive on price and features to other MP3 players, and all iPods work perfectly (they are Apple, of course they do).
Here is a link for you
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB403LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5MwThis is a link to a refurbished 2GB MacBook. It will save you $200, on a very powerful machine. You get the same warranty as you would on a brand-new one. You can buy an extended warranty, and since its refurbished it actually goes through more tests than a new laptop. I’m helped several people buy refurbished and they’ve been very happy.
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Had to chime in on the mac recomendation https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif It is my platform of choice, and I have worked for a company with over 400 in active circulation. Here is why you buy a mac:
1) High quality – When I ran a geek squad store it was far and away the most durable computer we fixed. The only one that ever came in for hardware problems was 13 years old (others came in because people wanted extra hard-drive, new vid cards etc…). PCs don’t make it that long. Additionally the components are higher quality (anyone ever see Veena in chat, thats the built in cam on a macbook).
2) Ease of use – iMovie just works. You plug a video camera into it or drop in a recorded DVD and it says "Did you wanna put this in iMovie?" No drivers to install, no compatibility issues nada. Everything else just works (the commercials were right)
3) Price – a new MacBook (the plain one not the pro) costs 1000, and a PC laptop costs about 600 for an inexpensive one. The PC will last 2 to 3 years on average while the mac will last 5 to 6. So the cost per year of ownership is actually slightly higher $200/yr on the PC and $170/yr on the mac.
4) You can plug anything into it and it just works. Mice, keyboards, printers, cameras, etc… rarely do you have to deal with the dreaded driver disk unlike windows. The myth that you have to buy accessories just for the mac is an old one dating back to the late 80s and early 90s. We have a linksys wireless router, logitech keyboard and mouse, epson printer and scanner, canon camera, nikon camera, Western Digital backup drives and a Sony Camcorder all which play nice without any extra drivers or configuration.
5) Service Availability – There are thousands of AppleCare certified techs around. If you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere you might have difficulty finding someone but even when we lived in Bismarck, ND (also known as the middle of nowhere) there were technicians.
6) Viruses – There aren’t many (there are some) and the number isn’t likely to grow significantly. Macs are based on a UNIX type core specifically BSD. It is much harder to infect a mac because of this.
I want to say I am a bit of a Mac Fanboy but it is not without reason. What I like is that they build a better product.
A PC might be more in your price range however. Beware of the cheap PC laptops some are better than others, if you go that route read the reviews online. Some will last for years while others will break quickly.
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In my opinion your best bet would be to hunt down a good condition MacBook with Leopard on it, on Craigs list. They usually go for about $500 used and are worth every penny. The built in webcam and iMovie will make your life wonderful when it comes to making video and chatting.
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I’m glad everyone is enjoying the new site. It was alot of work and we were eager to see it come to fruition and the positive response has made it so worth while.
I noticed a couple people have been having trouble with the chat. As with any web based technology sometimes all that is required is a reload (ctl-r on windows and apple-r on mac). The flash client can get cached (stored locally for faster retrieval) and therefore not work properly.
We have some big plans for the site and can’t wait to show them off for everybody. In the mean time enjoy the new look, the unrestricted video uploads and watch for our clothing line to hit.
Chris
Studio Veena Webmaster -
Webmaster
AdministratorFebruary 12, 2009 at 12:01 am in reply to: having problems downloading lessonsWe apologize for any confusion. Just like most subscription based sites, we do not allow for the downloading of videos.
The save icon showed up as a result of a software upgrade we did, it was an undocumented change and due to its subtle appearance we did not notice it. If you have any questions regarding this change please don’t hesitate to contact me via the sites email functionality.
Chris
StudioVeena Webmaster -
Windows movie maker will not use protected aac files which is what the majority of iTunes music is. There are ways around it. In general you would purchase the DRM free upgrade for your music (thirty cents per iTunes purchased song) then use the iTunes utility to convert all your music to MP3, voila working in Windows Movie Maker.
Other than that you can buy individual unprotected MP3s off of Rhapsody.com for a dollar apiece. They have most of the popular music out there but not quite as large a library as iTunes.
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PoleDanceFan the device you are trying to think of is http://www.amazon.com/Pinnacle-Systems-82301006461-Dazzle-Creator/dp/B001C5DOWI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1232431187&sr=8-2 or one of the many in the Dazzle family.
There are two ways that I suggest video editing, if you must use a PC get Adobe Photoshop Elements. It’s a hundred bucks and can be downloaded here http://www.adobe.com/products/premiereel/. Prior to Veena getting her mac she cut all her videos together (including the lessons on this site) with this software.
With that being said, the best way I’ve found to edit is using a Macintosh. It will suck video in off of any device that has a USB or firewire port, it will even import video from the DVDs created by DVD video cameras, which is something most windows software won’t do. I have been an IT professional for almost 15 years now, I have logged thousands of hours on all major operating systems and find the Macintosh platform to be the most problem free and easy to use system out there.
Hopefully this post is helpful.
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Can you clear your cache. You’re chat client is probably remembering our old server and trying to connect to that. Here is an article on how to clear your cache on different web browsers.
http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser%27s-Cache