Fortress Of Freedom Board

[Maurice Ali]

Well that needed copy of the video files should be complete on Monday morning - so that is a relief!



And that was my long weekend. Chopping up tree trunks and branches and dealing with that hard drive fiasco was the whole weekend there. I did get the remainder of my camera stuff so I’m go to go in the movie making front.



The future home of our organizations in New York!





The reception area that was open and did not have to be shot through a glass door!



I’m taking a keen interest in my hotel reservations and activities now and finalize things and just go fine there and take it all in. I will visit the office on Broadway just two blocks from the Tonight Show - I can’t believe it will soon be gone! Anyway, I’m also curious as to what that possible office (cubby hole) office looks like now that it’s finished. Maybe a trip to BH Photo in between the UN stuff. Maybe even check out Summer Stage as I made a very real play there.




Summerstage in Central Park - FOFSTOCK 2 could have been for real!



Things will start happening quickly going forward now…..



And now I’m going to do an “old man” thing and take a walk around the neighborhood like the rest of the old farts may age.


Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

The backup for the HDV files are done!



That is one sigh of relief but sooner or later I should get a third for the SD and HDV video files. You need three to say you have the file. I could kind of like say the original tapes are the third - but who am I kidding? Nobody wants to transcribe a hundred hours or so of tape. So I’ll be back at it soon making that third copy.




See these two little black plastic boxes stacked by the black PC - well now, there is only one remaining!



I hate what happened with that 8tb drive I bought to back up to the HDV files. It wrecked that enclosure and the other three backup drives in the enclose cabinet. That was bad enough, but I was probably also to blame because I should have not tried a dodgy drive in a full enclosure. At least I should have taken the other drives out before I tried it. But what makes me especially mad is that a batch of hard drives screwed up my weekend - and sure the 2tb drives never got formatted so they go back for a refund. However, that 8tb drive has six and a half tb of backup video files but also company “My Document” files! The problem with the drive is a bad motherboard with the disc new and perfect with all that information in it. Sure as it is, your guy on the street can’t access it - but the company that makes and distributed it can, and there is the rub. They will give a refund for the drive (all Seagate) but will take the drive back - possibly to be tested. Is that two hundred buck refund worth the risk of all that data being available to anyone? Obviously then, I have to just eat the cost of the shitty drive and toss it in the box with the other bad company hard drives. This sucks - but the risk is too great not to mention the judgement of the guy that runs the organization.



And that’s enough for now…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I had to renew hosting contracts for our servers in the west coast.



We have two servers all in the west coast. I did this after the big power outage back in 2003 I think. This way if we have a power outage the other location can keep connectivity going. What happens if the west coast goes off? We can start up an emergency server here but usually we just use our social media accounts and email to keep going. Satellite connectivity makes all this easier, though this is all in its infancy.



Just getting caught up in other business things. I still want to go over and check that everything is good to go in the old editor and start to close off the emergency backup stuff filled with all the drama that goes with it.



I’m still in the old man funk but sooner or later it goes away for a while.




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/kkzZVX6ALaA?si=e4sTG6lXZkew1D1h

[Maurice Ali]

I’m just taking care of business.




Note that I have pivoted from doing new things to consolidating legacy and supporting others doing exciting new things. This makes me more of a caretaker now than an innovative individual. But the innovation is done here and we still have to get the word out. When that happens the orgs have to be in a position to handle the load of
massive interest. One person can’t do that! So that is what is going on now. All corporations have a distinct purpose/mission statement.




I’m quite pleased at the development actually. This is rather boring for most of you but it must be done.



On the backup hard drive front, the age old philosophy of never giving up a company hard drive for a warrantee has been enforced as I checked the files copied to the fried hard drive and there was much more in there than I ever thought. In larger operations you simply cannot trust the staff with what can be given out for replacement - you have to enforce a none swap policy! So no warrantee replacement and I just take the lost cost the on chin…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Some points for Saturday.



So after buying the 8tb hard drives at Canada Computers and BestBuy for 190 or so reduced from 250, I now see they dropped it again to 170! I was pissed, and then I found out the two drive bay I also bought dropped by 15 bucks a due to “Back to School” sales.



But wait: the price guarantee at BestBuy means if they drop the price within 30 days you can get the new price at Customer Service. So I went there and 35 bucks and the tax back on my credit card. I then went and bought another 8tb drive while I was there also for 170. But could that work at Canada Computers? I went there and the cashier balked at the refund saying the SKU was different that the one at lower price (the reality is they they don’t have to cash out at the lower price if it’s as already on sale - but I digress). So then I pulled out the slips from BestBuy and told her that the would still have to match the BestBuy reduction since that was the same transaction - this time she agreed and another 23 bucks back on the card. So the purchase of the new 8tb drive was bought for 170 with 55 (pre tax) off, so I got it for 115 as all these transactions are pending. They are all pre-tax amounts here just to keep it simple. 115 bucks is the price of that 2tb drive I was going to get anyway and now the I can squeeze in all the files on the 8tb. I guess I have mitigated much of the loss with the original dead drive.



All of this was a lot of effort but this was a business transaction and so I always go all out for the money as it has a carry over effect on the next transaction.



Anyway I’m now copying more files for redundancy.



In other news.




Davinci Resolve editor!



Sure enough Blackmagic Studio Editing software can now be used with a monthly fee attached. So all the people who went to Davinci Resolve because Adobe was all a subscription are scrambling to buy the perpetual licenses now - like the Boss pedal a few days ago - companies want you to pay and not own anything. Stop paying and all your video projects on your computer are inaccessible. Videography has gone down the tube so all these companies are looking to pad their bottom lines with subscriptions!




The cheapest cinema camera you can get!



For you videophiles I should mention that most YouTubers that ran production companies have now gone bankrupt. One guy went back to playing poker for a living. Others are in “Joe jobs” with video now a hobby. Everywhere people are losing jobs to high tech companies that want to replace humans everywhere. I now start counting teeth in attractive women in advertisements to see if they are real - it has come to this.




The cheapest “pro” camcorder you can get!



Running my companies on nothing has allowed the corporations to continue past 20 years. Going bankrupt or closing the corporation means it disappears. I don’t feel a winner, but the orgs go on onto the uncertain future but they go on. Being cheap saved them in the end.



Most of those video production companies really started during covid and in a short number of years they are already gone. They built a business model based on the revenue during covid which was an anomaly. Then when things got back to normal and with advertisements for social media which could be done by an individual instead of a crew - the medium size production house disappeared in short order. Many large businesses now have their employees do the videos in-house on the cheap…..



If they were just a bit cheaper those YouTubers would still be in business. If they just didn’t lease that office space, if they just didn’t finance those high spec cameras - they might still be around today. Anyway, it is strange to see business school philosophies play themselves out in real time. I chose “cheap” and gave up the glamour of the fantasy producer and i’m still around. The fantasy producers probably got laid more for feeding the fantasies of many women, but in the end that’s all they have. And now they have to start at zero again with a business environment that is basically dead under those expensive business models they started with.



This is a boring business rant, but all those guys with tattoos and fancy hip clothes and Apple gear are out of business - but I’m still here!




Goodnight…..





https://youtu.be/oVrEzH9gkZk?si=NvPut6xcSMIJU4Q1

[Maurice Ali]

Still in a downer for over a week…..



Still in this funk - but big stuff is happening. Making changes and being changed along with it is stressful and puts you in a funk.



I’d say the funkiness started last year when I turned 65. I don’t look 65 and being surround by younger people, that puts you in a position to deny being your age until you can’t deny it any more. I already started making possible succession arrangements by creating FOFSTOCK and in December giving FOF Records away to FOFSTOCK basically creating a - one stop - organization that could basically do anything in music. Recently it was turning FOF Entertainment into a film distribution company and jump starting videos at FOF again. So IAIJ and the IAIJ for profit corporation (archiving that runs the news service and indemnifies not-for-profit IAIJ from legal liability) made sense - that is two corporations. FOSTOCK and FOF Records makes 4 corporations sorted out. FOF and now FOF Entertainment makes six corporations given new life and objectives. And the seventh is More Vision which is my advertising company that basically can do anything the other orgs need doing. Advertising is its mission statement…..







Doing all his has been time consuming and boring and energy draining. The video backups are basically done now with three copies of all our video source files. This does not include the original tapes - 340 tapes - that could be downloaded digitally, but who in their right mind would want to do that again!




Some tapes at FOSTOCK - now imagine 340 of those!!!!!



All this just reminds me of someone “getting his house in order” - like someone who knows their time is up. I guess that is the reason for the funk. But the heavy lifting is done and I can go back to concentrating on creativity for a change. I bought an adapter plate for the pocket 4K needed to extend the battery range if I needed it using those Sony batteries I have laying around. Then I also bought the cable today. I also bought some hard drive storage cases for the important backups. Mostly this weekend was some relief that the corporations now have direction and a future no matter what happens…..



Hopefully nothing happens for a long, long, time. But you never know, all of us are just one moment away from really bad news. You have to prepare for it. At my age you should know better. There is no fool like an old fool!




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

The backups are done! I don’t ever want to do that again. But it’s done and the old AVID editor is online and proper now.




This is an old photo but the whole top row is tape now!



Free at last!



Now back to my normal existence…..




Later…..





https://youtu.be/oTB46FJOF5w?si=HXPlzOEVmOk19GKv

[Maurice Ali]

Finally some good news…..




The evening advocacy mingling event!



Yes I got the evening invite to the Delegates Dining Room event for high tech industry leaders where I can pitch my Worldwide Vote idea! This is in addition to the two events happening two days later.




Second event later on in the week!



So I guess that the status of the trip right now. Hotels are wickedly expensive during General Assembly but the cheapest one near the UN strangely happened to be the one where I could apply my Hotels.com free night against. So I now got the two night stay for the price of one.




Third event later on that week!



All this happened on a day where nothing worked for me - but the invite made up for it! So now I have to prepare for the trip. More on that in the coming days…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

Got another invite…..







That one is for opening day speeches at the UN. This is desirable because all the big hitters make speeches early and side events may have big names there. Been there and done that. You learn that Presidents and Prime Ministers are just ordinary people making mistakes in their speeches and everyone else laughing like hyenas and walking around with their “fly open” and stuff like that. The first time is enlightening and empowering - after that…..



For me I have to look at an extra day away from the family and total costs of hotels. Airfare is the same but at this time in NYC the hotels are wickedly expensive. For Monday I have to fly in on Sunday to be sure to get a special event ticket as my pass doesn’t work during General Assembly (but having it does work big time for secondary ID). The ITU/UN event finishes Tuesday night too late to fly back so I have to fly back on Wednesday. So I have to stay extra night for these two events.



The way it stands now I just need two nights for three days and three events. So it’s not looking good just to arrive a day earlier for that first day event. But I will look at it properly today.



Aside from that I’m back to taking care of mundane things. I will make up some business cards with IAIJ and the Worldwide Vote stuff to hand out as I talk to people.




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I’m staying with the plan that is in place. Now the only thing to do is to make sure everything is setup so you don’t have any last minute surprises.



I have to get a new business card for IAIJ - for old farts like me at the event - but this isn’t critical. Mostly just make sure all the important parts of the trip are in place and work down from that.



In other news.



At the 2025 iPhone event was a docking station for the new iPhone 17 Pro models to shoot ProRes RAW and GenLock, except the docking station was Blackmagic. The next day Blackmagic releases 20.2 for Davinci Resolve that finally has ProRes RAW support. Then even stranger was my Pocket 4K getting an update for shooting in ProRes RAW! Yes, I updated the firmware and my cheap little cinema camera shoots 4K ProRes RAW! The other more expensive cameras from Blackmagic don’t have this yet and no timetable for implementation. This is just a bizarre move but welcomed by me who just bought the camera. This truly extends the life cycle of the camera now…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

So I’ve started work on the new business cards and we should have them in time for the NYC trip.



But the Pocket 4K and DaVinci Resolve get ProRes Raw! Even better will be the Blackmagic dock for the iPhone 17 Pro Max and its ProRes compatible with the editor and my camera! If I get the new iPhone I now have a dock for ProRes and a “B” or “C” camera for shoots. Also an external monitor for the Pocket 4K if I need it! And a cage for the iPhone 17 Pro Max - how weird is that!



With the latest firmware update for the old Pocket 4K, I’m blown away with the support for a camera released in 2018. This is like the Helix Pedalboard I just bought still supported after 10 years! No regrets buying the Pocket 4K Wow…..




That square plate beside the shotgun microphone is the battery plate for longer uninterrupted use!



I also added and external lower battery plate for the Pocket 4K that fits in the front of the handle:



I experimented moving things around but this works best. I should get the batteries this week and the cable a week later. And that should be it for my first cinema camera…..




Almost lost her today!



In other news, about 3 hours ago this woman drives out from a drive way and tries to sideswipe my car. She tried but didn’t make it. I dodged this - with some skill. So even though I had good luck after the hard drive bad luck fiasco - that has now come to an end and I’m back to having to deliberately make things go my way instead of relying on luck…..




Goodnight…..

[Maurice Ali]

I woke up on Saturday and started to worry a little about not getting ready for the trip. It’s like it just occurred to me that in a week you will be basically flying there to New York…..



Anyway the plane fare is set and the hotel is booked so there is that. The business cards should be done by then also, though that is not critical - but it should be ready. So what else is here that’s critical.



Well, I tried out a cheap backpack in May (AI UN trip) and I was sold on using that instead of carrying luggage. The problem is that it was a cheap backpack with no “bells and whistles” for travel. So today I started looking around for a better backpack that would be my “go to” back pack for a trip of a few days to NYC. I went online and settled on the Osprey Farpoint series. One was just a backpack and the other was similar but with a secondary pack that you could carry on as your personal item. The single was the one where I needed zippered areas for the wallet and stuff like that especially in the airport and the dual pack did not have those as on the single big pack. So I got the single pack that could also connect to a secondary pack if bought separately.



I was going to buy it on Amazon but SportCheck and Mountain Equipment had these in their stores so I went down to this mall Called Yorkdale as they were the only ones that had both versions to check out in person. I get there and I was sold on the single backpack. But this other backpack said all Osprey packs were on sale 25% off - so I took that and my pack in the color I liked (black) and went to the cashier. Like Canada Computers last week, she points at the SKU and says they are different items. I show here the sign that says Osprey backpacks and that staff told me the store would honour the sale price even if it was an old sign. It was 250.00 so 62.50 off which paid for the batteries for the Pocket 4K battery plate I bought a couple of days ago. So that worked out!



And that is where I am now in the trip.



Movie making corner:



I downloaded this expensive bluetooth app for the Pocket 4K and I was blown away by one feature. So this application lets you change parameters remotely and start recording remotely. But what I didn’t expect was to be able to focus remotely with my iPhone. The main criticism of my main lens and the prime lens was that the focus was “focus by wire” you had this gritty wheel for focus because these cameras usually had fantastic auto focus. The Pocket does not as it’s a cinema camera and all you get is a single point push to focus on the centre of the screen. But with this bluetooth app I can use the slider to focus on anything anywhere in the screen. Best yet - I can “pull focus” by focusing on one area then set this in the app and focus on another area and set that and set the duration and start the action of pulling focus. “Pull focus” without any mechanicals for eight bucks and it works!



Aside from that, I screwed down all the add-ons for that cage on the Pocket 4K. Two nights this week I was up in the early morning messing around with it. First with the ProRes Raw and then with the bluetooth app. This camera is fun…..


I think I didn’t get lucky with the purchase of the backpack, but made an omission of the store work for me. Remember - luck is even handed and I don’t want small bits of good luck now - because that means major bad luck later. It worked for me after the hard drive business but that has passed now - so things are normal now in the luck department.



Goodnight…..