NewTek TriCaster™ TCXD300 at Winter X Games® Europe

HD portable live production system to provide live venue video to event audience

TriCaster at Winter X Games Europe

BORDEAUX, France – March 08, 2010 – NewTek, manufacturer of industry-leading video and 3D animation products, today announced that TriCaster™ TCXD300 high definition/standard definition (HD/SD) portable live production system will provide live venue video at Winter X Games® Europe in Tignes, France, March 10 to 12, 2010.

“On the heels of Winter X Games 14 and the Vancouver Winter Olympics, we anticipate highly skilled competitions as we unite our world-class X Games organization with France’s leading pay TV broadcaster and local expertise of Tignes for the first Winter X Games Europe,” said Kate Nelligan, live event programming producer, ESPN X Games. “With NewTek TriCaster, we can create exclusive live content, delivering the ultimate experience to fans attending this premier event.”

“Using NewTek TriCaster TCXD300, Winter X Games Europe can deliver HD live venue video, maintaining the network-quality coverage that audiences expect from this world sports leader,” said Philip Nelson, senior vice president, strategic development, NewTek. “They can achieve this with just one portable live production unit, instead of having to incur the expense and space needed for multiple pieces of equipment.”

With TriCaster, anyone can simultaneously produce, live stream, broadcast and project HD and SD network-style productions. A single operator or small team can create sophisticated productions while switching between multiple cameras, virtual inputs and live virtual sets, while automatically inserting clips, titles and motion graphics with multi-channel effects. In addition to Winter X Games Europe, TriCaster is used by sports organizations, broadcasters, schools, houses of worship, government agencies and others to provide a new level of extended programming and content to their audiences.

Want more pics of the Winter X Games Europe? Click HERE

Natalie & Sage sing the National Anthem

Two of my daughters love singing the national anthem! Our oldest daughter started off singing the Star Spangled Banner a few years ago and our 5 year old wanted to get in on the fun. Tonight, Sage and Natalie sang the national anthem at the Upwards Basketball awards ceremony. Enjoy.

CNN Poll: Majority says government a threat to citizens’ rights

CNN Just posted their results to a recent poll and their results were very interesting!

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government’s become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree.

Read the article HERE

Dems call Bush on the threat of using “The Nuclear Option” to bypass will of congress

Iranian leaders vow to take on Avatar!

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promises 3D film to rival Avatar.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his crack staff of film experts, take in a 3D showing of Avatar earlier this month. Ahmadinejad promises that Iran will have it’s own version of Avatar that will rival anything that the west could produce!

Wi-Fi thief calls into Leo Laporte’s show asking for help!

This is classic! A lady that has been stealing wi-fi for over a year is frustrated when her internet access “disappears”. In an effort to fix the problem she calls into Leo Laporte’s radio show “The Tech Guy”.

I’m glad that the NewTek TriCaster was there to capture this classic moment.

Watch Leo Laport at www.TWiT.tv

My first attempt at making a primitive bow

As a fan of GI Joe, I’ve been “trained” since I was a youth that “Knowing was half the battle”.. I’m always interested in learning how to do things, fix things, tweak things. A few months ago, NewTek’s CEO told me about an series of books called “The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible”. I purchased a set from Amazon and have been trying to absorb the extremely technical information found in the series.

You can read about stuff forever but the fun begins when you try to DO SOMETHING with what you have learned..

Preparing for the first shot with my homemade longbow

In Volume Two, they cover the concept of making a bow from “home depot” lumber. Today was the day for me to make my first “board” bow. I headed down to Home Depot and found a nice 1×4 that had the wood grain running in the correct way.  The board had a few knots but it looked pretty good. As my guide, I used the “building the perfect bow” article found on pg 92 of volume one. The idea was to make a 70″ bow that was 1 1/2″ inches in the middle and tapered out to 1/2″ at the end.

The first shot! Notice the string is a little long.

As I was trying to tiller the bow, I noticed that a knot in the upper limb was starting to split. Bummer. I had worked for a few hours on the bow and I didn’t think I would even make it to the point where I could shoot it.  I decided that if the knot were going to spit, it may as well be while I was shooting it.  I headed to the backyard to shoot the bow until it self destructed..

After the first successful shot, I was feeling pretty good and decided to try again.  This time, I pulled the string back a little further and.. CRACK.. To my surprise the break didn’t happen at the knot but it broke on both ends where I started to taper the bow back to the 1/2″ end!

My first bow, broken it two places..

Olympic Tragedy – Georgian Luge competitor dies in accident

Georgian Luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed in a tragic accident last week when he lost control and was thrown from the track. Kumaritashvili was just 21 years old.

Warning. GRAPHIC video

Watch CBS News Videos Online

To celebrate NBA All Star Week, enjoy this mascot video

The Toronto Raptor has a little lunch at the expense of the cheerleading squad.

The cutest 911 call you’ll ever hear

I won’t give you much commentary on this one.. Just check out this very cute 911 call from a 5 year old girl.