Bryan Strawser

Now that it’s been publicly announced - I can finally mention it here…

I’ll be presenting at the 2007 Annual Loss Prevention Conference for the Retail Industry Leader’s Association (RILA) in Dallas, TX along with Pete Jankowski, Chief Technical Officer, Physical Security Business Unit, Cisco Systems, on the subject of Video Analytics.

Our presentation is titled Smart CCTV - An Overview of Video Analytics - the program notes outline the following:

Many retailers store hundreds or thousands of hours of video in their locations that are never seen by human eyes. This presentation will focus on the utilization of video analytics to help retailers gain additional value from their video surveillance systems for both loss prevention and other organizations across the corporation. Topics will include business value development, system architecture, analytics examples, and an overview of the analytics marketplace.

The presentation is on May 1st….

In 2004, I wrote about what I carry around in my gadget bag. Here’s a 2007 update:

• Apple Macbook Pro 17″ - My trusty 2005 Powerbook G4 died on me earlier this year on a trip to Dallas. This is the latest one - unfortunately not the most current line of Macbook Pro though. Upgraded to 3G of RAM.
• Apple iPod - 60GB version from two generations ago. Currently using 56GB. At work, I dock it into a stereo rig. Otherwise, I use the Shure e4c headphones - expensive, but worth it.
• Apple iPod Shuffle (Silver) - I use this when working out or hitting the road on the bicycle.
• Palm Treo 700wx - this is my domestic cell phone / PDA. It syncs wirelessly using Sprint’s EVDO broadband to our Microsoft Exchange servers - providing me with email, contacts, and other information wherever I am.
• Apple iPhone - my personal & international cell phone. My work phone number forwards over to this phone - making it the onestop shop for communications wherever I am.
• Levenger Notebook - I use leather three-ring binder from Levenger to hold my daily schedule, executive summaries, tasks, and various notes as I motor throughout my day. Some of my forms are custom made using Abode Illustrator. I’m also a huge fan of Dave Seah’s Printable CEO series.
• Moleskine Reporter Pocket Notebook - I carry this when I’m highly mobile - it primarily serves as my portable task list.
• Moleskine Reporter Large Notebook - I use this for notetaking and meetings, etc. I began using these when I moved to our headquarters in 2005 - I now have 6 of them filed away in the desk. It’s helped me never lose my notes!
• Sprint Broadband Card - this is used with my work laptop (not listed) to connect to the internet in order to sync up email, etc. when traveling.
• United States Passport - never leave home without it. Now featuring a 5 year entry/exit visa for India.

When I switched to the 17″ Macbook Pro my Brenthaven backpack of years past simply wouldn’t hold the laptop safely. So, I dropped over to Marshall Field’s (now Macy’s unfortunately) and picked up a Tumi Nylon Briefcase that was roomy enough to hold my 17″ laptop. I’ve been in love with my bag ever since.

What’s in your bag?

Waited for 90 minutes to get an Iphone.. and I learned a hard lesson.

Someone in line had to be the first guy that didn’t get a phone…

And that guy was the person standing behind me.

More to come..

Some commentary over at Infectious Greed about life with multiple monitors:

My main office setup has one Dell 2405 (a 24” LCD), and one “smaller” Dell panel that clocks in at around 19”. Funny thing is, as Jason is implicitly saying here, I keep wishing I had more screen real estate. Yes, people would make even more jokes about me playing air traffic controller in my spare time, but luxuriating in the glow of so many monitors feels … necessary.

I have two Dell 20″ monitors running into the Dell XPS desktop - they’re great, especially for gaming. The Powermac has the 23″ cinema screen along with the older 19″ studio display next to it. Love that too. The laptop, unfortunately, only has one screen.

I only wish I had multiple monitors at work.

And no, it’s not just because it’s a website for democrats, run by democrats, but rather because it sucks.

I am doing a research paper for college on the USA Patriot Act and need dissenting voices. So I goto democrats.org expecting to be able to click a few links and find their position on the USA Patriot Act.

Do I find that? No.

What do I find? Nothing.

Why, you might ask? Because their website sucks ass.

I did goto the Electronic Frontier Foundation website. What did I find? A whole list of issues linked to news about those issues and clear statements on the EFF’s position.

And we wonder why the Dems have no traction? Why we can’t tell what they stand for?

One reason is that their website sucks ass.