Back to Work – finally!
Today is my first day back at a full-time job since my RIF at Sun Microsystems (and the beginning of this blog).
It’s been a tough 19 months. I still can’t believe that it took this long to find a job, but I know a number of other folks still looking, and for those of us over 50, the IT job market has been very slim.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to pay my bills, due largely to the very generous severance package from Sun, and also to a couple of brief consulting gigs, several Voice Over jobs, unemployment benefits, and a few months of part-time work at Trader Joe’s.
Now, I’m back to being an SE for a hardware manufacturer. I started today at Isilon Systems, a maker of scalable Network Attached Storage for the Data Center, where I’ll be covering US Federal Civilian Agencies. This should be fun – I’ll be drawing on the basic skills I built over 17 years at Sun, but will be learning an entirely new product set to apply those skills against.
I like the fact that Isilon is a small company – fewer than 500 employees. I’ve always done well at small companies, and I often thought that the reason I did so well at Sun for so long was that Sun behaved like a small company until very near the end.
Of course, this advantage won’t last. Three days after I signed my acceptance letter, Isilon was acquired by EMC. Still, this should allow me to establish myself at Isilon while it remains a small subsidiary of EMC before the corporate culture changes to that of a big corporation.
One thing for sure – it will be an adventure. Thanks for sharing this ride with me, and keep checking in on this blog to see what happens.
Voice Actor for Hire
One of the big projects I’ve been working on since getting laid off is now done – I’m open for business as a Voice Actor and Narrator!
I actually had the idea to do this some time ago. When I have looked into getting work as a Voice Actor in the past, the biggest obstacle was that I didn’t have a Demo, and getting a Demo produced would mean spending quite a bit of time in the studio.
So, finding myself suddenly free from the daily grind, I almost immediately went up to Schenectady, NY to take some classes and record tracks with Voice Coaches (see my earlier blog entry here). After a couple of months of work, the production work on my demo was done, and as of today, my new web site is live.
Please go and visit the new site, listen to demos, and most importantly, tell your friends about me if they are doing anything that could use a professional Voice Over.
Software Copy Protection for Pro Tools – The Worst of Both Worlds?
I know I’m ranting, here, but I just can’t help it. So, I apologize in advance.
I was a vocal opponent of hardware dongles and key disks way back in the 80′s, and I thought we were beyond that, until I started looking into Digital Audio Workstation software for my home Voice Over recording studio.
After reviewing what was available, I settled on Pro Tools, since I needed an interface for my studio microphone anyway (XLR connection and 48 volt power), and Pro Tools came bundled with a pretty good one. I only bristled at the hardware dongle aspect for a moment (the software won’t run without one of the approved audio interfaces attached). I acquiesced since, for my purposes, I’d need to have one attached to do anything useful (you can’t do much voice recording without a microphone).
Upon installing Pro Tools, I quickly verified that it wouldn’t start without the interface, then I connected the interface (Digidesign Mbox 2), and it started right up … almost.
Now, even though it would seem that the presence or absence of the Mbox2 effectively implements any needed copy protection, on the first execution of Pro Tools I still had to enter:
- A 14-random-character ID
- A 4-character “Release Code”
- An 11-character serial number
…for the connected interface. WTF?
Pro Tools comes with a wealth of plug-ins, many of which look really useful. In addition, the package I purchased included a bundle of added plug-ins. On going through the packaging, I discovered that these additions required key codes to use, and these codes reside on a USB dongle (a PACE iLok). But, in addition to requiring the presence of the iLok, the first time I tried to use them, up popped a dialog requiring entry of:
- A 14-random-character ID
- An 11-character serial number
Again, WTF?
Cryptic software keys are bad enough, hardware dongles are almost always bad, but both?!?!?
Maybe it’s just me, but this really bothers me.
Addendum
A reader has pointed out that DAW applications (and all audio apps) are heavily pirated. I still contend, however, that no copy protection scheme has ever managed anything more than to temporarily slow down the pirates and crackers, and at the cost of unduly punishing legitimate users.
The more egregious the copy protection, the more you alienate your Paying Customers! And for the others, it only needs to be cracked once. Copy protection has never made good economic sense, and it still doesn’t.
In the Studio with Voice Coaches
Recording a commercial...
During my college days, I spent a lot of time in the studio of WJHU Radio in Baltimore, as their first News anchor.
In the years since then, I’ve missed the studio work, and folks frequently ask me if I’m not the guy they heard on some TV or radio ad. As a result, I’ve often thought of trying to get some work doing Voice Overs.
The one thing I was missing, aside from practice, was a demo. You can’t get anyone to hire you if you can’t send them a demo, and it needs to be properly produced.
Well, as I now have some time on my hands, I booked sessions with Voice Coaches in Schenectady, NY, and I’ve been working with them this week. I’m taking some courses on working in the modern production studio (they don’t use tape anymore?!?!?), and both improving and modernizing my presentational style. We’ve also recorded a number of tracks to use in producing my demo. I’m really learning a lot, and having some fun, as well.
Addendum
As of 27 August, demo production has been complete for several weeks, and the new web site is up and running! Check it out here.
