Airship DVR / NVR Video & Video Management Blog

Demos in Vegas

I went to Las Vegas last week for two demos on Thursday and Friday.

In both places they are still using VHS recording. Both places have demoed and purchased a certain amount of digital video recording.

Thursdays demo found us operational in about 45 minutes. They already have three full racks if digital recording using hardware that is compatible with Airship. Why lookng for something else? Support and Service is poor with the current provider. We may be able to replace their systems with Airship DVR software and then add more Real Airship systems later. A cost cutting deal that gets everyone what they want.

At Fridays demo, they aren't really shopping right now. They have VHS and we are simply asking for a hands on review for product development puppses. Nice folks to do that for us. Of course we presume they will fall in love with Airship and place an order to swap out every VHS machine they own. Like, on Monday. ;) We will see...

By Gryphon MacThoy

New Hire, an Opportunity to Refresh

Whenever we hire someone new, I take it as an opportunity to reestablish how easy our software is to learn and use. I always learn that something could be made easier, maybe with less clicks or more clear labels. This time, our new hire is a veteran of the surveillance industry, and he knows many different video surveillance systems on the market.

THIS is going to be fun. I'll write a follow up at the end of today.

by Gryphon MacThoy

People really want to recycle their old computers

There's a BIG interest out there in recycling old computers and electronics. Sometimes the demand is greater than the supply (Great investigative journalism piece in Capitol Hill News about a computer recycling event gone bad ) and can lead to some tricky logistics — how do you dispose of 14 tons of old computers when you were expecting a couple of truckloads, and when your contractors have issues and are backing out?

And soul-searching — how do you make sure you're not shipping things for recycling to places with lower environmental standards where they might be poisoning people and things?

To ponder. Meanwhile, Airship is doing its part , having launched its Green Appeal free VCR recycling program last year, and bringing all our own computer waste to RePC unless of course it can all be repurposed to make robotic corporate baristas or whatever.

Abigail

Cameras used to gain intelligence

I love it when people get it that surveillance video cameras are incredibly powerful tools for collecting information and understanding behavior — they can enable people to save lives, prevent injuries and theft, and make things all-around easier and more profitable for people.

Caltrain in California is going to use cameras to reduce injuries and deaths on its tracks. (Security Director News) Bravo!

Abigail

Changes coming

This (useit.com) encompasses why we are currently deep into giving our Airship Web site a major "spring cleaning."

On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.

We originally wrote the Airship Web site thinking that we would address the fact that in our industry, many companies strategically omit information about the limitations of their systems, in hopes that customers and end-users will assume their systems do every last thing including toast bread and spread butter and jam on it.

We addressed this unfortunate trend by filling our site with a glut of information about exactly what our systems are and do...down to, practically, a description of every last screw.

Well, no more. Expect a leaner site to appear Friday or  Monday. We want to make it easier for people to get an overview of our product, and not overhwelm them with TMI. Of course, the site will still aim to be supremely useful and information-based. And if you miss the exhaustive data and you want us to go on and on about every last detail and performance stat, just clear your calendar, get yourself a nice big cup of coffee or tea and call us. 1-877-462-4250.

We love talking about all aspects of digital video!

Abigail

Southern Gaming Summit

That's what 83º in Biloxi, MS looks like, after you spent the day setting up a booth and dealing with a RAID controller that got damaged in transit. Not bad at all!

We got the phone photo from Gryph, who reports that there's still a lot of Katrina damage in Biloxi, one of the signs of which is no apparent Internet connection. The sway in the booth pipe along the top is a little unfortunate, but I'd guess it's the same all around so we look great "on a curve."

If you're in Biloxi, make sure to come see us at Southern Gaming!

Abigail

Surround-sound Branding (Colors you can almost hear)

We're moving offices, and let's just say the new property managers didn't do much to make the new space look inviting. We had to remove a bunch of cheap shelves anchor-bolted into the walls at shoulder-height, and the carpet is something perhaps better not to describe. (You can see the crappy shelves in the picture, on the floor.)

Anyway, so even though we're on a tight timeline to get the move over with, we decided a little morale-building prep work was in order. Gryph stayed late last night painting our office Airship Orange, and Doug came in with a rented carpet cleaner and made a big difference.

The orange office is just a few people — and many of those who who will be in non-orange offices have voiced doubts it was a wise color choice. Once the cubes are in, much of the orange will be covered and — hey — when the 2 PM slump sets in, the walls will give us the jolt we need. And Marketing will definitely find it easier than ever to stay on-brand.

Abigail

(ed by Gryph) Yeah, but some people have no style. And we can deco the place like some cool night club and serve tropical rum drinks on those grey Seattle days. THEN people will get the point of adding some color to your work space. And plants! Don't forget the plants we'll have.

Also, not seen in the picture - I was rocking out to KMFDM and The Murder City Devils while painting...

 

Donate to the Hungry Devs Fund

We were recently informed that we would be allocated funds to repaint the walls in our new office. Puzzled with the choice of having to pick a color, we came to the best solution in a very dev-like fashion — in a chat room.

Here's the log showing our engineering genius, synergy, and perhaps hunger:

Aaron says:
OK. So we all agree that they should save the money for painting our room and buy us some beer or something?

Sam says:
what color is it now?

Aaron says:
White, I think.

Aaron says:
Which is what we have now.

Aaron says:
Gryph and Doug just wanted to spice it up.

Sam says:
yeah, save the money

John  Su says:
yes i agree in the first suggestion by aaron

John  Su says:
donate to the hungry devs fund

John  Su says:
we need food and drink to work

Prasoon says:
ha ha ha

Aaron says:
Haha. OK, I'll tell Abigail tomorrow.

If you would also like to contribute to the fuel which drives us to our goal of Airship software perfection, please donate to the Hungry Devs Fund. (Or buy an Airship DVR, since small percentage the profits indirectly goes to feeding the devs). Thank you for your support.

John Su

We all know this, but have we thought about it in depth lately?

A nice overview of the deep pain VCR recording creates published by Indian Gaming a couple of years ago is a thorough reminder of why, for their own good, organizations need to be talked out of "saving money" by staying with VCR recording:

Although most surveillance managers/directors are already familiar with the shortcomings of VHS video tape recorders, it is important to review the magnitude of the disadvantages to appreciate the vast difference offered by digital video recorders:

• Video tape recorders can easily get clogged record heads. There is no way to tell this has happened until the tape is played back. Often, there was nothing recorded on the tape. Many important events have been lost in casinos because of this problem.

• Each tape must be removed and replaced by a blank tape.

• Each tape must be rewound after 8 hours of recording time.

• Each tape must be retained for 1-4 weeks depending upon local gaming control rules. This requires a large storage room and an inventory control system.

• Each VCR must be manually restarted in record mode.

• VCRs have an inherent amount of downtime that can amount to a very large amount of lost recording time whereby casinos are not protected. This unprotected time for a casino with hundreds of cameras can amount to thousands of hours per month. This is a tremendous liability to the overall security of the casino.

• VCR manufacturers are stopping production of recorders and tapes, so they will be more difficult to get, and prices will rise. Already, two of the three major VCR manufacturers have discontinued production.

• With VCRs, surveillance personnel are spending untold hours changing tapes, not doing their main job of surveillance.

Writer Chuck Colby's point about VCR costs rising is now a little off; with so many finally converting to DVR recording (and so many yet to convert) used VCRs are currently fairly cheap. But they have such a short lifespan that they eat up cash over time and incur so many other costs, it's a nonissue.

And can I add that VCR recording has zero green appeal?!

Abigail

Another eye opener

An example of the many end users who are finding that their surveillance investments have not been as future proof as perhaps they were sold:

SANTA YNEZ, Calif.—Officials at Chumash Casino Resort were perplexed, to say the least, when they were informed the surveillance solution they purchased four years ago for $3.5 million was being discontinued.

Mark Meske, director of surveillance and compliance at the resort, said the fact the Bosch DVRs were not only obsolete, but the company was no longer making parts for the product line anymore “irritated the business committee of our tribe.” Faced with upgrading its solution, officials looked at technologies showcased at November’s and saw Arecont Vision’s megapixel cameras. Global Gaming Expo and saw Arecont Vision’s megapixel cameras.

So, they are spending another 3.5M on 84 Arecont megapixel cameras and a Pivot3 storage solution. I have no doubt these new investments are good ones that have legs. It's just too bad they had to start from a place of disappointment, having already spent 3.5M four years ago and still expecting to have to replace what I'm guessing are the DVRs in "7 to 10" (read 2-5) years.

Abigail