Why don't you get a job?

Hello, friends!

I told you on my last post that I had quit my job. I also told you I was having an interview this week.

So... I went to the interview today. I wasn't confident at all about this job because it's about something I don't have any experience about, but they still wanted to interview me. I was so not confident and I cared so little about this interview that I arrived late. When I say late, I don't mean 5 minutes late... I mean half an hour late!

Once in the interview things went really well, though. It turns out that the team I'd be working for has contacts all over the world and they needed somebody with my previous experience that could also speak many languages (that's me!). They said that they can teach me anything I don't know, so training is not a problem.

Even though I arrived late, I'm quite confident I'm getting this job. I'll keep you updated regarding that!

The bad thing is that I won't be able to visit my beloved girlfriend for another year and a half. I hope she finds the time to visit me before that... The good thing is that if I actually get this job, I'd be making double what I was making at my previous job.

I really miss my girlfriend, but I hope I made the right decision; I need to make money so we can get a place of our own once we marry. I'd really like to go visit her, but I can't spend all the money on plane tickets, right? What do you think?

I quit

Hello, friends!

It's been a while since I updated this blog, so I wanted to leave a few lines.

I've had enough of my job: long hours without any kind of additional retribution, low pay, no possibility of career advancement...

I quit.

By the end of the month I won't be going to the office anymore. I have already started the search for a new job and I have an interview next week (wish me luck!)

Sadly, this means I won't be able to visit my girlfriend soon, but we have been chatting the last few days and she might be able to visit before the end of the year! *crosses fingers*

Far Away

Hello, friends!

As I mentioned in my previous post, my girlfriend is away and we won't be able to chat for a while. When I chat with her I always tell her that I love her and I give her e-kisses and e-hugs. I always feel that typing those things is not enough, that typing those words is nothing like actually kissing her and hugging her and looking into her eyes while I tell her that I love her.

Sometimes an impulsive 2:00 AM cross-country trip is the only solution.
(In our case it would be cross-world.)
XKCD is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License

At this point, I'd be happy just being able to chat with her and read about how her day went; telling her that I love her and sending her an e-kiss would be simply amazing.
This is a reminder to my future self to learn to appreciate the small things and not take them for granted.

Update

Hello, friends!

My girlfriend is going on a trip for some days and I won't be able to chat with her. I'm kind of sad and I didn't feel like posting, but I'm just leaving this little update here so you know what's going on.
Hopefully, I'll be in the mood for a longer post tomorrow.

Streaming with VLC

Hello, friends!

Since I got a comment asking how to stream with VLC, I'm taking a break from the relationship posts to write a tutorial on how to do that.

First step, install VLC if it's not installed. Second, open VLC.

This is what VLC looks like when you open it.

 Then you click on Media menu and you pick Streaming.

This is the streaming dialog.

Once the streaming dialog opens up, you have to click on the Capture Device tab. There, you have to complete the Video device name option with your webcam. I don't know how this is on Windows, but on GNU/Linux I put the default webcam device which is /dev/video0. You can always stream a file if you want.
 

Pick your webcam to stream.

 Then you click on the Stream button a the bottom. That opens up a few options for you to configure. The source is already done for you and the type in GNU/Linux would be v4l or v4l2. So we go to the Destinations option instead.

I leave this as is.

In the destinations, I click on "Display locally" so I can see myself while streaming and then I pick HTTP in the combo selector. Then I click Add.

Where do you want to stream to?

Here I pick the port and the path. You could call the path /stream.mkv or /stream.asf depending on the type of container you pick (more of that on the next step). The port should be a port that you can open on your router (8080 is the default).

Pick a port and a Path.

 Once that's done, you have to pick the Transcoding options. There are some profiles already prepared, but you can create your own.

If you decide to create your own you have to name your profile and pick a container (VLC calls it "Encapsulation"). I use an mkv container but do check what works for you.

Pick your container.

For codec I pick V8, but again, pick what you like the most. You can also pick the size of the streaming and the FPS. Depending on your bandwidth you want the size and the FPS to be higher or lower. Just play with the settings and see what works for you and the person receiving the streaming.

Pick your codec.

Then you can save your new Profile for streaming if you decided to create one. After that's done, click on the Stream button once again and your camera should turn on and you should be able to see what your camera is showing. To let the other person see your streaming you provide them with a URL like this: http://YourIP:ThePort/StreamPath.container. For example: http://127.0.0.1:8080/stream.mkv (127.0.0.1 is localhost, obviously). To find out your IP use ipconfig in a Windows terminal or ifconfig in a GNU/Linux or OSX terminal.

That's it. Let me know if you try it and it doesn't work for you or if you have any doubts or suggestions. If you try it and it works for you, I'd also like to hear it!

PS: There's a poll on the right of this blog. Vote on it if you haven't yet!

Introductions

Since this is the first entry here, I should say a bit about my motivations to write this blog.

My name is Charles and I'm 27 years old. I live outside of the US. I have a good job, I have a lot of friends and I'm not religious. I fell in love with Anne, whom I met online. She's 18, lives in the US and is a Christian.

I got to know her because we frequented the same Second Life places. In spite of the long distance, our different cultures, different languages (English is not my mother language), different spiritual beliefs and age difference, we think we're made for each other and we think our relationship is only getting stronger. This blog will be a way to show the world how we manage to do that and how love conquers all.