I’m not going to say too much…I’m not on my main computer right now, I’m kinda on the run, but I do have a peice of original filmwork to share. The topic is escapism, and so is the title. It is about exactly what it implies, but also there is a bit of irony in its construction. It’s almost like a documentary’s decent to madness…but in a good way…hm…

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At any rate, the video is after the break, and unfortunately, I didn’t have time this morning to host the .flv on my own server, so I’ll have to link to my youtube version (which will have considerably less quality). But anyways, I’ll  change that as soon as I can.

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We’ve always had it. But we’ve never really promoted it. Well, we’re not asking for donations, but we would like our image to spread as far as it can. So, if you have a few bucks, and like us as much as we do, head over here:

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Merch Store

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Or you can find a button on the front of every page leading to the store. for information on the logo’s meaning, I refer you to our About page.

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Aside from that, we (again) have a new layout. In any studio space that I’ve worked in, the environment was always subject to change, especially one that is used for a multi-purpose facility. This is also the case with an online studio. Facelifts are necessary and frequent.

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Another point I want to mention, is that we’re looking for article writers for tech, politics, opinions, and…well…just about anything else that you think might be prevelent. Head over here and get in touch with one of our staff members, or shoot me an email:

josh {{at}} optimistudios.com.

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-Josh

Hey, it’s Dave. I just learned a couple days ago about a case that recently was ruled on by the Supreme Court called Arizona v. Gant. Basically, Rodney Gant was arrested for driving under a suspended license and was placed in a patrol car before his own car was searched. During the search, officers found a bag of cocaine in a jacket pocket in the car. Gant was found guilty of cocaine possession in the state courts, but he and his lawyer appealed, saying that this was an unwarranted search which violated his 4th amendment rights.

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Gant was found to be correct by the time the Supreme Court ruled on the case, and the precedent set by New York v. Belton was overruled. To clarify, the NYv. B precedent said that if a citizen was placed under arrest, his vehicle was subject to a full warrantless search, and any evidence found could and would be used against them. This new ruling makes it a bit tougher on cops to just arrest people and invade their privacy.

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The only way an officer can legally search your vehicle now is if you appear to be reaching for a weapon, appear to be destroying or getting rid of evidence, have evidence in plain sight from outside the vehicle, or if there is reason to believe that there is evidence in the car linked to the crime at hand. For instance, if you get pulled over for speeding, they can’t search your vehicle on the grounds of drug possession unless there is clear probable cause.

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Anyway, this is a bit long winded, but I figured you should know that every once in awhile a little light still shines through from our government. The people have gained a little power back from the police. Now all we have to do is work on lowering their numbers; you’d think we were living under martial law with all the pigs around these days.

Easy,

- Dave

Since the iPod took control of the touch-screen market, there have been quite a few attempts to de-throne the device (or at least match it) but that has been fairly unsucessful. But Samsung is coming out with a follow-up to the widely successful P2 with the P3. For a few months now, it has been the talk of the media player sepectrum. I’m hearing different rumors on the P3’s release date, but the most common, or at least the most believable (considering all the other guesses have now expired) is sometime in May. I think what makes this player so appealing, is that on average, the prices are $100 lower than the iPod touch.

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Anyways, take a look after the break for some excellent photos from a gadget website, anythingbutipod.com also, if you want to just skip right over to their reveiw, you can take this path: ABiP Samsung P3 review

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Today, I finally worked out some of the painful issues with the site’s code. Firstly, with the damaged RSS feed, then there was a major issue with the xhtml validation. Aside from that, though, I made some nice design changes. I still believe that there is quite a bit to do in that regard, but for the next few days, I’ll be happy.
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In other news, I started on a new film this weekend, and I suspect that it will be on the site within the next two weeks.
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For now,

-Josh

Finally! It’s out for PC (beta) I’ve been waiting for this media player to come out for a few months now. It’s installing as I type this out. Really, anyone who is fed up with the awful performance of windows media player, or doesn’t want to convert their entire library to mp3s (assuming they all aren’t already) then go here:

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http://www.doubletwist.com/dt/Home/Index.dt

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In other news, today I directed a small film shoot for a local group called the Nashtones. Optimi Studios might be hired to edit the footage, but I’m not sure about that just yet.

more to come soon,

-Josh

Was a long one. Like I said, I was going to be busy. I was finishing up a performance of The Mouse that Roared. Along with that, I had a few clients to juggle, and some more coming in. So, anyways, I guess I’m still busy. Oh well. Anyways, click more to see the pictures:

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