Michael Aivaliotis

Greek Cooking: Spanakopita

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:00:18 +0000

I’ve been making spanakopita for years. I finally decided to make a video tutorial on it. This is the only way my kids will eat spinach. They love it! I know that you’re suppose to roll your own phyllo but I simply don’t have that much time. The whole thing took about an hour to make and about 40 minutes in the oven.

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs spinach, 5 green onions, 11oz feta cheese, 2 eggs, 2tbsp fresh parsley, 1 tbsp fresh dill, about 10 phyllo pastry sheets, half cup olive oil. Note: You don’t really need to add eggs if you don’t want to. It will still taste just fine.

Spinner Blocks Animation

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:00:36 +0000

I’m excited because this is my first stop motion animation. It’s nothing spectacular but it was fun making it and I’ve already learned a ton about stop motion animation just by doing this short video.

So the evening started out by me searching for video related WordPress themes. I went to the The Animation Chefs Video Blog to check out the usage of a certain theme. I ended up watching all their videos and then searched for stop motion software to download. One thing led to another and an hour later I have my very first stop motion animated video.

I had no idea I’d end up with this video when I woke up this morning. Funny how things turn out.

Jockeying for position with the thronging hordes

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:00:24 +0000

Just too much fun in the editing bay. My buddy Justin and I were in Austin at one of the NIWeek conferences. The original video is pretty boring, but this edited cut is great. You can make people say anything … Continue reading →

Too late to Apologize

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 05:00:29 +0000

This is what happens when you hand over the camera to my kids for a few minutes.

Making Pancakes

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:00:19 +0000

Not much to say about this. I make pancakes a lot for my kids. It’s a little hard to do this with one hand while holding the camera but it seemed to work out fine. Sorry about my singing in the middle there. It’s hard not to sing to that song.

LIDAR

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:00:44 +0000

This is a decoded image from a LIDAR. LIDAR is an acronym for LIght Detection And Ranging. There was one placed in the middle of a robotics expo hall I was visiting a couple of days ago. You can clearly see the people walking around. You can also see things like people lining up at the back snack bar and sitting at tables eating.
This hardware is used on vehicles to scan the surroundings and not crash into things. It’s very expensive and of military grade.

Music: Bjorn Fogelberg
Title: Trioxidation

Robot corridor

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:00:01 +0000

This is one of the main connecting passages between the robot pits – where the teams work on their robots – and the stadium playing fields – where the competitions take place.

There is always a continuous stream of teams hauling their creations back and forth. In one direction, there is anticipation and in the other there is disappointment or victory.

Do it ’till you’re satisfied

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:00:04 +0000

Just driving home late and flicked on the camera. Let this song be a call to action for video bloggers. Unfortunately I’m never satisfied. But maybe by the end of the month I’ll just be fed up.

FIRST Escalator Exodus

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:00:06 +0000

Here’s another Lumiere video I made while in Atlanta this past year for the FIRST robotics competition. Everyone was trying to leave at once through a single escalator exit so I thought it would be a good spot for a … Continue reading →

Segway Snake

michael@aivaliotis.com (Michael Aivaliotis) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:00:06 +0000

Caught this parade of Segways from my hotel room.
Music: Bjorn Fogelberg
Title: Quite Derivative