With the fall-like weather, instead of firing up the grill, I decided to whip out a recipe that I typically reserve for the fall and winter.  A couple of years ago, I found a recipe for a Chicken Enchilada Soup that was very close to what you can get at your local Chili’s.  It’s so close that even my husband can’t tell the difference.

I love recipes that don’t have too many ingredients, simple prep and cooking time isn’t too outrageous.  In addition, who doesn’t love the smell of delicious food wafting through the house.

The Chicken Enchilada Soup recipe is pretty straight forward.  You might not have some of the ingredients such as the Masa Harina or Cumin but they are only a couple bucks each and you can pick them up at your local grocery store.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can also put your own twist on it as well.  I like to add a little extra Chili Powder and Cumin.  When I serve it up, I like to add a Pico de Gallo, Cheddar Cheese and a little Sour Cream to the top.

What is one of your favorite recipes that reminds you of fall?

Here’s how it works.  Try the services for 60 days, and if for any reason you’re not 100% satisfied, notify us and request your money back.  It’s that simple. So, maybe you’re thinking, “is it really that simple?”   I think it is.  But, there are a couple of process things, a few rules, that are frequently misunderstood so this is definately a good topic in need of a little more education.

WOW! will refund your money, not provide the services for free for the first 60 days.  Sometimes customers are a little surprised that, in order for us to honor the guarantee, the bill for services must be paid, and be paid on time.  Once we process the request, it takes 4-8 weeks to process the refund, after any outstanding equipment has been returned.   The offer excludes pay-per-view charges, installation charges, franchise fees, taxes, and other charges such as charges for international or long distance calls.  And, finally, the refund must be requested within 60 days of service. 

The Money Back Guarantee is simple and risk-free, so long as a couple of rules are followed.   Satisfaction is guaranteed!  G-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e-d.  We think it’s a really nice offer, one we hope will WOW! you.

At WOW!, we empower our Escalation Line personnel to take care of just about any need of the customer, as if they were the supervisor or manager. These individuals go through an extensive training program which they are coached on: Active listening, Empathy and Negotiations as well as a series of general communications skills.The individuals you would be speaking to are hand picked, from upper management, because of their all around abilities to help our customers.

There are policies and procedures that need to be followed by everyone in the company and there is still an escalation chain. Not to say that everything can be resolved by one of our Escalation representatives but most issues can. Give them a chance and you may be surprised how quickly any question you may have is answered.

The upside we’ve already covered a bit in last week’s post.  Moving video to a dynamic range that more closely resembles what the eye is capable of perceiving is a good thing.  In the case of TV, it would resemble more “looking out the window” rather than at a TV screen.

The short video sample I posted last week was produced literally as a series of still HDR photographs (processed as I described last week), resembling more time lapse photography (which it truly was) rather than actual video.  If the same technique were to be used to produce video, the camera would need to take at least 3 pictures 24 times a second, or 72 frames per second to equal the current cinema standard of 24 fps.  (See discussion on this frame rate in this previous post.)  Then, that data stream would have to be processed in real time combining the over and under exposures of the same frame into one and sending it down the wire 24 times a second.  That’s alot of processing horsepower, and because of the complexity of the process, I do not think that this technique will ever be used for serious video production.

There are, however, those out there who are experimenting with High Dynamic Range capable CMOS sensors and associated A/D codecs.  There are some prototype sensors out there that are flirting with the 12 f-stop dynamic range specification, which is very close to the dynamic range of the eye.  But even with this vastly simpler technology, because of the additional digital information required, changes will have to be made.

One such camera is in the hands of Professor Alan Chalmers of the University of Warrick, UK.  With a 1080p resolution, his camera produces 24 meg of digital information per frame.  By my calculations, that would mean that a minute of footage would require 36 gig of storage space, and the superfast network architecture to support that storage/transmission.  This is 27 gig more per minute than standard uncompressed 1080p HD video.  Transmission and storage over existing infrastructure would require compression algorithms of nearly 100:1.  (See discussion of video codecs here.) That kind of compression, while theoretically possible, is certain to come with its own artifacts and compromises.

Production would also have to change.  As we all know, some actors and actresses have not benefited from the increased resolution of HD video.  This problem would be exacerbated in HDR.  More care (read money) would also have to be exercised in production of HDR; the guy behind the Rockefeller Center studio window making hand signals will be seen.

I personally hope that some of these technologies do take hold.  Increasing picture resolution through HD technology over the last few years has made a vast difference in the viewing experience for most of us.  I suspect that these next iterations of ultra high fidelity video have the potential to be at least as significant as hi-def has been in the last decade.  Present examples of this technology actually compress the tone-maps to make them viewable within present media constraints.  When/if genuine HDR television comes of age, we will see that HD was just the beginning.

More examples to view

Until next time….

Colleen starts her article this way:   “As you know, mindset simply refers to a person’s outlook – their attitude, approach, or way of thinking. During these times, we know there are many people and companies of all sizes who are struggling. This past quarter, another 500,000 people became unemployed. It is no wonder we may experience people whose mindset is negative, defeated, desperate, anxious and maybe even bitter.”

The year 2009 was a tough one, but WOW! managed to meet its budget plan and financial commitments.  The first half of 2010 so far not much easier, but our performance is still meeting expectations and our owners and investors have not lost confidence in us.  Why is this?  How is it possible?

Says Colleen, “It is not because we are the low price provider. It is not because our cost structure is less than our competitors. It is not because we have an easy budget and low expectations from our owners and lenders. It is not because we have technology and products that no one else has. So why and how do we continue to create value, sustain our market position, provide growth opportunities that allow us to build new plant – all during times that are tight and difficult for so many? Is it because we have it easy with all the resources in the world to just coast along on our past successes?  Of course not.  For me, how and why we are able to achieve these things is anchored in our MINDSET.”

“Yes, technology matters. Systems integration is critical. Processes and procedures that help us learn and do things faster and better are essential. Our products and services need to keep pace with ever-changing consumer expectations.  But choosing to serve one another instead of competing or blaming opens the way for ideation and innovation.  And at the foundation of it all is each and every team member’s chosen outlook – how we choose to approach our day and the obstacles and opportunities that are presented. The attitude we each project to one another and our customers is unique. With all the uncertainty in life, each of us has control over how we choose to respond. And what a mindset we have at WOW!.”  It is not our products and services that are differentiators – it is each of US that makes WOW! unique.

At the end of her article, Colleen invited comments from employees, asking what and who had influence over their mindsets every day.  I wish the community readers could see employee responses – tThey are numerous, genuine and inspirational.  What I’ve learned over nine years with WOW! is that this positive mindset, this can-do attitude, this ‘how can I help approach’ is a self-fulfilling prophecy.   As Colleen says, a strong business plan and sound technology are critical to our business, but it is our spirit and our attitudes that set us apart from our competitors.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the show and the potential cast for this upcoming season.

After the decision is made for hiring the individual, the next step would be on to the training department. The energy this team brings is contagious. Every class they are involved in, are always very upbeat and keep you focused on the subject for that particular day. While passing the training room in the hall, I can always feel the energy that is coming from that room. Once in a while ( ok, quite a bit) I will come by to just sit and listen to the class and absorb the energy. I can tell you this: If you are ever tired and run down, go by the training room and your whole attitude will change for the better.

When the training is complete, the individuals are assigned to the suitable supervisor in their appropriate departments. The supervisor’s job is to take these newly developed people and mold them into a lean, mean helping machine. The individuals are continuously coached on policies and procedure as well as new products and services available. The job of the supervisor is not only to be the developer but also to ensure their individuals are taken care of physically (i.e. the ergonomics of the desk they are in, height of the chairs, etc…) and remain enthusiastic about the job.

The turn-over rate for a call center is typically very high, while the WOW! centers are very low. I have seen people leave from here, to find that greener pasture and return almost immediately. Stating they didn’t know how well they had it until they left. No matter what department the newly hired are assigned to, the result s are the same: Create an experience that lives up to our name, WOW! and have a great time doing it.

Here’s the thing.  If we are to consider the action of the pupil in the eye adjusting to varying light, the eye has almost 24 f-stops of dynamic range–said another way, we can see a starlit sky in the dead of the arctic night all the way to sun blazing off of a placid lake on the equator at noon-an increase of one f-stop essentially doubling the brightness perceived.  But even at a static pupil aperture, the eye can still detect between 11 and 14 f-stops of dynamic range, and we use the dynamic range of that wonderful instrument daily to see detail that no past or present camera (including film) technology can capture.

The state of the art dynamic range available from the sensors on high end digital cameras or video cameras today is about 8.5 f-stops–material outside of that shows up as either straight black or straight white.  So while an eye can look at a scene and see 11-14 f-stops of dynamic range, a digital camera/video camera will only detect slightly more than 8 f-stops, and because this is a logarithmic scale, this is a significant difference in performance.

The technique I presently use in my digital photography is to bracket three quick exposures, one under exposed, one properly exposed, and the final over exposed.  Both my cameras can be set to do this automatically, and both support “rapid fire” exposures–up to 8 frames per second.  So this can be done quickly as one is shooting the picture(s), but (and here’s the rub) these three negatives must then be combined digitally using computer processing techniques to create a single high dynamic range image.  In other words, almost 64 megabits of data from multiple negatives must be processed to create a single 20 megapixel image in HDR.  The results are stunning–detail that looks realistic to the eye when properly done.  Like anything else, this technique can be taken to the extreme and not all HDR pictures are particularly life-like.

So what does this have to do with my TV?  Most current video displays have the raw ability (if not the actual circuitry) to display dynamic range that simply isn’t available in most video content.  It is possible that the “next big thing” in video will be getting the content, storage, transmission streams, etc. to move to true high fidelity video (not just high definition) by increasing the dynamic range to something closer to what the human eye can perceive.  My sense is that this element may be more important to video cognoscenti than 3D in terms of actually enhancing the video experience.

Next week, I’ll discuss the fine points of this future technology and the ramifications to the industry should it be adopted.  In the meantime, take a look at this sample of HDR video–understand it’s highly compressed and just a rough approximation of what is possible, but very intriguing nonetheless.

HDR video sample

Until next week….