A new contest is on the way!

[TIPandRING]

Cool....but my thunder is stolen


Actually last Sunday I had the idea of putting together the ultimate Phone quiz Basically an online "test your knowledge skills" with multiple choice. The member who got the most correct would win a phone from me....but this begs the question..
If you guys were interested in a contest where the grand prize is a vintage phone (and we're not talking extremely rare/valuable here...I'm not buying a 202 to give away,,,Would you WANT a  UNRESTORED, but restorable phone, or a completely RESTORED phone?

[Steve]

I think the most important thing would be keeping this forum alive.

then maybe some phone bling..

[Dan/Panther]

I would think complete restorable phones would be priority.
Maybe throw in a special once in awhile.
D/P

[mienaichizu]

Great idea Mark!  You know I love old phones in movies.

By the way, how DO you do a screen/frame capture in a movie (in Windows, off DVD or otherwise)

I've always really wanted to that, just never learned.

-Matt

The easiest way is to use a program with that capability.  ACDSee Photo Manager is a good image viewer/editor with that can do it.  I know that other programs are available that can also do it, probably even some free ones.

there is also another trick in capturing screen, play the movie, freeze the frame you want to capture then press "print screen" a few times then open paint or any photo editor program the paste it then viola! you instantly capture a film screenshot

[mienaichizu]

whoa, I'm excited on this new contest, bring it on!

[HobieSport]

Hmm.  I love the idea of a contest, for sure. Just some .02 thoughts:

Mark; it sounds like your original idea was for a one-time contest with you donating the phone.  That sounds great and we could all participate equally. That's mighty generous.  Does winner pay shipping I assume, since you are already donating the phone?  It seems that may be the best way to start, just doing one contest, keeping it simple, and see how it goes.

I like all of Dan/Panthers ideas too.  Do I have this right?  A series of contests (One every month or two?) with us sending pics and info of our suggested donation prizes to Mark by PM for Mark to pick and choose from at will.  Prizes being a decent, not terribly valuable restorable phone.
Would the chosen phone itself remain with the donator and be shipped direct to the winner?  I don't know who pays shipping.  Maybe split 50/50 between them?

My concern is how to keep participation open to all, but also being fair.  Some folks may not have a phone to donate.  Do we still all get to participate, or do we only get to participate in the guessing game if Mark chooses one of our suggested prize donation phones and puts it on a list?  Maybe Steves' raffle idea solves that?

Just speaking personally, I would be very willing to donate a decent unrefurbished and untested phone with good potential and see if Mark wanted to use it in the contest or not. Whatever happens, I hope to participate.  I think it's a great idea and I hope it becomes an ongoing tradition, where forum members can of course chose whether to participate in or not.

Okay, I'll shut up now.

[Mark Stevens]

Hmm.  I love the idea of a contest, for sure. Just some .02 thoughts:

Mark; it sounds like your original idea was for a one-time contest with you donating the phone.  That sounds great and we could all participate equally. That's mighty generous.  Does winner pay shipping I assume, since you are already donating the phone?  It seems that may be the best way to start, just doing one contest, keeping it simple, and see how it goes.

I like all of Dan/Panthers ideas too.  Do I have this right?  A series of contests (One every month or two?) with us sending pics and info of our suggested donation prizes to Mark by PM for Mark to pick and choose from at will.  Prizes being a decent, not terribly valuable restorable phone.
Would the chosen phone itself remain with the donator and be shipped direct to the winner?  I don't know who pays shipping.  Maybe split 50/50 between them?

My concern is how to keep participation open to all, but also being fair.  Some folks may not have a phone to donate.  Do we still all get to participate, or do we only get to participate in the guessing game if Mark chooses one of our suggested prize donation phones and puts it on a list?  Maybe Steves' raffle idea solves that?

Just speaking personally, I would be very willing to donate a decent unrefurbished and untested phone with good potential and see if Mark wanted to use it in the contest or not. Whatever happens, I hope to participate.  I think it's a great idea and I hope it becomes an ongoing tradition, where forum members can of course chose whether to participate in or not.

Dang, Hobie, you've put a lot of thought into this...awesome!  My initial idea was to see how much interest the first contest generated, and do another in a month or two if it was well-received.  I'm not getting anything out of this other than the fun of showing appreciation to all the swell forum participants, and while I figured I'd pay for postage (minus the Philippines!) I was going to give away phones that didn't set me back a bundle, yet are definitely fit to refurbish/restore.
I can see me running out of phones that I'm willing to part with at some point, so the idea of other users contributing would be swell.  If someone decides they definitely would like to do that, then they can p.m. me and we can work out the details.  I would think that the "donor" would mail directly to the winner, as we don't really need to subject vintage phones to any more handling by the P.O. than absolutely necessary!  Would the donor want to select their own screen-shot, or have me handle the contest setup?  Would they prefer a trivia contest or something along those lines?  It's all stuff to talk about.  I'm sure we'll come up with something good!

[HobieSport]

Well I think the contest is going great so far, other than the fact that I don't have the slightest idea what the movie is, and to be honest, and in all due respect, I really don't need another black 500.

So we'll just see how it goes.  I'm just going to say for now that I do have several phones that I would be willing to choose from to donate for some future contest, and my personal preference is the movie screen-shots but am open to other contest ideas.

I'm thinking of something a bit different than a WE500 to donate.  Probably an AE40, as I kind of went overboard on them.   Anyway, Mark, if you run out of phones for prizes just let me know and we can easily work out any details.

Thanks,  -Matt

[Mark Stevens]

Well I think the contest is going great so far, other than the fact that I don't have the slightest idea what the movie is, and to be honest, and in all due respect, I really don't need another black 500.

So we'll just see how it goes.  I'm just going to say for now that I do have several phones that I would be willing to choose from to donate for some future contest, and my personal preference is the movie screen-shots but am open to other contest ideas.

I'm thinking of something a bit different than a WE500 to donate.  Probably an AE40, as I kind of went overboard on them.   Anyway, Mark, if you run out of phones for prizes just let me know and we can easily work out any details.

Thanks,  -Matt

...ooh, an AE40!  That's a definite possibility for the future. Thanks!

[HobieSport]

This is a bit off topic, or on a personal tangent, but yes, I have too many AE40s so am glad to donate one for a contest sometime.  I may have grown overly fond of the AE40s so I have some extras.

Basically I like all the (if you'll excuse the much overused term) "deco" phones:
WE 302 and 354, AE40 and 50, NE Gallions, Strothberg-Carlson 1243s and the Dutch PTTs. 

While I probably prefer the simpler lines of the WE302 and the NE Galion, the AE40 simply amuses me with all it's angles and curves and facets.  Frankly I think it looks rather awkward and over designed, but maybe I like it for that very reason.  Or maybe it's because Bogart had one on the desk (it looks to me like) in The Maltese Falcon.

As for the venerable WE500 and 554s, like many here, I grew up with them, and as far as pure design and function go, I think of them as the highlight of telephony, and they still look modern to me.

Anyway, that's my personal opinion and preference and I'm sticking to it.

[McHeath]

and in all due respect, I really don't need another black 500

What?!?!?!?!?  How can anyone have too many black 500s?

Shocked I am.

[mienaichizu]

bring it on Matt!

[Bill]

By the way, how DO you do a screen/frame capture in a movie (in Windows, off DVD or otherwise) ???I've always really wanted to that, just never learned.
-Matt

Another way. Get a screen capture program such as Gadwin Print Screen, free at Gadwin.com. Now play your movie, and pause it at the moment the desired phone is on the screen. Activate Gadwin, draw a box around the part of the screen you want, and capture it to a file. Easy!

Warning: For some reason, not all screen capture programs will capture video frames, but Gadwin works.

I've not always had good luck with the computer's built-in PrintScreen key. Often the captured image is distorted or has very low resolution. Perhaps your results will be better.

Bill

[HobieSport]

Thanks Bill! Gadwin Print Screen is perfect.  Just what I wanted.
Here are a few shots of an AE34 from The Maltese Falcon just for fun.
These are the raw captures, unedited for now because my Photoshop isn't currently working.
-Hope you're staying warm up in Maine. -Matt

[McHeath]

Ah yes, when secretarys sat on the bosses desk.