What is your Twitter Quotient?
Chris Thomson has found a very neat little service that shows you stuff about the people who follow you and the activity that you have. But it also ads a bit of commentary to the situation that is quite interesting.
Here is just one of mine:
It’s people like you that make Twitter so f*cking slow! Shut! Up! Already!
Yesterday I was reading through The Sunday Telegraph’s Seven Magazine and was happy to see that their main article and theme to the whole issue of the magazine was the internet. I don’t think mainstream media covers technology related subjects nearly enough as they should. My guess as to why is simply because they think people won’t understand what they are talking about.
In some cases this may be true, but I think the public are underestimated as to how much they can handle. I mean, sure I don’t expect an article on php to appear in the local newspaper. But I think that most people would be able to grasp how to use some of the slightly more complex software out there like Photoshop Elements or even a guide to linux distros - or at least I would be willing to give it a go.
I’m sure that newspapers and magazines get enough feedback to see if something is accepted. It’s not as easy in print publishing as it is on the web to see what people like and do not like. You can see how popular certain pages are and where people are attracted to, which ads people click more etc. Something that you can’t do in print publishing - all you have is feedback. But think about it. Maybe we are giving feedback on the web, but not voluntarily.
You can get a lot more information from what someone does apposed to what someone says. Simply because they never tell you everything. And of course with the web you have the option of having both.
What do you think about non voluntary feedback? Should all your online habits be tracked so content can be made to suit your interests and ads can be made that show things that may affect you. Or do you think that the best type of feedback is that given.
I knew this post would come up sometime, I didn’t know when. But I think it’s now the right time. For the first time since purchasing my Mac I am starting to feel the limitations on the hardware, ever since venturing into the video space.
Just to put it into context here are a few things to bear in mind:
I’m running on a Santa Rosa 2.2GHz MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM.
I am recording my video at 1080i with a Canon HV30
I am using Final Cut Express to edit the footage.
The main problem is not the performance in editing and putting the clips together to reach one final piece, but instead the time it takes once I’ve put together the story - for it to render and export the footage. I find myself having to wait over an hour while I wait for a five minute video to render.
Admittedly, it was a 720p high definition. But really, this is the sort of quality I am aiming at. I want good content that looks good. I want people to be able to download this content and play it on their big screen TVs. As I’ve said before about this podcast I have decided not to take the half hearted approach and gone for the best equipment that I can afford .
To put it bluntly: I don’t put up with crap so by should other people?
After not even having my Mac for a year I am already contemplating the next computer I will be purchasing (though it may not be what you expect). The problem with the Mac is that it as soon as it shows you all these amazing things you can do with it; it’s obsoleting itself while trying to show you the best it can do.
Yesterday I received yet another parcel in the mail. This time from Apple, as they delivered my 500GB Time Capsule. I whizzed through the setup with ease and am now using it for not only backing up but also as my n router (we were previously on a g network).
I found the setup very interesting. Strangely easy. The fact that you didn’t have to know all the lingo and if there was any, for those who actually know what they are doing, it explains simply what this will do and tell you what “you” will want.
However I am having doubts about the range of the device. It doesn’t seem to go much further than my g router, something I thought to be one of the advantages with an n router. As for speed I am very impressed. Straight away I could tell the difference of now having n instead of g.
The last problem I have found is that the box has to be hidden away downstairs as the wired network around the house isn’t working properly. I guess I will have to wait a bit longer before ordering that printer…
As you may or may not know I am in the process of creating my own video podcast called, Wanted (more on the actual podcast in the future). It definitely hasn’t been easy, but when was it meant to be? For me the hardest thing about video is making it look presentable and “nice” to look at. Something which can be pretty hard. But when done well can give you some excellent results.
I have decided not to take the half hearted approach and gone for the best equipment that I can afford so I can build up a “watchership” early on and be happy with what I am creating at the start.
Knowing what you want to say is important. I don’t want the videos to be too formal, but having to many “umms” really frustrates me. So I have been going through and making sure that I am going to know what I am going to say and when. Though this sounds elementary, it is forgotten a lot by podcasters.
Find the right media host is hard. Currently I am trying to decide between Podango and Blip.tv . Each of them have their own pros and cons. I prefer the Blip.tv player but I find the interface for the website confusing. I have heard great things about Podango - but you HAVE to have ads on your podcast right from that start. Something that at this stage I don’t really want.
Finally. To get the professional effect I want is going to be hard with the schedule I have. Therefore I a going for the quality instead of quantity approach. Something tells me producing one episode would take a week preparation and a whole weekend to shoot and edit. It’s not helped by the fact that I am a one man band. Host, writer, director, editor, promotor.
Its not easy and adding the element of video to a podcast. If I were to do audio ost of these probelms would probably disappear. Though I expect that as I continue to produce the podcast I will begin to work out “my way” and it will become easier as I get into a routine. It’s going to be hard, and it already is. But still I am not deterred - I have big hopes for this podcast.
As you may know, on Friday I got a brand new high definition camcorder - the Canon HV30, the successor to the bestselling HV20. I am working on a full review that should be ready sometime next week; but in the mean time here are a few quick fire thoughts that have struck me with my first few days of using the camera:
It’s a good size, to to big, nor small. It fits in my hand well, but also has plenty of room for those with bigger hands (I checked with my dad!). The controls are conveniently located so that they are easily locatable without the need of looking down after a while.
The video looks good, very good. I’ve just been recording at standard 1080i, I haven’t had a chance to take a look at the 24p or 30p (a mode which is new to the HV30) modes yet, and I am unsure of what difference that will make. I hope to shortly upload some 720p content - there isn’t currently a service that will do 1080i/pf for you to have a look at. Unfortunately the internet connection where I am currently located (away from home) is not suitable for me to upload any videos - so stay tuned!
Battery life is reasonable, So far I have gone through a couple of charges that each last just over an hour - which is fine, especially as most of the time I will have it plugged in to the wall; for the sort of video that I am going to be producing. But it is nice to know that it will last.
The Audio quality is “okay” - nothing to write home about but still bearable. Luckily I foresaw this possibility and ordered a Rode Video Mic to attach on top - it just hasn’t arrived yet…
Stay tuned for the full review and a couple of videos of the content!
Last weekend I put in my order for a 500GB Time Capsule. On Wednesday if it found out that you can now use an external drive, with an Airport Extreme to get the same effect. I already have a 500GB external drive. So do I now regret ordering my Time Capsule (which by the way, hasn’t arrived yet)?
The short answer is, no.
My main reasoning behind it is that I would then have to pay £120 for the Airport Express (for the n networking), and if you add that on top of the pricing of my hard drive it would make it over the £200 price of the Time Capsule. So I will not have 1TB of external storage. Some that I can have hooked up directly to my Mac when I am at the desk and another 500GB when I am about the house, but still don’t want to keep on my main hard drive. IT’s kinda of like that when I am at home I have a 620GB hard drive. It sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Some may ask why I don’t just sell my 500GB hard drive and put it towards something else. My reply to that is this. I have just come into the possession of a Canon HV30. Why you probably know records at 1080i - so I’m going to need a lot of space to fit all of that content on. And that 500Gb hard drive is probably going to be getting a lot more use then it would have if I hadn’t got my hands on the HV30.
With this method of storage I can separate out my data and have one hard drive for this purpose and the Time Capsule for the other. THe HV30 is arriving sometime today. Expect my initial thoughts on Monday,
There currently seems to be two forms of social networks. The “one” approach, in which the service focusses on one aspect and normally does it very well at it or the “many” approach where they try to cram in as many features and things you can do into one service which can sometimes not be for the better.Each idea has its pros and cons.
For instance if the company where to focus on one aspect of social networking - like Twitter. It can make sure that it is on top and working great, there is nothing else, within the network to compete with another.
While other social networks which try to incorporate lots of features. One massive plus for the user is that they don’t have to go around to all these other sites but instead we can have a place which has everything. They do messaging, pictures videos, etc. For instance Facebook.
But there is one other form of social network, the “consolidator” a social network that brings in everything that our friends are doing on the internet from other popular websites. For instance. FriendFeed - a site that I have just got around to signing up to. Robert Scoble has been raving about it and I can see why. I can stalk people even better then Twitter.
I can see what they are looking at and doing without directly telling me.Personally I think it’s better to have the “one” approach and use the “consolidation” approach with it. It keeps the market going and innovating to get on top of each other and you can change one of the items you use without changing everything. Personally I find that a social network that focusses on one idea or principle tends to not only work better but also has a better community who joined because they wanted to use that feature and not another. So that you can be sure that everyone who joins is there for that and not something else.
Sure, you might not get as many people on the network but you’ll probably find they are a better community then a social network that decides to include everything.
For the past few months I’ve been trying to come up with “the perfect sidebar”. You may have seen me mixing and matching, but at least fore now, I have come to a result that I am happy with. With the advent of my “thick footer” I am able place things that are less about the content of the site bellow, where they can still be reached - but aren’t obtrusive over the rest of the content in the sidebar.
There are a few things you have to take into account when putting together your sidebar:
These are all things that I took into account and used to help me structure my sidebar. There are some things, that for me, make total sense to go towards the top. Like the welcome blurb and the search box. Why have I put them there? When I come to a site and want to find out about the writer the sidebar is the first place I look, I’m not looking for their life’s story; just their background and why they are here to blog.
A search box. I’m always very surprised when I see a search box way down the sidebar, for me it is one of the key features on a sidebar and should not be to hard to find. Case and point - Techcrunch. Expecting to have it up high it was placed near the bottom pretty much out of site.
I formatted the sidebar so that the further you go down the less important the it becomes. Both the archives and categories offer easy “singular” navigation - so people can find exactly what they are looking for easily.
Another point on sidebars that is important to me, I suppose it’s for of an annoyance when you see a sidebar flung full of crap. Personally I hate it when you have Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku - all displaying the same message right underneath each other! Or when you have a massive amount of Google Adsense flung in there making your sidebar not only an eye-soar but hard to navigate around.
Find the right sidebar equilibrium may take you time and is pretty much up to you, after all there are many variations in sidebars, some have two, some don’t have any, but instead situate them singularly in a “thick footer”. The main advice I am giving you is: keep is small, simple and select; only use what you need. Don’t put it in because you can.
Lately I have been on the hunt for some good Wordpress plug-ins to enhance my blog, a couple of the results you have probably seen around the site recently. Here are a couple that I thought may be of interest.
One of them is the message that you get at the bottom of every “single post” page which looks like this:
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. You can also contact me. Thanks for visiting!
This was created using the “What Would Seth Godin Do?” plug-in. What’s with the name of this plugin? Well, it was inspired by blogger Seth Godin who advocates the use of cookies to distinguish whether you have a new or returning visitor.
One opportunity that’s underused is the idea of using cookies to treat returning visitors differently than newbies - Seth Godin
One of the features of the plugin is the ability to customize the message, pretty much to what you desire, you can also choose the location of where it pops up and finally, how many time you have to visit before it disappears.
Something that I have considered doing, simply for convenience and customizability (though it does fold the use of the times the message is shown) is using it in conjunction with the Adman plug-in.
You can get the plugin from Richard K Miller’s website. I’d also like to thank Chris Thomson for showing me this plugin. Remember to report back on your experiences with the plugin!
I have been looking for an easy and good looking way to integrate social networking within the site. There was a big emphasis in the easy, I didn’t want to have to go start cutting and pasting code here are there. So I scoured the Wordpress Plugins site and found Social Bookmarks. It is a reasonably simple plugin with banks of options for what pages you want to see them on and in what circumstances.
I am not going to plough through the exaustive list of social networks it offers but a few I have picked out are: Digg, Del.icio.us and Reddit. I am now aware that there is a Social Bookmarks RELOADED plugin which simply adds upon the massive list of social networks.
You can find Social Bookmarks here.
