First Look: EpixHD.com


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Emerson College 11/06/09: Blogging and Multimedia
Class Roll Call:


Recorded on Qik and cross-posted to YouTube

Students on twitter: A List.

Get Seen on Screen:


Class Panorama:


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Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Video Cameras and Accessories


The quality of video you can get from consumer level video cameras is amazing. It's HD everywhere.

Here's a list of my Top 10 suggestions for getting started with video for this holiday season.


1. Ground Breaking Pocket HD Video Camra - Kodak Zi8
The Kodak Zi8 is the first consumer pocket HD video camera that supports a mic in jack. It's a big deal. I've written about the different kinds of mics you can use with this camera, but the favorite seems to be the ATR-3550 lav mic. Also consider the Flip HD Version 2 which is an update of the origianl Flip camera that gives you a larger screen. You can see some Zi8 videos on my video blog.


2. Inexpensive Lavalier Microphone - ATR-3550 lav mic
This microphone has a 20 foot cord and is a great entry level lavalier mic to get great sound on the Kodak Zi8, or any video camera that supports a mic in jack.


3. Best Phone with Video - iPhone 3GS
The iPhone 3GS adds video recording to the iPhone. It's a great example of using the device you record video with to also share it. Once you record a video, you can share it via YouTube, MMS or Email.


4. Awesome New Macintosh with Big Screen - iMac
The new Apple iMac is beautiful with it's 27" screen and enough processing power to handle HD video. Included with every new Mac is iLife which includes iMovie for editing video.


5. Fun Camera Extender - X-Shot
The X-Shot is a neat camera extender which lets you take photos and video of yourself. It comes in handy for cameras that start to focus farther away than your hand can stretch.


6. Flexible Camera Tripod - Gorillapod
A small flexible tripod that helps hold your camera steady. The flexible legs let you secure the tripod where you might not usually be able to.


7. Bright LED Light - Sima Light
Extra light for low light conditions. There's a larger version too which provides even more light. The smaller one might be better since it's less bright and won't annoy your subjects as much.


8. Fast Memory for Video - SD HC Memory Cards
Faster memory cards that support recording video. Older memory cards aren't fast enough. Get the biggest you can. 32GB would make a nice gift.


9. Chris Brogan's Favorite Digital Still Camera - Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3
I like a lot of consumer level digital still cameras that also shoot video. I've been using the Panasonic Lumix FX37 for a while and enjoy it's wide angle lens. Chris Brogan just reviewed his Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3. A good choice to consider.


10. Breaking Barriers in Video - Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR
Go crazy and indulge in the newest HD shooting technolgy that gives you control over exposure and depth of field without having to invest in an even higher cost video camera. Check out The Bui Bros work with this camera.


Extra. A Book to Explain it All
My book, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building your Business, will be shipping nationwide in January. It includes chapters on choosing a camera, microphone and lighting. Provides step-by-step guides on how to produce, edit and share video online. Teaches you how to stream live and shares stories and interviews on how to be successful with online video.

Get Seen is now available for Pre-Order.

Many of these products are available on Amazon.com and listed in my Get Seen Store.

Disclosure:
I received the Kodak Zi8 as a gift from Kodak.

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Scott Berkun at Microsoft NERD Center Cambridge



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My Twequency is 51.4 Tweets per Day

http://twequency.com/

What's yours?

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Steve Garfield's Favorite Videos



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Three Guy Fawkes (Color)



Happy Guy Fawkes Day.

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How to Embed a Twitter List on Wordpress.com using RSS
Note: This is the correct procedure to get an RSS feed into Wordpress.com, but Twitter Lists 2 RSS seems to be having some issues at the moment.

1. Make a Twitter List. Here's one I created for Boston Media Makers attendees.

@stevegarfield/boston-media-makers

2. Go to Twitter Lists 2 RSS.



Enter the URL of your Twitter list.

Click Get an RSS Feed.

Then you get an RSS feed:

http://twiterlist2rss.appspot.com/stevegarfield/lists/boston-media-makers/statuses.rss

Note:
When you click this link you get a 404 error. That shouldn't happen. I've tweeted Alex, the author, to see if he can take a look. The "lists/lists" part of the URL looks problematic. ;-) Fixed!

3. Follow the steps at Wordpress.com on how to make an RSS Widget.



In Wordpress, got to Appearance, Widgets, and drag the RSS Widget to your sidebar.

Add the Twitter RSS feed you just created and save it.

The feed is now displayed on your Wordpress.com sidebar.

If there's a problem displaying tweets, it's probably a limit rate between 'Twitter Lists 2 RSS' and twitter.

See it implemented at Boston Media Makers Wordpress.com blog.



D'oh!

It'll get better. ;-)

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November is Videoblogging Month
This has gone on for a number of years and videobloggers are making lots of videos this month.

Here are two places to follow along:


The Videobloggers Miro Microcommunity where 30 people will make 30 videos in 30 days and each video will have something do do with the previous one. Here's a calendar showing which videoblogger has signed up for which day on November.


Then there's New in November where 8 of my friends are making a new movie every weekday in November. Bill Cammack, Bre Pettis, Justin Johnson, Clintus McGintus, Annie Tsai, Schlomo Rabinowitz, Michael Carrasquillo and Mike Moon are participating.

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Amazon.com: Best Books of 2009


Congratulations to my friends Chris Brogan and Julien Smith for having their book Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust chosen as one of the Top 10 Books in Business & Investing.

I'm very excited for them. I'm also happy to see Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod in the same Top 10 list.



My book, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business, will be shipping nationwide in January of 2010.

I just approved the final cover and will see a galley proof of the book next week. It's exciting.

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.com, and I've set up twitter and Facebook accounts, and a Ning community site for the book.

It's interesting to watch sales of the book fluctuate as I go out on speaking engagements.

Take a look at this graph to see how sales are affected by limited promotion.



I'm using an early alpha version of book grader to watch these statistics.

Planning
I'm planning for interviews, meetups, tweetups, and book events now for late December and early 2010.

If you've got something interesting for me to consider drop me a note.

Thanks!

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Tips For Getting Started With Twitter


My good friend Scott Kirsner wrote an article about twitter for the Boston Globe, The tweet cheat sheet, but the online version has NO LINKS, as usual for the Boston Globe, and doesn't provide the twitter usernames mentioned in the column.

Here are links to everyone mentioned in the article and my additional tips for you to get started with twitter.

People mentioned in the article with links to them on twitter
Laura Fitton - (@pistachico on Twitter), a local entrepreneur and author of the recent book Twitter For Dummies [Amazon Link].
Chris Brogan - (@chrisbrogan on Twitter), president of New Marketing Labs.
Joanne Chang - ( @jbchang on twitter), Meyers + Chang, ( meyersandchang on twitter), Flour Bakery.
Ellen DeGeneres - (@TheEllenShow on twitter)
John Mayer - (@JohnCMayer on twitter)
Oprah - (@Oprah on twitter)
Shaquille O’Neal - (@The_Real_Shaq on twitter)

Scott Kirsner (@scottkirsner on Twitter), his Innovation Economy Blog.

Use Your Own Name
Sign up for Twitter at Twitter.com.

Pick your own name as your username. Own your name on the web. It helps people find you on different sites and maintains your personal brand.

Use the Website
Use the website. It's easy to use and not intimidating.

Twitter Applications
Laura Fitton recommends Twhirl for a desktop computer.
Note that Twhirl was purchased by Seesmic and rolled into Seesmic Desktop.

UberTwitter for BlackBerry
Tweetie for iPhone and Macintosh.

Use A Period in Front of Direct Messages
People use @ to refer to other Twitter users. When you use and @username to refer to another user, only that user and those people who are following that user will see that tweet. Put a "." in front of the @username or put the @username inside the body of the tweet is you want all your followers to see it.

Example of username embedded within the post.



Everyone following @kirstinbutler will see this.

Use twitter Lists to Find People to Follow
Twitter just implemented lists. If you go to a users profile page you'll see lists of people grouped together. This is rolling out for all users shortly. For example, go to Robert Scoble's page and look over his lists. The are listed in the right hand sidebar. You can click 'Follow this list' to have the list in your own side bar, or you can selectively click on people in his list and click them to follow them individually.

Here's his most popular list right now:
http://twitter.com/Scobleizer/my-favstar-fm-list

Note: If you can't see the list, twitter hasn't enabled your account with lists yet. They will. Be patient.

Retweet
If you want to repost exactly what someone else has tweeted, retweet it.



Retweeting is for taking EXACTLY what the other person said and reposting it.

Three Steps to Re-Tweeting

Step 1: Copy and Paste their tweet into the text entry area on twitter.
Step 2: Add 'RT' to the front of the tweet
Step 3: Add @theirusername of the person who originally made the tweet.

If you want to comment, do so outside the retweet. Either at the beginning or end, and make it clear that what you are saying is not part of the retweet. Use something like, [Cool] RT @theirusename Blah, blah, blah... I had a sandwich. LOL.


Cheers!

Twitter will be making this easier in the near future.

Retweet Yourself - Re-Run
If you retweet yourself, just add RR to the front of the tweet.

It looks silly to have a tweet with yur name in there twice.

stevegarfield RT: @stevegarfield Hi Mom!

vs.

RR: Hi Mom!

Rewrite
If you want to rewrite someone's tweet, you can do that, but instead of RT at the front of the tweet, put (via @theirusername) at the end.

Note: Lots of twitter clients have re-tweeting built in.

Be Yourself, At a Bar
Be yourself on twitter, just make sure you don't spam people or get repetitive with calls for people to go to your website to buy something. Think of twitter as a bar where everyone is standing around chatting with each other. Every tweet doesn't have to be a masterpiece, but keep it interesting so people will want to follow you.

Follow me on twitter at @stevegarfield

Have some twitter tips, suggested people or lists to follow? Add them in the comments. Thanks!

Disclosure: I'm an investor in Seesmic.

Labels: twitter

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Halloween Gravestone

From the SpookUp.

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PodCamp NH, November 7th and 8th, 2009
PodCamp NH is an innovative gathering of new media enthusiasts, professionals, and anyone curious about what comes next in blogging, social media, podcasting, video on the net, and so much more. It's called an UnConference because the attendees themselves present the sessions, workshops, and panel discussions. Get ready to connect at Podcamp NH!

Get Seen is is happy to be a sponsor of PodCamp NH.

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