Category Archives: Tips

Books on Hold: Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho

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Books on Hold is a blog series dedicated to books I have seen in passing and requested from my local library. See more in the series at the end of this blog post. — Douglas

As I move the my career more in the direction of blogging and other New Media pursuits, I am happening across more and more books like this. Certainly worth a read to see if there is anything I can glean from their experiences and advice.

Blog, Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho

From Amazon.com…

“With roughly 95,000 blogs launched worldwide every 24 hours (BlogPulse), making a fledgling site stand out isn’t easy. This authoritative handbook gives creative hopefuls a leg up. Joy Cho, of the award-winning Oh Joy!, offers expert advice on starting and growing a blog, from design and finance to overcoming blogger’s block, attracting readers, and more. With a foreword from Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge plus expert interviews, this book will fine-tune what the next generation of bloggers shares with the world.

Learn how to: – Design your site
- Choose the right platform
- Attract a fan base
- Finance your blog
- Maintain work/life balance
- Manage comments
- Find content inspiration
- Overcome blogger’s block
- Choose the right ads
- Develop a voice
- Protect your work
- Create a media kit
- Leverage your social network
- Take better photographs
- Set up an affiliate program
- Partner with sponsors
- Build community
- Go full-time with your blog
- And more!“

* Discovered via Vale Design : Freelance Package Design & Branding by Erin Vale

Previously in Books on Hold:

2012 Gift Guide: Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

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Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

With interests in both art and business, it seems only natural to combine them in my mind. “Art & Fear” addresses the all-to-common issues with creating art and I believe there are a lot of parallels to any career. Most art is about overcoming fear and it is the same with your career. You need to work through the fear in order to create something wonderful, not matter what you do.

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

  1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
  2. Bulb Planting Tools
  3. Blue Snowball Microphone
  4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
  5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
  6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
  7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
  8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
  9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
  10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
  11. Moleskeine Journals
  12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
  13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
  14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
  15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
  16. The $64 Tomato
  17. Blue Yeti Microphone
  18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
  19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
  20. The Curious Gardener
  21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
  22. GoPro HD HERO 3
  23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
  24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
  25. Microphone Boom Arms
  26. The Information by James Gleick
  27. Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)
  28. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas
  29. Apple iPhone 5
  30. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
  31. Killer Ratings by Lisa Seidman
  32. Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon
  33. Zoom Portable Recorders (H1, H2, H2n, H4n)
  34. Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
  35. My Teenager’s Favorite Games
  36. The Compassionate Instinct: The Science of Human Goodness
  37. In a Mexican Garden: courtyards, pools and open-air living rooms
  38. Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it
  39. Apple iPad/iPad Mini
  40. The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam
  41. Cucina Rustica
  42. The Great Potato Book
  43. Rode Podcaster Microphone
  44. High-Tech Fitness Monitors
  45. Books by Douglas E. Welch
  46. Tribes by Seth Godin
  47. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  48. The Italian Slow Cooker cookbook
  49. The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need
  50. Classes from The Institute of Domestic Technology
  51. Olympus PEN E-P1 12 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera
  52. Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Susan Warren
  53. Cocoon GRID-IT Organizer Packs

 

2012 Gift Guide: Apple iPhone 5

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Iphone5

Apple iPhone 5

I am a very happy use of Apple’s iPhone products. I have a 3G, an iPhone 4, an iPhone 4s and soon, an iPhone 5. All of the past phones have been passed down to other family members over the years and, at risk of jinxing myself, I haven’t broken a screen yet.

I am a Mac users for many years now, and I find that iPhone carries the same benefit at as my Mac. As I describe it to my friends and my clients, “The Mac/iPhone works the way that I do.” I understand it. It integrates well into my work flow and daily life and, for me, it works well overall as a piece of ubiquitous technology. it allows me to be productive no matter where I am, which is very important when you are a freelance consultant like myself. I can grab a few minutes with email while I wait outside a client’s house, or sit in a coffee shop and catch up on the latest news and events over my Cafe Americano.

The iPhone 5 can be a New Media production studio in your pocket. You can record audio, shoot and edit video, upload to YouTube and blog the results. 

To sum up, it works for me. It might work for you. Check it out!

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

  1. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
  2. Bulb Planting Tools
  3. Blue Snowball Microphone
  4. Seagate Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive
  5. Logitech C920 HD Web Cam
  6. We Are All Weird by Seth Godin
  7. Sunset Western Garden Book – New Edition for 2012
  8. The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings
  9. Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
  10. The Creative Habit/The Collaborative Habit by Twyla Tharp
  11. Moleskeine Journals
  12. Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening (3rd Edition): Month by Month
  13. Podcasting for Dummies/Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
  14. Wacom Bamboo Splash Pen Tablet
  15. Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead
  16. The $64 Tomato
  17. Blue Yeti Microphone
  18. BioLite CampStove/HomeStove
  19. Getting Things Done by David Allen
  20. The Curious Gardener
  21. Anything You Want by Derek Sivers
  22. GoPro HD HERO 3
  23. Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart
  24. The Starfish and the Spider by Orj Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom
  25. Microphone Boom Arms
  26. The Information by James Gleick
  27. Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them (1909)
  28. Zarrella’s Hierarchy of Contagiousness: The Science, Design, and Engineering of Contagious Ideas

 

Elsewhere: Camera pan with a mechanical Kitchen Timer

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Can you make a camera pan using a cheap mechanical kitchen timer? Instrucable member, mikeasaurus, did. A cool, relatively low-tech way of allowing you to create smooth pans which you can turn into time-lapse photos. His example here was created by shooting video and speeding it up in the editing process. If you had intervalometer to trigger the camera shutter, you could create more traditional time-lapse videos.

Links to his post and some sample video below.

wind up camera pan by mikeasaurus

[…]

Using a regular point-and-shoot digital camera I set the camera to video and wound up my timer. Here’s some footage I compiled with my camera pan, these videos were taken over about 10 minutes and sped up to show the slow pan effect:

[…[

Read the entire article

2012 Gift Guide: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920

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I have always been an active user of online video conferencing systems including Skype and others. Lately, though, my use has picked up as I spend a lot of time in Google Hangouts and even participate in a weekly food show entitled Kitchen Party, over at Bakespace.com.

Producing a show for the public means you want the best picture quality possible. In the past, video conferencing tools have always looked a little fuzzy, a little dark and a little pixelated. This isn’t true anymore, though. With the latest systems, like Google Hangouts and the most current versions of Skype, you can share near HD quality video. Of course, in order to do this, you need the right camera.

I picked up the Logitech C920 after I saw how it looked with a few of my Hangout friends. It provides crisp video in 16:9 format and works with almost any video service. I use mine on the Mac, so there are really no extra software controls available, but Windows users can use the included software to adjust white balance and a few other settings.

In my case, I also use the webcam for one additional us — Timelapse movies. The high quality of the camera, along with some software on my Mac, turn it into an excellent time-lapse camera — allowing me to grab full screen HD quality movies using Evocam software. I have recorded time-lapse movies of myself working in the garden for my podcast, A Gardener’s Notebook, and it does a great job.

 

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

Do the Work by Steven Pressfield

My Favorite New Media Things – September 2012

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My Favorite Things

Here are my favorite shared new media items for September 2012.

Please let me know in the comments if you find any of the particularly useful. I’ll keep my eye open for similar items — Douglas

My Favorite Things for New Media – August 2012

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My Favorite Things

Here are my favorite shared New Media items for August 2012.

Please let me know in the comments if you find any of the particularly useful. I’ll keep my eye open for similar items — Douglas

New Media Tip: Pinterest: Pin individual item, not collections of items

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Pinterest logo med

As you could probably guess from my recent New Media Tip video, I am a big user of Pinterest. It turns up all sorts of delightful links to Food, Gardening, DIY/Crafts and more. That said, there are two tips I would like to offer those who are starting to dive into Pinterest.

  • Pin individual item, not collections
    • When I look through my Pinterest stream I often see pins for 52 Frozen Foods to Make Yourself, or 12 ways to make chicken and other pins I call “collections”. I can tell you from personal experience that I usually don’t click on such pins. When I see a collection pin, I know I am going to have to sort through a web page filled mainly with items I don’t want, just to find a few — or one — I might want.
    • I prefer that Pinterest users pin links to one, particular item so that I know I will find it useful and those who might re-pin it will also find it useful. I would love to see some stats on how many people re-pin collections as opposed to individual items. If my preferences are any indicator, I would guess the repines on collections falls far below those of individual items.
  • Pin the detail page, not the front page of a blog
    • Too often I am seeing pins that link only to main page of a blog instead of directly to the item being pinned. Depending on how old the blog post is — and how frequently the blogger posts — the item being pinned may have rolled off the front page. Don’t make myself and others go hunting for the information. Visit the detail or individual page of the blog post and then pin that page. That will guarantee that your Pinterest followers will be taken directly to the information you want to share.

Do you have any Pinterest tips? Share in the comments below.

Follow Me on Pinterest

 

Video: New Media Tip: Pinterest: Follow Boards, Not People

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Getting the most out of your Pinterest feed, without burying yourself in a lot of unwanted information, means following Pinterest Boards, not people. It would be rare for you to like everything that someone pins, but by selecting the appropriate topic boards on Pinterest, you can get just the information you want from each person you follow.

 

Can’t see the video above? Watch “New Media Tip – Pinterest: Follow Boards, Not People” on YouTube 

Social Media Self Preservation is available as an Amazon Kindle book, readable on any computer system or smartphone using the FREE Kindle Reader software.

For more New Media Information, visit Careers in New Media and New Media Interchange at the following sites:

Follow Me on Pinterest
 

My favorite shared new media items for July 2012

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Here are my favorite shared new media items for July 2012.

Please let me know in the comments if you find any of the particularly useful. I’ll keep my eye open for similar items — Douglas

New Media Tips from February 2012

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Here are the New Media Tips and questions shared via the @newmediatips Twitter account.

  • Just released: Social Media Self Preservation Audio Book – Buy directly via download at http://store.payloadz.com/go/?id=993358
  • [Tip] Telling a story using New Media can change the world. What story do you want to tell? No go do it!
  • Product: TASCAM iXZ Mic / Instrument input for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch -  http://dlvr.it/19Glgq
  • [Tip] All the gadgets in the world can’t hold a candle to good content. Start with great content, then consider adding bells and whistles.
  • [Tip] Looking for podcast/voiceover microphone? Look into the Samson C01U USB mic – http://amzn.to/wWfFy7
  • [Tip] Video Lighting Technique: Turn a Hard Light into A Soft Light from Izzy Videos http://dlvr.it/1B9SDG
  • [Tip] Interested in Podcasting/New Media. Check out Podcasters Community Group on Facebook – http://on.fb.me/uVgnOG
  • [Tip] Don’t like what you see on TV these days? Create what you would like to see. There are others who will like it, too — your audience!
  • [Tip] Interested in producing your own podcast novels? Check out Podiobooks at http://podiobooks.com. Put your writing to work for you!
  • [?] What types of shows interest you most? Could they be produced by independent productions and not network television?

Tip: Video Lighting Technique: Turn a Hard Light into A Soft Light from Izzy Videos

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Israel Hyman has been producing great video technique tips for years. I met him a couple of times at PodCampAZ and he is a great guy.

Take a moment to visit his site, Izzy Video. There is a huge amount of information there to help you improve the quality of your videos.

Learn how to turn a hard light into a soft light. Also, learn how to tell the difference between a hard light and a soft light. Check out the full article to read all the details about how to do that.

<iframe width=”500″ height=”254″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/OKo8geTeG2E?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

Elsewhere: Why is Video Hard? Five Shots and Patterns

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Never heard of this method before, but it sounds liks something that could jumpstart a lot of beginning new media people. Give it a read! — Douglas

Why is Video Hard? Five Shots and Patterns

[…]

“One of the most famous, and useful of these, is Michael Rosenblum’s “five shot” method that he developed training journalists from the NY Times to the BBC. It’s actually something he’s preached since the late 1990s, and those who are fortunate enough to learn it get an insight into shooting better video, immediately.

I’ve successfully used this in the classroom to teach visual literacy, because it hones in immediately on what’s important. The five shot method always prescribes these, shot in this exact order (my handout here):

  1. A closeup on the hands of a subject – showing WHAT is happening
  2. A closeup on the face – WHO is doing it
  3. A wide shot – WHERE its happening
  4. An over the shoulder shot (OTS) – linking together the previous three concepts
  5. An unusual, or side/low shot – providing story-specific context”

Read the entire article

Elsewhere Online: How to get the most out of your iPhone as a reporting tool

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Some great advice on using your iPhone for journalism or any new media production, including software and hardware recommendations — Douglas

 

How to get the most out of your iPhone as a reporting tool

By Lauren Rabaino on April 15, 2011 5:00 AM

Increasingly, iPhones are becoming acredible, convenient and reliable tool for journalists –both amateur and professional– to use in the field. Mobile reporting was even the topic of a UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism course taught by Jeremy Rue to help journalists learn how to get the most out of reporting from a mobile device.

Read entire article

Event: Super Happy Vlog House – This Saturday – Ojai, CA

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SHVH Update for Saturday Jan 22, 2011

Here’s an update of schedule and activies for this Saturday’s Super Happy Vlog House.

This is an open and free event where we learn, share and play with web video, blogs and the like. Come and geek out for the day at the beautiful Ojai Digital Dojo with others who are passionate about making video. All levels are welcome, beginners to experts.

There are both scheduled and unstructured activities. Feel free to come for the whole day or just the parts that interest you and fit into your schedule. Drop-in’s are welcome.

Likely Activities (it’s up to you what we do):

  • 8am - Jim Joseph‘s coffee and morning geek talk.  Jim makes the best coffee. Truly.
  • 9am – Alicia’s Ojai Guest House breakfast for those who stay over Friday night or come early on Saturday.  Fresh eggs from our chickens. UPDATE: belgium waffles!
  • 10am – Welcome and introductions. Self organize the day’s activities.
  • 11am – What’s new with HTML5 video? Lots of fun examples.
  • Noon – Pot luck lunch and BBQ, hot dogs (beef or vegie), sausages, burgers.
  • 1pm – How to add fun video-related features to your web pages using HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery.
  • 2pm – Meet the vloggers. Jim Joseph, Chris Ritke and Tyler Suchmann. Chris will be sharing his experiences making the Ojai Artists Video and Jim will be leading a demonstration around ball room dancing music. UPDATE: Social media pioneerDouglas E. Welch said he’s hoping to join us!
  • 3pm – Internet Archive Cleanup Day – A tour of the Internet Archive, new features and a call to action.
  • 3:30pm 4pm - Vlog walk. Join us for a video walk and visit with local vlogger friends like artist Uta Ritke, plus a stop for a snack or tasty beverage in Meiners Oaks.
  • 5pm – Dinner, pot luck. Tri-tip, chicken, pulled pork, fried rice, beans, salad.
  • 6pm – Open video and web clinic. Get help with your projects; collaborate with others.  Edit and post that cool video you shot today.
  • 7pm – Next to Heaven: vlog screenings. Whiskey and cigars, ports and chocolate.

This is a free event. We’ll organize some sort of pot luck lunch and dinner; please bring something or toss a few bucks into the kitty if you can. This is an adult friendly event with wine, beer and frank discussions. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult.

For additional information, please leave a comment, email markus.sandy@gmail.com or call 805-798-0436.

Overnighters are welcome. First come, first serve on rooms, beds, couches and the RV. Pleanty of room for camping if that is your style and weather permits.

Rain or shine.Labels: , , 

 

It’s WordPress Wednesday – Commit to keeping your blog up-to-date

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#alttext#

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms in the world today, whether you are using the free hosting of WordPress.com or running a self-hosted blog on your own web site.

Along with all the power the WordPress carries, though, is a responsibility to keep your blog as secure as possible. There are many exploits (and exploiters) out there that would like to turn your WordPress into a spam-infested Google magnet.

There is an easy way to keep your blog trouble free, though. You need to regularly check for updates to both the WordPress program itself AND any plugins that you might be using on your site. Updates often contain fixes for known errors or bugs that can be exploited by the nasty people of the Internet. Keeping everything updated doesn’t guarantee that your blog won’t be attacked, but it closes the most basic holes in your security.

So, in the interest of keep your blog on the straight and narrow — I am proposing that every Wednesday become WordPress Wednesday. Let’s make this alliterative weekday and use it as reminder to check our WordPress software, our plugins and even comments that we may have missed along the way.

So, how do you keep your blog updated?

First, if you are hosting your blog at WordPress.com, congratulations! You are updated automatically by the WordPress.com staffers. You could still use WordPress Wednesday as an opportunity to check your comments for spam or if they need to be moderated, but most of the work is done for you.

If you are using a self-hosted install of WordPress, here are a few actions to take each WordPress Wednesday.

  1. Log into your blog Dashboard
  2. Look for WordPress Update notes (usually on a yellow background) announcing a new update of the WordPress software itself
    #alttext#
  3. Look for update markers on your Plugins menu item.
    • These numbers in a black circle tell you how many plugins need to be updated.
    • Click the plugins link to see a list of all plugins

  4. Follow the steps provided to automatically upgrade either the WordPress software or the plugins.
  5. Look for the same type of update count listed next to the Comments area
  6. Accept or reject comments that need to moderated or marked as spam.

With just a few minutes of time each WordPress Wednesday, you can keep your WordPress blog clean and speedy.

Need more WordPress help? Ask your questions in the comments!

New Media Gift Guide # 3: Joby GP1 Gorillapod Flexible Tripod

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# 3 Joby GP1 Gorillapod Flexible Tripod

Whether you are taking stills or video, a tripod always makes your work look better. These portable tripods by Joby give you amazing flexibility, both literally and creatively. With adjustable, bendable legs, you can use the tripod on a table or the ground as you normally would, or wrap the legs around a sign post or tree limb to make use of whatever your environment provides.

These tripods are a great complement to the Flip UtraHD video camera highlighted earlier, but also work with any camera with a standard tripod mount. Those with larger Digital SLR cameras will want to go for the beefier version — Joby GP3 Gorillapod SLR-Zoom Flexible Tripod for Digital SLR Cameras

All Gift Guide Recommendations:

Flip Video Cameras – 3 Current Models

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I have added the 3 current Flip Camera models to the WelchWrite store. I have the Flip MinoHD and really like it. I carry it everywhere I go and it makes it easy to grab whatever happens while I am out and about.

The Flip UltraHD adds 2 hours of recording time, a removable battery and image stabilization.

Check out all the Flip models and I think you will find one that is right for you!