Blah Blah Bleric

Screenr is Awesome

Screenr makes grabbing a screen and turning it into a tutorial very easy.

I use screen capturing tools all the time in my work (developing elearning). The tools typically involve launching bulky programs, going through many steps (record, add sound, edit), and then publishing.

Screenr streamlines the process so that you can truly create on demand videos.

I've wanted to create a simple, easy to make tutorial for branding a blog or website with a favicon. I had some trouble myself because I did not realize Internet Explorer only recognized .ICO files. I didn't even know what an .ICO file was.

After I figured it out, a friend asked my advice on buying software to create .ICO files for a favicon. But, there is no need to buy software! In this web 2.0 world, people are out there helping. So, with Screenr, I have already quickly and easily made the video that should help people make images, find the converter website, and create an .ICO file for their blog or website.

Once I created the video, I published it to YouTube and then copied the code to embed it here (I am sorry the sound is low; I was excited to try it and made it in a location that required me to talk very low):

Screenr is, of course, streamlined to Twitter so you can tweet about your new videos immediately. (I mean, why wait?) So, what do you think about Screenr? And when will you make your first video?

The Hero of Web 2.0

This is a tribute to a stranger. But, things have changed quite a bit, and truly "friend" and "stranger" mean different things these days...the days of Web 2.0!

The Inspiration

I just saw a post at SocialMedian.com about Robert Scoble.

The news is that Scoble--well known for his blog "Scobleizer"--is leaving his current job. I never knew he had a job, but I know a little about his blog and him. If you are into social media, video, blogging and such, you probably know who he is.

I am quietly a fan. So, I commented on the SocialMedian post:

"I love that guy. Never met him, but have seen and heard him on videos. He's like the objective correlative of web 2.0 for me. Especially with that tripod and camera. The super hero aspect: "Fearlessly shooting video anywhere he goes -- it's Super Scoble -- able to stream megabytes while tweeting, able to transport digitally to be on the scene at CES, at Google, or anywhere geeks are triumphing!

Ok, that's enough. No offense intended -- I truly admire the guy. And the triumphing geeks. Well some of them."

I follow him on Twitter and FriendFeed, but I don't know Scoble. But then one day I got a twitter email. It said _Scobleizer_ was following me! I felt proud. Yes -- the mighty Scobleizer was following me on Twitter. I win!

Well, not so.

The Impostor

I bounded forth to Twitter so I could send him a note of thanks. But @_scobleizer_ (with the underscores) was a fake.

Impostor!

Curse you impostor, who made my hopes and dreams rise, only to be crushed. Woe is me.

The Interception

Until *horns blaring* the real Robert Scoble did in fact follow me on Twitter!  I wanna think I earned it. Either from good tweets or pity. Well, one good tweet anyway. With pity in it.

After the impostor both thrilled me and slammed me, I tweeted about the fake Scoble and how Twitter SWAT had shut him down (or her). I also included a sad little bit at the end (see Twitter screen shot).

That was lunch time on January 23rd. By the end of the day, the real Robert Scoble was following me.

I'm no news breaker in the tech world, but I like to think that Scoble checks my twitter feed every morning as he gets ready to take on another day.

  
I guess that's my brush with social media fame. What's yours? Oh and by the way, here's the email about the real Scoble following me. Yes, I kept it!

                    

Web 3.0 The Backlash

Web 3.0 could be all about who you follow. Who do you follow on Twitter? Who do you follow on FriendFeed? Are you getting all the latest tweets and posts? Hurry, hurry, because there's a brand new application starting up tomorrow and you'll need to know who to follow there too. I just hope it's not a clique fest (click pun, get it?).

*Sigh*

Erick Schonfeld wrote a piece hoping that web 3.0 would "be about reducing the noise," referring to his overload of tweets and posts to wade through. I too hope the innovators will streamline many people's web 2.0 reality: 40 user names  passwords, 30 video sites, 10 networking must-views...and 5 new ones tomorrow. There needs to be a backlash of some sort.

Today I read about the ridiculous act of spitting in Michael Arrington's face. I certainly can't say for sure what that was about because the *ahem* gentleman who spit hurried off so that his point, if there was one, will not even be known. (Perhaps he'll blog about it from his cowardly lair.) But it's easy enough to to sense a backlash in the act. I don't know too much about Arrington or Tech Crunch, but I read Tech Crunchand have already referenced one article in this blog (Schonfeld's). I do know enough to see influence when I see it--and Arrington has that. Arrington is web 2.0.

Another phenomenon of web 2.0 is a rather unattractive part of people's profiles. Mine included. Take FriendFeed for example. Each profile includes feeds from You Tube, Seesmic, Twitter, blogs, and more. It ends up looking like a Cub Scout shirt full of merit badges. Sure, I got kicked out of Cub Scouts, so that might have something to do with my current rant.

Anyway. Backlash. Revolt. Fix. Improve. Make it easier for Eric. And try to fix it before I even realize it's broken. Thank you.

The Who—How Routine

Social media and networking require a lot of work. Mike Fruchter writes lucidly about what social media is (and isn’t) in a splendid article that includes a fun video. Fruchter also has a blog posting that details 40—yes 40—elements to getting started in social media. Both are must reads.

But, for the busy, I thought I would add a few shorter tips.

The first I’m calling the Who—How Routine. It’s a simple way to get going in the morning thinking about what you will accomplish today regarding your presence online, your social media connections, your brand development on the web. As you put on your shoes (assuming two here), think who? for one and how? for the other.

Who—are you going to contact today? Think of a person. Yes one. Even though you might amass 4 billion friends on Facebook and 20 million followers on Twitter, think about just one person to make contact with today. Keep in mind that social media works best when you are a real person, and that means you will have to get a little more intimate, from time to time, than posting a few words that get scattered to your legions of fans.

How—are you going to reach out to that person? If you are like me, you are chock full of user names and passwords for your various accounts for your internet connections: LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Seesmic, You Tube, SocialMedian, and more. That one person you are going to connect with today might use many too. Be a little creative and choose wisely—something to entertain? To amuse? To enlighten? To inform? As a former writing teacher, I used to call this your purpose. Basically, the level of formality might help you choose a media: You Tube for amusement, perhaps?

As an example, when I thought who today, I thought of Louis Gray. When I thought how, I went with good old email—found on his website. I had a formal question for him, so I didn’t want to use Twitter or any other tool that might detract from my serious question.

Anywho, I did the Who—How Routine and accomplished my mission. It’s simple, quick and easy. When you have more time, read Fruchter’s two articles. And don’t confuse Who—How with hoo-haa…that’s something else.

All Things Revolve Around Twitter

In fits and starts, I've started blogging. As any blogger knows, a blog can be a work in progress, and a blogging presence on the net even more so. But I like that. I like blogging and the evolution of the blog. I like the writing and the designing. And now I like the social networking and various social media that can, ideally, work in sync to establish a little web of my own spun in a cozy corner of the big family barn we call the internet.

After my first blog, which I co-author with my wife Betsey, I looked into this microblogging thing called Twitter and started a second blog that is just me (you are reading it right now). Then I added Facebook to the LinkedIn networking I was already doing. Then FriendFeed, which makes my GoogleReader more fun. Suddenly, the site and blog intergration seems to have taken on a life of its own. For example, when I tweet, it updates my status on Facebook and drops an entry in FriendFeed--this could happen on Social Median too, but since Facebook drops updates there, I thought tweets would be redundant. I wonder if anyone would notice...

Anyhow, I'm visual. So, I mapped it out a bit. And if you are visual too you've got to check out DebateGraph soon. Well my little corner web looks like this:

        

Interesting that Twitter is right in the middle.

I'd love some feedback from anyone who has savvy ideas for how to improve my network--add to? remove? streamline? Oh, and I'm looking for some good blogs to read...know any?