POST PROMO: Blogger’s Greatest Hits attempt to make a comeback

EACH post I’ve ever written is like a digital child of mine - each given due attention and updated when necessary. However, as a parent, I naturally grow concerned over how some of my digital offspring are more popular than others.

They each have their own unique talents and personalities, and although popularity is a fickle thing, I can’t help feel that it is my fault as a parent that some of my children get more attention than others. Perhaps they weren’t labeled properly at birth, or their dad simply lacked the know-how of how to get them ahead in life at the time.

I have therefore made it my parental duty to promote some talented children of mine that still have much to offer and are yearning for your attention. Below are a few of my personal favourites from each category – my greatest hits trying to make a comeback. I’m certain that you will find yourself willing to adopt some of the following:

From Quite Interesting:

• The mystery of the computer keyboard

"Staring blankly at my keyboard the other day (as one does) I began pondering over the arrangement of the keys. “What’s up with that?” I heard the comedian within me say. I set forth on a cyber-galactic journey to discovery why my keyboard’s layout looks the way it does…" (Read more)

• The history and origin of Santa Claus

“So just who is that fat, old jolly guy in the red suit that parades around shopping malls at Christmas time – entertaining kids and scaring adults with his “ho ho hos”? It’s usually someone’s dad – the one (in any community of close friends) with the biggest beer boep…” (Read more)

• Historical truths behind English sayings

"Do you ever use sayings such as “saved by the bell” or hear your grandmother squawk something like, “Heavens, it raining cats and dogs outside!” A lot of people still do yet have no idea where such phrases originate from. I got a little history lesson the other day which explained the dark truth behind some of these popular figures of speech..." (Read more)

From Web 2.0:

• Digital Blasphemy

"Digital Blasphemy is by far one of the best places on the web to find incredible pc wallpapers. Ryan Bliss has made a career of creating digital desktop backgrounds that are simply amazing. He is also quite the generous type and offers a few of his digital artworks for free. I have collected several of these over the years and wanted to share my top 10 with anyone who appreciates such talent..."
(Read more)

• PhotoFunia

"There are some great digital photography websites out there that allow you to do some wondrous things with your own (possibly dull) collection of pics. Such sites also make you look really smart when your family and friends don’t know about them and ask, “how in the name of Luke Skywalker did you make your facebook profile pic like that!?”
(Read more)

• Yearbook Yourself

"If you feel that you missed out on an opportunity to be pasted in your fellow matriculants’ yearbooks and be remembered forever, you can now do it online. With a little imagination and creativity, you could digitally create an entire yearbook of all your former classmates, whether you matriculated in the ’50s or the ’90s..." (Read more)

From Happy Friday:

• Dancing for humanity

"The video “Where the Hell is Matt?” has seen over 21 million views to date, so you’re likely to have seen it before, but if you haven’t, you should give it a watch. It takes you to a place of magic and joy and wonder – a place where all the bad in the world is forgotten for 4mins 29secs. It is one of the most viewed viral videos of its time and one of my top dancing videos..." (Read more)

• Cartoons of my childhood (the 80's)

"There are no cartoons better than the hand-crafted animations of the 80s, which make today’s cartoons look rather crappy by comparison. The following make me slip into a nostalgic state and give me the urge to run around the garden naked climbing trees again. What? That’s not weird. It’s called my “inner-child” – eveyone has it… don’t they?" (Read more)

• The status of South African humour

"Here you'll find a collection of humorous and memorable South African Facebook statuses I’ve come across over the past two weeks to illustrate my point that South Africans are pretty, funny people..." (Read more)

From Online tips & tricks:

• Movie Making 101

"The video-web is an exciting place to be involved in these days, particularly because it is constantly evolving and simply brimming with potential. If you have untapped creative juices, or any original video-related ideas, there is nothing stopping you from making a contribution to the growing videosphere..." (Read more)

• A beginner's guide to blogging

"If the idea of blogging excites you, there is nothing preventing you from starting one today. There are several ways to go about this, but in the spirit of keeping things simple, there are two blogging sites I would recommend..."
(Read more)

• Learn the SA National Anthem the ABC way

"... here’s a much more controversial-friendly, and very easy way to learn the SA anthem if you don’t know it already. You’ll see that it’s as easy as ABC" (Read more)

From Gadgets & tech:

• Weird Wired World

"Specifically since the introduction of Windows XP to Japan, more and more consumers have been taking their laptops and electronic devices to Shinto priests to be blessed against system crashes and technical failures..." (Read more)

• Make way for shweebways

"Our traffic nightmares may soon come to an end thanks to an invention known as the Shweeb. And this is not just some fancy new swear word, but the world’s first human-powered monorail" (Read more)

• Save the trees with iPaper

"I wrote a hand-written letter the other day and found that my hand-writing looked like barbed wire. I realised that it had been a good while since I had used any hand-writing skills due to my increasing reliance on typing everything. It seems obvious to me that the archaic technology of hand-writing is being slowly killed by digital technologies. Yet just when the patriotic hand-writers thought things couldn’t get worse, society unleashed something called “digital paper” or iPaper..." (Read more)

Reviews:

• Time to chair up

"The gaming chair came in attachable parts with a set of tools, a spider diagram, some Chinese instructions, and a note of encouragement. I half expected to find a small key, some coded message, a strange map and an enchan­ted ring" (Read more)

• Robo pets

"I’ve been thinking of getting a puppy; one that’s potty-trained. Or perhaps a streetwise cat that can take care of itself. The thought that I could never find the time to raise a pup made me consider robot pets. Several of these can learn skills and tricks, recognise faces, voices, and colour; but they won’t pee on your carpet..." (Read more)

• Let's do the Twisp!

"Twisp is not a real cigarette, but a personal and portable vapouriser, that uses micro-electronics and a lithium polymer cell to evaporate nicotine in ‘smoke’ from a replaceable cartridge. The vapour does not smell nor does it contain tar, carcinogens or smoke particulate found in first and second- hand cigarette smoke, but it feels, tastes and looks just like the real thing..." (Read more)

Gaming & virtual reality

• What do you Wannado when you grow up?

"It has been said that Wannado has redefined child entertainment by simulating a dream world where children are encouraged to take on and experience one or several adult professions. It features 60 Real-play venues and over 120 career possibilities – ranging from archaeologists, doctors, attorneys and TV hosts to fashion models, pizza makers, DJs and clowns..." (Read more)

• The reality of the virtual

"As computer-processing power increases and even more realistic graphics are developed, the simulated environments produced by virtual reality systems will become even more believable than some already are. At the cutting edge of vitual reality is the VisionDome..." (Read more)

• The console that rocked the gaming world

"Known as the godfather of modern videogame systems, the Atari 2600 (originally called the Atari VCS) helped spawn a multi-billion dollar gaming industry. Released in 1977, the Atari 2600 was the first successful console to use game cartridges and its influence can still be felt today in the Xbox, PlayStation, and GameCube..."
(Read more)

Cellphones & cellular technology:

• Jet-setting with the Samsung Jet

"The Samsung Jet has opened up a whole new world of mobile web browsing with its high performance Dolfin web browser and revolutionary 3D cubic interface, allowing super-fast surfing. The device also supports the option of multi-window browsing – allowing one to surf up to five pages simultaneously..." (Read more)

• iPaint on my cellphone

"Some of the latest hype arriving in the wake of the new iPhone 3G S is an Apple application for the device called Brushes, which allows users to do more than just doodle on their iPhones. The images are “painted” freehand, using fingers and thumbs..." (Read more)

• A whiff of the modern cellphone

"The Health Concept Phone (pictured) is equipped with eNose technology, which effectively allows it to electronically “smell” what you eat and keep track of your food intake. It is able to ‘recognise’ food (and other things) by its unique chemical signature. Recommended for people who have a habit of eating with their eyes closed. Similar phones have the ability to emit a whiff of your significant other’s scent every time he or she phones..." (Read more)

Top videos:

1. Cars in the Park
2. Magna Carta live + interview
3. White Mountain Folk Festival
4. Blogtube: Proudly South African
5. Splashy Fen: The 20th Big Splash!
6. Miss nude Australia - Arianna Starr

Related post: Welcome and enjoy your stay

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MOVIE MAKER: A simple guide to creating your own online videos

THE video-web is an exciting place to be involved in these days, particularly because it is constantly evolving and simply brimming with potential. If you have untapped creative juices, or any original video-related ideas, there is nothing stopping you from making a contribution to the growing videosphere.

If you have watched any of my videos, you will be intrigued to know that they were all created using Microsoft Movie Maker – a free program that comes standard with any Windows operating system. It should be right under “all programs” from your start menu.

-----> Capturing video

• The first step to producing an aesthetically pleasing video is capturing good footage to work with. Whether you are using a handycam or a cellphone to film, ensure that you hold the device as still as possible and get all of your shots in frame.
• Each shot should also be of appropriate length. A good guideline is to ensure that you have at least 10 seconds of still footage for each shot. Film for longer if you feel a little shaky during filming or if the scene warrants a greater length.
• Cutaway shots are essential for keeping your video enticing. If you’re shooting an event, for example, film at different angles and alternate between long shots, side shots and close-ups.
• Once you have all your footage, connect your device to a PC using a USB cable. Create a suitably named folder on your desktop and copy and paste all your clips from your device to your computer.
• I find it useful to watch each clip a few times to decide which ones I want to use and then rename these appropriately. Delete poor quality and unsuitable clips.

--> Simple editing techniques with Movie Maker
Open Movie Maker and import all your clips from the folder you have created. (All the tools are along the left-hand side of the programme). Watch the clips again in Movie Maker to get a better idea of which ones you’re going to use and in what order.

Whip out your trusty notepad and pen and write down the names of the clips you want to use, a description for each if necessary, and the length of each. Then rank them according to how you would like your video to flow.

Along the bottom of Movie Maker are options for switching between a timeline view and a storyboard view. Stick to the timeline view for accuracy. Simply drag your first clip on to the timeline to begin editing.

Movie Maker

The most useful editing tool for any video-editing program is the cut or “split” tool, located under the video-screening box. Play the clip and pause it where you want to make a cut and delete all the unwanted bits.

You can zoom in for better accuracy and have the option of dragging a clip inwards from the end to make it shorter. This has the same effect as a cut and is useful if you make a mistake or wish to make the clip longer again at a later stage.

Continue this process with all your clips and re-arrange them as you see fit simply by dragging them along your timeline.

--> Transitions in Movie Maker
Transitions are the fades, wipes and other effects that occur between clips. There are several of these available under the “effects tool”. However, I personally prefer to keep things simple and stick to simple fade-ins and fade-outs.

You can create these by simply right clicking on a clip. One neat trick, however, is to blend clips into one another – something I discovered completely by accident. To create said blends simply drag one clip a little over another. Voila!

There are quite a few transitions at your disposal – some great, and some really cliché. Experiment to see which ones tickle your fancy and use whichever one’s you want. I don’t judge.

--> Audio in Movie Maker
No video is complete without decent audio. You should have natural sounds and ambience within your original footage, which is visible along the timeline.

You can separate this audio from a clip by dragging it to the audio layer. This is useful when you make lots of cuts and want your audio to flow naturally.

However, if you are not so set on the audio available to you, you can import your own, such as songs (bedding tracks) in mp3 format. There is also an option of importing pictures into Movie Maker along the same toolbar on the left-hand side.

When you place your desired audio beneath a clip, ensure that you mute the clips or simply lower the volume of the audio belonging to them. You can do this by clicking on “clip -> audio” found along the top tool bar.

When interviewing someone, it is always great to cut to different shots while the person speaks. Every 10 seconds or so is a good guide, but you can creatively time this to cut to shots of what the person is speaking about at different stages.

When creating such a video interview, first edit the entire interview clip into the segments you wish to use. Then edit the cutaway shots you wish to integrate into your video and mute (or lower the volume) of these. Place these clips where desired and simply drag the interview segments beneath them — place only the audio there.

Edit them to fit perfectly by zooming in and dragging both the interviewee audio and the cutaway shot to an equal length. Your video interview should now flow smoothly with cutaway shots in between!

--> Publishing & uploading with Movie Maker
Once you’re smiling and satisfied with your final version of your video, publish/save it to your computer. Publish for “best quality for playback on this computer” and choose a folder to place it in.

Video hosting websites are accepting huge uploads these days so there’s no need to save your video in a smaller format, unless, of course, you’ve created an epic and your video file size is massive.

Upload your video to YouTube, MyVideo or Zoopy, or all three if you wish. Give it a title, an enticing description and a few tags and offer your production to the online world.

Happy video making!

Some useful video making resources
www.papajohn.org
Download Movie Maker 2.6

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