------- Clearing Up the Confusion E-Zine ------- Vol 4, Issue 2 Thanks so much to all of you who welcomed me back after my hiatus. It's good to know I have some loyal fans. Thanks also for checking out "The Reluctant Networker" (http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com). I hope it continues to have value in your lives. Anyway, on to the main reason for this newsletter -- stories about my daughter, Kaylie. In January, Lisa went down to Texas to visit with her parents. For various reasons, Kaylie and I weren't able to go. That meant I got to be Mr. Mom for nine straight days. Right now I've got to say, I don't know how single parents do it! Lisa and her parents all missed Kaylie something fierce, so I did what I could to help out with that. Of course, I would let her talk on the phone, but that wasn't really enough (and not just because she still isn't the most stellar of conversationalists). I did discover a new cool tool for my smart phone, however, that let my wife and in-laws feel like they were right there. Check out the article to find out more. ---------------------------------------------------------------- In This Issue... ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: Video: Almost Like Being There 2. Blog Posts 3. Shameless Self-Promotion 4. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Article: Video: Almost Like Being There ---------------------------------------------------------------- So you got one of those cool new smart phones. You've been downloading apps, checking your email, marking your place on the map. Heck, you've even made a few phone calls. Then there's the feature that seems almost worthless -- the video camera. Oh, sure, you can shoot a video or two. You might even show it to a few people, but really that's it. Extracting it from the phone, processing it, and uploading it to a streaming video service like YouTube is just too much work. Enter Qik (http://qik.com). Qik is an app that streamlines the video capture process on your smart phone (over 140 different models as of this writing). Launch the app and then tap to start. Capture those magical moments in time (such as my daughter trying to get Mickey and Minnie to ride the rocking moose with her -- http://qik.com/video/4405375). Tap to stop and the video is automatically uploaded to your account on Qik.com. At that point, you can share your videos with anyone you want or with everyone. What could be easier? If you are into the various social media sites, you can also automatically post your videos to those venues. I've got mine hooked up to Twitter and Facebook (YouTube is also available). Now I can record different events that I attend and have them immediately appear to my followers and friends. Qik isn't perfect (at least on my Droid). Setting the caption for the video is a bit clunky. Also the Facebook interface doesn't seem to have an obvious mechanism for setting the text associated with the video. Still these are relatively minor quirks in an otherwise very handy tool. So get out there and use those videocam phones. Let your friends experience whatever is going on in your life. Make sure it's fun so they can envy you. After all, you might even inspire them to have their own adventures to share. Copyright 2010, Greg Peters ---------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Blog Posts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Links to posts on the "The Reluctant Networker" Blog: Monday, February 15, 2010 -- Sitting and Waiting http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com/2010/02/sitting-and-waiting.html "You see them whenever you attend a networking event. They lurk at the back of the room. They're the first ones to the buffet line. They pick a table which has no one sitting at it. They eat their food, listen to the speaker, then are the first ones out the door..." Monday, February 22, 2010 -- Helping Others and Showing Your Face http://thereluctantnetworker.blogspot.com/2010/02/helping-others-and-showing-your-face.html "I was reading Guy Kawasaki's blog the other day and he pointed out this video by Lewis Howes on good practices in using social media sites. It's about 6 minutes long." ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Shameless Self-Promotion ---------------------------------------------------------------- The "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-Zine is a production of Greg Peters, owner, chief cook, and bottlewasher of Cyber Data Solutions. CDS has been helping website designers develop better web presence for their clients for more than a decade. Visit us on the Web at www.cyberdatasolns.com to see how we can help your webmaster. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 4. The Fine Print ---------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: You can subscribe to the "Clearing Up The Confusion" E-zine at: http://www.cyberdatasolns.com/ezine Questions: If you have any questions, concerns or comments regarding the Clearing Up the Confusion E-zine, please email Greg Peters at: gpeters@cyberdatasolns.com This content may be forwarded in full, with copyright and contact information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Greg Peters is required, with notification to the original author. We never send the "Clearing Up the Confusion" E-zine uninvited, and we NEVER share, sell or rent our mailing list to anyone. Your privacy is safe with us.