Mr Video

I’ve had my iPhone for about a month - and YES I WILL be getting a $100 rebate, thank you very much. But in that short month I have come to the conclusion that the iPhone is very dangerous.

Background
I started looking at an iPhone when my Treo started acting weird. I LOVED my Treo. The Treo with Chatter Mail was SUCH a pleasure. I could easily manage 6 email accounts and instantly see which account had new mail. But - the temptation was just too much. I had seen the future - and it had me holding an iPhone.

Why the iPhone is Dangerous - Non-Tactile

DO NOT attempt to answer your iPhone while driving - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. The iPhone’s unlocking method just about REQUIRES you to look at the phone. The sleek slider that you must move from left to right is not forgiving, not tactile, and not easily done with one hand sans eyes. I have been all over the road simply because I can’t unlock the iPhone without looking at it. I’ve tried. I’ve almost gotten killed. Women run in horror clutching their small children.
Why the iPhone is Dangerous - Irresistible

I was in Subway, minding my own business, looking at email when two young kids came up to me and HAD to touch my iPhone. Now, I’m a friendly guy but when my personal space gets impinged, well I get a bit antsy. Now only that, but I shortly thereafter came down with a 24 hr stomach virus - I just KNOW it was from one of those snot-nosed kids. Look people - just step away from the future. The future is mine.
Why the iPhone Dangerous - Precious

As I said, I’m pretty friendly but damn people, it’s my iPhone! I don’t like the jokes about you “dropping” it while you are holding my precious my iPhone. I’ve got ulcers from fear of ME dropping it and now I got to worry about YOU dropping it? And WASH YOU HANDS before you touch her him it.

Why the iPhone is Dangerous - Hackable

Once you have an iPhone you want to immediately “make it your own”. That’s what I liked about the Treo - infinite additions and customizations. Now, with the introduction of Installer by Nullriver (updated DAILY - thanks guys). I have games utilities galore and my productivity has gone sideways. I am constantly looking for more and more hacks - like a crack addict looking for another crystal rock hoping to ease the craving.

Why the iPhone is Dangerous - Ubiquitous

I can use the iPhone everywhere. I initially thought that was a good thing. Now, as I write this from the John (American slang for Crapper), I begin to wonder. Hemorrhoids not withstanding, I believe that connected to the grid 24/7 may not be such a good thing.

Why the iPhone is Dangerous - The Cult

The entire time I am writing this, the song from Jesus Christ Superstar keeps running through my head. You know the one. The one with the refrain - “He is DANGEROUS…” I love like Steve Jobs and all. But I’ve been on the inside of a cult before and I’m starting to look for the door just about now. I mean promises, promises, promises. I know, Steve, you are DELIVERING on your promise of bringing me the future in a nice small hand-held device, but come ON. You and I BOTH know you can’t sustain this. When the wheels come off the bus, I want to already be OFF the bus - kapish?

Why the iPhone is Dangerous - The Reality

Knowing all the dangers of owning an iPhone hasn’t helped me one little bit. I do have the future in my hand and I like it there, and I am willing to live dangerously. It’s a small price to pay provided I don’t run anyone over while trying to unlock the future.

I just heard a great interview with one of the founders of HotOrNot.com

I had assumed that this was a fly by night operation that bordered on a simplistic dating site. I had actually thought this thing had died 4 years ago.

The interview with James Hong is available on TalkCrunch.com. James is one sharp guy! Hot or Not was getting 40k visitors a day from day one. Currently adding 30k new users a day.

HotOrNot started out on a $400 Celeron computer. James and his partner moved the site to RackSpace shortly after launch.

After 5 successful years of 500k/month they turned the site free due to downwad trends. They doubled traffic. Now they are monitizing from ads and virtual products.

Now, James is busy extending the brand. Keep an eye out for HotLists.

James plans to allow users to rate anything, use these hotlists to create communities and serving up what he calls ‘enjoyable’ ads that are super targeted.

Stay tuned!

Sure, you COULD pay $500+ for a course that teaches you how to produce an infomercial. You would get hundreds of tutorials on how to use Vegas, how to use Ultra, how to light video, etc, etc.

But, would you really be an infomercial producer? The answer is Yes and No.

Yes - anyone these days who shoots a video promoting anything can be called an “Infomercial Producer”. Got camera? You are a producer!

No - if I walk into the New York City Library and sit in the Finance section will I become an accountant? Perhaps, but only after spending hundreds of hours pouring over the texts. Math not being one of my strong suites, I’d probably need help from astute passers by.

I remember a newspaper cartoon long ago time ago that showed a salesman next to a sign that said, “Learn the Tuba- $5.00″. A customer gives the salesman $5 and the salesman pulls out a tuba and says with authority, “This, is the Tuba!” . The customer says “Gee, that was easy, I think I’ll learn the trombone next”.

I hope you get my point. Anyone can post a video up on YouTube. Matter of fact, you can even get the designation of ‘Director’ or ‘Guru’. The terms have little to do with their original meanings.

Is a dentist a dentist if he never practices his craft? Would you fly with a ‘pilot’ who has only one solo flight?

Start producing, start posting videos, start testing, repeat. That will make you an infomercial producer in no time. Would a infomercial course be helpful? Sure, but why not figure out what the questions are first? Why not test your hand to see if you even LIKE editing first.

I know a lot of people who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their education only to get finished and realize that they don’t enjoy their field of work.

My point here is this - don’t drop a huge amount of money and time on a course until you know what you don’t know. Start working on your video, start scripting, lighting, shooting and editing.

See, by thinking this way you ALREADY have questions. “What kind of camera is best”, “How should I script this” etc.

I have a rule of thumb that serves me well - work with what you have, upgrade as needed.

My first professional shooting gig was a wedding. I was already an editor but had no gear. I purchased a VHS camcorder in NYC a few days before the event. I shot it, edited it, done - I was barely an “event videographer” hardly a cinematographer!

That taught me a ton of things.
1) it’s harder than it looks
2) I need to think about microphones
3) I need to figure out best positions for my camera
4) weddings are important events!

Fortunately the ‘client’ was happy. But I was now armed with a list of things I needed to learn before my next event. Off to the book store! (back then, that was about the only place to find info).

So start today. Pick up your camera, grab your spouse, child or friend and film your infomercial! It really is that easy AND that difficult.

Paris Hilton: CelebuTard in CelebuHab then CelebuJail. Next stop, CelebuMom.

Question: Do we as people ever reach perfection?

The answer is obviously no. We are living and dynamic. We change and we grow. Paris Hilton is changing and growing daily. You and I change and grow. So why do some people self distruct while others thrive? I know it is because of the curse of perfection.

I had some insight into this while remembering my childhood. When I was young and in school, the mantra from my parents was ‘get A’s on your report card’. I didn’t get A’s but I did OK. Fortunate for me I was pretty good in one or two subjects. The rest I wasn’t much interested in or saw no need for.

The subjects I gravitated toward were the ones I was good at. So I focused on these and neglected the rest. Needless to say, my parents weren’t to happy with this approach.

The school approach to generalization is flawed. Students compete to be the best at generalities. A ‘C’ in one subject gets far more attention than an ‘A’ in another. Parents are the worse at this too. God forbid you brought home a ‘D’ or an ‘F’. Can you imagine bringing home a report card that has 3 ‘As’ and 3 ‘Fs’? What about 6 ‘Cs’ (an average rating). Un acceptable! “You must get all ‘As’.”

This ‘perfection system’ is so ingrained in us all. My son brought home a great reportcard but it had a ‘C’ on it. Guess what grade I focused on? Never mind he’s a great athlete, musician and writer. I focused on the ‘C’.

Perfection is a flawed concept and, by association, so is the ’straight A’ concept.

The U.S. is creating an army of perfection seeking generalists. Can’t be a good thing. We need to celebrate unique talents more then general ability.

What’s all this have to do with Paris Hilton? Paris’ woes started when the spotlight first shined on her. ‘Perfection’ was required in everything from looks to clothes and boyfriends. Then add the additional pressure of the media spotlight. What would any teen do when forced under a microscope? Rebel!

Paris Hilton may have been good at something, but she was expected to be good at everything. Some with Lindsay, Britney, and the other 20ish celebutards. The media spotlight is broad and bright but not very focused. It shines on every aspect of a person’s life. A great actress gets reported on who she is dateing and how they act at parties. Teens can’t hack the pressure and grow into dysfunctional 20somethings.

So before you ruin your kid, celebrate their uniqueness and allow them to bring home a few ‘Cs’.
Don’t put them under a microscope and do not tell them they need to be perfect.

While in Baltimore for the NCAA lacrosse championships, I went down to the hotel breakfast and wanted to get the day’s game schedule.

I had heard about CNN Mobile (cnnmobile.com) and gave it a try on my Palm Treo. Long story short, no schedule but found some mobile video. Well, HAD to try it.

I selected the mobile video for download, a .5 mb file that downloaded on about 30 seconds. Not too bad.

Not too bad until I opened it to play. The image was postage stamp size - literally. About 1/4 of the available screen. The video was watchable until the action got busy. Then the fps droped to about 3fps.
Total length was 1:30

This all would be fine if there was audio but… No Sound.

CNN would be better off using stills with audio. News footage without commentary is, well, useless.

Nice try CNN. This will eventually be a great thing but right now, wait.

Perry via Treo

You’ll be hearing a lot about Parkinson’s Law in the next few months. It features prominently in a new book called Four-Hour Work-Week by Tim Ferriss.

I’ve always known and used Parkinson’s Law although never knew it by name. Parkinson’s Law states that ‘Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.’

This is always present at the ad agency I consult at. If a project is slated for a week - it takes a week. If it is a rush job - it gets done in a day. Same project, about the same resulting work. It really is amazing to see executives take this to the extreme.

So, as Tim Ferris states in his book, budget a set amount of time to any given project. Limit yourself, your time, and/or your availability for max efficiency.

I’m reading a fantastic book called Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. One core concept is the idea of the Curse of Knowledge.

The idea is that we can’t unlearn what we know which can make it hard for us to communicate effectively.

Case in point - I know how to shoot, edit, and deliver a video product. I know the best ways to put this video on the web. I have done all this for years. The ‘problem’ is that communicating how to do this others can be fraught with omissions.

What can get omitted? Often the simplest little details. Why? Well, the book points out that the ‘teacher’ operates from a point of knowledge - a place that’s difficult to extract yourself from.

The example they give is brilliant. An experiment was done where one person, a ‘tapper’, rapped out the rhythms to a series of popular songs to a ‘listener’.

The ‘tapper’ guessed the listener was getting 50% of the songs correct. The actual number the ‘listener’ was getting right was only 2%!

The discrepancy is there because the tapper can’t imagine things from the listener’s perspective. The tapper can’t unlearn what they know.

Try it yourself. Tap out the rhythm to the “Star Spangled Banner” to a friend. Don’t be suprised when they answer “Happy Birthday.”

That’s the challenge for teachers, coaches, gurus and consultants. How do you consistently and effectively put yourself in the shoes of the person who you are teaching.

First, I believe you need to recognize this ‘curse’. Understand that you can be blinded by what you know.

Second, be thorough. Don’t leave out whole processes by saying things like “then just FTP it to your site”. You may think that over 50% of your audience understands FTP but in reality, perhaps only 2% do.

Coming from a family of educators (Mom taught 1st grade, Dad taught Music, sister’s a missionary, brother’s a military trainer) and having majored in education myself, this lesson is always on my mind. I do occasionally get reminded of the curse when someone points it out “hey, how do you FTP? You left that part out.” Hopefully these are few and far between.

I highly recommend you get the book Made to Stick. It is full of great stories and insight that will help you communicate more effectively.

Perry via Treo

It’s really easy if you use WordTube by Alex Rabe. You can get it here.

Here is an example of playing video from S3:

[MEDIA=1]

So just after I get things working after a server switch, HMS gets a DOS attack. I’ve been told that this is a temporary issue as they have 3 of the 4 servers up and running. Apologies for the interruption.

Perry

What can a cult teach us about community? A lot it turns out. I’m no cult expert, however I was involved with a group that produced cult-like followers. That’s not to say that the organization wasn’t a cult - but that it used techniques that were quite effective in building the community. Unfortunately, due to overzealous leaders, community came before the individual. Community is about empowering the individual.
Having studied membership websites and writen about them in Membership Site Bible, I thought I’d share some of my limited insight on community building as it applies to membership websites.

Here are some tips I am learning about community building and how to avoid a community melt-down (in no particular order).

1. DO - Provide a safe environment. I’m not sure where safety comes on Maslow’s hierarchy, but it’s right up there at the top. People want to be part of a community where they feel - and are - safe. Blogs, in general, are not safe communities. Blogs have no barrier to entry so anyone can comment and provide hit-a-run commentary. Some disgusting things have been posted as comments to blogs lately. Why? Because people can. There needs to be a filter on the community if you want to make it a safe one.
2. DO - Membership has a price. Cost of entry is vital to a healthy community. Often this is enough of a filter - a barrier to entry - to limit the drive-by comments. “If it costs nothing, it’s worth nothing.” Comments and posts on a paid membership site are unique in that everyone has “paid the price” and attaches a value to the community of which they are a member. People will protect that “investment” and self police - to a degree.
3. DO - Give the community opportunities to participate. Comments are great, but that’s not participation is it? Really? Comments are not “user generated content” either. Find a way to make the environment interactive.
4. DO - Give members jobs. This is key. I keep coming back to the groups that give me a task or job to do.
5. DON’T - Dictate the path. The community needs to dictate the content and you, as “leader” need to empower the community. Don’t be rigid, Don’t be dogmatic. The community will evolve and you will evolve.
6. DON’T - Be a know-it-all. This may sound counter to the whole “Guru with a community” thing but it’s not. I learn so much from the community each and every day that it would be silly for me to pretend that I have all the answers. If you are confident in the knowledge you DO possess, you will acknowledge and reward the knowledge and insite of others.
7. DO - Address issues quickly. Every once in a while there is an issue or problem that needs addressing. Act on it immediately. My favorite saying is “Pay now or pay later - with interest.” It will always cost you more if you postpone things that need your attention. Don’t be lazy or have a la-de-da attitude. Fix things that need fixing and deal with things that need dealing with.
8. DO - Protect the Brand. In the church of eCommerce, the brand is god. Now there are MANY examples of non-branded impulse buy items for sale on the net. However, these are one-time affairs and we are talking about building a sustainable community. Protect your logo, protect your image and police their usage.
9. DO - Remember you are not the brand. Even if you have a site call MyNameHere.com - you are not the brand. The community, the assets, the experience all come together to form the brand.
10. DON’T - Build on personality. You need to build on community. The catholics have this figured out. They build a “parish” that serves the community. The “leader” can be swapped out with little or no disruption in service. Some “Mega Churches” build on a personality. What happens when that personality leaves?
11. DON’T - Be impatient. Building a community - like Rome - doesn’t take a day or two. Give it three years and continue to build wisely all along the way. We have all heard of the Million Dollar Launch bla, bla, bla. Again, we are talking about community building here. Where is the asset in an info product launch a year from now? Once the info or system is “out there” it’s worth is diminished.

I’ll add to these as time goes on. I’m far from a community building expert but these things make sense and I have seen them work. As a final DO - do be transparent. You could “hide” these things from your community, but sharing with them the vision and goals - along with your beliefs on community - will only help.