I especially liked the point that Lawson made regarding how to use Twitter while you’re between albums/projects. He noted that this time is good for connecting with new people, carrying on conversation and building your “social DNA chain.”
Andrew Dubber’s New Music Strategies New Music Strategies attempts to unpick and explain what’s going on in the online music environment – and from that, develop strategies to help independent musicians and music businesses cope and thrive in a changing media environment.
Power came back to our neighborhood last night, but most of our community is still without electricity.
My wife spent the good portion of the day working in the yard. I joined her in the late afternoon so that I could run the chainsaw and get the larger branches and trees down to manageable size.
Fire Headquarters is still running on generator power. Interestingly enough, I had to work there today while preparing and sending out media releases. I have full power and internet access at home. At work I was working from an EV-DO card and shuffling files via flash drives to a computer that was hooked to a printer in our conference room. It would have been much more efficient to do this work from my home office, I think.
Somebody said something about applying to become an Utterz Ambassador. I don’t want to be blatantly obvious, but I think I would be a good ambassador for the program.
I’m not "too" flagrant or passionate about Utterz, but I sure have told a lot of people about it. Some of them even give me cow-eyed stares as if they don’t get it. But, I just ask them to visit my blogs at http://richpalmer.com/blog or http://richpalmer.livejournal.com/ to see how I’ve cross-posted my quips from the road, from my studio, or wherever I happen to be.
I show them the video and photos that I’ve sent in to Utterz from my phone. And I show them how Utterz has allowed me to get that onto several other sites, like blip.tv and YouTube or Twitter or Pownce.
Again, I don’t want to be blatantly obvious (Utterz Ambassador Rich Palmer), but I think (Utterz Ambassador Rich Palmer) that I would represent very well.
Vote Rich Palmer Utterz Ambassador 2008.
This message approved by me, Rich Palmer, candidate for Utterz Ambassador.
I’m a fan of the videos that Al Tompkins (Poynter Online) produces. I also enjoy his “Morning Meetings” column. I’ve always been impressed with his approach to video presentation. His delivery is obviously the best part of his content, but it is also nice to know the technical side to what he is doing.
Several tools presented
In this short video Al presents a wealth of tools that online video bloggers and content creators might want to use. Some I’ve known and used — others are absolutely brand new to me (and crying for me to purchase and/or download!).
I have to hand it to my friend (and Disembodied Voices cohort) Mark Forman once again. He never fails to provide me with tips on good sites that show potential for productivity. His latest reference: Apture.com. From their site:
Apture provides the first rich communication platform allowing publishers and bloggers to easily turn flat pages of text into multimedia experiences.
The service demonstrated
I’ve been very impressed with the demos at their site. And Mark has done an excellent job of showing how this app works on some his latest blog posts.
I’ve requested beta test acceptance; I hope they contact me soon! UPDATE: Apture has contacted me to join their beta test. They also advised that the video included in this post was out-dated. I’ve updated the post and removed the video so that misinformation doesn’t continue to be shared.
I look forward to sharing more about this service. Look for integration in upcoming posts.
Okay, so some of you are wondering why my blog looks different EVERY time you stop by.
I’ve been trying to find the blog theme that best serves my personality. However, it has to also load quickly. I had a theme not too long ago that I thought was just fantastic. It loaded faster than a slug crosses the driveway.
Overall site updates
I will soon be doing a complete overhaul of my existing web site(s). My various projects fall into many categories of interest and discipline. As a result they’ve become “fragmented” throughout RichPalmer.com.
I’m going to figure out a way to deliver these in a more organized fashion — with a constant theme running throughout. I don’t know how this may happen or what it will look like. It is my goal. Ambitious or ridiculous as it may be.
Lee LeFever and Sachi LeFever of Commoncraft have created yet another excellent video. This one helps to explain Twitter. If you have never used Twitter — or are still a bit confused about how it can be useful to you — this would be a great place to start.
Papercraft
I really enjoy the LeFever’s “papercraft” style of video creation. It hails back to the 8mm film shorts that my friends and I used to make. We did “stop-motion” animation using paper for our opening and closing film credits. I even created a “video” while in college of my song “Hooked on the TV” as part of a broadcast communications class. I used the 8mm camera and again ran my credits by using paper for the stop-motion sequences. I should dig that out somehow and convert it to video for sharing here.
So much more
Though I really enjoy the explanation of Twitter as presented in this video, there are so many other aspects that cannot be explained in the short time that they have to present the subject.
People are using Twitter to share their daily lives, but they are also sharing it to build business connections, to connect directly with their online community via phone and other portable devices (through the direct message feature) and they are carrying on threads of conversation that sometimes build entire communities, help with a cause (such as cancer relief) or that promote events and conventions (SxSW, New Media Expo, etc.). Read some of the comments at the video blog to realize just how in-depth the service can be.
Thanks to the posts of Utterz and Twitter friend, Todd Jordan, I’ve found yet another comic creator. That was probably the last thing I needed to get myself into. I’m not getting everything done as it is!
All in good fun, though. The service is called Bitstrips. It is currently in beta.
Here’s my first “test” bit. That dude looks a bit familiar…
This song is called "bon om def" from his album "Niege". (Appropriate, eh?) Song and my video licensed under Creative Commons by-sa 2.5.
UPDATE: I’m a bit perplexed why many of the video services (including Viddler and Utterz) are changing the aspect of this video. This was recorded in 16:9 format, not 4:3.
As I stated before I’m producing two shows today. I hope to be able to get both done in a timely manner, but I’m currently hung up in “show prep.” The first show will be Blogs, Views and Blues.
Today I will feature several bands that will be appearing at the upcoming SxSW festival in Austin, Texas.
Recording my CD?
If time allows, I’ll work on some of my new album. In the meantime, have you picked up a copy of my children’s CD “Sing a Song for Safety” for your kids?
I’m reworking my blog style and themes. For now I’ve not landed on a firm design, so please excuse the mess. I know that first impressions mean a lot, so I appreciate the fact that many of you that are visiting for the first time are only looking for content and not “atmosphere.”
Simplicity and ease of use is the goal
One of the complaints that I’ve received from my recent design is that it sometimes takes too long to load — or that some elements simply are loading sluggishly. I did like the overall appearance of the blog, but didn’t like the fact that the background loaded over the text fields in the initial page refresh. I hope to come up with a design that is pleasant to see, but also quick to appear.
Changes coming to RichPalmer.com
In anticipation of the upcoming CD/album project release I realize that there will be a major revision to the entire structure and appearance at RichPalmer.com. This will likely result in a change to this blog once again — very likely seeing it become better integrated into the overall site.
The current music project is moving forward
I am working on the songs now and hope to have them ready for master very soon. I wish I could give a target date, but the reality of a full-time career and “demands of real life” are ever-present. I work on this project as often as opportunity arises. Thanks for checking in and being interested in the progress!
I can earnestly say that most (if not all) of the songs to be included have been written. Some are already recorded and waiting for the final master process. Others are in production or are in need of some revision. I want the project to seem “cohesive” so there are some changes that need to be made to a few tunes. I think, however, that this project will show some diversity in my style.
