After listening to the net@nite podcast with Leo Laporte and Amber MacAuthur I found about about Animoto co-founded by Brad Jefferson.

Animoto is a really slick web application that allows you to create awesome videos based on your own pictures or music. Check out what I created in under three clicks of the mouse. Video was created using photographs that I captured from the San Diego Firestorm in 2003.

For over a year now I’ve been a fan of the micro-blogging site Twitter. Although Twitter is a very popular site and is growing in numbers each day. There is a challenge to explain what this site actually is and why so many people are hooked on it.

Enter Common Craft a website and the product they offer is Explanation. They use a simple format and real-world stories to make sense out of complex ideas. Watch the video below and see how they explain “Twitter in Plain English.”

You can also check out other videos from Common Craft at http://www.commoncraft.com.

After you finish the video explanation about Twitter feel free to follow me at http://www.twitter.com/wizardElite.

If you were to take a look at some of my previous posts you will see that I take advantage of some services offered at Utterz that allows me to create audio posts for my blog. Well today I’m going to take advantage of a feature in MacJournal that allows you to embed audio clips into your journal entries. However, I’m curious to see what will happen when I post this to my blog. If this works it it will provide me with greater control over the content that I create considering that there is no easy way to download the audio posts that I create from Utterz.

UPDATE
Although it worked successfully there are a couple of issues that one would need to resolve. First off is formating of the Quicktime plugin within the post. Second is an issue with Firefox where it has to download the complete file before the Quicktime plugin actually appears. However, in Safari it started playing right away. Tomorrow I will test it within Internet Explorer.

I’m impressed with this process that MacJournal offers. Yet, there are some issues that may provide some challenges for the basic user.

I’ve never felt comfortable writing posts directly into Wordpress and I’ve been looking for a solution to streamline this process on the Mac. This is mainly the reason why I haven’t posted in a while. After some research I believe I have found a solution. Mariner Software’s MacJournal is a journaling and organizational application with blogging support.You have the option to publish to variety of blogging services as…

1. LiveJournal
2. Moveable Type
3. Wordpress
4. Typepad
5. Blogger

MacJournal also features podcasting support, AES-256 encryption, and .Mac synchronization which isa personal favorite of mine. So far I’m very impressed with this application and I looking forward to using it in conjunction with my blog.

After updating my iMac with the latest security updates from Apple. My iMac was caught in this endless loop where the Setup Assistant Wizard kept reloading each time and not booting into the OS. Here is the solution I found on the Apple Discussion Boards.

1. Do a hard reboot on your iMac by holding the on/off button on the back of the monitor.

2. As soon as it reboots, hold down the shift key and Leopard will boot into safe mode. Be patient this may take a few seconds.

3. When you see the login screen, press the Back button.

4. Next, click the Reboot button and your iMac should reboot normally.

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I’m not sure if you can tell what’s going on within the photo since Itook this from my iPhone. It’s a group of protesters standing on a street corner advertising their message of impeaching President Bush.

Now minus whatever your political stance is today, does this form ofprotesting serve a purpose? I personally think it doesn’t and I wanted to see what you think.

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I have been using Utterz for about a week now and I’m absolutely in love with this site. However there are a few features that I would like to ask Santa to bring to Utterz.

SMS Shortcode

I love using the SMS application on the iPhone with Twitter. However I’m unable to send an SMS message to go@utterz.com because the iPhone treats it like an email message. It would be so much easier if Utterz had a shortcode that I can use with SMS.

MOBILE WEB APP

Since Utterz is all about mobility and your cell phone. It would be really nice to see Utterz create a mobile web application that I can use on my iPhone. There have been several moments where I wanted toaccess the site and it is not really user friendly on a mobile device.

EDIT TAGS

I’ve already made a couple of mistakes on the tags that I have added. It would be really nice to have the ability to edit the tags that I have created.

AUDIO UTTERZ

Rarely do I have the interest to listen to other audio utterz by calling the designated phone number. I would love to have the ability to listen to other utterz via a mobile web application. Better yet create an RSS feed for audio utterz that I can subscribe to and play via iTunes on my iPhone.

FLASH SUPPORT ON THE iPHONE

Okay, this one is for Steve Jobs and the iPhone team. We all know that there will be a 2nd version on the iPhone coming out next year. Santa could you please talk to Mr. Jobs and ask him to add Flash support on the iPhone. Please???

That’s my wish list for Utterz. Did I cover everything? Leave acomment if there are any other features you would like Santa to bring to Utterz.

Happy Holidays!

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Just finished playing Halo 3 on the XBOX 360. After checking out the new fall update I was thinking to myself how well XBOX Live is designed and came to the conclusion that the XBOX team should have designed the ZUNE. Not to mention other products that Microsoft deals with.

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Are there any colleges using social networks within their institution? I’m currently a webmaster at a local community college in San Diego and I’ve been having trouble trying to communicate the value of social networks like Utterz or Twitter to my staff. I would be interested in hearing about any resources or personal experience using social networks within an educational institution.

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