At Patriot Academy this year I gave a talk about how technology has changed the world. While everything has changed, nothing is new under the sun. Everything that is has been before. By studying the past we can predict the future even when it comes to social media. Here are the slides for the talk. I’m sorry if they don’t make much sense if you missed the talk.

Slides

Twitter Tips

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This robot goes with the new website I started to help people use technology to advance the kingdom. It’s targeted at Authors but the tips will be helpful to you as well. Do you have a question about some tech topic? This is the place to ask it.

Recent Tech Tips:

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2. What is a Podcast?
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4. The Best Way to Track Site Statistics
5. How to Get Your Avatar to Show Up Everywhere
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If you help get the word out about the site I would appreciate it.

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Happy Monday! I wanted to share with you something I found on the Bad Language Blog . About doing a better job at your email. If you ever feel overwhelmed or frustrated with email this post is for you.

Most emails are badly written. No surprise, perhaps, since we write more emails than anything else. By 2010, the business world will have produced 27,000 billion gigabytes of email . So what goes wrong?

• Not written with the reader in mind
• Not written to be scanned or read quickly
• Too many topics in one email
• Important information or requests buried in verbiage
• Reply in haste, repent at leisure
• Poor grammar, spelling and punctuation
• Using email when some other communication would have been better

So I have drafted ten laws for better email:

1. Email is about the reader, not the writer.
2. Email exists to solve problems, not create them .
3. The headline is the email .
4. Fewer words, greater understanding .
5. Emoticons rule!!
6. Think before you forward .
7. Respect privacy in group emails .
8. Be succinct .
9. Highlight actions and key points . I
10. Wait a minute .

For more information on each of these points visit the Bad Language Blog .
Here are some other posts on topic of email.

• How to process twice the email in half the time – Part 1
• How to process twice the email in half the time – Part 2

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

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You may have already heard of it but Digg is a people’s newspaper. Millions of people add articles to digg and then “digg them” which is a vote of popularity for that article. Instead of an editor picking what is news you pick what is news. Its a great way to find what happening right now on the web.

Read the rest

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You will notice a political twist to today’s New Media Monday. I did some media consulting for a local political candidate and I prepared a guide for him on Viral Video. He ignored my advice but I hope you will find it helpful.

Why YouTube is Important

Why did we have no good presidential candidates this year? George Allen was an attractive articulate Reagan conservative who people liked. He probably would have been the best republican presidential candidate if it had not been for YouTube and one word:  Macaca . Right now, Youtube is where conservatives go to die. I hope that will change

Conservatives aren’t the only ones who die on YouTube. Obama’s 1984 add was the begining of the end for the Clinton Dinetsty. That “anonymous” add started Hillary’s long decline from 70% democratic approval down to oblivion.

The temptation for Christians is to flee to GodTube because the content is cleaner. But the people are not at GodTube they are at YouTube. If you want to reach people you need to post your videos to YouTube.

12 Tips For Effective YouTube Videos

1. Keep it Short – The best videos are short no longer than 5 minutes best if under two. The longer the video the more it must change scenes. I have seen effective videos go as long as 8 minutes but they do this by splicing together 15-30 second clips.
2. Low Friction Transfers – Videos must be easy to share. These means embedding and email functions should be built into the video itself. YouTube does this for you. Uploading an .mov or .wmv to your website is not good enough.
3. Be Funny – Funny videos get more views and are remembered well.
4. Offer a service – How-to videos go all over the internet. Help people and they will spread the word about your video.
5. Find a strategic partner – Only political junkies knew who Mike Huckabee was before Church Norris endorsed him. Now that there is a YouTube Video with Chuck and Huck it gets tens of thousands of views a day and Mike is growing in the polls.
6. Be relevant – Videos on current events get lots of hits. On the internet current means less than 24 hours and preferably less than 12. Posting a video response to a presidential debate on YouTube for example will likely get lots of hits but only if it is posted an hour or less after the debate.
7. Pick a Interesting Thumbnail & Title – Make sure the thumbnail is interesting and high quality. There are millions of other videos on YouTube. If you want someone to watch your you must convince them that your video is more interesting than all the other videos on YouTube. Your title and thumbnail will either save you or kill you.
8. Promote Like Crazy – Don’t expect your video to just take off. If you want the video to go viral you need to infect a lot of people all at once. Otherwise the other 100k videos will drowned you out. Get your blogger friends to post your video, get it on Facebook & MySpace. Here is a site with
9. Use a Tripod – If possible use a tripod will give much better quality than handheld. This is particularly true with compressed videos like the ones on YouTube.
10. Good Audio Quality – If there is one thing that kills online videos it is poor audio. If you want a successful video, tear the microphone out of your camera and get creative. Ways of employing good audio include:
    1. Use clips off of the TV – This is considered fair use for short clips.
    2. Consider Using Only Music – Videos that use music, pictures and text can be effective. The key is to have good music, powerful pictures and well worded text.
    3. External Mic – If you want live footage use a handheld mic, shotgun or a lapel mic.
    4. Good Compression Quality – The best way to keep the quality up is to upload directly from Apple iLife 08. If you don’t use a mac for your video editing consider it. The higher the resolution the better.  Use an effective codec (like H.264) if you can’t upload directly from iLife.
11. Use Studio Lights – Video is not as important as audio but is still vital.  The key to good video is good lighting. Investing in some lights and an external mic will do more for you videos than buying that fancy new camera you’ve been eying. It’s probably cheaper too.
12. Advance an Issue not a Candidate – People don’t care about candidates. Unless your candidate used to be a professional wrestler he is boring.  Politicians all have the same haircut and wear the same red tie white shirt blue blazer.But, if you can offer best explanation for why the Trans Texas Corridor is bad for Texas, people passionate about the Trans Texas Corridor will forward your video all over the internet. One of Fred Thompson’s most popular videos was about federalism not Fred Thompson.

    If you champion the causes of the people, the people will champion you.Another benefit of advancing issues over candidates is that even if you loose the issues you stand for have still be advanced which can lead to victories down the road. Ros Perot lost but we did have a more balanced the budget in 1993 because of his advancement of that issue.

Helpfull Recources

• 10 YouTube Promotion Tips More YouTube Tips
  
• YouTube For Dummies Learning the Ins and outs of YouTube takes more than a blog post.
  
• How to Do Everything with YouTube Another YouTube Book
  
• Digital Video For Dummies Shooting video is important.
  
• Izzy Video Free & paid video guides for shooting better video. Best place to learn ninja camera skills.

What Do You Think?

Have you posted a video to YouTube? Share it with us in the comments.

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In this issue of New Media Monday you will learn:

• What is Micro Bloging?
• What is it  good for?
• How to use Twitter
• How to Follow me
• Who I Follow

What is Micro Bloging?

Have you ever asked someone how they knew something only to have them reply that a little bird told them? Well mico blogging is that little bird. It tweets in your ear about what your friends are doing. Micro blog posts are short 140 character posts that go out to your friends and family.

How to use Twitter

Watch the video on YouTube , Blip.tv or Vimeo .

What is Twitter good for?

• Keeping up with friends. This is micro blogging’s first use and it is great at that but twitter goes far beyond keeping up with friends.
• Asking Questions. Twitter is a great way to ask your followers questions. Renae Brumbaugh , a friend of mine, asked how to spell "Ornery"  The best selling author Linda Carlblom twittered the answer.
• News. If an atrocity like September 11th were to happen again, God forbid, the news would hit twitter first.  Twitter can integrate with your cellphone via SMS text message. So, at Virginia Tech, students could have used twitter to announce which room/hall the shooter was in while he was still shooting.
• Networking. Twitter can also be great for networking. Questions like "Does anyone know a good auto mechanic in the Ausin area?" can get fast & good answers.
• Learning to focus. Twitter only gives you 140 chracters and so it forces you to learn how hone your language.

How To Follow Me

1. Click on the bird to follow me on twitter .
2. Signup for twitter
3. Click Follow ThomasUmstattd

Who I Follow

• Michael Hyatt An editor for Thomas Nelson the biggest Christian publisher.
• Max Lucado Famous Christian Author
  
• Renae Brumbaugh a fellow writer
• Complete list of who Thomas follows

How to Integrate Twitter

• You can integrate Twitter with Facebook in two ways:
  • See your friends updates and Update Twitter From Facebook
  • Update your Facebook status from Twitter
• You can use Twitter to update your Plaxo status as well.
• Twitter also Integrates with Friend Feed a site that collects all your blog posts, twits and other shared content.
• The iPhone App Twitterific lets you view twitter updates and update twitter for free on your iPhone.
• You can also have your most recent Tweets appear on your blog via the WordPress Twitter Widget .

Helpful Twitter Links

• Twitter.com
• 12 Reasons to Start Using Twitter
• Some Twitterers Worth Following
• Twitter Tips Blog
• Twitter Etiquette

Do you use Twitter?

Leave me a comment with your Twitter Name so I can follow you. Sorry its not Monday. The death of my grandfather has messed up my blog posting schedule.

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Today is the first in a series I am calling New Media Mondays. For the next several Monday’s I am going to explain a new form of media, how it works, and how you can use it to change the world.

Today we are talking about blogs. What are they? What are they good for? And how to have a great blog.

Filter friendly video link .

What are blogs?
Blog are platforms for you to have your own publication. They started off as journals or weB LOGs but they have become so much more now.

Blogs are better than email for mass communication. Email is plagued by spam filters and by people deleting it before reading it. Blogs don’t face these challenges. Facebook notes and MySpace notes are not real blogs.

Blogs often have comments section after each post allowing for community discussion

What are they good for?

1. Gaining accesses to famous people: Having a blog has allowed me to interview and interrogate a state representative, congressmen and even the Texas Land Commissioner.
2. Gaining local influence: Local political blogs are one of the most powerful weapons in the modern political arsenal. If you have a good blog on Podunk Texas politics you can become just as influential as the Podunk Texas newspaper. All politics is local.
3. Communicating with the press: I have had major news magazines contact me about blog posts. As a candidate it is a great way to communicate with the media in between press releases. There is really no reason to be a candidate and not have a blog.
4. Advocating Issues: Sometimes the best way to take on the local school board is to blog about them. If you blog each school board meeting you will become the source of information about the school board.  You will become the expert and able to influence change.
5. Fact Checking the Media: It is a lot harder for the liberal media to get away with lying now with bloggers watching. Rick Green may have one in 2002 if he or some of his supporters had active blogs and could have held the press accountable for their deceptions. If you don’t believe me I have two words for you. Dan Rather.
6. Search Engine Optimization: Google likes blogs. Just google “Abolition of Abortion” and see what comes up.

Blog Tips:

1. Have something to say. People have no patience for parrots. If you don’t have something original and why should someone read you?
2. Practice . The first 2 years of my blog were awful. Getting the hang of writing something other people want to read takes practice.
3. Read other blogs. Google reader is the best blog reader and it is free! reader.google.com for more info. ProBlogger and CopyBlogger are some great blogs on blogging. The key to reading blogs is to understand and use RSS feeds .
4. Be interesting. Boring blogs don’t get read.
5. Be Original. Touting the party line is boring. So is repeating Rush Limbaugh or Shaun Hanity.
6. Study Blogging. I recomend reading and applying: 50 Way to Take Your Blog to the Next Level

My Favorite Blogs

News & Business Blogs

• AppleInsider
• Seth Godin’s Blog
• Good URL Bad URL

Public Speaking/Presentation Blogs

• Presentation Zen
• Create Your Communications Experience
• Beyond Bullet Points

Fun Blogs

• Homestar Runner
• The Joy of Tech
• Calvin and Hobbes (Unofficial)
• Dilbert Daily Strip
• Pearls Before Swine
• indexed

Political Blogs

• The Patriot Academy Blog
• Lessig Blog
• Right in Texas

Friends Blogs

• The O’Brian FACTor!
• Renae Brumbaugh
• David Umstattd
• Paul Hastings

Educational Blogs

• Common Craft – Explanations In Plain English
• Dictionary.com Word of the Day

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In this issue of New Media Monday you will learn:

• What are Podcasts?
• What are they good for?
• How to find and listen to a podcast.
• How to start your own podcast.
• A list of my favorite podcasts

What are Podcasts?
A podcast is an online radio show that delivers new episodes to people’s computers and iPods automatically. You don’t need an iPod to listen to a Podcast.

Podcasts In Plain English (video)

Watch the video on: blip.tv , YouTube , TeacherTube .

What are they good for?

Learning. Many podcasts are informative. They provide a great alternative to the dribble of talk radio. I have learned more from podcasts than in many of the classes I took in college.

Podcasts can also be an easy way to get the word out.  There are over 50 million blogs which makes it hard to get a following. But there are less than 100k podcasts in the iTunes Store. Podcasting is newer than blogging and so it is easier to get a following for your podcast.

How to Listen to a podcast.
The easiest way to listen to a podcast is to download iTunes .  The iTunes store has one of the most complete podcast directories on the web.

How to start your own podcast.
The easiest way to start your own podcast is to sign up for a podcast at MyPodcast.com which will host your podcast for free. All you need to do is record your voice using Audacity or Garageband and then upload the mp3 to MyPodcast.com .

Helpful Podcasting Links:

• How to start a podcast (wikihow.com)
• Podcasting for Dummies (amazon.com)

Podcast Tips

• List your podcast in the iTunes music store. Most podcasts listeners use iTunes.
• Be interesting. Boring podcasts don’t get heard.
• Listen to other podcasts to learn how its done.

My Favorite Podcasts

• Get it Done Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More. This guy is funny and I have been more efficient because of his advice.
• The Public Speaker’s Tips for Improving Your Commuication Skills. Good communication tips.
• Paul Washer Podcast . I have never heard a man preach like this man does.
• Cranky Geeks . John C Dvorák hosts a show where geeks argue about tech news. I love this show.
• Ask a Ninja . This podcast has no point other than the fact that it is insanely funny. Listen as a ninja tries to answer all of life’s most difficult questions.
• cGames Podcast . I host this podcast about the dangers of digital gaming.

I listen to almost all the Quick and Dirty Tips Podcasts . They are short helpfull and funny.

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So what is wikipedia? Why is it so important? How can you use a wiki and even wikipedia? These questions and more will be answered in today’s New Media Monday.

Wikis in Plain English

• Wiki Tutorial Video 3m
• Filter Friendly Video Link

What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is the source of truth for many people. When they look for the facts they ask google and google sends them to Wikipedia. Anyone can edit wikipedia. That means YOU can edit wikipedia. Each wiki page has a discussion page where users debate what the content should be.

At one time the 3 page Wikipedia post on abortion had over 80 pages of discussion. Every word has been a struggle. Is it a fetus or a baby? Pro Life or Anti-Abortion? The Wikipedia discussion page is on the front lines of the abortion debate.

Disagreements on wikipedia are settled democratically so the side with the most people wins. Wikipedia leans left because conservatives don’t edit it.

What is wikipedia good for?

• Arena of Ideas: The debate pages on wikipedia are some of the most important on the internet.
• Candidate Information: Some candidates have lots of accurate information about them on wikipedia. Some do not. This is where the press will goes to look for details and sources. Google any politician and their wikipedia page will in the top three sites on that politician.
• Driving Traffic to Conservative Sites: Each wikipedia page has a links section at the bottom. You may find it useful.

How to Edit Wikipedia

Editing wikipedia, or any wiki for that matter, is not as hard as you might think. Belive it or not wikipedia has a great article on how to edit wikipedia .

Careful:
Wikipeida does not look kindly on vanity pages. Unless you are running for a major office (State rep and up) and a party nominee a page on you will likely be deleted. It is better to edit other pages than to create one about yourself.

Wikipedia is not the place to fight for your point of view. Wikipedia is your place to fight for fairness.

How & Where to find time to edit Wikipedia

How to Use a Wiki for a Debate Clup
The Austin Rhetoric Club has started using a wiki to handle all our research. So far it has saved us a tun of time and the students seem to enjoy editing it. We tried Wet Paint but found that it was lacking several important features (such as an easy way to print) to work well for a debate club.

We settled on Deki Wiki which is also free and powerful. It lacks a to-do feature but we bypassed our need for it by having a to do page that the students themselves can edit.

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Chances are you’ve heard someone talking about Skype . But what is it anyway? In short, Skype is a way to call anyone in the world for free.

How Skype Works
Skype uses a technology called VOIP that uses the Internet to place a phone call instead of a traditional land line.  This cuts the cost of the call down to virtually nothing for the VOIP provider. The most famous VOIP provider is Skype but there are others such as Gizmo.

Skype lets you call any land line in the world for pennies a minute but it also lets you call any computer for free. This is the best way to communicate with your missionary friends over seas. All you need is to download Skype and have your friend do the same and then you can call each other. It’s about as easy as instant messenger.

How to Use Skype

1. Go to Skype.com
2. Download Skype
3. Install Skype
4. Pick a username and password (don’t forget these!)
5. Add your friend’s skype usernames to your friends list.
6. Add me. My skype name is ThomasUmstattd

What You Need

1. A Windows XP or OS X Computer. You don’t need much of a computer, just one with a sound card.
2. A Microphone Headset. A traditional mic is not enough since your computer speakers will feed back into the microphone. They have some good headsets at the Skype Store.
3. A Webcam (optional). Skype doesn’t just let you talk it also lets you to video chat like they do in Star Trek. If you don’t have a webcam already Logitech is a great brand.
4. A broadband connection (for video) .

Tips for Hosting a VOIP Debate Match
Skype Matches are the new big thing in NCFCA. Since homeschoolers live so far apart having practice roudns on Skype is a great way to save money. Here are some tips for pulling off a great practice round:

1. Plan ahead. It’s a lot easier to have a Skype Match when all competitors have a few days notice.
2. Dry Run. Test everything before the round starts. That means connecting to the other teams computer and making sure you can hear each other.
3. Join your partner. Even though Skype lets you have up to 9 different computers all in the same conversation being at the table with your partner helps you learn how to prep like a team.
4. Use video. Using a web cam can help you get much better feedback particularly if your judge is not in the room with you.
5. Use a Good Mic. This Polycom Skype Mic sits nicely on a podium/sturdy music stand, filters out background noise and provides a way for both team members to be a part of the Skype call without passing the headset back and forth (or having two headsets).  This microphone is comparable in quality but much less expensive than most phones that Polycom makes. Remember this mic will save you gas money. (Thanks to Mrs. Jumes for tip #5)

Skype Video Tutorial

I found this video on YouTube that gives a detailed guide to using Skype. Sorry for those of you behind filters the only videos I could find were on YouTube.

Other Cool Uses for Skype

1. Record a conversation as an mp3 (great for podcast interviews)
2. Schedule a Skype Wakeup Call
3. Setup a Skype Home Security System
4. Switch to high resolution skype video chats .
5. Send a Text Message to a regular phone.
6. Replace you landline phone with a Skype WiFi Phone .
7. Hold a 9 member research brainstorming session using Skype’s free phone conference feature.

What do you think?
Do you use Skype? Do you like it? Do you have any Skype tips I’m missing?

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