Video: New Media Tip – Scheduling Blog Posts with WordPress and Blogger

Sometimes it can be useful to schedule blog posts to go out on a specific date and time. For example, you might be on vacation or away from your office, but still want that content to go out. Both WordPress and Blogger provide support for scheduled posts and this video shows how to use it.

 

 Can’t see the video above? Watch “New Media Tip – Scheduling Blog Posts with WordPress and Blogger” on my YouTube Channel.

Watch more New Media videos in this New Media Playlist

Recent New Media Tips…

• Using WordPress Revisions to restore and edited post
• Linking and Embedding specific sections of a YouTube video
• Archive: New Media Tip 20090319 – Improving audio on your New Media projects
• Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic USB/XLR Microphone
• See more New Media Tips here

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Filed under: Blogging, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Software, Technology, Video, YouTube

My Favorite New Media Things for April 2013 – Douglas E. Welch

As always, let me know what types of interesting items you would like to see and I will keep an eye out for them especially. — Douglas

• New Media /  Simon’s (Snow) Cat — Cute Overload
• Tech / GIF Camera Turns a Series of Photos Into an Animated GIF
• Garden / 9 Great Apps and Gadgets to Help Your Garden Grow
• Tech / Slim – An iOS app to help see your most important social media updates
• New Media / Podcast Gallery Saves Your Favorite Shows to Dropbox, Google Drive
• Tech / Electric Slide is an excellent presentation sharing app with unique features | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog
• New Media / The Best Podcast Manager for iPhone
• New Media / Starting today, new episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live are airing online — paidContent

Links to all of these items, and more, are on my Pinterest Feed.

Filed under: Blogging, Hardware, My Favorite Things, New Media, podcasting, Software, Technology

New Media Tip: Linking and Embedding specific sections of a YouTube video

When sharing YouTube videos, we often just link to the entire video and let people decide what they want to watch. While this is fine for short videos, sometimes we would rather refer people to just a specific portion of a much longer video. Perhaps we are highlighting a quote, tip or idea.

YouTube provides some basic tools for specifying a start time when linking or embedding a video, but with the addition of a few parameters to the video URL, you can direct viewers to a very specific segment.

For example, if you are linking or embedding a video, you will see these options on the YouTube page:

If you check the checkbox, you can either enter in a time, or the time will be taken from the point where you are currently viewing in the video.

This results in a URL in the form of: http://youtu.be/E-GekEZOwLQ?t=11m54s . The video will start playing at this point and continue unit the end.

If you want want to specify both a start and end time, then you will need to add a few different parameters to the YouTube URL.

http://www.youtube.com/v/%5Bvideo_id%5D&start=%5Bstart_at_second%5D&end=%5Bend_at_second%5D&version=3)

In this example, you would need to replace the bracketed sections above with the appropriate settings.

http://www.youtube.com/v/E-GekEZOwLQ&start=714&end=760&version=3

This could link people to the appropriate video, launch it full screen and start playing at the appropriate spot when they click Play.

To embed a video in your blog or web page which does the same thing, you can include the start and end parameters in the standard YouTube iframe embed code.

First, copy the standard embed code from the YouTube video page:

Then add the start and end parameters, so that the code looks like this:

..and here is the resulting YouTube video…

While making these embeds of specific video section does require adding a little information to the standard embed, it should be straightforward enough for anyone to accomplish.

Do you have further questions about YouTube linking and embedding? Add your questions and comments below and I will add additional information.

Filed under: Blogging, New Media, New Media Tips, Software, Technology, Tips, Video, YouTube

New Media Gear 013: Charles McFall, Co-host “Success Freaks”

New Media Gear 013: Charles McFall, Co-host “Success Freaks”

Since its inception in 2011, The Other Side of LIVE! (TOSOL) has lived up to its hype as a comedic motivational talk show. A two-year Podcast Award nominee, TOSOL entertains & edifies with its hosts’ captivating sense of humor and positive, thought-provoking content. With the show’s theme of “helping others be awesome,” TOSOL covers everything from branding your passion to dealing with death to surviving bullies. TOSOL’s R. Mordant Mahon & Charles McFall succeed in giving both mind & spirit something to chew on while putting enough laughter in your heart to make you smile out loud.

 

Link: Success Freaks Web Site

 

Charles shares his New Media Gear with us in this issue of New Media Gear. 

New Media Equipment:

• Mixer similar to Yamaha MG102C 10 Input Stereo Mixer
• MXL 770 Cardioid Condenser Microphone
• M-Audio Delta 1010-LT PCI Digital Audio System 
• Reaper Digital Audio Workstation
• Audio Technica AT2020 Side Address Cardioid Condenser Studio Microphone

  

If you have any questions about Charles’ podcasting equipment, please drop them in the comments or in the Facebook Podcasting Community.

Previously on New Media Gear:

• Peter Lythgoe of Zzipp and Co. Podcast from Weymouth, UK (Part 1 of 3)
• Daniel J. Lewis of The Audacity to Podcast and more
• Brian Herbert of the Indy Autographs Podcast and Hoosier State Sports Show
• Dan Hughes of In The Treasure Corner and others
• Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder
• Charley Hays
• Chuck Tomasi of Technorama
• Jack “Boom Goes The Dynamite” Heikle
• Mike Phillips from MikePhillips.me and Computers 2K Now podcast
• Clay Dugger of The Righteous Dude’s Dudecast
• Richard Cleveland of Naked Ape Productions
• Douglas E. Welch – Career Opportunities Podcast

 

Filed under: Equipment/Gear, Hardware, New Media, New Media Gear, podcasting, Software, Technology

New Media Gear 010: Brian Herbert of the Indy Autographs Podcast and Hoosier State Sports Show

New Media Gear 010: Brian Herbert of the Indy Autographs Podcast and Hoosier State Sports Show

Brian’s podcasts include:

• Indy Autographs Podcast
• Hoosier State Sports Show

New Media Equipment:

• Adobe Soundbooth 
• Alto Professional ZMX862 mixer
• M-Audio 9900-65145-12 Fast Track Pro – 4 x 4 Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface with Preamps
• Shure SM-58 Microphone
• Shure PG-58

 

If you have any questions about Brian’s podcasting equipment, please drop them in the comments or in the Facebook Podcasting Community.

Previously on New Media Gear:

• Dan Hughes of In The Treasure Corner and others
• Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder
• Chuck Tomasi of Technorama
• Jack “Boom Goes The Dynamite” Heikle
• Mike Phillips from MikePhillips.me and Computers 2K Now podcast
• Clay Dugger of The Righteous Dude’s Dudecast
• Richard Cleveland of Naked Ape Productions
• Douglas E. Welch – Career Opportunities Podcast

 

Filed under: Hardware, New Media, New Media Gear, podcasting, Software, Technology

New Media Vocabulary: Plugin

New Media Vocabulary: Plugin

“In computing, a plug-in (or plugin) is a set of software components that adds specific abilities to a larger software application. If supported, plug-ins enable customizing the functionality of an application. For example, plug-ins are commonly used in web browsers to play video, scan for viruses, and display new file types. Well-known plug-ins examples include Adobe Flash Player, QuickTime, and Java Applets.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_(computing)

To expand on the description above, plugins aren’t usually complete programs in themselves, but rather programs that run inside of — and expand the features of — other software. Plugins are very popular because they allow the extension and addition of new features to software without have include the feature directly in the base product. This also allows you to add only those features you most want or need to a product. This reduces complexity of the software and also allows you to limit how much memory the software might take to run. There is no need to load all the features when you use only 2 or 3 of the added functions.

For New Media producers, you will often see plugins as part of audio and video recording/editing software. Most all software provides for a plugin structure which allows other companies to produce niche features that might only be needed by a limited number of users who purchase the overall software.

One important item to remember is that plugins need to updated, just like the software they extend. Keep track of plugin updates to insure that you don’t run into issues with existing bugs or miss new features. Also, be aware that plugins often only work with one specific version of the base software. If you rely on a particular plugin, you may need to postpone upgrading your base software until the plugin manufacturer releases an update to work with that newer version.

Do you have questions, comments or clarifications to this New Media Vocabulary term? Add them to the comments!

Previously on New Media Vocabulary:

• Condenser Microphone
• File Transfer Protocol (ftp)
• Raw log files
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Podcast

Filed under: Blogging, New Media, New Media Vocabulary, podcasting, Software, Technology

News: Update Powerpress WordPress/Podcasting Plugin ASAP

It looks like there was a security problem with one of the audio players used by the PowerPress WordPress plugin that many podcasters use on their sites. There is an update waiting and Blubrry says “Everyone is strongly encouraged to update their copy of PowerPress immediately!”

Taking their advice, I have done just that on all my WordPress blogs and you should too. Visit your WordPress Dashboard to perform the quick update.

Here is a snippet from the PowerPress Changelog for this version… 

Powerpress 4.0.6

• Released on 1/23/2013
• Everyone is strongly encouraged to update their copy of PowerPress immediately!
• Due to concerns of possible security exploits, the 1 Pixel Out Audio Player has been removed from PowerPress. Learn More
• Notices added in both the WP dashboard and in the Audio player settings page that the 1 Pixel Out player has been removed.
• If you’ve configured your web site with the 1 Pixel Out Audio Player, Flow Player Classic will be used. Go to the PowerPress > Audio Player settings page to change this player if you like.

Read the entire changelog here

 

Filed under: New Media, News, podcasting, Software, Technology, Wordpress

Audacity Audio Recording and Editing Software Upgraded to 2.0.3

Audacity, the free audio recoding and editing software, used by many podcasters and other new media producers, has been upgrade to version 2.0.3. A complete list of fixed bugs and new features is available in the Audacity 2.0.3 Release Notes.

Audacity is available in Windows, Macintosh and Linux versions.

Link: Audacity Web Site

Filed under: Equipment/Gear, New Media, podcasting, Software, Technology

New Media Vocabulary: ftp (file transfer protocol)

New Media Vocabulary: ftp (file transfer protocol)

File transfer protocol was one of the first technologies developed for the infant Internet. Often shortened to its acronym, ftp, file transfer protocol dictates how files should be moved from one computer to another and provides the software interfaces to facilitate it. Most New Media users encounter ftp when they set up their first web site. Most web sites use ftp to upload the various pages, graphics, photos, audio and video necessary.

Ftp is a client/server protocol. The ftp server runs on the web site server and listens for connections from an ftp client program. When it sees a connection, it challenges that program for a username and password and then allows access to the file structure of the web server (the hard drive) if those credentials are correct. The user can then upload files to the web server, download files or re-organize files.

The original interface for ftp was as a command-line program, but now there are many free and commercial ftp client programs available to make the process easier and more intuitive. My first recommendation for my clients at this time is Cyberduck, available for both Macintosh and Windows computers.

More information on File Transfer Protocol (ftp):

• File transfer protocol from Wikipedia.org
• Cyberduck – Libre FTP, SFTP, WebDAV & cloud storage browser for Mac & Windows
• Ftp history from the TCP/IP Guide

Do you have questions, comments or clarifications to this New Media Vocabulary term? Add them to the comments!

Previously on New Media Vocabulary:

• Raw log files
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Podcast

Filed under: Blogging, New Media, New Media Vocabulary, Software

News: Google releases new YouTube Capture app for iOS/iPhone/iPad

Just saw a Google+ post linking to the announcement of this new YouTube Capture app for iOS. (Film and share videos instantly with YouTube Capture for iPhone and iPod touch) It is designed to allow you to quickly capture videos, add stabilization and color correction and then upload it to YouTube. Additionally, it also can send links to Google+, Facebook and Twitter announcing your upload. 

I just did this quick test of the app. The lighting was a little low, but it is a Real World Example of how the app would work in general use.

Can’t see the video above? Watch “YouTube Capture Test Video” on YouTube

Download the YouTube Capture from the iTunes app store

Filed under: Blogging, New Media, News, podcasting, Real World Example, Software, Technology, YouTube

WordPress Wednesday: WordPress 3.5 is released!

The latest version of WordPress press, 3.5, has just been released. Following my usual WordPress Wednesday, it’s time to look at your blogs, update your plugins and try out the new 3.5. 

For a complete list of new features and other changes, visit the WordPress Codex.

A few of the changes…

New Media Manager

• Beautiful interface: A streamlined, all-new experience
• Create galleries faster with drag-and-drop reordering, inline caption editing, and simplified controls
• Insert multiple images at once with Shift/Ctrl+click

New Default Theme – Twenty Twelve

• Simple, flexible, elegant
• Mobile-first, responsive design
• Gorgeous Open Sans typeface
• Uses the latest Theme Features

Admin Enhancements

• New Welcome Screen
• Retina-Ready (HiDPI) Admin
• Hide Link Manager for new installs
• Better accessibility for screenreaders, touch devices, and keyboard users
• More polish on admin screens, including a new color picker

…and much more!

Filed under: Blogging, Elsewhere, New Media, News, podcasting, Software, Technology, Wordpress

New Media Gear 002: Richard Cleveland of Naked Ape Productions

This is the second installment of a new series here on Careers in New Media/New Media Interchange — New Media Gear. I started collecting information for this series by posting a question in the Facebook Podcasting Community Group — “What equipment to you use?” I know that I like to know what others are using — and finding useful — in their New Media work and ways that it might make my work a bit easier. Over the next several weeks I will highlight a podcaster in each post and let your know what equipment they find useful and provide links to where you can pick it up yourself. — Douglas

New Media Gear 002: Richard Cleveland of Naked Ape Productions

Richard produces a number of shows including Popcorn Lobby: The Real Movie Discussion Show, Between the Pages: A weekly comic book and geek culture review show and a new show, PodcastU, just for podcasters like you.

Here is some of the equipment that Richard is using to produce his shows. He passed along this information via the Facebook Podcast Community Group. You can ask your questions and find lots of podcasting discussion there.

If you have any questions about Richard’s podcasting equipment, please drop them in the comments.

New Media Equipment:

• Behringer XENYX X1622USB mixer
• Audio-technica AT2005USB microphones (through XLR)
• DBX 166XL Compressor/Limiter/Gate
• Behringer HA 4700 Powerplay Pro-XL Headpone amp
• Furman PL-8 C Power conditioner
• Edirol R-09HR recorder for back-up audio 
• Logitech C-910 HD web cam
• Microsoft HD Cinema Cam
• Wirecast
• Vegas Movie Studio HD

      

Previously on New Media Gear:

• Douglas E. Welch – Career Opportunities Podcast

 

Filed under: Equipment/Gear, Hardware, New Media, New Media Gear, podcasting, Software, Technology

Subscribed 013: TUAW: The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Today on “Subscribed” I focus on another blog. My blog subscriptions are my lifeline to the world and have easily taken the place of all the print magazines I used to read each week. — Douglas

TUAW: The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Looking through my Google Reader stats, it looks like TUAW is one of my most favorited subscriptions. Even when I don’t have time to write an entire blog post on a topic, I can favorite it in Reader and it will automatically be Twittered out, posted to my Facebook page and stored away for future reference and inclusion in my month-end “My Favorite Things” posts.

TUAW is my go-to site for Apple information of all sorts. I am a Mac user myself, so much of this information is put to immediate use, but a large part of my clientele is also Mac-based, so when an important update, bug or announcement goes out, I am sure to hear about it quickly and thoroughly via TUAW.

Like many of the blogs I mention here, TUAW also has a companion YouTube channel.

Visit TUAW’s YouTube Channel

What are some of your favorite Subscriptions? Share them here in the comments!

Previously highlighted on Subscribed:

• Engadget
• Minute Physics
• Grant’s Advent Calendar with Grant Baciocco
• Minecraft and More with Paul Soares, Jr.
• Gardenfork.TV
• Cool Hunting
• CareerCamp International
• Tested.com
• Simon’s Cat
• Science @ NASA
• Far Lands or Bust with KurtJMac
• PBS Idea Channel

Filed under: Blogging, Elsewhere, Hardware, iPhone, Software, Subscribed, YouTube

Video: Using Chirp to Enhance Your Podcasts

I came across this new iPhone app, Chirp,  last night in my usual Internet reading and it got me to thinking immediately — couldn’t this app be used to create enhanced podcasts that automatically directed listeners to web sites, photos, notes and more at specific points in the show. This is my short demo on how it might be done.

This certainly wasn’t something that the creators Chirp.io were thinking about when creating the app, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t use it to our (i.e. podcasters) advantage.

Can’t see the video above? View “Using Chirp to Enhance Your Podcasts” on YouTube

Watch “Video: Using Chirp to Enhance Your Podcasts” – iPod Ready Video

• Follow @newmediatips on Twitter
• Like the New Media Interchange Facebook Page
• Circle New Media Interchange on Google+

Filed under: Hardware, iPhone, New Media, Show, Software, Video, YouTube

Software: Audacity 2.0 Audio Recorder Released

Wow, this is great news. Audacity has long been the goto audio app for Windows-based podcasters and others who wanted a capable audio editing environment. That said, it has had some stability problems over the years and has been slow to update. The crash recovery mode alone is worth the upgrade. You could recover from crashes before but it was a fiddly and time consuming process. I hope this makes it easier.

Audacity also carries one big banner feature…it runs on nearly any computer platform including Windows, Mac and Linux. No wonder it has been the audio recorder of choice for so many for so long.

Download Audacity form Sourceforge.net

Audacity 2.0 Adds Automatic Crash Recovery, Improved Keyboard Shortcuts, Stability, and Better Effects from Lifehacker
by Thorin Klosowski

Windows/Mac/Linux: The free, open source sound editing program Audacity has been updated with a few new features. The most notable include improved effects, a ton of new keyboard shortcuts, and a handy automatic crash recovery mode.

The big change is the subtle improvements to the sound effects, but you should also notice an increased stability on new operating systems, a new import feature for WAV and AIFF files, and a significantly better device toolbar to manage your inputs and outputs. The new list of keyboard shortcuts is also a handy way to move audio around. You can check out the huge list of changes and big fixes in the release notes if you want to get into the details. Audacity is a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Audacity 2.0

Read the entire article

Filed under: News, podcasting, Software, Technology

Elsewhere Online: How to get the most out of your iPhone as a reporting tool

Some great advice on using your iPhone for journalism or any new media production, including software and hardware recommendations — Douglas

 

How to get the most out of your iPhone as a reporting tool

By Lauren Rabaino on April 15, 2011 5:00 AM

Increasingly, iPhones are becoming acredible, convenient and reliable tool for journalists –both amateur and professional– to use in the field. Mobile reporting was even the topic of a UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism course taught by Jeremy Rue to help journalists learn how to get the most out of reporting from a mobile device.

Read entire article

Filed under: Elsewhere, Hardware, In The Field, iPhone, News, Software

360 Panoramic Lens for iPhone – New Kickstarter Project

I came across this new Kickstarter project for a 360 Panoramic Lens that allows you to take 360 interactive video on your iPhone 4. A $50 pledge gets you on of the products if the project gets fully funded.

I could see making use of something like this for my Places LA videos where I try to make viewers feel as if they are actually at the location.

What could you do with a lens like this? Let me know in the comments.

 

Watch Demo Video

(Via CrunchGear.com)

Filed under: Elsewhere, Hardware, iPhone, New Media, Software, Technology, Wordpress

Question: WordPress — Is it hype?

This post originally appeared in Careers in New Media…

?

NMI Founder, Douglas E. Welch, gets a lot of questions every day and here is a one from today…

• Q: Seth Godin uses TypePad. Is WordPress hyped VS a Reg. Website and using Typepad as your blog platform? I like WP but seems like it has to be watched like a hawk for it not to freeze up or slow down. What will this cost me in WP maintenence fees.
• A: Hmmm, is WordPress hyped? I don’t think so. It does what I need it to do. There is certainly some personal choice and preference involved. I don’t use TypePad myself, but many people seem to, so it must have something going for it.

  I find WordPress easy to maintain and manage and the number of plugins available for it make it quite extensible, even for someone like me who really isn’t a programmer, although technology-savvy. I do like having my own install of WordPress on my own web host, as opposed to having my blog hosted elsewhere — at least for my own personal blogs. I do use WordPress.com extensively for other, shared project blogs, though. I even have one blog still hosted at Blogger.com, where I started.

  Speed is more a function of your web host and the number of plugins/features you have installed on your WordPress site. As with anything, installing too much cruft can slow it down. I find that the amount of traffic you have is more a concern than the actual software though. WordPress has caching plugins available to help in high-load environments., though, so that can help if you have a really popular web site.

  I don’t find I have to “watch it like a hawk” to keep it running. In fact, I don’t think I have ever had a problem with WordPress other than those I have caused myself through badly configured plugins or themes. You should be able to maintain WordPress by yourself, as typically it only involves clicking a few buttons and waiting for the upgrade. In fact, I always recommend that bloggers know how to control and maintain their own blogs, rather than relying on someone else — especially if that person is charging by the hour for basic maintenance.

  The new automated upgrade utilities built into WordPress make it almost a plug and play environment. Most web hosts have a one/two-click install for WordPress, making it even easier.

  Overall, I like WordPress, both self-hosted and hosted at WordPress.com. It serves me well and I regularly recommend it to others.
  

Do you have a question? Why not drop me a line? Use the Comments link above, send email to me@douglasewelch.com or call the voice mail line at 818-804-5049

Filed under: Elsewhere, Member, New Media, Opinion, Question and Answer, Software, Wordpress

Audio: WordPress.com adds posting by Audio

WordPress.com has added audio posting to your blogs. Here is a sample.

For more information, read the WordPress.com blog post announcing this feature.

Filed under: Audio, Software, Technology, Wordpress

Upgrade WordPress to 2.9.2

Keeping your self-hosted WordPress blogs up to very important to prevent technical issues and to close security holes that have been discovered. WordPress.com users don’t need to concern themselves with these upgrades as WordPress.com handles that internally for all its users.

I just completed the upgrade on 4 of my WordPress sites with no problems. I use the automatic upgrade feature built into WordPress which basically consists of pushing a button.

Log into you WordPress sites today and keep them upgraded for trouble free operation.

Filed under: New Media Tips, News, Software, Technology, Wordpress