Dman's posterous

Flip Mino - only for new parents?

 

I just got a Flip Mino video camera (it was a gift).  I'm still trying to decide if it is worth it...  

I knew about these video cameras from my friends with babies.  For some reason, everyone I know that has a baby buys one of these things.  

I just showed it to one of my other friends and he thought it was amazing.  He even offered to buy it off of me (I refused).  I'll run through what I see as the pros/cons, then I'll explain why I'm still not sure if it is worth it.

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What is it?
  • Small camcorder that plugs directly to your computer via a built-in USB plug.
  • Records an hour of video
  • The new model (Mino) has a built-in rechargeable battery
  • The device comes with software that helps the user do minor editing of the video (e.g., crop beginning/end of video).  It also has some video templates to jazz up the video.
  • The software has a very simple upload-to-YouTube feature that doesn't even require saving the video to your computer first.
  • It sells for $159 on Amazon.  (the HD version sells for $207 on Amazon)

Pros:
  • It is small and light.  Definitely smaller than a normal camcorder.
  • It is simple.  Just point and record, then plug into your computer.  There aren't even any cables.  
  • Even the software is simple.  It provides some basic editing and simple sharing options.
  • The rechargeable battery is nice.
  • Users can share and upload videos without using a separate video editing app like iMovie.
  • It has a simple upload-to-YouTube feature, which makes it super easy to share videos

Cons:
  • It is light - feels a little plastic-y and cheap.
  • The video quality is ok, not great.  And when using their upload-to-YouTube feature, it compresses the video first and the quality s-u-c-k-s when you watch it on YouTube.  (I got better quality by doing a higher quality export from iMovie, then uploading to YouTube).
  • Unless you buy a separate cable, to charge the camera, you need to leave it plugged into your computer for a few hours.
  • The editing software is basic, which is good for some people.  But for me, it is a little too wimpy.  At a minimum, I like to add titles and transitions, but the software doesn't support this.

To buy or not to buy?

To decide if it is worth it, you need to compare it to something.  Most people compare it to a normal camcorder.  Yes, for the average person, it is much more convenient than a normal camcorder.  A normal camcorder requires a video editing application which can import the video from the camera, then requires saving the right parts as a video clip.  The Mino is much easier than that.

But I think that is the wrong comparison.  What you should really compare it to is a point-and-shoot camera that also records video.  Most people carry these around anyway.  I have used my point and shoot camera to record a lot of snowboarding video since it is a small device - and it has the benefit of taking very high rez photos.

Compared to a point and shoot camera, the benefits of the Mino aren't so great.  The transfer of video is already pretty simple with a point and shoot camera.  The video quality of the Mino is equal (or maybe a little worse).  And the Mino doesn' treally take still photos (but you can create a still photo from a frame of the video, but the quality is very bad). 

So the real difference comes down to the software that comes with the Mino. If you want an easy way to go directly from the device to YouTube, this might work for you - if you are happy with very low quality video.  If you never do any fancy editing, the software might meet your needs.

I'm going to play with it more, and I'm going to test the video quality vs. my point and shoot camera (for a future post).  So far, it isn't compelling for a guy like me, but I already know my dad would love it for the simplicity.

Anyone have other opinions?

MTV discovers music (again)

 

How 'come no one tells me these things?  I just found out that MTV just launched a music site at the end of October that puts a ton of their music videos online.  This includes traditional music videos, concert footage (including "unplugged" sessions), and interviews with the artists.

The selection is good, but not great.  I couldn't find material from a bunch of smaller artists.  But it's still handy since I never watch music videos on TV.

Check it out at www.mtvmusic.com

They also allow you to embed the videos - here are a few songs I like:

Ben Harper - With My Own Two Hands

Rage Against the Machine - No Shelter

Matisyahu - King Without a Crown (Live)

Kasabian - Club Foot (Live)

Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire

Social enterprise and me (New Door Ventures)

 

I'm now volunteering as a tutor / mentor at New Door Ventures.  They are a really cool social enterprise (non-profit) organization in the Mission district in San Francisco.  

New Door Ventures’ enterprises exist to provide jobs and job training opportunities for young people with high risk factors and little to no work experience.  They operate their businesses with the complementary goals of being financially self-sustaining and graduating youth clients who are ready to work in mainstream jobs and/or pursue higher education.

They provide job skills by employing the youth in two successful businesses: Pedal Revolution (bicycle sales and repair shop) and Ashbury Images (t-shirt printing and silkscreening).  If you're in the area, send some business their way!

Check out this really cool video that they made:

 

Coupon on best iPhone case

I did a lot of research on iPhone cases, and I decided on the Seidio case.  You probably haven't heard about it, since it isn't sold by many companies and the Apple Store doesn't carry it.

Seidio Innocase II

$24.95 on Amazon

It's a great case.  In fact, I had the same case for my 2G iPhone and bought another case when I upgraded to the 3G iPhone.

Here's what I like:
  • It's a hard case that slides easily in and out of my front pocket.  Long time ago, I had a rubber case and looked like I was having convulsions every time I struggled to get the case out of my pocket.
  • Even though it is a hard case, there the exterior layer is a grippy - it's not a hard shiny case that can easily slip out of my hands.  It's enough to give me a good grip even when standing in the 1BX bus in San Francisco, typing and reading with one hand while I hang on for dear life with my other hand.
  • It comes in two pieces - the lower piece can be removed if you want to dock it on something where the case would get in the way.  Ironically, I have a speaker dock and it works with the case on it, so I never have to take it off.
  • It comes in a bunch of colors for the fussy people out there.
  • You can buy an optional belt clip, but that's exactly what I wanted to avoid.  It's not exactly considered cool to wear your phone on your belt in my 'hood.  I have a protective film on the screen, so I just keep it in my front pocket - even if I have keys and change in that pocket.  So far, so problems since the case and the screen film protect the phone.
I did a lot of research and when to a bunch of stores to check out their products, and I thought this was the best.  Seidio just sent me a coupon, so feel free to use the code (see the image below).

With the coupon, the price on Seidio Online would be the same as Amazon - take your pick on who you decide to buy from (I'm a big Amazon fan for the ease of returns).

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YouTube to iPhone ringtone

Check this out - www.audiko.net allows you to create a ringtone from the audio in a YouTube clip.

Here's one from that amazing kid on guitar, Sungha Jung.

Compare the audio track to the YouTube video (the ringtone is below the video):

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My nephew can count...

This is funny - my nephew can count.  He doesn't always get the numbers in the right order, but he can't let that slow him down.

Here's an audio clip that he left for my brother.  He really does count to 100, so you might not make it to the very end.

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