Watch out Mr Murdoch

I have a lot of faith in video as a communication medium. I also believe, for many reasons, that YouTube is the best distribution mechanism for my videos. As with most other users I have been limited to a total length of 15 minutes for my video. That was until I uploaded my most recent video and saw the following message:

So now my limit is 2GB in size! Wow, image what I can do now. How come? Well according to this blog post by YouTube:

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2010/12/up-up-and-away-long-videos-for-more.html

I’ve been a good boy and not abused my YouTube privileges. My reward is now the ability to upload video of more than 15 minutes.

Stay tunes for my first full featured YouTube “movie”.

Kindle capers

In this month’s newsletter from the CIAOPS you’ll find a review of the Amazon Kindle. After recently purchasing one as a gift I found the device hard to put down so decided to invest in one for myself. Since then I have converted at least half a dozen other people to purchasing their own, which they also love.

Amazon also has a free Kindle app that you can install onto just about any device that allows you to read your books just anywhere you are. For an overview have a look at this months video newsletter:

<img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ooxEw1Q6px4/UO359w1qq3I/AAAAAAAAG74/Ar97ilFd0po/video411dd7cf2a8e%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('f0953d7b-ce2d-4f23-850e-3c979f12b192'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "

http://www.youtube.com/v/FtAf97Zqbrc?hl=en&hd=1“;” alt=””>

CIAOPS March Newsletter

I find this Kindle app especially handy for technical books allowing me to have them available on my laptop for reference. This means I can carry my reference library around with me rather than having it consigned to the shelf in my Office. I can also tag and record notes as well.

Another appealing aspect of the Kindle is simply Amazon’s service. You’d be hard pressed to find a business that does it better. Every query I have made is prompt answered and dealt with to beyond my satisfaction. The whole ordering process for the Kindle and associated eBooks is so far beyond just about every business I have used on the Internet that I’m more than happy to give them further business and recommend them to everyone.

If you enjoy reading lots of books and want something that makes them easy to access then you can’t go further than the Kindle. If you do get hooked and purchase one can I ask that you consider ordering through my Amazon associate site (http://amazon.ciaops.com) as I get a few pennies credit for each purchase which help feed my Kindle addiction.

SMB Nation Spring 2011

Harry Brelsford’s SMB Nation Spring conference will be held this year from June 10-11 in Toronto. I’ve been lucky enough to be selected to present two sessions.

The first will be – You’ve got SharePoint now what? And the second will be on a panel discussion with Dana Epp on the changes that video-casting has brought to the landscape and how to take business advantage of that.

To help SMB Nation promote the event I have created the following video:

If you are also planning on attending then please let me know so we can meet up. If you aren’t then I’d suggest you have a look at all the other sessions that are going to available. You can find out more details about the event at:

http://www.smbnationevents.com/spring2011/home.aspx

and I look forward to seeing everyone there in June.

Another health warning

There are so many reasons why being obese is bad. There are even more reasons why being obese the older you become is really bad but here is yet another reason. A recent article ‘Midlife obesity linked to dementia’ points out:

it now appears that excess fat in middle age may be extremely harmful over the long term

because

Mr Rees said health policies needed to promote the message that a healthy lifestyle not only reduced the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer but also improved brain health.

but isn’t most of the population become more obese (at least in developed countries)? Have a look around at the people that you know, ask them what they doing about maintaining a ‘healthy lifestyle’. I’ll almost bet that every one of them simply shrugs their shoulders as says they don’t have enough time. Hmmm…by not taking action now they are definitely ensuring they don’t have enough time.

Without good health you can’t do much, yet few (in my experience) actually do anything to promote it. Seems to me like they are already experiencing signs of dementia. It is never too late to start, so do it today. Make your own health a priority, because it is the simplest way you can improve so many aspects of your life.

CIAOPS SharePoint bootcamp

Announcing the CIAOPS SharePoint Bootcamp

The aim of this hands on course is to provide you with the technical and business skills to confidently sell and support a variety of SharePoint installations

All attendees receive:

1. A subscription to the CIAOPS Operations Guide (www.wssops.com) that includes documentation, videos and more. Existing subscribers will have their subscription extended by the equivalent amount. (valued up to $300)

2. A hard disk containing virtual machine images to be used for hands on training on the day which can be used for further training after the event (valued up to $ 100 ex).

3. Course notes, white papers, documentation etc.

4. Meals (morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea as appropriate to the attended sessions)

Each day will be composed of 2 sessions:

Part 1 – Technical (9am – 12.30pm)

This session will show you how to install, manage, maintain and migrate SharePoint. You’ll also learn how to enable additional features with SharePoint to greatly improve its functionality. You also gain deep insight into SQL Database management as well as how to troubleshoot common SharePoint issues.

Part 2 – Business integration (1.30pm – 5pm)

This session will focus on the business applications of SharePoint and how it can improve business processes. You’ll learn about integration with Office products such as Word, OneNote and InfoPath. You learn how to build automated business solutions and template them for use in other SharePoint sites.

Costs

Single session – $ 299 ex GST (including a 6 month subscription to CIAOPS SharePoint Guide).

Both sessions = $ 399 ex GST(including a 12 month subscription to CIAOPS SharePoint Guide)

Registration

For more information and to book please visit – www.ciaops.com/bootcamp

I expect these sessions to fill quickly given the total limit of 20 attendees. There are currently 2 dates confirmed for Sydney with some tentative dates in Brisbane and Melbourne (depending on numbers and venue arrangements). Please visit www.ciaops.com/bootcamp for more information about these dates.

Early Bird

As an early bird bonus if you sign and pay before May you’ll receive immediate access to the CIAOPS SharePoint Guide (www.wssops.com) but your subscription will commence in May 2011.

Any questions please let me know (director@ciaops.com).

YouTube milestone

Just over 4 years ago I started to upload videos to YouTube. About 2 years later I open a new YouTube account and continued to upload videos there. Since that time I have not uploaded any new videos to the original account. Now over 2 years later that original account has reached over 500,000 views and 582 subscribers! Amazing.

I still continue to get plenty of feedback, comments and subscribers to something that I haven’t basically changed in over 2 years.

The video with the highest views (shown above) has over 63,000 in total.

I would have never imagined that any video I created would ever garner this many views. To me it demonstrates the growing influence of video and the power of sites like YouTube. I continue to develop and release videos and upload them to YouTube (here’s the latest):

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http://www.youtube.com/v/Q4aKSQVPerA?hl=en&hd=1“;” style=”border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none” alt=”” src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-TjfBYZNw9nI/UO32fJxdvvI/AAAAAAAAG54/RBqvvE61ntA/video15346b251558%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800″ galleryimg=”no”>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4aKSQVPerA

Each video incorporates subtle changes that help me understand what works best for video production on the web. Sometimes I’m looking to understand audio, others its about resolution but each video is a another test in an effort to find the best methods of production.

All of this testing allows me to typically improve what I provide to subscribers of my SharePoint Guide as I have found that people are far more receptive to short video tutorials as an adjunct to the printed material in the Guide. My aim is provide at least one video tutorial to subscribers to allow them to quickly get up to speed on SharePoint.

Many question the value of YouTube but I see it as one of the main marketing methods available to me to reach a potential world wide audience. Creating videos these days is so easy that there should be no excuse why you aren’t doing so if you are in business. In most cases it is not creating the video that is problem but what to create videos on. Smart businesses will learn to understand how they can use video to reach more customers and generate business. Others dismiss it as a waste of time. My response to that is fine, but for me the results speak for themselves.

Gouged

After the Christmas / New Year break many traditional retailers started to mount a campaign to lobby the Australian Government and people that a greater duty should be imposed on goods purchased overseas on the Internet. Their reasoning? These overseas purchases where not being charged the Goods and Services Tax (GST = 10% on top of price). They claimed this to be grossly unfair and made them uncompetitive.

Initially Gerry Harvey, owner of Harvey Norman department stores took the lead role but was resoundingly shouted down by social media. You can read about that here. Well Gerry, let me share with you my own experience and why you are living in the past.

I was after some SharePoint 2010 books. I keep my reading list at www.goodreads.com (you can connect with me there if you want and view my lists and reviews. Just use director@ciaops.com to connect) so I did a look up of the book I was interested in on Amazon.

I like Amazon for many reasons but one is the reviews. I checked out the reviews and ratings, then judged the book to be a good investment. However, instead of buying it through Amazon I usually try and support an Australian business. So I looked up the same book there.

Ah…the same book is over TWICE as expensive from an Australian business. SAY WHAT?? (the clean version of my initial reaction). Ok, maybe that’s an anomaly. Here’s my second choice, firstly on Amazon

then locally

this time almost THREE times as much! Again – SAY WHAT??

Look, I appreciate that there are different publishing laws, sellers, shipping etc involved here, however at a current exchange rate of about one Australian Dollar to one US dollar, guess what? As the customer I DON’T CARE. I’m prepared to wear a small mark up to support an Australian business, but really TWO and THREE times as much? I’m afraid not.

Amazon will probably deliver just as fast, provide better customer service, reward my loyalty and even give me the option to download it electronically on to just about every device I own. You local resellers just don’t get it do you? How can you afford to be so much out of whack with international offerings that are geared to World market? You are putting yourselves out of business at these rates and I honestly say good riddance. If you are going to be THAT uncompetitive you don’t deserve to be in business because somewhere along the line SOMEONE is ripping me off and as a customer I DON’T CARE! You think that I’m not smart enough to use my computer and make a few comparison eh? Well I ain’t too stupid to waste my money on what is essentially an identical article at a 200% and 300% mark-up.

If you still don’t understand why I’ll be taking my business elsewhere (roll on Amazon) and unlikely to return I’d suggest you read

but make sure you get it from Amazon (above)

because locally it is still 2.5 times more expensive!