PodCamp Montreal, 2008: My Abridged Notes

So here's my take on PodCamp Montreal 2008...
It was a reunion of electronic communicators, where poeople exchanged ideas and opinions. The 2-day event was divided up into 3 tracks, and in between, was an opportunity to hang out and network. I listened to 6 speakers in total, and snacked on muffins and endless coffee in between.

The top 3 most important points that I came away with:

1. Be genuine:
   Pick a niche (topic) and speak or write about it, from the heart.
2. Be consistent and approachable:
   For social media to work, there must be dialogue (so don't just broadcast messages, unless you are really that exciting, that people would want to hear only you, without providing feedback). For social media / networking to work, you have to be consistent. Don't start, then drop your blog or podcast, only to leave your network high and dry. They will go elsewhere.
3. Be the keeper of your own content:
   Host your content on your own web site, and use RSS feeds to syndicate... this way, if you ever get kicked off the site, you won't lose all your hard work.

PodCamp Montreal, 2008: My Weekend.

I'm back from PodCamp Montreal, 2008. Here were a few pics, taken during this morning's sessions. It wasn't as crowded this morning, as it was yesterday. My head is swirling with information that I need to sort out, so I can write about it.

Podcast Mecca: PodCamp Montreal, 2008

This is the weekend many podcasters (and podcaster wanna-be's) have been waiting for: it's the weekend of freebie conference, PodCamp Montreal 2008, where the multimedia minds shall assemble under one roof, and share ideas. As registered guest number 344, I got in just under the wire (total number of guests is 363)... unfortunately, if you didn't register ahead of time, registration is closed.
PodCamp Montreal speakers (there are more):
iCar
Rob Blatt
Les Beaux Real Roux (French)
Zelaurent (French)
Topics will include marketing, SEO, techniques, etc.

A History of Windows Sounds

I don't think any sound has been quite so well recognized as the Windows startup and shutdown sounds... which, I suppose, is why some individual decided to post this video on YouTube, documenting all the various sounds from Windows 3.11 (the empirical sounding, "ta-da!") to present-day Windows Vista, which has a much more tubular zen sound (thankfully). If remixes are what you're into, check out this Vista remix or an XP one... as a friend so aptly put it, they really get going around the middle.

Browser Usage - Web Statistics & Trends

In my pursuit to update my internet knowledge, I thought it would be important to check out some web stats... but where? And how accurate would those stats be? Would they be up-to-date? I found what I was looking for on the W3Schools web site. Not only am I able to brush up on my coding, but the web site provides a monthly breakdown on web statistics and trends, dating back for the past six years. There's also info about OS Platform statistics. Oh, and being part of W3, it's free.

XML-Sitemaps for Web Page Ranking

Moving right along... The photo in the last fascinating post about the dinosaur discovery looks more like something my dog makes, that I must pick up and dispose of. Time now for a little web technology...

My page ranking had slipped a point, and I am looking for help. The best remedy, I've found, is to actually post every day, but if you've ever tried writing 70-100 words to write, EVERY day, you know it's not that easy.

I realized I needed to submit an XML sitemap for the robots to better crawl my site. I'm a so-so at coding, so for that reason, I sought out an XML sitemap generator at XML-Sitemaps.com. Just plug in the code, and away it goes, generating an XML map to all your pages. Download the new file, then upload it into your site's root folder, and submit it to Google's Webmaster Tools... Voilà! (I'll let you know how my page ranking turns out).

Test JavaScript in IE, on Multiple Platforms

Need to test your JavaScript in Internet Explorer on various platforms? DebugBar has an alpha release of IETester. It's still in the alpha stages of testing, but maybe we're on to a good thing here.

1971 Computer Savvy

In 1971, Ladybird published "How it Works... The Computer"--One in a series of "How it Works" books (other books in this series cover the motor car, the rocket, ocean liner and telephone, among other technologies of the time). "If you are interested in computers, their function and operation, but are discouraged by their complexity, you should read this book".

Topics discussed include, "What are Computers?", "Operation of Magnetic Tape Unit", and "Does a Computer Make Mistakes?". The entire book is scanned in and available for viewing at The Pointless Museum.

Cool Car Design Befriends the Environment

Imagine driving your car for an entire week, and only spending a few dollars to fill up ... with clean, breathable, compressed air. No carbon emissions, no mess. The only emission, is air.

Moteur Developpment International (MDI) is designing and building the prototype for this new invention, a city car which boasts 110 km/hour, with 200 km to get out of tank in back before refilling at compressed air service station. There's talk of a fuel hybrid, which would allow you to get from Los Angeles to New York, on just one tank--a welcome relief from today's high price of gasoline. The French engineer who designed the car used to design Formula 1 cars.