How to Make, Create, Design... Stuff

Always on the look-out for new projects, I found this web site, Instructables, that promises step-by-step instructions on how to make... well, just about anything. From Food to pets, to art, to the offbeat, ideas about. Users submit their own "how to" instructions, photos and all. Get inspired--in a cast? paint it into a funky high-top sneaker, like this one. Teach yourself how to divide, throw a punch, enroll your kid in school in San Fran, or teach your dog tricks.

Tutorialized Tutorials

Tutorialized is packed full of good old fashioned, F1 help. Learn how to make hair in Illustrator, or how to get started in Adobe Premiere. There are technical and business tutorials there too, but I'm mostly interested in the free online graphic design education I can give myself. Maybe you simply want to learn more about making animated banners in Flash. Whatever the reason, if you can see past the many blinking ads, this handy web site is your one-stop shopping for freebie online learning.

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.