My First Practice Screencast

A few days ago I downloaded a free 30 trial of Camtasia screen-recording software.

I wanted to try it out because I am venturing into doing online courses and to do it, I need to be able to do video screen capture and then edit it to make it more watchable.

So, I downloaded the software and, in between working on other things, I recorded a short (less than 3 minutes) screencast and then set about editing it.

And while editing was time consuming to learn and to do, it was also quite fun as I experimented with all the things I could do.

It's take me a while but finally I created a video screen recording that is really bad but at least I got to experiment with a lot of things.

The recording is me showing you how I've set up this blog. It actually went on for a while but I cut down to just a few minutes.

I added in a short video of a tree being felled part-way through it, which had nothing to do with the recording but I was just practicing inserting another recording.

I experimented with having things fly in and out, outlining areas I was demonstrating, zooming in and out, having text display on screen and even having the screencast slide to one side.

It's all a big batch of things happening on the screen for no random reason at all most of the time, but it's a demonstration of what the software can do and whether I could do it.

Some of the things I realised, once I started editing, was that I should have used a microphone. In the background you can hear a clock ticking all the time and at one point a crow started making a noise outside. I'll have to use a microphone next time.

Also I need to slow down. When I work on screen on my own, everything seems to happen at normal pace, but when it's filmed it all looks too fast.

I and need to practice not mumbling so much when I talk. When did I get so lazy with my speech? Or have I always been that way?

I also should make sure the area I'm recording is cropped so that it doesn't show my whole screen which, in this video, includes my dock at the bottom and the menu bar at the top. You'll also see my desktop wallpaper which is a young buddhist monk praying at the foot of a huge statue of the Buddha.

Well, for better or worse, below is the eventual MP4 recording if you want to see it.

But be warned that it is nearly 3 minutes of nonsense.

Let me know what you think in the comments. But please (please) be kind. I am a novice after all and I only posted it to give you a laugh.

You can also view it on YouTube at http://youtu.be/iIFqXC3D7m4

How to Get Things Done

It’s easy to have a long list of things you should be doing, but actually starting is often hard.

If you want to get started and get things done, here is a system to follow:

Decide > Action > Results

It’s THAT easy…in theory.

But the reality may seem more complicated so you need to expand the Action step like this:

Pick a project you want to work on. It may be a writing project or it may even be simple like washing your car.

Once you’ve decided what you want to do break down the action steps into 2 parts like this:

Tasks > Order

This means you first need to list the tasks you need to do and then put them in the right order.

So if you’re washing your car your list might include, vacuum inside, clean inside of the windows, clean outside of the car, take everything out of the car.

If it’s a writing project your list might include, find a topic, research, write a 1,000 word article, outline article, proof, upload.

Next you need to put all your tasks in the right order.

In this case your writing project tasks are already nearly in the right order, but your car washing needs re-arranging from interior jobs (starting with taking everything out of the car) to washing the outside of the car.

Just begin by deciding what you want to do, then work out the steps required to achieve the results you want.

Then forget the results and work through your plan of how to get it done.

It’s OK to keep your eye on the results to help with motivation, but stick to your plan if you want to get there.

And don’t get distracted by any BSOs (bright shiny objects) while you’re working.

Just keep moving forward because you need to keep working if you want to achieve your desired results.

But nothing happens without action.

You won’t get anything done if you sit around all day doing nothing, with an over-developed sense of entitlement.

Decide > Action > Results

That’s the only way to get things done.

Learning to Type The Easy Way

Typing is a lost art form these days.

At school I learned what they called Touch Typing which is a really useful skill to have now that we all own computers.

At school children were taught to type at up to 100 words per minute (wpm). But we didn’t learn to type that fast by typing as fast as we could.

We were taught to NEVER try and type fast.

Instead we had to learn to keep a rhythm as we typed, and it was something that we all did in unison in class.

We learned to never look at the keyboard because that’s the worst habit to get into.

Instead we had to place our hands on the ‘home row’ keys by placing our index fingers on the f and j keys and our other fingers fell into place automatically on the a, s, d and k, l, ; keys.

Finding the f and j keys without looking is easy because they each have a raised little bump on them so that you always know which they are.

We then spent week after week typing fff jjj fff jjj ff jj ff jj f j f j while the teacher said it out loud as we typed - “f f f space, j j j space, f f f space, j j j space…”

But it did help us keep a good rhythm as we practiced all the home row keys, even eventually typing sentences with our limited range of letters on that row “a sad lad had a glad gal” which is creepy now that I look it it. Our index fingers also typed the g and h keys on that row and moved immediately back to the f and j keys.

And now all these years later, I can still touch type without ever looking at the keyboard and my speed quickly increased once I managed to keep a rhythm with my typing.

 So if you want to be able to type faster, begin by keeping a rhythm and never look at your keyboard.

And before you know it you’ll be typing quickly too.

If you want to know your typing speed you can take the free online test at http://www.typingtest.com.

The Complete Online Course is Now Free to Download

The Complete Online Course is a huge ebook that teaches you how to write HTML code.

It’s a course I wrote years ago after having learned how to do it myself.

The course I learned from cost me several hundred dollars and I sold The Complete Online Course for less than $50 so it was a real bargain, especially considering that it also teaches how to make money online.

But now time has passed and things have changed so I’ve now made The Complete Online Course a free download so that it can help anyone who needs it.

And although some of the information in it is out of date now, most of it is still relevant and if you use it, it will guide you from idea, to writing your own HTML code, creating web pages and putting your own website online.

It’s great for anyone who doesn’t understand HTML code or how webpage design works.
It’s a huge PDF ebook and you can download it for free, with no opt-in required at http://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/NOC.html.

And once you’ve downloaded it you can do whatever you want with it because I’m relinquishing my copyright of it too, so it’s yours to do whatever you want with it.

Enjoy.