Rodfather Mobile

Here’s another contest that was announced today. No it’s not crude and immature like the one I may be doing.

Utterz is teaming up with SOBCon (Business School for Bloggers) by hosting a contest to create a commercial for your blog. The winner will receive a spanking new Nokia N95 phone.

SOBCon attendees and all website owners alike are invited to submit a commercial for your blog or webpage to the SOBCon Utterz “GET MY MESSAGE” contest. Entries will be reviewed and judged by SOBCon (Business School for Bloggers) attendees on Sunday May 4, 2008 in Chicago and one lucky website owner will win a Nokia N95 mobile phone.

Why Make Your Commercial
This is your opportunity to tell people why they should visit your site AND you’ll get unbiased advice on how to improve your message and drive more traffic. That, and you’ll get a lot of free promotion by being a featured participant in the GET MY MESSAGE Contest.

How Do I Participate?
Make a short commercial for your blog or webpage using Utterz – no longer than 60 seconds and 1,000 characters. Create your commercial using any combination of audio, video, pictures and text. Then, submit your commercial by tagging it “GET MY MESSAGE Contest” on Utterz.

Some suggestions:
- This is your value proposition. In other words, why do people care about visiting your website?
- Use a combination of media. Record some audio, make a video and upload an image – anything goes!
- Keep it short
- Get creative

What Then?
Commercials will be posted on Utterz.com and published to
http://getmymessage.blogspot.com/ so everyone has one place to view them. Before, during and after the event, people are invited to leave replies to each others’ commercials with words of encouragement, praise, or advise. User submissions can be edited based on this feedback right up to SOBCon on May 3 and 4. Please note, only one submission per person!

On Sunday, May 4, SOBCon attendees will have a chance to view everyone’s commercials in work groups. They will narrow the field to a set of 5 finalists based on the lessons learned during SOBCon ‘08. Then, we’ll ask everyone online and at SOBCon to vote on their favorite commercials in real time! The winner walks away with a brand spankin’ new Nokia N95.

For more information or questions about the SOBCon Utterz GET MY MESSAGE Contest or for questions about the Utterz service, email lizsun2@gmail.com and/or sim@utterz.com.

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I’m not sure if I will be entering. It’s good timing since I’ve been messing with video.. but what am I suppose to present? Visit this site so you can watch fishing videos and possibly win a pair of blue nuts?

Link

Pocketables gave away a small prize package for guessing Jenn’s next purchase.

Engadget is giving away a HTC Shift.

TabletBlog is pairing paired up with Dynamism to give away a Nokia N810.

UMPC Portal likes the idea too and is pairing up with Mobilx to give away a WiBrain B1 UMPC.

GottaBeMobile is even jumping on the bandwagon and giving away its own Matt Faulkner.. if they let him out of the cube.

So how about here? I’m not so sure about buying readers.. but I don’t want to leave my current awesome readers in the dust.. So I’ll try something. If this post receives 30 comments by midnight tonight, I will purchase the item below, probably do an unboxing video and first impressions, then do a give-a-way contest.

Read more »

One of big challenges for any videographer is reducing camera shake.  The need for stabilizers comes up very often.  I mentioned in another post a possible mini FigRig solution for the Canon TX1 using a Wii racing wheel.

I’ve compiled a list of links for cheaper alternatives to expensive solutions.  I’ll try to keep adding to the list as I find them.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/ - $14 Steadicam “The Poor Man’s Steadicam”.  The most popular DIY Steadycam by Johnny Chung Lee.

http://www7.taosnet.com/f10/steadycam/ - More elegant looking steadicam/monopod using a cheap Walmart tripod.

http://www.cartala.com/diy.html - Modification of the $14 Steadicam.  Uses a longer cross bar with additional weight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTR5EYO0rLc - Another variant of the $14 Steadicam.  Most interesting part is the there’s no drilling for the camera mount.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7TMa-v03aE - Another project by cinepegger.  Using a bicycle wheel for a Fig Rig.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shygantic/129121710/ - PVC FigRig.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=T1aPbwcqquk - Zero Cost Steadicam.  This is what I’m using in the meantime. :)  All you have to do is extend a tripod and hold it in the right place.  It’s not perfect but the result is a lot better than normal handheld.

http://homebuiltstabilizers.com/greyhandheld.htm - List of DIY stabilizers for handheld cameras.

I noticed GBM was giving away 100 Evernote Beta invites and wow did they go fast.

For those who didn’t get a chance to get one there, I have a few to give out.

The first 10 to leave a comment will receive an Evernote Beta invite.  Make sure to submit the email address you wish me to send the invite to.

You can now grab a Nokia N810 for $389.99 retail.

Nice call but I think it should be lower at around $300.

Wonder which forces are pushing Nokia to lower the price of the N810 at this time.

• The MID’s coming around the corner with the Gigabyte M528 appearing to be very competitive?
• iPhone/iPod Touch SDK released?
• WiMax enabled N830 coming?

Nokia has a lot to worry about in a few months.  Hope they can respond with something.

Thinking of getting a MacBook for my Mom.

At the campus bookstore, I can get the following deals for the previous versions of the MacBook:

Here are the prices for the new MacBooks I can get with an educational discount:

Looking at the new version, I’m not sure if the deals on the older MacBooks are worth it except maybe the black MacBook.
The major differences for the new MacBooks are the multitouch touchpad and the Penryn chip.
The major difference is the Penryn chip.

Not sure if those changes are worth it either.

Which one would you choose?

Are you the type who grabs mobile tech so you can get out of the house?  Well, how about taking your house with you?  Check out this dude from Hong Kong.  He designed a house on a tricycle!  I don’t know man.. I’d hate to be a victim of house-jacking.

Home on a Tricycle : TreeHugger

I just received an email announcing the OLPC "Give One Get One" program is starting today.  A nice addition to this program is free complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot locations for one year.

You can participate by going to www.laptopgiving.org.  Orders are being handled through PayPal.

I’m ordering one right after I hit the publish button.

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From all of us at One Laptop per Child, thank you for your interest in our mission. Today marks the first day of our limited-time "Give One Get One" program. Starting today, when you donate an XO laptop to a child in the developing world, you’ll receive one for the child in your life. The price for the two laptops will be $399, $200 of which is tax-deductible. Additionally, T-Mobile is offering donors one year of complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot locations throughout the United States, which can be used from any Wi-Fi-capable device, including the XO laptop.

Please visit www.laptopgiving.org to participate in Give One Get One and discover more about the revolutionary XO laptop. You can also donate by calling toll-free 1-877-70-LAPTOP (1-877-705-2786). This is the only time we’re making the XO laptop available to the public and quantities are limited, so early purchasers have a better chance of receiving their XO laptops by the holidays.

Once again, thank you. We sincerely hope you’ll join our growing community of people working to create a connected, educated, enlightened future for the world’s most essential resource - it’s children.

David Pogue of the NY Times got a hold of the OLPC XO and created a video expressing his views.  No there’s no singing and dancing in this one.  Instead he highlights the main features that set it apart to show why this is such an amazing device.

It should be available in November through the OLPC Foundation’s Give 1 Get 1 promotion.

I’ve made it clear I’m definitely getting one of these.  Can’t wait.

NY Times via Engadget

Well, not me..

Robert of The Student Tablet PC has just replaced his old, dying Acer C300 with a Toshiba Portege M400.  As a student in training, you have to make careful decisions on every purchase.  I remember those days of eating top ramen and macaroni cheese.  Fun times but didn’t have the luxury to upgrade any devices during my time.

It’s nice to hear about tablets that aren’t in the limelight like the Fujitsu T2010, Lenovo X61t, and HP 2710p.  He lists his likes and dislikes and hopefully it works out for him.

Link