Lovely. Just what I needed when I remember I booked an overtime shift starting at 8.30 am. -.- This is good, because it gives me more money. But it sucks, because I am no longer used to getting up early. This meant I woke up with about 20 minutes to wake up and be at the bus stop. This was not perfect by any means, and it took me till about 11am till I was properly awake.
Yes, talking about billing is bad enough when one’s brain is 100% in gear, without me making things worse. But hey, I seem to always be dedicated to making things suck and be irritating. But hey, what would I moan about if life was perfect?
Other than overworking, something which is about as welcome in my life as a weight watchers representative, I am glad to inform that life has been pretty boring. But when is it not? If life was all go-go-go, I’d probably die of a heart attack due to pure exhaustion.
I did this whole creative thing last night, and made a late-night vlog. Oi! Not that kind of vlog. What kind of person are you? Filth! I did a video which was to help friends with recommendations of sites for their uses. Unfortunately, it did not render well, or record well. In fact, the whole thing was a disaster. To the point that I am going to get home and delete it as soon as I can. Unless youtube did something to it overnight.
Sorry for the pointless moaning. But that’s why I have this. So I can say what’s on my mind. 🙂
Maybe it’s because I have been lucky in the past, but recently, for the first time ever, I have been getting anonymous hate on various social networks. Now, I know I shouldn’t be bothered by it, but I don’t see the point. Isn’t there enough hate in the world, without people giving it to people they don’t even know? I think it’s the fact that people have the time to hate on people they don’t even know, that annoys me. Why would you waste your time doing this?
The main culprits are Formspring, YouTube and Tumblr, where people sent you hate for no reason. Some show their name, some are anonymous, and to be honest, it’s not that that bothers me. It’s the fact that people are will to pass judgement on people they don’t know. Maybe it’s just because I’m the kind of person who wouldn’t do that. I mean, as much as I spend a lot of time online, I refuse to spend it hating people I don’t know. But I am like IRL too, I mean, I won’t hate on someone who has treated me nice.
Taking that stance, you’d think that it wouldn’t bother me, but sometimes it does. When you are trying to express yourself, and do things that you genuinely have difficulty doing, and someone just shoots you down without a thought, it hurts. It doesn’t matter whether you know the person or not.
For instance, I have always had issues with how I look. It sounds awful angsty of me, but I do. I have never felt confident about doing anything in public, because I felt embarassed at how I looked. A few people, from various internet communites I take part in, advised me to start a YouTube channel and do a video blog. I did this, and it helped bring my confidence up a lot. And if I’m honest, it helped me learn to speak a little clearer too. Which is all good. Then you get a message from someone saying that they wasted minutes of their lives watching me, and I should die. It was a shock the first time it happened, but it started happening on every video, so I got used to it.
This did me good, because I had to tell myself that these people didn’t know me. I mean, only someone stupid would watch a video labelled ‘Vlog’, and moan because it was someone talking to a camera. *shrugs* I don’t mind if someone wants to comment negatively, and tell me what is wrong, but bitchy hate which is straight out of High School, on the other hand. But, I did manage to get over the pointless hate, and I still posted what I wanted, and I continued to see my own self-confidence improve.
The next step, was to go on Dailybooth, and take a picture of myself a day, to kinda force me to accept the way I look, which I still hate. Which is cool, I opened up an account a few days ago, and although I still don’t like looking at the pictures, I do anyway. Dailybooth, is a site where you take a picture everyday, and it kind of becomes a photoblog, of sorts. Its a nice idea and it works well, considering I am still new at it. But, as with YouTube, I have already (after 5 days) got hate about me being ugly. Which is nice. Considering I am doing the whole DailyBooth thing because I am trying to get my confidence up about my looks. I got a bit angry about it, to be honest. Although, I did go to the hater’s profile, and find that he had been getting hate, so he was just relaying that hate to someone else, so I did feel a little better about it.
I dunno, I just don’t understand the whole hate thing, I mean isn’t the world bad enough, without people adding to the misery. Ok, misery is maybe a bit strong, but you know what I mean.
One of the topics I moaned about on my reccent video, was the change of the YouTube homepage. Something that I am not a fan of. I understand why a site may need to update its stylings every so often, but sometimes those changes are for the worse. Maybe not in the eyes of who manages the site in question, but for the users.
It has been proven that if a user accesses a site, and finds their favourite features removed and the site has changed beyond all recognition, they will leave the site. Why? Well, like anything, people use a service they feel familiar with and then the user will create some personal connection with the site. This is good for whoever runs the site, because any users who make a connection with a site, they will become repeated users. Which is a good thing for any site, as you can probably guess.
The issue with having users so personally attatched to a website, is that these people are resistant to change. Whilst they may accept subtle changes, here and there, if the site undergoes a complete overhaul, there is a chance the frequent users will stop using the service. It is a risk, a risk that the site creator needs to evaluate fully before they make any changes. Some sites even go to the lengths of asking their users, what they would like to see on the site.
But what are the main things could put people off a site, if it where to be changed?
1)Colour. Although this seems unimportant in the grand scheme of the site and what it is used for, the colour is what people first notice about the site, and if it is changed to something on the other side of the colour spectrum, it could bewilder users. The best example of this is probably Facebook. The site is designed in blue and white, and without looking too much into the content of the site, most of its users will recognise it based on colour, without reading anything on the actual web page. The colours have become part of the brand identity of Facebook, so it is important for that to stay on the site, no matter what changes is made. It is actually proven, that you can get away with changing a site subtly (moving columns around,etc) as long as the colour is the same, because it is still familiar.
2)Logo. Every website online has some kind of logo. A logo which allows a user to instantly recognise what it is that they are using. Whenever you go onto a website, most users will automatically look at the top of the page, to see the logo. Something which adds familiarity onto a site, and is something that will stick in the mind of a user. It is why Logos are used for all businesses, it is an easy way to advertise. If you have a really good logo, it will become embedded in a client’s mind, and the client will use the service again. On a website, a logo can sometimes be a little bit of personality, to allow a person to become attached to the site or business.
3)Features. If you have people visiting a website, it is usually because they are there for a specific purpose. If the site owner re-sites some of the features, this could confuse some users and could put them off from visiting again. Usually, if it is something simple such as changing the font, or the arrangement of a particular column, then people will accept the changes, and move on. But, if you do something such as remove something from the main screen, then you have the chance that they could become lost, and the effort of figuring out a new way of doing things, can make someone go elsewhere. The best, most recommended, way to do any major changes, is to put a guide on the main page, telling people how to find features if they have been re-sited. If you get rid of a feature, again, be honest with the user and let them know what’s happened. If you are upfront and honest, the client will make that personal connection with you, and there is more chance of them sticking around the service.
To me those are the three main things that are normally changed on a site, and why I think they could put off people. Normally if you provide a really good service, you will get away of making changes to the site, but be aware its not always the case. If you do want to change things, make the changes subtle, or even query your users. Whatever you do, keeping clients in the ‘loop’ will keep them on your side, and should see you lose minimal business.
I spend way too much online, watching Vlogs of people who actually update regularly. Now whilst this is good, in that it gets me motivated, and gets me wanting to do something, it also makes me feel bad, because I am such a lazy vlogger. I go through little sprints of making videos, where I get all excited. But, most of the time I am way too lazy to try shoot, edit and upload a video, especially when it can take anything up to an hour to upload videos.
I know, I have slow internet, especially during the day. -.-
I am a very creative individual, when my mood lets me, and I openly embrace anything that allows a person to let their creative juices flow. It helps stop a person becoming repressed, they can become more in touch with their feelings, and are less likely to do things such as commit mass murder. So, being creative not just betters your existence it could be saving the lives of others.
Well, it could.
Anyway, I do spend a lot of time watching vlogs and am subscribing to new channels on a daily basis. Whilst this gives me way too much ‘home work’ whenever I am offline for a few days, it is worth it, and I do get to the point when I could spend a few hours happily watching Vlogs. There is something embedded into my brain somewhere, where I like to show my opinion (which you will know if you have read this blog before). And it therefore involves me listening to other peoples’ opinions and thoughts, because that is the only way you can express opinion, is knowing how other people may think.
Sometimes I wish I had went to University to major in human behaviour, because it is something that interests me so much. I mean, you can tell a lot from a person, just by how well the edit videos and talk to the camera. I am aware that sounds slightly misguided, but I assure you, how you edit a video says a lot about you. I am the kind of person who is terrible at editing, and that is usually because I like to cut it where I feel it seems natural. It just never comes across as natural on screen.
Anyways, here is are a few You Tube channels which have lead to me living my life on a video site.
Positivity is not something I have lots of, so when I do feel in the higher levels of the mood spectrum, I feel I should share it. Mostly to show that I am capable on things other than just moaning a lot. So I feel that my odd positive days, should be embraced to the full, because it’s only fair. I mean, I seem to go on and on about my bad days, so good days should be the same. Right?
I have spent the last few days catching up on Vlogs, Blogs and various other titbits I keep myself amused online. I have not been online as consistently as I usually am, and that leads to me falling behind on things. *facepalm* But being a dedicated ‘Internet-er’, I dedicate hours of my time getting caught up on things. And besides, hanging around on YouTube all day, is a lot more appealing than housework. Not that tidying up is unappealing, I just would rather do anything else. *shrugs* Hey, at least I’m not kidding myself.
An update on my C.V. ? Ummm….I have all the gritty details done. I have all my qualifications and work experience typed up, just need to make it seem a little more appealing. It does look a little blah. I want to make it seem a little more creative and things. It would be nice to be able to have something that could represent my personality as well as all the boring facts. But, that just means I have to do more work on it than I actually thought. Which is a pain, but I plan to sit in on Saturday and blitz through it all. And have it ready to email off on Sunday.
I am posting this, because of peoples reaction when I say I post videos on youtube.
And the reactions are mostly negative. Why? I have no idea!
I enjoy planning and making my videos. Its my only field of motivation right now. So yeah, I’m gonna keep right on making vidjeos, because it makes me happeh.
Umm…I was going to go an plan this big intellectual blog, but realised I have to get ready soon for work. -.-
So, I am running around like an idiot. Been trying to get some sketchbook work done, but never got very far. I have been having issues sleeping, so I have no energy for anything. And that’s about it.
So, in lack of anything better to say, have some vidjeos. First one is Good Charlotte (feat Harlow) being all nice and happy. *still peeved that ‘everywhere’ does not include UK or Ireland, cheers guys, really*
Also, jQuatchi (one of my fave vlog channels) is 1 years old today. So we have Yan and Jon baking cakes. *Note- Jon replied to me on twitter and I screamed in pure joy. I am THAT kinda person*
This is one story which has not been getting nearly enough publicity. Which is suprising, it seems to have been going on for a while.
Cut a long story short: Viacom tried to sue Youtube owners’ Google for $1 billion due to copywrite issues.
What happens, is that on youtube, as most know, people upload videos of things they like. So that would mean South Park snippets and clips from The Hills, would be shared by kids, and Viacom would take them down. Simples you would think, right? Wrong!
Who Are They?
Viacom are a huge corporation, which owns many brands, such as Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Spike TV, Paramount Pictures, Nikelodeon, Neopets, and many more well know brands.
Google is primarily a search engine, which is the most used search engine on the Web. Google also provides an online office suite called Google.docs, and owns, video sharing site, Youtube,
What Happened?
Well, as said above Viacom accused Youtube of knowingly uploading copywrited material, and then profiting from it. Youtube says this did not happen, as there was no way they could moniter ALLLLL the content that gets uploaded. This all happened in 2007, when Viacom said that 16, 000 videos had infringed their copywrite and were deleted. It has since been said that:
1) only 3,000 videos included copywrite infringement, as it is stated by US law
2)almost 120,000 videos were infact removed by Viacom.
Anyways in 2007 Viacom started procedures to sue Google for $1,000,000,000, because of the damage this infringement had.
And now?
There is no love lost at all between Google and Viacom. In 2008, MTV.com posted almost every music video ever made onto its site, an obvious attempt to get Googles back up. This kind of failed, as to date, Youtube is still the most popular way to watch music videos.
So other than music videos, what else is Youtube reknown for? Viral videos. You know, the videos that you revieve in emails, and are posted on every site under the sun. The one that has about 22 million views? Yep, that one. These viral videos are (as in still happening) stolen from youtube, and magically appear on Spike.com. Spike is another video sharing site, which also shows premium content such as UFC events, but this site is owned by Viacom. Well, the videos appear on Spike as being embed, which is when you can post the whole video on a site. Now, Youtube has no issue with this, in fact it promotes sharing videos in this way. The only rules are, that you cannot edit the HTML code, because the video MUST link back to Youtube (fair enough). Well when the Youtube video appears on Spike, it DOES NOT link back to youtube. These are popular actual youtube videos just embed onto Spike, and there are no link backs at all, or any credit to the original video’s maker. So therefore, this breaks Youtubes T&Cs, and the original author is NEVER notified.
Note: in Spike.com T&Cs they say EVERY VIDEO is checked before it is posted.
So how can Viacom cry about Copywrite, when they dismiss others’ rights so willingly?
And, this does go into somewhat murkier waters. There is proof from various Youtube users, saying that there are fake Youtube channels set up, where they post things such as South Park clips. They then block their own clips. Why? To show that Youtube is allowing copywrited material onto their site. It is a very mean trick. And basically attempting to use dirty tricks, to sink Youtube and Google.
But that’s not all, now other ‘powers-that-be’ from the internet, have sided with Google in this battle. Yep, usually they may not be best of friends, but Facebook, Yahoo, ebay and IAC (InterActiveCorp) have all sided with Google. Basically saying that if Viacom are successful in sueing Google, it will effect the freedom of the internet. This has to be a good side, as I do believe that this will hopefully stop this war.
I have had a fantabulous week this week, and kind of pretended that I had a life. It was a nice change from just doing things online. The thing is, I tend to spend more money when I am out, which can be not so great. Can never win with me, I always find something to complain about.
Anyway, been sitting becoming addicted to more and more Vlogs (Video Blogs) via Youtube. I guess I like watching and taking note of how people express themselves when they talk to a camera, in the hope that I can pick up some pointers. Its the only way you learn anything like that, I guess.
So check out my second proper Vlog. Its maybe not perfect, but I had fun making it.
Its comforting to see that most of the Vlogs I have been watching, started of rather like mines. *Phewww 🙂 * So at least that’s a positive.
Random find of the day
Its an R2-D2 bin. I mean, I used to watch the orignal Star Wars trilogy ALL THE TIME, so I cannot say how excoted this has made me. This wonderful little thing is from ThinkGeek.com- things for smart masses *yeah I loled at that*. You get a full sized one or you can get a desktop one. Its is priced from $39,99 (£25.99) to $99,99 (£64.97). I really like them, and I have bought things off this site before. So check it out. Link to purchase R2-D2 is http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/89e4/ .
So have an enjoyable Friday folks, I am away to earn money to pay my bills. So ciao xx
sueriot.com 