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We were able to catch up with Sami Jarroush from the Rock It Out! Blog during SXSW this weekend. The conference hosted a panel featuring the challenges of becoming a music vlogger, which is someone who covers the music industry in short-form video on sites such as YouTube. Developing your own style, injecting personality into your videos and building a passionate following are just some of the things master Sami has to teach all of you.

He got his start several years ago by hosting a show for a competing network. He jumped into YouTube and noticed how many people were sharing their views on the music industry so he decided to put a few vlogs up himself. He is passionate about rock, and began diving into things behind the scenes – the clubs, the bands and the music itself. He noticed fairly quickly that people seemed to like what he had to say – and more importantly – the way he said it.

He’s been making his living by creating unique content for about two and a half years. Even though it’s not easy much of the time, Sami admits that the passion he still carries is what drives him. You can have a million viewers… but they mean nothing if you don’t care about whatever it is you are putting out there for them to watch.

I’ve talked in the past about how important it is to be yourself. Figure out who it is you are and embrace it. Don’t try and pretend to be something you aren’t – especially on video. People are always going to see through you, and they’ll never develop trust in you. Believe in yourself and the things you are trying to teach others. Be creative – find your sense of style and polish it. You don’t have to be the smartest person out there or know even half of everything to succeed. You simply have to be different from everyone else… bring your knowledge and heart to everything you do in a way that is all your own.

Sami mentions that the Internet is ruthless – boy oh boy is that ever true. The audience will know if you’re a poser. Don’t bother talking about something simply because it’s a hot topic that day. If that’s not what YOU are passionate about, you are going to be dismissed as a phony sooner than immediately.

Be consistent. People want to know that they can count on you. If they are forever logging in in the hopes of finding something new by you, they’re going to quickly give up and move on to the next person. Develop a routine and schedule and stick to it. If something happens to prevent you from keeping to that timeline, let your followers know so that they don’t feel as though you abandoned them.

How do you get started? It’s simple, young grasshoppers: pick up a camera and turn it on. You have no clue just how far you can go if you don’t bother to try.

How to Be a Video Blogger

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Marques is here this week talking about the very VERY cool WeatherBug Chrome extension. WeatherBug has been a community and Gnomedex supporter for years, and we’re always happy to take a look at what they’re doing. They’ve outdone themselves, though. This extension has some seriously awesome features, including live local weather conditions, detailed forecasts, severe weather alerting, maps and cameras right from your browser.

The visuals are really good in this Extension. You can add as many cities as you like to check current weather quickly in several locations. Change the metering system and even check out some live cameras.

When the live cameras are enabled, you can switch through nearby locations to see where it may be storming. If you live somewhere that doesn’t get any snow, why not check out the live cams in places that are having a blizzard? You can enjoy the action as it is happening.

I have to agree with Marques that this is an excellent addition to your Chrome install, even if it is supposedly only a “beta” version. Well done WeatherBug – and Marques.

WeatherBug Chrome Extension: Weather Done Right

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When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Meteorologist. It didn’t happen, of course. I do enjoy the weather changes we have here in the Pacific Northwest. I really love the iPad weather app put out by our friends at WeatherBug. WeatherBug Elite for iPad employs the power of the WeatherBug network to provide iPad users with the latest weather information including local current conditions, extended forecast, severe weather alerts, animated Doppler radar, live weather camera images and much more!

This is a seriously full-featured app at a ridiculously awesome price… free! Key app features include:

• – Users get a comprehensive single-screen view of weather information via a new widget panel design and large display map integration.
• Location-Enabled Intelligence – Use “Find Me” to bypass location settings, allowing the app to automatically detect device location in order to present the most relevant weather data.
• Optimized Visualization – Large maps are available to better visualize current conditions and approaching storms. The entire presentation of weather data is optimized for either portrait or landscape mode viewing.
• High Resolution Video – View WeatherBug National Outlook videos in 640×480 resolution.
• Instant Camera Images – Quick-glance snapshots and live weather camera images are instantly available from up to 15 locations within 100 mile radius of the user’s current location.

You’ll find a host of other features, as well, including Live, local current conditions, Radar animation, nine contour map layers, Severe weather alerts and so much more.

This app is honestly one of the best weather apps I’ve ever come across. There is no end to what you can do, see and learn with WeatherBug Elite on your iPad.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

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iPad Weather

The webConnect USB Laptop Stick provides fast, easy wireless Internet access for your laptop by automatically finding the best T-Mobile network connection (3G, HotSpot/Wi-Fi, or EDGE). The service will now no longer charge you an arm and a leg to connect to the Internet. Instead of charging you an overage fee when you pass the 5GB per month cap, you’ll instead have your service throttled. Exact details about how that information will be throttled has not yet been fully disclosed. In the meantime, the 200MB webConnect plan will drop overage fees from $.20/MB to $.10/MB.

The 5GB plan starts at $40, while a 200MB contract is listed at $25 per month. I’m not sure that this is enough of a “plan” to convince me to run off to sign a two year contract. What about you?

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There is no overage fees or caps on the amount of software you can get from us! Check back daily to see what’s new.

T-Mobile webConnect Will Throttle You

I was happy to read on Geeks today that community member Steve has obtained his GED. I’ve often talked in the past about how important an education is. These days, you cannot get any type of job if you’re over 18 years old and don’t possess a high school diploma or GED. There are college graduates who hold a Bachelor’s degree competing for the same entry-level positions that everyone else is hoping to land.

The economy sucks, plain and simple. People who have had job security for many years are suddenly finding themselves at the front of the proverbial unemployment line. These are hard working people who have many years’ worth of experience doing whatever it is they do. Yet, they’re out there pounding the pavement because their company – and job – has dried up.

Having an education is more critical now than ever. Even if you feel you aren’t the “school type”, I urge you to go. Get a degree. Research what jobs are hiring in your area, and focus on that. Look at what types of jobs are trending in the country you live in, and build on that (and your talents!). Whatever you do – stay in school, or get your GED.

Congratulations, Steve! Our whole community is proud of you.

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The team in our downloads center have come up with some excellent deals on programs for Windows today! Make sure you check back daily to see what they’ve uncovered next!

Education is the Key

Okay, so maybe that’s not how the speech went when Vice-President Roosevelt delivered it. But I like to grab your attention! Saying a popular quote completely wrong is sure to accomplish that.

What does the real quote walk softly and carry a big stick mean to you? I’ve talked to others about this before, and the answers actually vary slightly. That’s one of the things I love about our community. Even when we agree on something, we still have differences in exactly what we’re thinking and saying. One of the best parts of my day is always reading what you guys are up to, what you’re thinking and feeling about things going on in the world. If you’re not making time to read the content others are pushing out, you are definitely missing out.

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Walk Loud and Carry a Soft Stick

Did you even notice?

Microsoft (as this year’s diamond sponsor) did not have any scheduled time on stage. By this action, they have set the bar incredibly high for conferences the world over. No longer need conference coordinators be pressured by pay-for-play politics – and no longer need top conference sponsors fall victim to the misconception that speaking time is implied.

Yahoo! and Ask’s direct involvement in the Gnomedex discussion was completely independent of their sponsorship commitment; Susan Mernit and Jeremy Zawodny were already on my “potentials” list, and the Bloglines team helped me prove that a vendor could remain neutral and help produce an open discussion (which even competing vendors and casual users enjoyed). MindJet was our live transcriptionist, a position that was greatly needed and appreciated. Even so, I can’t deny that these participants also work for companies who sponsored our event. We had countless sponsors (GoDaddy, AMD, WhatCounts, CacheNetworks, PRWeb, WaggEd, WeatherBug, WetPaint, TopTenSources, Snapstream, etc.) who enhanced Gnomedex through nothing more than their financial support. But a leading sponsor not receiving prime time in the content arena? UNHEARD OF… until now.

Microsoft is to be congratulated by this move – and applauded by all. Their name was there, their teams were listening. They will always be associated with Gnomedex 6.0 and its varied successes. They recognized that smart conferences cater to attendees through their support – not the other way around. Conferences that don’t pay attention to their users deserve to die – and the users who continue to support those conferences need to wake up and realize that they (the users themelves) are in control.

Microsoft, we can’t thank you enough – and I really hope that others realize just how important (and pivotal) this was. It was the smartest thing you could ever do for us, your community of technology enthusiasts. Sean Carver, Kevin Briody, John Porcaro, Jeff Sandquist, Sean Alexander, Aaron Coldiron, Joe Friend, and many others inside the company really “get it.” You have represented your company well – both at the conference and your EMP party, giving everyone memories to last a lifetime.

This is the type of respectful behavior users and influencers appreciate. This is the type of “good will” you generate when you don’t force yourselves onto a community. This is a warning shot across the bow of all other conferences: the rules just changed, and Microsoft changed them. This is bigger than Windows Vista and Microsoft Office combined.

Microsoft Rewrote the “Rules” of Conference Sponsorship