Wednesday, June 29, 2022
For the last two weeks, I have been trying to create Youtube Shorts videos. What are Youtube Shorts? They are Youtube's short videos, 60 seconds or less, similar to TikTok or Instagram Reels.
Why would I look into this? Youtube has a monetization partner program which requires (1) an Amazon Adsense account, (2) 4000 hours of watch time for existing videos and (3) 1000 subscribers to a channel. I have the first requirement.
I have had videos on my Youtube channel for over 3 years, however because I once taped a call to the FBI and later posted the video, I decided I wanted to keep my videos local, on my server. Why? The video was changed. It was shortened. I did not want Youtube to own my videos, with a legal right to do anything with the videos. So I tend to serve up videos from my own servers, which is very expensive in terms of bandwidth and storage.
If some of you recall the FBI video, you will remember is was hosted on my servers. The key here is legal right. I am sure a class action law suit might prevent Youtube from changing a lot, however videos installed on their servers are subject to their legal terms.
So this is why, I did not want to use their service. That said, I am researching different monetization avenues to see what works.
What is amazing to me? The number of "unreal" vbloggers who post to Youtube. I never understood why it was okay to lie about education or other credentials and serve up sponsored ads (started to notice this with bloggers years ago). That is fraud.
Bloggers and vbloggers tend to say a lot. Most of them negate their own lies. I say a lot. I want investigators to try and take it apart.
Anyway back to Youtube Shorts. Recently, I posted two new videos to my Youtube channel.
The mistake I made shooting the video shown above, was not made shooting the following video yesterday morning. When I initially uploaded the following video it was categorized as a Youtube Shorts video, thereby enabling automatic monetization.
Did I forget to mention that Youtube Shorts are automatically monetized whereas Youtube vbloggers have to meet certain requirements (noted above) to achieve monetization of their regular videos?
Did I crop the video correctly? I used Microsoft's Clipchamp video editor to modify the final output from Active Presenter and as I have already indicated, Youtube initially categorized the video as a Shorts. Why would it have changed?
You see, I made another mistake with the first "pancake" video and did not crop the wide black edges. When I uploaded the first version of the video- it was never considered a Youtube Shorts video. Only after I used Clipchamp to crop the edges, providing the original portrait mode- of the video as captured. Then it reverted (Youtube changed it). Why?
These videos are simply my tests and not meant to suggest anything a professional video editor might release.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
I built my new real estate site using WordPress, incorporating several plugins to further one of the goals of the business plan, sourced marketing.
Monday, June 13, 2022
For years, the only salads I would eat on rolls (or bread slices) were albacore tuna or egg salad. Though turkey and chicken salads have been favorites in my family for years, especially during the summer months, I would always pass.
In late winter (2022), my mother asked me to purchase a six pack of the chicken breast that Costco sells under the brand name Kirkland.
Each time I went by Costco, I honestly forgot to pick it up, in that it never made it to my shopping list. I always ask that anything desired, go on a list. When I finally remembered, it was April and only because a huge shipment was sitting on crates in the main aisle just past the fruits and vegetables.
Since then, I have picked up another 6-pack of this wonderful chicken. Today, I made a can for lunch.
I have to say, the combination of a toasted Hawaiian Sweet Roll and the chicken salad is absolutely wonderful. If, like me initially, you are not sure, try it anyway. I know, six cans is a lot (about $14.99), so maybe you can ask if other family members are interested in making their own salads. I was pleasantly surprised.
The other good news about the canned chicken breast, it has a great shelf life.
Sunday, June 12, 2022
In the United States, real estate career professionals must meet
continuing educational requirements for license renewal. Educational
related areas are chosen to ensure compliance with current federal,
state, and local laws and regulations.
In Maryland, the Maryland Real Estate Commission (MREC) maintains the education records for each licensee for the individual's two year license term.
Wednesday, June 08, 2022
Last week before my new iPad arrived, I researched graphics software options for use with that platform. Procreate and Affinity Designer constantly appeared high on every list.
I have no artistic (drawing, painting & sketching) ability, however, I do all of the graphics work for my sites, groups, and the presentations I need for one project or another. The example below shows part of the ImageComposer file where I created the header graphic for the Facebook high school alumni group.
I use the following programs and tools to handle all of my graphics needs:
- Microsoft ImageComposer
- Microsoft 365 Professional Office Suite (Publisher, Word, PowerPoint)
- Microsoft 2000 Professional Office Suite (Publisher, Word, PowerPoint)
- Corel Gallery Clipart
- The many photos I take.
- Screen-grabs
Though I do little insofar as video presentations (other than hair and makeup for a Zoom meeting or class), I do watch one or two video bloggers and noticed how well they incorporate other graphical elements to their videos.
In that I use all of my resources for work efforts, I wanted to ensure that my new iPad Mini would get its fair share of the workload. I have to justify (to myself)- business expenses like a new tablet. That is why I was researching graphical software options for the iPad and the usage areas I could effectively deploy, in terms of ROI.
I purchased Procreate ($9.99 Apple App Store)- Monday evening after installing Libby (Free) and reading a sample of Grisham's latest novel, 'Sparring Partners'.
I did not do a lot with the Procreate app Monday evening (tested the new stylus pen with the application), however Tuesday morning, did a lot of research and played around with the software.
Procreate is different than graphical software I have used in the past. I wish I were more artistically inclined because Procreate showcases that type of talent.
That said, I will be able to find uses for Procreate. It is a powerful tool and though I am not a skilled artist, feel understanding how the software works is going to be useful where my efforts are concerned.
Affinity Designer the other graphics software often mentioned for iPad users, provides the ability to create vector graphics. I am going to continue to create and manipulate vector graphics on the Windows PC side of things using PowerPoint (also installed Microsoft 365 Office Suite on the iPad).
I have been using Any Video Converter to edit my very rudimentary video files, however downloaded Active Presenter about 1.5 years ago.
I have not had the time to play around with Active Presenter, that is until now. Yes, that software is going to be very useful if I decide to add more to my videos.
Friday, June 03, 2022
I mentioned in my last post that I would be getting something I have wanted for years. Though the philodendron shown on the right is new, that is not what I referenced. I purchased the philodendron on Wednesday during my weekly visit to the market. The item I ordered arrived yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
