Guest Post - How to Use Quicktime's Screen Recording Feature

This morning I received an email from my husband.  He had explored a feature accessible in the Mac Quicktime application.  He shared how to use this feature.  I am posting it here as a Guest Post to share with everyone.

QuickTime Player will record the screen video and mouse movements along with your voice:

Select New Screen Recording from the QuickTime Player menu:

 

What is not exactly obvious are the following two items:

#1 Before starting the recording you need to select the little triangle:  (allows user to select their microphone from the pull-down menu located on the recorder)
 

         
         
#2  After the video is recorded you get this screen at the bottom:  (The user can edit or trim the recording and also send the finished project to their MobileMe Gallery, iTunes, or YouTube account)



That's it:

Attached is a 1 minute instructional video I just made. It is only 5 MB so it should be small enough to email. The QuickTime app also allows directly posting to YouTube as well.

P.S. It helps to have a mostly one-color background. The same video was 4x to 8x larger when I was showing my messy desktop. Having a mostly white background cut the size down considerably.

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Is It Time to Build an Ark Yet?

The question "Is it time to build an ark yet?"  comes to mind this week.  I am sure lots of people are experiencing some stressful times, as many areas along the rivers of this country are under water.   I  decided to check the app store to see what water apps were available for iPhone users.  Amazingly there are quite a few 'water apps', mostly covering water conservation issues.  Some of these offer means to calculate water consumption, tips and facts about the relationship of water to our health and ways to conserve.

Here is a list and description of just some that are available in the Apple App Store.

Virtual Water - is an app that brings awareness to just how much water we ingest in our everyday lives from the food and beverages we consume.   The interactive user interface allows one to compare resources and products for quick facts about amounts of water used when cooking, cleaning, eating or drinking.  It not only encompasses the common foods and beverages, but also includes information on other products that make up our virtual water footprint. 

How Blue Are You? -  is an app that provides tips on conservation of water,  It provides a calculator to see how American Standard brand products can save water and money.  It provides weekly prizes and information on rebates, location of where to find products and information on ways the products can help us be responsible in conserving an important resource, water.

Drip Detective - is a clever free app that shows exactly how much water is going down your drain from a leaky faucet.  The virtual interface allows you to tap your iphone screen for 3 to 4 drips and then it calculates how much water volume is wasted each day, week, month using gallons or cubic feet. You can also calculate the impact on your water bill.

TapWater.org app - denotes all the locations for finding free tap water in pubs and cafes in London while you are traveling. 

Water Your Body and Waterlogged - are apps for tracking your daily water consumption to insure health and maximum hydration.  You can also access tips and facts about water and human health.  You can set reminders and goals.

My Water Diary - is a free app that tracks your water useage for common household, bathing and activities.

Toobz - Free - an app that features two game modes for connecting pipes without spilling water.  Each level your time is shortened.

Flood Rescue - a free game app that has you maneuver your boat thru obstacles to rescue persons swept away by floods. 

FloodMap Mobile - is an app for viewing FEMA flood hazard zones on a Google Map, getting flood report detailing FEMA maps, information on insurance costs, how to connect with FEMA and insurance agents and property elevations from USGS. Tweet

An Out of World Experience - Freelancing and Time Management

Imagine you will be launched into space and you have been given an assignment to build a research facility and a place for space scientists to live on the moon.  You would definitely have to manage your time to accomplish this goal. 

First you would have to estimate how long it would take to complete the task.  Realizing that multiple trips to the moon might be necessary in order to haul supplies, you would need to set aside intervals to accomplish various stages of the project.  Just as an astronaut schedules stages of his mission, freelancers must outline and plan intervals of time to complete projects.

There may be unexpected obstacles that might delay launching on time.  One would need flexible hours to accommodate changes that come up.  Just as an astronaut learns to work under different conditions and surroundings, so should freelancers. Freelancers learn that not all jobs come there way on a 9 to 5 - Monday through Friday schedule, so it becomes necessary to have flexible hours.

The astronaut needs nourishment and exercise to keep up his endurance and well being. This is true for the freelancers as well. Scheduling time for meals, rest, family activities, and exercise is a vital importance in completing any mission.

Astronauts certainly work under isolated conditions.  Freelancers must also learn to work without multitasking too much and with as few distractions as possible; devoting time to finishing the project at hand.

Just as it is important for astronauts to maintain communication, it is also true for freelancers. They must schedule time for telephone conferencing with clients and time to send emails and updates for projects. 

If you look at freelancing projects as out of this world adventures, you will understand the importance of time management in completing those projects on time. Key factors for time management would include determining time to allocate for a project, scheduling deadlines, breaking projects into manageable time intervals, allowing for flexibility of hours, time for self, need for concentration, and time for communication.  Freelancing and time management go hand and hand.  Tweet