Yo. Terry G. (the G stands for Gangsta) hooked a brother up with a link to this hardcore rap video called Tea Partay. As soon as I filled my ear holes with the lyrical goodness I knew I had to share it with all my Bitches.

These videos were created as advertisements for Smirnoff, and after getting over 5 million views I’d have to say they did their job quite nicely! By the way, I’ll pay $10,000 to anyone who creates a Rap video for Woopra that goes viral like this! (100% serious!) :-)
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Have you ever been to the zoo? I was at the Dallas Zoo the other day, staring at the primates. Don’t worry, they were staring right back. Anyway, this big male gorilla, who had been sitting quietly with a couple of females laying around nearby, suddenly just got up and freaked out.

Now, I should emphasize, nothing caused this. Seriously. He’s a gorilla. There is nothing to piss him off. But all of a sudden, he got in a bad mood and started taking it out on all the other gorillas nearby. They are all running in fear, the people staring at them are freaking out, and I’m just thinking… you big, dumb ape.

Well, I expect that creatures who lack the ability to use a spoon might be wild and unpredictable. But you know what drives me crazy? Humans who do the same damn thing!
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I purchased the BENRO TRAB069 Travel Angel TRAB a couple of months ago, and all in all I highly recommend the little tripod.

This Travel Angel tripod features individual leg angle adjustments, anti-rotation leg design, a reversible center column with spring loaded weight hook, anti dust and moisture rubber leg lock grips, and reversible 1/4″-20 to 3/8″ mounting threads. It has 5 leg sections and a maximum height of 54.3″ with a normal height of 47.8″ with the legs fully extended.

However, what makes it so special is that the folded height is a tiny 13.1″ while still maintaining a load capacity of 13.2 pounds! This makes it one of the most compact travel tripods around, while still being professional grade. Oh, and at just over $210, it competes with the Gitzo GT1541T Series 1 6X 4S G-Lock Traveler which is much bigger and costs $535!
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I’ve seen a few decent writeups on the History of the Internet, but this short video crams a working history into about 8 minutes that anyone can follow.

Now, it will start using some funky technical terms like TCP and IP, but they introduce it in such a way that I think almost anyone can understand it. Give it a listen.

And don’t forget to check out The World Wide Web Circa 1994 and the “Ancient” Internet TV News Special from 1993 if you didn’t see those before. I find the olden days fascinating. :-)
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Colby Jones sent me the following image. After taking a close look at the home on the right I decided that I’m definitely going to be decorating my house the same way this holiday season.

For a long time now I’ve been hearing people predicting the death of traditional media (you know: television, radio, books and newspapers). “Old Media is dead! Long live New Media!”

This is 50% crap, but it’s also 50% true. And since I’ve been fielding a lot of questions about this lately, let me see if I can break it down for outsiders in terms that are a little easier to understand and have some actual logic behind them.

The real magic of “new media” has nothing to do with the people. It is quite simply all about the delivery mechanism.

An Academic Explanation Using Simple Economics

In any industry, the cost of goods produced are ultimately borne by the buyers of the finished product. So, for example, if the price of steel goes up, the price of automobiles goes up as well.

But imagine a situation where a radical new material is developed that costs 1/100th the price of steel, but which is actually stronger, can be made in an ordinary kitchen, and can be used to build cars just as well!
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I’ve got some really great photography gear, but I’ve decided that my hand-held shooting, even with a shoulder-pod and an image stabilized lens, is disappointing. I just can’t get the razor sharp images I want.

At the same time, I rarely have time to set up a tripod, even if I’m carrying my tiny little 2.5 pound Benro Travel Angel. So, I’m adding a Monopod setup to my photography arsenal. And the monopod setup I’ve chosen was recommended by professional photographer Yuri Arcurs (the world’s top selling stock photographer). The video that convinced me is below.

The main reason I am going with the Manfrotto 685B Neotec Monopod he recommends is because it’s the only one with a quick extension system. Watch and learn…
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I was watching a little TV today and one of the most spectacular commercials I’ve ever seen came on! It’s so awesome I just had to share it.

And now I’m going to go out and buy some Jameson whiskey because the commercial worked!
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Hmmm. As long as we are exploiting the children…

Here is Cory Elliott from Auckland, New Zealand getting his dance on to Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) (which has been viewed 75 MILLION times). By comparison, Cory’s video has only been viewed a paltry 4 million times.

Well, then again, Cory is only about a year old. So I guess we can forgive it the lack of attention just this one time. Even though dancing babies are all the rage. Though I do wonder… when Cory grows up, will he brag about this?
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About a week and a half ago Amber Mac and Leo Laporte were kind enough to have me on the net@night show to discuss Woopra.

We had a great time and they were very gracious hosts. I’m embedding the audio podcast from the show below, although we did do the show live and there was actual video demonstration taking place at the time. Needless to say Leo and Amber were very enthusiastic about Woopra, and we’ll be getting it installed on their sites very soon.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you skip to around the 35 minute mark you should jump in where I’m coming on the show. But you could also listen to the whole thing because Leo and Amber are actually entertaining. :-)

Last week Esteban Contreras had me on the SocialNerdia show to talk about everything under the sun, including Woopra, blogging, business and personal philosophies. Below is the embedded podcast for your listening pleasure, but you can also find all of Esteban’s show notes right here.

Thanks again to Esteban for a rousing line of questioning and just a generally good time! And make sure you subscribe to SocialNerdia as he does a great job creating unique and valuable content.

You know, people often tell me that I’m a terrible influence, and frequently warn me when I’m around the kiddos to watch my mouth. But I’ll have you know that I had nothing to do with supplying this kiddo with booze and smokes!