DemoGirl

CuePrompter is a service that will turn your browser into a teleprompter in just seconds. There are really only two steps – enter your script into the text box and choose the size of your screen and font. You can then adjust the speed of the scrolling text, reverse direction, and pause it.

This is something I can really use when I add the audio to my screencasts. I used it when I created this screencast and I was able to just read what I had typed into the prompter. Since I’ll probably be using CuePrompter in the future, I figured I should probably make a screencast showing it off. Here’s my screencast tour of CuePrompter:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 1m9s

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Working alone can sometimes make a person act a little strange. Seriously. There’s no one to talk to except yourself and your friends on IM and it can get very lonely. This can lead to very odd behavior. It can even make a person change their jacket 3 times in a very short period of time. The video below explains it all:

[dailymotion id=x43cao]

It looks much better here.

This blog is usually just where I post screencasts I create for cool things I find on the Web. You may notice that there aren’t any ads up and all of the screencasts are free to view and share. While I’d like it if I could simply get paid to find cool stuff and create screencasts to put up on DemoGirl, we do need to generate revenue in some way. The way we do that is with custom screencasts. Usually people find me after viewing screencasts I’ve created and posted right here. It’s actually pretty cool because the entire process is typically done via email sometimes without even a phone call. The Internet is really an amazing thing. I digress…

I recently did some custom work for ENURGI.com. ENURGI is a service that connects caregivers with patients in need of home healthcare. It’s actually a pretty great service. The patient and /or family member can set up a profile with specific needs and requirements of a caregiver. This includes things like disease specialty, preferred language, and even special certification. The caregiver can also sign up and create a profile so they can be found by potential patients and include what their specialties are, etc. ENURGI has already included over 1.5 million records of caregivers across the country. If you’re a caregiver, you can do a search and claim your profile if it already exists. If a patient finds a potential match with someone who has not yet claimed their profile, ENURGI will attempt to make a connection for that person. Everything you need to manage caregivers and patients is all included. There’s a calendar for scheduling, a place to send messages instantly, maps, and you can even create invoices and set up payment within ENURGI. Most of the services are free to use but some features may require a small payment. If you’d like to see what ENURGI can do and see what some of my custom screencasts look like, here are the two screencasts I created for ENURGI:

ENURGI Caregiver Demo
ENURGI Patient Demo

Disclaimer:  VPOP Technologies (a.k.a my paycheck writers) was paid for these custom screencasts.  I was not, however, paid to write this post about ENURGI.  It is, in fact, a shameless self  promotion but I also think ENURGI is a pretty cool idea. 

Mobile O/X allows you to create your own personalized domain where you can add all of your favorite websites that can be accessed all in one place from any computer.  The sign up process is very quick and a bit different.  It requires you to just enter in your cell phone number and then you’ll be sent a text with your password.  After that you can log in right away and change your password to anything you choose.  That means there’s no email verification required.  It’s extremely simple to get your page set up and you can add up to 23 of your favorite sites.  You can access it at any time just by typing in your personalized domain.

Mobile O/X also has a feature called TellText.  TellText allows you to create groups that you can send massive text messages to right from the site.  All you need to do is create a group and then tell your friends to send a blank text or email to the correct address.  After they’re all signed up, you can send out text messages to as many people as you wish, all for free.  They can opt out of the group at any time by simply texting or emailing “quit” to the appropriate address.  Here’s my screencast tour of Mobile O/X:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m57s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

InstaSaver allows you to easily create screensavers out of photos you have on your computer or photos from Flickr.  It’s pretty straightforward folks – Here’s my screencast tour of InstaSaver:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 2m39s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

Drop.io, a service that allows you to create your own private file drop spaces, has added a nice new feature called drop.io voice.  The service itself is simple – you can upload multiple files and create a private or fully collaborative space where notes and more files can be added.  Now, however, after you create your drop you’ll see a phone number with an extension in your space.  You can call the number at any time from anywhere, enter in your private extension, and record a message.  The audio file is almost immediately uploaded to your space as an MP3 file.  If you share that space or even just the number and extension with someone then they can also send voice messages to the drop space.  You’re given 100 MB of storage for free in each drop space which equals out to about 400 minutes of talk time.  If you’re not familiar with drop.io, check out my previous screencast here, although I did include a quick run through of how to use the entire site again in this screencast.  Here’s my screencast tour of drop.io voice:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 2m56s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

Not all screencasts are created equal.  What I mean by that is, there are lots of different tools one can use in order to create a screencast.  There are different types of software and applications such as Jing, Demo Builder, CamStudio, uTIPu, and what I use, Camtasia Studio.  There are also lots of different settings and effects you can use within those tools.  I decided to show you what steps I go through before, during, and after recording a screencast to end up with what you normally will see as an end product on DemoGirl.  This is not really a tutorial on how to use Camtasia Studio.  It’s more of a way for me to show you what settings I use when creating a screencast.  Hopefully it will be useful to those just getting started.

At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to record a screencast showing how I record a screencast.   Sound confusing?  Yeah, it did to me too.  Then I remembered that even though I long ago upgraded to Camtasia Studio Version 4, I still have Version 3.  So, I made the recording with version 3 but showed you all of the features I use in version 4.  Pretty nifty, huh?  Here’s my screencast tour of how I make screencasts for DemoGirl:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 7m49s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts

Remember The Milk, a task management and organization tool, is now available to use in Gmail.  First, you need to install it and then your Gmail account will have a “tasks pane” on the right hand side, next to your inbox.  You can add tasks right in Gmail and  and even add emails and Gmail contacts into the tasks as well.  For example, if you star an email, it will be added to your tasks.  If you add the appropriate label to an email, it will also be added to your tasks.  You can turn these functions off, of course, but it is rather handy.  You have the ability to email or chat with your Gmail contacts by simply adding an action in the tasks pane before their name.  I also went ahead and threw in a quick demonstration of how you can use Remember The Milk in your Google Calendar.  Here’s my screencast tour of Remember The Milk in Gmail and Google Calendar:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 4m27s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

Yes, it’s true. Sometimes the wonderful sites I screencast for DemoGirl have so many features that my brain gets overloaded and I miss some really good stuff. That’s the case with Eyejot. At first glance, it seems that Eyejot is just a video email service. Not true at all, my friends. Eyejot has some really fun ways to use their service, and I was notified about them last night in a very cool way. David Geller, CEO of Eyejot, actually sent me two Eyejot video messages informing me of what else you can do with it. Here’s a quick rundown, but I would suggest watching the screencast because the visual representation is much better.

• Eyejot This! Bookmarklet – Allows you to send Eyejot video messages right from your browser toolbar and post to Twitter.
• Pubviewer – A widget you can put on your website or blog displaying any of your Eyejot video messages you make public.
• File Uploading – If you have a pro account, you can upload videos from your computer and sent them to friends via Eyejot.
• Embedding – Using the URL alpha.eyejot.com will allow you to get embed code for all of your Eyejot video messages.

David was kind enough to upgrade me to a pro account and has offered a free pro account for a year (a value of 29.95) to the first 10 DemoGirl readers to sign up for Eyejot and enter in the code “demogirl” after clicking “upgrade”. Here’s my screencast tour of more Eyejot Features:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 4m27s

Want this screencast on your site? Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!

Eyejot allows you to quickly send your friends video emails using your webcam. After you sign up for an account, all you need to do is click on record and create your message. Then just select the people that you want to receive your message and click on send. It’s that simple. Recipients will receive a a preview of your greeting, which is actually a link, in their email and they can view it without any real hassle. They can reply to your Eyejot, but they do have to sign up for an account in order to do so. All of your messages are stored in your Eyejot account and you can easily go back and view them, forward them, save them, etc. There’s also an Eyejot widget which allows you to post a greeting on your website or blog and lets other people reply to it.

I came across Eyejot a while back and sort of forgot about it. A mention about it on Twitter this morning brought me back to it. Thanks Sean! Here’s my screencast tour of Eyejot:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m13s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!