DemoGirl

I’m baaack!!! Hey, I know it’s been a while, but DemoGirl has been really busy. That’s a good thing for business, but not so great for our blog. Let me see if I can remove some of the dust with this post.

A little while back YouTube announced that it is giving users the chance to make some simple edits to ABU (Already Been Uploaded) videos. No, you can’t make major edits, but you can trim time off the front or back end of your video. You can also rotate, stabalize, play with color and add effects or audio. My kids dig the effects they can quickly add to their Lego and zombie movies.

To check out some of the simple things you can do to your YouTube videos, watch the
screencast below:

October is just about gone and my kids are already dressed in Halloween costumes and holding a vigil in anticipation of the beggars’ celebration.

Molly and I have hardly had time to look up from our computers since she wrote her September recap — actually, Molly did find a bit of time to escape on her honeymoon and left me holding the bag. I was happy to hold it for her, but there was a lot of work in that bag.

We are so grateful for the recent surge in requests for custom screencast and quickcast services. Below are a couple of recent projects that we’ve been given permission to share. I’m really going to try to squeeze in at least one “for fun” screencast on our blog in November.

Bizness Apps

Any New Books?

The original DemoGirl is very busy planning the wedding of the century, and she’s got a long list of things that need to be handled. One Web site she might want to check out is Divvyus — the site offers a simple application where you can quickly create a shared task list.

There is nothing to sign up for, but you must keep track of the URLs for your Divvy (as the lists are called). You’ll receive a public URL that can only be used to claim tasks and mark them as done. You will also get an admin URL where you can edit, add or claim tasks.

Divvyus might be helpful for my baby sister…um, I mean for DemoGirl to start delegating those wedding tasks.

To see Divvyus in action, watch the screencast below:

Envolve is offering Web site owners the chance to bring “Facebook style chat” to their sites.

There are a few different pricing options, as well as a free plan that allows for up to 5 connected users at a time.  If I understand the pricing correctly, any of the paid plans allow for an unlimited number of connected users but limit the number of monthly “sessions”.

I took the free plan for a spin and it was so easy to set up.  Just enter in a few items — like your URL — and then you are given the code to place in the html of your site.  The free plan doesn’t offer extras like real-time stats or the ability to customize the color, but it will give you a basic idea of how the chat could work on your site.

To see Envolve in action, watch the screencast below:

[Via: ReadWriteWeb]

Today I was talking to Molly and the subject of $100 jeans came up.  I really could use a new pair of jeans — two of mine have some major holes that I did not pay extra for.  I usually figure how many hours it would take me to work for a “want” before I decide to buy it.  Now I have another tool… The Real Damage.

The idea behind the site is simple — find out how much your debt will actually cost you.  Just enter the dollar amount you are thinking of charging and The Real Damage will present to you the potential cost of the purchase if you are adding it to an existing balance.

However, personalization is key — you can modify the default APR, balance and any additional money you’ll pay each month. If you pay off your credit card balances every month you already know how much you are paying for something.  But if you are adding debt to your debt, this tool might give you an idea of how high your mountain could get.

Give it a try… but remember it’s only a guide and I’m not a math whiz so I can’t say it’s 100% accurate.

[via:  lifehacker]


Are your kids getting enough reading time this summer?  Maybe your children would read more if they were featured in the stories.  MeeGenius! gives parents the chance to customize some classic stories — like Goldilocks and the Three Bears or Jack and the Beanstalk — and then read them online or on your iPhone.

You can add your child’s name or even change the story.  The classic tales have been modernized quite a bit — in Hansel and Gretel the witch is merely locked in a closet and there is no mean stepmother — but they might be nice for very small children.

The audio playback feature is what I like.  My kids love audio books, and on MeeGenius! the words are highlighted as the narrator reads them.    MeeGenius! might be great in the car if you have an iPod Touch or iPhone and you download the app.

Watch the screencast to see MeeGenius! in action.

[via:  go2web20.net]

The news you create at Paper.li won’t stain your fingers with ink and it might prove more interesting than what you find on your doorstep in the morning.   Plus, the newspaper can even be named after you!

Paper.li allows you to take all the recent links from a twitter user and their followers and turn those links into an easy to read newspaper.  The paper is divided into sections like articles, media, and photos.  You can easily share your daily paper — which is updated every 24 hours — or just retweet certain links from it.

The site also allows you to search for other papers — you can do a search on #oilspill and find papers that have been created related to that tag.

To see Paper.li in action, watch the screencast below:

[via: lifehacker]