by Claude Pelanne at November 5, 2010.

Product Reviews

External Hard Drive: Formatting On A Mac

How to format an external hard drive on a Mac

I just received an external hard drive and needed to set it up.

For the record, it’s a Western Digital 2 Terabyte drive and I need it because my internal drive is full.

So I take it out of the box and see there is a power cord and a usb connector.

I set up the usb connector and hook up the power and boot up the iMac.

What I get on the desk top is a yellow drive icon for my new drive with the name “elements”. The drive has no functionality so I now know I have to do something but I’m not sure what that is.

I google how to format an external western digital drive and get to their site. With some digging I get some instructions in nano print; put them on my notepad and print it out.

I follow the directions and presto, my drive is now ready for use.

To avoid your having to do what I did, I made a video of the process, so check it out below.

But for those who prefer the written word, here is a short summary of what you should do.

Go to the Applications folder- I go to it through my finder icon on the dock
Scroll down to the Utilities folder- Click it.
Scroll down to Disk Utilities- Click it
Select the new external drive
Select Erase from the header menu
Select Mac OS Extended from the Format drop down menu
Name your drive in the Name box
Click the Erase button

You are done. The disc will be formatted and you will be ready to go.

I hope this is helpful. Stay with it , stay well and may your travels be prosperous.

Kodak Zi8 Pocket Camera Review

Kodak Zi8 Camera

Kodak Zi8 HD Pocket Camera

Just picked up the Kodak Zi8 and am having fun shooting hi def video with it.

Features

It has some nice features. In the production side, there is video stabilization. That comes in handy when you do hand held shooting.

There is also a facial focus function. Turn it on and a frame shows up in the viewfinder and focuses on a face in the shot. You can’t miss focussing on that special face. Not bad for a low priced camera.

The downside to image stabilization and the facial focus feature is that they use up battery power. So you have to keep that in mind.

Another nice touch is that the camera comes with an external mic input. That means you can use a decent microphone to record your videos and offer great audio quality.

In many ways, audio is more important than video. Most people can accept lower video quality as long as the sound track is good quality. That is not true the other way around.

The viewfinder is larger on the Zi8 than other comparable cameras so that is nice and there are four function icons the are easy to use to operate all areas of camera setup,video shooting and playback.

There is a macro lens feature that lets you shoot up close if you want to. That’s real nice if you do table top product shots which I do. So that is a nice feature to have. Just remember to switch back to normal shooting when you are done with the macro or you won’t get focused video in the normal shooting mode.

Accessories

You will need some extras to get going.

Memory Card

For one, you will need to get an sdhc high speed memory card. Make sure you get a code 6 or better. They come in 8gb, 16gb or 32gb configurations. I am using an 8gb for now because I am shooting short videos. It costs about $20 for the card. If you are going to do any longer form shooting you will want to 16gb for $40.

If you are shooting long form, meaning an hour or more, you are better off with the 32gb card for $80.

Microphone

You will also want to get a microphone. I get the audio-technica lavalier atr 3350 and am very happy with it. It costs $25 and has a 20 foot cable so is perfect for most stand ups.

As you move up the video chain you can spring for a shot gun mic and some more high end microphones when your business calls for it.

Battery Backup

The camera comes with a built in lithium battery that will give you about 40 minutes to an hour of shooting time assuming you use the image stabilization and face focus feature.

The way around short shooting time is to get a chargeable battery pack.

The one I got is the TekCharge Tekeon power pack. It is a rechargeable unit that has fittings for all sorts of devices including the Kodak Zi8.

You simply take the Zi8 charger cable, disconnect from the Zi8 charger and and connect it to the Tekeon and you get another four hours of shooting time. Not bad!

Conclusion

So there you have it. A quick review of the Kodak Zi8 and the needed accessories. If you want to check out this review in video, take a look at the video below.

Also check out the links to all the products in this review.

Kodak Zi8
audio technica lav
Tekcharge Tekkeon
Transcend sdhc card

That’s it. Stay with it, stay well and may your travels be prospersous.

Re: Tubemogul Account Disabled

“Your account is suspended for violating our terms of service. Common violations include uploading videos involving affiliate marketing, network marketing, cash gifting, multi-level marketing, phishing, or any videos that a reasonable person would consider to be a scam; spam, copyrighted content and pornography. For reference, here is a link to our terms of service…”

Got an email this morning from Tubemogul. My account was disabled because I uploaded videos dealing with affiliate marketing. The videos explained how to register a domain name, a review of a screen capture program and other educational information about affiliate marketing.

Read Terms and Conditions

Now mind you I had looked at the terms and conditions of Tubemogul and did not find a direct reference to affiliate marketing. In addition, the site was recommended by a program I am a member of that is as clean as a whistle, Thirty Day Challenge Plus.

So I was surprised to get the message. I went back in to the terms and looked for the prohibited items and found one condition. Item I stipulates that you cannot “upload, post or otherwise transmit commercially oriented content.” I guess that means affiliate marketing.

Lessons learned are:

Read the terms and conditions of what you sign up for very carefully.
Ask for explanations if you feel you might have a case. (In this case I thanked them for the email and told them I would move on.)
Research and find an alternative.

Now Tubemogul is a tool to distribute videos to various directories, all in one easy step. So it is a convenient tool to leverage your time.

The main sites I was interested in to distribute to were YouTube, Facebook (my commercial page), MySpace, Yahoo Video to name the main ones. I already had a tool to do that. But since I do a lot instructional type videos I wanted to give Tubemogul a test run.

I guess it depends on what you are doing your video for. If it is pure entertainment you have more options than if you are in the business of affiliate marketing, or so it seems.

So what are my options? Traffic Geyser is one. It is highly recommended across the board. So is Tubemogul, but if you are doing business online, I guess they are not in the mix. Some screen capture programs like Screenflow on the mac get you to YouTube and Itunes, as does iMovie, the video editing software that comes with the Mac. But automated tools do a more complete job of reaching more video directories that you might be interested in.

In a follow up, I will be listing more video distribution options as they develop.

In any event, what I take away from this is just learn from the experience and move on to focus on your goals and objectives.

One added point is to use the free options or free trial periods to test before you shell out the money for any of these products.

Remember just stay well, stay with it and May Your Travels Be Prosperous.

PS. Got an answer from Tubemogul. There is a condition prohibiting affiliate marketing material. But it isn’t in the terms and condition page. It is in the initial sign up page under the capcha box. I just did not read through it all.

Tube Mogul Capcha screen

WordPot Keyword Finder Tool Review

WordPot Keyword Finder

The WordPot Keyword Finder tool is a great piece of software to research keyword exact search volume. This offers the affiliate marketer or article marketer a great way to assess demand for a particular keyword and by extension, potential traffic that can be derived from a keyword.

The tool can be found at www.wordpot.com and is easy to use. You need to register but the registration is free. The free version allows you 25 searches per day and gives you one default list build to export to notepad or excel.

You simply type in your keyword in the search box and see the results come back.

There are settings you can select to see the keyword exact count for any of the major search engines and you can determine how the results show plurals, synonyms, related words that will give you ideas of broader keywords that may be relevant to your product or service.

For article marketers the returns will give you a great way of using relevant keywords that reflect interest and demand in your subject for the article.

All in all Wordpot is a great tool to add to your list of options and resources to research keywords and niches for your online business.

I use it on a daily basis as a way of getting started in my research activities and it has made my work a lot easier and effective.

Take a look and see for yourself.

May Your Travels Be Prosperous

MastermindPros Success School Coaching Club Review

MASTERMIND PROS Success School & Coaching Club

Looking For A System?

So you are online and trying to figure out where you can get reliable information to start an internet business right out of your home.

If you are like me it might take you 9-10 months of frustration before you finally come across a legitimate and reliable training and mentoring program. Not something the sends you a few cds or some download that leaves you on your own or posting to a forum, but a real time live training community where you get mentoring and a kick in the pants when you need one.

MastermindPros Coaching Club

Welcome to the Mastermind Pros Success School and Coaching Program. What is it you ask? Well it is a community based training program that uses live webinars to train people in several areas of Internet marketing and most specifically in affiliate marketing.

Daily Live Interactive Training

This means there are live daily training sessions, some in the morning, some in the evening, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. That is right, every day, often 2 or 3 times a day.

If you can’t make it live, the sessions are taped and archived for viewing later. Mastermind students get training on subjects like google adwords, yahoo search marketing, bing marketing, ebay power selling, copywriting, article marketing, landing page creation, review page creation, google analytics, seo, ppc, and more.

One crucial thing to understand. These are live sessions with interaction between trainer and students and between students themselves.

You can come in as I do and show the trainer your own work, whether it is ad copy, a keyword list, ppc campaign structure or article and get live feedback from an expert. No one offers this kind of service that I have found.

Remember you are doing this from the comfort of your own home, at your own pace and on your own schedule. So the responsibility is yours to put in the time and effort to get things done.

Home Based Business Mindset

This brings me to the next subject; MINDSET.

Frank Terranova, the founder of MastermindPros, will drive this home. You are starting a business, be it an affiliate business, a home based business, an online money making internet business, and it will not be easy. There will be moments of frustration and failure along with the high of seeing sales come in with a successful campaign.

It is all the result of your time, effort and dedication. It is also a matter of putting into practice what you learn in the classroom.

Sounds easy but it is like anything else, the more you practice the more you learn. What works for you may not work for someone else. It takes time and trial and error. But with the right guidance and feedback from trainers and fellow students, the learning curve can be shortened and the experience becomes worthwhile.

Most people will fail trying to make money online. Why? They expect instant results. They follow promises of instant riches. They don’t treat it as a business and don’t get the training they need. As a result they quit.

That’s bad for them. But that’s good for you if you have the benefit of a great training and coaching program and a community of like minded students to work with.

The important thing is to make the decision to be different and start a real business.

Benefits Of Live Mentoring And Training

What are the benefits of the Mastermind process.

The first is you lose your dependence on others and work at gaining an independence for yourself.

You learn to ignore the hype and empty promises that are so common on the net and focus on facts…and on building your own business… a real business that works for you 24/7.

Whether a beginner looking to get a smart start, or a frustrated internet veteran looking for a new online beginning, you can choose your own path to success. And you can accomplish this all from the comfort of your home.

Each training session is conducted in a state of the art online conference center. You choose to call in or use your computer microphone and speakers. This is home study at it’s best.

Each conference comes with time for questions and answers. So prepare and come in with your questions, data or concerns.

Learn what it takes to succeed at internet marketing and ask questions to help you overcome any challenges you come up against.

What is the pay off for all this effort?

• See yourself working flexible hours in the comfort and privacy of your own home, with no commute and no dress code.

• Imagine not having to beg for time off to do something so simple but so all- important as cheering at your son’s big playoff game or attending your daughter’s school play or going for medical care.

• Imagine taking your family on trips to places you never dreamed you’d see. (You won’t have to ask anyone for the vacation time, of course!

• Imagine being relieved of the burden of financial problems, so you can stop worrying and start living the life you were meant to live.

So there you have it.

As a member of MastermindPros Success School and Coaching Club, I have been through and continue to deal with the frustrations and trials of building a business.
But I know that I have a community and system in place that offers support and advice as I grow my business.

So you should take action and see for yourself.

If you have already been through the gauntlet of spending on expensive systems with little support, this will be an easy decision.

If you are just starting out, then you are lucky. You can save yourself a lot of time and money by starting here first. So take a look and sample a free webinar to see if this makes sense for you.

Talk to Frank, Ann, Gary or Jose and let them answer any questions you may have.

Just Do It.

May Your Travels Be Prosperous.

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