How to get more views for your vlog in youtube

This is specifically targeted toward Elizabeth. I didn't know YT had a 1000 character limit and I did not want all this typing to go to waste.

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I saw your comment on how to get more views.

1. Make it less than 3 minutes long. Your "Would you rather" video can be edited down to 1-2 minutes.

2. Create a outline of what you'll talk about.

3. Smile more. People like watching happy people.

4. Descriptions and tags are important. This is the main way people will find your videos.

5. Specialize in something. Liana specializes in being a creepy girlfriend. Lacie Green focuses on sex. VlogBrothers are into geek culture.
Liana: http://www.youtube.com/user/wzr0713/
LaciGreen: http://www.youtube.com/user/lacigreen
VlogBrothers: http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers

5.a. If you don't want to specialize, you'll have to be extremely charismatic and willing say something original like Jenna Marbles
Jenna: http://www.youtube.com/user/JennaMarbles

The examples above are videos that my GF watches, not me :)

I hope this helps you out. I don't usually send out these messages nor do I actually answer anything from my inbox (so please don't expect a response). But I see similarities between you and and younger me, the difference is that instead of making videos about my personal life, I keep a personal audio diary that I listen to two years after I recorded them. My target audience is future me (kinda sad really), but I upload insightful and brutally honest thoughts in another anonymous account.

I found your channel because I'm wondering how to spread the word about a new and separate channel I created. It takes about 10 hours of work for 3 minutes of video. I've already created 4 videos and am releasing one once a week. So far, I've had very few views on my first video, but I hope its popularity overtakes JawnMercernary by a large factor. I'm aiming for 100,000 views per episode, it will be a tough climb.

Best of luck with your channel.

- JM

Seagate GoFlex Pro USB 3.0 7200 RPM Disk Speed Test Vs internal 5400 RPM drive

Here's the result of the drive on USB 3.0.

For comparison, here's my 5400 RPM internal drive.

iPad mini and Twelve South Compass

Does the iPad mini fit on the Twelve South Compass? Just barely. Here's some photos.

11 inch VS 13 inch MacBook Air

Storage, computing, connections, battery, and size. I tackle these topics in the video. I'd also like to note that I've used both the 11 and 13 as my main computers.

Storage. 64 GB is not enough as a main computer you don't download any media or create media like audio and video. Keep in mind that an iPhone's backup take up a lot of space. 128 GB seems to hit the sweet spot right now, but I did have to trim down my media and photos. An external thunderbolt drive would be nice. If you're a content creator or a power user, 256 GB is a must.

Computing. I don't really care much about what the processing speed number is. I care weather or not its an i7 or i5. The i7 is more for power users and content creators while the i5 is for  normal users. Most non pro apps out there would run on the slowest processor speed for the Air.

Connections. The main difference between the two's connection is the SD card slot. It's very convenient, but that's all its for. You can always buy a USB to SD card converter. What excites me most is the thunderbolt port on both of them. My dream computer setup would be a decked out 13 Air, a Thunderbolt Display, and a fast external drive. This is a power user's setup and not necessarily a pro's.

Battery. The difference in battery life is from 5 to 7. This may not seem like much, but it was definitely noticeable. I could go all day with the 13 Air while I had to top up with the 11. I would like to see the future iteration of the Air lineup to have around 10 hours of battery life. I didn't appreciate the 30 day standby time until I sold the Airs. It's nice to just shut the lid and have pretty much the same charge when you wake up.

Size and storage are the main factors when choosing and Air. Through the magic of mathematics, I found that the physical properties like surface area, weight, and number of pixels rose by about 21% when going from the 11 to the 13. 21% may not seem like much, but it made all the difference to me. I was far more likely to open the 11 in the bus as opposed to the 13. I brought the 11 absolutely everywhere I went. While there were times when the 13 stayed home.

Overall, I'd buy the Air for mobility and as a second computer while the 13 has a good balance between portability and power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyefP3b9HkY

What Apple Laptop is Best for Students?

I've been trying to find the best Mac hardware for students for a while now. I've used several different laptops and desktops, so I think I'm in a good position to talk about them. I've owned the 13 and 15 Macbook pro, 11 and 13 Air, iPad, and iMac. The following are pros and cons of each device for a student.

The 13 Pro is the most popular laptop right now. I see this everywhere in my University. It's the balance of power, storage, and weight that makes this king. There's plenty of the power for the average student, and then some for content creator. This would probably be the main computer, so ample storage is key. The 13 Pro definitely has enough with it's hard disk drive, but the spinning drive is also part of its weakness. I see many people just take the MacBook and shove in their bag to go off to the next class. Moving the laptop while the drive is still spinning could cause damage to the drive. The 13" form factor seems to be just the perfect screen size and weight for a mobile student.

If weight is a concern, the 13" Air is the way to go. I think the 13 Air could, emphasis on could, be the new favourite. It definitely wins out on the weight over the pro, but it still falls short in some aspects. Its battery holds three hours less of a charge than the 10 hours in the MacBook Pro, and it's processing speed is just good enough to pass. The 13 Air's biggest shortcoming though, is its storage. 128 GB is not enough for the digital student of today. I say that the 13 Air would dethrone the 13 Pro because my concerns would be answered in due time. The processing speed, battery, and storage would only get better. Oh, and it's much quicker than the 13 Pro because of its solid state drive

The second most popular MacBook that I see is the 15 Pro. This is more for the power users and content creators. It's has more of what the 13 Pro has. More storage, more power, and more screen size. All this addition comes at a price, and I'm not just talking about money. The 15 Pro weighs much more and has a larger footprint. It also still has the same spinning drive that could be damaged during transit. Two side notes. First, I suggest getting the Hi-Rez version of the screen because it gives you more screen real estate to work with. Second, I predict that Apple would create dual boot MacBook Pros. This means the operating system would in the the SSD media stays in the HDD. Apple already does this with their iMac.

The rumoured 15 Air should also be noted as a possible student MacBook. If it does get released, it would have more screen real estate, longer battery life, more storage, and faster processors. This is still a rumour at this point, but this is what I expect. I also expect a fat price tag for such a slim device.

An 11 Air could work as a student computer, but it's going to need to be paired with an iMac or another computer. I don't think the 11 Air is quite there yet, nor will it be in the next few years. The 11" form factor take up the least space on your table leaving you with enough room for a Wacom tablet. The iMac would pick up where the Air is weak; power, and screen. This is an expensive combo, and I'd suggest buying refurbished from the apple store.

I wonder why the iPad isn't around the campus as much as it should. I think this could be the future of textbooks, but not until those textbook publishers start producing Apps and digital books. As mentioned, the iPad would be the perfect reading device, but not a note taking device. I like typing me notes and then annotating them with a Wacom tablet. The iPad can do both of this but only in a subpar manner. The software keyboard is no  replacement for a hardware one, and there's not enough detail on the touchscreen to efficiently annotate notes.

I like annotating and creating some notes by hand, and this is where the Wacom tablet comes in. It can be used to draw on notes during class, draw on flash cards, and it can even be used as a mouse. The unescapable fact is that drawing by hand is still needed today. This is specially true in math, physics, and chemistry.

The 27" iMac experience: Elegant, Wall Mounted, and Glare

I owned the 27 iMac for about a year. There's many reviews out there, so I think I'll talk about my experience with it. I'll talk more specifically about Elegance, wall mounting, and glare.

This is quite possible the most elegant computer I've ever owned. More so than the MacBook Pro and Air because we all expect laptops to be elegant and simple. The desktop on the other hand, is not elegant nor simple. The iMac totally changes that. You only need one cord for power. Everything else is wireless. I am, however, the type of guy that wants things wired specially if the device doesn't even more around much. This is true for keyboards and mouse. Why not just use a wire. It's not like you'll take the mouse with you to the kitchen or something. In any case, the computer is a work of art sitting on your table. Eye candy.

What if like me, you don't want your iMac to sit on the table. Why not wall mount it? Well, that's what I did. I bought a vesa adaptor (made by Apple) and a wall mount made by some other company I don't remember. Here's a few lessons I learned. First, read all instruction. All of them. Second, don't go cheap on the wall mount. I bought the cheapest thing I could find that can hold the iMac's weight. It was just a basic mount that swivels up and down. Why not just get the static kind? Well I had to make sure there's enough room in the back to plug in the cables.  After about a month, the swivel mechanism just gave up. The iMac was just looking down all the time, so I placed a cork on the back between the wall and mount to raise it back up. I wished I bought a stronger mount that swivels left and right. Even though the screen is rated for 178º of viewing angle, it would have been nice to tilt it to minimize glare.

Glare from my window was a bit of a problem. I looked at some anti-glare films to put on the screen, but it seemed like a crime to grimy that beautiful monitor. The biggest crime of all though is taking the monitor off altogether. No, I'm not talking about taking it off to replace the hard drive which in itself is a scary task. I'm talking about getting rid of the glass to get rid of the glare. Yes, this can be done, but I advise against it. You would get rid of glare, but the pixels, like little kittens in the cold, are now vulnerable. Touching them could kill them. It would also be tough to clean the dust off the raw monitor. Again, I don't advocate doing this, but there are those that do.

Mac Mini a year later: Monitor, keyboard, and mouse problems

I bought the Mac Mini more than a year ago for my mom. I thought it was a good buy because she already owned a monitor, keyboard, and mouse from her old windows PC. Overall, it did the job it was suppose to, but it had a hard time playing nice with the others. The monitor in question was an Acer 21". I've never had a problem with it until the mac mini came along. When I wake the mini from sleep, the monitor shows white noise. I'd have to turn the monitor on and off to get it working again. I also have a similar problem with the mouse and keyboard. Both input devices are from logitech, and there are times when the Mini doesn't even recognize them until I unplug and plug them back in. Now, these complains seem very small, but I did buy a Mac because of its ease of use. I love apple and their products, but I don't like how this specific Mac doesn't work well with non Apple gear. I expected more from apple.The easiest solution, of course, would have been to buy and Apple keyboard, mouse, and monitor, but I shouldn't have to do this. There's even an image from Apple.com of a Mac mini with non apple paraphernalia.

If I could go back in time, I would have bought the cheapest iMac I can get. Preferably something from the refurbished store. It's a complete package.