Intense. & Incredible!

Wicked. Incredible. Tarantino Stuff. Nothing else to say !!!

Anyways, I now have two cool blogs powered by Posterous:

1. live.rameshkoneru.com – The lifestream link in the header of my personal domain is powered by Posterous.

2. Jokulu.com – A custom domain hosted on Posterous. Take a look and subscribe. Its fun.

I own a couple of other web domains, but never really used them because developing and maintaining each of these was a tedious and time consuming task. Posterous could prove otherwise.

Ok, now onto the Posterous story: Pre-posterous, Posterous and Post-Posterous.

PRE-POSTEROUS

WordPress

I use WordPress for my personal domain, and it serves me well. It had extensible, i.e., it had plenty of themes, was web based, was highly configurable, was search engine friendly, and even had plugins for almost any task.

However, posting to WordPress was time consuming, and sharing to social sites required a lot of fiddling around. You could autopost to twitter and facebook. Users could retweet or share your posts on facebook. But the process was never seamless. It required adding plugins, activating and configuring them, among other things. Most important of all, you had to wade through tons of junk plugins before you found the one you were exactly looking for. Those were the days.

If I were to develop and maintain another of my other websites with WordPress, it would take a good chunk of my time. And so I looked around for alternatives, and came across Tumblr.

Tumblr

Tumblr was neat. It had tons of cool themes, allowed autotweeting of new posts, and even had a “tumble this” feature (like retweets, in Twitter). I thought this was great, and so created a couple of accounts, and had each of these tumblelogs pointing to their custom domains. But somehow, I was not quite happy. Many things were lacking, and it somehow did not feel right. Facebook integration was lacking. Commenting was lame. Writing a post was not as easy as it should be. And in a way, it seemed just like blogger. Nothing great. Nothing innovative to ease my workflow. There had to be a better solution.

Chancing upon Posterous

Around the same time, I was reading the wonderful blog of Abinash Tripathy, founder CEO of Infinitely Beta. In one of his articles, he mentions how he and his former boss, Satish Dharmaraj built a kickass product: Zimbra and later sold it off to Yahoo for a whopping sum of money. I’ve been using Zimbra for a while and really like it, but never cared to know who built it and stuff. Well engineered products are rare in India, and so it genuinely surprised me that such a wonderful product was actually built by an Indian team, with an Indian CEO.

I googled Satish Dharmaraj, and came across his blog. It was minimalistic, and barely contained images, but the blog posts were great. And what intrigued me was the small yellow icon with a word POSTEROUS at the top of the blog. So I dug into it, and that was how I chanced upon the Posterous way of doing things. Incidentally, Posterous was funded by Y-combinator, of which Satish was part of (not too sure). Incidentally, Satish is an investor in Posterous. This was in the first week of December, 2009.

POSTEROUS

Posterous is simple. Dead simple.

Posting

Email stuff to post@posterous.com, and the contents are posted to your Posterous blog. You could configure Posterous to autopost to any or all of your social sites (facebook, twitter, wordpress, youtube, flickr and a ton of others). However, what’s great about autoposting is Posterous always does the right thing. If you had emailed a pic, it is automatically uploaded to flickr, facebook and to Posterous. Emailing a video would upload it to Youtube, Vimeo and to Posterous. And this in turn is posted to your facebook wall and twitter account, with a link back to your posterous blog. It might not seem much in writing, but in actual use, it is a terrific workflow.

You can also post stuff via the Posterous bookmarklet. Drag the bookmarklet to your bookmarks bar in your browser and you’re good to go. While browsing any page on the web, all one has to do is select all the content they want and hit the bookmarklet button. A window pops up asking you to add a comment, edit the post, and even select the autoposting services. Almost instantly after you post it, it appears on the Posterous blog. Now check your twitter and facebook accounts, and the link is already there. Wow! This kind of a workflow would take atleast 5-10 plugins in WordPress, and it still wouldn’t be seamless.

Posterous also has an iPhone app: PicPosterous which is pretty different in its purpose. PicPosterous allows you to live-blog pics and videos to your Posterous blog straight from the iPhone. As soon as you add a pic or a video, it is added to the upload queue. I’ve used it on a recent holiday trip and it worked great.

Drawbacks: Once you add a pic or a video to the queue in PicPosterous, there is no way you could remove it or reorder items in the queue. Because of this, I once had to wait until a 20mb video file was uploaded via my slow Vodafone(India) GPRS connection, before I could continue posting other pics. As the video had to be uploaded before I could add other pics, I ended up spending a hell lot of time and this effectively burnt a big hole in my pocket, via Data usage costs. Oops!

Sharing

Posts on your blog have a retweet button built right in(thanks to a tie up with Backtype). So, if you had added your Twitter account to the Autopost list, every new post is automatically tweeted with a link back to your Posterous blog. And visitors can retweet your post with ease.

Drawbacks: I wonder why Facebook share is not integrated yet, i.e if a visitor likes to share a post to his/her Facebook wall, there is no way he could do that (at time of writing). I wonder how Sachin overlooked this, as I remember reading somewhere that he was a big Facebook fan :/

Feedburner, Google Analytics and Social Comments

Adding Feedburner or Google Analytics is just as easy: Fill in the Blanks.

Awesome implementation of Comments too: visitors can choose to login with their Facebook/Twitter credentials to post a comment. While doing so, they can choose to share the comment on Twitter/Facebook. Excellent.

Random Ramblings

When I launched Jokulu.com in the start of December, there was no way to add contributors and make a group blog. However, Posterous launched this feature just a few days later, and I was so glad.

Posterous allows its users to use Tumblr themes: Killer feature. Somehow, I always found myself back to the original Posterous theme after a few days of fiddling around. Posterous felt so right!

POST-POSTEROUS

Posterous has allowed me to create a tremendous workflow. It is now very easy to post new content, autopost to other social sites, embed web content(via the bookmarklet), live blog pics and video from the iPhone, etc. No other service including WordPress or Tumblr came this close to addressing my requirements.

I must say I am really happy about this. Added to the wonderful workflow of Posterous, I’ve created a Mac automator service that allows me to email selected text or photo with just one click. And Posterous is rock solid with email. Wonderful!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Posterous is a fantastic service, backed by a fantastic team. I would like to congratulate each of the team members: Sachin, Garry, Brett and Vince for this terrific product.

The team is passionate about the product and it shows. I’ve sent many emails to them, and almost always, they are quick to follow it up. I browse the web reading reviews of Posterous, and I very often come across Sachin or one of the other team members addressing concerns in the comments section. It is this kind of micro management and obsession that sets Posterous apart. Posterous is the iPad of the future

I strongly feel that I must write another article soon: Posterous at the centre of my Web Universe.

Or will that be too much fanboyism?

Computing will never be the same again. Steve Jobs just announced the iPad, a personal computer/pmp/mobile device all combined.

The tech pundits as usual are quick to write it off saying “don’t need one”, “doesn’t have a camera”, “no multitasking”, “no flash”, etc. However, I strongly feel that it is here to stay, and that it will probably change the way we compute on a day to day basis.

The iPad would be great for consuming media – your RSS feeds, tweets, etc. Moreover, it is by far the best device for browsing the web, for email, watching photos & videos, playing games and of course – for reading books.

It is also very competitively priced, and those considering buying a first/second computer for their homes will increasingly choose the iPad over netbooks and PC alternatives. Microsoft – Watch out!

At the outset, I never guessed this book is going to be so sensational. The title of the book did not excite me, nor did I know the author. However, when I was told that the book was about Architecture, I decided I had to read it. It’s not everyday that someone comes along and writes a book on something as complex as Architecture or Individualism. And so I started to read.

A few choice quotes from the book

1. The opening sentence: “Howard Roark laughed.”

What a way to open one of the greatest books ever written. I think it shows everything Howard represents in the simplest of terms.

2. “My dear fellow, who will let you?” - Dean

“That’s not the point. The point is,WHO WILL STOP ME?” - Roark

3. “You’re too good for what you want to do with yourself.?(p. 62)

Henry Cameron tells Roark that he will suffer greatly because in spite of designing the most beautiful buildings, they will remain on paper and never be erected while he will watch mediocre others reap high commissions and glory because they are willing to copy the past.

4. When Toohey urges Roark to say what he thinks of him, Toohey presses the issue, saying: “Mr. Roark, we’re alone here. Why don’t you tell me what you think of me? In any words you wish. No one will hear us.” and Roark replies, “But I don’t think of you.”

5. “We don’t want any great men?I shall rule.?(p. 635)

In his lengthy monologue in Keating’s apartment, Toohey finally confesses his intentions. He wants power and in this effort attempts to make people into selfless beings, who in addition to altruism and excessive guilt forget how to be happy themselves. Since great people don’t buy into this philosophy and thus obstruct his path to complete power and domination, he wishes to eliminate them.

By the time I finished reading the book, I was so much in awe of the characters, the author’s perspective and deep insights. Also, this was a book written in 1938, and yet surprisingly stays relevant in today’s context.

Recommended Reading.

]]> http://rameshkoneru.com/blog/2010/01/25/book-review-fountain-head/feed/ 0 http://rameshkoneru.com/blog/2009/12/31/an-eventful-decade/ http://rameshkoneru.com/blog/2009/12/31/an-eventful-decade/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:07:14 +0000 Ramesh Koneru http://rameshkoneru.com/?p=698

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Avatar is a milestone in the history of Cinema, and James Cameron reminds us that we should settle for nothing less than the best. It’s people like him that push the human race forward, by taking on tasks that seem otherwise impossible.

This movie will be the benchmark by which all movies from now on will be judged. I will be writing a full length review after I watch the IMAX version soon. Can’t wait to experience the magic again.

UPDATE: I watched the IMAX version, but could not get myself to write a review. The movie was magnanimous, and well beyond my capability to express in words.

Just launched jokulu.com, a fun website to read and share jokes. You can subscribe to the RSS, follow on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook.

I will try and update the website whenever I can, but those interested in contributing can let me know.

Hav fun!

However, I recently came across an article by abinash tripathy, which makes for an interesting read and provides an excellent overview of the great Indian Media companies (and why they continue to fail on the internet).

Instead of writing a new article, I will be linking you to this wonderful post, as it pretty much covers most of the points I had in mind, and much more!

Check it out….definitely worth a read!

This is going to be a lengthy article, and hence I’ll be dividing the content into various subsections. The following article is primarily for Apple Keynote users.

In the illustration above, I’ve created a simple workflow that you could follow to create an attractive presentation.

SOFTWARE: KEYNOTE VS POWERPOINT

I would strongly recommend Keynote over Powerpoint anyday. Keynote is easy to use, faster to setup and gives fantastic output with minimum effort. Powerpoint is quite the opposite: it takes double the time and effort while giving half the quality. With powerpoint, you also spend a lot of time fiddling around with the software, just to get it working the way u intend to use it. If you still must use Powerpoint, all is not lost. You can create simple and good looking presentations by following the basic principles explained here.

PLANNING

Who’s your target audience, and what is the presentation for? This is the first question that needs to be answered. You’ll need to create variants of your presentation, depending on how and where you intend to use it. Refer to the last topic “Export Options” for more info on creating variants.

Scenario 1: You are presenting to a huge audience. Prepare a keynote. You’ll need a laptop/monitor (facing you, so that you can refer to the next slide)

Scenario 2: You are presenting to a small audience in the boardroom. Prepare a keynote and print handout notes(for distributing to the audience). You’ll need a laptop (facing you, so that you can refer to the next slide)

Scenario 3: You need to send the presentation across to a number of clients. Prepare a keynote video with dubbed audio, powerpoint and a PDF document of the presentation.

CONTENT PREPARATION

The content used in any presentation plays a crucial role in how a presentation shapes up. And hence, sourcing quality content could do wonders to the overall outcome of the presentation.

Quality Content: Use high quality icons, graphics, pictures and video. Sourcing quality content is the toughest part. This means that content has to be prepared well in advance, as quality takes time. Also, if required do not hesitate to buy stock photography/video, as these can be used to enhance the presentation visually, and can also be used for the rest of the project, i.e., project documentation, website, handout notes, etc.

Keep it simple: Use minimal text (with absolutely no bullet points), and lots of high quality images and video to get the point across.

This way, the focus of the audience is on the speaker, rather than on the display. This is important because most of the time, people make this mistake of using loads of text and bullet points in each slide, and the audience tries to read every bit of text on the display, while ignoring the speaker altogether. This is also why handout notes are sometimes required.

IMPORTANCE OF HANDOUT NOTES

While preparing a presentation, you might need to tell a lot of information. Instead of cramming this as text into the individual slides, you could put this as notes for the slide. These notes can then be printed and distributed to the audience. This way, the audience focuses on you, the speaker, and refer to the notes when and if required. These printouts can also be scribbled on with questions or as references to each slide, and can come in handy even after the presentation. Hence, your audience will have a chance to refer back to your presentation even after the event.

CONTENT INTEGRATION

Get a basic structure of the presentation ready early. This way, any changes can be incorporated early. It’s often the case that new or better content comes in very late, and you’ll have to replace all over again. So plan ahead, and try to avoid last minute changes. This does more bad than good, as so many things can go wrong.

ANIMATION

Keynote offers amazing animations and effect transitions. Use these selectively, and this can wow your regular audience that is so used to boring powerpoints. Also try and create a starting animation using after After Effects, if you are proficient. This could give a very good start to the overall presentation.

EXPORT OPTIONS

Keynote allows so many export options.

Powerpoint - This is the most commonly used presentation format. You might need a ppt version ready, when you are emailing presentations to windows users.

Keynote Movie – If you have the time and bandwidth however, you could alternatively upload a keynote movie complete with animations and dubbed voice over, for the end user to download and watch. A better and easy way to impress!

PDF – If there are not many animations, and if the content speaks for itself, this is the best and easiest way to export and email your presentation.

Handout Notes – The print options in Keynote allow you to create handouts with your presentation notes on it. Useful when you want your audience to take back the presentation with them for later reference.

CONCLUSION

Well, the topic is more complex than it seems. It all boils down to good design sense.  I’ve tried to outline the basic qualities required for great presentations: use of minimal text, high quality graphics, and the importance of handouts. If you have thoughts to share, use the comments below.