What dSLR Does Veronica Mars Use?

While we're on the topic of digital single-lens reflex (dSLR) cameras, let's find out what kind of cameras Veronica Mars used on her CW show a year or two back.

See, I've been a huge fan of the TV series (one of my guilty pleasures, actually), and I have to admit, I was sorta impressed with that big-ass camera she slings around. Of course, it's fairly obvious that a set-up like that doesn't come cheap- but it made sense- since they run a small detective agency, it's all probably used for work.

At any rate, I've had a renewed interest in dSLR's recently. I figured that since I'm blogging professionally now (and full-time, I might add), it might actually make sense to get myself a better camera. By better, I mean, something that would be a step up from my handy 5.1-megapixel Sony Cybershot. So in an earlier blog entry, I actually did some homework.

Here's What I Found Out About Veronica Mars' Cameras.

Apparently, there's been a discussion on a VM fansite on Livejournal as to what kind of dSLR's were featured on the show. As far as we can tell, Kristen Bell's character had used three different cameras, all of 'em Nikons.

1. A Nikon D2H with a huge-ass zoom lens (possibly the 70-200 f/2.8 VR), used in the series premiere.
2. Then she also had a the Nikon 8800, as seen in an episode mid-season (of Season 1). It ain't no big deal, but a point-and-shoot that still has a lot of great features.
3. By Season 2, we see her wielding a Nikon D70 with the relatively cheaper, but still impressive 80-200 f/2.8D zoom lens.

Seems like a product integration deal for Nikon, but it's probably not (then again, they probably should have!). The fansite suggested that the show's director of photography, Victor Hammer (who might have a personal preference for Nikons) may have had a few spare cameras lying around, and therefore used one of his toys for Veronica Mars to play with. Nice.

You can watch the UPN/CW drama series over again on DVD, or just catch Kristen Bell on season 2 of Heroes, or as the omniescent voiceover on Gossip Girl, this time without the cool cameras. :)

Cheers, everyone!

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What's A Good dSLR for A Newbie?

Blogs and digital photography go hand-in-hand, just like Hall & Oates, Tango & Cash and Dungeons & Dragons.

I was at this one local bloggers' event not too long ago, armed with my trusty Asus EEE PC and 5.1 megapixel Sony Cybershot- my standard loadout pretty much wherever I go. Now when they start coming out with mobile phones that pretty much out-pixel your own compact digital camera, then I say it's time to get a new camera.

Incidentally, it was Fritz's Nokia N82 (yes, that's his phone pictured to the right) that made me realize it's really time to get me some new hardware. Juned had a hand in that too (a few months back), but the urgency was just driven home with the realization that my three-year old Cyber-shot can easily be obsolete in a couple of weeks. What? Oh, it's obsolete already? Well, so much for that.

So, back to our topic on great dSLR's for beginners:

In an article published on CNet.com.au a little more than a year ago, we get ourselves a helpful little look into getting our first dSLR. Sure, there may be better ones out in the market now, but when you know absolutely nothing about these babies, I'd say this article is a good place to start. In fact, I'm del.icio.us'ing/Digg'ing/StumbleUpon'ing it right now.


Why You Would Want To Get A dSLR

Maybe you don't have to. In fact, a compact digital camera (like my CyberShot) works just fine. But if for some reason, you'd want to take your photography to a higher level, then maybe it's time you start investing in a digital single-lens reflex (dSLR) camera.

I'm only geek enough to want to get into geekier things, so if you want to read up more on what a dSLR is all about, you may want to start Googling it up, or reading all about it here on Wikipedia.

According to CNet's Mary Lojkine:

An SLR is more responsive than a compact, allowing you to take photos more quickly; it gives you more control, so you can be more creative; and it's more flexible, allowing you to change the lens or use accessories such as flashguns and remote controls.

There you have it. Thanks, Mary.


Recommended dSLRs For Beginners

That same CNet article generally recommends these four entry-level SLR's, each has its own pros and cons, just like a Detour on The Amazing Race. But why these four? According to Mary,

...these entry-level SLRs are designed for people who are used to pocket-friendly compacts, the manufacturers have kept them small and light. Experienced photographers may scoff, telling you that larger and heavier cameras are easier to handle and hold, but if you're used to a compact, you won't want anything too big.

That being said, let's check out our four recommendations:

1. the Canon EOS 400D. The Canon EOS 400D ships with 18-55mm zoom lens. It has a 10-megapixel sensor, and it gives you great customization options with a wide range of lenses and accessories you can attach to it, depending on what you need. Has a good balance of auto, semi-auto and manual controls for you to explore as your skills improve.
2. the Olympus E-410. The Olympus E-410 is the smallest and the lightest of the four- great if you want to carry around less camera. It also comes with a 10-megapixel sensor. Compared to the Canon and Nikon, it comes with a better zoom range out of the box- with a twin-lens kit with 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses, or 28-84mm and 80-300mm in 35mm terms.
3. the Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 . The Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 also has a 10-megapixel sensor, and is a relative newcomer in the dSLR market, using the tech it got from Konica-Minolta. It has a built-in image stabilization option (whereas you have to get special lenses for the Canon and Nikon). It also has auto focus, anti-static coating and 21 compatible lenses.
4. the Nikon D40. Just like the Canon, the Nikon D40 also ships with a zoom lens, but only comes with a 6-megapixel sensor. Still not bad, and will still produce better pics than a regular compact, but you might feel you're lagging behind with this one. On the plus side, the Nikon also has a lot of accessories and lenses you can get later on, so in that regard, it's just as customizable as the Canon. That said, it's still a great transition camera as your first dSLR.


The Final Word

As far as CNet has presented, you have a good variety of transition dSLRs too choose from, depending on how you see yourself using your camera in the more immediate future. But here's what they have to say:

...it's a close-run thing, but for our money, the Canon EOS 400D has a slight edge. It costs a little more than the Nikon D40, but the extra megapixels will keep you happy for longer.

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. I hope this helps you out as much as did for me. Still, don't stop looking around and checking out other cams. There might be other, newer models out there that could be better than the ones presented here. I'd sure love to hear about it if you do find any.

Cheers, everyone!

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Blogs Give You More Bang For Your Buck!

Here's an interesting read on Abe Olandres' Yugatech: a blog entry on how advertisers might actually be getting a better return-of-investment on their media buy with blog advertising.

In a recent presentation he made, Abe compared the performance of ads on his blog (YugaTech) to four other sites that carries the same advertising: two news sites (which he designates as sites A & B), a forum (site C), and a portal (site D).

With this mix of websites, he stacked them up against each other and compared the following five attributes:

• Total Traffic Contribution. Percentage traffic share (leading into the advertiser's landing page?) from each site, considering the total combined online traffic of all five.
  
• New Visitors. The percentage of unique visitors on a blog clicking an advertiser's ad.
  
• Page Views Per Visit.
  
• Average Time on Site.
• Bounce Rate. The percentage of people leaving the referred site right away.
  

Here's what Abe had to say about the Total Traffic Contribution:

Of the top 5 referring sites, my blog (YugaTech) was the 3rd highest referrer with 19.33% of the total traffic contributed by all five. The first two were the news sites that sent in 39.05% and 23.88%, the forum site sent only 11.56% and the portal 6.19%.
To think that one of the news sites had (at least) 192 times more number of monthly pageviews than this blog, placing 3rd in terms of referrals ain’t bad at all. Too bad, I couldn’t get any click-thru-rates.

According to the blog entry, what surprised Abe more were the results of the other metrics: New Visitors, Page Views per Visit, and Average Time on Site.

New Visitors

Site A - 80.5% new visitors
Site B - 69.5% new visitors
Site C - 64.5% new visitors
Site D - 78.0% new visitors
YugaTech - 45% new visitors

Depending on how you look at it, either this blog doesn’t refer more unique visitors or visitors keep clicking on the ads more than once (which is good right?).

Page Views per Visit

Site A - 2.17 pageviews
Site B - 2.06 pageviews
Site C - 1.78 pageviews
Site D - 2.64 pageviews
YugaTech - 6.12 pageviews

Average Time on Site

Site A - 2.24 minutes
Site B - 2:38 minutes
Site C - 1:35 minutes
Site D - 3:07 minutes
YugaTech - 10:17 minutes

It only means one thing — the blog drives more quality traffic because they actually use the referred site more. The figures above shows us 3 to 5 times more site usage by visitors coming from the blog.

Lastly, Abe shares a little more about Bounce Rates:

Site A - 60%
Site B - 60%
Site C - 75%
Site D - 56%
YugaTech - 34%

Bounce rates indicate the percentage of people leaving the referred site right away. So the lower the bounce rates, the better since it means visitors are sticking to the site. Here’s two words to describe that — targeted traffic.

Now that's interesting- more compelling reasons for just about any company to invest more in blogs- for quality content that hits your targeted market segment! Abe's final word on the subject matter (for now):

I do not know how much advertising money was spent on all the 5 sites (including this blog) but from the limited data I gathered, this blog only got around 2% of the total ad spendings (I’m pretty sure it’s lower).

If we just go by the raw number of visitors, spending 2% of your ad budget to get 19% of the traffic (and high quality traffic at that) is a great ROI.

The hard numbers above will show you that blog advertising has a much higher Return of Investment (ROI). So next time you’re thinking of doing online advertising, do consider blogs in your budget. =)

Thanks for that highly informative post, Abe. You can check out more on him on YugaTech.com, for more of Technology news and reviews in the Philippines.

Hope you all found that useful as much as I did. Cheers, everyone!

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Podcasting: Fun with Digital Audio and Video.

Technology today has come to a point that user-generated content is now a very easy and cost-effective effort. Anyone with a PC, an internet connection can have a blog these days. Got a digital camera? Put up a photo-blog! If you have basic audio-video equipment, you can have your own series of viral videos and podcasts, if you feel like it.

As a dude who's been in radio for the past 14 years, it's supposed to be a natural transition of sorts, going from a show on an actual FM radio station to doing something along the lines of New Media- specifically, a podcast.

According to Wikipedia:

A podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers. The term "podcast", like "broadcast", can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The term podcast should not be used to describe individual files. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

These days, anyone can have his own radio show on the internet- you can say whatever you want, put whatever content you like, without the restrictions of having to deal with the management of a radio station. Heck, you don't even have to be connected with a radio station!

Whether you're just a regular dude with a desire to speak out and share your knowledge on particular subject matters, or a small business looking for a great new way to promote yourself, then you might want to consider podcasting- which is what I'm considering now.

I've been looking into having my own series of podcasts- and man, there are just so many things you can talk about! Just in the same way you can put up a blog on just about anything, really. Only that a podcast is media in spoken word format, usually on mp3, while a blog is written for all to read.

Here's what I have so far: my current favorite site is this really useful Podcasting News. I say it's a good place to start, for anyone who wants to at least listen to a few podcasts, just to have an idea. Since last Friday, I've been listening to a number of em- some good, some bad. Look to the sidebar on the left side of the Podcasting News website, and you can find some recommendations.

Also, on top of news in the world of podcasting, they also have features and resources to help you on your way. Definitely a great place to start, if you ask me.

Other great reads on podcasting:

• The Creative Commons' Legal Guide To Podcasting. Might as well make it legitimate, right?
• Podcast.net has a whole LOT of podcasts for you to go through. Pick a subject matter and give it a go! Alternately, you can check out Podcast Alley, or Pageflakes' Mother of all Podcasts.
• Another great site for beginning podcasters here, on K12 Handhelds. Also, check out O'Reilly while you're at it.
• If you have time, you may also want to check out Podcasting Tools for some more detailed info on gear, directories and even trade shows on podcasting.

So there you have it- hope this helps you as much as it does for me. Let me know how that podcasting project of yours comes along. I'll post the links to my own podcasts once I have enough content.

Cheers everyone!

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Blogs and Blogging: New Media for SME's

One of the biggest challenges I've noticed, is getting a traditionally set-up Small- or Medium-sized Enterprise to get into New Media. A lot of SME's (particularly here in the Philippines, for example) are family-owned, and therefore is run by the family, with the patriarch/matriarch right on top of things.

For a variety of reasons, these SME's haven't quite picked up on the idea of using New Media to market their business- they might feel that whatever little resources on hand might be better allocated on more lucrative activities. Or maybe there's just a pervading atmosphere of technophobia, or maybe management just doesn't care at all.

Unless of course, you have a say on using New Media for your company's marketing communications efforts- then hey, good for you.

At a time when businesses are struggling with the rising costs of traditional media (TV, radio, print), and the proliferation of other avenues for promotion (events, outdoor media, etc.), at a time when there is just so much ad clutter, and at a time your audience is more averse to being advertised to, what's a Small Business to do?

This is where New Media comes in. It is way, way cheaper than traditional media, and if you use it right, it can be the most effective online tool for you and your growing business.

YouTube is such a massive online hit- so why not make a series of viral videos instead of an expensive TV commercial? Podcasts are the new radio- and you can talk about whatever you like, and even have your own show. Blogs take the place of magazines and newspapers- with loads of informative, entertaining or even scandalous posts that can launch full-blown discussion threads when written well.

Blogging for Small- to Medium-sized Enterprises.

I've picked up quite a bit of information on the subject matter- through my own experiences as a marketing exec, through my interaction with other blogs and bloggers, and attending these highly informative workshops on blogging.

Jayvee Fernandez, general manager of The Blog Bank and channel editor for b5Media, has given a particularly thought-provoking talk in one such workshop not too long ago.

He's pointed out a number of reasons why growing businesses should get into blogging:

1. Blogging is way more cost-effective than traditional media.
2. A well-executed blogging campaign can easily quantify word-of-mouth marketing.
3. Blogs give us access to honest consumer feedback.
4. Here's a good one- bloggers are more passionate than your entire marketing team.
5. Bloggers are self-aware and are concerned with their own development.
6. A new wave of SME's are already doing it- so isn't it about time your company should too?

Definitely worth a closer look, don't you think? I'll use the rest of the weekend to dig deeper into the subject matter.

So what do you think? Don't you think it's time to hop on the blogging bandwagon?

Cheers, everyone!

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Blogs Make For Great Business!

More than ever, companies are looking for more cost-effective ways to promote themselves. Traditional means of advertising are alright- but modern-day marketing practices say that there are so much more non-traditional ways to get that brand message across, and cut through all the ad clutter.

As somebody who does IMC for a living- what Jay Conrad Levinson preaches in his book, "Guerilla Marketing", is pretty much spot on: no single advertising medium works on its own, but marketing combinations work.

And here's something that can synergize very well with just about any promotional campaign you have on hand: blogs.

Blogs are the new magazines, newspapers and books; thanks to more easily accessible (read: free!) user-friendly publishing tools such as Blogspot (which hosts this particular blog), Wordpress, LiveJournal, and so many others, anyone with a PC, and internet connection, and a desire to share anything can now be author, publisher and editor.

Just like FM radio, it easily synergizes with just about anything- of course, one huge advantage is that New Media (blogs included) costs so much less than traditional media. Plus, blogs are paperless. And I'm for anything that uses less paper. Much less paper! Save the environment, everyone!

Which is why blog networks are all the rage these days- we've seen a number of them come up over the past couple years: b5Media, Weblogs, Inc., The DailyPixel Network, Know More Media, Creative Weblogging, Content Quake, and locally, here in the Philippines, The Bayanihan Blog Network.

In fact, now's a great time to start blogging- just check out all the job listings here on Problogger jobs, or you can go ahead and just Google it. You'll find lots of jobs out there if you're considering a career as a pro-blogger. Go ahead and pick some, why dont'cha?

The BlogBank is the Philippines' first blog advertising network- it's so new, they've just launched this week. If you check out their webpage, they have this to say:

The largest circulating newspaper in the Philippines produces 250,000 copies a day. Assuming a pass–on rate of 3 per copy, a newspaper ad gives you 750,000 impressions.

BlogBank gives you one million ad impressions.

This is great news for Advertisers- particularly those targeting the internet-friendly Philippine market. Also great news for publishers- those who blog- because it means that there's actually a market out there for quality content and quality blogs.

So keep on blogging! If you're someone who just started getting into the blogging lifestyle- it pays off (at least it can, eventually), as long as you're passionate about sharing your thoughts and your experiences, even more so if you write well, and write regularly.

If you're running a business, you now have something new to consider when developing your promotional campaigns for the next several months- now is also the time to maybe get into blogging yourself; start putting up your own corporate blog and attach it to your website, and see how much it can do for your business.

See you around in the blogosphere! Cheers, everyone!

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Improving Your Writing Style

I've recently blogged about the sorry state of English among the vast majority of bloggers in the Philippines in another blog of mine.

I suppose that's one of the reasons why we tend to just choose a small number of blogs we keep coming back to, even if we've seen dozens or even hundreds of other bits of online work.

Remember that as bloggers, we are responsible for developing ourselves. We're author, publisher, editor and reviewer all rolled into one. Responsible blogging does call for an active desire to communicate as clearly as possible. You probably don't have to be a Palanca awardee like Butch Dalisay, but just good enough to at least have your own style and get your message across.

Here are some tips to improve your writing style as a blogger.

1. Read. Seriously, when was the last time you picked up a book? It's OK to read other blogs, a newspaper, or even a magazine- but there's something about an offline piece of hardcopy reading that focuses your attention right at it. Right now, I'm reading Jay Conrad Levinson's Guerilla Marketing- it's some really great stuff, especially if you're in the marketing business.

2. Write, and Keep Writing. The best writers had to start out somewhere- their writing skills weren't genetically engineered, or hardwired into their system. Just like any other skillset, you gain more proficiency the more you use it. There also has to be an active effort to improve your writing style- thus the importance of reading- because you'll need to draw inspiration from people better than yourself.

3. Interact With Others. You gain a lot through interaction. And it's really all about building relationships with others. We continue to learn through constant interaction. That book you read? That post you just wrote? Share it with others! Allow others to react to your work, or to your style of work.

4. Go Offline Too! You do realize there's a world out there, right? Live in it. Experience new things, and find new things you can be passionate about. Join others who share the same passion you have. And it's just so easy to write about things you deeply care about. Besides, it also makes for lots of great pictures!

What other tips can you share to help others develop a better writing style?

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Get It Together with PageFlakes!

Man, I love Pageflakes! I've been at it since I discovered it last Friday when Andrian Lee of AsiaPay mentioned it at the Corporate Communications 2.0 Workshop at the Asian Institute of Management. Thanks, Andrian. I've only started to appreciate RSS feeds recently, and Pageflakes only makes it a lot more appealing.

Here's the deal: Pageflakes allows you to get all your favorite blogs and websites all together on one page, by the power of RSS feeds. In my case, I've used it to make my own homepage where all my favorite blogs are up there, headlines and updates ready to be read as soon as I fire up my Firefox browser.

Each blog or website comes in a little module that you can move around, depending on how you want your page laid out. Pageflakes also has a variety of all kinds of additional widgets- from task-lists to news services to add-ons of your favorite social media applications. The page is customizable, so you can go ahead and choose whatever look you want.

If you're a little bit more obsessive-compulsive, you may want to organize your interests a bit- by creating separate pages of whatever fancies you. Currently I have pages for:

• My personal stuff- where I keep tabs of my own blogs, Facebook, Multiply, Twitter, Technorati, etc. I call it Renzie's Flaix!
• The Blogosphere- where I check out other friends' and other people's blogs.
• Work-Life Balance- for effective and worry-free everyday living, so among other sites I have here Lifehacker and LOLCats- LOLZ!
• Fun with New Media- everything on blog-building, search engine marketing, podcasting, vlogging, RSS feeds is right here.
• All About Business- is just about that: marketing and management, e-commerce, outsourcing. Serious stuff which I find fun.
• Make Money Online- my quest for financial independence begins here! Favorite sites include ShoeMoney and Dosh Dosh.
• Personal Geekness- is rather self-explanatory. Here's where I have Engadget and Kotaku. I plan to fill this up with all things gaming, tech and geeky. Good fun.
• Entertainment- still have to fill this up with my favorite updates on the TV, film and music front.
• Philippines + Tourism- a future project in the works. This is where I'll keep an eye out on great stuff already written about the Philippines- where to go, what to check out, what to eat, etc.

Of course, I can make any other page I feel like later on- and share it with the world! Pageflakes gives you the option to "pagecast", or share your page to everyone else. So whenever you feel like it, you can go right ahead and check out other people's pages as well.

Which I haven't done just yet. Yesterday morning and last night were spent toying around with the options, filling up a profile and yeah, plugging in all those RSS feeds in whatever page I've created. And there's still so much to discover. Probably wouldn't be the new Facebook, but I like it for its functionality and convenience.

Lemme know if you're on Pageflakes too. Let's add each other up and check out our pagecasts.

Cheers, everyone!

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Who Are The Bloggers In Your Neighborhood? (2008)

Ever since I started blogging seriously (which was last October or November), I always made it a point to learn as much as I can about blogging and blog-building. Of course I can always pick up a book, or soak up on as much as I could from online sources, but I thought it would be a good idea to learn from some of the more established bloggers.

After all, they were newbies too at some point, right?

Besides, this makes for a great opportunity to meet the people behind the blogs, as well as a chance to do some serious networking.

So since then, I've taken an active effort to attend as many blogger events as I possibly could: like the one at Kape Isla with the good people of b5media, the Bloggers' Food Tour at TriNoma, the HappySlip event of Yehey.com, and this more recent Bloggers' Night with Delifrance at their cafe near Citibank Pasong Tamo.

What's interesting when meeting with bloggers is that oftentimes, they blog about stuff so totally off their current occupation- a doctor can be totally into photography, a lawyer into cooking, a country consultant into organizing weddings, even a mom into the latest in technology.

It is through blogs that bloggers live out their frustrations and fantasies. And it's all good on the blogging front- you can establish your authority easily with a well-positioned, well-conceived, well-put-together blog.

Which brings us to the point of this segment. "Who Are The Bloggers In Your Neighborhood?" aims to showcase all our new blogger friends- get to know them better, and hopefully learn a thing or two from them.

If you have someone in mind you'd like to feature, or if you want your blog to be featured, do let me know. And drop on in from time to time to see who we have featured here.

Cheers, everyone!

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