as i've found myself doing more editing these days for podcasts, screencasts, whatever, i've been using a mix of tools.  i've been really liking camtasia lately for most as it has provided me with what i've needed...after all i'm no professional.

one thing that it wasn't doing for me was allowing me to put overlays on top of video frames.  actually it does, but i was just an idiot looking for it in the wrong place.  camtasia calls these "custom callouts" and are hidden underneath the add callout features.  i wouldn't have thought to look there as all the callouts i've seen basically are used for arrows, balloon boxes, etc.  but nonetheless i found them and it does exactly what i wanted for my scenario.  perhaps it will add value for yours as well so i recorded a rough video (no editing, sorry for the audio and super loud keyboard clicks, i lost my headset, new one en route) demonstrating where this feature is.  it's useful for me, so i thought i'd share.  of course other video editing tools do this for you as well, but if you aren't a pro (or like me want the one-click, produce to many file formats) and have camtasia, this may be handy.

hope it helps.

i've suddenly (well okay, not suddenly, but now i've had the time) realized that twitter is pretty good at keeping in touch, especially at conferences, etc.  i wish that some partnership with facebook and twitter would occur.  i'm using both of them and wish there was only one place i could update my status that nobody cares about.

one thing is annoying me about twitter (and thankfully hasn't happened over at facebook yet ... at least with my circle of friends).  that is the one-sided conversation.  you know what i'm talking about.  the one where someone you are stalking following on twitter sends out a message in reply to a person you aren't following and you have no idea what it means.  here's an example from the last people who replied to me (names altered to protect the innocent -- note, i'm not innocent either...i'm just as guilty but am going to try to stop):

billygoat: @timheuer add more people heh

fuzzybunng: @timheuer: ever get to see them live?  the best show i ever saw was live

blippity: @timheuer business or pleasure?

as you can see, unless you were following the same people i was there is no context here, yet the messages were sent to anyone following you.  so what gives?  why do we feel the need to instant message the world of our followers with replies that aren't relevant or in context to them?  i plead with you, start using the "d" command...

now on to facebook... you see i never got into myspace.  i don't know why, perhaps it was the UI that just turned me away...i just never did.  but facebook i've been sorta diggin' -- probably because they have an API and the geek in me can't resist the code crack. 

but i did an expirement based on my research of myspace.  you see, in myspace i've learned (through my research with tweens in my family and neighborhood) that the 'currency' is friends.  even if people didn't know each other, there was something to be said about having 8 zillion friends on your profile.  so my curiosity got the best of me with facebook.  does this same currency exist in facebook?  would people accept me not ever have even crossed any relevant path in life and more than at least six degrees of separation even if there is any connection?  let the expirement begin.

i went about a quest trolling through friends of friends of friends.  i started to find a list of models (female) in los angeles.  perfect.  i picked about 5 of them (all with profile pictures that would make my wife question what i was doing on facebook -- note: she did.) and requested friend status.  within the day all accepted.  unbelievable.  i had never ever had any of this association with these people.  not even remotely.  i've since removed them all (sorry anastasia, it was fun while it lasted...was it good for you?) but am still astounded.

will social networks every be really valid and not just a breeding ground for trolls like myself?  how will we rid ourselves of this currency?  are friends the euros of social networks?

following up in part 2, we build upon part 1 of our demonstration of using user controls in our silverlight applications.  in part 1, we created our user control in xaml using expression blend and then wired it up in our silverlight 1.0 application using javascript as the code.

in part 2, we take the same xaml, but this time compile it into a managed assembly for consumption in a silverlight 1.1 application.  the result is that we now have a modular approach to reusable components in silverlight and the user control in managed code also affords us familiar implementation style similar to asp.net user control syntax.  rather than only relying on code, we can implement the control directly in the xaml using syntax like <mynamespace:mycontrol />.

the code for part 2 is found here: Screencast.SilverlightControls.zip.  as always, feedback and more suggestions for future screencasts are appreciated!

i just put up my latest screencast featuring a sample on how to create your own user control in silverlight version 1.0.  this is about a 24 minute screencast that walks through creating the XAML as a user control (not the primary focus) quickly, and then consuming this user control in a silverlight 1.0 application, creating the control dynamically using createFromXaml.

i also realized that in the screencast i mentioned that i was using the 'open as web site' feature in visual studio 2008 instead of just right-clicking the project in blend and choosing 'edit in visual studio' -- but then didn't remember to explain why :-).  here's the skinny.  in my sample i'm using the downloader object in silverlight.  in the release candidate of silverlight there was a change to the downloader disallowing the use of the file:/// schema for downloads for security reasons.  unfortunately in visual studio 2008 (beta 2), the default project type for silverlight is a file-based project instead of a web site project.  this will work fine most of the time, but not when you are using a downloader object (you'll get an AG_CONTROL_NETWORK_ERROR).  so because of this i simply opened the same project as a web site and all is well (because it then uses the built-in asp.net development web server for rednering).

this is a part 1 screencast, which part 2 will demonstrate consuming the same user control in silverlight 1.1 which provides us an added benefit in the user control model.  you can view the screencast by subscribing to the feed (located on the left as well -- the all option has ipod format as well).  additionally i posted it on channel 9.

part 2 will be hopefully posted later on monday.  the code for part 1 is associated on this blog post at the bottom.

Screencast source code: GlassButtonControl.zip

well, it looks like my efforts with facePhone were short lived.  i started out creating a better mobile UI for facebook on the iphone.  i was challenged, however as the API didn't provide essentially everything i needed/wanted, so i got a limited functionality, but for me, was fine (getting status updates):

well, the guys at facebook (presumably joe hewitt -- i actually contacted him about my efforts and never heard back...maybe this is why :-)).

i haven't tried on edge, but they are loading a lot of content there.  looks good though.