If you’re not familiar with screencasting, wikipedia has a helpful entry. Screencasting has been around since at least 2004, and maybe even earlier, but I just have gotten into it in the past month and I have a sense that it could be an excellent freelance business that has yet to really hit the mainstream. I wonder if in the future every software product will strive to present themselves through well-designed screencasts. I’d like to be a part of that. You can check out a few videos I’ve made that are public work product for Pelago, and I have a lot more in production now.

Introspection. Making a video under three minutes in length requires a clean distillation of the key ideas behind a product or feature, which can be very revealing when someone who isn’t as close to the product tries to do it. For example, sometimes I give more attention to certain areas than the product creators would like – simply because those are the parts of the product with a value proposition I can grasp, get excited about, and explain to others with confidence.

Engagement. Show instead of tell and even ADHD viewers will engage their brains actively for a short burst of focus, as long as the content is interesting and well organized.

Portability. Video is unbelievably easy to distribute on the web, and can immediately influence SEO for your product or product blog as well. Embedding video into blog posts, FAQs, and licensing it under creative commons can virally promote your product for free if the content is worth watching.

So far, this conference has been great. I’ve met a really diverse crowd of people (and not just geeks either) and I’m pretty blown away by the level of really human connection. The audience has remained engaged, and the enthusiastic and passionate speakers are a great mix.

How can you keep up with all that’s going on at Gnomedex?

Gnomedex Schedule: http://www.gnomedex.com/schedule/

Live streaming video: http://chris.pirillo.com/live/

Chat: http://widget.meebo.com/mcr.swf?id=QanRtCQrXr

Meet my son, a sweet and slightly neurotic 5 month old chocolate lab. He’s my companion whenever I’m in the downstairs of our house writing, reading, cooking, cleaning, and whatever else I do around here when I’m actually home (which hasn’t been that often lately).

In this picture he’s just finished chewing up a huge poster mailing tube and seems surprised that I’ve discovered him.

This morning I did something I’ve been needing to do for over a week now, I spent a solid two hours with my dog. Spending time with Rafe (who is four months old now) consists of cleaning up after him, scolding him for gnawing on my hands and arms, coaxing him to walk on a leash, protecting my coffee and face from slobbery kisses, and wrestling with him in the grass over a toy. I woke up to one of those rare mornings in the Pacific Northwest where the early morning sunshine is coming through the window in delicious golden beams, just beckoning me to get outdoors.

Spending time with my dog reminds me to slow down the pace of life sometimes, even on a weekday morning, and put my life and things that generate stress for me into perspective. It used to amaze me that much of a dog’s life is spent anticipating the return of its master, but as I steal peeks at Rafe when he doesn’t see me watching I actually noticed that he isn’t waiting for me – he’s doing dog things all by himself like sniffing, playing, and peeing. Ah, the life of a dog.

What an exciting day it has been for us here at Pelago, as the Apple app store launches on iTunes and people begin to discover Whrrl on their iPhones. I am personally excited because, as some of you already know, I have been without a phone for a couple of months and I will be ditching Verizon tonight and getting myself a brand-spanking-new iPhone 2.0

Come check out Whrrl and friend me! Even if you don’t have an iPhone there are lots of other ways to take advantage of Whrrl. Whrrl supports a lot of phones, and if you navigate to m.whrrl.com in your mobile browser you can find out which version to download for yours (it will detect what kind of phone you have). Another option, if you’re into texting, is to use SMS with Whrrl. And then there’s the “old skool” approach, to use the website.

One reason I love the website (over the mobile and iPhone app) is that it really takes advantage of the screen real estate a larger monitor presents, and gives you a gorgeous map loaded with icons that are relevant to you.

For all the different ways to use Whrrl, I think the filter is just so powerful. The filter I like most is the ability to say “only show me places that are open in 1 hour” so I can make sure a place is still going to be open by the time I get there if I leave shortly, but I don’t have to set a certain range of hours. I work on content acquisition so I’m damn proud of the fact that our ability to collect accurate business hours and happy hours is being exposed through this feature. The data team rocks! (just sayin’)

And about privacy, because of course people have been talking about stalkers. There is a combination of rational concern about privacy, but also a fair amount of fear mongering and anti-technology talk out there that I have a hard time understanding. In response to the rational concerns, there are robust privacy features that work. Period. To the other people, I don’t know what to tell them; I think a good first step is to take a good look at the Whrrl privacy policy and the security settings, because a lot of thought has gone into them. You will find that you completely control who sees your location in Whrrl.

The way I use the privacy settings in Whrrl is pretty simple: I only show my location to people I’d be willing to invite over to my house, and for my “internet friends” I just don’t share. It’s nice because it basically shows my friends all my other activities (reviews, meetups, notes and stuff) but it just leaves my checkins off their Whrrld feed. As I get to know people better, I can add them to the list of people who can see my location – and my goal is to get more and more people on that list because that means I’m making more and more real world friends. And, for me anyway, that’s what this is ultimately about – reconnecting with the real world with the help of technology. That integration between being tech savvy and also having a social life, that seems so elusive sometimes.

* Lil Disclaimer: This isn’t the official Whrrl blog or Pelago blog, this is just Danielle Morrill and all the opinions expressed herein are my own. I work for Pelago, the company bringing Whrrl to people everywhere, so I am biased. *

“You attract what you are.” – Warren Buffet

The first time I heard this quote was a couple years ago, in a lecture about Warren Buffet. It struck me as salient and I contemplated it, and since then it has come back to me over and over again in different forms, and has come to make much more sense to me than it originally did. There are many things I can say about it, but today’s reflection has to do with relationships.

I think the people you love (date, marry, family, friends) are mirrors to your own soul, to the extent that you are close to them. They help you see yourself clearly, as a kind of sanity check to your own introspection, because they are close enough to you and your daily life to see you fully for who you truly are. If they are selfish (which most people are, at least to some extent) then it is in their own interest to see you objectively, and to help you to achieve the character you wish to possess. To the extent that they are selfish, and wish to be with someone they can admire, they will be more and more objective, and through (kind) feedback can help you shape your life and self to your design.

To some, this probably sounds really strange. You might not realize it, but you are shaping yourself every day. Why are self-help books so popular? Why do we read beauty magazines, or take classes, or exercise, or solicit feedback from coaches, mentors, and peers? We want to become something, someone, and we aren’t there yet. In fact, we probably never “get there” – the people I know are always looking to improve their lives in some way. This aspiration to become more is a huge motivating factor in our lives. Sometimes I wonder if it is possible to go on living, or at least remain sane, without it.

What this all boils down to is that the purpose of our relationships is to find people who we admire, who help us to see ourselves clearly, and love what they see in us. My husband, immediate family, and closest friends do this for me – and I think it is the most powerful outside influence on my personal growth and ongoing endeavor to become more ME.

I’ve found a neat little trick for always having something to write about when I want to update my blog. Whenever I think of a new topic, but don’t have time to write a full blown post and copy-edit it, I can just write up a quick draft and save it to use later as the starting point for a post. I have started to use the tagging feature along with this trick to accumulate a lot of topics I want to eventually post on but need to do research or more thinking on. Just a little thing, but I think over the long time it will lead to higher quality entries in my blog and hopefully more interesting topics as well.

The author of the book Marley and Me, John Grogan, is definitely a kindred spirit. I started reading this book last night while winding down from hosting a BBQ at our house and before I knew it I was 160 pages in. I am a lover of dogs, and grew up with a succession of crazy labs, one bipolar sharpei, and blind and insane hound/mutt. Although the subtitle of the book is “Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog” it is clearly said with affection. Grogan and his wife, Jenny, start out very much like Kevin and I – newly married and ready to take on their first dependent. After reading about their adventures I feel less worried that we might accidentally kill off our “son” – they went through all sorts of nightmarish situations with their dog, many related to his fear of thunderstorms (which doesn’t work out well in Florida).

Our dog, Rafe, is doing well. We have to exhaust him daily with long walks, wrestling, kicking around the soccer ball, and fetching at least a dozen different toys. Yesterday he met a bunch of other dogs in the neighborhood and also my nephew, Matthew, who is almost two years old.

To see more of my book recommendations, friend me at GoodReads

I have been renting out our condo for almost a year now on short term leases, with great success. I feel like there are a few things that I do that make my job much easier and make my tenants very happy as well. There is nothing like word-of-mouth to bring in the next tenant, and I genuinely care about give good “customer service” as a landlord. Here are some things that I do that I think have been part of my success:

Getting the Place Rented Out

• Don’t just rent to the first person who contacts you. You don’t have to honor first-come, first-served, pick the tenant who you think you will like working with since you might end up seeing them a lot.
• Use a standard contract for your state on Google Docs to collaborate with your tenant on the lease agreement. Each tenant will add more new stipulations, but you don’t have to agree to them – just point out it is a standard contract and that you aren’t interested in hangling over legalese.
• Create a binder with all the information you went over in the walk through, down to the most detailed thing. Include the homeowner’s association rules, any contact info, and a list of all amenities and how to they can take advantage of them. Include the building’s emergency plan. Show this to all potential tenants.
• If you have furniture in your place and you’re moving out, consider renting furnished. Furnished places rent fast, and odds are good that your current furniture will not look as good in your new place.

Signing the Lease

• Opt for people who are willing to pay both first and last month’s rent up front, you know they can afford rent if they can part with this much money at one time.
• Make the security deposit fully refundable. People always feel like deposits are a scam. If you want to make more money build it into the rent price, not the deposit.

Move In Day

• Meet your tenant in person and do another walk through, especially if it has been more than a week since they signed the lease and took the tour.
• Introduce your tenant to the concierge and any other staff and help them get set up with any orientation they might need, and arrange for the freight elevator on their behalf.
• Leave the binder, a bottle of wine, extra keys and a handwritten note thanking them for being your tenant in the rental unit the night before they move in.
• One week later send them $50 in fresh groceries using a delivery service like Safeway.com or Amazon Fresh.

Maintaining the Relationship

• Always respond to their calls, messages, and emails within 4 hours and never make them wait 24 hours for you to take care of the problem.
• Stop worrying about your place, it will be fine and if it isn’t homeowner’s insurance and will covere the damage and their deposit will cover your deductible.
• Leave them in peace and quiet, to enjoy the space.

For the past six weeks I have been living without a mobile phone, as I await my purchase of the 3G iPhone. When I tell people this, they react like I’ve been sleeping under a bridge – they can’t believe I’ve lived without a device to keep me in touch with the world. The most common question I hear is, “Aren’t you missing out on doing fun things with friends?” and the truth is that my social life has been excellent this entire time. Thanks to Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook it’s still easy to coordinate.

I work for a company that builds software for mobile phones, so it really is a bit strange that I don’t have one. Pelago released the new version of the mobile application Whrrl on Tuesday, and I can’t wait to have it with me 24/7. At the same time, I am relishing these last few weeks before I go back to 24/7 connectivity. When I return to having a phone it will be vastly different than before, a huge upgrade from a Chocolate phone with Verizon… to basically a computer in my pocket all the time.

Even when I do have the phone I am not going to spend much money on a voice plan, all I really care about is data. I hate to answer my phone and I hate even more processing voicemail.