Tony Pinto

This was a quick test to see whether YouTube’s Annotations actually appear in videos that are embedded into other web sites.

They do.

So for anyone looking for an easy way to watermark YouTube videos without getting into video production or buying a one-off piece of software, this is probably a good solution.

Here’s a screenshot showing the annotation on the video embedded in my blog:

Using YouTube Annotations to Watermark Videos

Since Annotations are just an overlay on top of the videos (I think), web savvy individuals can probably get around this by downloading the YouTube video and uploading it to another video streaming service. And it happens all the time.

However, if you aren’t too concerned about it and you would just like to include a link to your blog or some other information (or add some “pop up humor” to your videos), YouTube Annotations can be a really fun and easy way to do it. You have some control over the size, shape, and color of the annotations, as well as the duration and some other aspects.

You can also create an annotation that links back to YouTube page (channel), where you can encourage people to subscribe to your videos. Just be careful about using arrow-shaped annotations to point to the Subscribe button, since the button won’t be present if your video is embedded on someone else’s blog or web site. Instead it might be pointing to an advertisement or other unrelated link.

Annotations are really easy to create. Once you are logged into YouTube, click on My Videos > Annotations and read the brief instructions. It might take a little bit of experimenting to find something you like, but the results could be very powerful, especially if you have a lot of “fans” showing off your videos. It even works on Facebook!

YouTube Annotations on Facebook

You can also create Captions for people with disabilities. But this post is already long enough…

Tony Pinto Social Media Blogging, Facebook, video, watermark, WordPress blog, YouTube

Here’s another great video highligting the benefits of social media marketing for BUSINESS. Yes, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are for more than just killing time and sharing photos of your nephew’s new cat.

Tony Pinto Social Media Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, YouTube

Anyone who questions the power and purpose of Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Ning, and others should watch this video. Period.

Any questions?

Tony Pinto Social Media Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media Marketing, Twitter, YouTube

As much as I love Google Apps, my MacBook Pro, and the thought of going 100% commercial open source, I’m still very loyal to Microsoft (as are many of the folks that I do work for). So it’s important that I stay current on the latest MS applications, including Windows 7.

A good friend and fellow IT consultant at Sureteq had been encouraging me to get a Microsoft TechNet subscription for quite some time… so I finally did.

For those who don’t know, a TechNet subscription allows you to download full versions of ANY Microsoft software for “evaluation” purposes. The theory is, the sooner the IT community goes out and tries this new software, the sooner they will feel comfortable rolling it out into their organizations. It’s a good model.

The subscription also comes with two Microsoft troubleshooting tickets (which more than covers the cost of the subscription) and access to forums and other valuable resources.

There are two types of subscriptions: download only and DVD. My recommendation (for newbies) is to skip the DVDs and just go with the download only option. You’ll save a couple hundred dollars by downloading and burning your own ISOs.

OK, so this post was supposed to be about Twitter, right? Well, it is. And here’s why…

In the past, I’ve always done a quick Google search for promo codes whenever I purchase something online. Sometimes you get lucky, assuming the forum you found isn’t too dated. Most of the time, you have to try quite a few codes before you finally find one that works.

Yesterday I discovered that Twitter is a great way to search for promo codes because the results are nearly REAL-TIME. That means the older stuff if filtered out. As soon as someone posts something that works, it’s almost immediately available in Twitter’s search engine.

Here you can see I searched for “technet promo code” and actually got a promo code from Microsoft TechNet France. I don’t care what language it is, those 7 magical little characters (TNWIN7L) saved me $100 bucks!

Find online discounts using Twitter's search

After Tweeting about my good fortune, a friend turned me onto this site: CouponCabin.com. It looks like a great resource, and there are many others like it.

Try searching for other discounts on Twitter and share whatever you find in the comments below. As for me, I’m off to install Windows 7…

12/1/09 update: Got $50 off an annual subscription to Lynda.com, the BEST online training resource for creative professionals.

Tony Pinto Social Media Apple, Macbook, Microsoft, online discounts, promo codes, Twitter, Windows 7

I can’t believe all of the incredible tools available for bloggers these days. I just downloaded WordPress 2 for the iPhone, and wrote this post ON my phone.

OK, so it took waaaaaay longer to do it this way, and I know people have been doing this for a while, but it’s my first time so I’m feeling quite empowered.

I also just realized that this allows people to blog from virtually anywhere. Including places like the bathroom. Cool. I mean, gross!

But still, it’s pretty amazing considering that 10 years ago most people didn’t even have cell phones.

P.S. I later edited this post and added the screenshot using a web browser.

Tony Pinto Social Media Blogging, iPhone, Social Media Marketing, WordPress blog

OK, so I realize these first couple of posts aren’t going to be the most interesting. I just need some content to start populating my WordPress database, so I can see what this particular WordPress theme looks like.

I found a nice Twitter Plugin on WordPress.org, which I installed and hooked up to my personal Twitter account (@tpinto3). Nothing really exciting happening over there either (not yet, anyway), but you have to start somewhere, right?

Now I’m looking for just the right skin. The default “themes” that came with the latest WordPress install were OK, but I’ve seen some really slick stuff out there, and not all of it is custom development. In fact, there are over 1,000 FREE WordPress skins that you can download and freely use.

Amazing! You just have to be slightly technical enough to get the files in the right place. Need help? Let me know. (Scratch that. I just discovered that you can search for and upload/install themes from within WordPress itself. Nice!)

You can also sometimes find out where someone got their theme by scrolling to the bottom of their blog and looking for the “powered by WordPress” link, along with the name of the theme that is currently applied. For example:

And if you click on either the name of the theme, or the designer’s name, you’ll typically be taken to some place where you can get the theme for next to nothing (often even free!).

Well, that’s about enough for today. I guess there were a few nuggets in there. Who knows, maybe I’ll actually keep this post.

Tony Pinto Social Media Blogging, Social Media Marketing, WordPress blog, WordPress Plugins, WordPress themes