You can watch the SuperDude episodes anytime you like, but if you’d like to download the  high quality files (wmv format), here are the links:

Download Episode One
Download Episode Two
Download Episode Three

If you’re reading this, then you probably already know what Sweetcron is. In a nutshell, it’s a framework that automatically collects all your updates from around the web and displays them in one single webpage.

If you’ve tried setting one up, more then likely you’ve come to realize that … ooops, there aren’t that many themes out there to choose from.

Well, here’s another free Sweetcron theme for you guys. This is a modified version of Chris Coyier’s free theme so be sure to check out his work if you haven’t already.

I call my theme “Footsteps” and it looks like this (click to enlarge):

For a live demo, visit danielisanidiot.com.

The download includes a small help txt file and original art work. Download:  footsteps.zip

If you use it, share a link with me - I’d love to see your work. Good luck lifestreaming!

Okay, so you’ve heard some of the hype about widgets and now you want to try your hand at it. Point is, most widget services either create web-only widgets (SproutBuilder) or involve deep coding (Yahoo widgets). Major blegh. I feel your pain. Here’s a quick and simple solution to building your first desktop widget:

1. Create the Widget using a free account at SproutBuilder

2. Publish your SproutBuilder widget and you’ll notice at the bottom of the “Your widget has been published” screen, there’s a link to the SWF file. Copy that link.

3. Head over to ClearSpring.com and create a free account there.

4. Click “Add a Widget,” then “In Widget,” and choose the AC3 format and paste your SWF link into the Flash url link.

5. Complete and Presto! ClearSpring enables any widget to also work on the desktop, depending on if you have the right framework installed. For Vista users, it is even more simple…you add it directly to Vista without installing a third-party framework.

Done. Wish granted. Game over.

Something funny has been happening over at the the popular YouTube Failblog channel, which posts video clips of people failing at various activities. Recently, there have been an mudslide of similiar comments on the Failblog videos, with hundreds of different viewers asking: “Did he die?” Other variations include, “Did she death?” “Did the cat die?” “Did the glass table dead?”

No one knows who started the trend, but hundreds of users have caught on to the idea and youtube videos are becoming bespeckled with “Did he die?” comments.

Personally, I think it’s funny. Not only does the trend mock those simpleton viewers who actually thinks someone dies but it builds a hilarious reaction from those who aren’t aware of the trend. Such as, “What do you mean DID HE DIE? Of course not duh!! All he did was fall off his skateboard, you brainfade!!” And of course the joke is him, cause he’s the brainfade who hasn’t caught on to the newest youtube trend.

And speaking of youtube trends….seriously…I MUCH prefer trends of the Did He Die flavor instead of the sickingly copy/paste trend of “How to know if you’re a good kisser” or “repost this or else you will be killed in a vacant lot by vacant killers” or “repost this and fall in love” or “help Bob rule the world”.

The “did he die?” trend has brought a much needed sense of sarcasm, wit, and light humor to an otherwise MySpace-generation based YouTube community.

All you need is a sense of humor. (Did yours die?)

 It’s amazing how many hours it takes to create a 3 minute recording, what with splicing, vocals, and bunches of “gah - that doesn’t sound right at all”. 

As usual, the mp3 is hosted at Drop.io and is available for free download. 

http://drop.io/danielgardner/asset/epilogue-softly-mp3

 If you download it, you owe me one comment. :)   

I have 500 facebook friends. But I interact closely with less then 15 of them. 

 Which means that Facebook’s new “stream of updates”  can get rather confusing. Imagine Facebook trying to keep me up todate about 500 status messages. Yeah. Here’s how to quickly make a friend filter that will show you updates from your closets friends:

1. Follow this link to view all your friends. http://www.facebook.com/friends/?everyone&ref=tn

2. On the left column, there is a big button that says, “Make a New List”. Click it. (duh)

3. Give a name to your list, like “Relatives” or “Close friends” or “People I would rather see dead”. Press enter.

4. Now, start adding specific friends by typing in their names.

5. See it in action: Go to your facebook home page where it lists all the status messages (link), and you’ll notice there is a small, left column. This column contains the name of your friend list. Click it and instantly view the updates posted by the friends you preselected. 

6. BONUS: notice at the bottom of each List is a link that says “Message this list” - this allows you to quickly message your list of close friends, or message that list of people you’d rather see dead. (”Hi. My name is Daniel Gardner. You’re on my black list. Prepare to die.”)

See how easy that was? You owe me one comment.

So my scenario is pretty stupid: I’m using the FlipShare program, sorting through my Flip videos and I select the coolest video and press “Delete” and confirm the deletion.

 Moments later, I’m like, “Waaa…? Did I just….?” 

Yeah, and it’s then you notice there’s no “Undo Delete video” option in the Flip program. And if you check your Recyle Bin, the deleted video doesn’t show up there either. You begin to cold sweat.

My desperate Google search found this article and it points to a program called “UndeleteMyFiles”. I download the program and as it installs I continue to call myself an idiot, a loser, a failure at life and other such derogatory terms meant to instill self confidence.

 I run the program. It lists my C drive as well as my Flip Video camera (listed as G: drive). I select my Flip Video camera and press the button, “Search”. It lists 10 or so videos, all of which had been previously deleted at some time or another. I select one video and click the button, “Recover”. It asks me to specify a folder on my computer to recover the video to. I do that and begin to cry. It’s recovering my video.

The recovered file is called “_ID00018″. I go to my Flip Video camera folder (the G: drive) and navigate to the folder of videos. I copy my “_ID00018.avi” file into the camera’s folder and rename the file, “VID00018“.  

Then  I restarted my FlipShare program. It opens and displays my lost-now-recovered file as being available to edit, send, and share as normal.

 I become profusely grateful. I write this post for all other FlipVideo owners who run into the same stupid scenario. And yes, it is stupid. Been there, done that. 

Using a Samson microphone, Audacity and late night hours, I’ve been testing my audio editing skills. Honestly, it’s more noob then skill, but that’s the way of homerecording. After 3 hours, here’s an mp3 of our song, “I will Sail for You”. 

A lot of cameras will film clips in Quicktime’s MOV format and it’s an annoying format when you want to edit those clips. Here’s a small outline that will allow you to convert your Quicktime MOV files to AVI files, which can then be edited, or further converted into an MP3 file.  Read the rest of this entry »

Bring your suits and ties. This Bonus Tuesday was all about formal clothes, pictures, pictures, and more pictures. For the group activity we did a cool thing called MadLibs. Then we switched over to “interview mode” and interviewed Little Red Riding Hood. For a finishing touch, we sang some songs, waved, and said “goodbye” ya’ll!  Special moment at 44:00 when Dave and I show a video of us filmed back in 1997. We were young. Here’s the recorded footage: Read the rest of this entry »