We had a Valentine day VAIO and bag bundle in the Sony office for a few days before Valentine’s day and I wanted to do something with it before it had to be shipped out. This video is so simple and silly, but it got a great response. I also produced it with the most minimal staff and gear.

Basically, I pressed record and I put my arms in front of the camera, and there you have it! Ok, maybe it’s a little more complicated than that but it really was a barebones effort. For this shot, I used a tripod (if you watch any of my work you know I do a lot of handheld) because I knew I would do some kind of time lapse or transitions that would work better with a steady shot. I also knew I wouldn’t be talking, though if I wanted I could use voice over. The part of this production that is the coolest, I think.. is that I shot this video with a Cybershot camera in movie mode. That’s right, I used a still camera to record the video and then upload the clips to my computer to edit.

Besides the cheerful color of the VAIO and bag, the music really helps make this piece fun. I used royalty free music which I found from a site recommended by friends on twitter. Music is really important for setting mood and pacing of a video. The cuts on this video and the audio are very rough but it was a quick edit and the outcome is a really fun and quickly shared piece.  If you have any questions about the process or steps, please ask. I am still amazed at how easy it is to make something fun and share it. For those of you who are still new to video blogging, don’t let anything stop you.

Here are some simple DIY video blogger tips:

* Use a tripod.
* Try out different devices for recording video, see if your still camera has a video recording function.
* Look for music to help match the mood you’re trying to accomplish. See the royalty free music link above.
* Try editing, even simple cuts can help polish up your video.
* Just do it.

This is a very quickly put together list of sites recommended by friends on twitter where royalty free music to use in projects like my video blogs can be found. This is a work in progress, I will be formating this and adding more detials soon. I wanted to share in the meantime, because it’s a great resource. Thanks to friends who sent me a music site.

Premiumbeat
@sukhjit Hi Sukhjit For quality royalty free music try us at http://bit.ly/gfbny Tweet back if you need help!6:28 AM Feb 2nd from TweetDeck in reply to sukhjit
BjornLynne
@sukhjit Hi Sukhjit, you may want to trywww.Shockwave-Sound.com for good quality royalty-free music. Hope this helps.1:52 AM Feb 2nd from web in reply to sukhjit

chimala
@sukhjit I used music from Kevin MacLeod in my short http://bit.ly/g4Oy9. His RF music is herehttp://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/.11:44 PM Feb 1st from web in reply to sukhjit

solobasssteve
@sukhjit For commercial or non-commercial usage? There’s loads of CC-licenced music out there 11:34 PM Feb 1st from Gravity in reply to sukhjit

rubenorozco
@sukhjit Try @Grooveshark Sukhjit…its Awesome!11:24 PM Feb 1st from Seesmic in reply to sukhjit
AccentMusicProd

@sukhjit Hi Sukhjit. Try Accent Music Productions – royalty-free music at http://bit.ly/6lEW4l Hope this helps!10:42 PM Feb 1st from TweetDeck in reply to sukhjit

shadowcatsd
@sukhjit istock.com also has audio/video…10:25 PM Feb 1st from TweetDeck in reply to sukhjit

imagium
@sukhjit Try Jamendo on Creative Commons (note, i haven’t tried it yet) http://bit.ly/d0Xkzl10:23 PM Feb 1st from web in reply to sukhjit

qthrul
@sukhjit http://www.archive.org/details/audiospecifically http://www.archive.org/details/audio_music10:10 PM Feb 1st from Echofon in reply to sukhjit

roxannedarling
@sukhjit try www.iodapromonet.com or search for “podsafe music” and you will find more10:09 PM Feb 1st from Seesmic in reply to sukhjit

samlevin
@sukhjit http://www.sound-effect.com/10:09 PM Feb 1st from Tweetie in reply to sukhjit

Arktist
@sukhjit Try http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/10:07 PM Feb 1st from TweetDeck in reply to sukhjit

urbanturbanguy
@sukhjit www.phulki.com10:07 PM Feb 1st from TweetDeck in reply to sukhjit

ChefMark

@sukhjithttp://www.thedvshow.com/store/royalty-free-music-library/10:06 PM Feb 1st from TweetDeck in reply to sukhjitc

Last month my friend @EmilysPearl sent me a link to a flickr meme showing a photo of what was in her bag that day and asking what was in mine. I love stuff like that and am finally getting around to sharing.

This is what I carried to work most of this week.  You see my Speck case, my VAIO, even the flavor of gum I like chewing these days (It’s sweet mint gum by the way). Click on the picture to see notes on all the contents.

This idea comes from a group on Flickr called “What’s in your bag”. If you have a minute, check the conversations in the group. It goes beyond just picture of purses, the comments and discussions are worth a read. I’ve gotten excellent advice on how to wear a red purse and have learned a from threads debating between sleeve over laptop bag. My Speck case, by the way, has lightened up since I started carrying my new VAIO.

You may also notice the box at the top. I’ve been carrying around a brand new Cyber-shot TX-7. I’m so excited to use this camera but I really want to do an unboxing video with it… I’ve just been too busy, so I’ve just carried it back and forth from work to home for the last couple of day. Stay tuned for a closer look at the TX-7, I’ve seen it in action (of course at the Sony office) and have read user reviews and it is getting a lot of love.

Here’s a look at what some of my friends are carrying. (Note*  guys, how do you travel so light!)

@disposablepal

@emilyspearl

@sanjay_maharaj

@cadiou

SO.. what’s in your bag? Why not take a picture and add it to the flickr group. Or send me a a link in the comments below or tweet me @sukhjit. Of course gold star goes to those that have Sony gear in their bag or pocket!

I’m in San Francisco until Thursday, December 30th and want to make sure to see as many friends as I can while in town. Lets make plans! Leave me a message or tweet me and I’ll organize a get together or two.

Some time last year I met @masamuneto on twitter. He has kindly sent me a flower or plant of the day for months via twitter! Masa is a landscape designer and geek who is constantly working on beautiful scenery as well as cool geeky stuff. I’ve been asking his advice on what plants to get for my new place in San Diego. Today I got this really great little garden at the Thread Show in San Diego. The glass bubble garden comes from a place called Tend Living. I’ll probably keep this one at the Sony Electronics office. I still have a lot of moving in to do there before I feel at home. I think a nice little garden will help.

This weekend I was tasked with recording some video for my nephew, Conner, who is applying for university music programs. Some of of them requested a live taped performance as part of their requirements. As his video blogging auntie it was my job to help him figure out how to capture what he needed to deliver it to the schools. I recorded his audition on a Sony Handycam and when we were done with that I decided also to stream it live too. This video and audio is from my Sony VAIO laptop computer. I broadcast the audio and video you are watching above live to friends who tuned in after I sent out a few notes on twitter and facebook pointing them to the URL.

I’m astounded by the technology both on my computer but also of the website I used to stream live called Ustream. I recorded a similar video back in 2008 and it was almost unwatchable. This time, I’m proudly sharing the link over and over again both because the quality is so good and because my nephew is a star. BTW- some of the pieces he performs are his original compositions.

Enjoy the concert and if you have any questions about the live stream, or about the music leave me a note!

I got a very well wrapped box from my friend Adam Smith this week. It contained a book written by a man who  has made a huge impact in the Social Media space by being his awesome self. His name is Gary Vaynerchuk.  Gary is a social media phenomenon. What does that mean? It means that Gary has found success, in part, by  being himself and authentically connecting with people via his show Wine Library TV, Twitter, Facebook and  other social media sites.

If you get a chance to see Gary in person, I recommend it. I’ve seen him a couple times and he just makes you  feel like “crushing it”. Follow him for a little bit and you’ll know what I mean by that.

Thank you Adam Smith, for the book and the wristband. You are cool.

PS I know the video image is backward, sorry about that everyone. I’ll try and fix and reupload if I get a chance this week.

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I posted the last time here on this blog! Today, I’m here to say, I’m back.. I’ve moved to a new apartment, I just got my internet connection installed and I’m getting into the swing of things.

If you haven’t heard, I’m working at Sony Electronics now as their Social Media Evangelist. It’s a great opportunity and I’m very excited about what is ahead. Make sure to check the Sony Electronics Community Blog, as that’s were I will be on a regular basis! I’ll explain more about my job and what I’m doing there at a later time… today I wanted to make sure to say hello, and thanks! Thanks to all of you who have kept up with my transition and have offered friendship and support. Looking at the calendar I realized that I started this website one year ago! Look at how much life has changed in one year. I almost can’t believe it.
At some point I want to tell you all about how this happened. Many of you who know me from Seemic know much about the trials, tribulations and celebrations of the past year. It’s all been quite fantastic.

I’ll be seeing some of you at Blog World tomorrow. If we haven’t met in real life yet and you are in Vagas for Blog World, please make sure to say hello!

Here is what was happening in my life last year…. this video makes me laugh now. I called it So What Are You Doing Now, Sukhjit?

My last day in San Francisco was September 9, 2009 (9/9/09). My dear friends Derek and Jennifer Overbey organized a farewell party for me at the Grand Cafe. Here is a video from the night. Also my friend Ken captured some great moments at the party, please have a look at the set on Flickr.

Thank you to everyone who came out to help me celebrate! When I looked around the room, I saw people from all different phases of my life in San Francisco. I have many great memories of my time in the City that I will take with me everywhere. Also a heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent well wishes via facebook, twitter, email, phone, text.. you name it! I feel blessed.

As many of you know, I got a job in San Diego and I am moving this week. It’s a big deal since after 16 years of living here, my heart is truly in San Francisco and I love this town. On the flip side I couldn’t be more excited about my new job with Sony Electronics… I’ll tell you more about that later.

Today I got a big moving surprise from my childhood friend, Cindy. She knows I’m a farmer’s daughter that loves fruit because she is one too! I love the gift, it’s an Edible Arrangement full of various kinds of fruit. Ok, now that I’ve blogged it.. I’m gonna go eat some then get back to packing! Thank you Cindy!

Today was by far one of the most perfect days in San Francisco. It’s on this day that I share some great news with you friends! I’m leaving SF, my home of 16 years, for an incredible opportunity! I’ve accepted a job with Sony Electronics as their new corporate blogger and social networking manager. It’s a big role that I am very excited to take on. I’ll be vlogging and blogging about gear, gadgets, innovation and technology AND keeping an ear out to listen to what consumers have to say about it all. I will be doing what I love most… community building.

In the many years I worked in television Sony has maintained it’s standing as one of the most coveted brands with a reputation for quality equipment. I’m proud to be chosen by a company which sets the standard for quality. I’ll have many more details about the job and my move in the days ahead. I plan to blog and vlog my way down to San Diego where I will live and work very soon!

Special thanks to my former TechTV colleague Patrick Houston who introduced my blog to Sony a while back. I also want to extend a heartfelt thanks to many of you who helped me get www.sukhjit.me off the ground. Tony Chimento, Michael Silverton, Alan Chaess, Eric Ways, Adam Helweh, Larry Heim, Owen JJ Stone and of course the head ninja in my team, Giannii Calvert. Those of you who come to this site, watch my content, leave comments, give me shout outs on twitter and facebook, you’ve kept me going! My biggest reward has been getting comments from people who have taken the time to participate in my content, thank you. I hope you’ll visit me on the Sony site and support me there too.

How the heck do you say Sukhjit? That’s a question I get almost daily. Phonetically I say it’s sook-jeet… got it? Sook-jeet.

I think it’s probably easier to hear it than to read it so here’s a fantastic video done by my friend Derek Overbey with a collection of awesome friends saying it correctly! (I’ll be adding everyone’s name here shortly!)

My dear friend Otir made a video with her two son’s! Otir is French, so her annunciation has a certain French flair! Hats off to her boys too.

See! It’s not so bad, now you try… press do a video response on the viddler video player! Press the + in the bottom right corner of the featured video at the top of the page to add a video comment.

Last but not least, here is a “vintage” video of how to say sook-jeet. This video is from my first week on Seesmic!

What do blogging and belly dancing have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing… that is unless my friend Adam Helweh is involved. Adam puts on a social media mixer called the “Secret Sushi Social” and part of the June Social was Egyptian Dancing. The food was awesome and the raffle was great but more importantly it was an opportunity to meet other people interested in social media. I got to talk to Jun Loayza, founder of Viralogy.com. Viralogy is a site that helps bloggers get noticed, something I think is important when you’re a little blogger like me! Once you register your blog, Virology calculates your site’s rating based on data like your popularity in various social media spaces. In theory, you don’t have to be a big blogger to rank on the site, which is nice because it’s a chance for fresh voices to be heard.

I just registered Sukhjit 3.0 on Viralogy yesterday. I did have a small challenge figuring out what category my blog fits under since I cover a spectrum of things on this site. But I’m going to see if it can help my blog get some recognition. What do you think? I know a lot of your have blogs that you love and your content is fantastic. Let’s try Viralogy together and compare notes!

Last, if you watched the video outtake and are wondering what that was all about, I was trying to get a dance lesson from the owner of the Egyptian dance school but she wouldn’t let me record while getting my lesson. Needless to say, the song ended while we were debating back and forth! Sometimes I wish I wasn’t always compelled to record things because then I might have been able to learn some new moves! If you’d like to see some awesome pictures from the event check out Ken Yeung’s photos from the night… and thanks Ken for the thumbnail image for this blog!

Belly dancing at #secretsushi social. on 12seconds.tv

Day 12 I’ve been weak.

Today I fell off the caffeine-free-month-of-August-wagon. I’m not proud of it. It was a quarter cup of chai, which is Indian tea. Chai is more than a drink in my culture it’s an experience. That being said, it’s not an excuse for my slip! Sorry friend… especially those of you who decided to join me and by giving up some kind of vice this month. Boo.

Day 7 It’s been a week.

Thought it was time since I’ve been through an entire week to do a simple update. It’s not fancy, but at least you can see that I’m surviving! For those of you taking the challenge with me… I’m happy to have the support. Do let me know about your challenges and solutions… don’t let your friends and loved ones blame me for your caffeineless grumpiness =).

Day 4 Learning New Habits.

(Note: The video for this text is in the featured area above)
Finding substitutes for my coffee (and chocolate & tea) cravings has been interesting. I started with hot water or cup of almond milk the first couple days. Sounds weird to you hard core coffee addicts I’m sure, but it’s been ok. The bigger and more interesting change is in my morning activity. Instead of settling in with my cup of java and my Macbook for the morning… I have been going out for a challenging walk. There are a lot of hills in my neighborhood, so it’s not hard to get my heart rate up. In the video above I actually went to a different neighborhood because those stairs are challenging and the views are spectacular. Why not have a little pleasure with the pain! And by the way, when people have talked about the headaches they get when they give up caffeine I didn’t believe them… that is, until I started to get them myself.

I hope you enjoy coming along on this walk with me. Of course a good soundtrack is essential to the workout and the song in the video is what I was listening to so I wanted to share. I’ll continue to update this post with any new discoveries or adventures from the rest of my caffeine free month. Like I said before, feel free to leave a comment or message. If you want to leave a video comment, you can do that by pressing the + in the bottom right of the video player. Video comments are always welcome! Thanks friends!

Day 1 The Beginning.

If you know me at all you know how much I love and look forward to my morning coffee. Sometimes (actually often) I think about the next day’s cup before I go to sleep. I even have 5 different gadgets for making coffee from an old fashioned drip machine to various presses to a campfire espresso maker. Well, I’ve decided to break the “addiction”. I’m giving up coffee for the month of August.

Since I started video blogging, I’ve gotten a lot of support for many things I wanted to try, like when I wanted to ride my bike to work last year. The encouragement and advice I got from my friends on Seesmic pushed me the right direction. Now I love riding my bike in the City, where before it was just something I talked about doing for years. So, I’m sharing this challenge with y’all as well. Check back here for updates… though beware, they may not be so pleasant! Grrrr = grumpy.

Leave me a message or share some stories if you’ve done something similar. What worked for you? Any advice? And if you feel like challenging yourself this month.. lemme know, I’m here to support you too.

Today’s Unboxing comes from a brand new online store called Freida’s Hat started by my friend Freida Wolden. If you’ve spent any time in Seesmic’s video community then you’ve probably met Frieda. She is often the very first person to say hello to new people and was the first to welcome me when I was introduced to the site in 2007. Freida can often be seen wearing a hat of some sorts talking about life, love, art, politics… you name it. In fact to this date, it’s possible that Frieda has the highest number of videos recorded by anyone in the Seesmic Community.

Something you may not know about her is that before she retired, Frieda owned a school where she taught computers and technology. I’ve often admired her Entrepreneurial spirit and find it no surprise that she is starting this new business. She is doing something she loves and is known for, so I like to think Frieda’s Hat is bound for success.

If you’re in the market for a fabulous ladies hat, visit her site. I love my beautiful wide brimmed camel colored hat. The quality is great and it’s really fun to wear! The hat bands are handmade by Freida and as you can hear my Dad say in the video, “This one hat with different ribbons it’s like wearing different hats all the time.” The hats are a great value at just around $40 and the bands are just under $6 each.

And last but not least, if you don’t know them yet, the special studio audience in this episode of Unboxing are my Mom & Dad! I decided to open up the box while we had afternoon tea at their farm.

My Friend Eric knows how much I love my iTouch. For my birthday this year he sent me a fabulous accessory. It’s an iTouch/iPod skin from a company called Infectious. It protects the shiny part from scratches while at the same time showing off another favorite thing of mine… Wordpress! Cool gift Eric. I love it.

Am I a big geek for having “Twitter Jewelry”!? Probably, but I found this great jewelry designer in New York at the Brooklyn Flea Market called Birdhouse Jewelry and being the big Twitter junkie (and jewelry junkie) that I am, I had to get something to remember my trip to NYC for the 140 Character Conference! I also have a soft spot for local designers and artist and think it is important to support them with your dollars if you like their work!

The designs at Birdhouse Jewelry are very unique and most everything there was affordable. I bought this necklace and earrings for about $40, which I think is a good price. There was a nice variety of “Twitter Jewelry”… birds in various forms on necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Check out the Birdhouse Jewelry website for the newest collections and let the designer, Amy know that I sent you! She was to shy to be interviewed the day I was there!

I also want to add that the Brooklyn Flea Market is a sold thing to do when you’re in NYC. I went on Saturday AND Sunday and had a great time. There is a huge variety of vintage buys but also a great selection of local designers. I also got some lovely home made ice cream from a vendor at the Sunday market. If you’re in NYC over a weekend, save a few hours to go to the Brooklyn Flea!

this is what I use to post on the go on 12seconds.tv