Sukhjit 3.0 » Technology

My Day in the Desert

sukhjit — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:00:28 +0000

A few weeks ago I went to Black Rock Desert in Nevada for the Sony and Intel Rocket Project launch. The project bought a group of high school kids from LA together with a rocket scientist and mentor from the Mavericks program to build an actual rocket in 30 days. You can read more about it from the post I did on the Sony Electronics blog. My friend Matt took this picture and I had to share. So much of what I do these days involves me turning a camera around and talking to it. I never think about how it looks to people from the outside… well, now I know. :) If you want to see the pictures I took with the NEX-3 camera I’m holding up in the photo, you’ll find them here.

Unboxing the Roomba iRobot

sukhjit — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:27:21 +0000

When I was a kid one of my chores was to clean the floors. I hated vacuuming, sweeping and moping. I mean, I really hated it. The only thing I disliked more was mowing the lawn. Since I moved away from home I’ve procrastinated on this duty and and put it off till there was no more putting off.

About two years ago I saw my first Roomba and I have had it on my wish list ever since. So when I saw this iRobot Roomba 550 on sale at Costco, I knew it was time. Even more, my schedule has been the busiest it’s ever been and even if I wanted to clean the floors (which I don’t) I don’t have the time. So, Roomba to the rescue. I don’t have to do anything, but make sure it’s charged, there are no loose things that could get caught in it on the floor and I press a button. Roomba roams around and finds dirt and cleans it. It’s so wonderful. It really is. I’ve had it for just a week and so far, my floors are the cleanest they’ve ever been. I’ve heard some complaints about Roomba not picking up dust on hardwood, but I haven’t experienced that problem at all.

I hope you enjoy the unboxing video. Of course I had to score it with some Bhangra music and if you made it all the way to the end of the video, you’ll have seen a little bhangra dancing by my new iRobot!

How do you do it?

sukhjit — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 06:43:28 +0000

How do you do it? How do you do all the things you need to do in a day? How do you work your heart out and then still have time for yourself? Do you have balance in your life? If so, I want to know your secret. How do you do it!? I posted this question on Facebook a couple weeks ago. It’s been on my mind. There were some good bits of advice but as you can probably tell.. I’m still a little lost.

I can’t get over the shock that I haven’t posted anything to this blog in nearly 2 months. Where have I been? We’ll, the honest to God truth is… I’ve been working at Sony Electronics. It’s not an excuse, I know.. but it is a fact. As blogging and social media have become my full time career, I’m finding myself online most of my waking hours – but as any of you who are connected to me on Facebook or twitter may have noticed, I’m not in any of those places as much as I use to be and I’m certainly not posting on my own blog here.

I have found great wisdom from friends here so I’m going to try something unusual today. A typical blog post from me is about sharing something I’ve seen or learned, but today I was hoping you guys might share with me. I’d like to bring some balance back into my life. Many of you have families and full time careers. You are deep into the world of social media but you’re able to maintain, life, work, love and in some cases more than one blog! How do you balance it all? What are some tips you can share with me especially for getting all the things demanded of you done? I have to tell you, I’m having the time of my life…I am having so much fun! But I know I can do better and I want to find time to be present here again. Any advice?

This is video camera I’ve been shooting with lately

sukhjit — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:14:58 +0000

I’m pretty impressed with this year’s line of Handycams and wanted to make sure those of you who video blog or are interested in a video camera that is high quality know about this one. I did this video at the Photo Marketing Association show earlier this year and this years line of video cameras have since come to market. This year’s Handycams have s a wider angle lens than previous models, the low light capability has improved since last year and the zoom response is amazing. Watch how quickly the camera comes into focus with all of my movements. I shot the video above with the DCR-SX83 which is also the camera featured in the video. I’d have to say $399 is a good price too. What do you think?

What’s in your bag today?

sukhjit — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:28:07 +0000

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!)

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!

Using Ustream to Share Life LIVE

sukhjit — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:56:08 +0000

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 have an announcement!

sukhjit — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:04:04 +0000

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.

Blogging and Belly Dancing

sukhjit — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:51:43 +0000

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

Unboxing: iPod accessory from @disposablepal

sukhjit — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:58:59 +0000

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.

Tools I use to Post Mobile Video

sukhjit — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:29:39 +0000

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

As a video blogger I use whatever gear is handy to instantly share moments via video. I post mobile video using my 3 year old Samsung phone! That’s right, I don’t have an iPhone, gPhone or Blackberry (yet), my phone is just a basic device that takes pictures and records 15 second videos. It also has a nifty light on it. The phone is only part of the equation. Knowing the right online tools is equally important and here’s a little run down of what I use.

To post mobile video clips to Twitter I use 12second.tv and a few weeks ago I enabled the 12seconds.tv Facebook app to share my little videos as status updates with my Facebook friends. As an aside, I want to say the 12seconds community is one of my favorites. I have a lot of friends there from Seesmic, but even beyond my Seesmic family, it is fun being a part of the growing 12seconds community.

For the last couple of months I’ve also been using a site called Zannel. When I post pictures to Zannel my Flickr and Facebook pages are updated too. Zannel has an interesting embeddable player and I like their audio quality.

Of course, everyone’s gotta have a Twitpic account and I use mine (quite a bit) to post pictures to Twitter. Usually it’s pictures of food or flowers or something silly I see while I’m on the go. In the vein o f Twitpic, is Twitvid.io. It’s a video sharing service set up by the guys who created Fliggo. Twitvid.io is nice because it’s easy for me to use but also for viewers of my videos it is simple to comment, retweet, like and follow videos. The mobile posts I send to Twitvid.io are strictly twitter updates. In contrast the videos I send to 12seconds.tv and Zannel are for my twitter friends but also other communities.

Testing Out Some New Sites

I like testing ways to post on the go, especially video. I gathered a list from my very savvy twitter community the other night of new sites and services and I’m going to give each site a try. If you’re interested you should give em a try with me! Here’s a list of the tweets I got the other night. I’ll update as I test each site and if there’s something you’re using that you like, I hope you’ll tell me about it so I can add it to the list.

qthrul You might want to check out Radar.net and @radarnet since it is by far the most inclusive sharing service I’ve used

radarnet – as long as you can send a picture message (or MMS), Radar should work.

sujamthe you’ve gotto try @qik, I am a video addict and used to use a flip camera, qik is on many phones chk it out.

corvida Qik is for mobile streaming mainly. http://www.qik.com/video/12… You might also want to try pixelpipe (http://pixelpipe.com/) or shozu (http://www.shozu.com/) re: mobilevids/pic posting

Shadez I use twitpic.com or posterous.com for images. Never uploaded a video on suckyGPRS connection. For native S60 app try Youtube app (http://is.gd/wvNP) or check outqik.com. There’s another service called - JuiceCaster. Hope this one works. But I guessqik.com should work for ya.

monkeysplat Flickr & Qik

tmofee blip flickr all creative commons and easy to use

Sites and Results

Radar.net – FAIL. Tried using the email address provided from my phone. It didn’t work. Radar send me several tweets to help me figure it out, but it didn’t work.
Yfrog – FAIL. I got a tweet from them that said it should work after I posted a tweet that it didn’t. I tried again and it still didn’t work and then I didn’t hear from Yfrog again.
Qik – FAIL. They said my phone is too old.
Pixelpipe
Shozu
Posterous
Mosh
Juicecaster
Flickr – FAIL. I sent them an email a while back and need to follow up with the reply.

Tips on Video Blogging for Guru Tube

sukhjit — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:26:48 +0000

Gurutube.net is a site that features experts like Guy Kawasaki, Jeremiah Owyang, Stefanie Michaels and MC Hammer sharing their knowledge about building business and brands online. It’s a no frills look a spectrum of topics related to social media. Here’s my talk on video blogging:

Thank you to Jeremy Vaught for the image used as the thumbnail for this post.

Sun, Surf and the Zx1

sukhjit — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:56:58 +0000

I’m back in San Francisco from a few weeks away in New York City. One of my favorite things to do when I get back from a long trip is to take my bike for a ride to the Golden Gate Bridge. I figured this would be a perfect time to test the Kodak Zx1 I got in New York to record some new video for my blog. It’s been interesting getting use to filming in HD and HD60 mode. The HD version makes the aspect ratio different from the standard Flip I’ve been using. That means I don’t always get my face in frame! It’s not a big deal, but it is something I will need to get use to if I’m going to keep using it! I really like the form factor of this camera and I love the color. It’s easy to keep in my bag and feels pretty sturdy. Plus I love that it’s pink! You can actually choose from a range of colors.

The Kodak Zx1 records in 3 modes VGA, HD and HD60. You can also take pictures. One thing I noticed, while using an HD camera is that HD video shows imperfections and is less forgiving than a standard Flip video which is what I’ve been using for most of the videos on my site. That means that when I have a bad camera movement, it’s more obvious. It also means that when I roll out of the house and go for a bike ride…. you get a clearer picture of me. That’s not always so pleasant! That being said, the picture quality is nice. I love the shots of the bay and the bridge. The colors are nice and the picture quality is good though the image stabilization could be better.

Video is stored on an SD card and it runs off rechargeable Kodak AA batteries. The camera comes with a charger (but no SD card so you have to buy one of those in addition to buying the camera). Uploading the video is done with a firewire cable that comes with the Zx1. I use Final Cut Express to edit my video and that is a bit of a challenge because the media is HDV and since Final Cut doesn’t recognize this format, I had to convert all the files to DV to introduce them to Final Cut. That was time consuming and a challenge to figure out. Now that I’ve done it once it will be less time consuming in the future, but in all honesty, I really, really, really, really wish that my files imported without having to convert them all.

My friend David used the Kodak Zx1 to record while riding his scooter around town. This is a great test of it in action. I thought the audio quality wasn’t half bad for being on the road and moving up to 45 mi/hr.

Last, here’s the episode of unboxing featuring the Kodak Zx1!

Twitter and Video Panel at the 140 Character Conference

sukhjit — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:11:19 +0000

I had a great opportunity while in New York City for the 140 Character Conference to participate in a panel on video and twitter. This is the first panel I’ve been on about social media and it was a pleasure to be a part of the discussion. The use of video is on the rise but it can also still be an intimidating process for some folks or an element they haven’t even considered. The panel was a quick discussion about video blogging, there is much, much more still to discuss. It seemed like we’d only started talking when our time was over. The funnies moment for me was after the panel seeing myself quoted in the twitter stream! Some of my quotes where “reality takes time”, ” I do tea time on my site” and “I’d like to pay my rent”. All true statements, but weird when you hear them coming back at you! All in all it was a great gathering. Thank you to Jeff Pulver for putting it together and making it possible for some good discussions to take root.

If you’re interested in seeing video from the rest of the conference you can find it on Justin Kahn’s Blip Page. I suggest watching the news gathering panel with Ann Curry of the Today show (for back story read Massucchi’s Take: and Curry steals the show), Twitter, Media and Chaos Theory and Twitter for Social Good. Those were my favorite discussions. I also want to add that my fellow panelists, Christian Payne and Steve Garfield are 2 video bloggers who have influenced the way I blog. If you have a chance, do check out some of their work.

Last, I want to thank Kodak for asking me to be on the video panel. By the way, Jeffrey Hayzlett, the moderator and CMO of Kodak, if forgiven for butchering my name. Misproununciation of it is something I live with everyday and don’t mind helping people say it right. (sook-jeet… sook-jeet). I know he practiced before the panel, so he tried! Some of my friends think it was probably a barrier from the audience pushing my twitter follow (cause they couldn’t figure out how to spell my name) but it is what it is, right? Hope you enjoy the video and if you have questions about the conference or about video blogging leave me a comment and I’ll do my best to answer!

The Tire Rack Finale!

sukhjit — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:00:20 +0000

This is the finale to my mini cooper tire saga! Thank you to everyone who helped me figure out what tires to get. Also big props to Tire Rack and to the shop I went to called Best Auto Repair on Turk Street in San Francisco. They were very professional and helpful… I saved money and I got the tires I wanted… with help from my friends. By the way, I ended up calling the 800 number on Tire Rack instead of following the site menues. I was just easier for me. Also the tires took several days to get to the shop but that was because I ordered right before a holiday weekend. So all in all it was a good experience. If you have questions about it, please ask!

PeopleBrowsr Lite, Advanced and Business Modes

sukhjit — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:04:03 +0000

I made these videos to help explain how to use the 3 modes of PeopleBrowsr. If you didn’t get a chance to meet the PeopleBrowsr team and get a real life demo at 140 The Twitter Conference, then I hope you’ll take a few minutes to look at the videos here!

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PeopleBrowsr Lite

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PB Advanced

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PB Business

What is a Tweetup? Come see for yourself!

sukhjit — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:44:13 +0000

When I first started using social media, I kept hearing about something called a tweetup… and it sounded like the funnest thing ever. Let me tell you now that I have been to a few tweetups, they ARE the funnest things ever. What is a tweetup? Tweetups are a spontaneous gathering of people sparked and organized on Twitter. I decided to do a video to help explain this phenomenon while at a tweetup recently in Honolulu! I was lucky to have a moment to catch up with Tom Merrit whose podcast Buzz Out Loud is listened to by tech, gadget and social media junkies all around the world… (Tom and his lovely wife, Eileen are old friends of mine from TechTV) I also got some great tips on a ways to organize a tweetup from the man who organized my first ever tweetup, Ryan Ozawa. And since it’s all about logistics, there are some tweetup best practices from the organizer of this tweetup, Burt Lum. Ryan and Burt, by the way, have a great radio show in Honolulu called Bytemarkscafe.

Watch this video and get tips on throwing a tweetup, best practices and useful tools. Thanks to Ryan and his jailbroken iphone we also have a great behind the scenes and bloopers video!

And here is a bonus video! Meet the tweeters and see the entire interview uncut with Tom!

Front page featured image courtesy: Burt Lum

The TokBox tools I use on Sukhjit.me

sukhjit — Thu, 07 May 2009 21:43:59 +0000

This is for anyone interested in putting video mail or live video on their site. I did this video for my friend @bryanbuchan who asked me on twitter how my video mail is set up.

Unboxing From Honolulu: The Purse Hanger

sukhjit — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:27:23 +0000

What do you get the girl that has everything?! Well, every year on April 29th, that is my problem because it’s my sister, Amerjit’s birthday. This year my brother-in-law, Larry gave her something I thought was pretty great, I’m not sure what it’s official name is… but I’m going to calling it the “Purse Hanger” and it comes from a store called Into in Downtown Honolulu. If you follow me on twitter you know I’m in Hawaii visiting family and because I think the “Purse Hanger” is such a fabulous find, I decided to share it with you as an episode of Unboxing. This particular innovation is really exceptional and around $20. I think anyone who has been stuck with a bag or purse at a bar or restaurant would agree this is a must have. I also want to say, if you’re looking for a place for great $6 Loatian plate lunch, Lemongrass Cafe is the place for you. No link, but I mention the address towards the end of the video.

If I get any more product details I will make sure to post them here. For now enjoy this episode of Unboxing.