Chronicles of a “Mr. Mom”

I found this amazing site yesterday through one of the feeds on LinkOverLoad.com. Awesome video coming right up…

Animoto basically turns your pictures into a fantastic MTV-style video, with some great soundtracks available on their site for free, or you can use your own audio - with your pictures almost flashing in rhythm to the beats of the soundtrack, with some great-looking special effects.

When I signed up, uploaded my pictures, picked a great-sounding track they had on their site (for free) and tried to create my video (remember, their software supposedly creates all of this in an automated fashion), I got this very friendly error message:

Hi there,

We’re sorry to inform you that we have experienced an error in the
production of your recent video, “Beautiful People”. Rest assured, we’re
on the case and we’ll have it rendered as soon as we can–but, depending
on the complexity of the issue, it could take a little time.

We’ll email you the moment it’s ready. Thanks for understanding!

…

That didn’t bother me, as they are still in beta, and still hammering out the rough edges. What did surprise me, is that they promptly sent me this email the next day:

Hi there.

We’ve finished your video, so it’s time for you to go take a look.
Head to:

http://animoto.com/play/…..

We hope you like it! Give us some feedback when you get a chance to
let us know what you liked and how we can improve. Remember, no two
Animoto videos are ever the same so keep making videos and see what unique
pieces you can generate.

…

I excitedly clicked over, and was simply blown away by the results (see video below).

Remarkable idea, great (almost perfect) execution, instantly viral! Pass this along…

Video from Animoto.com

(ARA) - Face it: Dads and technological gadgetry go together like barbecues and the month of June. And, when you add digital photos to the mix, the fit’s an even better one.

Just ask Derek Whiteside, a 33 year-old father of two daughters, Alice, who just turned two, and six-month old Helen. An entrepreneur at heart, Whiteside spent the last five years establishing and managing a boutique beer and wine shop that he recently sold.

So, as he ponders his next business adventure — likely something service oriented he says — in addition to caring for two young daughters, he fills his time by using his PC to enjoy all kinds of entertainment, especially digital photography.

I have a sassy new computer in the living room,” Whiteside says proudly.

But in the Whiteside household, the PC does way more than serve as a gateway to the Internet and a repository for spreadsheets and other documents: powered by Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows Vista, Whiteside’s computer is his family’s photography nerve center.

Using a Canon Powershot digital camera, Whiteside has rendered the shoeboxes full of photos stacked on closet shelves as relevant as the rotary telephone. “We’ve been comfortable with digital photography since before the girls were born,” he says. Drawing on Windows Vista, he uses the PC to organize photos in several ways — by the month they were taken, for example, or by subject matter – and shares photos with family and friends across the nation via email. One of Whiteside’s more noteworthy recipients of his photographs is his 87 year-old grandmother, who recently bought a computer.

Whiteside also enjoys the ability to edit his photos instantly, resizing, for example, and eliminating red-eye shots.

“One of the great things about Windows Vista is that it has functionality for photography, music and home theater built into the system,” Whiteside says. “Having an operating system that can do those kinds of things easily is very nice.”

And, he adds, the entire operation is integrated into the living room. “There are no wires showing,” he says. “It looks pretty. It has a lot of polish.”

Finally, Whiteside is wading into the world of video chatting, following the lead of his sister-in-law’s family. “They’re into it,” he says. “It’s a really fun thing to do and only requires a Web cam, which is pretty affordable. It’s sort of like the Jetsons.”

For more information on Microsoft Windows Vista, click here

Courtesy of ARAcontent