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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Pixability webinar 12/1: "Get Seen: Online Video Secrets From Steve Garfield"

Update: 12/1/10:

Here's the archived video from the webinar. Enjoy!


Archived Webinar Video

Steve and Pixability CEO Bettina Hein discussed which video camera you should get, which accessories make sense, how to look good on camera, where to find great shooting locations, and how online video can help your business.



Pixability webinar 12/1: "Get Seen: Online Video Secrets From Steve Garfield"
Webinar Introduction Video

Join us to learn from the best in a free 60-minute webinar. Steve Garfield, the "Paul Revere of video blogging", and Bettina Hein, CEO of Pixability, will share with you the latest trends that online video and related media have to offer.

You'll learn:

- benefits of marketing with online video
- how to shoot video like a pro (recording, editing, exporting, etc)
- how to build presence with video on the social web
- how to increase views for your video

We will also raffle off ten copies of "Get Seen: Online Video Secrets", an amazing book by Steve about online video, (2) Pocket XShots and a new iPhone 4 case.

Space is limited, so register now.

The webinar will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EST on December 1st, 2010

Webinar Registration




Content Rules: Looks Like Someone Got A New Pair


Shocking!

I just noticed what was written on the side of my shopping bag.

"Looks Like Someone Got A New Pair."

Can you guess which brand's bag this is?

Answer here.

I'm thinking twice about the message on this bag, because I just happen to be in the middle of reading my friend's Ann Handley and CC Chapman's new book, Content Rules.

Having a voice
In Content Rules, Ann and CC talk about brands having a voice.

A voice that stands out from the crowd. One that is authentic and has a personality, without making excuses.

I'd say that this brand has it nailed.

They know who they are and aren't afraid to show it.

Ann and CC are the same way. While reading the book, I can hear their voices come through without apologies.

Michael Wesch
Photo: American Idol. Distracting.

Know who you are
Ann shares how reality TV was a distraction for her while writing the book, and then ties that experience together with analyzing the fact that successful American Idol contestants "know who they are."

CC Chapman
Photo: CC Chapman. Write the way you talk.

Write the way you talk
I can hear CC talking in the section about writing the way you talk. CC and I joke about how everything he writes usually needs an edit, so I can hear him talking when he advises, "Break some rules. Despite what you learned in school, you can start sentences with and, but, so, and because. So go on! And try it!"

I'm up to Chapter 7 and haven't found anything that needs editing!

Six characteristics of good content
The 'six characteristics of a good content idea or story' provides good suggestions for content creators:
True, Relevant, Human, Passionate, Original and Surprising.
Create a publishing schedule
There is a nice section in Content Rules about creating a publishing schedule. In it they modify and annotate Russell Sparkman's "1-7-30-4-2-1" publishing schedule.

I found this very interesting. It's a good guide for content publishers.

Ann Handley
Photo: Ann Handley. Behind the Scenes.

What to say
Next up is figuring out what to say. Ann and CC provide 25 examples of what kinds of content you can create including sone of my favorites, including photo sharing, behind the scenes, and how-to content.

One are that I hardly ever is is going into my archives. I've got 10 years of blog content and should take a look at revisiting and updating some of that.

I am somebody!
Congratulations to Ann and CC for getting Content Rules published. I was happy to see my name in the Acknowledgements page, and know from peeking at the index that I show up in the Video chapter. ;-)

Looking forward to reading the rest of the book.

And I don't have to finish this blog post because, as Content Rules states:

Leave Stuff Undone.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Speed Test vs Comcast Speed Test and HOW TO: Add Google DNS Servers on a Mac





One of these things is different than the other.

I just changed my DNS server to Google and got astonishingly faster results on SpeedTest.net:





HOT TO: Add Google DNS Servers on a Mac:
1. Go to System Preferences -> Network -> click “Advanced”

2. Click the “DNS” tab and then the ” + ”

3. Paste or type in 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
Note: I also left the existing Comcast DNS in there as the last option.

More:

Using Google Public DNS.
Important: Before You Start:

Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS, be sure to write down the current server addresses or settings on a piece of paper. It is very important that you keep these numbers for backup purposes, in case you need to revert to them at any time.
How's your speed?

Friday, November 26, 2010

Back in Brooklyn - In A Berlin Minute



Brilliant 1 minute video gives you a sense of New York.

Bagels and lots of cream cheese!

Buy Nothing Day


Buy Nothing Day, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

A 24 Hour Moratorium on Consumer Spending.

North America - Nov 26th
International - Nov 27th

www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!


I think this was our first Thanksgiving. A blast from the past.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Be safe.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Cats Playing Patty-cake, what they were saying...

All iPad Paid Apps Lost on Update. Not. #Fail

After my most recent iPad update I thought I lost all my paid apps.

I used the 'Transfer Purchases From iPad' menu option when iTunes told me to. I don't like it when the software is be so user friendly as to shield me from what is going on. I clicked the button, then I had to re-authorise my computer. Nothing seemed to happen, so I clicked to update anyway.

After the update was complete, I didn't notice that Apple iTunes had installed Game Center on screen 1:

Page 1 of iPad Apps

That pushed Mashable to screen 2.

Page 2 of iPad Apps

It looked like everything else was GONE!

But, all my apps were still on the iPad, on pages 3-7. LOL
Apple,

Please don't Auto-Install your precious Game Center App to page 1.

Add it to the LAST page.

#Fail

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

"It Gets Better" — Love, Pixar

Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business. Read INTRODUCTION for FREE



Get Seen will make a great holiday gift for someone who wants to learn how to put video online.

Comcast Speed Test 18 Hours After After Extreme 50 Upgrade



SpeedTest.net


62/11, 50/11 ST

You should see the faster speeds after 12 - 24 hours. This isn't looking any better.

Comcast Speed Test 11 Hours After After Extreme 50 Upgrade

76/10, 53/9 ST

Comcast Speed Test Just After Upgrade but Before Modem Reset

60/11, 50/10 ST

Comcast Speed Test After Netgear WNR1000v2 Wireless-N router 6/11/10

60/12 ST

Note: ST - SpeedTest.net

BlogTalkRadio: Today's Pick's - Steve Garfield

BlogTalkRadio: Today's Pick: Steve Garfield

BlogTalkRadio has chosen this afternoon's LIVE radio show with Mike Ball as Today's Pick.

Mike will be interviewing me at 2:30 Eastern.

BlogTalkRadio's description:
SHOW NAME: Steve Garfield

DESCRIPTION: Video-blogging pioneer Steve Garfield, who was inducted last year into the International Academy of Web Television, drops in on Mass Merrier host Mike Ball to examine how politicians used online video during the midterm elections—and what to expect in the 2012 presidential race.
CNN.com/LIVE 04/30/09

See BlogTalkRadio's Featured Shows.



I like BlogTalkRadio because they make it easy for you to have your own show. You can also call in and chat.

Thanks to Mike Ball for having me on Left Ahead radio.



On Demand audio:

Listen to internet radio with massmarrier on Blog Talk Radio

icon for podpress  Steve Garfield [58:12m]: Play in Popup | Download

Comcast Speed Test 11 Hours After After Extreme 50 Upgrade



SpeedTest.net


You should see the faster speeds after 12 - 24 hours. I'll test again later.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

HOW TO FIX: Adobe Presenter 7 Installer: "Unable to detect Microsoft Powerpoint"

Boston Media Makers 090609

I have Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 Trial version.

I tried to install the Adobe Presenter 7 presenter.msi from the Adobe Connect Pro website.

I get the error:

"Unable to detect Microsoft Powerpoint"

Here's the fix from dawpa2005 on the Adobe Forums:
All you have to do is sniff the executable URI and copy it to a writable location.

If the installer still complains, using SuperOrca, drop LaunchConditions, CheckToSeeIfPPOpen, and NoUpgradeonVista under InstallUISequence.

C'mon, this is so easy. Any kindergartener can do this!
This worked great for me.

To review:

1. Get SuperOrca, Open presenter.msi

2. Click 'LaunchConditions' and select DROP

3. Under InstallUISequence, select CheckToSeeIfPPOpen and click DROP, then select NoUpgradeonVista and click DROP.

4. Save and Run presenter.msi.

Focus Global Test Drive Video Invitations: One-On-One in the Public Square


Becky Johns has a great write up on Ford's Focus Global Test Drive special video invitation PR campaign, PR PITCHES HAVE CHANGED COMPLETELY.

She gets a great quote from Scott Monty of Ford:
“We decided to use personalized video invitations for the Focus Global Test Drive because we wanted to be sure we had the attention of the high-level influencers we wanted to reach. Moreover, we wanted to be sure that it would be in a format that they could easily share with their readers. We believe that video is one of the most personal and intimate ways to communicate online, and it’s also a medium that allows us to showcase our products at the same time. A video invitation, shared with the world, is basically one-on-one communication in the public square.”
Great use of web video.

If you want to learn more about easily creating and putting casual video like this online, check out my book: Get Seen.

I'm here. Just paying partial attention, and it's OK

This is a response to Chris Brogan's post, I'm not really here.
I was talking with a friend about an event she’d attended. She said that it was okay, but she noted that a lot of people there were really into their Twitter accounts and not really giving as much attention to the people in front of their faces. Whether it’s text, Facebook, FourSquare, or Twitter, I’ve noticed a lot of this behavior, myself.
It’s not okay.
Wrong.

Ask First
I had lunch this week with someone in the PR business. At the same time, 30 min into lunch, my recorded session for a virtual seminar was was being played. I scheduled some tweets with Hootsuite to enhance the presentation, but also wanted to check the twitter stream to see if I could add value there, during the event. Before I turned on the phone, I asked, "Is it ok if I check twitter?" ... and explained the situation. Not a problem. She did the same.

HOPE!
Photo: Grace has a cellphone.

Everyone's Doing It
Chris, I also remember that I was recently with 3 other people, and we were all talking in a circle, while checking out streams. We were laughing about it. It's OK.

Crowd at 140 Conference
Photo: Crowd at 140 Conference

Tweeting is Sharing and Caring
As for being in a conference and being online at the same time, there's value in that too. Tweeting out quotes, informing others that the session is good (come join me), or bad (I'm heading out), and looking up things on Google that the speaker is talking about, that you want to learn more about.

You know this.

On the other hand, I've also put down my phone to pay full attention to speakers that deserve it.

Using your phone is OK.

Just don't take a phone call. ;-)

Friday, November 19, 2010

SteveGarfield.tv 11/18/10 featuring Maggie Rulli and Raw Milk!


On Demand: SteveGarfield.tv 11/18/10

Get Seen: If you can see the lens of the camera, it can see you
Giving Maggie Rulli video tips on SteveGarfield.tv.

Get Seen: If you can see the lens of the camera, it can see you

Drinking Skim Milk Makes you Fat!
Kristen Canty, producer of Farmageddon, explains that Drinking Skim Milk Makes you Fat!

Farmageddon on twitter

Farmagedon website

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Girl Talk - All Day


See what samples are being used as the song plays in real time. Brilliant!

http://alldaysamples.com/

All Day - Wikipedia:
All Day is the fifth album by American mash up musician Girl Talk, released by the record label Illegal Art on November 15, 2010 as a free download. The album consists of 372 overlapping samples of other artists' songs.[

Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen: Whip My Hair



Brilliant.

Monday, November 15, 2010

[Video] Calming the Baby Beast

If you were having a bad day, that’s all over now.

When baby Embry acts like a little monster, his mom puts on Florence and the Machine’s hit ‘Dog Days Are Over,’ and he immediately turns that frown upside down.

Embry transforms from grumpy to calm when the song starts, and he’s in a full-on baby dance freakout by the time the handclapping chorus kicks in. Just don’t turn the music down or let the song end, because that sends the baby back into a tiny little fit.


via [ URLesque ] via [ Zadi ]

Aol Daybreak with @LindsayCampbell Premieres with a Question: What do you want in a morning show?

Aol Daybreak

My friend Lindsay Campbell premieres her new show today, Aol Daybreak, with the question: What do you want in a morning show?

Great way to start, except for the fact that as of 9:43 Am Aol Daybreak is still not on the Aol.com homepage.



I'm a big fan, going back to her groundbreaking show MobLogic.tv.


Moblogic featured on Vlog Soup

On MobLogic.tv, Lindsay did a great job of including the audience before, during and after her news segments. The other thing that was refreshing was that we got to hear Lindsay's perspective on the news.

I'm also happy to see my friends Adam Elend and Jeff Marks are Executive Producers:

Aol Daybreak Credits

I'm excited to see where this goes.

Mob Logic Yo!

Update 10:04:

Found it:

Daybreak
Image: Aol Video Player

It's a text link. See it?

Update 11:00:

Daybreak: It's a Revolving Player
Image: Aol Video Player Featuring Daybreak

@stevegarfield It's a revolving player. You can get your @lindsaycampbell fix on the Aol homepage now.less than a minute ago via Tweetie for Mac



Update 5:05 PM:

Aol Daybreak episodes at video.aol.com:
http://video.aol.com/show/aol-daybreak

SNL Digital Short: What Was That? A 'Model UN' winner and Arcade Fire address the General Assembly

Ed Burns New Film Cost $25K to Make



Nice Guy Johnny Official Site


Trailer
Available on iTunes, VOD, DVD, iTunes and more on October 26th!

Sure, she can be a little overbearing sometimes, but baby-faced Johnny Rizzo loves his fiancée Claire, and he made her a promise: by the time he's 25-years-old, he'll trade his current dream job as a local sports talk radio host (even if it is the 2 a.m. slot) for something that'll pay bigger bucks. And Johnny's nothing, if not a man of his word.

Now he's flying to New York to interview for some snoozeville job that Claire's well-to-do father set up. Enter Uncle Terry, who lives in New York, a rascally womanizer bent on turning a day in the Hamptons into a final fling for his nephew. Nice guy Johnny's not interested, of course, but then he meets the lovely Brooke...

Starring: Edward Burns, Matt Bush, Kerry Bishé, Anna Wood and Max Baker
Nice Guy Johnny Facebook

Nice Guy Johnny Twitter

Nice Guy Johnny YouTube

Click to get the film on iTunes in standard and high-definition. Check your cable provider for on demand, as well as Amazon, Netflix and more...

I just added this to my Netflix queue and moved it to position 1.

I love the idea of how this film was made, like the story line, and am interested in seeing how the distribution method works out.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

West Wing Week by Official White House Videographer Arun Chaudhary



NY Times: Arun Chaudhary is the first White House videographer, producing “West Wing Week” online.:
Mr. Chaudhary is the official White House videographer and the first person to hold the job, a part documentarian, part White House-message-machine post. He travels with the president on roughly two-thirds of his trips, documenting the behind-the-scenes occasions and public theatrics.

He pulls his video together into “West Wing Week,” a signature production that comes out on the White House Web site every Friday and offers a pithy look at the president’s past week. Mr. Chaudhary, 35, serves as reporter and promoter...
This is great and the first I'd heard of it.

More here:



Making Video From the White House
White House photographers joke that you can't take a good picture of President Obama without Arun Chaudhary, the first official white house videographer, being somewhere in the frame.

Arun Chaudhary on twitter

Content Marketing Crash Course


Content Marketing Crash Course (affiliate link)

Our expert instructors like David Meerman Scott, Brian Solis, Joe Pulizzi, Steve Garfield and Kristina Halvorson will show you how to set your strategy, build a sustainable content program, and more. By the end of this online course, you'll have mastered what you need to bridge your company and your customers using creative, engaging content that works.

Plus, we're presenting Content Marketing Crash Course LIVE over two weeks in December. That's right: nearly 14 hours of live, online training. And, after that, you can access the complete course on-demand to catch what you've missed, brush up on the details that matter most to you ... or see it all from the beginning.

My session:
VIDEO
6 Easy Ways to Produce Compelling Video (That You Hadn't Thought of Before)

Monday, December 13—2:30-3:00pm ET
Your video content is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than your standard text- based content, according to a recent Forrester Research report. Can you see why it's important to include video as part of your content mix? Unless you went to film school, creating videos can be a scary prospect. But the good news is that the ease of recent video innovations makes the prospect less frightening, allowing you more options than ever.

Learn:

· How to create videos on the fly to embed on your site or blog

· Ideas for content that's best suited to video

· All about affordable and easy-to-use cameras and other video options
Register here:
www.marketingprofsu.com/register/59?coupon=VIDEOCM (affiliate link)

There are 2-3 classes per day scheduled on seven days (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from December 3-17). Each class is 30-60 minutes long with time for Q&A.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Jimmy Fallon Talks “Late Night”, Social Media and Steve Garfield [INTERVIEW]

Great interview with Jimmy Fallon in Mashable today, Jimmy Fallon Talks “Late Night” and Social Media [INTERVIEW]. Love this part where Jimmy talks about how I helped him out when her first started his video blog:
Q: With the spontaneity and the craziness of social media, has there been anything that’s been surprising?

Fallon: How helpful people can be, I think, and nice. It’s really awesome, I think it shows how good we can be … as a world, as a country. I mean, people are really thoughtful and nice if you just ask them. Like, I go to this guy, Steve Garfield, when we were doing our videos on our blog. I was like “Alright, welcome back, this is our third vlog and, you know I’m going to send another vlog.” And he sent in a thing and he goes, “Hey Jimmy, I just want to say you’re doing a great show, this is really cool what you’re doing, but uh, they’re not called ‘vlogs.’ You have a blog and what you’re doing is uploading videos to you blog, so hope that helps you.” And I was like, “How cool is this dude?” That really does help me. I did not know that that’s the terminology.
At the time, everyone on YouTube was saying that they were making a new vlog each time they put up a video. Since it was Jimmy's first video I wanted to tell him that he wasn't making a new vlog each night, he was putting a new video ON his vlog every night.

Thanks for the mention Jimmy.

Here's my first video blog post and some video from Jimmy's first week on the web:


Steve Garfield and Jimmy Fallon - First Video Blog Posts

Steve Garfield 1st Video Blog 1/1/04
Jimmy Fallon 1st Video Blog 12/8/08
Jimmy Fallon 2nd Video Blog 12/9/08
Jimmy Fallon comments on first video submissions

I got a chance to interview Jimmy at CES and we talked about how cool web video is in that it makes people feel like they know you.


Jimmy Fallon talks with Steve Garfield about his new show, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, at CES.

I have interviews with Jimmy and Gavin Purcell in my book, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business. Check it out:



Jimmy wrote the blurb for the back cover:

"Steve Garfield is hilariously awesome. He gave us timely advice when we started our videoblog, and now he's put that advice and more into this ridiculously thorough guide."
—JIMMY FALLON, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

My Blog is 10 Years Old Today! Happy Blog Birthday Blog.

Wow.

TEN YEARS.

Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday to my Blog.

Here's my first Blogger blog post from Thursday, November 09, 2000:
Today we had a really good meeting and lunch. The best part of the day was when our meeting went off on a tangent and we started discussing the current election. After lots of talk about Saturday Night Live and the Hamburger sketch (watch it in the screening room Season 3-5 3/18/78), we decided that this stuff had to be logged somewhere.
There a link to the archives on the right hand sidebar.

Prior to having a blog, using the Blogger platform, I hand coded a blog for the Karlson and McKenzie radio show back in 1997-1998.

Happy Birthday to My Blog. Happy Birthday to You.

Although I've made new friends with twitter and Facebook, I still like you.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

.Mac is dead to me

.Mac is dead to me.

Error:
Forbidden

Access denied by access control list.
Apple just broke all my .Mac hosted image links by shutting off .Mac support of images on web pages.

MobileMe: .Mac HomePage Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Q: I published content to homepage.mac.com using my own HTML editor and my content is located in the Sites folder of my iDisk. Do I need to do anything?

A: Content within the Sites folder of your iDisk will still be available for viewing on the web and can still be edited with an HTML editor. However, any website content stored in the Pictures, Movies, or Public folders of your iDisk will be unavailable in your web pages after November 8, 2010 (although a folder called Pictures within the Sites folder would continue to work).

If your web pages reference content from any of those folders, you will need to move the content to your Sites folder and update your HTML accordingly.
Oh right, like I'm going to go back and change IMG tags for content going back 10 YEARS!

Apple hasn't heard of a redirect?

Future of Marketing Virtual Conference


November 16, 2010

This is going to be fun AND fast!

I know all these people and they are all great.

"60 leading thinkers have 60 seconds each to share 60 tips every marketer needs to know to thrive in 2011."

REGISTER FOR FREE:
futureofmarketing.com

We'll be talking about this conference with steve Haase on SteveGarfield.tv on Thursday November 11th at 2:00 Eastern. Watch LIVE on The Pulse Network.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Ask a Question and I'll post a Video answer with VYou.

Overhaul: New Book Lifts the Lid on GM and Chrysler

Motor Trend's Todd Lassa writes about Steven Rattner's book Overhaul in Notes From the Revolution: Rattner's Overhaul:
Overhaul makes a strong case for the bailouts, though. Saving GM and Chrysler was not socialism. It was pragmatic, balanced capitalism with government oversight. It saved jobs, and with the distasteful bailout of the banking industry, likely prevented a depression potentially far worse than the great one of the 1930s.
"It is disappointing that the companies seem to be doing so well in this economy, and there's overwhelming opposition" to the bailouts, Rattner told me. He credits the opposition to "frustration and unhappiness about the state of the economy."

Fall Trees

Fall Trees
Fall Trees, originally uploaded by stevegarfield. CC BY-NC-SA

Taken with Instagram on an iPhone 4.

Monday, November 08, 2010

The ONE Story Baratunde Thurston is thinking about today: Conan O'Brien


The ONE on AOL. CLICK the image to see the video.

Smart move by AOL to have Next New Networks produce a daily show for the front page of AOL.com.

My friend Tim Shey, Co-founder of Next New Networks, sent me an email about it:
Today, we launched The ONE, a new daily series on AOL, as part of the innovative new relaunch of AOL.com.

With The ONE being presented on AOL's homepage to their audience of 15 million unique U.S. visitors daily, this may be the biggest placement for a daily news series to date, and all of us at Next New Networks are honored to be the first company to launch an original series like this with AOL.

The ONE is all about cutting through the thousands of stories presented to you daily -- on the web, on TV, in your friends' Facebook and Twitter feeds -- and giving you a great perspective on the one story that really matters. Today, November 8, we're talking about the Conan launch on TBS, and brought on comedian and author Baratunde Thurston, digital director for The Onion -- to talk about it. The series is directed and produced by Kathleen Grace, our head of production and creator of hit web series The Burg and The All-for-Nots, who co-created it with me.

New episodes will be live on AOL.com at 1pm daily, Monday through Friday, and feature a roster of great contributors from around the web.
Focusing ONE video, on ONE topic, with ONE interesting contributor is a great idea.

This way someone might tune in to hear the contributor because they are a fan, or tune in to hear about the topic because they are following it online or want to hear more about it.

It's also short and doesn't require a large time commitment.

Good luck.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Thursday 11/4 at 2:00 on SteveGarfield.tv

SteveGarfield.tv AD 1

Thursday 11/4 at 2:00 on SteveGarfield.tv:
A cool new USB speaker, Did Massachusetts poll workers break the law, Conan for Halloween, Video Chat with Brian August of Watchitoo, Sarah Evans @prsarahevans and you, plus Video Soup where an iSight video is good enough, and a new cover from Alexa Goddard.
Join in for a LIVE Watchitoo video chat fest at 2:30.

This is the @Watchitoo link for the LIVE VIDEO chat during SteveGarfield.tv today 2-3 Eastern:
http://www.watchitoo.com/show/waw-872
Watch live at The Pulse Network.

SteveGarfield.TV on TPN brought to you by the .TV domain name

A portable USB Soundbar for any device in the world!



I got a SoundbarUSB from Edifier to try out on my MacBook Pro.

Edifier SoundbarUSB
SoundbarUSB connected to MacBook Pro

For the Mac, you plug the SoundbarUSB into an available USB port and then go into system settings and direct output to the USB device.

Worked simply. No external power required.

I like devices that work simply.

On my Mac I've grown used to Cambridge SoundWorks dual speakers with a woofer. Big difference.

But for times when I'm out on the road speaking, and the conference organizer forgets to order a sound system, this 10" USB powered speaker could come in handy.

It does cover up the function keys if you place it directly underneath the MacBook Pro screen.

Edifier SoundbarUSB
SoundbarUSB covers functions keys on MacBook Pro

I also tried it on my iPhone and it's a great match there too, although it needs to be plugged into USB power.

Note: I did get a notice that some USB device was drawing too much power, so I unplugged my USB keyboard and plugged the SoundbarUSB into the Mac directly., The error went away.

But wait!

iPhone Power Plug
It works when you plug the supplied USB cable into the iPhone power wall plug, but the sound doesn't go as loud as when it's plugged into the Mac. A good portable speaker solution for your iPhone!

Edifier SoundbarUSB plugged into iPhone Power Adapter
Edifier SoundbarUSB plugged into iPhone Power Adapter

The volume control on the side of the Edifier Soundbar USB allows you to crank the volume to a pretty high level. You press the volume button to raise the level and hold the button in to lower the sound.

USB Portable Power
I have these iogear portable USB power packs that allow you to charge them up and then you can charge things like your iPhone when you aren't near power. Those power the SoundbarUSB too, but like the iPhone Power plug, the sound doesn't go as loud as when it's plugged into the Mac.

USB Cigarette Lighter Power
Those cigarette to USB power adapters for your car work too.

So overall, I can see lots of places that the SoundbarUSB could be used despite it only being powered by USB.

Even my Monster Power Outlets to Go 3 has a USB port on it.

iPad
But wait, there's more. I also plugged the USB power into the iPhone power adapter and plugged it into the wall and then plugged the audio in jack in from an iPad to the Soundbar USB. It worked great. Then it didn't. More testing is needed.

Edifier SoundbarUSB amplifies audio out on iPad while watching The Watercooler on #thepulse
Edifier SoundbarUSB amplifies audio out on iPad

Edifier Soundbar USB from stevegarfield on Vimeo.

Soundbar USB
http://www.edifier-international.com/

Steve Garfield
http://stevegarfield.com

Music
http://alexagoddard.co.uk


Update from Edifier:
The Soundbar is available in December on the Apple online store. Starting November 5th it can also be bought on the WIRED Store website (http://www.wiredstore.net/)