Viddler

One thing I know really well about living in Australia is being distant from my friends overseas. Gosh, I hardly even see some of my local Sydney friends for months or even years. Friendship is a must-have in life, but sometimes it can be tricky for people. I know that I cherish every friend I have and never take them for granted.

The friends I keep close to me are the ones that are online (IM, Skype, or even Facebook) often. When I was in high school it was a little different because I saw my friends there every day. But after high school many friends go separate ways. Whether it’s their hobbies, job, or location; they become distant. I imagine the ways my parents kept in touch with their friends after high school (in the days before the Internet) must have required more effort. In my opinion, the Internet has made retaining friendship much easier.

These days you can video chat with people across the other side of the world for free (computer and Internet connection required). Video chat is currently the closest thing to being together in person. It can be used for business, fun, or just knowing there’s someone there so you feel more connected in your lonesome office or bedroom.

Meg Liz Miller (friend her up!) has a best friend named Devan. They grew up together but are now separated and on opposite coasts of the USA. While that’s a much shorter distance than Australia to America, it’s still far enough that they can’t just pop over to each others’ place from time to time. Alas, the magic of iChat’s video function allow them to see each other to have frequent dance battles!

And with that I bring you today’s Friday Fun!

Who thinks Meg Liz’s branded player is awesome? It looks mighty fine on her sexy website!

Meg Liz’s Twitter bio says: Graphic Designer, Artist, Model, Dancer, Cheerleader, LFL Football Player, and Fitness Fanatic! I’m a really big DORK, but you’ll probably LOVE ME – I love dorks, so that works.

Just in case you’re not aware, the LFL is the Lingerie Football League. Girls playing contact football in minimalistic outfits. I just discovered that. While your mind is in the gutter I’ll leave you with the following question:

What kind of fun do you have with your friends on video chat?

It’s Friday. The weekend is almost here. Let’s clear off any bad energy from the work week so that we can stroll on in to the weekend sometime around lunch today and be all mellow for the says that start with “S”.

Karin Rozell (subscribe) is a wellness coach and marketing maven. Two quite different skills, but she does them both well.

If all the stresses that life is throwing at you is getting to much, then Karin has a simple way to get rid of it all; shake it out. Seriously, it’s that easy. Whether you choose to dance or just shake your body all over there’s no better way to relieve your built-up tension. Karin chooses to rock out to some M.I.A. after a bit of yoga. Now, that is chillin’!

Go on. Dance. Frolic. Do whatever kind of jig you need to in order to get all loosened up.

If you have some Friday Fun you’d like to share with the Viddler community, then feel free to send me a message and tell me of your glorious idea!

If you don’t know Owen JJ Stone (aka OhDocTah), you’re missing out on an incredibly awesome friend!

Owen heads the team at Ask OhDocTah which is a website where you can ask the team anything about anything. Need to know whether you should bother getting Egyptian cotton sheets? Ask the team at OhDocTah and they’ll sort you out.

A fabulous series that Owen hosts is called Friend Up Friday. At South by Southwest Interactive he recorded a whole bunch of FUF’s with very talented and loving people.

I’m embedding them all below with a short description from OhDocTah.com. Click the link under each video to find out more about each person.

Warning: There’s the occasional thug speak (aka naughty language), so you may want to remove any oompa loompas roaming around near your viewing device.

Derek is so happy is hurts! Seriously it makes me sick to think of how happy this guy is! Read more on Derek at OhDocTah.com…

Oh Hey it’s Rachel and she is as cool as ever. She is so thug life! I love sitting around late night and watching her streaming live! Read more on Rachel at OhDocTah.com…

You know what I got friends that are smooth, but Giannii takes it to a whole new level. I normally just go and tell you how pimp my friend is but I won’t this time, cuz G will take care of that for me. Read more on Giannii at OhDocTah.com…

This guy Brian Shaler is so freaking creative and smart it makes my brain hurt. He is such a good guy. I fully endorse every and anything he does in his life! That is how solid he is. Read more on Brian at OhDocTah.com…

So I was in Texas and I had the chance to roll with a balin’ young thunda cat! Sam Taggart is so ready to be done with school. He has tons of plans and goals which is awesome because he is ready to work for everything that is coming to him. Read more about Sam at OhDocTah.com…

So this very well turned out to be the best F.U.F. ever! Not to take away from all the other awesome ones but this one is king of the hill for right now! AJ Vaynerchuk is cool peoples! When we were chlling in Austin he gave someone a biz card, I asked where mine was and he replied you already have my number! Read more on OhDocTah.com…

If you have an idea for Friday Fun that you’d like to roll by me, just send me a message and I shall respond with a smile on my face.

Today is Friday the 13th, the first day of SXSW Interactive, AND Rob Sandie’s birthday.

Some of you probably know him as sandieman and/or the president and co-founder of Viddler. He’s responsible for running so many aspects of Viddler that he blows my mind with amazingness! You’ll often find him tweeting late a night working on various Viddler projects. Obviously, this means he sings and dances around in his office (as seen below).

You should definitely wish Rob a giddy birthday today. It will mean a lot to him.

Send Rob a message on Viddler
Send Rob a message on Twitter

On Thursday night I started contacting friends in the Viddler community about some Friday Fun. I kept it under the radar so that Birthday Boy Gary Vaynerchuk didn’t find out until it was complete.

During all of Friday I received videos from the community

There was a constant stream of birthday wishes for him on Twitter, and he gained 1,000 new followers! Birthday wishes were everywhere!

Here’s an addition to them from the Viddler Community.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY!

Do you want to get the Viddler Community involved in some Friday Fun? Send me a message and I’ll get the word out!

So, just a thought, but why do we need a separate video hosting service for videos under a certain length? Why not just create a group for micro-video-updates that are 15 seconds or under?

I don’t know about you, but I like to keep as much of my video in one place as possible, so I’ll be putting my quickie vids in our new 15seconds Group. Here’s my first try:

AND, there’s already a 15seconds question of the day! Can you describe love in 15 seconds?

If you would like to suggest a video to be featured, feel free to send me a message or just comment on this post.

Check out this totally impressive mob of zombies that took over Melbourne, Australia this June… I didn’t know zombies were this organized and some of them are really gross looking. There’s a photo album from the day here.

I think from all the shouting that they wanted… brains?

Do you have a MeToday full of exciting news? Are you a member of a group that deserves a shout out on the site? Have you noticed a new member who could really use a warm Viddler welcome from our community? Community Spotlight is for these types of community features, and we welcome constant input from YOU, the community!

If you would like to suggest a video to be featured in our Community Spotlight, feel free to send me a message or just comment on this post.

Viddler user Tarkin may not have broken his lightsaber this time when he swung it around in his video but he easily could have. And if I am not mistaken this particular lightsaber is one from Sharper Image and is worth over 100 bucks.

This video reminds me of Star Wars kid, which ended up getting all mashed up and remixed by everyone. And I’m not so sure about the shirt coming off at the end.

Regardless he seemed to have a good time with his new saber.

If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

Although there is some debate as to whether or not this video is real ( I think it is ), it is really fun to watch regardless. Bottle Rocket Idiot, uploaded by iSheahan, shows some dude getting blown into the air with pressurized bottles strapped to his back. Watch it for yourself, let me know what you think.

Real or fake? I don’t think it matters – I just think it is really fun to watch and I’d love to try that out someday (minus the belly-flop) at the end.

If you would like to suggest a video to be featured on our blog please send me a message, use our forums, or just comment on this post.

Donna recently got a new cell phone. She was as happy as a clam that she could “send email on her phone” quickly and easily. I made sure to warn her not to try it while she was driving. We’ll not mention if she has or not – we’ll just leave you with this Viddler Public Service Announcement for our Friday fun: Drive carefully, like these people clearly have.

Other parking techniques uploaded by chris.

• Parking Technique 1
• Parking Technique 2
• Parking Technique 3

And no, Donna was not the lady driving the little van in Parking Technique 3. Enjoy today’s fun and be sure to drive safe.

If you have any videos you’d like to recommend for next Friday, send me a message, use our forums, or post a comment on this post.