Decision Making

Brain IdeasJohn wrote in and asked for more videos on Decision Making. To be specific, how we make decisions based off of psychological research.

When we experience anything in life we leave out a large portion of the information. We ignore and generalize because there is just too much information to take in. The information that we do store, makes up our own personal version of what happened during any point in the past.

Our version is always going to be flawed, because of all the information we deleted. We then make decisions using our own personal reasoning process. This is known as our Meta Program. In the following videos, I’ll show you how everyone makes decisions through the use of Meta Programming.

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Flash Jib Jab Animation

Sarah Palin Jib Jab CartoonCarl wrote in and requested that I create a video on how to create Jib Jab Style Flash Animation. It is actually very simple to copy their overall style. I think the hardest thing to copy is their very funny songs and Jib Jab’s great composition work.

You can actually do a lot with Flash Animation. Actually most cartoons on Cartoon Network were created with Flash. I’m working on my own cartoon as we speak. If you have any specific tutorials you’d like to see on Flash Animation leave them in the comment section below.

Here is the link to the files I create in this tutorial Flash Jib Jab Animation. You are welcome to do whatever you’d like with them.

Continue reading Flash Jib Jab Animation

Interview Questions and Answers

How to Deal with PeopleA while back I received the following question from Paula “What are some typical interview questions? Can you list some interview mock questions from a typical interview and how to answer them? I especially want to be able to answer the weakness interview question.”

Archimedes recently asked me “How to give a favorable impression during an interview?”

A wrote an article in which I specifically answered this question and it can be found here Interview Typical Questions. You could also just watch the following video for the same information on Interview Questions and Answers. I go over:

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Study Methods

Study MethodsI’ve received many requests to do a tutorial on study methods. So, in this article I’ll go over the core methods used by successful students. If you follow this study plan you’ll increase your comprehension with less effort.

I’ll also go over exactly how I’m able to create these long tutorials in just 2 hours a day.

Here is the overall break down of this study method article:

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How To Knit

How To KnitIf this is the first time you’ve been on my site, this is what I do here. I except requests for how to articles and then I make them for you. Of course I get requests often that I can’t fulfill. The third most popular how to article / video that I get is to teach you How to Knit.

So, my wife (who has knit for many years) volunteered to handle this tutorial.

In the video below, she goes through the basics of knitting. The stitch she teaches you first is known as the Knit Stitch or Garter Stitch. She learned how to knit from the Stitch N’ Bitch books and wanted me to recommend them to you.

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Flash Walk Cycles

Flash TutorialIn this video I show you how to create Flash Walk Cycles. You can also use these techniques to create run, stumble, double bounce and jump cycles.

You basically draw each individual part of the character, the major movements and then apply the bone tool. Through the use of the bone tool you define all of the major movements and then let Flash fill in the rest of the walk cycle.

All of the pictures and everything else I use in this video are available here Flash Walk Cycle Files. You can use them however you would like for free.

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How To Draw

Flash TutorialI received a bunch of requests on how to do flash cartoon animations if you can’t draw. In this article I’ll cover you in multiple ways.

First I’ll show you the basics of drawing the human face. Then I’ll provide you with a ton of sample FLA files filled with cartoon face parts you can cut and paste. Just mix and match the different parts until you have your own custom character. Use them however you like for free.

Note to download the face parts click below and save the destination files:

Continue reading How To Draw

Flash Tutorial Part 6

Flash TutorialIn this Flash Tutorial Video, I teach you how to do many things that you have requested. I cover the following:

  • How to animate a waving flag
  • How to animate objects with the 3d transform tool
  • How to use filters in Flash
  • How to simulate a spot light
  • Many tricks using masks in Flash

If you have any questions that I haven’t covered yet, leave them in the comment section below.

Note: Video is best viewed by pressing the HD and Full Screen Buttons.

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Next week we animate cartoon characters!!!

Till Next Time

Think Tank

WordPress How To Video

In the previous article I answered many of the WordPress How To Questions that I’ve been getting. Many of you also requested that I create a video based on that article, so here you are.

Wordpress Problems SolvedIn this video I’ll cover the following topics:

  • Quick ways to post content to your site
  • How to Upgrade WordPress
  • 3 different ways to install themes
  • How to backup WordPress
  • And, a couple of WordPress tips

Here is the video and after it I provided links to a bunch more WordPress How To Videos and articles.

Continue reading WordPress How To Video

WordPress How To

Wordpress Problems SolvedI’ve received tons of emails from you all, asking questions about WordPress. In this article I’ll answer every single WordPress How To Question you’ve sent in. Here is the complete list of questions I’ll be covering. If I’ve missed something, leave a comment below and I’ll cover it next.

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WordPress Calendar Plugin

Wordpress Problems SolvedI was helping people create WordPress websites and everyone wanted to know what the best WordPress Calendar Plugin was. I’ve tested 12 since I got the request and in this article I’ll go over Calendar Press. I’ll cover how to install it and how to use it to create a nice event calendar as well.

Why is Calendar Press the Best WordPress Calendar Plugin?

Most importantly it isn’t buggy. (Many of the Calendar Plugins I tested were) Also it provides these core capabilities:

Continue reading WordPress Calendar Plugin

Flash Tutorial Part 5

Flash CartoonIn this video I show you how easy it is for anyone to draw interesting cartoons in Flash. I’m using the Flash Brush tool and a Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet I got for under $100. I think this is the best tablet for Flash and it’s dirt cheap.

If you would like me to do more drawing tutorials in any other software packages just ask.

Leave your questions and comments below.

Note: The video is best viewed with the HD and Full Screen Buttons pressed.

Continue reading Flash Tutorial Part 5

Flash CS5 Tutorial Part 4

Flash TutorialIn this video we start animating stuff in Flash. Also, music makes a reappearance in this video. Do you like background music or not?

First I teach you how to create a realistic bouncing ball in Flash. I then teach you how to create a spinning globe in Flash.

If anyone wants the Flash files I create in the video just ask for them in the comment section and I’ll send them to you for free. Yeah communism!

If you have any questions, comments or requests leave them in the comment section below.

Note: For best view click the HD and Full Screen Buttons for the video below

Continue reading Flash CS5 Tutorial Part 4

Internet Gurus

Puzzled About DerivativesThis is the first article I got a cease and desist order for writing. I actually named Internet Gurus that are ripping people off in it originally. I had to remove their names, but the rest of the content is intact.

This might be the most important article you ever read, so I’ll jump right to the point. Stop giving your money to Internet Guru’s!!!

Every day I hear about how people have gotten ripped off by these supposed experts. So, today I’ll show you how successful they really are. On top of that I’ll show you exactly what they teach you, when you hand over a couple grand. Except I’ll teach you it for free and you won’t have to give me your email address.

Do They Really Make Money on Their Sites?

There are a bunch of ways to measure how much traffic a website gets and why, but I’ll focus on 2. Alexa.com is considered the number one way of measuring traffic online. Websitegrader.com is one of the best ways to analyze why a site is getting its traffic.

My site currently ranks in the top .4% of all sites on Earth. That is point 4 %. I’m not bragging. I’m definitely not happy with that rank and that is why I work so hard to improve the content on this site everyday. I’m just supplying you with that number for comparison reasons. I get about 1,000 hits per day. Some times more and sometimes less.

The point I’m making is if I’m not making a ton of money. And, if these guys are getting less traffic than me, they are also not getting rich from their traffic.

I am as of this article ranked as getting more traffic than every website except the top 145,032. I’m running stats on a random number of supposed experts. They actually have the major advantage of spending money for Google Ads, which I do not!

Here is How Much Traffic They Get

Web Site Address Alexa Traffic Rank
newthinktank.com 145,032
Internet Guru 239,383
Internet Guru 748,896
Internet Guru 2,454,564
Internet Guru 239,383
Internet Guru 4,023,405
Internet Guru 524,354
Internet Guru 271,461

Note: I was forced to remove the above names, but these are some of the people that claim they are the experts

What if They Have a High Alexa Rank?

That doesn’t guarantee they got it honestly. There are ways to trick Google. However these tricks only work temporarily. And, once Google discovers those sites that try to trick them, they are soon blacklisted.

If your site is blacklisted, it is almost impossible to ever rank well again. So, don’t try these tricks with your site!

  • Overloading your keywords with high ranking site names
  • Creating long lists of keywords that are the same color as your websites background
  • Creating many duplicate pages that are overloaded with keywords
  • Stealing other high ranking pages and putting them on your site
  • Displaying a different page to search engines than you do to regular people
  • Creating a large number of sites that just link to your main site

There are many more, but the most common trick is to share links through Link Farms. These are just worthless sites that have to soul purpose of creating incoming links. Google hates Link Farms and you should never participate in them.

What Do the Gurus Teach You?

The majority of them take your money and maybe put you on a link farm, from what I’ve seen. Many others have systems that are legitimate, but only generate half decent levels of traffic. These automated websites normally are sold for thousands of dollars and generate only a few hundred per year.

Here is a video in which I teach you how to set them up for free, just like the guru’s.

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If you insist on spending money for an automated system check out AutoBlogged. It is just $60 and as high quality as the $5,000 packages.

Free Advice on Making Money on the Internet

I wrote extensively on how I drive traffic to my website in the article Internet Promotion. In that article I explain what works for me after having tested pretty much every trick out there. Here is a video on driving traffic to your site as well, if you’d rather watch a video.

What if They Show Me Proof

It is very easy in this day in age to create forged bank statements. It is also very easy to fake Google Analytics charts. Don’t believe it.

Other Ways SEO Experts Scam People

Remember when I described how these guys sometimes drive traffic by tricking Google with link farms? Well, many then take those sites and sell them on website auction sites. Then an unsuspecting customer pays thousands for a high traffic site that is then blacklisted by Google!

Please Don’t Believe the Hype

I have talked to many successful people on the internet and they all agree that there is no quick way to succeed online. You need good content and need to make it easy for search engines to find you. That is basically it. There are other ways to draw additional interest to your site (as described above), but without good content your site will never make you money.

If you have any questions or comments leave them in the comment section below.

Till Next Time

Think Tank

Flash CS5 Tutorial Part 3

Flash TutorialI cover a lot in this Flash Tutorial Video! I actually explain how to use layers, symbols, the library and how to convert image files into vector art.

I was amazed that I covered all of that in a 10 minute video? Remember this tutorials ultimate goal is to teach you how to create Cartoon Animations with Flash. I’d love it if you guys would tell me what your favorite traditional cartoons are? I’m actually a professionally taught illustrator and would love to base the cartoons on your favorite stuff! So, leave comments below to lead me down the right path.

If you have any questions or ideas on what subjects I should cover next, leave them in the comment section below.

Note: The video is best viewed by clicking the HD and Full Screen Buttons.

Continue reading Flash CS5 Tutorial Part 3

Flash CS5 Tutorial Part 2

Flash TutorialIn this video I completely cover all of the options available with the new Flash Text Layout Framework. Adobe now allows you to do anything you can imagine with text in Flash.

I know this tutorial is kind of boring, but tomorrow we will get into animation which is what Flash is all about. You sometimes have to understand some of the boring aspects of working with a tool before you can use it to create something amazing. By the end of this tutorial series that is exactly what you’ll be able to do.

If you have any questions or comments leave them below. I will read them and respond.

Note: Video is best viewed by pressing the HD and Full Screen Buttons.

Continue reading Flash CS5 Tutorial Part 2

Flash Tutorial Part 1

Flash TutorialIn this video tutorial I will show you the basics you need, to understand how to use Flash. I specifically am using Flash CS5, but everything described can be used in any version of Flash.

The ultimate goal of this tutorial is to explain how to create complicated cartoon animations in Flash. Because this tutorial has been asked for many times, I will go into great depth and will explain all that I know about drawing as well. This will be a long journey, but in the end I think you’ll have many skills that you previously had not.

If you have any specific questions, or areas that you want me to cover, your comments are definitely welcome 🙂

Continue reading Flash Tutorial Part 1

My Favorite Recipe

Salmon RecipeHere I provide a video of me making my favorite meal. It is extremely easy to make, delicious and healthy. It is called Salmon Favetta with a Radish, Celery and Lemon Citronette.

For the salmon, make sure that it is fresh (not frozen or precooked). Get two normal sized fillets for this specific recipe. Then follow the directions below to make the Favetta and Citronette.

Note: The Citronette will taste a little bitter by itself, but totally dreamy over the salmon and Favetta. Trust me on that and don’t mess with the recipe!

Continue reading My Favorite Recipe