Adventures of a Barefoot Geek — The Blog of David Turnbull

How To Create Perfect Video Tutorials: A Professional’s Guide to Screencasting

July 12, 2016 by David Turnbull Leave a Comment

Last year, I spent two months recreating Your First Meteor Application, a video training series about building web applications with the Meteor JavaScript framework.

This involved:

Figuring what worked (and what didn’t) about the original version.
Completely reworking every second of content from the ground-up.
Repeatedly scrapping my progress and starting over.

Because while it doesn’t take much to sit down with a microphone and create a video tutorial, it’s a whole other ball-game to create hours worth of content that is easily understood, looks great, sounds professional, and leaves viewers satisfied that they’ve handed over their money.

With this in mind, I thought I’d share everything that I’ve learned along the way. There’s always more to learn, of course, but I certainly feel like I have some tricks up my sleeve.

Review: Kindle Voyage (2014)

April 5, 2016 by David Turnbull 13 Comments

Note: The day I finished writing this review, Jeff Bezos announced a new, high-end Kindle, so it’s probably a good idea to wait for further details before buying any of the Kindles — if only to pick-up a second-hand Voyage for a better price.

Kindle Voyage Review (2014)

Years ago, I preordered the Amazon Kindle 2. I’d never used an eReader before but I was spending hundreds of dollars a month on physical books and was eager to slash that cost as much as possible by going digital. I handed over my money and hoped for the best.

This was one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life.

Right away, the Kindle 2 became my favourite gadget. Books were now affordable, they didn’t need to be shipped from the United States to Australia, and the reading experience felt wonderfully refined. I was in heaven.

Since then, new Kindles have been released, but until earlier this year, I didn’t buy any of them. I tried one of the earlier updates, but the lack of physical keyboard, lousy buttons, and otherwise cheap feeling kept me wary of upgrading unless I had to. Even as well-reviewed updates were released, like the Paperwhite, I stuck with my Kindle 2, content with my “if it ain’t broke” mentality.

Then it broke.

After seven years of faithful service, the Kindle 2 started bugging out. Sometimes books wouldn’t open, forcing me to restart the device, delete the book, and then re-download it. In other cases, my highlights were disappearing without syncing to the web, which meant I could no longer trust the linchpin of my research.

The time had come for an upgrade.

Online Video for the Camera Shy: How To Be Confident in Front of the Camera

May 14, 2014 by David Turnbull 8 Comments

When I started making videos on YouTube, I was terrified. What if one of my friends finds my channel? What if I make a fool of myself? What if a random stranger on the Internet doesn’t like me? I’d been “the quiet kid” growing up, so even the idea of making videos was a step out of my comfort zone.

I had to do it though. I’d been blogging for a few years but was feeling stuck. I needed something new in my life. This quote from Thomas Jefferson that pushed me over the edge:

If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.

But an inspiring quote couldn’t fix the fundamental problem of being absolutely horrible in front of the camera. That takes a bit more work.

Deviated Septum Surgery: Diagnosis, Surgery, Recovery, and FAQ

May 2, 2014 by David Turnbull 277 Comments

At the end of February, I noticed I couldn’t breathe properly through my left nostril. I went to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist and learned that, growing up, I’d broken my nose, resulting in a deviated septum. This is when the bone between your nostrils becomes crooked, restricting airflow. Many people have deviated septums but aren’t noticeably affected by them. I was one of the exceptions, with two doctors referring to the damage as severe.

To fix a deviated septum, surgery is required. I had this surgery in early April and, prior to that, had been searching for people’s experiences to get an idea of what to expect. I found some blog posts and YouTube videos, but nothing comprehensive, and that’s why I’m writing this post — to help people with deviated septums get an idea of what to expect from the process.

The post itself should answer most people’s questions but, if you have anything to ask, feel free to leave comments below.

Gym Fear: How To Not Be Afraid of the Gym

April 23, 2014 by David Turnbull 9 Comments

For the longest of times, I was scared of going to the gym. I know that sounds silly to some but, having grown up as a scrawny computer geek, walking into a building full of athletic gods wasn’t my idea of a good time.

But for about as long, I wanted to lift weights. I didn’t want to remain a scrawny computer geek. I wanted to squat and bench and deadlift, and I had all the motivation in the world, but I didn’t have the mindset. Whenever I thought of going to the gym, I couldn’t help but assume:

I wouldn’t fit in.
I’d hurt myself.
I’d embarrass myself.

And basically, the gym wasn’t for me because I wasn’t “the sort of person” to train at the gym. I’d put myself in a box and I wouldn’t let myself out. If all of this sounds familiar though, fear not: I’ve found the solutions.

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