Canon 7D vs. Barbie Video Girl from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo.

OK, you’re thinking about getting a fancy camera to do some video blogging. But let’s face it, you don’t have a lot of money, and you have a whole lot of Barbie clothes lying around that aren’t being put to good use. Have we got a solution for you.

The surprising thing, for a camera that is essentially a creepy gaping hole in Barbie’s chest, the footage isn’t too bad. Just make sure to keep Barbie’s hands out of the shot when you’ve got something important to say.

Check out the original post at Buzzfeed

And so reads one of the famous early cartoons about the Internet, published in the New Yorker in 1993. Back then, in the Internet of text news groups and 14.4 baud modems, it was pretty easy to keep yourself hidden.

Now, 17 years later, the social media explosion has changed that somewhat. Funny aliases have been replaced by real names. Your real identity is necessary if you want to get the most out of Facebook, or else how will people find you? While we are actually showing our face online, to most people, we are still just a face on the screen, not a real flesh and blood person. Getting to know someone online is still pretty much through reading what people write. And if you have a hard time writing (like I do sometimes), it doesn’t really convey what it would be like to sit and have coffee with you.

So how can you give people the idea of what it would be like to be in that coffee shop? Fire up the webcam and record a quick hello. Immediately you’ve become that much more real in the minds of your online friends. And when you’re competing with dogs with keyboards, a little humanity displayed through online video goes a long way.

While I’ve been absent from these pages, I’ve been busy on what is now our main outlet, theV3H.com, where you can experience the best of news and events about the Tricities.

You can see some of the quick videos we’ve been doing for theV3H at our Youtube channel, TheV3HTV. Suffice it to say that upNext Media has been busy building web properties, and soon we’re going to be launching new products and services to help you make awesome online video. Stay tuned!

Jacob, my youngest, has just turned 1 and has recently taken a few steps on his own. I wanted to get a little video camera that I could whip out and crack off some shots and share them online fairly easily. I ended up getting a Flip Mino HD. This tiny little camera shoots in high definition (very compressed, but still) and has a USB connector right on board to plug into the Macbook Pro and start editing. I got it airbrushed with the logo of our Tricities website, thev3h.com, and shipped out, all for around $300.

Here’s an example of what can be done with a $300 camera and a copy of iMovie ’09. Due to the lightness of the camera some of the shots are a little shaky, but overall it’s pretty neat.

Our project editor Colin McQuillan’s lovely wife Jackie gave birth to a beautiful 7 lb, 11 oz baby girl. Mom and baby are doing great.

Congratulations!

This video was produced as a DVD, is featured prominently on the District of Mission website (www.mission.ca), and was produced as a mini-CD to give out through real estate agents. This video continues to pay dividends to the residents and businesses of the District of Mission.

We’re proud to say the Campaign reached its goal of $7.5 million dollars raised, and the Cancer Centre in Abbotsford is saving lives in the Fraser Valley today thanks to the generosity of people throughout the Fraser Valley. Working with this remarkable group of people was a truly uplifting experience.

You can visit the campaign website at www.healthcareexcellence.ca