Two months ago I made a post here asking you, my readers, to tell me what you want of this blog. I got no responses. I know that there are numerous registered users here, but no one spoke up. I could take that to mean that you are happy with what I’m doing. Or, I could take it to mean that you don’t really care.

That leaves me with choices:

• Take it down, or abandon it
• Continue with what I was doing, even though no one seems to care, or
• Change direction

I’ve decided to change direction. I have too much invested in hosting on this server (I host another very important site here), and too much invested in trying to build the brand of PCValuWare to just chuck it all.

I’ve recently incorporated, and have too much invested at this point to simply throw it all away.

In addition to that, I simply don’t have the time or resources to buy every new piece of software that comes along so that I can give an honest, first-hand evaluation of them all. That was my goal, and I had hoped that you, my readers, would jump at the opportunity to give me your ideas on what I should concentrate on.

Alas, I had no responses. So, the decision is up to me.

My new focus, since incorporating, has turned to the Internet Marketing niche: How to make money online. Thus, while staying true to the original intent of this blog (software reviews), I will now start focusing on software created to help people start making money online.

I will continue to report, as I am able, on cool new software for general use. You needn’t fear that I will abandon my personal passions in that area. But you will now see my focus shifting toward what I think will be more to what I see as a necessity in today’s economy: How to make money at home with a computer and internet access.

Thank you for your patronage thus far, and I look forward to a better and more mutually beneficial relationship in the months and years to come.

Without going into some big spiel, I just want to ask you a simple question.

What do you want to see here?

Please comment.

One can “morph” your image into another, and the other can create a cartoon-style image, such as an icon or avatar, from any other image you have available.

I hope you’ll stay tuned!

If your computer is loaded with all the necessary software to produce professional videos, and you have the wherewithal to do it, then this might not be your cup of tea But if you’re like many of us out here that often need some help, then this just might be the answer. Even if you do have all the capabilities to make smashing video presentations, occasionally you might need a quick way to make a teaser or lead-in.

Well, the video below demonstrates an online software site that can do the job. Animoto was created with just such people in mind. The first time I used it, I realized this could be a great time saving tool for almost any purpose, including marketing online, amazing your friends, captivating users on YouTube and many other things.

It’s simple and straightforward, with an easy-to-use interface and a myriad of options. You can upload images and short video clips and music from your computer, or choose from their vast selection of royalty-free pictures and audios. Mix and match, add text intros and outros and captions. A few clicks, and a few minutes of rendering time later, you have a really nice video presentation ready to share to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or through e-mail. There’s a feature to upload to YouTube or SmugMug directly from the site.

If you’d like to tweak it a bit, there’s a 0ne-click “remix” feature, which will re-render the entire video, producing a whole new creation; you can edit or delete it and start over, too. When you’re satisfied with your results, you can start sharing immediately (the site also serves as a video sharing service in its own right). You can download an .mp4 version to your computer. You can also opt for a Hi-Res version if you so choose. And you may order a DVD copy of your creations. When you’ve finished, you’ll get an e-mail with a link to your video.

The features are too numerous to mention, and the benefits will be obvious once you’ve given it a whirl. It’s a free service, with a few limitations, such as overall length limits (30 seconds) and fewer options when it comes to audio, video and image selection and manipulation. However, if your requirements don’t require more, upgrading is entirely optional. There’s no time constraint.

Watch the video below for a quick overview, and then go try it out for yourself. The link I hope you’ll use is immediately below the video.

Thank you, and your comments are always welcome!

Visit The Animoto Site Right Now and Create A Great Video! (Opens in a new window/tab)

Here is the actual video I made at Animoto, on YouTube.

I have three video cameras, a Flip Ultra, a Sony, and a Panasonic. They output their videos in three different formats – .mpg, .avi, and .vob – so naturally, I want to convert videos on my PC to different formats. In addition, I have many videos on my PC that I’ve downloaded from around the web in other formats, like .mov (QuickTime), .rm (RealMedia) and Divx, among others.

I’ve also come to like the .mp4 format (MPEG-4) in recent times because it seems to be not only a high-quality format with a small(er) file size, but it lends itself well to sharing and uploading to sites like YouTube and others. It’s also the perfect format for uploading to Amazon Web Services S3, which I use to host many of the videos I put up. It’s reliable and cheap, and doesn’t use my hosting bandwidth.

Needless to say, I’ve long needed a no-compromise video converter that produces high-quality converted videos from the multitude of files I have, or may yet come across. I’ve had some programs that handle some, but not all, formats – .avi and .mpg were no problem, but they lacked .vob or QuickTime capabilities. Or they handled those, but not others. And output quality was always in question. I was never really satisfied with the results.

Well, problem solved at last. iShareSoft’s Video Converter Ultimate seems to be able to handle it all, without breaking a sweat. Watch the video for a bit more information, then DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE TRIAL.

Direct Download Link