Helpful How-To Videos From Japan

Hi folks -- well, can't let today go by without a blog entry (since after all, a day with a blog entry is like a day without sunshine, which I think we had a lot of today), so here's a link that's not even a tiny bit filler, since it's actually useful:

By way of a Metafilter post on Tuesday, here's a bunch of helpful How To videos from Japan (they're currently hosted on video-sharing site YouTube).

Now, I don't speak Japanese, so I am as much in the dark as to what they're saying as, um, anyone else who doesn't speak Japanese, but the videos are pretty clear, with abundant on-screen graphics and everything else that shows what they're doing. Topics covered include:

* Peeling a Cooked Potato in One Shot

* How to Revive a Fleece Jacket (Using a Pet Brush)

* A No-Mess Way to Scale Fish

Anyway, check out the category listing of videos here.

Now, I would be remiss (not to mention flogged) if I didn't mention that AOL has its own video project in the works. We're soliciting for member-created videos now, so if you've got a video you'd like to share, by all means, send it in. (You can also see some of the videos that folks have sent previously.)

Video is getting a lot more popular these days, with the prevalence of broadband. Plus, you don't need a camcorder -- my now-obsolete 3.2 megapixel digital camera does plenty fine taking video along with regular photos, not to mention all the angsty teens out there baring their souls into the Webcams mounted on their monitors, or folks taking cell phone video.

Relatively-speaking, the barriers to video are a little higher than with text or photos, and it's even more challenging to do good video. But as people get more comfortable working with the new medium,and as the tools get better for regular folks -- well, it's not going to go away.

I'll be talking more about video as I have more to talk about. Thanks -- Joe



Tags: youtube, video, aol video, How To