Author: Jerad Hill

I have desperately been trying to blog more often, not just to blog, but to provide something of value. I also recognize that I write a post like this at least once a year. Such is the life of a serial entrepreneur.

In April I made the move from my home office to an actual office in a building. This was a huge change for me as I had worked from home for the past 6 years. Recently, the office next door has became available and I decided to lease that office as well. My plans are to make more room for new projects that I am working on. My current space serves well as my office and a comfortable room I can meet my clients in. The other, yet to be named place, will be kept clear so I have more room to innovate.

I have hired a Ben, had that Ben leave and hired another Ben. I can’t really say hired because they both are more like interns that get compensated for their time. Not really sure how that completely works itself out. I just do as I’m told by my accountant who knows what’s best.

I have been very busy with my current projects which has been a blessing. I always say that being self employed means that you are unemployed most of the year, however this year I have been constantly busy. In my Photography corner I have added Video Services to my menu of options. My team and I have now shot three full weddings while I remain the principle photographer. Trying new things with video has been fun. When I shot wedding video back in 2005-2006 I was not that good, nor was much of what other videographers were producing. If only I had the resources I have now back then, you would probably know me more as a video producer than a photographer.

Websites galore… I am not sure who opened the floodgates but I have had more new web clients by July of this year then I usually take on in a whole year. I am not complaining at all, just a tad overwhelmed. I should say was overwhelmed. Most of my clients sites have launched already. Two of my new clients this year are running for City Council in Modesto. I was very excited to help Stephanie Burnside and Dave Cogdill, Jr with their online presence. Just like the mechanics car, my own websites get neglected when I have a lot of client work. When I don’t blog or update my photography website often you can be sure I am busy with web clients.

The DailyAppShow is continuing to slowly grow. It seems that during the summer months viewership plateaus and then ramps back up in the fall. There is usually a new iPhone released in June as well and since that did not happen there is not much newness in the realm of iPhone. When the iPhone 5 is released we will see a spike of growth as always and with a few other things launching soon on my end, growth is eminent.

Soon I will be launching a whole line of tech related webshows. I am very excited about this and have put a lot of time and thought into this process. This has been in the making since March of this year and is long overdue. If you really pay attention to the noise I make on the Twitters or Facebooks then you may have already seen me leak a photo out of sheer excitement for this project. This project may be the biggest venture I have launched yet. My hope is that I can stay on top of everything that will be involved. I am excited about this because this is one of the first projects I have been able to start with the resources to actually make it look good from the start. Most of my past ideas have no budget or resources at the beginning other then what I come up with on my own in my spare time.

I have two or three other projects in the works as well. I say two or three because one of them I may scrap and by “in the works” I mean, “are being processed in my mind through out the day.” My mind slow cooks ideas all through out the day. If the idea sticks, I start to work on it. If the idea stinks, I toss it out and move on.

The last and most amazing new thing of note is that my wife and I are expecting again. I have already shared this but since I am recapping new stuff I might as well mention this. As I write this we are four months along with an estimated due date of Feb 18th. I was hoping for January as I am biased to January births. We are excited to expand our family. The grandparents are rejoicing.

I can’t really think of anything else that is going on. Now that I have wrote it all out it looks like I have plenty going on at once. I still need to get a vacation in with my wife before the end of the year. We have not had a getaway for more then just a weekend since last year.

How is 2011 treating you so far? Would love to hear about it. Thanks for reading my writings. When I do get comments or emails it really feels great to know what other people are up to. Sometimes the Twitter and Facebook updates just fly by. I enjoy a good email or blog comment. Cheers!

I recently started using my Samsung Monitor through an HDMI connection rather than DVI. I have used Samsung Monitors for a few years now since selling my 30″ Apple Cinema Display before they were discontinued. Samsung Monitors are very high quality and a fraction of the price. My eye (even with glasses on) can’t tell much of a difference between an Apple Cinema Display and a Samsung. I only need my monitor to be a monitor. The extra features an Apple Cinema Display offer are nice, but I can live without them. However, in making this change to HDMI I encountered a few problems.

My monitor is a 27″ Samsung S27A350H which offers an HDMI and VGA input. I was not about to connect my MBP through a VGA connection and loose valuable quality so I opted to connect through HDMI. To be honest, I didn’t bother trying the VGA connection to test differences in quality.

On my desk, I have my laptop on a Twelve South Bookarc stand and I keep it closed. I use the external monitor as my only monitor. I have several HDMI cables ranging in quality. The HDMI Cables that I have been using for home audio and my computer are the MediaBridge cables that Amazon.com carries. They are quality cables at a cheap price. To connect the HDMI Cable to my MacBook Pro I am using the Moshi MiniDisplay Port to HDMI Adapter, which I also bought at Amazon.com.

The problem is that when I connect the Moshi adapter to my MacBook Pro and attempt to wake my computer by tapping a key on my Apple Wireless Keyboard, nothing happens. I checked that the Samsung monitor is turned on, the cables are connected, and that my MacBook Pro in hibernate mode. Everything was fine. If I opened my MacBook Pro with the HDMI connected, both monitors would come on and it would operate in dual display mode. However, once I closed my laptop, I could not get the monitor to come back on by itself. I also have a generic brand MiniDisplay Port to HDMI adapter which is horrible and makes the screen flicker. This is the only monitor that seems to have a problem with the cheaper adapter. As far as image quality goes, the Moshi adapter works perfectly.

After trying everything, I called Samsung, who was also unable to help. I did some searching online and all that I found is that many others were experiencing similar problems. Determined, as usual, I kept at it and found a few different things that seem to have solved the problem. A few forums even suggested that the Samsung Monitor does not work properly with Apple’s way of detecting a monitor has been attached. It was also suggested that there were problems with many PC manufacturers as well, so it’s not a specific issue to Apple.

Changing Settings – Go into Menu on your monitor and switch the Auto Source to Auto, by default it comes set to Manual. You can get to this menu option by tapping menu twice to get it to come up, selecting Setup&Reset, then go down to Auto Source.

The first time I did this it seemed to work right away, however, the next day I came into work and plugged in I had the same problem.

With this Samsung Monitor, it seems that you have to tap each button twice to get it to do anything unless the option is already on the screen. The second thing I did was tap the Source button on the monitor twice. This switched sources from one to the next. I assumed that since the screen kept toggling back and forth between Analog and HDMI that it was doing this on its own. It may have been but hitting the source button twice seems to have made it work once again.

Performing this song and dance each time I connect my MacBook Pro to the Samsung Monitor got old really fast so I opted to try a different workaround.

Changing Cables – The solution that fixed the problem was purchasing an HDMI to DVI cable from Amazon.com and using my MiniDisplay Port to DVI adapter. This makes me believe that the problem is not so much in the Samsung Monitor or the MacBook Pro as it is the Moshi adapter. I can not confirm that the Moshi adapter is the problem as it does work perfectly in all other situations including a situation where I connect my MacBook Pro to a projector through HDMI over a 50-foot cable without any issues. I have no idea who to blame for my frustration, all I know is that it works great now.

The other fix would be to just use the monitor with your VGA adapter where you may lose some image sharpness but not have any connection issues.

Does this make me want to return my Samsung 27″ monitor that I paid $300 for to exchange it for a $999 Apple Cinema Display? To be honest I thought about it for a moment but it’s not work the extra money.

I hope that one of these suggestions helps you with your Samsung/MBP issues if you are having any.

Some interesting information on Fathers day and the state of dad-ness in the world.

Much of my website design business comes from referrals I received from someone I either worked with before or networked with. When a referral results in new business it is kind of a big deal for me. Some businesses have a smaller price point and sell in bulk where the nature of my business requires a lot more work which results in a higher price. When a referral is given to me by someone who trusts in me enough to put my name out there to their contact, I don’t take that lightly. I also like to show my appreciation to that person.

In the past I would send them a thank you card with a Starbucks card in it. Everybody likes Starbucks right? A nice card, a cup or three of coffee on me. It makes for a nice treat but it’s not much of a lasting statement. I like doing things that leave a lasting result. I also understand that the best thing you can do for someone is empower them to feel good about them self.

A few years ago while attending a Twitter Conference I received a $25 gift card to DonorsChoose.Org, a website where teachers can post fundraising requests for their classrooms. We all know that teachers are not getting the resources they need these days especially in lower income areas. This website gives you the chance to connect with teachers who are posting their projects or ideas. You can donate any amount toward their needs. Your donations allow them to get the resources they need to make their project happen for their kids. How awesome is that and how could you not feel great about yourself after taking part in the enrichment of the lives of children?

You can check out my DonorsChoose Profile here and see what I have been up to. On my Impossible List I decided that I want to reach 10,000 kids lives through donating to their teachers.

DonorsChoose.Org allows you to send a donation gift card in the mail, send an e-card by email or print a certificate on your printer. When I want to show somebody that I appreciate their referral, I send them a $25 e-card by email. This allows them to log into DonorsChoose.org and donate to the project of their choice. I can’t think of one person who has referred business to me in my entire life that would not like the opportunity to donate to a classroom. Since I have been doing this as my way of thanks it has generated some really cool conversations with those who I have thanked. Several have told me about how they told others about this gift they were able to give. I can tell that the gift was unexpected and loved. Nobody really needs a Starbucks gift card. If I want a cup of coffee I can go buy it myself. It’s something that I already know how to do and am capable of. Donating to a classroom to enrich the lives of children is something that is not as easy to do. Most of us don’t know how to go about doing that and the thought might not even cross our minds.

What I propose is that the next time you want to show someone that you appreciate them, empower them to do something they probably would not have been able to do without your help.

DonorsChoose also has some great ideas that I love. You can donate your birthday with a Give-Back Birthday page. You can create a wedding registry and much more. We live in a time of excess and I can not think of a better way to show people how to have a giving heart then by giving to others rather than ourselves.