Here is a really easy way to carve your pumpkin for Halloween. Just clean out your pumpkin like you usually would but then instead of a scary face, cut a window into the front of your pumpkin and pin a photo on the inside of it.

There are more detailed instructions on the Kodak Tips & Projects Exchange.



It's a great way to show off a favorite photo. Happy Halloween!

Kodak is working with YouTube on a great destination for moms - For Mom: Your Online Survival Guide.  The For Mom site features lots of great videos with tips, advice and inspiration for moms, from moms. You can find videos under topics like "In The Home" and "Health and Beauty".



We also added a few videos with advice for moms... from kids. You have to take their words of wisdom with a grain of salt, but they are very funny and very cute.

I am not a gamer myself and I know very little about video games.

But I must say I have been very fortunate to work on the partnership we have just announced between Kodak and Cities XL.



Cities XL is a new video game in which the participant plays the role of the mayor of a city. And the mayor is a very busy man or woman: building the city, organizing the administration, ensuring the adequate level of equipment and public services throughout the city, taking care of the well being of the inhabitants, managing the traffic system, facilitating business growth, and collecting taxes.



From the first meeting I had with the Cities XL team and the first product demonstrations I saw even at a development stage, I was impressed by the quality and realism of the design, the variety of buildings available, and the numbers of parameters contributing to a very advanced and realistic simulation. I was also impressed by the additional excitement when you are going for the "Planet" mode, in which you can interact with other players through the web, organize trade between cities.... Cities XL is becoming even more attractive with this social community aspect, about which we are all at Kodak, some very strong believers.



Then I thought I was impressed because I was not very familiar with this gaming environment, and I started to look at what was already available on the market: I then realized that Cities XL had something unique and better than the competition.

And I thought it was a natural fit for Kodak to be part of this game.



Is there any city in the world where you can not see a Kodak sign or a Kodak shop? Of course not. So we need to be part of this virtual world too and we very happy to partner with Cities XL.

So what will Kodak will be offering to the Cities XL gamers?





First a retail presence. The mayors will be able to build a Kodak Express store within their city, because the Cities XL inhabitants will have some photo needs, just as every one! So if you want to cover all the retail's needs for your population, you better build a Kodak Express store in your city



Then Kodak is offering a unique landmark to the Cities XL mayors: the Kodak Theatre. The real Kodak Theatre is located in Hollywood, CA and this unique and state of art entertainment complex has since 2001 been the house of the Academy Awards. Needless to say, this is a nice jewel to build in your virtual city. And one which will contribute positively to the satisfaction of your population when it comes to leisure and arts.

Kodak played a big part in the 140 Characters Conference in LA. We kicked the conference off with a video workshop with online video expert Steve Garfield.



Steve shared tips and tricks for creating great videos and getting them online.



There was a lot of interaction with the attendees, like here with Sarah Maizes and Rachel Sarnoff. Check out this quick video with the workshop attendees created as a test.

What a great way to start the 140 Conference!



This conference was extra special because we were able to have it in the Kodak Theatre.



We even reserved a seat for Jack, just in case he decided to show up and learn more about Twitter.



Kodak had a booth set up in the lobby where visitors can learn all about Kodak products and what Kodak has been doing with social media. We were set up right next to TweetPhoto who uploaded photos taken during the conference. There are also lots of pictures of the conference here.



We had a Smile Cam set up where attendees could record "what makes them smile" and were being shared on 12 Second Video. 140 Conference founder Jeff Pulver is seen here recording his video.

Jeff Hayzlett was invited to help host some of the conference with Jeff Pulver. Mashcast created this hilarious of Jeff and Jeff to play at the opening of the first day.



The conference was great and covered how Twitter effects topics from education to sports to rockstars and more. If you would like to follow some of the folks here at Kodak on Twitter, here is a list (using the new Twitter list feature!) of Kodak Tweets.

See the Kodak Zi8 in action as two un-suspecting campers run into BigFoot. This funny tutorial video shows you how to get the most out of your Zi8, exploring features such as capturing HD video with 60 frames per second and finding your favorite videos using the Multi-Up, and TimeLine views. We also demonstrate cool features such as reviewing your video using Slow Motion, Fast Forward and Fast Reverse.


"screen grab" from the Howcast video.

Our video is below. You'll see that Howcast's player is unique in that it allows you to jump to spots of interest in the video, and bookmark them for later viewing, and even print it out if you want it for reference.

The Kodak Gallery  ThanksMan is still at it, trying to give away a million thank yous. The Kodak Gallery recently launched a new site with great improvements and they want to thank everyone for their ideas that made it better. Check out this video with his latest giveaway progress.



You can still get your Thank You gift too... go here to learn how.