How To: Play YouTube Videos
in Background of iPhone [VIDEO]

I get it, you want to play youtube videos and do other things on your iPhone.

Ever time you start a youtube music video and try to do something else, it stops playing. Very annoying.

This is how to play youtube videos in the background while you multitask on your iPhone.

(requires iOS4+ .. if you have an iPhone 4, this will work… if you keep your 3G or 3GS updated with apple’s latest software, this will work… OTHERWISE: sorry)

Learn more about iOS4 features here.

How To: Play a YouTube Video in the Background of iPhones

Here is a step by step guide to playing a youtube video while doing other things on your iPhone.

The youtube video will play in the background much like the iPod app or Pandora app plays in the background while you text, use the maps, check out your calendar or the weather.

Play YouTube Videos in the Background of your iPhone
Play YouTube Videos in the Background of your iPhone
  1. Open the youtube app & find your favorite video
  2. Let the video load to the point where it starts playing
  3. Press the home button
  4. Double click the home button to bring up multitasking
  5. Swipe to the right to find the media buttons (rewind/play/pause/forward)
  6. Press the play button
  7. MULTITASK! – go text, map, whatever your heart desires!

That’s it!

Yet Another Way To Multitask YouTube Music Videos!

Alternatively, you can:

Start playing a youtube music video (like steps 1-2 above)

Press the home button

Lock the iPhone

Click the home button once to show your background – then double click the home button to bring up the media controls on the locked screen

Press play – since the last piece of audio you played was the youtube video, that will start playing

Unlock your iPhone and MULTITASK – since you locked your iPhone from the home screen, you return to the home screen with the youtube video playing in the background and you’re free to do whatever you want!

That’s all there is to it – play youtube in the background on your iPhone by following those easy steps above!

Hey, did you know your can play snake on youtube videos?

If this helped you – let me know in the comment box below!

 

Way to Trade Stocks

I’m not a stock trading pro… actually, I’m grateful and fortunate to have learned about investing during the 2007-8 recession.

Thanks to the advice of Chris Mechanic,, I opened a Roth IRA and put $500 in it (that was my “life savings” at that time).

My first stock trading experience didn’t teach me the best way to trade stocks – but it definitely got me excited about it!

The Best Way To Trade Stocks
OPEN (Open Table) Growing QUICKLY

I bought GGP (General Growth Properties).  I don’t remember exactly why – but the fact that they were once $60/share and were selling for $0.35/share probably had something to do with it.

Remember, this was the depth of the 2007-8 recession – GGP had filed bankruptcy as they had several commercial real estate (that’s what they do) loans coming due and didn’t have the money nor could get the financing (because banks weren’t lending) to pay them.

Long story short, I made a good bit of money when they crawled out of bankruptcy.  I still have some shares and plan to keep them for a long time… which leads me into the best way to trade stocks.

Easiest & Best Way To Trade Stocks

One of my friends saw the gains I made off GGP and asked: “Dude, what is the best way to trade stocks?”This was my response to him:

I’m not a “day trader”, stock trading pro, nor do I always make the best decisions… shoot, I barely know what the difference between a 401k and an ira is!

If you have some extra money and want to trade stocks with it …

OR —

If you don’t trust the mutual funds or the “financial consultants” (like me) …

OR —

If you just want to know the easier, best way to trade stocks …

Follow these simple steps for quick & effective investing (note the investing):

  1. Invest in the companies that you use.
  2. Invest for the LOOOOOONNNG term.
  3. Have cash available to spread out your investments.

There is no need to “pick stocks” … Just invest in the companies that you use.

Don’t get me wrong, you want to invest in good companies.

Good companies make money, bad ones lose it.  The whole goal here is to make money right?

How do you know what a good company to invest in is? —

Easy: If you use and are thrillingly happy with their products and/or services – that’s a good company to invest in.

Seems too simple?  It is… but it works.

Trust me, you don’t want to care if the stock goes up and down; that will just give necessary stress. Good companies will go up, in the LONG term!

Which brings us to the next point: only invest for the long term!

If the company has quality products and/or services, (all other things equal) it will gain stock price as time goes on.

Admittedly, there will be ups and downs – but I promise you that over time, the stock will go up!

Actually, those ups and downs can play to your advantage!  How, you ask?

Well, if you have cash available to spread out your investments – You can capitalize on those ups and downs in a couple ways.

Let’s say you want to buy 100 shares of BAC (Bank of America).  Instead of buying all 100 shares all at once, professional investors suggest spreading out your investment.

For instance, buy 20 shares today, 20 more in 2 weeks, wait a month and buy 40 more shares, then grab the last 20 shares 3 months later.

That way, you average your position to the general 6-month market price — instead of getting it all at ONE price.

In that 6 month period, the stock might drop significantly for a multitude of “short term reasons” — these include, but aren’t limited to: a bad quarter, raising capital, rumors/speculation.

Now, while you’re getting into a stock, you should pay attention to what’s happening.  If the company announces that it’s going to fire half its employees or that it’s closing it’s doors — you don’t want to buy more share then… AND you will be happy that you didn’t buy all 100 shares at once!

Another reason to have cash on the sideline (going along with spreading the investments out) is to be able to get into a stock when you believe it’s “on sale”.

For instance, if Steve Jobs of Apple announces he is going to retire – the stock will take a hit.  If you believe in Apple’s products, and you have cash available – you will be able to pick up Apple shares at say, 10-15% off.  That 10-15% will come back, in time.  How much time, who knows.. but I bet Apple doubles in price over the next 10 years.

Bonus Stock Trading Tip

I really hope this post helps you gain some confidence in trading stocks because I do believe it’s a very good idea (for the future).

But I do need to present the disclaimer:

Do NOT invest or trade stocks with money that you cannot afford to lose.  I hate to say it, but there is ALWAYS a risk of loosing your money.

If you need the money – don’t put it in the stock market.

Definitely keep some liquidity for emergency situations, and a savings account that has a plan (buy a house, car, etc..) — but any “extra” money goes to the investment account.

A RothIRA has a limit of $5k after-tax contributions per year — so throw 1k at it every 2 months and you’ll get there 🙂

If you want to learn about IRAs and 401ks – check out 401k for dummies or IRA for dummies

*** Disclaimer: the advice in this article cannot be held against me.  This is just what I do, if it doesn’t work for you, that’s not my fault. If you cannot afford to lose the money, do not invest it. ***

How To: Play Snake On YouTube Video

That’s right – you can play snake on YouTube videos!

You know that Snake game, where you have to control the snake with the up, down, left, and right arrows to try to eat as many dots as possible without crashing into a wall or your own snake body.

Want to know how to play snake on YouTube videos?

play snake on youtube video
Play Snake On Any YouTube Video!

Follow these instructions:

  1. Open your video of choice and let it start playing
  2. Pause the video
  3. Play the video again
  4. Press the left arrow key (and let go quickly)
  5. Press and hold the left arrow key
    then quickly press the up arrow.
  6. Quickly let go of all keys
  7. PLAY SNAKE ON YOUTUBE!

Do those steps relatively quickly, except for hold the left arrow for a half second before pressing up the up arrow.

If it doesn’t work the first time, keep trying until it does.

I’ve been able to get it to play on every YouTube video I’ve tried so far.

So that’s it! That’s what you press to play snake on YouTube!

Two Random Thoughts

I haven’t played for that long since I’m at work and playing snake is like the ultimate productivity killer — so I’m not sure if there is an END to the game… I’m not sure if you can “win” … so if you win a prize or something, please let me know.

Also, this is a relatively hard game of snake!

Since the YouTube video is playing while you’re trying to play snake – it is a lot harder to concentrate.

Not only that, but it’s more difficult to see the next ball you’re trying to “eat”.

And even furthermore, the snake extends by like 5 dots every time you eat 1 dot… other games of snake extend on a 1:1 ratio — this one is accelerated!

Alright, now you know how to play snake on videos that are on YouTube… Have fun and comment with your experience 🙂

How To: Become A Better Manager

Business. What do you think of when you hear that word?

Money/Accounting/Finance), Systems/Operations, People/HR … Sales/Marketing, meals & entertainment ;), people in suits, etc…

What do you think of when you hear the word “Business“? (comment below)

how to become a better manager
Part of the WebMechanix crew at a networking event

Let’s Talk About People

I recently read this book “First, Break All The Rules” by Marcus Buckinham & Curt Coffman. These guys worked at the Gallup Organization in a 25 year study that found an answer to two questions:

  1. “What do the most talented employees need from their workplace?”

    They surveyed over a million employees and found that every employee is different and should be treated as such – but they all need great managers. Which lead them to ask the second question listed above.

  2. “How do the world’s greatest managers find, focus, and keep talented employees?”

How To: Become A Better Manager

First off, why do you want to be a better manager?

The answer should be along the lines of “I want to know about each individual’s strengths, weaknesses, and personalities so that I can provide them a better workplace.  I want my team to be focused, productive, and to grow with my company.

Sound like your “why”? Read on… otherwise, what is your “why”?

Even though every employee (I like to think of them as team members) is different – you can still gain insight into how they feel about their job.

The book “First, Break All The Rules” talks about the evolution of what an employee needs from their workplace.

They make an analogy to climbing a mountain. Haven’t climbed a mountain before? No problem, allow me to explain:

You don’t just climb a mountain all at once .. instead, you have to make stops at different “camps”. That basically translate to “you don’t become a CEO in one day” (or at least, that’s what I gather).

Let’s Apply It

As a manager, you want to make sure your employees are happy at their respective levels.

You can’t get to camp #2 which is half way up the mountain without first stopping at camp #1, right?

Check out this employee survey (let it be known, these questions were modified a little bit to be more “fun”.. they used to be dry and the answers were the standard 1-5, 1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree .. I made the answers a little more fun).

The questions are broken down into sections (denoted by a dotted line). The first section is “base camp”, second is camp #1, then camp #2, and camp #3.

If you answer positively to all 12 questions, you’ve reached the summit (so to speak).

How I Recently Used The Survey

We are a fairly new company, so everyone is pretty much at “base camp”.

Therefore, I want to make sure that everyone gave the top answer to the first 2 questions before looking at theresponses for the next 10.

I gave this survey to all our employees and learned that what I thought about each team member was wrong (and exactly opposite).

Looking at just the first two questions… The employees who I thought knew what was expected of them and had all the materials they need actually didn’t (and vice versa).

Using the results, we conducted a “review session” that focused on the first 2 questions. I asked them:

“What is expected of you?” and “What are you missing that would make you more effective at your job?”

Taking it from there is up to you because every business and every employee is different.

General Advice To Become A Better Manager

I highly recommend the book “First, Break All The Rules” – and there are plenty of other books that can help you become a better manager.

Gotta’ Have A Purpose

From Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Drive”, we learn that purpose is the most motivating factor which “drives” us to do what we do every day.

It used to be biological forces, such as the need for food & water, and money (or other monetary rewards) were the cornerstone of motivation tactics.

But if you think about it .. well, actually think about it.. WHY are you reading this right now? WHY do you go to work? WHY!?

You might find that you did something for a friend just because it gave you purpose. That is, you didn’t get any food, water, or money, but you did it because it gave you a purpose.

You can give purpose in many different ways, such as having a company mission or telling employees why they are doing what they are doing.

Communicate

This is somewhat obvious, but works like a charm.

People like feedback, they like to grow, and they need to know what they are doing wrong (and right) so they can change.

If you think someone is going to change their ways without any intervention, think again (refer to Newtons first law).

Have quarterly (or bi-annual) reviews with your people – look up “how to conduct an employee review” in Google to get some tips.

That’s all for now – I hope this helps. Leave your feedback below.