Business, Marketing, and New Technology
ladyjana
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Posts by ladyjana
Gadgets on your Windows 7 Desktop
Jan 19th
The Windows 7 operating system has many things going for it, but one of my favorites is the ability to display “gadgets” right there on the desktop. These gadgets are little windows (although they don’t look like windows) that have various functions. You can have one that will tell you the local weather, or get sports scores, or view photos, without having to open up a new browser or program. Some gadgets need internet access to work, but others do not. You can have one that is a timer, counting up, or down, and I have one that looks like a post-it note, where I can type quick notes to myself without having to open word or text.
You can start installing the gadgets by right clicking on your desktop, and then choosing, of course “Gadgets”. There are a dozen or so gadgets for you to choose from right there. Just click on one and choose Add. If you don’t see what you want, never fear. You can go to
http://windows.microsoft (dot) com/en-US/windows/downloads/personalize/gadgets
where you can find hundreds more to choose from.
When you want to remove a gadget, you can hover over it with your mouse and click X, or right-click your desktop to open up the gadget collection, and then right-click on the gadget that you want to uninstall.
Best Vacuum Ever- Dyson
Jan 17th
Dust. Dust, pollen, and pet hair. It’s everywhere, especially if you live in the South, with trees all around, and with 2 cats and a dog. Growing up, even with pets, I had no awareness of a dusty house, or pet hair everywhere. Then when I found myself with my own home, every day, new dusty surfaces to clean, not one day could go by without seeing it settle. I pondered this for a while, before remembering that my brother had had severe allergies when we were growing up. Hence, my parents had installed super-duper filters on the heating and air-conditioning systems, so that almost all of the offensive stuff was filtered out. Unfortunately I have no such system.
What I do have, however is a Dyson vacuum cleaner. I absolutely love my Dyson. I’ve lived with, tried and tested 4 or 5 of the ‘best” vacuums out there, but none even comes close to the contained tornado that the Dyson has. First time I used it I knew I’d fallen in love. I have one of the older models, the DV-14, and it still runs like a dream. I love the fact that it is so easy to maintain. Each part comes off intuitively, and easily without needing extra tools. It’s so simple to check for blockages (which, by the way very rarely happen) and emptying the dirt is a snap! Just position it over your trash can, put one loop, and it dumps right out. No bags, no backup, no mess.
Even so, I was impressed (once again) when we had a spill of ashes from the downstairs fireplace. Now, ashes are very fine indeed, and even a vacuum cleaner tends to “exhale” dust when it is that fine, or so I thought. Not my Dyson! It cleaned up every speck, with none escaping whatsoever. What a delight! There are very few appliances I’ve had in my life that I can count on like this one. Check it out folks, the very best vacuum out there- made by Dyson.
The Cell Phone – a Phone by any Other Name is Still a …What?
Jan 13th
As far a personal communication devices go, the cell phone is by far the gadget of choice. While at least 85 % of all adults now have their own mobile phone, the younger generation seems to think they just can’t live without them. According to a new Pew Research Center report, in the 14 to 29 year old range, a full 96% own a cell phone of some kind.
Of course, the name “phone” itself is becoming antiquated. These “phones” slice and dice and make dinner for you. Ok, well, not dinner, but they certainly can do a heck of a lot more than we ever imagined just a few years ago.
Now, they can double as your Mp3 Player, your GPS system, your email provider, your access to the internet, your personal notepad, your calendar, the list is virtually endless. And that is truly the case, as new applications are being invented and made available faster than a user could possibly test them all.
The new mobile phones are used for text messaging far more than they are used for phone calls. According to Neilson Mobile (yes, the same people who keep track of who’s watching what on TV) from 2006 to 2008, the number of text messages increased by 450%. Over the same time, mobile phone calls did not increase at all. So, calling the device a “phone” just seems a little out of sync with its use.
The problem with a new name is that the uses for our “phones” are changing so rapidly, that it could not be named after what it does. It needs a new name altogether.
Any suggestions?
Graduating Students- Clean up your (FaceBook) Act
Jan 4th
Students are almost unanimously plugged into FaceBook. So are their professors. And to the student’s surprise, so are their potential employees. What used to be just fun and games, a way to share your last weekends party antics, has become an open and available record of your life, and your character.
In a poll from CareerBulders, (that’s already a year old) Forty-five percent of the employers surveyed said that they screen the social media sites of prospective applicants before offering the job. That’s twice as many as the year before, and is increasing all the time.
Now, it is more important than ever to keep your online presence clean. Here are some tips to make sure you make a good impression online.
1- Delete those drunken photos!
2- Make sure that whenever someone tags you in a picture, you get informed, so that you can edit and delete the tag, even if you can’t delete the photo.
3- Refrain from making derogatory statements about…. anyone. Prospective employers looking for someone with a positive attitude will be turned off by any lambasting comments on your part.
4- Make sure there are no references to unsavory activities, illegal or otherwise (you don’t do drugs, do you?
5- Make sure you include pictures of club meetings, and community activities (that, yes, your friends might think are boring) so show that you are active and involved in more than just frat parties.
6- Be sure to include items in your profile that highlights your strengths, your abilities, and your social acumen.
With a little care and attention, your social site can give you a boost into the big bad world out there, instead of tripping you up. Take care.
Not a Single Roll of Kodachrome to be Had, Anywhere
Jan 3rd
WE grew up with it, we didn’t give it much thought- those holiday pictures and the prints they were made of. Yet, the digital revolution has made its mark, and one of its victims is good ol’ Kodachrome film. As of December 30, 2010, Kodachrome is no more. As the demand for processing the film decreased, fewer and fewer businesses offered the service of transforming your negatives into prints, until there was only one place left in the world to get it done, Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas. And now, even they no longer process it.
So it is with the passing of an era. The wonderful color film, that inspired a song in the 1070’S (Paul Simon’s “Kodachrome” with its “nice, bright colors”) and even had a state park in Utah named after it, Kodachrome Basin, is now gone forever.
Steve McCurry has been using Kodachrome for over 30 years in his photography work all over the world. When he heard the sad news that the film was to be discontinued, he contacted his friends at Kodak, and asked if he could have the very last roll of film made. This, he used to photograph a village in India with a nomadic culture that itself was disappearing. Then, upon returning home, the very last frame of the very last roll of Kodachrome film was taken- an image of the civil war cemetery in Parsons, Kansas.
Excessive Packaging – How Much Is Too Much?
Dec 26th
It seems that everything we buy comes in layer after layer of excessive wrap of one kind or another. It’s so unnecessary. It leads to massive amounts of trash, as boxes, and plastic bubble wrap, and papers, and shrink-wrap, and twist-ties, etc, etc, are carted off, filling our landfills. There are studies that indicate that as much as ½ of all household trash is made up of the excess wrap and packaging that just sort of *came with* the latest purchase.
Christmas, with it’s accompanying consumer gush, always makes me acutely aware of this problem. I try to be aware, and choose the least packaging (when there’s a choice), but still, the mountain of trash that hit the garbage today reminded me that perhaps even better choices could have been made. In addition to the regular packaging, there is all that Christmas paper wrap that we put additionally on the outside of everything.
One thing that I do feel good about is our new cloth DVD “wrappers.” Since CD’s and DVD’s (music, movies, games) have been a staple of our Christmas diet for years, I bought some truly delightful pre-made wrapping for them. They are like little cloth envelopes, in bright green and red colors, and come with an attached ribbon, so all you have to do is slip the CD inside, tie the ribbon, and Voila! All wrapped!
And the best part is, they are totally recyclable! We use them year after year after year. Now, that’s an improvement over trash, don’t you think?
TV Advertising Loses Its Grip, Thank Goodness
Dec 22nd
For the first time, in 2010, many people heard the words, and were introduced to “Internet TV” for the first time. Although savvy people could see it coming, there was quite a buzz all over the web about GoogleTV, Boxee Box, and iTV, as well as others. It goes without saying that the ability to access the internet from your TV is going to completely transform television as we know it, (or as we knew it). It will have a dramatic effect on the way content is presented and consumed, with the watcher having much more control and input into what content is desired, and when.
The interactivity of Internet TV will also disrupt the way that traditional TV advertising ahs been done. No longer will we be subjected to commercials every 7 minutes, but will have greater option in deciding what kinds of advertisements we’re willing to tolerate.
TV used to be the #1 source of home entertainment, but now Americans spend at least as much time using the Internet as they do watching TV, and probably more. Many are multi-tasking and doing both. I, for one, love to have my laptop handy, to check on something , or find out further facts about something new that I just saw via the TV. I used to grab a dictionary to look up words, and now I just google.
Being able to tweet about what you’re watching or update FaceBook at the same time is what young users are doing anyway, and the integration of TV and monitor screen is a no-brainer for the younger generation. TV’s will not go away, they will simply become integrated into the web experience, and 2010 will be the year it happens
Getting our Economic Lessons from Television?
Dec 20th
Every schoolkid has made the lament, “but I don’t need to know this!” It’s hard to make connections between what we learn in the structured class room, and how we are going to actually use the information once we get out into real life. Math is one subject that it is easy to see, being needed to balance the checkbook, and pay for things, calculating sales prices, etc. (that is, until we get to calculus, which is a little more illusive.)
Every teacher will agree, there is a real need to be able to connect random daily activities with the higher learning principles behind them. Enter TV! And what better TV show to tap into than one of the most popular shows ever, which has a topic about…. Random daily activities! Seinfield!
There is a new website that connects incidents on the show, with their economic principle. It uses the stories and activities of the characters to point out how people’s actions follow certain patterns, and relates these patterns to the economic concept behind them. It then gives you several other episodes to watch that apply the same concept, so you can see how it works in different situations. The website is called The Economics of Seinfield, and is actually a rather enjoyable way to get a grasp on what that boring professor is actually talking about.
Entrepreneurs Need Systems
Dec 18th
Distractions are the death of your small business. Entrepreneurs often find themselves in the trap of running from one “urgent” thing to another. Putting out fires, so to speak. Many times these things are out of control, because there is no system in place for dealing with them before they become so urgent.
One thing that can be automated fairly easily is your marketing efforts. By getting systems in place like email automation, lead generation, follow-up, social media maintenance, and support services, you can ease the pressure of immediate things to be done.
Almost every part of the business process can be automated, and there are many different systems out there already in place that you can tap into. Focus on growing your business in a logical way that includes adding and using systems, so that your time is free to deal with the really important things. Not only that, your customers will benefit from the increased professionalism and attention that they will be getting.
Don’t leave your money on the table because you have no system or process for dealing with daily activities and maintenance.
Easiest Way to Make Videos Ever
Dec 9th
Online video is still one of the best ways to create a relationship with your customers and prospects. However, many people don’t even attempt it, because it seems so daunting. Creating video and getting it online is not the complicated and demanding task that it used to be. The equipment needed has become much simpler to use, and easier to get.
For instance, many phones today have video recording capability, and the videos can be directly uploaded to YouTube. Flip cameras can plug directly into the USB port of your computer, and videos can be uploaded directly from there. But the simplest innovation of all is one that many people are unaware of- YouTube itself. YouTube has a feature that lets users record directly from the webcam on their computer. There is a “record” option that can be found right beside the “upload” button online. You just hit “record”, do your thing, then hit “upload”, and voila! You’re online!
Happy videoing!