Why You Should Care About Pinterest

March 14th, 2012

Are you burned out on social media? Then you will not be thrilled to hear that a new social media site is gaining traction. However, you might be interested to know that this new site, Pinterest, doesn’t focus on the minutiae of day-to-day living as sites such as Twitter and Facebook seem to. Instead, Pinterest encourages users to talk about their interests with other people. And in this way, at least, Pinterest does more to encourage creativity among its users than sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

The site’s name gives a clue as to what it’s all about: Pinterest is a combination of “pin,” as in pinboards, and “interest,” as in what you are all about. When you sign up for Pinterest, you make your own “pinboards” or categories. You then attach photos and pictures that fit within those categories, as if you were pinning these images onto a bulletin board.

Creating Pinterest Categories

With Pinterest you can create different categories, like business and fashion, then pin images to each category and make notes about the images along with links to the website you found them on. You can then decide to share all of your pinboards or only a couple with other Pinterest users.

The Social Part of Pinterest

Just like Facebook and Twitter, you can elect to follow coworkers and friends. You don’t have to follow all of a friend’s collections; for instance, you can decide to follow only their collection of art, while choosing not to follow the restaurants they enjoy in their area.

Joining Pinterest

The one challenge with Pinterest is that you have to get invited to obtain an account. You can visit pinterest.com and request an invitation but it may be a while before you receive one. The more surefire strategy to get an invitation is to have a friend invite you that already posseses an account.

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Posted in Facebook, Social Media, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

One Easy Way to Improve Your Career

March 9th, 2012

Putting your best foot forward in life is important, particularly in the workplace. Hooking a career is more difficult now then ever, so it is more important than ever before to dress for success.

I know very well what you’re thinking: “The corporate world has gotten so casual—people wear flip-flops for goodness sake! Workplace attire doesn’t matter anymore.” Not true! The way you dress says a whole lot about you and how you feel about your career, and potential employers certainly notice.

Here is a simple rule for a interview: Overdressed is far preferable to under-dressed. Even if you are interviewing for a company that has a relaxed working environment, you will still should wear proper business attire for the interview. The better dressed you are, the more you show yourself off as somebody who is focused on their career and this particular job. If you show up to an interview dressed down, you’re starting from a weaker position.

In the workplace you should still think about the clothing you wear. Even in a casual place you can certainly still look sharp. If you just grab yesterday’s jeans off the floor and run out the door you won’t be noticed. People that put more thought into their style stand out from their peers, which is never a bad thing if your boss is looking to promote someone!

Of course, you still have to be a good worker. You can be the best-dressed person in the world, but it won’t help you if you don’t do your job well. All things being equal, the better-dressed employee will always make the better impression.

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7 People You Should be Following on Twitter

March 7th, 2012

So now you are on Twitter, and you follow your family and friends, but you are sick and tired of learning about the brand new restaurant your sister went to. You want to hear more intriguing and worldly information.

Well, lucky for you, almost everyone has a Twitter now.  This can include celebrities, scientists, entrepreneurs, and legislators and you can follow them and hear what they have to say.

Here are 7 interesting people who will get you started if you are not sure whom to follow:

  1. Conan O’Brien: The late-night talk-show host is definitely one of the wittiest people around. He’s also a master of the absurd. That said, his Twitter comments are always entertaining. You’ll be happy to know, too, that he never promotes his show through his Tweets.
  2. Marissa Mayer: Mayer is the first female engineer at Google, you can get a glimpse into the life of a tech expert as well as learn some interesting things about Google by following her @Marissamayer.
  3. Mike Massimino: Follow @Astro_Mike, if you would like receive the inside scoop about NASA. Mike Massimino is an astronaut who recent made an appearance on The Big Bang Theory, which he then tweeted about.
  4. Rainn Wilson: You may know Rainn better as Dwight Schrute from The Office. If you find his character quirky and entertaining, you might also enjoy his tweets. Follow @Rainnwilson. Here’s a recent Tweet from him: “If I had a bird, I would call it James VanDerBeak.”
  5. Ryan Penagos: If you appreciate comics, you have to know Ryan Penagos. He’s the editorial director of Marvel Comics. He’s also a busy Tweeter at @Agent_M. Penagos and recently Tweeted about a new Spider-Man video game and gave his thoughts on his favorite comics. He likes the work of writer Brian Michael Bendis.
  6. Barack Obama: You can get a peek at the day to day life of the Commander in Chief @BarackObama.
  7. Bill Gates: You might not like Microsoft Windows, but you should still check out the Twitter feed of Bill Gates. The man has made an undeniable impact in the tech world. And today, he and his wife are devoting their time and energy to important charitable causes.

Just, just to be clear, I don’t put each of these folk on the top, nor the bottom, of my list of favorites.  They simply have some tweets that you might find worthy or the 140 character read.  As alway, I’d love to hear about your favs!  Who might they be?

Posted in Just for Fun, Social Media | No Comments »

Just for Fun – Tech Laws that Explain EVERYTHING

March 7th, 2012

I know, that’s a bold statement but let’s just agree to hang on for a week or three as I expand on this idea.  I’m also in the middle of writing a series of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) articles but I thought it might be fun to intermingle a few of these, like I said, Just For Fun!  I’ve always been fascinated with many of these “Laws” and there are a TON of them to thumb through, but I’m just going to focus on ten such Laws for our purposes here.  It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking at Murphy’s Law or some of the more “heady” ones, like the laws of thermodynamics, they can be used to explain everything from the way your browser works to what makes us laugh.  The ten laws that I’ll mention over a series of posts explain everything  from the popularity of Facebook to what’s going to happen with your smartphone.  Let’s start here:

Kryder’s Law

Kryder’s law is the storage equivalent of Moor’s Law (we’ll cover that one later in the series).  Seagate’s vice president of research and Chief Technology Office said way back in 2005 that magnetic disk storage density doubles approximately every 18 months.  That also means that storage costs will reduce by half every eighteen months as well, which allows online services to give us more storage without charging any more for it.  Now THAT’s a cool thing that help all of us.  It seems that our need for space to store all of our data (pictures, documents, spreadsheets, databases, etc.) continues to accumulate, so being able to get more without paying more is really nice. 

Now, if you're into the newest technologies, like SSDs (Solid State Drives) I'll have to add a disclaimer here for those devices.  I mentioned Moore's Law just a few seconds ago, which applies to SSD much more than Kryder's Law applies.  O.K., now that we have that behind us, let's look at one more "Law".

Wirth's Law

O.K., here's the deal; it seems like every couple of months that a new processor is released with additional "core's" (core 2 duo, Core i3, Core i%, etc.) but even with all these additional cores these PC's aren't noticeably faster at all those everyday tasks then the PC's we used years ago!  This is where Wirth's Law comes in.  Simply put, Wirth's Law says that: "Software get's slower faster than hardware gets faster."  There are a few variation of this law, which are often cause this law to be attributed to others (Google's Law, Page's Law OR the Gates Law) but Niklaus Wirth is the first to state this one back in 1995.

I think we'll stop here for today, but come back regularly soon to see the rest.  And, if you have any interesting and relevant Laws that you'd like to discuss, please post them here and let's start the discussion.

 

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The Up and Coming Windows Phone

March 2nd, 2012

Microsoft is everywhere; their products are used throughout the world. And, Bill Gates, Microsoft’s chief, is one of the most widely known names in the field of technology. With that being said, Microsoft is missing one thing, it has never had a “cool” image. But the release of Windows Phone, Microsoft’s new smartphone software, may alter our opinion.

Microsoft has long had a reputation of being slightly uninspired. Remember the Zune mp3 player or the Kin phone? You might not, they were short lived, and are good examples of Microsoft products that have shot and missed.

That said, Microsoft’s Windows Phone software has caught some attention. The Windows Phone has been well received by both critics and consumers.

Windows Phone earns praise for its eye-catching on-screen typography and its mosaic of animated tiles on its home screen. This presents a visual contrast with the home screen of the iPhone. The operating system gets points, too, for making it simple for users to gain access to social networks. When friends or family members post pictures, messages, or updates to Twitter or Facebook, the tiles representing these services pop into life on Windows Phone-equipped devices.

Even with all these features and praise Windows Phone has not been the biggest seller. This is perhaps due to the phones that come loaded with the OS. Many people believe these phones are bland and wireless services providers are still pushing the iPhone and Android in a big way.

The Windows Phone, though, does provide some hope for Microsoft’s endeavours to capture some cool. Sure, big sales and ubiquitous products are important, but a bit of hipness never hurt a company, either. Oh, and did I mention:  My daughter has a Windows Phone and recently had the choice to upgrade to the iPhone… she decided to say with a Windows Phone. 

What’s your preference?

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The Mouse: Good Night and Good Luck

February 29th, 2012

Mouse-free computing is something we’ve just begun to taste. We have touchscreens on many devices including tablets, phones, and e-readers. These allow us to access the Internet; send texts, and emails all without a mouse. So is this the shape of things to come? Can we eventually leave the mouse in the dust and move on to more advanced ways of communicating with our computers?

Gesture sensing

Consumers who own Wii or PlayStation video game systems already have an idea of this. These two game systems offer users the chance to play games and explore the internet through wireless remotes that synch with body movements. Wii players can smack a tennis ball by swinging their hands while they hold a wireless remote. They are able to jog in place, climb a virtual mountain, or shoot menacing robots in the same way. This is called gesture sensing. The tech isn’t quite ready for standard computing yet. However, it isn’t difficult to imagine a future where gesture sensing becomes one of the primary modes of interacting with our computers.

Multi-touch technology

Multi-touch technology is the one other interactive innovation that is being used in a few common devices, namely, tablets, e-readers, and smartphones. This technology allows users to tap icons to open program, pinch or extend their fingers to zoom or minimize the images on their screens. Since this is a relatively new technology it’s still being refined. How do you think this will be utilized in the foreseeable future to allow us easier navigation around our computers?

Voice recognition

Another possible technological advancement that may replace the mouse involves voice recognition. Instead of clicking on a mouse button to open up a program, users can simply tell their computers to open an individual word file or close iTunes. Some of this already exists, most notable is Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which allows users to dictate reports and stories to their word-processing programs. Again, the tech still needs refinement, but a future where we speak to our computers isn’t really that far-fetched.

No matter what new technologies arise or how refined the ones we spoke about get, the odds are that the mouse will not disappear all together. It has served us well, and we know we can easily rely on it.

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Writing Unique Content is a High Priority for SEO

February 27th, 2012

Unique content should be in the top two or three on your list of High Priority items for you web site.  Unique content is not only an important issue for SEO but an equally important issue for your site visitors.  You need to provide content that has different, fresh information than you might find on other sites, or other Web page. A fresh approach will win readers so don’t just restate the accepted views… I hate to use an already over used phrase, but “Think Outside the Box” whenever possible.  

Unique content can be a fairly simple process if you’re familiar with the topic on which you are writing and, hopefully, you are very familiar with the topics related to your business.  Although some people are not good writing or simply do not like to write, while others don’t have the time and inclination to do so.  Regardless of which category on which you fall, it’s important that you make sure that what you put on your web site is original (as in, not plagiarized, at a minimum) and, better yet, unique and interesting enough to cause the search engines to take note and your readers to want to read more.  

 

It’s important to have unique content because search engines don’t like websites with duplicate content.  Using plagiarized information can not only cause you problems with the search engines, but it may also lead to issues with the original writer/owner of the content. If you are not good at, or don’t particularly like to write, there are other options.  Just click the “Contact Us” link and request the info and I’ll let you know about those options.

Finally, good quality, original content builds credibility.  Your readers will see that your content is unique and that you know what you’re talking about.  All-in-all, this can position you as a trusted authority on a topic and increased the odds that your readers will purchase from you, or come back again when they are looking for something related to the topics you cover on your site.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this area.  Feel free to chime in!

 

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Explaining How Smartphone Charging Pads Work

February 24th, 2012

You use your smartphone to buy movie tickets, download your favorite songs, and make online reservations at the new French restaurant. But, if your smartphone battery dies, it’s not possible to do any of this. And to be honest, charging your smartphone the old-fashioned way is a drag. You have to plug your charger into an outlet leaving it connected long enough to give it sufficient power.

Now by using a smartphone charge pad, charging your phone is much simpler.

Charge your phone wirelessly

Charge pads are mats that allow devices to be charged wirelessly. Just by laying your device on the mat it will begin to charge, this nearly eliminates cord mess and searching for an outlet. You can even charge multiple devices, including iPods and tablets, simultaneously using these mats.

But how do these devices work? Basically, a charge pad utilizes electro-magnetic induction charging. They create a magnetic field atop the mat that provides power to the batteries of your devices.

Charge pads a technology in progress

Smartphone charge pads, though, haven’t really seized the imaginations of consumers. There are some explanations for this: To start with, today’s charge pads aren’t inexpensive. In some instances, they cost nearly as much as the gadgets that consumers need to charge.

Another reason is that they take up space. Consumers who want to eliminate the mess of cords don’t mind this, but this doesn’t help people looking to create more space on their desk.

An improving wireless world

As technology improves we are bound to see smaller, more efficient, and less costly charging pads that can be purchased. Eventually, my guess is that these will be must-have items.

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SEO and Good Content

February 24th, 2012

Write great content

One if the fist things you should do, and one of your highest priority items, as it applies to SEO is to “Write Great Content”.  Great content is where it all starts. You can have all the keywords in the world, but if your content is no good, people won’t stick around on your site and search engines won’t find your site valuable. Great content starts with being relevant and interesting.  If what you write (subject matter) isn’t appealing to your target audience, your work will go unappreciated and possibly unnoticed.

Formatting is also important as it applies to great content.  Visual appeal will draw your audience in and may encourage them to read further. Some suggestions would include:

  • Bulleted Lists
  • Numbered Lists
  • Headlines
  • Sub-headlines
  • Bolded words
  • Blocking off or centering chunks of text
  • Photos, pictures and images that are relevant to the topic

Spelling and Grammar are also a REALLY BIG issue.  I cannot emphasize this enough: always check your work after you are done.  Spell check isn’t enough and aren’t always accurate.  They sometimes changes words (aka, auto-correct) automatically that you may not notice as you type them.  Or, you may use the wrong form of a word and not realize it until later (i.e. their vs. there vs. they’re).  Always step away from the article for a while to give yourself time to refresh your thought process and give it a look with fresh eyes.  Even better, have someone else check your work.

Another thing that can actually improve your content is to add a call to action. People enjoy being drawn into the article… it makes them feel like they are part of it and not just a spectator.  Not giving them some type of call to action may leave the reader with that “hanging” feeling.  A call to action can bring someone closer, draw that “little extra” out of your reader and it might even help you to develop a deeper relationship with them.

By the way, can you proof read this for me and let me know if I forgot to make it interesting or missed any of my typos? :)  

Seriously, your thoughts and comments are welcome!

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New to Windows 7? Tips to Make You More Productive

February 23rd, 2012

Windows 7 has numerous features making it a great improvement over previous systems. However, like most things, if you are unaware of all these features you could be missing out.

By mastering a few simple tricks, you can get the most out of Windows 7.

  • If you would like to copy images from your computer to a CD or DVD it is now much easier with Windows 7. Double-click the ISO image you want to burn and select the drive that has your blank disc in it. After choosing the “burn” option all you need to do is wait!
  • Effortlessly find and repair problems. If your operating system is acting strangely, just click the “Control Panel” option. After that, you can simply click “troubleshooting” to access a number of wizards that will take care of commonplace operating problems. This includes cleaning up systems that are slowed by an excessive amount of adware and other clutter.
  • Installing a large amount of cumbersome software will slow your system down. It is possible to prevent this by using the AppLocker feature. This lets you pre-approve specific programs for installation. Which stops any non-preapproved software from being downloaded.
  • One fantastic aspect for people who work remotely is its power efficiency service. It’s simple to get details about the quantity of power your laptop is using, which is often important if you are working on a project and are far from a power source.

I hope you found something of benefit here.  Please comment with your own “Tips” and/or questions.  You might just be the catalyst for a deeper conversation.

 

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