The Power of Blogging-Keeping it Going!

I started this blog for a course, but I knew professionally and personally that it was something I should be doing anyways. I recently entered a business plan competition with a few classmates and blogging was something we all agreed that we would start doing in order to expand our knowledge and communicate with other people. 

I realized quickly that blogging is something I really enjoy doing but it is also something very important for future business owners and current business owners. I found some great articles that define the power of blogging. I think it is a great idea for potential business owners to throw ideas out to readers and to get feedback in certain business aspects.

Blogging can help research potential business investments to find out if it is a great idea. It saves money if you are just thinking about starting up a business or need feedback before mapping out a plan and creating a business plan.

Blogging is a great way to network with others and find similar interests with people. There are many like-minded people in this world that may not only be a great resource of information but may be a potential partner.

Blogging is a great way to be spotted for a job! Many employees reach out to blogs to find the right people for their organizations.

Blogging is a great way to find future customers. It is a way to communicate with interested parties and start building your brand or consulting while your project is still underway. 

Blogging is a great way to find investors, read about competition, and get the ball rolling with funding opportunities.
A well written, blog can be a driving force when trying reach
out for these resources.

Blogs help to improve communication skills, improve writing, and do research.  

Blogs are a great way to get noticed in Google searches. Blog entries and blog websites are listed everyday and comments can gain additional feedback when trying to establish a business.

Well know Blogging websites: WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad and they are all free.

http://www.businessinsider.com/dont-underestimate-the-power-of-blogging-2010-11

MoMa: "Talk to Me"

“Talk to Me,” is an exhibition that opened July 24, 2011 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This exhibit explores how innovations in communication design are changing our lives. It is all about how people need to communicate with one another and we expect these tools to also provide us feedback along the way.

The collection contains tools that can be used for professional and personal life and demonstrate the ways in which these tools communicate with the people that use them. The designers who make these innovations are becoming increasingly advanced and tactful. The communication has become more and more important in today’s industrial design.

“Communication is the dominate force in design."Some exhibits explore new forms of communication. There are
new technologies such as data visualizations, (digital images that
make clear the huge amount of complex data). There are QR Codes, (Quick Response Codes) at MoMa to help locate a
specific part of the installation.

There is an installation of a pair of robotic shoes which can become shorter or taller based on an iPhone app to adjust the shoes. This type of installation along with the others is trying to prove the point that communication on different levels is the focus in the design world.

The exhibit is broken down into six categories that vary from different aspects of life. They include train kiosks, QR codes, virtual online community, and sculptures of digital representations of real objects among many other creative segments of communication in the art form.

“Talk to Me” demonstrates how technology is becoming so complex and powerful that we now expect to interact with them. The exhibit contains cash and ticket machines that are used every day by people to projects that inspire people to smile when feel awkward in social settings.

Check out MoMA's Website for information on the show. "Talk to Me" is on display from July 24-November 7th 2011.
http://www.moma.org/

Hard Drives vs. Solid State Drives (S.S.D.)

S.S.D.                                                       Hard drive

I have had many jobs that all involve the use of a computer. I am a graphic designer so it kind of goes without saying. The computer is a huge part of my daynd night.  A huge pet peeve of mine is a slow boot up on a computer. I never really stopped to think about what the reason behind it was but I have always wanted to know! Sure enough, I have a little information that will hopefully help others and has definitely helped me in understanding some concerns with this issue.

I usually let my brothers handle any IT issues I have since they both are much more experienced and work in IS. In the past, when they atttempt to explain IT related information to me it seems to go right over my head and they just get frustrated with me not understanding.  Anyways, this article really spoke to me regarding Solid-state drives or S.S.D. which seems to alleviate the slow start up process that computers may have.

S.S.D.  is comprised of microchips and have no moving parts. What does that mean? Well, no moving part means that there is no waiting for disks to spin or waiting for drive heads to execute commands. (still very confusing I know… but I think it has to do with less involvement from other parts that typically take place on a hard drive and can make proccess slower.)

S.S.D. is significantly more expensive than a regular hard drive but apparently it cuts the “boot up” time in half.  S.S.D. has been around for a while but the technology improved and became more practical only a few years ago. Since this big break in 2008 the cost has decreased and they are not as expensive as they once were. The increased performance and productively seems to be the main driving factor with S.S.D. Opening applications happens much faster than normal. (In my field of work I use multiple applications at a time (graphic/web programs) so this is quite the incentive since I use a wide variety of documents, images and graphics on multiple applications for various projects.

Hard drives are stacks of disks with magnetic material that rotate on a spindle similar to a record. The little drive heads pivot back and forth to read and write data. This process is eliminated with the use of an S.S.D.

S.S.D. is much quieter than regular hard drives and has less power usage than normal hard drives. The battery life is also increased with S.S.D. because of the decreased power usage. These drives also generate less heat and makes computers run colder which is an important thing for computers. The chance of malfunction is decreased because the disks are not susceptible to being tossed around like a spinning disk in a hard drive would be.

Intel, Toshiba, Samsung, Kingston, Corsair and OCZ began selling them for around $10 a gigabyte when they first became technologically advanced back in 2008. Now the prices are more like $2 a gigabyte while a hard drive costs roughly 20 cents a gigabyte

Intel, (who I blogged about recently) tops the market with S.S.D. because hard drives were not keeping up with the increasing speeds of many companies computer processors. Solid-state drives come standard in Apple’s Mac Book Air and iPad tablet computers.

My bro has been building my pc platforms for many years. It is quite the difference from any computer i have ever had at a job. Most likely due to the fact that I am not connected to a bunch of different work servers. So I asked my brother why my personal computer started up so fast and seemed to load applications quite raplidly and it turns out that it is not because I have an S.S.D., it is because I have Windows 7 for my operating system which is well known for its increased start up performance. So for now I am okay with not having S.S.D. but definitely in the future it seems like something that would be crucial for my computer and hopefully the prices of S.S.D will decrease by the time that happens. Either way, it was quite helpful to learn the difference between S.S.D. and a regular hard drive.

The article that caught my attention was titled: Computer Drives to Start Your Day Quicker. This was definitely a part of IT that I wanted to know more about since it affects me quite frequently. Check out the article and weigh in on my blog!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/technology/personaltech/solid-state-drives-get-you-to-work-faster.html?_r=1&sq=ssd&st=Search&scp=1&pagewanted=all

The next generation of laptops-Ultrabook, MacBook Air etc.

I recently joined the world of the commuter rail. It is quite the experience and gives me a lot of free time to catch up on reading, homework, studying, blogging, social media among many other things. However, I am one of the few people who do not own a smart phone, ipad, tablet, or laptop. I have lived with a desktop pc at work and at home and that has gotten me this far without having to upgrade. However, this free time I now have sitting on the train has truly made me think about investing in a new technology. The commuter rail offers free wi-fi which is definitely an incentive in my research. I must point out that the cost of taking the commuter rail is expensive and the price definitely includes the wi-fi.

Here is the latest form of notebooks that companies are coming out with. Apple is unveiling the MacBook Air and Ipad, and the Ultra Book is ready to launch from Intel.

What is an ultra book and a MacBook air you ask? Well these devices are the newest improvements in laptop, notebook technology. They are designed to be thin, light and versatile. These books have the power and capabilities of a laptop with features that are similar to a tablet. Tablets are small, light and are supposed to have the same abilities of a laptop in a smaller size. They sometimes are touch screen and generally not intended to run on most pc operating systems and applications. Intel’s notebook is 20mm thick and costs less than $1000 and is supposed to have an extremely fast start up. Intel’s Ultra-book is intended to be in stores by the Christmas 2011. Ultrabook will be released in three phases, with features such as USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt technologies.

Apple’s MacBook Air is very powerful and very thin at .8 inches and weighs less than 3 pounds with good battery life.

PC makers: Asus, Dell, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard all have ultra books in the works.

Below is a good clip I found on YouTube about Intel's new product. Let me know your thoughts and if you have good advice on which Notebook to purchase!

What happened to MySpace?

Just recently I was thinking, What happened to MySpace? Why is Facebook more popular? I remember that MySpace was really fun at first, somewhat addictive, but then again I was younger! I really liked to design my own page, and I loved the artistic freedom of MySpace but I am also somewhat html and css fluent. But, when did I get bored with it? Feels like years ago!. I wanted to investigate why MySpace failed and why Facebook is much more popular. Obviously, peoples interests change and people grow, but is the same thing going to happen to other social media networks or is it the companies fault for not keeping its followers interested. Turns out, MySpace is not completely kaput- but is it making a comeback? Doubt it.

I am sure that most people have heard in the news that Myspace sold for 35 Million dollars to a company called Specific Media. And one of my favorite celebrities, musicians and actors Justin Timberlake has taken a crucial role in the companies creative direction and strategy. As much as like Justin Timberlake, I am not sure he can bring MySpace back to life? I guess we will have to wait and see.

I did a little research to find out why MySpace has lost its hype.
Lack of loyalty to users: The site was catered to teens who could communicate with friends and write on each others walls but failed to progress as the teens grew older and failed to keep up with the changing times. The then-teens migrated to Facebook. The company failed to keep up with the ever changing demographic of its users.
Not enough innovation: Facebook is pretty simple to operate and is constantly adapting to users, friends, links, games etc. MySpace failed to innovate new ways of design, and usability for its members. Even now MySpace still is slow to innovate and operating roughly the same way in the past five years.
More focus on the future: MySpace focused more on profits and less on future implications. Facebook in the early years made more improvements for users, and constant improvements and focused less on profits which ultimately was sucessful.
Usability: MySpace was technically challenging for many of its users. Whereas Facebook is much simpler and does not require much technical background knowledge for page design. This could have been a feature that MySpace put too much focus on and deterred users.

I found a couple of things that seemed to be important that MySpace did not pick up on.
1. Third party applications are used by Facebook and help the site with new ideas and features.
2. MySpace focused too much on advertising, whereas Facebook  uses advertising in more subtle ways and incorporates advertising in a less drastic way than MySpace had done in the past.

 I found a really good article that quoted Wayne Gretsky, "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."  This quote is explaining how Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg have aspirational clarity and can plan for the future and cater to the market.


References:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43581327/ns/business-us_business/t/justin-timberlake-part-group-buying-myspace/
http://www.fastcompany.com/1764384/why-did-myspace-fail-are-you-listening-microsoft-yahoo-aol-and-cisco
http://doteduguru.com/id3701-social-network-failure-what-happened-to-myspace.html

My favorite subject: Shopping

I would have to say that coupons are a way of life for me in the retail world. I subscribe to many online coupon websites and I collect quite a few in the mail through various retailers. I hardly ever purchase an item without some sort of coupon, reward points or discount.

Currently, I do not own a Smart Phone, iPhone, Android or any other type of high end feature phone but current times are definitely making me reconsider. As I have stated in my previous blogs, QR Codes can be scanned on these smart phones, and they also have many abilities that are vital tools for business and personal matters. My next topic of Shop kick also utilizes a smart phone.

What is  Shopkick you ask? This is a free application for iPhones or Android's that is a mobile shopping loyalty service.  I have a million frequent shopper cards, extra care card, rewards cards etc.... This app is similar to a rewards program except the app, when running on your phone tracks your visits to various retailers and offers special discounts that flash on your phone screen while you are in the store. There is also a benefit points program called "kicks" which you receive by simply visiting a store. The plan for this app is to get the online home based shoppers of the world out in the real world and into these stores.

Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Sears, Home Depot, Stop & Shop are just a few examples of companies that are supporting this app. Stores like Best Buy have teamed up with this app and have installed speakers with high frequency sound in order to communicate with smart phones to pick up the location and send the reward to the phones. The system also can locate your exact aisle and generate "kicks" based on the department your in and the send you more rewards based on your interest.

There seems to be some glitches with the specific location technology and the cell phone signals but apparently the "Shopkick" app does work and has been quite effective so far. You can also scan bar codes with the smart phone camera and making purchases can also generate more rewards.

"Shopkick" seems to motivate people by keeping consumers coming back daily. They also can work towards larger earnings and bigger rewards such as gift cards or trips by reaching certain amount of points. It seems to be smart and pretty easy for shoppers who are already out there to simply scan the bar codes and turn the app on.

“The last thing they want to do is reward a customer who’s not actually in the store.” VP of product Management, Evan Tana.... I thought this quote was pretty awesome. It is so true when you think about it, all of my rewards have come from using the credit card within the store after I check out. I would love to have the coupons before purchasing and save as much money as possible.

Check out the link below and let me know your thoughts!

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2011/06/30/shopkick_app_draws_traditional_retailers/

Web to Print, W2P, Web2Print

I have been working in a creative environment for many years now. I have also worked within in house printing companies and companies that outsource printing. Either way, W2P has been around from what I can remember back in the late 90's, early 2000's. It is an interesting topic and i wanted to share some info on this technology.

Web-to-print or Web2Print is remote publishing, most commonly used in commercial prepress. Web-to-print allows a print house, client and a graphic designer to create, edit and approved computer based templates during the prepress phase. Customers have access to online print portals anytime! Customers can view samples, access the files, find guidelines for file prep, generate quotes, and receive and approve proofs. Online submission of work is can be more accurate than sitting down with a real live person. Ordering multiple jobs is also easier and quicker. Improved customer retention!

The general public and commercial users can access public or private catalogs made from the print house. The customer can then choose a template where they can then alter the fonts, copy, image, layout and then approve the template for printing. It may also be available for customers to submit their own templates for print production. The master file is typically a pdf that is used for press.
Some examples of Web-to-print materials are business cards, brochures, stationary and presentations, seminars logos, and others that can be printed in full color or in black and white on various paper styles and presses.

Web-to-Print: Hard Lessons learned, by Eric Cagle, PIworld.com (June 2011)

Some information that I found important from this article was:

·         Online print procurement has been evolving for 15 years

·         Web-to-print more commonly used for larger companies, while smaller companies opted for inexpensive other options

·         Larger companies with many offices, sales personnel, distributors, agents etc., needed to utilized this option to give local users access to customized content

http://www.piworld.com/article/printers-web-to-print

http://americanprinter.com/work-flow/a-to-z-wp-1201/