Category: Technology

Electronic media usage by children reaches record high

USA Today
Image via Wikipedia

Apparently electronic media is equal to a full time job for most kids…

“The findings, out today in a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 2,002 people ages 8 to 18, show that young people spend seven hours and 38 minutes using media in a typical day — up from six hours and 19 minutes a decade earlier.

About the only thing that seems to be fading: ink. Though daily book readership has held steady at about 47% since 1999, the percentage of young people who say they read a magazine every day has plummeted from 55% to 35%. It’s worse for newspapers, down from 42% to 23%.

Electronic media are now “a part of the air that kids breathe,” says Vicky Rideout, director of Kaiser’s Program for the Study of Media and Health.

African-American and Hispanic kids spend nearly one-third more time each day with electronics than white kids. Among other findings:

  • Cellphone ownership has increased sharply since 2004, from 39% to 66%.
  • Ownership of iPods has jumped even more since 2004, from 18% to 76%.
  • 20% of kids’ media comes via mobile devices.

The near-ubiquity of mobile devices has had a profound effect on kids’ free time, filling up “the insterstitial spaces” in their daily lives, says Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. She jokes that iPods and cellphones may be this generation’s “magazines and chewing gum,” harmless ways to fill time.” Source: Kids’ electronic media use jumps to 53 hours a week – USATODAY.com

What does this say about our culture? Our future? The future of newspapers? I have a thousand questions. What about you?

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Did you know?

I’ll be speaking to a couple of classes at Algoma High School today about how the internet is changing the world we live in and the options that are open to us as a result. Think about this…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQFTUJK9TkI&lt
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Tactic #8: Use ‘branded’ email

I took a little time off from my ‘tactics and tools’ series — no one’s paying attention in December anyway, right? ;-)

Now that everyone’s waking up from the holidays it’s time to get back on track with tactic #8 — using ‘branded’ email. ‘Branded’ email? What’s that? ‘Branded’ email is email that comes from a professional domain and supports your brand. Excuse me for ranting about one of my biases for a sec, but it drives me nuts when I see an entrepreneur using their sbcglobal, att, charter, road runner, etc. isp domains for conducting business — especially when there’s a great tool like Google Apps for Business! Every email is a chance to advertise your business by using a domain that points to your Facebook page or website. Besides, there’s nothing that screams ‘mom & pop shop’ more than using your personal home account to try to bring in that big deal…

Here’s a quick overview of Google Apps:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_TzCpYGpzw

Google Apps hits the ‘good, fast and cheap’ trifecta. Simple, yet powerful! A couple of years ago, I worked with a local entrepreneur in Green Bay that had an office with 7 people. He wanted the benefits of Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint for his team and spent $35,000 [first year acquisition cost of $5,000 per employee] for the hardware, software, licensing, and labor to acquire those benefits. Here’s the dirty little secret; there was no benefit he acquired that could not have been done better than Google Apps at the cost of $50 per user per year…

Consider the benefits of Google Apps:

“Google’s web-based messaging and collaboration apps require no hardware or software and need minimal administration, creating tremendous time and cost savings for businesses.

End users can use the familiar Microsoft Outlook interface for email, contacts and calendar as they transition to Gmail and Google Calendar. Source: Reduce IT costs, get less spam, and improve productivity – Google Apps for Business target=”_blank”

But wait, there’s more! Benefits include…

  • Proven cost savings
  • Email, calendar and IM access from any computer or smartphone connected to the internet, regardless of platform…
  • 99.9% uptime reliability guarantee
  • 50 times more storage than the industry average
  • Information security and compliance
  • Full administrative and data control
  • Helpful 24/7 customer support

Go here to read more…

Wow! A lot of cool features you say, but is it safe?

“Google applications provide a variety of security features, says Eric Ogren, a security analyst with the Enterprise Strategy Group. For one thing, “you have to have authority to get in. Users can determine policies of who looks at a particular document, the amount of collaboration offered, and users have the flexibility to store data on their corporate laptop or have Google do it for them.”

In addition, he voices the security argument most commonly heard about SaaS solutions: “The customer’s IT department doesn’t have to maintain upgrades, so you don’t have to deal with patches with Google Apps, and that’s a nice feature.” Source: Google Apps has its advantages, but is it secure? – SC Magazine US target=”_blank”

Google Apps for Business is THE killer app for entrepreneurs, small businesses, non-profits, schools, and political campaigns. If I didn’t make myself clear, comment, call or contact so we can talk further about your particular situation…

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2009 in social media

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SPWTyv6zBk&feature=player_embedded
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The “Chicken Plucking” Secret of Success

Thinking about success for 2010? Here’s something to ponder…

Charles F. Kettering, inventor of the electric self-starter for cars, once said, “My definition of an educated man is the fellow who knows the right thing to do at the time it has to be done…. You can be sincere and still be stupid.” Indeed. The world is full of sincere, hungry people waiting for food to magically appear on the table.

But let’s not bother with them right now. It’s almost time for dinner and we have work to do. While the rest of the world frets about ruffling feathers, let’s get busy plucking the chicken. We’ll eat. We’ll laugh. And we’ll drink a toast to our success.”

A good reminder for entrepreneurs! Click the here to read more of this excellent post…

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Buying a new notebook?

Think different! No, I don’t mean buy a Mac — I just mean think before you buy. A friend of mine asked for a recommendation on a big, expensive notebook — you know, one of the ones with the big 17″ monitor? My advice to him was “my recommendation would be to avoid the big, expensive notebook. I would consider a big, expensive desktop combined with a small, inexpensive netbook — it will cost the same and you won’t need to pay a premium for a premium notebook. Give me a call if you want to talk more…”

Where does this bias come from? Maybe from the fact that these über-notebooks, or desktop replacements as they are commonly called, are getting so big and heavy that they’re really a pain in the back to carry around. A couple of years ago I bought a 17″ notebook from HP and after awhile, I traded it with my son for a smaller, lighter computer. I got tired of trying to fit it in my backpack an lugging it around — so tired that I was willing to accept a lesser computer in exchange for the ease of use! It was such a big process to get it out of my bag and fired up that I started looking for excuses not to…

Here’s my belief; most computing is context sensitive. Think about it. Do you really need to run Photoshop on your smartphone? No — if a good picture is worth editing, you’ll probably wait until you get home and use the desktop computer with 24″ monitor that only cost $700. My current thinking is this: instead of paying $1,000 for a high end consumer notebook, get a desktop with a big monitor, a netbook and a smartphone that runs the android os. Boom! Now you have a solution that delivers power when and where you need it, a portable tool that allows you to interact with the internet for those times you need a bigger keyboard, and a phone that will do a lot of heavy lifting without ever having to take that netbook out of the bag. Make sense? I’d like to hear your comments…

If you decide to go ahead and get that big notebook, know this:

“Laptop magazine went through the painstaking process of calling the tech support of every major notebook manufacturer. And they timed their waits before asking one of two very basic questions. The results may not surprise you.

Apple scored the highest with an A overall (that’s a combined score of online and phone tech support). HP, Acer and Dell tied for lowest with C- each.” Source: Laptop Mag Determines Acer, Dell and HP Have the Worst Tech Support – Technical Support – Gizmodo

Despite this, I’m sold on the HP brand and my experiences have not been bad — admittedly this may be due to the fact that I can perform a great deal of the tech support that most people need on my own, but I haven’t had quality issues and I keep my machines running well thanks to Tune Up Utilities, etc. If you can’t resist that über-notebook buy an HP that works with the XB-3000 [pictured above] — that way, you can have the best of both worlds! You can pick them up on eBay for around $100…

I hope this post wasn’t too confusing — the truth is that buying new equipment is really a context sensitive thing and should take into account how much time you spend in your office versus mobile, etc. and I’d be happy to talk through your issues with you. Leave a comment or use the contact form — I’d love to talk it through with you…

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Social Media in Plain English

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE
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Moms and smartphones…

They’re not just for CEO’s anymore…

“Smartphones may have started as productivity tools for top executives, but they’re quickly finding their way into the hands and purses of “power moms,” a.k.a. the CEO of the household.

As smartphones become easier to use and in many ways more useful, more women, including busy moms, are buying them to leverage all kinds of digital applications to stay organized and to connect with their families, friends, and social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter. They’re also using these Internet-enabled devices to get things done like paying the bills, ordering groceries, downloading coupons, and hunting for ideas for the next family vacation.

And like their corporate counterparts, these women are hooked.” Source: Modern power moms flock to smartphones | Wireless – CNET News

Go to the source to read the rest of the article…

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Waving goodbye to 2009

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyoGbd1iJIw&feature=player_embedded
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More tutorials…

Here are a couple more…

“In response to my recent post on free tutorial sites for web worker applications several readers called out some excellent alternative sites. I’ve given these sites a try, and a couple of them are good enough that I feel trumped. In this post, I’ll discuss the kinds of free resources you can leverage there.” Web Worker Daily » Archive 4 More Top-Notch, Free App Tutorial Sites «

Click the link to read more…

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Lately I’ve been struggling…

…with the issue of what is the best way to graphically depict the relationship between the various social media tools that I use. I think I may just end up settling with a flow chart for now, however, I’m finding some interesting stuff along the way such as this…

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Blogging and thought leadership

…I ‘re-discovered’ this presentation this morning from Dana VanDen Heuvel of MarketingSavant.com — it may be the best presentation ever on the relationship between thought leadership, blogging and social media…

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Study: Work may be costing people

LOL!

“The National Sleep Foundation says Americans are not getting enough rest and work may be getting in the way.

In a study released Monday the Washington, D.C.-based organization said average nightly sleep for adults is 6 hours and 40 minutes, below the 7 hours and 18 minutes that most people say they need.

The reason for less sleep may be due to increased workload. The report said workers are spending an average of nearly 4.5 hours each week doing additional work from home on top of a 9.5 hour average workday.”

Work gets in the way of a lot of things — one reason you better love what you’re doing… ;-)

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The intangible benefits of blogging

“Search for the term benefits of blogging and you’ll probably find hundreds and thousands of blog posts and pages waxing eloquent about the great benefits of blogging and I totally believe in most of the stuff. Blogging has so many benefits that it is simply outrageous not to have a blog, especially if you run an online business…

Blogging has both tangible and intangible benefits. Since you’ll find tangible benefits of blogging almost everywhere, in this post I’m going to talk about the intangible benefits of blogging: benefits that are there but you cannot see them, you cannot measure them, and they may not even manifest an effect that you can observe.” Click the here to read more…

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Personal Digital Coaching

English: American entrepreneur, author and pub... …could be just the help you’re looking for! Over 18 months ago, Seth Godin wrote this on his blog:

“Here are three things that are true: 1. Digital technology, especially computers and cell phones, can dramatically increase productivity. 2. More and more users of digital technology are small firms or individuals. 3. The vast majority of users of digital technology are totally lame in getting the most out of the investment of their time and money. “Oh, I didn’t know I could do that.” “You mean I don’t have to manually type my address book in by hand?” “There are graphs in Excel?” “Gmail is free?” Here’s what I haven’t found: people who charge $100 an hour to hear what you do and how you do it and then show you how to do it better. People who organize data and put it in the right place. People who overhaul the way small groups use technology so they can use it dramatically better. People who use copilot to take over a PC and actually rearrange it so that it works better.More examples: Teach people to back up. Show them how to check their email on the road. Help them understand how to use online networking when it’s appropriate (and warn them when it’s not). Show a restaurant how to use OpenTable to keep the place full, or to use a blog (with an RSS feed) to easily communicate with loyal customers. Teach a company to keep tabs on itself with Technorati.” Source: Seth’s Blog: A shortage of digital coaches

If you do a Google Search on the topic, note who is at the top of the list — your humble digital coach Todd Lohenry @ e1evation, llc! Once I securely log on to your computer [after you grant permission] using the technology described, I can help you with just about anything! See a quick demo here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJlASMkot34 Oh, and btw? I only charge $50 per hour… [btw, note the date on the post! The cost is now $99 per hour!]

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Strategy vs. tactics in social media…

:en:Seth Godin
Image via Wikipedia

Seth Godin on strategy vs. tactics…

New media creates a blizzard of tactical opportunities for marketers, and many of them cost nothing but time, which means you don’t need as much approval and support to launch them.

As a result, marketers are like kids at Rita‘s candy shoppe, gazing at all the pretty opportunities.

Most of us are afraid of strategy, because we don’t feel confident outlining one unless we’re sure it’s going to work. And the ‘work’ part is all tactical, so we focus on that. (Tactics are easy to outline, because we say, “I’m going to post this.” If we post it, we succeed. Strategy is scary to outline, because we describe results, not actions, and that means opportunity for failure.)

“Building a permission asset so we can grow our influence with our best customers over time” is a strategy. Using email, twitter or RSS along with newsletters, contests and a human voice are all tactics. In my experience, people get obsessed about tactical detail before they embrace a strategy… and as a result, when a tactic fails, they begin to question the strategy that they never really embraced in the first place. Source: Seth’s Blog: When tactics drown out strategy

Go to the source to read more…

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How big is the internet?

This big!

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links for 2009-12-08

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Google introduces ‘real time’ search

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRkYmx4A9Do&feature=player_embedded
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Google privacy

Oxymoron or? Digg users voted on the top ten questions to ask Marissa Mayer, Google VP of Search and User Experience. Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, has the interview. Long, but worthwhile — especially if you’re a fan of Google…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6bFyVGvg28&feature=player_embedded
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Maintaining “Inbox Zero” with Google Apps

Image representing Google Apps as depicted in ...
Image via CrunchBase

This is the article I wish I had written about how Google Apps, Remember the Milk and Firefox work together to make you more productive in email…

“If I have more than 30 unread messages at any one time, I break into a cold sweat. So as a result, until recently I couldn’t imagine maintaining my maniacal level of control over my inboxes without a desktop email client’s notifications, rules & plug-ins.”

Inbox Zero is an important discipline in this day and age that few have mastered — click here to read more…

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